Real-time search is the in thing. Recently, I have come across news where people have been rescued by searching there information on Twitter along with a GPS device. An other example of a real time Search can be found in this Telegraph article.

Having said the importance of real time search results and Twitter in the search arena, here is an interesting Greasemonkey script developed by Mark Carey of MT-HACKS. When implemented/installed, this script will show the most relevant 5 tweets for the search query entered in Google. The results will be displayed at the top. This will have no impact on your Google search results. Moreover, you will have real-time search results and Google results both on the same page.

How to install this Greasemonkey Script in Firefox?

1. Install the Greasemonkey Firefox plugin which lets you customize a web page with JavaScript.
2. Visit Twitter Search results on Google and click on the INSTALL button.

If you want to install this on Opera, please read the instructions below.

1. Installing Scripts in Opera.
2. Supported Greasemonkey Scripts in Opera.

Twitter has still a long way to go before it can overtake Google as the top Search Engine. Twitter may work better in the case of real-time search. But for programmers, developers and many other professionals, Google is the favorite.

We have seen browser wars between Firefox, IE, Opera, Chrome. Do we get to see the Search Engine wars between Google and Twitter in the future?

Technorati Tags: Twitter, Google, Greasemonkey, Search Results, Firefox, Opera

The second post said ‘Check out the new Google Apps Status Dashboard’, which may be the real motive in Google joining Twitter. To spread about it’s applications. Since then, Google started tweeting regularly, but unlike others, it only has few tweets a day.

This Twitter account of Google attracted over 31,000 followers in less than 3 days. It has posted over 100 updates together from all it’s accounts. There are tweets about Google Toolbar, Google Friend Connect and Google Translate.

Other Google Accounts on Twitter

1. Google
2. Google Apps
3. Google Reader
4. You Tube
5. Blogger

Other Popular Accounts on Twitter

1. Yahoo
2. Yahoo Movies
3. Live Search
4. Facebook
5. MS Windows
6. Barack Obama

Twitter, a micro-blogging service that allows up to 140 characters to tell people what you’re doing, is surely attracting the attention of the Corporate Biggies and of course, some of the most powerful people as well.

Let me tell you something. I found it very interesting to search the above accounts. It was all the more fun to find who’s following whom! You will be surprised to see the results. Go! Check yourself. Happy Tweeting!!!

GeeMail is a desktop client that can be installed in your system. Once you are connected to the Internet, all your emails will be synchronized with the application.

Features

1. Runs on Adobe AIR Platform.
2. You don’t have to configure the SMTP/POP or IMAP settings for it to work. Just install and use it.
3. The UI (User Interface) is almost similar to Gmail. It has all the features that you expect in Gmail.
4. It’s Cross Platform. You can use this on Windows, MAC & Linux.
5. Of course, provides you with offline access.

Drawbacks

1. Google recently introduced Offline Access for Gmail through Gears. No additional clients are needed to access Gmail when offline.
2. Gmails most important feature – Mail Search is not available in GeeMail.
3. It only downloads smaller portion of your Gmail initially to make the application faster. In other words, it downloads the data parts by parts. For instance, emails first and labels later (when the CPU/application is idle)

I do not want to install and additional piece of software only for accessing Gmail offline. I would either use Gmail in offline access mode or I use Outlook mail client. You may download the software here.

What do you think? Do you prefer this software over official Gmail offline? Will you install it?

Technorati Tags: Gmail, Google, Gmail Offline Access, Email Client

To move an email out of your inbox and into a label it usually involves 2 steps. Not any longer. Gmail added the ‘Move’ functionality available in all the other email services. Last but late, gmail at last made this task easy!

what with the ‘Auto Complete’ feature, Labeling or Moving the emails to folders would be much more easier with Keyboard Shortcuts. You can enable Keyboard Shortcuts in your Gmail Settings.

Here are the list of available Keyboard Shortcuts in Gmail.

When Gmail was initially launched, it boosted of being different. But, it did not realize that simple features like ‘Moving of emails to Folders’ is a complex task in Gmail. Even now, many of them are not aware of how to move emails to Labels or Archive them.

At last, they have come-up with the ‘Move’ option. Yes, Gmail is certainly different. Make it complex first then release the new feautres which are already available with other service providers.

Some of the other features available in Gmail.

1. Do you know that you can enable Avatars in your Gmail chat?
2. Do you know you can access your Gmail even without Internet?

Go to Settings, and then click on Labs for more details on these features and more.

What is Gmail Offline?
With the offline service, users will be able to load Gmail in their Web browsers even if they don’t have an Internet connection, and they will be able to read, star, label, archive, and organize e-mails. Offline Gmail will also allow users to compose new e-mails and move them to the Outbox, where they will wait until the user is online again to be sent.

Gears Platform
Google implemented office access to Gmail through Gears, a browser plug-in designed to provide offline access to Web-hosted applications like Gmail. This functionality uses the Gmail interface when disconnected from the Internet and provides you the same view as online.

Gears is currently used for offline access to several Web applications from Google, like the Reader RSS manager and the Docs word processor, and from other providers like Zoho, which uses it for offline access to its e-mail and word processing browser-based applications.

Many users manage their Gmail accounts offline through POP and IMAP protocols (supported by Gmail) that let people download and send out messages using desktop e-mail software like Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird and others.

