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Google+ offers custom URLs for verified accounts, other profiles to come 'over time'
Do you happen to be David Beckham or Toyota? Well, congratulations -- you now have a Google+ vanity URL. The rest of us looking for the football star or car manufacturer need only type "google.com/+davidbeckham" or "google.com/+toyota" to reach those respective pages, enabling easy access to that must-see picture in front of a private jet, or a vehicle recall notice. Sadly, you're probably not eligible for a custom shortcut of your own -- here's the word from Google: At first, we're introducing custom URLs to a limited number of verified profiles and pages. But over time we plan to offer custom URLs to many more brands and individuals, so please stay tuned! So, for now, you better get comfy with "plus.google.com/108326689306432447266," or whatever the good Goog has granted.
Google updates PageSpeed Service so you don't waste precious seconds waiting for pages to load
Last year, Google launched its PageSpeed Service, aiming to improve our experience across the web while reportedly deferring its own financial interests. The concept was sound -- similar services like Akamai work to accelerate web browsing by caching pages in much the same way -- but there's always room for improvement. The latest PageSpeed beta uses some straightforward techniques to improve performance even further, using a new rewriter called "Cache and Prioritize Visible Content." Using this new tool, your browser will load content that appears "above the fold" before fetching text and photos that would be initially hidden on the page, while also prioritizing other content ahead of Javascript, which often isn't needed as quickly as more basic elements. Finally, for pages that contain HTML that isn't cacheable, such as when personalized info is returned, standard portions of the site are cached and displayed immediately, while other content loads normally. The new tool isn't a perfect fit for every webpage, but we'll take a boost wherever we can get it.
Google adds browser-based weather feature to tablets with temperature, wind and precipitation
You may have noticed Google's forecast feature on your HTML5-capable smartphone browser -- simply typing "weather" into the search field brings up a basic real-time temperature tool, complete with hourly and five-day forecasts for your current location. That feature has been around in one form or another since the beginning of last year, but as of this week, it's made its way to tablets, too. Web weather is entirely browser based, and you can bring it up in just the same way as on a smartphone -- confirm that your GPS is enabled, then head to Google.com and type "weather" -- you'll be rewarded with a 10-day forecast, complete with temp, precipitation, humidity and wind speed readouts. The tool is interactive, so while you may only be able to view a few days of weather at once, you can simply slide along the timeline to see more. The same applies to the hourly forecast as well. There's nothing to download or subscribe to for this one, and it's available right now at Google.com. James Trew contributed to this report.
Officers' Quarters: From the mail bag
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.Hello, fellow officers! This week I'm going to try something a little bit different than usual. I tend to focus on one topic that requires a detailed analysis. However, I do receive many more questions that I never feature in the column because they have a more straightforward solution (or, at least, because I believe they have a straightforward solution). So I would write a private reply to the e-mail but never showcase the question here. I've decided to try an experiment this week and feature several of these e-mails with shorter answers. Even though they may not be the most complex situations, I think the answers will be helpful to other officers. Let me know what you think! Here's the first question. Too Many Cooks I was wondering if you could do an article on having too many cooks in the kitchen during raids. My guild is brand new, 3-4 weeks old, and we run Ulduar 10 and ToC 10 as well as Naxx 25 and Naxx 10 for the new 80s. As of right now, I am my guild's GM as well as raid leader. I have plans in the future to add an official "Raid Leader" to create events and lead some raids although I plan on still leading a few because I really enjoy it. Right now though, I have a few natural born leaders that attend my raids and it causes some problems.
Linden Lab launches updated Second Life Web-site
Linden Lab have launched the promised revamp of the secondlife.com Web-site rather sooner than expected, with the new site having gone live today. Our takeaway from the presentation at the recent Second Life Community Convention was that the new site wasn't due for a little while yet, during which time it would receive additional features. Nevertheless, the new site and dashboard have launched, and look pretty much like what was previewed by Tom Hale just recently. Hale described the site revamp as a beginning, rather than as an end, so there's still a ways to go yet.
PromoAppCode hopes to be one-stop shop for iPhone promo codes
It's no secret that the current methods of trying out iPhone applications before purchase is very cumbersome. While Apple has bestowed the ability for developers to issue promo codes, there is still the matter of taking the time to actually track down those codes for applications that you want to try. The folks at TickleSpace Inc. hope to make this process a bit easier by providing a place where developers can directly connect with potential customers and give them those promo codes. PromoAppCode.com recently opened its doors to developers, and TickleSpace hopes that the site will be an easier way for people to try out apps. "With 10k+ apps in the store now, developers want more ways to get noticed and power users want more ways to find and get great apps," said TickleSpace's Amanuel Tewolde. When you sign up for the forum, users can peruse the list of applications available in the forums and add the apps they want to try to a wish list. Developers can view user wish lists and send them the promo code directly, Tewolde said. Developers will also be able to keep track of the codes they've issued and who has listed their apps on their wish list. They would also be able to communicate directly with those users for feedback, an incentive for developers to try the site, Tewolde said As of Monday night, there was several pages of applications available. I added one to my wish list and we'll see what happens in the next few days. It's an interesting idea, and definitely one method of getting promo codes out to a willing group of testers. However, there's still some limitations - mainly the Apple-imposed ones. Developers only give away 50 codes per application version, and demand can quickly exceed available codes. What do you think of this method of distributing promo codes? What other methods do you think would work? Let us know in the comments!
Track Gustav on your iPhone
Just in time for the first really scary hurricane of the season, Weather Underground is providing an iPhone-specific version of their mobile site that includes a tropical storm tracker. The mobile site URL is http://i.wund.com, and the tropical storm page can be accessed directly at http://i.wund.com/tropical.As you can see in the screenshot above, the tracker shows the location, intensity, and other statistical information about each storm. In this case we're looking at Tropical Storm Gustav, which appears to now be a Category 3 hurricane. The full-screen view seen above requires a flip to landscape mode.If you're an iPhone user and live in any location where tropical storms can be a hazard to life and property, you might want to add this site to your Home screen.
Blizzard fan art page redesigned
I was looking through the Blizzard fan art pages recently, with the thought in my mind that I could do a "Best of Blizzard Fan Art" feature for our dear WoW Insider readers, when I found that selecting the "best" was extremely difficult. I kept copying so many pictures into my own "best of" folder that I began to feel like I might as well just link you all to the entire fan art site and call it a day. Most of it is really very fun to look at many many times.So today I went back determined to try again and found that they had redesigned the entire site. It loads much faster, and presents the art to you in a much smoother interface. You can see many more thumbnails per page, and change the size of the thumnails depending on how many you want to see. Once you click on a picture, you can then easily scroll through from one to another very quickly, without having to wait for the entire page to reload again and again. Also, they managed to provide a nice fade effect, so that the transition between pictures is smooth. The only downside is that you can no longer link to a single piece of art.Oh -- and also, you can no longer just click and download each picture to your own computer. I'm sure there must be a way (short of taking a screenshot), but it's beyond me. I'll take it as a sign from heaven, since I can no longer conveniently build my "Best of" folder, that the "Best of Blizzard Fan Art" site is the whole Blizzard fan art site itself. Now, with the tediousness of complicated page-loading removed, you may find browsing through the artwork gives you a whole new experience.
