Chrome Extension for Google+ Notifications

Thursday, November 3, 2011 Posted by R3ank at 11:30 AM 0 comments

If you miss Google+ notifications when you're not visiting a Google page, you can now install a Chrome extension and always get the latest updates.

"Whenever you have a new notification (for example, when someone adds you to a circle or shares a post with you), the extension button will turn red and show you how many updates are waiting for you. Once you click the button, a window will drop down showing you all of your most recent notifications. You can act on notifications right from the extension, whether you're replying to a comment or adding someone back to your circles. That way you can stay up-to-speed with your circles on Google+ no matter where you are on the web," informs Google.

There's also a +1 button for Chrome that lets you +1 a page and share it with your circles.

{ Thanks, Venkat. }

Google's Barrel Roll Easter Egg

Posted by R3ank at 11:07 AM 0 comments

If you use Google to search for [do a barrel roll] in Chrome, Safari or Firefox, you'll notice that the search results page actually does that. It's a brilliant Easter Egg that will surprise a lot of Google users.

According to Wikipedia, "a barrel roll is an aerial maneuver in which an airplane makes a complete rotation on its longitudinal axis while following a helical path, approximately maintaining its original direction."

There are at least four other Google search Easter Eggs: ASCII art, anagram, recursion and tilt.

{ Thanks, Herin. Spotted by Jason Cross. }

YouTube Tests a New Interface

Posted by R3ank at 8:13 AM 0 comments

YouTube experiments with a new interface that uses a gray background, muted colors, redesigned buttons and new icons for the like/dislike buttons. Most of the features are available in the Cosmic Panda experiment, but the changes are less drastic.

To try the new interface, change the value of the VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE cookie for youtube.com to Eg7GsyKWzk8. For example, in Google Chrome, go to YouTube's homepage, open the JavaScript console (Ctrl+Shift+J or Menu > Tools > JavaScript Console), paste the following code:

document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=Eg7GsyKWzk8";

Then press Enter, close the console and reload YouTube's homepage.

You can also use extensions like Edit this cookie (Chrome) or Cookies Manager (Firefox). Opera has a powerful cookie manager, so you don't need an extension to edit a cookie.

To go back to the old interface, open your browser's cookie manager, search for youtube.com and delete the VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE cookie.

{ Thanks, Maurice. }

Cartier - One Squad (Official Video)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011 Posted by R3ank at 2:36 PM 0 comments

Sites in Google Docs?

Posted by R3ank at 2:50 AM 0 comments

Aaron, a reader of this blog, noticed that one of his sites created using Google Sites is now listed in Google Docs. "I have an item with a Google Sites icon showing up in my Google Docs home list. Clicking on the link only marks the check box. It's currently not linkable," says Aaron.

The Google Sites icon can already be found in the Google Docs code (here's the URL), but that's not new. It looks like Google Docs will be a central repository for all the files uploaded to Google or created using Google's services, just like Google+ will be Google's sharing platform.