However, the Gears implementation will let people work within the Gmail interface without the need for a separate PC application. When offline, messages will be put in a Gears browser queue, and the desktop and online versions of the accounts will be synchronized automatically when users connect to the Internet again.

Instructions to enable Gmail offline

1. Sign in to Gmail and click ‘Settings’.
2. Click the ‘Labs’ tab and select ‘Enable’ next to ‘Offline Gmail’.
3. Click ‘Save Changes.’
4. In the upper right hand corner of your account, next to your user name, there will be a new ‘Offline’ link. Click this link to start the offline synchronization process.

Technorati Tags: Google, Gmail, Offline email Access, Gears

In addition to that, Xoopit allows you to do a web search while composing a mail in Gmail and add results directly to your message.

Currently, Xoopit is available only with Gmail and Google Apps. The upcoming, Yahoo! Mail’s new Smarter Inbox will also have the Xoopit feature.

Some cool features of Xoopit

1. Browse photos and videos from YouTube, Flickr, Shutterfly, Kodak and Picasa right within your Gmail Account. Links sent to your Gmail account are automatically collected, saving you the hassle of going to these sites.
2. Xoopit upgrades Gmail search to show you the photos, videos and files that match what you are looking for.
3. Quick share to friends, Facebook or your blog.
4. Do a web search while composing a mail in Gmail and add results directly to your message.
5. Get information, contact details and more about the people in Gmail’s conversation view.
6. Provides you with a great view of your Photographs on top of your Inbox.
7. One can directly send Photographs received as attachments to someone else, without forwarding the actual email.
8. Get your Firefox extension for Xoopit.

What do you think about Xoopit? Did you like the way it searches you Gmail Inbox and the wonderful view it provides with your Multimedia content?

Technorati Tags: Gmail, Google, Xoopit

Friend Connect Logo

Google Launched yet another Feather to its Cap with the release of Friend Connect Beta with the caption “Grow traffic by adding social networking features to your site”. Google is everywhere and I have no complaints!

Friend Connect Beta makes it easy for users to sign in to a website, share a bit about themselves through a personal profile, discover other people with similar interests, invite their contacts, and interact with friends, all through their existing account from Google, Yahoo, AOL, or OpenID.

Google’s been working with a handful of website owners, social networks, and application developers to improve Friend Connect’s speed and scalability, ease of use, and customization capabilities. They’ve also expanded the features available to users with more integrated profiles and new ways to discuss and share content, like including YouTube videos in comments.

Websites that use Friend Connect become OpenSocial containers, capable of running applications created by the OpenSocial developer community.

How does it work?
Visitors of your site can

1. Sign in with their Google, Yahoo, AIM or an Open ID Account
2. Interact with other visitors by making friends, sharing media, posting comments, playing games and more
3. Invite friends from other social networking sites

Getting Started

1. Log in to Google Friend Connect and register your site. It’s an easy process
2. Choose your gadget and paste it anywhere on your page
3. No third step. You are done

Benefits

1. Anyone can join and get updates on your site with their existing accounts with Google, Yahoo, AIM or Open ID
2. Visitors can invite someone to your site
3. Gadgets will keep the visitors deeply engaged with your site and with each other

For more information, visit Google Friend Connect.

Technorati Tags: Google, Social Networking, Traffic, Gadgets

SearchWiki

These modifications will be shown to the users every time they do the same search in the future. For this to happen, you have to be logged in to a Google account so that the changes you make will be saved and shown the next time you run the same search.

How SearchWiki works?
Log in to your google account and search for a query on Google Search. For every search result, you will see two light-colored icons next to the listing which lets you reorder the search results. An up arrow lets you move a result higher on the page; an X will remove the result. After you’ve moved a result higher, a down arrow shows up so you can move it back down the page. The icons turn bright green after an edit to remind you that you edited the result. A fourth icon in the shape of a text bubble lets you leave comments on any listing; anyone can see the comments you make on a separate page.

Example

• Logged in to my Google Account and searched for my name Arun Yerram.
• I would certainly want my name to be the first result. So, I clicked on Up Arrow button and promoted it to the top.
• Now every time I search for Arun Yerram it would appear at the top.
• When you are not logged in, and when you search for Arun Yerram the result will be the undo of the changes that were just made. So, a search on my name will result to the same result as before.

SearchWiki is smart enough to remember the changes you made when you search again for the same exact phrase.

Customization

Add a Result

There’s an ‘Add a link’ at the bottom of the search pages through which you can suggest a link to the search results. There are other options through which you can view the notes and all the other changes that you have made with the results.

SearchWiki is turned on by default for everyone who’s logged in to their Google Accounts. You can turn it off by logging off! For now, this is the only way to turn it off! The simplest way is to ignore it.

Implications on SEO or Page Ranking
The changes made through the SearchWiki will have no impact on the Page Ranking of the web pages. If you put your own site in the 1st position for your primary keywords, you’re the only Google user who’ll see your site at the top of the rankings. Your site will, however, be included when users click the “See all notes for this SearchWiki” link at the bottom of the page; that link leads to another page that shows what results other users have re-ordered, removed, or added.

Future Improvements
The massive amount of user data that Google will collect from searchers that use SearchWiki should allow Google to further expand the service’s functionality. You can imagine Google suggesting pages to add when a user removes a result s/he doesn’t like, for example.