GMail omnibar search settings

I'm still alive :)

If you want to set your Google Chrome omnibar to have a GMail search shortcut:

• Chrome (triple dots)
• Settings
• Manage Search Engines
• Add
• (Give it a name, such as "GMail Search")
• (Give it a keyword that you will enter into the omnibar, such as "GMail")
• https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/%s

Happy finding!

Google Chrome tab switching etc. very slow - unusual fix

(I posted this to the Google Product Forums but never got any help)
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/rY7tI_eAshA;context-place=mydiscussions

---

I have Version 61.0.3163.100 (Official Build) (64-bit) of Chrome installed on Windows 10.

I have four active profiles running (i.e. separate signed-in Google accounts - call them "main", "work", "personal", "darkwebz").

One profile - my oldest and primary account - is the one with the following issue:

Creating a new tab, switching tabs, or creating a new window, takes about 2 to 3 seconds. I have disabled all of my extensions and rebooted - even signed out the profile and rebooted - every time I sign in it brings back the delay.

Interestingly, while this delay occurs with the primary profile, the rest churn along quite happily - open / close / switch tabs is near instantaneous. This is all happening on the same machine with everything running; so it's not a specific CPU problem or resource issue - at least, I can't see how. As a test, I opened 40 tabs on the primary, and 80 on another profile, and the primary is slow, the alternative is lightning fast. That being said, page navigating within a tab is not affected - only new tabs, tab switching, and general navigating around tabs.

After exhaustively trying to disable every extension, refresh, reboot, sign out, sign in, etc. I happened upon one little tidbit that seemed to affect everything - the moment the Chrome theme loaded up, it all went to pot.

I then disabled the Theme and presto! Everything is normal and fast!

So, when in doubt, try reviewing the Google Chrome theme ...

Easy trick to synchronise Google Chrome browser tabs across devices

If you have a tendency to use Google Chrome on multiple devices, there's a nice and easy "hack" to get your tabs to travel with you from one device to another.

All you need to do is bookmark all the tabs (using either keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+D or as the screenshot below shows, right-click on a tab, and then select Bookmark all tabs). I usually save mine into a Bookmark folder called Saved Tabs which I can then access from any other device that has Google Chrome sync'ed with my Google Account. This will only bookmark the current window so you'd need to do this for each window you want to save.

It's a bit nasty but it is a low resource intensive and simple method to take your tabs with you.

Step 1: Bookmark all tabs

Step 2: from another computer open your Saved Tabs* folder
(*or whatever you called it)

Android Angles: not getting that Sync'ing feeling

I'm starting to like my Android phone. Quite a lot*. What I enjoy most is how it syncrhonises my Google stuff without me worrying.

Well, that's what it's supposed to do.

Recently, I noticed that Google Keep wasn't reflecting online what was on my phone, and when I did some digging, I uncovered the cause. This may apply to you for other reasons but if you are experiencing these symptoms:

Google Account (or most other accounts) is not synchronising web with device (e.g. Google Keep, Drive, Mail, etc.)

To fix this, you need to check that your Google Account (or most other accounts) is set to sync.

The path to follow is Settings ==> scroll down to Accounts and tap the account type you want to edit...

Select the Account to configure

Android Angles: Pushbullet application for streamlined productivity

Screen shot stolen from Pushbullet ;-)

There's a new favourite app in the town of Brattville! Or maybe there's a new flavour of the month in the Parlour of Brattex! Or maybe it's just a fleeting thrill - we shall see. But what is the name of this app, one asks? Pushbullet be its name. And what does this app do, another queries? It be a desktop / mobile integrator for productivity. So why all the conjunctions at the beginning of these sentences? Because it is convenient, dammit!

Enough with the silly rhetoric, on with the product highlight!




Stolen from lifehacker.com

Pushbullet acts as a bridge between your mobile and desktop OSes and so far, I have been very impressed by its performance. Admittedly, it is a little unnerving about what information Pushbullet is accumulating but if you think you can trust developers from San Francisco, and more than one million users can't be wrong, then you're in good company I suspect.

