Posted 03/12/10 at 09:19:10 AM by Gina Trapani

Remember that old maxim that says we use only about 10 percent of our brain’s capacity? It’s been proven as hokum by modern neuroscience, but we think we can safely apply the same basic analogy to Google: The vast, vast, vast majority of computer users—even those practiced in hardcore nerdery—are almost certainly using a pitiful fraction of all the applications and features intrinsic to Google’s ever-expanding matrix of software code.

Sure, a Maximum PC reader may be well-versed in Google’s advanced search operators (Google allintext: “advanced search operators” if you missed that chapter), but we’re willing to wager that even the most curious among you haven’t taken the time to play with more than a few Google applications, let alone explore all their advanced features. Indeed, Google HQ is a fan-friggin’-amazing hotbed of R&D, but its developers are relatively quiet about the tools they’ve released. And that’s a shame, because Google’s constant innovation should get more press.

To address your inevitable Google knowledge deficit, we commissioned Gina Trapani to share her favorite tips. Gina launched Lifehacker.com, writes about Google for a bazillion media outlets, co-hosts the “This Week In Google” netcast, and pretty much makes it her job to know as much as possible about Google’s sundry apps and features.

Continue reading after the jump.

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Posted 03/05/10 at 03:52:17 PM by Bart Salisbury

A heads up to Chrome and Gmail users from CNET's Download Blog: if you have Chrome and Gmail configured for offline use, Chrome will crash once you log into Gmail. The problem affects all development versions of Chrome.

There’s a workaround. To keep Chrome on its feet with Gmail running you’ll have to disable the offline option. This requires your going to Options/Under the Hood and removing all of the Gmail-related entires under “Change Gear Settings.” Problem is, you’ll also be removing all of your Gmail offline content.

Another way around the problem, the Download Blog advises: update the browser to the current beta (which will work on the Windows, Linux, and Mac versions), or revert back to a stable build (only for Windows). Windows users can use the Google Chrome Channel Changer to a switch versions.

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Posted 02/23/10 at 10:35:38 AM by David Murphy

I've spoken of the wonders of Chrome's Google Mail Checker Plus extension before.  If you missed the memo, here's a quick hit: Mail Checker Plus drops a little icon next to your address bar that gives you a frequent update as to how many unread messages are in your Gmail account.  You'd think that was it, given the simplicity of what said extension has to do.  However, Google Mail Checker Plus dumps a ton of options into your lap for complete and total customization of this little icon and its functionality, including the ability to drop a preview window that gives you a quick glance as to what said emails actually are, as well as complete color controls and "always-on" SSL connectivity.

Great, eh?  But frequent users of Google's services will note that there's more than just Gmail to worry about.  What's going on in your Google Reader feed?  Any new messages come through Google Voice?  What the heck is Wave and how many unread messages do you have on your watery messaging service?

That's where the simplicity of the extension One Number comes into play.  To find out what this helpful add-on does, and learn all about its extensive configuration options, hit the jump!

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Posted 02/20/10 at 05:14:36 PM by Justin Kerr

The Google Gears blog has been pretty quiet lately, and for a good reason. It appears the project, at least in its current state, is soon to become an orphan. Its no secret that Google is a fan of open standards, and they feel they are fairly close to duplicating all the functionality of Gears, but using HTML5 instead of a separate browser plug-in. “We're not there yet, but we are getting closer. In January we shipped a new version of Google Chrome that natively supports a Database API similar to the Gears database API, workers (both local and shared, equivalent to workers and cross-origin wokers in Gears), and also new APIs like Local Storage and Web Sockets.”

Google is promising to support the older version of Gears until the new HTML5 edition has fully matured, but curiously Safari on OSX Snow Leopard is being dropped because it would require a “significant engineering effort to support due to large architectural changes”. Firefox 3.6 users who have been left in limbo since its release will be happy to hear an update will be coming soon, but I fully expect it will be the last.

Gears has always felt a bit sluggish, so let just hope HTML5 can infuse some much needed pep into Google’s offline services. 

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Posted 02/10/10 at 06:17:44 PM by Jason Barry

The telecommunications agency of Iran announced on Wednesday that they have “permanently suspended” the use of Gmail. Iranians can expect a national email service (ironically) to be released soon regarding the ban.

The announcement comes, along with other reported incidents of authorities disrupting or confiscating various forms of telecommunications, including satellite dishes and cell phones. It is thought that these events might be sparked by this week’s anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, during which it is speculated the streets will fill with anti-government protestors. The U.S. State Department criticized the Iranian government for denying its people “access to information, the ability to express themselves freely, network and share ideas.”

While Google has not directly commented on the order to suspend their email service in Iran, in a recent statement Google says, “we strongly believe that people everywhere should have the ability to communicate freely online. Sadly, sometimes it is not within our control.”

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Posted 02/09/10 at 08:17:19 AM by Paul Lilly

It's tough to ignore the success both Twitter and Facebook have had on the social networking scene, so it shouldn't come as much suprise that Google wants in on the action too. But rather than create a new service altogether, the search giant is planning on adding functionality to its existing Gmail service, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Citing "people familiar with the matter," the WSJ says Google will announce the new Gmail feature very soon, perhaps as early as this week. This feature, the WSJ reports, will be a module added to the Gmail screen that will stream updates from whoever a user chooses to connect with.

Sometime down the line, the module will also tap into a connection's YouTube video and Picasa photo accounts and share that content as well, but it's not clear if this will be announced at the get-go or not.

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Posted 02/02/10 at 12:45:41 PM by David Murphy

Do you want space or do you want security? That's the fundamental question posed by this weeks' spotlight Firefox addon, Gspace. If you think about it for a moment, you can probably get a pretty good inkling of what this addon actually does. If not, here are a few clues. It's USB week here at Maximum PC. But not all of us have access to a USB stick (or a Dropbox account) at all times. And it's not like you can just hunker down and email yourself a 100MB file at once--even Gmail itself has a pesky 25MB attachment limit for anything you send.

The point I'm trying to get at is that sometimes you just need a little extra oomph in the online file storage department. And that's exactly where Gspace comes into play. This simple addon opens up a gateway to file storage via your Gmail account, all handled through an FTP-like display directly in your Firefox browser. No longer will you use your Gmail merely for sending and receiving emails. No, it's now its own file server--free for you to grab and take files anywhere you have access to Firefox and the Gspace addon. Of course, you can also access the gmail address you assign to Gspace through a standard Web client and download (as attachments) any files you've uploaded under 19MB in size--anything larger gets split into Gspace-only archives.

Neat, huh? As always, that description is but the tip of the Gspace iceberg. Click the jump to see what else this awesome addon can do!

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Posted 01/25/10 at 02:45:43 PM by David Murphy

It's difficult to envision a life without email. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing. Suffice, digital messaging is just a fact of geek life that we all have to deal with on a daily basis. Whether your inbox gets flooded with messages like the Nile during rainy season, or it's barren as one of those outback wastelands that Bear Grylls likes to visit, you probably aren't using your email client of choice to its fullest potential.

That's ok. Neither was I before undertaking the research for this week's open-source and freeware roundup. But now that I have seen the light, as it were, I would never go back to the ol' vanilla installations of Outlook, Thunderbird, Gmail, or whatever one's particular email utility of choice happens to be.  There are just too many interesting ways to tweak and alter the normal email experience to better enhance your ability to read, organize, and shuffle your messages.

That's kind of "the big point" of the roundup this week--making your email work better for you. Click the jump, and I'll show you five apps and utilities for taking your email processing to the next level!

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