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Widget Watch: Earthlink Shopping
One of my favorite things about the web is how it enables anyone, with even the slightest bit of effort, to become an educated consumer. Whenever I make a significant purchase (new camera, phone, etc), my first stops are sites like PriceGrabber, which allow you to search for things using specific criteria such as megapixels for cameras, carrier availability for phones, or speed for computers. This helps me get an idea of what my options are. The added benefit of these sites is the fact that they provide pricing quotes from hundreds of stores around the web, as well as ratings and customer reviews for those stores. While on the topic of smart internet shopping, lets take a peek at the new Earthlink Shopping widget. While it doesn't allow for the refined searching interface that I enjoy so very much, it does make it quick and easy to check prices on things. The widget searches eBay, shopping.com, and amazon.com for your search term, and displays the results in familiar search engine form. Earthlink Shopping also displays store and product ratings when available.
BlogZot: HoudahSpot
Spotlight is great, but its interface leaves one wanting. Its difficult to specify location, file type, date modified, and other types of file data without going out of your way to learn spotlight commands. HoudahSpot introduces a whole new way to interact with spotlight. Upon opening the program, one is greeted with an interface not dissimilar to the PathFinder search dialog, allowing users to choose where, for what file types and dates modified, as well as multiple other variables, to search. MacZot is doing another one of their BlogZot promotions for this product, in which every blog post advertising the event takes $0.05 off the price, until HoudahSpot is free. Only 5000 licenses of HoudahSpot are available, so get your posts in soon.
GmailUI Extension for Thunderbird
If Gmail's UI floats your boat but you prefer using a desktop email client for 'no waiting for a refresh' feel, Ken Mixter has developed a Thunderbird extension just for you. The GmailUI extension brings many of the shortcuts and search expressions of Gmail to Mozilla's Thunderbird client. Keyboard shortcuts like J and K for moving up and down through messages, as well as search expressions such as 'subject:' and 'from:' can now be a part of your Thunderbird experience. Ken even went so far as to include Gmail's 'archive' functionality and (oddly) a quick calculation function, right from within Thunderbird's search box.The extension appears to be completely free, and Ken is accepting feedback and suggestions at his site. Head over to Mozilla's addons site to grab the extension, or check out Ken's site for a lot more details of everything GmailUI is capable of.[via Gmail.pro]
Google outbids Microsoft for Dell bundling deal, sez WSJ
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google has succeeded in outbidding Microsoft for the right to integrate its search tools into the millions of personal computers that Dell will sell over the next three years. After Yahoo dropped out of what may have been a billion-dollar auction, sources say that along with its desire to increase the exposure of its services, it was Google's frustration over the perceived difficulty in changing the default settings in Internet Explorer to non-MSN search options that ultimately motivated the company to emerge victorious. Besides winning a coveted spot on IE's default homepage, the deal also nets Google some valuable desktop real estate, as its Desktop software -- privacy concerns and all -- will now come pre-installed on Dell machines. For most consumers, this deal really doesn't mean too much, except for those of you who are really into MSN search, in which case you'll have to take a few seconds and adjust your browser settings.
Widget Watch: the Jack of All Widgets
The Jack of All Widgets widget could perhaps be better named as the Jack of All Searches. It allows quick access to what I would guess is around 50 different searches and services, including Amazon, gas prices, people searches, package tracking (including the only widget I know of that searches the USPS), lyrics, weather and more. It's description page at Apple's download site says it starts up Safari to display search results, but with my experience it simply starts your default browser.The Jack of All Widgets widget is freeware and available from Apple's download page.
Inquisitor goes web-based
Inquisitor, the Safari and Camino plug-in that brings Spotlight to searching the web, has been ported to a web-based search engine. Upon entering a search into its pleasantly minimal interface, you will be presented with a list of search recommendations and a variety of search engines to focus on, including digg, Amazon and their A9 search, Flickr, Google, Technorati and Yahoo!. Neat.[via Daring Fireball Linked List]
Review: iWeb's enhancements are exactly what it needed
In the most recent iLife '06 software update that Damien mentioned, iWeb understandably received the largest bump of new features and bug fixes; after all, it is the latest to arrive at the iLife party. Considering that I've been pretty vocal about my gripes with this otherwise fantastic addition to both iLife and .Mac, you can imagine my enthusiasm for Software Update to work its magic asap.After tinkering with the new features in iWeb 1.1 like blog comments and drop-dead simple photo album page creation, I thought I'd post a quick review of what's new, as I think iWeb is finally starting to fit into its role of a strong, WYSIWYG 1.0 application from Apple.
