Why I think Google Play Services was a good idea, executed very poorly

It's been a while since I've really said anything here on Techman's World that's really in depth on Android. However, lying around in bed at night, I decided to take a look at Google Play Services again.

Can web apps replace the traditional desktop office suite?

A few weeks ago I saw an article about the Office Web Apps adding header and footer support in their Word Web App, as well as many other features in the other web apps in an update that is set to arrive in the coming months (not sure how long it's going to be though.

Over the past 3 weeks that article has gotten me thinking about the potential for web office suites like Google Docs and the Office Web Apps to eventually overtake traditional desktop office suites like Microsoft Office and LibreOffice.

Google combines Drive, Gmail, and Google+ Photo storage into one common 15 GB pool

Today Google has announced that they will be combining the storage between 3 main services: Drive, Gmail, and Google+.

In an effort to streamline a few things, Google has taken the 10GB from your Gmail storage and effectively combined it with 5 GB of drive storage, making your total storage amount to 15 GB of free storage. This update also means that you can optionally purchase higher number of storage tiers as well, for those who want such a thing. Purchasing more storage also means that the storage can be used for Gmail as well.

Google+ comments arrive in Blogger

Today Google announced that the Google+ comments will now be integrated with Blogger, which will aim to give a more social experience with comments, and better integrate its social network with its own services.

Currently, Blogger uses a rather old comment system. It isn't really feature rich, and isn't exactly as simple to use either (like having to reload the page to submit a comment, for example). However, there are third party alternatives out there, such as Disqus, which is used here.

[Tutorial] How to change the default search engine in the Firefox address bar

The other day I told you how to change the default search engine for Opera, so that the set engine will be the one used when you type in the address bar. You can also do the same with Firefox as well.

Similar to Opera, you can set your default search engine for the search box. For the address bar the search engine used is Google, using it's HTTPS search feature. If you wish not use Google and use something else, you'll have to get your hands dirty. You'll have to make a change in about:config, and then the change will be effective immediately.

Blogger now using HTTPS, for me at least

I was loading up my Blogger dashboard today to create a post about Google Apps not being free anymore, but right as I was about to write that post, I decided to write this instead.

While looking at my URL bar, I noticed that the URL that was loaded was a HTTPS one. For those that didn't know HTTPS was only on the login portions of Blogger, basically the Google login system. If you tried to visit https://www.blogger.com, you would be redirected to the normal http version of the page.

Accessing Bing Background Image via Google Chrome

A few hours ago I posted an article on how to get Bing's background images easily on Internet Explorer 8. Today's tutorial is with Chrome. With Chrome we are using the web inspector, and it really is almost as simple as Internet Explorer 8. I did another video tutorial on how to do it. You can follow the steps in the video and/or look at the instructions below.

Background Images on Google Homepage Going Away Soon

A few minutes ago I was looking up some DNS apps for Android in the Google Play store, and then I decided to go back to the Google homepage by clicking the link in the page bar. As my background image for the Google search page was loading, I got this popup telling me that the feature will be going away soon. I thought I should share all of this with you as well so you can be prepared for when the feature is gone, if you never get or miss the notification.

Google DNS: What you need to know

Yesterday in the article about Hurricane Sandy, I discussed that the DNS server that I was connected too was knocked out of service for about 10 minutes. It was still online, but DNS requests were pretty much lost. I decided to try out Google DNS, which was mentioned in an IRC room by Allan Jude (co-host of TechSNAP). I decided to look into it.

First of all, DNS stands for the Domain Name System. It is the system that translates a domain name (such as techmansworld.com) into an IP address. Without it, you would have to remember stings of numbers.

Setting up Windows Live Admin Center (domains.live.com)

A few days ago, I wrote a post informing all of you that I was moving to my own domain. All of you had something positive to say, and I appreciate that.

Today I'm going to touch up on how to get email set up using the Windows Live Admin Center, the Windows Live alternative to using the Google Apps. I really like Microsoft's services, and more importantly, I would trust them more with my data then Google. Not to say that Google Apps is bad, but just my preference.

Settings icon has changed in Google Chrome.

According to my Blogger Stats and GA, it appears that a lot of people here use Google Chrome. If you fired up your browser today (or even yesterday, I'm not sure) and discovered that there is a slight change in the browser, you were correct.

VirusTotal acquired by Google, benefits detailed

Many anti malware people out there know about VirusTotal. It is a web based anti malware tool that allows you to scan a file or scan a website. You can also search though their database for info already there.

More changes coming for search

If you have been following Techman's World recently, then you know about the search box changes. I ended up ditching the Blogger gadget, and instead replacing it with a search form for Google.

Now I am proud to say that Techman's World is moving away from Google also, and now in its place is Gawk.it. This is a search engine that aims to redefine search imo, and it indexes comments as well as the blog posts.

So by the time you see this post, the search box will be replaced with Gawk.it's search form. If you wish to use Google at the moment, just open your browser's developer tools and highlight the Google attribution and form, and uncheck the display: none rules.

I would like to give thanks to Kevin Marshall for helping me get this set up, and I hope you all enjoy better search. If you want to submit feedback, you can in the comments below.

Introducing "Search This Site 2.0"

If you have been visiting my blog the last day or two, then you know that the normal search box is now gone, and in its place is another, but it is different. Before I dive in too deep, let me give you a little bit of back story.

Blogger still has its old interface, but it is going away in the coming months

While loading up the Blogger Dashboard (to make a new post, which turned out to be this one), I decided to revert back to the old interface, just to see how it was like, because I upgraded to the new interface and never looked back.

Well when I did, the old interface was still intact. Previously Blogger stated that the old interface was going away in April, but apparently they extended it for a lot longer.

How To: Gather Details About Your Browser Real Quickly

The Support Details Logo when you are not
hovered and hovered over the logo.

Sometimes you need to gather info about your web browser. Normally, people would have to manually try to find out their IP, JavaScript status, Adobe Flash status, and so on. These details might not seem much for some people, but they do mean something for web developers and people who make products that are based to run in most web browsers, such as commenting systems.

Blogger Adds Custom Permalink Support

Blogger has slipped in a (somewhat) quite feature, something that has been long-awaited...custom permalink support. Before you get too happy, let me explain because it might not seem like what it sounds (trust me, I got it wrong the first time too).

Mozilla Firefox 14 Released

Thanks to Mozilla's new rapid release schedule, Mozilla has outed a new version of Firefox, and has some new features in tow. There is not to many big features though, but still good otherwise.