WhatsApp Web - a first glance

WhatsApp has released a web client for their IM and although it's still early days, I figured a quick preview was in order, especially since most people don't seem to even know about it.

To access the client, head on over to https://web.whatsapp.com/ and scan the QR code (follow the instructions for your specific handset).

With my Sony Xperia C it's easy.

 

Then you've got a WhatsApp chat client from your desktop! The only catch I can see so far is that it will need to do a fairly regular stream update with your device but I suppose that's the same for any other of the integrated apps like Hangouts, Facebook, etc.

Android Angles: Sony Xperia C insufficient disk space woes and a general intro. on Android file systems

[ EDIT - some widgets won't function properly when moved to SD card, so bear that in mind ]

I recently said goodbye to my BlackBerry love affair. It wasn't like I wanted to go off BlackBerry but there just wasn't anything available to replace my (really run into the ground) 9800. If I was going to get a touch screen I figured I may as well try out Android (iPhone was too expensive).

Anyway, I ended up with the Sony Xperia C - a budget phone with reasonable spec's. The real downside (and at the time, all the advice I got said this could be fixed by installing an SD card) is the small memory partition - device memory of 1GB which is clearly not enough, especially when apps store their data in this same 1GB partition.

It was not long after using the phone that I started to get errors trying to install applications - "error: insufficient disk space". Hitting my limit on the 1GB!

0.98GB of device memory is just simply not enough
(in this picture I have cleared the cached data and already moved most apps off)

Super Rugby 2015 Calendar for iOS, Google, Android, etc.

The Super Rugby 2015 calendar is here, available in various formats for your browsing and productivity pleasure:

• XML
• ICAL
• HTML

You should be able to add this to your BlackBerry, iOS, Google, or Android calendar with ease.

Here are the Google steps (since most people sync their Google with their device/s).

1. Load up calendar.google.com
2. At the bottom left, click the drop-down triangle under Other calendars and select Add by URL
   
3. Enter the ICAL address (also available above):
   https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/04alup93dv5tjbfnma2ndrkm11onkud0%40import.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics

And there you go!

Set up Inactive Account Manager for Google

All sorts of things can happen in life:\

• Sickness
• Disability
• Total loss of electricity (only in South Africa, thanks ANC and Jacob Zuma)
• Abduction by terrorists
• Abduction by aliens
• You go to heaven
• You go to hell

If you want your data available to your spouse, friend, loved one, or dog, then you need to ensure Google has your Inactive Account Manager settings - to do this follow this link

https://www.google.com/settings/account/inactive

and set it up - it will take you five minutes and will save your family, friend, loved one, or dog many weeks (months, or even years) of agony getting access to your personal content.

Go on, do it. It's the responsible thing to do.

Increase your YouTube video size limit beyond 15 minutes in 1-2-3 steps.

Increasing your YouTube video size limits is as easy as 1-2-3 ...

Here's the support article: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/71673?rd=1

Here are the steps:

1. Go to YouTube and verify your phone number https://www.youtube.com/verify_phone_number
2. Plug in the SMS PIN to YouTube
3. Enjoy

So easy.

Google Calendar Tips and Gems

I'm pretty sure it's a safe bet that you are using GMail. Given the likelihood, you're probably also using the Google Calendar service too. Well, "using" is probably quite subjective. I mean, I can't actually remember the total number of people I know that don't harness the whole potential of Google Calendar - the shared calendars, the SMS reminders, the additional public calendars. It's quite silly, really. Google Calendar is the de facto calendar application as far as I'm concerned.

I have included a dottotech video below with a few "hidden gems" - I was aware of four of them but never knew about dragging the date picker!

A few quick-fire tips from my side:

Under Calendar Settings

• Add a moon phase to your Google Calendar
• Add friends and contacts Birthday reminders
• Add the weather
• Enable Offline
• Add some Labs!

