Well, they’re not the only ones, but they’re definitely the ones to watch. Or.. Talk to?
Google has been working on (among many other projects) searching their insanely large libraries using spoken words. Their iPhone app will take speech queries and return results for you. Find out more about speech-driven iPhone searches with google.
I haven’t seen it show up yet as an update on my iPhone, but the NY Times is expecting it any minute now.
The beta is to start with Windows-only, but there’s a Mac and Linux version in the works as well. Word is that it’s Open Source, stable, fast, etc. etc. etc.
Obviously, it will integrate well with the web apps that Google has been making available to its account-holders, but one hopes that this isn’t the start of another standards-flouting browser war.
Read the details about Google’s new browser (In a comic, no less) from the source.
The internet is beyond a fad. Of that, there’s no doubt. It’s a powerful tool, and it all centers around communication. The ease of using the medium isn’t always up to par, however, and so it’s only the geeks that seem to be on the ball when it comes to the sharing, storing, comparing and broadcasting.
With the advent of blogs, social networks like facebook, mashup sites, and instant notification concepts like RSS, that’s all changing.
There’s a great project in the works that takes it a step further, putting all of these tools at your fingertips, and making it easy to use everyday language, too.
Take a brief look at Ubiquity for Firefox in this great intro video by Aza Raskin, and then, take a deeper look, if you like.
When it comes to websites, structure is something that every designer needs to think about before choosing a typeface or a colour scheme. The planning in these stages shapes how your content is presented and accessed, but in some cases, may actually influence appropriate content choices. Decisions about navigation shouldn’t be left to the end of the planning process, for your designer to deal with as an afterthought. Content is what you want on your site, but it’s extremely important that you make a commitment to a method of organizing it.
He’s the man behind the song at the end of the Valve game, Portal, but even before that, he had a cult following on the internet. Almost three years ago, he quit his job as a computer programmer to pursue music full-time. He started a project called “Thing-a-Week,” a regimented approach to his creative side, and one that would cement a great connection to his fans. The concept was simple, but required dedication to pull off. Every week, he would release something. Anything. Most of it was cool stuff. Some of it was übercool. Much of it was about monkeys, and other everyday topics.
There are a few defining characteristics for geeks, many of which can be hotly debated. Using a custom version of Linux as your day-to-day operating system, knowing how to code in the assembly language of an obscure piece of hardware that doesn’t even get used anymore, scolding your friends for not having strict doctypes on their webpages about cats they own.
There’s another sort of geek, and that’s the one that gets chills when he or she sees an opening cinematic crafted by the team at Blizzard.
You may know of them as a search engine, and a free mail service, but Google has an amazing amount of tools for use on the web — some are even made to be used when you’re not even on the internet!
They also have some great solutions for businesses. You can be one person, or have enterprise-level needs, but you’re sure to find a Google product to help you with your day.
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