Search By Camera! delivers product data from cellphone pics
Much like the Photo2Search project being developed by Microsoft Research Asia, a new cameraphone-based image recognition service called Search By Camera! is promising to help consumers acquire info on products by simply snapping a picture while shopping. Developed by Bandai Networks and D2 Communications, using technology from Evolution Robotics (which is also at the core of a similar service launched earlier this year, called Mobot Mobile Visual Search, as well as having been recently licensed by Robosapien manufacturer WowWee Robotics), Search By Camera! will currently only work for the handful of folks who happen to have imported a DoCoMo FOMA N902iS phone into the US. Further degrading its utility is the fact that Bandai and D2C must get permission for each and every product they want to include in their database, which has so far only come from a scant ten companies. Still, even if this particular initiative doesn't take off, it's pretty clear that image recognition will play a leading role in the future of mobile search, with many handsets already possessing the proper tools that make such a service feasible.
Google Importer - search Google with Spotlight
Google Importer is a Spotlight plug-in that can add a Google search to the list of results Spotlight returns. It is installed as a System Preferences pane with options to adjust how many results are gathered from Google, whether to show a link to an actual Google results page, and how many seconds to wait after the last key is typed to begin searching Google. Note: that last option only adjusts how long Spotlight waits to search Google, not the rest of your computer like many users have been asking for.I haven't tinkered around with this, but it sounds like a nice idea as long as it doesn't hang the Spotlight search too much. Google Importer is donationware and available from Caffeinated Cocoa Software.
Pocketlight brings (some) Spotlight to Panther
If you're still using Panther for one reason or another but drool when you hear the word 'Spotlight,' an app by the name of Pocketlight can bring a little bit of Tiger to your Panther. Pocketlight isn't nearly as all-encompassing as Spotlight, but it can search Mail.app mailboxes, iCal events, Address Book contacts and files in a specified folder. In an odd turn of events, Pocketlight is only available for Mac OS X 10.3; not 10.4.Pocketlight is free, but the author states that it isn't going to be updated or enhanced from here on out, so grab it while you can.[via Hawk Wings]
Microsoft's Photo2Search for cameraphone queries
In one of the most ambitious projects to date for associating real-world objects with digital information about them, a team from Microsoft Research Asia is in the final stages of developing a platform for photo-based searches. Rather straightforwardly called Photo2Search, the technology was developed against the backdrop of a growing cameraphone market, whose widespread adoption is bringing portable computing to the masses but whose limited input options continue to deliver a frustrating search experience. Project leader Xing Xie came up with the idea for a database that could be queried via texted or emailed phone pics in late 2004, but at the time both machine-based photo identification and computer-vision algorithms were too slow and rudimentary to suit their needs. Over a year of work has refined the technology to make it faster, but more importantly, relevant -- unlike older software, Xie's version is now able to discern features that allow it to match specific objects and not just those which share similar characteristics. Unfortunately there are no immediate plans for rolling out this technology to consumers (it's still not quite ready for primetime, apparently), but since most of today's phones produce photos that are little more than a pixelated mess, we're probably not quite ready either.[Via picturephoning and MocoNews]
Enhance Safari with AcidSearch
Here's a great addition to Safari. It's called AcidSearch (trippy, man) and it gives Safari's search capabilities a real boost. Once installed, it lets you choose from a number of "search channels" to refine your search. Limit your query to the site you happen to be viewing, to sites of a specific type (news sites, etc.) and more. Plus, you can make use of hierarchical menu organization and even incorporate Butler data. There's really a whole lot more to this great little utility. You ought to check it out.There's a big, big web out there, folks. AcidSearch makes it a little bit easier to find your way around. It requires Mac OS 10.3 and is free.
