21 April 2013

Google Now for Google's Homepage in Testing



It looks like Google Now won't be limited to Android, iOS and Chrome, it will also be added to Google's homepage. Some code from a page that's tested by Google offers more information about this feature.



"Get started with Google Now. Just the right information at just the right time." That's how Google introduces the new feature. "Google Now uses your Home location to show relevant information like weather, traffic conditions, and nearby places," explains Google. You can edit the home location, work location and the current location. Another feature lets you track your favorite stocks.









It's not clear how Google Now for desktop will look, but this screenshot reveals a possible implementation (it also includes some Chrome features):






Here's the Google Search app interface for Android tablets (Nexus 10 gallery):






As I mentioned here, Google Now could replace some of iGoogle's functionality. Here's an early version of iGoogle from 2005:






{ Thanks, Florian. }


Add Google+ Comments to Any Web Page



Until Google launches an API for the Google+ Comments feature, you can use the code from Blogger. Browsing the Net found a way to embed Google+ Comments on any website or blog. Here's the code you could use:




<script src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js">
</script>
<div class="g-comments"
data-href="[URL]"
data-width="642"
data-first_party_property="BLOGGER"
data-view_type="FILTERED_POSTMOD">
</div>




Replace [URL] with the address of your page. It's interesting to see what happens if you enter the URL of a different page: from what I've noticed, Google shows some Google+ posts that link to that page.



{ Thanks, Jerzy. }


Google Now Is Not Google Voice Search



Here's something I don't understand: why do so many people confuse Google Now with Google Voice Search? There are a lot of articles that compare Google Now with Siri or claim that Google Now is a voice assistant.



Google Now is a feature of the Google Search app for Android that shows information about what's happening right now or in the near future: weather, calendar events, reservations, travel information. Try this: disable Google Now in Google's search app and you can still use voice search. After all, Google Voice Search has been available before Google Now. Google Search for iOS includes Voice Search, but it doesn't have Google Now yet.



One of the explanations why many people confuse Google Now with Google Voice Search is that Google Now and the improved Voice Search have been announced at the same time, when Jelly Bean was released. Google Now is shorter and sounds better than Google Voice Search.



Even the Wikipedia article for Google Now is inaccurate: "Google Now is an intelligent personal assistant available for Google's Android operating system. An extension of Android's native Google Search application, Google Now uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of web services. Along with answering user-initiated queries, Google Now passively delivers information to the user that it predicts they will want, based on their search habits."






How Do I Download An Entire Website For Offline Reading?



Download the entirety of a website – or individual web pages – to your hard drive. Whether you want to do some work offline so you can really block time-wasting websites or do some research on the road, downloading web content locally means you don’t need to stop when your connection does.


It’s increasingly rare, but still occasionally true: sometimes you just don’t have Internet access. Whether you’re on a plane or your grandparent’s place in the country, life occasionally brings all of us to places WiFi and 4G can’t reach. With a little preparation, however, you can have the data you need on your hard drive, waiting for you.


There are three distinct ways to read offline: downloading an entire website, downloading recent blog posts or news stories, and downloading the content from a specific page or article. I’m going to touch on all three below, but feel free to skip to the section you’re actually interested in.


Downloading Entire Websites


This is the hardcore option: downloading the entirety of a single website for offline reading. Obviously how long this takes will vary depending on the web site in questions – Wikipedia could take days to finish, and will take up a lot of your hard drive when it does. If you just want an offline copy of something simple, however, like the ultimate Final Fantasy 7 database or a simple site outlining a few recipes you were thinking of trying, downloading an entire website might be right for you.


The software I recommend for downloading an entire site is HTTrack, which Tina wrote about back in 2008. Don’t worry: the software hasn’t changed much and her article is still solid.



This open source program can be a little hard to use at first – especially if you’re not a Windows user. But if you’re looking to make a complete offline version of your favorite website – not an individual web page, an entire web site – it’s one of the simplest options out there. Tweak the settings if you run into problems and you should be fine. Only the Windows version comes with a dedicated GUI – Linux users will need to use a browser-based version of HTTrack instead. Don’t worry: items will be added to the menu so it’s easy enough to get started.


Mac users can install the software using MacPorts, but many might be better off checking out Sitesucker, a free Mac app that functions similarly but is easy to install and has it’s own GUI.



Downloading The Latest News


Are you mostly interested in keeping up with the news? Downloading an entire site then is probably an overkill: you don’t need to keep a copy of the headlines from 2005 on your computer. Happily there are dedicated tools for reading the news offline.


I showed you how to download entire newspapers or blogs using Calibre – it saves everything to the eBook format of your choice. This is a great way to condense the latest news into a format you can easily read offline, but be warned: paid subscriptions are required for some sites to work properly.