Enjoy :)

Google Chrome: Extensions vanished and replaced by a drop-down

If you've suddenly noticed that your Google Chrome Extensions have all been replaced by a minimalist >> drop-down menu there's a way to get your Extensions back:

• Hover the mouse over the region between the omnibar and the >>

• Cursor changes to a left-right arrow
• Drag it along
• Voila!

Resetting Google Chrome Sync to fix Sync errors

When setting up a Windows 7 laptop, a Windows 8 Laptop, and a Linux desktop, I use Google Chrome Sync to keep everything standard across the platforms. This worked beautifully with Windows 7, Ubuntu Chrome, and Windows 8 on a tablet but when I brought Windows 8 onto my laptop and started to use Fedora as my desktop, I noticed that the Google Extensions (applications, specifically) didn't synchronise.

After much troubleshooting and patiently waiting to see if more extensions would eventually appear (the bookmarks were fine) I decided the best course of action was to reset my Chrome Sync.

Here are the steps:

Chrome Remote Desktop BETA

Many people I know use remote support tools like Teamviewer to get their remote support tasks done quickly and with very little hassle. I have used Teamviewer before and I am very impressed with what it can do - the only problem is, if you have a conscience worth its salt, you won't use Teamviewer FREE for commercial use (as the usage terms forbid it). It's great to help grandma in Alaska get her printer working again but if you want to charge someone for support, you can't do it with Teamviewer FREE.

The "fairly recent" addition of Google Chrome to my PC arsenal has grown into a blossoming relationship as I find myself taking advantage of the Google Sync functionality (largely because Google decided 'not to be evil' and remove support for Firefox and not even release the Google Sync code as open source either). One of the latest add-on's that I've included in my Google Chrome toolbox is a little BETA application called "Chrome Remote Desktop BETA". This app functions almost identically to Teamviewer and best of all, it's absolutely FREE.

Since more users are slowly migrating to Chrome (and in my case, I recommend all my clients to use Chrome because of its wonderful integration with Google), Chrome Remote Desktop BETA is a must-have support tool.

Free SMS in Gmail comes to South Africa

Finally, it's here! Free SMS in Gmail to South African mobile networks.

If you are a Gmail user (if not, WHY not?) you can now send SMS'es free from your web-based Gmail client to (currently, as of 2012/03/16) MTN and 8ta networks.

I am hopeful that the networks supported will grow over time, so keep an eye on this link and scroll down to South Africa to know when you can hit Cell C, Virgin and Vodacom. A useful guide is located here which has prominent logo's displayed of the currently supported South African cellular networks and also explains how to use the facility.

I already had the SMS lab application running on my Gmail client (for US and Canada numbers) so one day I noticed this pop up on the side:

New! Free SMS in Gmail Send free SMS directly from Gmail - just enter a phone number and click Enter. SMS replies are sent right to your Gmail inbox.

and realised it was letting me target South African numbers too. In order to use this feature you have to enable the SMS (text messaging) in Chat lab.

Added information on the feature is located here. The basics are as follows:

• Use the Send SMS box above the chat window and enter a number to send an SMS (or if you have Google Voice credits, to call the number) or select Send SMS from the box of options that appears to the right of your contact's name. If you already have a chat window option select Options and Send SMS.
• Sending an SMS is free and any replies you receive are treated in your standard Chat Window, and are billed at normal cellular rates.
• You start with 50 credits and even if you send an SMS to an unsupported number it bills you for one credit. When you hit 0 credits you will be entitled to one free SMS a day. If you receive SMS replies your credits will grow again by five per received SMS, so if you hit 0 credits just wait 24 hours and then send yourself an SMS and you'll be back in business with five credits! The maximum credit at any time is fifty.

For extensive information on this service go here.

Hints and Tips:

• Save the incoming Gmail SMS number associated from your account because this is linked to your unique Google Account! Any time you send an SMS to this number it appears as a Chat message in the Gmail account. 
• If you'd like a higher message credit, send yourself an SMS from Google to your phone, and then reply. Every reply earns you five SMS credits. Effectively you are paying your service provider (e.g. MTN) one SMS in return for being able to send another five. If you do this once a day you can get five SMS messages for the price of one.

