Gmail to overtake Yahoo! Mail in 2010

Currently Yahoo's offering has 240 million users vs Gmail's 80 million - but it had a huge headstart, and many people choose to keep legacy emaild addresses for obvious reasons.

But soon GMail will be as well known as Yahoo! Mail, because it is growing at 53% per year! More at Marketing Vox.

Google Reader - Privacy Problems?

Lots of talk about the "shared items" feature now meaning that people in your contact list can see these. Common sense says that the word "shared" is enough. Just like in Windows, if you have a "shared folder", it's one that other folk can look at.

More at Mashable

What Will Google Do Next?

8 possibilities from ComputerWorld.com include:

1. Purchasing traditional media - like a tv station
2. Free PCs - supported by ads
6. Local Reviews - I love the hairdresser on 5th St.!

Even Google won't have the nerve to do #1, but #6 is a near cert, and #2 is a no-go because this model (free in exchange for ads) began and ended with tv and video - it won't work with phone, internet etc

Google Toolbar 5

For IE only, so far...get it here

The best new thing is Google Gadgets that can sit in your toolbar.

Also, there is a notebook feature, described here as "bookmarking on steroids".

Best for me, multiple profiles for AutoFill - I have 3 personas online, all with different data, so this is wonderful timesaver!

(hurry up Firefox version!)

Google Profiles arrives

Another part of Google’s master plan has quietly debuted on a couple of their sites: Google Profiles. Most easily accessed at the moment through Google Maps (look for the “My Profile” link in the top menubar if you’re logged in to a Google account), they’re also currently integrated with Google Reader (”Settings” and then “Friends” will take you there). Google promises that Profiles will link up other Google products as well, though as yet they’re not saying which ones or how quickly this will happen.

This could be a key piece to Google's downfall, or total domination, I'm not sure which.

Imagine your Facebook profile, but other people have indirect access (or direct with your permission) to all your information transactions - searches made, blogs read, pictures uploaded, who your friends are, who they know, what you ate for breakfast...

At some point, people will feel that Google own who they are, and they might baulk. Up until then, they'll probably love the integration.

Google's Knol Edge?

Google has a new little experiment:

At the heart, a knol is just a web page; we use the word "knol" as the name of the project and as an instance of an article interchangeably. It is well-organized, nicely presented, and has a distinct look and feel, but it is still just a web page. Google will provide easy-to-use tools for writing, editing, and so on, and it will provide free hosting of the content. Writers only need to write; we'll do the rest

Google is hoping to attract experts to write succinctly about what they know, thereby creating a knowledgebase.

It's one part Squidoo, one part Wikipedia. My prediction is that while it is a closed beta it will flounder, and when the public are let in it'll become a shallow venue for people trying to make a quick buck.

Google Adds 8 US Cities to Street View

Cities added this week include Boston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Detroit, and Providence, making a total in the US of 23 cities.

It'll be very interesting to see at which point Google stops expanding coverage, and concentrates on updates. Presumably, in terms of ROI, a town of 100 people is not worth bothering with, but then Google may have to explain this to the town's residents. Google may have to say that "making the world's information accessible" doesn't include some little corners of the world...

Google Earth could catch a killer?

"Police hope a Google Earth tracking van can provide vital clues to the death of a young woman whose body, wrapped in blue plastic bags, was today found in the front yard of an empty Melbourne house.

...a Google Earth van that has been tracking the suburb for the past week may also provide strong clues. "Google Earth has made satellite images of the area over the past week," Det Snr Sgt Maher said. "It's new technology and we might get something out of it."

More...

Of course a single photo taken at a random time within the last week - the odds are against it snapping the killer.

Larry Page Gets Married!

On Richard Branson's island.

To "a candidate for a Ph.D. in biomedical informatics at Stanford."

In front of 600 guests, including Bono.

"My Location" Available for Aussie Mobile Users

Basically, you get to find out where you are, without your phone having GPS. And Google gets to serve you local ads.

It works on most smartphones, and is quicker than GPS, and drains your batteries less - it uses triangulation, the same way that emergency services can locate you.

More info at Google

Free Content via Google's Cache

This trick works for many sites - they restrict content to paid subscribers, but let search engines like Google see the content too - which means it is in Google's cache!

When having problems with anything related to IT you search google. And many of the top results come from Experts Exchange.

But the thing about Experts Exchange is that the answers are only visible if you register (and pay?).

Well this way you can see the answers:

1. Search for your problem on google
2. If you come up with a result from Experts Exchange, press te cache button near your result