You can also use NewsToEbook to download the latest news directly. It even supports Google Reader (though of course that ends in July when Google pulls the plug on Reader).


Downloading Individual Web Pages


This is the simpler option: downloading the entirety – or only the content from – an individual page. If you’re doing some research, or simply want to do some offline reading, there are tools out there allowing you to clip any particular page and read it later.


My favorite is probably Evernote, a service that aims to become your personal on-and-offline repository of knowledge. You can use the service to “clip” articles from your favorite websites, which you can then read anytime using the desktop or mobile client.



Check out the unofficial Evernote manual to learn more. It’s written by our very own Mark O’Neil, and like all our manuals it’s free of charge.


Another simple way to save individual articles for reading later is Pocket, the ultimate digital bookmarking service. Apps for mobile devices sync articles you’ve saved for later, meaning you can read them anytime you want. There’s even a Mac version of Pocket for you computer (sorry, Windows and Linux users: not yet).



Want an entirely mobile solution? Offline Pages Pro for iOS and Read Web Offline for Android both allow you to save any URL directly to your mobile device, allowing you to read them anytime.


Conclusion


Of course, this list is only the beginning: there are other ways to do this. Most browsers offer a “Save As” function, for example, and you can always print any page on the web as a PDF for reading later.


Beyond that, I’m sure readers will point out plenty of other ways to save entire sites or individual pages for offline reading in the comments below. Unless, of course, they’re reading this comment offline – then they can’t leave comments. Oh well.


The post How Do I Download An Entire Website For Offline Reading? appeared first on MakeUseOf.



How Do I Download An Entire Website For Offline Reading?



Download the entirety of a website – or individual web pages – to your hard drive. Whether you want to do some work offline so you can really block time-wasting websites or do some research on the road, downloading web content locally means you don’t need to stop when your connection does.


It’s increasingly rare, but still occasionally true: sometimes you just don’t have Internet access. Whether you’re on a plane or your grandparent’s place in the country, life occasionally brings all of us to places WiFi and 4G can’t reach. With a little preparation, however, you can have the data you need on your hard drive, waiting for you.


There are three distinct ways to read offline: downloading an entire website, downloading recent blog posts or news stories, and downloading the content from a specific page or article. I’m going to touch on all three below, but feel free to skip to the section you’re actually interested in.


Downloading Entire Websites


This is the hardcore option: downloading the entirety of a single website for offline reading. Obviously how long this takes will vary depending on the web site in questions – Wikipedia could take days to finish, and will take up a lot of your hard drive when it does. If you just want an offline copy of something simple, however, like the ultimate Final Fantasy 7 database or a simple site outlining a few recipes you were thinking of trying, downloading an entire website might be right for you.


The software I recommend for downloading an entire site is HTTrack, which Tina wrote about back in 2008. Don’t worry: the software hasn’t changed much and her article is still solid.



This open source program can be a little hard to use at first – especially if you’re not a Windows user. But if you’re looking to make a complete offline version of your favorite website – not an individual web page, an entire web site – it’s one of the simplest options out there. Tweak the settings if you run into problems and you should be fine. Only the Windows version comes with a dedicated GUI – Linux users will need to use a browser-based version of HTTrack instead. Don’t worry: items will be added to the menu so it’s easy enough to get started.


Mac users can install the software using MacPorts, but many might be better off checking out Sitesucker, a free Mac app that functions similarly but is easy to install and has it’s own GUI.



Downloading The Latest News


Are you mostly interested in keeping up with the news? Downloading an entire site then is probably an overkill: you don’t need to keep a copy of the headlines from 2005 on your computer. Happily there are dedicated tools for reading the news offline.


I showed you how to download entire newspapers or blogs using Calibre – it saves everything to the eBook format of your choice. This is a great way to condense the latest news into a format you can easily read offline, but be warned: paid subscriptions are required for some sites to work properly.



You can also use NewsToEbook to download the latest news directly. It even supports Google Reader (though of course that ends in July when Google pulls the plug on Reader).


Downloading Individual Web Pages


This is the simpler option: downloading the entirety – or only the content from – an individual page. If you’re doing some research, or simply want to do some offline reading, there are tools out there allowing you to clip any particular page and read it later.


My favorite is probably Evernote, a service that aims to become your personal on-and-offline repository of knowledge. You can use the service to “clip” articles from your favorite websites, which you can then read anytime using the desktop or mobile client.



Check out the unofficial Evernote manual to learn more. It’s written by our very own Mark O’Neil, and like all our manuals it’s free of charge.


Another simple way to save individual articles for reading later is Pocket, the ultimate digital bookmarking service. Apps for mobile devices sync articles you’ve saved for later, meaning you can read them anytime you want. There’s even a Mac version of Pocket for you computer (sorry, Windows and Linux users: not yet).



Want an entirely mobile solution? Offline Pages Pro for iOS and Read Web Offline for Android both allow you to save any URL directly to your mobile device, allowing you to read them anytime.


Conclusion


Of course, this list is only the beginning: there are other ways to do this. Most browsers offer a “Save As” function, for example, and you can always print any page on the web as a PDF for reading later.


Beyond that, I’m sure readers will point out plenty of other ways to save entire sites or individual pages for offline reading in the comments below. Unless, of course, they’re reading this comment offline – then they can’t leave comments. Oh well.


The post How Do I Download An Entire Website For Offline Reading? appeared first on MakeUseOf.



How Do I Download An Entire Website For Offline Reading?



Download the entirety of a website – or individual web pages – to your hard drive. Whether you want to do some work offline so you can really block time-wasting websites or do some research on the road, downloading web content locally means you don’t need to stop when your connection does.


It’s increasingly rare, but still occasionally true: sometimes you just don’t have Internet access. Whether you’re on a plane or your grandparent’s place in the country, life occasionally brings all of us to places WiFi and 4G can’t reach. With a little preparation, however, you can have the data you need on your hard drive, waiting for you.


There are three distinct ways to read offline: downloading an entire website, downloading recent blog posts or news stories, and downloading the content from a specific page or article. I’m going to touch on all three below, but feel free to skip to the section you’re actually interested in.


Downloading Entire Websites


This is the hardcore option: downloading the entirety of a single website for offline reading. Obviously how long this takes will vary depending on the web site in questions – Wikipedia could take days to finish, and will take up a lot of your hard drive when it does. If you just want an offline copy of something simple, however, like the ultimate Final Fantasy 7 database or a simple site outlining a few recipes you were thinking of trying, downloading an entire website might be right for you.


The software I recommend for downloading an entire site is HTTrack, which Tina wrote about back in 2008. Don’t worry: the software hasn’t changed much and her article is still solid.



This open source program can be a little hard to use at first – especially if you’re not a Windows user. But if you’re looking to make a complete offline version of your favorite website – not an individual web page, an entire web site – it’s one of the simplest options out there. Tweak the settings if you run into problems and you should be fine. Only the Windows version comes with a dedicated GUI – Linux users will need to use a browser-based version of HTTrack instead. Don’t worry: items will be added to the menu so it’s easy enough to get started.


Mac users can install the software using MacPorts, but many might be better off checking out Sitesucker, a free Mac app that functions similarly but is easy to install and has it’s own GUI.



Downloading The Latest News


Are you mostly interested in keeping up with the news? Downloading an entire site then is probably an overkill: you don’t need to keep a copy of the headlines from 2005 on your computer. Happily there are dedicated tools for reading the news offline.


I showed you how to download entire newspapers or blogs using Calibre – it saves everything to the eBook format of your choice. This is a great way to condense the latest news into a format you can easily read offline, but be warned: paid subscriptions are required for some sites to work properly.



You can also use NewsToEbook to download the latest news directly. It even supports Google Reader (though of course that ends in July when Google pulls the plug on Reader).


Downloading Individual Web Pages


This is the simpler option: downloading the entirety – or only the content from – an individual page. If you’re doing some research, or simply want to do some offline reading, there are tools out there allowing you to clip any particular page and read it later.


My favorite is probably Evernote, a service that aims to become your personal on-and-offline repository of knowledge. You can use the service to “clip” articles from your favorite websites, which you can then read anytime using the desktop or mobile client.



Check out the unofficial Evernote manual to learn more. It’s written by our very own Mark O’Neil, and like all our manuals it’s free of charge.


Another simple way to save individual articles for reading later is Pocket, the ultimate digital bookmarking service. Apps for mobile devices sync articles you’ve saved for later, meaning you can read them anytime you want. There’s even a Mac version of Pocket for you computer (sorry, Windows and Linux users: not yet).



Want an entirely mobile solution? Offline Pages Pro for iOS and Read Web Offline for Android both allow you to save any URL directly to your mobile device, allowing you to read them anytime.


Conclusion


Of course, this list is only the beginning: there are other ways to do this. Most browsers offer a “Save As” function, for example, and you can always print any page on the web as a PDF for reading later.


Beyond that, I’m sure readers will point out plenty of other ways to save entire sites or individual pages for offline reading in the comments below. Unless, of course, they’re reading this comment offline – then they can’t leave comments. Oh well.


The post How Do I Download An Entire Website For Offline Reading? appeared first on MakeUseOf.