BlackOps: Google Sync adding entries to BBM Groups instead of default calendar fix

If you are experiencing a problem with your Google Sync and the BB Calendar where everything is being added to the BBM Groups calendar, I can help.

This was first experienced for me on my BlackBerry Torch 9800 with OS6 and the source of the problem is a conflict between Google Sync and BBM. The quickfix is to uninstall BBM and then reset your calendar sync and then reinstall BBM.

Here are the steps in detail:

1. Backup your BBM contacts etc. and then remove BBM. In OS6 go to Options --> Device --> Application Management --> BlackBerry Messenger --> Delete
1. Note: some users experienced difficulties deleting BlackBerry Messenger; in such cases first try to install the latest version available from the BlackBerry App World and then delete it from there; for some reason the default "core" installation bundled with the OS isn't removable.
2. Consult http://brattex.blogspot.com/2011/05/blackops-that-google-calendar-syncing.html for initial steps and for methods to backup your calendar. You can skip the steps on deleting service books (i.e. do not do steps 3 and 5) but follow the rest.
3. After you've run Google Sync and verified that it's all in your default calendar ... reinstall BBM.

I would be really interested to know if this solution worked for you so please feel free to leave a comment below or give this a thumbs up, +1, like, etc.

Picasa and Picasa Web Albums - Free unlimited storage

I've been on a quest for a long time now to find the best site to backup all of my digital pictures and videos. I thought I had found the answer in Snapfish but a friend of mine pointed out that they charge you to re-download your photo's at their original resolution. No good!

I'm not on Facebook (and can't really comment on their photo storage options but I think pictures are resized) but am quite an avid fan of Google. Picasa Web Albums was limited to 1GB of storage so it wasn't really an option for me either but I've since learned that Picasa now offers a form of unlimited storage for photo's (and more importantly, videos).

In summary, files under a certain size don't count towards your 1GB storage limit and videos up to 15 minutes won't either. If you reach your quota, all future uploads are resized to fit within the free resolution requirements.

Google Buzz is finally buzzted

Google Buzz is being retired. That's the official word from Google and you can check it here if you don't believe me (or if you care)...

I can't say that I'm too fussed (or is that 'fuzzed') about this news because I hardly used it - and I suspect most others hardly used it either. What Google Buzz was good for, however, was consolidating all your social feeds into one place on your GMail, which was really nice.

Again, though, I don't think its demise will impact too many people too harshly. But I thought I should still tell you. Ironically, you probably will get the news about this blog post through Google Buzz. Creepy eh?

PS - one useful thing to come from this news is the discovery of Google Takeout. Never heard of it? Google for it ;-)

Google goes promiscuous?

Today when signing up for a new account on Google I noticed that there are now a few more options to sign up with besides just the standard creation of a new Google Account.

Actually, let me rephrase that - it seems that one can now have a Google Account / identity which isn't *@googlemail.com or *@gmail.com.

Observe:

Rugby World Cup 2011 Google Calendar Fixtures List

If you want to get all the Rugby World Cup 2011 fixtures or match line-ups on your phone (or Outlook calendar, etc.) then add this calendar to your phone, desktop, or bookmark the website link below:

• Any product that supports iCal format (usually MS Outlook, Google Calendar, Android phones, iOS devices, BlackBerry): https://www.google.com/calendar/ical/ct240d39oc9kq21cq3bn70jii8%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
  
• Website address to bookmark (and view from anywhere with a browser):
  https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=ct240d39oc9kq21cq3bn70jii8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Africa/Johannesburg
  
  
  Or abbreviated to 
  http://tinyurl.com/RWC2011SA

If you need help then post a request below in the comments and I'll try to help you out ;)

I cannot take credit for this calendar - the thanks must go Mike Riversdale of New Zealand for saving me a few hours of work!

Alternative calendar options are here:

• SuperSport: http://www.supersport.com/rugby/rugby-world-cup/fixtures
• http://www.upandunder.co.za/gear/rugby-world-cup-fixtures-calendar-download/

Enjoy!