Recently in Google Category

UPDATE: Google apologizes for the outage that hit users worldw ide. But it didn't say what caused it, a recent entry on its official blog said. Excerpt:

If youâve tried to access your Gmail account today, you are probabl y aware by now that weâre having some problems. Shortly after 10 9:30am GMT our monitoring systems alerted us that Gmail consumer and businesses accounts worl dwide could not get access to their email. Weâre working very hard to solve the problem and weâre really sorry for the inc onvenience. Those users in the US and UK who have enabled Gmail offline through Gmail Labs should be able to access their inbox, although they wonât be able t o send or receive emails.

GMAIL users saw their accounts inaccessible late Tuesday (Manila time). The Gmail service says it is experiencing a "502 server error," which means tha t the server is experiencing congestion or has "too many connections, high traf fic." Helloluis observes o n Twitter: "Watching the #gmail complaints stream thru http://tinyurl.com/dbvtv 9 A bit like watching a crowd around a car accident." A few minutes after Helloluis tweets: " I don't think I'll ever get tired to se eing thousands of tweets on the same subject pouring in over the span of a few minutes. #gmail #fail." There is still no explanation on the Gmail blog as of this writing.

By Anna Valmero INQUIRER.net Search engine giant Google has rolled another experiment through its web-based email service Gmail. It's called "Gmail offline." While the announcement comes after Zimbra's own offline email offering, Gmail u sers were excited (myself included) with the launch of this offline feature. It means I could read my messages even if I don't have an Internet connection. To set up Gmail offline on your PC, follow these steps: 1. Open Gmail account online. Set Language to English. 2. On the upper right hand corner of the account page, click Settings, then cli ck Labs Tab. 3. Tick Enable next to Offline Gmail. 4. Click Save Changes. 5. After reloading the browser, "Offline0.1" link appears next to the user name (username@gmail.com). Click the new link to start the setup of Gmail offline. (Setup time depends on the number and size of your emails.) (Reminder: Before starting the setup, make sure to use a browser supported by G mail Labs and Gears--IE 7, Firefox 2.0 up, Safari 3.0 up or Google Chrome--and have Google Gears, free software, installed in your PC). As the name suggests, Gmail offline allows users to access messages on Gmail even without connecting to the Internet. The feature was tested for over a year at Google Labs division before it was la unched and is still in the experimental stage, according to Gmail engineer Andy Palay at the Google blog site. So how does it work? When online, Gmail uses Google Gears technology to download a local cache of yo ur mail. An algorithm determines the "latest and most important" messages for d ownload and syncs a maximum of 10,000 messages in your local disk. The time needed for synchronizing messages depends on the number and size of th e attachments to be downloaded. Using wireless connection, it took me two hours to sync while I was continuousl y reading and replying to messages. A friendly note: Do not to enable this feature when using public computers to p rotect your account. Gmail offline only requires you to enter your log in name. So after almost a week of trial, here's my verdict: The downside: Adding attachments in reply messages while in Offline or Flaky mo de is currently not supported. But Google Labs is now working on it (according to the message prompt that appe ars when you click "Attach File"). The Calendar and Contacts manager features are also inaccessible. And since not all messages will be synced to your hard disk, email search results are limite d to those that are downloaded in your local cache. The feature is only availab le in English as of this writing. The upside: Since the messages are stored in your hard disk, it is faster to se arch, read and label messages. You can reply to messages, which are then stored in the Outbox folder. Reply messages will be sent once you connect to Gmail. A ttachments such as images, PDF files and text documents can be viewed and downl oaded or saved to your PC. Setting up Gmail offline for multiple computers is also possible. So you can ha ve this on both your home or mobile PC (separate syncing is required). Users ca n opt to use the âFlaky connection modeâ if you have a really poor Internet con nection. So have you tried Gmail offline? What's your take?

INTER NET services giant Google Inc. has launched the Google Earth 5.0 with an update called Ocean. The new feature allows users to look at 3D images of the underwa ter terrain and view the world's large bodies of water. Two additional features were also added to Google Earth 5.0. They include the H istorical Imagery and Touring. The former is a virtual time travel to areas usi ng archived satellite imagery. The latter is a feature that allows users to exp erience a voice-over tour of Google Earth. Users can view photos and videos embedded n Google Earth 5.0. There are also ad ditional materials from about 80 oceanographic organizations and a National Geo graphic Magazine quiz feature. There are also archival videos from the famous o ceanographer Jacques Cousteau. There is also a new Google Earth "GSP tracking" feature, which was initially av ailable on the paid versions of Google Earth. Incidentally, Google added these features to highlight environmental issues. Go ogle has already invited to the launch of Google Earth 5.0 former vice presiden t and environment advocate Al Gore who spoke of the new Historical Imagery feat ure, which also shows the drastic environmental changes happening to the planet . In light of these new Google Earth features, Google CEO Eric Schmidt talked abo ut the biodiversity loss in the world's oceans and said that the Internet compa ny can help change people's perception of the environment. Some Philippine oceanographic landmarks are also highlighted in Google Earth 5. 0. Among these are Apo Coral Reef and dive spots in the island resort of Boraca y and Siargao. The Google Earth 5.0 software can be downloaded for free. Watch this video: