Even though I am still considering leaving Bloglines as my readers of choice (the reasons are not the subject of this post, but are related with the fact that I feel it lacks a lot of features available now around the web) I can’t stop not noticing their new blog search, with the great fact that they are searching what people subscribe to which should mean that we’ll get less spammy results.

Since blogging and feeds tend to be more associated with individuals rather than organizations, Ask has also implemented a sophisticated name-recognition capability. Search for a name, and for active bloggers you see links to posts by and posts about the person. Another feature surfaces “top feeds” based on a combination of relevance to your query and popularity of blogs that match your query.

Check it out here: blogsearch.ask.com

First of all today Google released the beta version of its Google Desktop 3.0. Besides some new important features like dragging panels out of the sidebar and place them anywhere you want on the desktop or sending content from your sidebar to others, probably the most important new one is the Search across computers one.

Important from the utility point of view as well as the privacy issues debate it will launch. That because:

In order to share your indexed files between your computers, we first copy this content to Google Desktop servers located at Google. This is necessary, for example, if one of your computers is turned off or otherwise offline when new or updated items are indexed on another of your machines. We store this data temporarily on Google Desktop servers and automatically delete older flies, and your data is never accessible by anyone doing a Google search.

Basically Google Desktop gathers all manner of data on one’s computer and makes it available via another, if the user chooses to store it on Google’s servers.

More about it here or here.

More than that Google added lately new features to its free mail service, in a try to push its IM client to mainstream. As such Gtalk chats are now integrated (along with the chat hsitory) in the webmail client. In terms of gmail too, it seems that is more than that:

Their next big move will likely be GMail for domains — a powerful way for anybody who owns a domain to utilize GMail as a mail server, not just a client.

More here.

Mozilla Firefox has achieved an market share of over 20 percent in Europe, according to the latest figures released by French Web metrics firm XiTi and an estimated global market share of 11.5 percent. That happened in only a little over one year.

What if same trend will follow in operating systems? While until recently Firefox’s only support was the open source community, Google recently jumped in and said something like “yeah, we support Firefox browser“. It seems that this was only the beginning and Google really want to join the OS market. Recent reports confirmed that:

Google is preparing its own distribution of Linux for the desktop, in a possible bid to take on Microsoft in its core business – desktop software.

A version of the increasingly popular Ubuntu desktop Linux distribution, based on Debian and the Gnome desktop, it is known internally as ‘Goobuntu’.

Uh!! That can get big, but it’s not all as there is one more piece of news that I wouldn’t even imagined one year or five ago. Recent alliance between Intel and Apple made it possible to have:

an IBM ThinkPad that dual boots Windows XP and Mac OS 10.4 (the Intellese version). It felt like I was in the twilight zone seeing the shiny Mac interface on a black IBM laptop.

Running Mac OS on non-Apple hardware isn’t Apple’s intention with 10.4, but now that it’s possible, surely a community will spring up around the possibilities – and hopefully get their hands on the necessary drivers.

Something to keep an eye on..

UPDATE: It seems that Google denies the Goobuntu rumor:

technology spokeswoman Sonya Borälv responded very quickly to my query on the topic. She said that “[w]e use Ubuntu internally but have no plans to distribute it outside of the company.”

Same thing happened with Gmail, doesn’t it?

Tags: Goobuntu, Mac OS, Windows, operating system, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Firefox

Yahoo! is making itself an amazing Christmas present, ending the year in style. After buying flickr.com earlier this year, it seems that the next aquisition for Yahoo is del.icio.us.

That’s funny ’cause I was in a point where I was about to choose between Yahoo!’s My  Web and del.icio.us to keep my online bookmarks, but these news just make my life easier. I am really curious on how the two services will integrate and how Flickr will join.

Here is what Yahoo! blog is saying on the deal:

As Joshua writes, the del.icio.us team will soon be working in close proximity to their fraternal twin, Flickr. And just like we’ve done with Flickr, we plan to give del.icio.us the resources, support, and room it needs to continue growing the service and community. Finally, don’t be surprised if you see My Web and del.icio.us borrow a few ideas from each other in the future.

More on this here, here and here.

Technorati Tags: del.icio.us, yahoo, myweb, social web

Microsoft launched the beta version of its Windows Live Safety Center which is a new, free service designed to help ensure the health of your PC. You can basically scan your PC and:

• Check for and remove viruses
• Learn about threats
• Improve your PC’s performance
• Get rid of junk on your hard disk

Use the full service scan to check everything, or turn to the scanners and information in the service centers to meet your specific needs. Internet Explorer is required to run it.

The address: http://safety.live.com/

Technorati Tags: Windows Live, Safety Center, Virus, defragmentation

In celebration of their 10th Year anniversary, the Webby Awards website takes a look back at 10 Web moments that changed the world. Here is the list:

1. The Dotcom Boom and Bust (1995-2001) – Launched by Netscape’s IPO, the Boom & Bust fast-tracked the Web
2. The Drudge Report Breaks Lewinsky Scandal (1998) – Matt Drudge Scoops one of the decade’s biggest stories
3. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos Named Time’s Man of the Year (December 1999) -1999 Was A Watershed Year for Online Commerce
4. Elections Worldwide (2004) – Howard Dean Revolutionizes Politics
5. September 11th (2001) -Millions of Americans Turn to the Internet for Information About the Tragedies
6. Asian Tsunami (2005) – Citizens Journalists Are the First on the Scene to Document the Tsunami
7. Napster Shut Down (July 2001) – Court Ruling Spurs Innovation and New Business Models
8. Live 8 on AOL (July 2005) – Internet Coverage Of Global Concert Bests Television’s
9. Match.com Booms (2002) – The Web Becomes the Primary Means for Making Connections
10. SARS Virus Discovered Online (2003) – Web Plays Central Role in Research to Discover SARS Virus

Read full story here.

Technorati Tags: Top+10, Web+Moments, Webby+Awards