Improve your searches with Nuevos
Search utilities for the Finder's menu bar certainly aren't anything new, but Nuevos by Waffle Software is a nice one (and free!). With Nuevos installed, you can query any number of online search engines, including ones you've defined yourself. Create keystrokes to select the particular engine you want Nuevos to use for a given search (for example, Command-G for Google and Command-1 for the Apple Developer Connection), as well as a hot key to make it active. It's fast, unobtrusive and quite useful.Nuevos requires Mac OS 10.3.9 or better and is universal. [Via FreeMacWare]
Search Gmail from LaunchBar, Butler, others
A MacOSXHints reader submitted a simple trick to allow app launcher utilities like LaunchBar, Butler and others to search Gmail. All you have to do is add a new search template to your launcher of choice with a specific URL and you're off to submitting Gmail search queries from [insert launcher name here]. The query URL to use is: http://mail.google.com/mail/?search=query&view=tl&start=0&init=1&fs=1&q=* But check the MacOSXHints post for instructions on how to tweak that line depending on which launcher you're using. For Quicksilver users, a comment on their post revealed the line you have to use (I think you have to have the Web Search Module plugin in order to be able to add this search to your catalog): http://mail.google.com/mail/?search=query&view=tl&start=0&init=1&fs=1&q=*** Enjoy.
MoRU - what Spotlight should be?
Rob Griffiths over at MacOSXHints has discovered MoRU, an app that builds upon the power of Spotlight with its offering of far more customizable search queries. Instead of searching for everything across your entire Mac with Spotlight, consider how much handier it would be to say: "show me these specific kind of files, with exactly X in their name, made between this year and that year." If this concept seems a little strange, check out Rob's post for a couple real-world examples of when a blind search across everything on your machine becomes less productive than Apple advertises.MoRU is shareware that costs $10. If you're as unhappy with Spotlight's blind, system-wide search as Rob, it sounds like MoRU is definitely worth taking for a spin.
Google serves up Dashboard widgets
Marshall Kirkpatrick over at The Social Software Weblog (a sister Weblogs, Inc. blog) noticed that Google has produced some Dashboard widgets just for us Mac folks. The first is a Blogger widget, allowing (you guessed it) quick and easy posting to Blogger. It even accepts standard shortcuts for bolding and italicizing text - awesome. Next up is a Gmail widget, offering "your Gmail inbox at a glance." A neat trick up this widget's sleeve (once you enable the widget's advanced options) is that you can filter messages by a specific label. Last but not least is a Search History widget, which seems to be a small step up from the Google search widget already included with Tiger in that it actually saves the terms you use to search. "Remember the page from last week? Now you will," is the tag line.Check out Google's new widgets and head over to the post over at The Social Software Weblog for a different perspective on these widgets and how useful they might (or might not) be.
Does a Stolen iPod Warrant a Pat Down?
Jay Allen at Blogging Baby asks if it's ethical to round up a group of sixth graders after a teacher had an iPod stolen at a middle school in Texas.Sure, an iPod is worth quite a bit, but Jay Allen posits that patting down middle school students is not the best example to set. Go voice your opinion about whether or not your favorite little white (or black) music player warrants a round-up-and-search.
Entourage will receive Spotlight and iSync support by March
Good news for you Entourage users: included in Microsoft's 5-year Office promise announcement was that, with the March update to Office, you will soon be able to search your Entourage emails through the beauty of Spotlight.Keeping the surprises rolling, for all you PDA sync-happy folk out there, Microsoft will also build support for iSync right into Entourage, meaning that devices compatible Sync Services will natively be able to sync with Entourage. Unfortunately, I'm *pretty* sure this ironically excludes PocketPC's, but I could be wrong. You can read more about the announcements and new features at Microsoft's PressPass announcement.At any rate, I think these major new features and updates ought to squash any doubt of Microsoft's commitment to Office on OS X.[via Hawk Wings]
Quicksilver pre-release version with mini-tutorial goodness
This morning Quicksilver notified me that a new version was available. Since I love living on the bleeding edge of application launching and file manipulation, I went ahead and updated. While I can hold my own fairly well with Quicksilver's unbelievably powerful features, I was still delighted to see that, upon installing the new version and restarting Quicksilver, I was greeted with an upgraded intro dialog (pictured) that better explains how Quicksilver functions. This should be good news to us Quicksilver-faithful, as it should help new and would-be users get a grasp of Quicksilver's function and power more quickly.The new version can be grabbed either from Quicksilver's preferences - or for you curious new users - their site.
Inquisitor Makes Safari Search More Like Spotlight
I found this mentioned over at Pimp My Safari, which is a great resource for all you Safari fans out there who are looking to trick out everyone's favorite Mac-branded browser.
