Google+ for Google Apps

As promised, Google+ is now available for Google Apps users. Administrators can enable the new service from the control panel, as explained here. Google+ requires that Picasa Web Albums and Google Talk are enabled and that the organization uses the new accounts infrastructure. If the two services are enabled and the option to automatically add new services is selected, Google+ is automatically enabled.



After the enabling the service, you need to wait a few minutes until you can use it. Obviously, users have to manually join Google+ by visiting plus.google.com. "Google Apps users will have access to the same set of features that are available to every Google+ user, and more. In addition to sharing publicly or with your circles, you'll also have the option to share with everyone in your organization, even if you haven't added all of those people to a circle," explains Google.

It's interesting that Google+ is available for higher education institutions, but not for other education institutions because users must be at least 18 years old to use Google+.

You probably noticed that Google+ evolves incredibly fast, faster than any other Google service. The support for Google Apps is not the only new feature: there's Hot on Google+ (a section that highlights popular posts), Ripples (a visualization tool for public shares and comments) and a Creative Kit for photo editing powered by Picnik.

What's New in Chrome 15?

Chrome 15 brings a few changes and some new features. Here are some of them:

1. A redesigned new tab page inspired by mobile interfaces. There are two "homescreens" for apps and most visited pages, but you can create a new "homescreen" by dragging apps and pages to the bottom bar and selecting the new "homescreen". You can also remove pages and apps by dragging them to the bottom bar and then to trash area ("remove from Chrome"). Any bookmark can now become app: just drag it to the new tab page. This also works for the most visited pages.

2. The extension manager is now a section of the options page and has a new interface. You can now use the inline search box to find extensions. The old interface is displayed if you type chrome://extensions in the address bar, while the new address is: chrome://settings/extensions.


3. Chrome's menu has changed: the bookmarks menu is easier to find and there's a new item for Chrome sync.


4. If you don't like Chrome's print preview page, use a shortcut to open the native print dialog: Ctrl+Shift+P (Cmd-Shift-P for Mac).

5. You can now print headers and footers.


Can you find other new features?

Google Tests a New Search Interface for Tablets

Google experiments with a slightly different search interface for tablets. There's a new settings button below the search box that lets you disable SafeSearch and use the advanced search filters. The most popular specialized search engines are no longer hidden behind a small arrow: the new interface mimics the desktop UI and displays a list of search engines, followed by a "more" link. It's quite obvious that the navigation bar starts to become unnecessary, now that the settings button and most navigation links are displayed below the search box.





Three months ago, Google launched an interface optimized for iPad and Android tablets.

Pentingnya Pengertian Client Dalam Project IT

"Om Swastiastu"

Diantara kalian adakah yang sudah mempunyai pengalaman mengerjakan sebuah project? Bagi yang belum saya akan sedikit berbagi pengalaman kepada kalian. Dalam sebuah proyek diperlukan kerja sama tim yang bagus agar project dapat terselesaikan tepat waktu. Project leader harus mampu memimpin timnya dengan baik sehingga apa yang dibebankan dapat dilaksanakan sesuai kewajibannya masing-masing. Misalkan ada yang bertugas mengurus menyusun proposal, merancang database, mendesain user interface, coding hingga membuat laporan akhir.

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Chrome Web Store's Redesign

As promised, Google's Chrome Web Store has a new interface that uses promotional images and larger screenshots, opens extension pages in overlays and makes it easier to install extensions, themes and apps. Another change is that the new version is a lot faster as it uses AJAX to load extension pages. Infinite scrolling replaces pagination, so you no longer have to click "next".

"Promotional images are your chance to capture users' attention and entice them to learn more. Don't just use a screenshot; your images should primarily communicate the brand," suggests Google in the documentation.





Unfortunately, search results are now terrible, as you can see in the screenshot above. When searching for [Gmail], from the top 10 search results, only 2 extensions and apps are relevant. The top search result for [YouTube] is AdBlock, while the first result for [Google Docs] is FB Photo Zoom. The search algorithm is not good enough and Google made things worse by mixing the results for extensions and apps.

The new interface is only available in Chrome and Chromium, so you can go to https://chrome.google.com/webstore in a different browser to see the old interface.




{ Thanks, Costin and Jérémy. }

How Steve Jobs Influenced Google's Restructuring

Walter Isaacson's book about Steve Jobs includes some unflattering quotes about Google and Android, but it also explains Larry Page's decision to close many Google products and to create a cohesive interface for Google. After announcing that it will become Google's CEO, Larry Page met Steve Jobs, "who lived less than three blocks away", and asked for tips on how to be a good CEO. Here's how Steve Jobs described the meeting:

We talked a lot about focus. And choosing people. How to know who to trust, and how to build a team of lieutenants he can count on. I described the blocking and tackling he would have to do to keep the company from getting flabby and being larded with B players. The main thing I stressed was focus. Figure out what Google wants to be when it grows up. It's now all over the map. What are the five products you want to focus on? Get rid of the rest, because they're dragging you down. They're turning you into Microsoft. They're causing you to turn out products that are adequate but not great.

It's interesting to note that focus is one of the three principles of Google's new design. "With the design changes in the coming weeks and months, we're bringing forward the stuff that matters to you and getting all the other clutter out of your way," explained Google. Focus is also one of the reasons why Google closed Google Labs, discontinued Google Desktop, Google Pack, Google Health, and many other services. "This will make things much simpler for our users, improving the overall Google experience. It will also mean we can devote more resources to high impact products — the ones that improve the lives of billions of people." More wood behind fewer arrows means that the number of Google products will continue to decrease. Even Larry Page admitted back in July that "greater focus has also been another big feature for me this quarter" and that "focus and prioritization are crucial given our amazing opportunities".

Steve Jobs was a role model for Larry Page and Sergey Brin. When Google's founders wanted to find a CEO for Google, Jobs was a perfect match. "One person, and one only, had met their standards: Steve Jobs. This was ludicrous for a googolplex of reasons. Jobs was already the CEO of two public companies. In addition, he was Steve Jobs. You would sooner get the Dalai Lama to join an Internet start-up." (from "In the Plex", by Steven Levy). "From the earliest days of Google, whenever Larry and I sought inspiration for vision and leadership, we needed to look no farther than Cupertino," wrote Sergey Brin after hearing that Steve Jobs died.

Blogger to Integrate With Google+

When you edit your Blogger profile, Blogger shows a message at the top of the page that says: "Connect Blogger to Google+: Use your Google profile and get access to upcoming Google+ features on Blogger". Unfortunately, the links seem to be broken, but both URLs reference profile switching.


It's obvious that Blogger profiles will be discontinued and replaced by Google Profiles, but it's not clear how Blogger will integrate with Google+. Maybe Blogger posts will automatically trigger Google+ posts and Blogger/Google+ comments will be synchronized. Friend Connect will be discontinued and Google+ could replace it. Friend Connect's goal was to "help site owners easily provide social features for their visitors. Users gain the ability to sign in to, make friends on, and interact with your site, making it more social and more dynamic". It wasn't successful, but Google+ has a better chance to make Blogger more social.

Update: Blogger's blog informs that this option is available if you use Blogger in Draft and it will be released in the regular Blogger interface in the coming weeks. For now, the only changes are that the Blogger profile redirects to the Google profile, the author's name is now obtained from Google Profiles and Google's snippets for the blog posts include information about authors: name, thumbnail and link to the profile. "If you blog under a pseudonym and do not want your blog to be associated with your real name, you should not migrate from a Blogger profile to a Google+ profile," suggests Google. If you change your mind after switching to the Google+ profile, you can revert to the Blogger profile.

{ Thanks, Herin. }