Last week I wrote an apparently controversial article on how I do my work completely online and why the operating system I use is no longer relevant: Firefox OS: Why My Hard Drive and Software are Obsolete. In the many comments that followed, I was accused of being a Google fanboy, because I…

If you’re using Google Reader to manage your RSS feeds, a handy feature is Google Trends. This keeps track of your feed activity on a day to day basis. Trends keeps track of your most read feeds as well as what days and what times you read them. This becomes handy if you want to keep…

No longer do we have to rely on those nice mashups; Google have added the My Maps feature to Google Maps. Now you can customize your very own map with your own placemarks and directions to share or keep as reference. Simply go to maps.google.com and you will find a My Maps tab next to Search…

Instead of relying on Gmail’s feeble 2-3GB of storage space, Google Tutor shows us how we can backup all the emails through Google Groups. 1) Create a new Google Group. Name it with something like “yourGMailaddress+archive” or “archivefor+yourGmailaddor” something similar. 2) Give it a description that will give you a hint that this is your backup archive…

While the debate of Windows v. Mac v. Linux rages on, at times rising to a roar in certain circles, I meekly raise my hand and offer a newly emerging fourth choice: none of these operating systems really matter anymore. Why not? Because for writers like me, and for many others, all the software and storage…

Just between you and me, except the online calendar sharing feature, Google Calendar is a very traditional calendar software. It’s just a prove to say Google can develop a calendar software in a web based platform. Anne Zelenka at Web Worker Daily proves otherwise. She suggests 18 ways to make it rock: Add holidays, moon phases, sporting…

Small Business Hub gives twelve tips on how to improve your productivity by searching Google more efficiently. In case you didn’t know, Google accepts “cryptic” searches for highly specific information. One such example is entering “site:lifehack.org Your search criteria” and Google will only search Lifehack.org for your search criteria. Small…

If first impressions count, then you are who Google says you are. Your reputation is the first 3 pages of search engine hits. The internet and its search engines have become so powerful, available and user-friendly that your reputation is becoming defined by what the first 3 pages of yahoo or google search hits turns…

Kelly Forrister, a facilitator and coach at David Allen & Co., shares her GTD system with Google tools. As she is a fan of Google software, she tries to integrate many tools, like Google Personalized Homepage, Spreadsheet, Calendar, and Mail into her workflow. A notable implementation is her Google Mail setup: For Google Mail, I’ve been…

If you are using .Mac, Matthew Russell at MacDevCenter shows you how to transit from .Mac to Google seamlessly and save $100 per year for you. The article contains ways to move your existing mails and address book to Gmail, getting your iCal information into Google Calendar, using GDisk for Gmail for your online storage needs…

I never realized this little trick about Google’s Gmail, so I thought I’d pass it on to you, just in case. If you want to keep something in Gmail, but don’t need it right away, use the ARCHIVE button. This pulls it out of the inbox view, and keeps your inbox cleaner. I have lots…

(This isn’t worthy of a full post, but we have no micro-hack trick here. I’m hacking Lifehack?) In Gmail, I keep finding it really useful to hit the Contacts button on the left side navigation area, and then click on a contact’s name. What comes back is a little contact card area up top (complete with…

Google Calendar is my choice for organizing my schedule. I don’t like Microsoft Outlook, but only because I loathe client-side applications for non-creativity-based processes. Here are 7 ways to use Google Calendar to better schedule your life, with a really cool add-on idea to boot. Use Monthly View for Big Ticket Planning- Plan your life…

I’ve got well over 400 emails still lingering in Gmail, and I’m a really dedicated email deleter. I’ve got some ideas on hacking this up to make it easier to deal with. This requires Google Calendar to be used by you as well. Prework Set up Google Calendar, and make sure you turn on email alerts…

I was making plans with someone today via email, and as I use gmail as my client, I noticed something: there’s a little button above the text entry area (up in the right corner) that says “Add Event Info.” I clicked this, and right there inline, was the option to throw the plans right there…