Tag Archives: google

I’m Officially On Feedly

Since Google decided to shutdown Reader the other day, I decided to migrate over to Feedly. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one. Feedly announced today that there over 500,000 users that have migrated over from Reader. Not a bad pickup for a week.

The main reason I went with Feedly was the interface looks modern and clean. I also like the section “You Might Also Like.” It give users access to feeds similar in content. As long as Feedly keeps their end of the bargain by making the pages snappy, I think most Google Reader users will be happy.

Google Reader Shutting Down

In a move that surprised no one, Google announced today that they are taking down Google Reader on July 1, 2013. Google Reader is a RSS (Really Simple Syndication) reader used for subscribing to news, magazines, blogs and websites. Since Google Reader is shutting down in a couple of months, here are some alternatives to Google Reader that you might want to try.

Turning Off Google Two Step Verification

Google created a two step verification process to increase security. The process requires entering some code, typically a six digit number, in addition to the regular user password. The code is normally sent by Google via SMS text message to the user’s phone.

The downside is if you have any applications that use Gmail’s SMTP to send out email messages, it will be rendered useless due to the extra authentication.

I ended up using another SMTP server. Thanks to AT&T. I’m glad I found another option for sending out email messages within applications. Google does give you the option to turn off the two step verification process, which I ended up doing anyways.

I think the two step process is more of annoyance than anything. Clearing your browser’s cache requires you to re-enter a new code. Each time you’ll receive a new code via SMS text from Google. After doing it for about 10 times all within a week, I grew tired of it.

Now, the two step verification is turned off for good. Thank goodness.

Hey Google, Happy Now?

Dear Google,

Is this website to your liking now? Just to let you know, if you haven’t already noticed, I’ve decided to turn off Google Adwords on my website. That’s right. I’m breaking up with you. Nice knowing you. Have a nice life. I hope you feel better.

Do you want to know why I dumped you? I’m no longer participating in your dumb Google Adwords program because you have way too many rules and regulations. You can’t do this, you can’t do that. First, you demand “nofollow” on all links. But that really didn’t matter, because you manually altered and lowered my page ranking anyways. I could care less about page ranking. You can rank mine to negative 5 million if you want. I don’t give a hoot.

Finally, today was the final straw. Now, you want to dictate how and where I can place my ads. So that everyone here reading this knows, here’s the warning and alert message from Google.

LAYOUT ENCOURAGES ACCIDENTAL CLICKS: Publishers are not permitted to encourage users to click on Google ads in any way. This includes any implementation that may encourage accidental clicks, such as placing ads near flash games or navigation bars, or placing ads and site links extremely close together.

Please. I am done with you. Now that your dumb ads are gone from my website, I can finally have my freedom back. I can do anything to my site. I can use any layout, and any design that I want, without you telling me what to do. I don’t have to adhere to your stupid rules and regulations just to make you happy.

By the way, you can shove that worthless couple of dollars a month to where the sun don’t shine. You guys are cheap. Other advertisers pay more. I’m sorry I already found a replacement. And please, don’t bother explaining and rationalizing what you did, because I’m done listening to you. Comments are off.

Install Google Chrome On Ubuntu and Mint

Installing the Google Chrome browser on the latest release of Ubuntu or Linux Mint has never been easy. Just head over to Google Chrome website and download the latest Chrome browser package. Google does a great job of detecting what OS you’re running. Google Chrome is available on Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and openSUSE.

Download Chrome

Once you clicked on the Download Chrome button, you’ll have to choose whether you want to run 32 bit or 64 bit version of the Google Chrome browser. If you have 64 bit OS, you can take advantage of the added processing power by running the 64 bit version of Google Chrome.

GDebi Package Installer

Once downloaded, just head over to your Downloads folder. There should be a deb package. Mine was named “google-chrome-stable_current_amd64.deb.” Just right click and use GDebi Package Installer program to install Google Chrome. Click on the “Install Package” to begin the installation.

Menu > Internet > Google Chrome

If you have Google Chrome previously, you will see a couple of different buttons other than Install Package. You will see a “Reinstall Package” and “Remove Package” buttons. After the installation, the Google Chrome icon should be in the Menu system, most likely under the “Internet” sub-menu system.

Google Chrome 19

Google Chrome 19 is now out. The latest release give users the ability to synch their open tabs across all devices. Whether they are on their desktops, laptops or Android devices, they can now share theiropen tabs across different platforms.

The only requirement is, you have to be logged in to Google Chrome to synch your open tabs. You can download Google Chrome 19 directly from Google Chrome’s website or update to Google Chrome 19 via the Tools menu within the Google Chrome browser.

How Google Uses Ubuntu

I have been an Ubuntu evangelist for many years. I’ve been writing about Linux, and mostly about Ubuntu. The article written by Ubuntu Vibes is a confirmation that I’m not crazy after all.

One of the biggest technology companies in the world, Google, is in fact using Ubuntu. Ubuntu Vibes covered a recent Ubuntu Development Summit and had this to say about Google’s developer Thomas Bushnell.

“He starts by saying ‘Precise Rocks’ and that many Google employees use Ubuntu including managers, software engineers, translators, people who wrote original Unix, people who have no clue about Unix etc. Many developers working on Chrome and Android use Ubuntu and his cook in Google office uses Kubuntu.”

In addition, Google has a custom version of Ubuntu called Goobuntu which is based on the Ubuntu LTS or Long Term Support. You can read more about what Google is doing with Linux at Ubuntu Vibes.

Google Drive 5GB For Free

Based on rumors, it looks like Google will release a new service called Google Drive in a couple of weeks. Google Drive will compete with Dropbox, iCloud, Box and host of other online storage and collaboration services.

The word on the street is, Google Drive users will receive 5GB for free, a much higher value than previously anticipated. Potentially, Google can sweeten the deal by making the integration of its other services a key selling point.

Integration with GMail and Google Docs can take Google Drive over the top above other competitors. I would pay to see Google Docs having the ability to save files on Google Drive. If Google were to allow such a thing, it would be an instant hit.

What a combo that will be.

Create Your Own Google+ ID Card

Create your own Google+ ID card at Hangout Graphics. If you haven’t joined Google+ yet, sign up. To get your own ID card, you will need to provide your Google ID number, and the date you joined Google Plus. Hangout Graphics will then spit out an image after you click submit. Finding out your Google ID number takes a little bit of searching. I found mine under Google+ Settings > Privacy. Getting the date when you first joined Google+ is the tricky one. I ended up digging in my email to look for then message when I first got the Google+ invitation.

Get your own Google+ ID card.

Ulyssesonline

the online surfer