Marcus Hamaker is The Sleepy Geek

Google has been working on a new search results page and we now know how to access it. Doing this will make all future search results appear with the new format unless you delete the Google.com cookie.

To access the new search page you need to go to www.google.com (if you use a local search such as www.google.ca then this will not work – you can click on Go To Google.com on the main page). Once you have accessed the main .com site then you need to remove all the test from your address bar (including the http://) and place the following test there:

javascript:void(document.cookie=”PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/; domain=.google.com”);


Once the text is in the address bar you can hit enter to load or press the go button in your browser.

This new search result page has a nice look to it. The question I haven’t answered to myself yet is – will it benefit me in any way. Google.com has always been functional due to its simplicity.

Here is a before:

And here is the new look:

I think I like it esthetically but will I be as quick to find what I am looking for. Time will tell – I want to here what you think as well!

Geek on :)

Have you ever not used Google Docs because you didn’t know if you would always have access to the cloud to work on them? Once they are there then they are stuck there – right? WRONG!

I love it. Google has just released a new feature in the Docs app to allow you to export your documents to the most popular formats. This is really cool! If you are like me then you have some cases where Docs makes sense. Most of the time for me that means that I need to share a document with someone and collaborate on it. Bryan (http://www.geekerrific.com) whom I do Everyday Geek with and I use Docs all the time to work on podcast planning. We have lists of tasks that need to be completed as well as show setup lists. Amazing how easy it is to work on the document at the same time.

But there is always that chance that a document that was worked on in Google needs to be sent somewhere in a different format.

“Convert, Zip and Download” now joins dozens of other liberation features across our product offerings, ranging from Blogger’s full blog downloads to email export from Gmail using IMAP and POP3. The feature lets you bundle your Google Docs in a format of your choice (MS Office, Open Office, PDF, etc.) and download them as a zip file. No longer do you have to download each document individually, which can take a lot of time if you have hundreds of documents like I do! All you need to do is select the relevant Docs, click on “Export” from the “More Actions” menu and download them in one go. (Check out the Google Docs Blog for more details.)

I encourage you to take a look at this new feature. To know that you can export your written docs in Word format or your spreadsheets in Excel format is a real asset. I also love the fact that you can export as a PDF. If you don’t have a utility to make a PDF on your computer, then a quick and dirty way could be to import a doc into Google Docs and then export it to PDF.

Happy Googling everyone,

Geek on!

A study recently released by CareerBuilder.com has plainly laid it out for job seekers – as much as 45% of hiring companies will seek out information on candidates from social networking sites.

This should be a warning for all of us. It’s hard to remove pictures and text from the web once it is there. As a member of the professional community you need to be careful what you put up online. There are a lot of things that we would share with our friends but wouldn’t share with an employer and it should be thought of that way when online. Services such as Flicker that host your pictures can be quickly checked by anyone online.

“Social networking is a great way to make connections with potential job opportunities and promote your personal brand across the Internet,” said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder. “Make sure you are using this resource to your advantage by conveying a professional image and underscoring your qualifications.”

Haefner recommends the following DOs and DON’Ts to keep a positive image online:

• DO clean up digital dirt BEFORE you begin your job search. Remove any photos, content and links that can work against you in an employer’s eyes.
• DO consider creating your own professional group on sites like Facebook or BrightFuse.com to establish relationships with thought leaders, recruiters and potential referrals.
• DO keep gripes offline. Keep the content focused on the positive, whether that relates to professional or personal information. Makes sure to highlight specific accomplishments inside and outside of work.
• DON’T forget others can see your friends, so be selective about who you accept as friends. Monitor comments made by others. Consider using the “block comments” feature or setting your profile to “private” so only designated friends can view it.
• DON’T mention your job search if you’re still employed.

Very good suggestions i nmy books but I think there are a few more that I would take into consideration:

• Check all the privacy settings for social sites such as Facebook, make sure that only you and your immediate friends can see your profile
• Review your friends pictures to make sure that they have not posted something of you that you find distasteful
• Most of all – if you think that it could be interpreted negatively then don’t post it online at all

Do your best to remain true to yourself but keep it clean and inoffensive, then…

Geek on!

Google has released a new feature today for their Maps app which will allow you to search for multiple locations along your route. This is something that my TomTom GPS has been able to do in the car for quite some time so I think it’s a really good addition to Google Maps.

Their post about the feature is quite simple and has very little detail except to explain a couple of scenarios that would apply. Don’t miss out on it due to the lack of a features list because even though this is a simple feature, it’s a really useful one (I love that combo!).

