40th Anniversary of Sesame Street

It's the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street.  It was prominently displayed on Google this morning.  I just thought that it was pretty interesting so I'm putting it up here.  Sesame Street is a show that I really enjoyed watching when I was a kid.  I actually read that the creator of Sesame Street died fairly recently.

Google AdWords

Hey guys.  This post is somewhat of a rant, so feel free to skip this one.  I have not been able to get into Google's AdWords program.  It just won't work with my Blogger account.  When I try to sign into AdWords with my Google account, it says that I don't have an AdWords account associated with my Google Account.  Then when I try to make an AdWords account to associate with my Google Account, it says that there is already an AdWords acccount associated with my account.  I just can't figure this out!  Meanwhile, I'm losing any potential ad revenue that i could be getting.  I'll keep everyone updated as the situation changes.

Blogger's New Features

Blogger has released some exciting new publishing features that are exciting enough for me to write about.  I can now take a picture and send it directly to my blog from my cell phone.  I can also text posts in.  That's obviously not very efficient or cost-effective, so I don't plan to do it, but it's cool none the less.  I can also post video directly to the blog.  This is all very exciting.  Maybe I will begin to use some of these features at some point.

Some Great April Fool's Stuff

I don't know if you have noticed what is on Google's homepage, but if you haven't, click here after you finish reading this post.  Every year, Google comes out with a great April Fool's joke.  Just Google "April Fool's Joke Google" to see some of the previous years.

Cool Service: GOOG 411

This post is going to talk about GOOG 411, a cool service from our friends at Google.  GOOG 411 is like the regular directory that you get if you dial information from your home phone.  There are however, two major differences.  The first difference is the price.  GOOG 411 is free, while information generally costs somewhere around $1.25  The other aspect of GOOG 411 that separates it from your telephone provider's standard information directory service is that it's automated.  When you dial 0 to get to the operator to transfer you to the info directory, you are speaking with a living person.  When you use GOOG 411, you are talking to a computer.  The computer is a very intelligent one though.  Admittedly, it will butcher a pronunciation here and there, but overall, I'd have to say that it's just as easy to use as the "real thing".  So next time you are in need of a business listing, call 1-800-GOOG 411.  Because it's a 1800 number you can do it from a pay phone without having to put money in.

Googling...

Hey everybody, I just want to congratulate Google on being itself. I just googled some old friends from way, way back just for fun to see what would come up. I googled Chris B., Chris J., Daniel B., Kyle S., Molly A. and Robert D. I am protecting their identities, but noting the first initial of the last name so I'll be able to know who they are when I read the archives. It's just so funny that relevant results actually came up for most of these people. Google is amazing.

Googlewhack

I just found a Googlewhack. A googlewhack is made up of two words that when you search them on google only come up with one result. It is extremely difficult to find one, but I did. "hello princessdi.com" is the one. Usually as soon as someone tells other people about it, they get posted somewhere on the web, so it's hard to find one.

Email @ Gmail

I am a bit concerned that someone has somehow gotten my password for one of my email accounts, because very odd messages have been sent from my email address. If this has ever happened to you, DO NOT IGNORE THE SIGNS: Odd messages in your sent folder, a HUGE amount of messages that "Could not be sent", and a HUGE increase in Spam. So what is the answer? Change your password. It sounds too simple to be true, but it really works people. That is the simplest way to get people off. Also, change your security question if you have one. Good Luck.

I'm all Google, but formerly Yahoo!

I wanted to continue where I was going on the last post, because I was having some fun talking about I have Gmail(Google Mail must be the full name, although they never use Google Mail). I use Google's search engine, which was hard to change from Yahoo! just because of the habit. Now I use Google Personalized Home-page instead of My Yahoo!. It is actually kind of interesting. From my observations, "Yahoo!" is going down because of all of the new Google innovations. I'm really impressed with Google, because their innovations are creating competition with Yahoo! in areas that Yahoo! once had no competitors that were actually a threat. Now Google is coming in and forcing Yahoo to come out with lots of innovations that their budget cannot compensate for. The tables have turned. Instead of Google trying to keep up with Yahoo!, now Yahoo! is trying desperately to keep up with Google. Another example of Yahoo! now trying to keep up with Google is that they have now renamed their Mail service Y! Mail. Sad huh? Oh well.
I just love Google for their creative and unconventional approach of doing business. Where Yahoo! is very serious about their legal terms, Google is more about putting a bit of fun on their web-services. They have funny messages in the Gmail interface, where you can bet that there are no jokes in the Yahoo! Mail interface.
Keep in mind that Yahoo! still has "more then 50 million accounts open" according to Yahoo!. That is still A LOT more then Google, but give them time :) they'll catch up! I jumped on the bandwagon before the train left the station too, and I'm not trying to advertise for Yahoo! or Google, but I wanted to talk about my experience with both services.
I want to point out that Y! Mail is not in beta, whereas Gmail is in its Beta phase. Beta is a computer means that technically it hasn't come out to the general public yet. Even though I have it, and can give it to anyone, it doesn't mean that it is officially available. Beta is a way of saying that there ae still bugs in the service that need to be fixed before the official release. So if there is a problem with Gmail, which there aren't(which makes one wonder why it's still in Beta, but I'm glad that it's private, because it makes me feel cool having something that is not available for the public), it is to be expected, but if there is a problem with Y! Mail, I get frustrated, because they "took the problems out" when they took off the Beta "stamp" ten years ago!
Ok, so now I want to talk about my experience with Yahoo has been odd. I have not enjoyed the bugs with the Java interface that appear when I log in at school. But I do enjoy the extra features like different color schemes. That's nice.
I have had my Gmail account for a shorter time than I have had my Yahoo!, so it still seems new to me. But that could also be because they unveil a new feature almost every week. Gmail is great because I don't have any problems with Gmail's Java interface at school, because it works with the firewall instead of against it. I find that that part of Gmail is really worth getting. Just for that feature alone. But Gmail has always increased their features very fast, and so I would like to note that even though I like Yahoo! mail I like Gmail more.
Thank you and remember to read the archives!

Google's New Office

You will never guess what I just read on Google Jobs! Google is looking for people to work at their new office............. ON THE MOON!!!!! I'm not even joking. I can't believe it, but there it is!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE(JULY 2007): THAT WAS A JOKE THAT GOOGLE DID FOR APRIL FOOLS DAY