From their post:

Suppose you would like to drive the famous Road to Hana while you are on vacation on Maui. You search for directions to Hana from where you are staying in Wailea. Since it’s a long drive, you also search for gas stations, so you know where you can fuel up on the way, and supermarkets, so you can pick up snacks for the trip. After the second search, you’ll notice a blue bar at the bottom of the left panel. Click on it to expand the widget, which allows you to turn on both searches as well as your route to Hana. The markers are color-coded, so you can tell which search is which.

If you don’t have a GPS and you rely on Maps for a trip then this is something you should look at using. Map gas stations at the very least. It doesn’t take much time but can save you for fuel or even a pee break!

Geek on!

I am sure this is not the first video of it’s kind but I stumbled across the video of the Beastie Boys who have recently canceled some shows in their tour and will have to push back their newest album release due to Adam Yauch finding out he has cancer.

There has always seemed to be a barrier between old media and the internet in my eyes but things like this start to blur the lines and really connect the artists with their fans. Well done on the part of Adam and his group mates.

I hope that Adam is up and running around soon. Kudos to them and all the others who are starting to reach out from the curtain of “stardom” and who are making the effort to connect with the masses on a personal level.

Geek on!

I have setup Feedburner so that it is m primary RSS feed. Up until now the WordPress default feed was in use and it was impossible to get statistics.

I would love it if the people who subscribe via RSS could re-add me to their readers by clicking on the button on the top of the page. Even if you already used that button, it now points to the correct location.

Thanks a bunch everyone!

For the first time, however, Google (Google) is also killing a Gmail Labs feature: “Right side labels”, which allowed you to move your labels to the right sidebar to get them out of the way, is no more.

via Gmail Kills Right Side Labels, Adds Drag and Drop.

My buddy just sent me an email telling me about this new version of the Google Mobile App that allows you to search Google by voice prompts. Immediately I was skeptical so I had to download it right away. Some part of me needs to validate my skepticism for some reason.

The download was quick and easy for my Blackberry Bold as have been 85% of the apps that I have installed. After installation I ran the application and had to authorize some security settings and presto, I was done.

The application presents quite a clean interface that is almost synonimous with Google. The page is quite similar to www.google.com but for one small detail. The push <talk> to search by voice command.

Google's New Mobile App

The first 3 things I searched for were Twitter, Dreamhost and McDonalds. I was amazed that it found all 3 the first time and they were all spelled correctly within the search bar. I assume that the same Google search scripts are used for the results so the first thing in each list was exactly what I was looking for.

Their marketing push for this one is the pain in the ass little Blackberry keyboard, but I just don’t see it. I actually quite like the Blackberry keyboard so unless I am in the car with a need to search (questionable if that will ever happen) I am not sure I will use it.

To summarize – the coolness level is maxed out on this one and if you are in the market for such a feature then Google has done it again.

Happy searching!

I have written about Foxmarks in the past because it’s a great tool for auto-syncing your bookmarks across multiple computers. It is really one of the only reasons that I still use Firefox and not Safari or Google Chrome.

To the credit of the team at Foxmarks, they have been working on support for IE and Safari lately and have released versions of Foxmarks for Safari on OSX and Foxmarks for IE on Windows. Now comes a release of their new product called Xmarks. This is obviously designed as a move away from a Firefox only addin and allows them to market their product for other platforms. I am excited about this move because it allows them to move towards support for even more browsers. I think I might use Chrome if they would support it, and I already use Safari sometimes when on OSX. The best thing they can do is support more browsers because most people use a specific browser for a reason. Many of us our stuck with IE at work and to have that support is already a huge leap.

But let’s get it straight, they didn’t only change the name :) This is a complete rebranding with a completely new site. I suggest you take a look as you will notice a totally refreshed look. In an email they sent to me as I was already using Foxmarks, they listed these as their primary updates:

1. Smarter Search
Xmarks will highlight the three sites in your Google results that have been bookmarked by the most people; this is a quick and easy way to tell which sites are most valued by real people like you.

2. Site Info
Xmarks adds a small blue information icon in your browser location bar. Click it to learn more about the site you are on and see recommendations for the top five similar sites. This is a great way to uncover the best of the web.

3. Xmarks.com
Visit Xmarks.com from any browser to write your own site reviews and to see even more similar site recommendations.

They were smart to have included us in an early step of their rebranding and it is great for their planning. They have taken the time to create a simple survey for existing users to guide them to prioritzing their updates. If you are a user you will receive an email with your link to the survey, if not I would head over to their forums to voice your opinion!

This is it for Palm. Today’s launch will either mark the beginning of the company’s second coming — or the beginning of the end. So yeah, you might say expectations are high for Nova and their next-gen hardware — or whatever it is they’re showing off today. But even if Palm oells out another Faileo, this is goingf to be a damned interesting event. Read on!

via Live Palm keynote coverage from CES 2009 – gdgt live.