Google Showing CheckOut Icon on AdSense Ads

Today I noticed that Google is showing a little shopping basket - known as the Google CheckOut CI - beside AdSense Ads that are using Google CheckOut. I don't know how long this feature is available but for me I saw it the first time today :)

google checkout basket adsense

Fun with AdSense

Well, this isn't really fun it is more a really mess. Did you ever tried to change your AdSense Email Account Address to a new Email Address from your Google Account? It will not work when you use an email address other than a Google Email Address ! I am an AdSense user since the beginning of this Google service and all those accounts that are using an Email Address that is not a Gmail address seems to have a problem with changing the account email to a Google Address.

From the Help Desk page it says:
!Note: We're not able to update logins to Gmail or Google Account addresses at this time. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

That means, I can't change it - but why? All my Google services are using one Google email, why can't I switch to my Google Mail with my AdSense Account :(
Any Googlers reading this blog? I want to change it from me@mygreatdomainname to my mygreatename@gmail. Thanks for any hint on that.

adsense google account email gmail googlemail

EgoGoogle

Today I did it - I typed in my name into Google and what I saw is amazing. My name is not a rare name like Michael Arrington, so it is definitly a problem to find something that really is related to me. Googles search result came up with around 1.9mio results for my name - wow I'm famous.
The funny thing - on the 4th position I found this blog WebSquirrel. But how do Google know that this blog is bound to my real full name? I know Google knows a lot, but I didn't know that Google put my full name - I gues they got it from my Google Mail Account - into a searchable keyword to my blog? Because I only signed up with my short name on this blog and my full name is only available in Google Mail. I am scared :)

egogoogle ego google google

Good-Bye Plaxo? Welcome Again Plaxo!

After installing Thunderbird 2.0 I was very happy expect one thing: Plaxo's add on is not supported in Thunderbird 2.0. I use Plaxo for years and I was a really a big fan. Yesterday I called the help desk and ask why there is NO plaxo version for Thunderbird 2.0 for download because the Thunderbird 2.0 beta is out for some weeks. Are the problems to port the code that high? I don't understand this. The Plaxo Help Desk replied and told me I should uninstall Thunderbird 2.0 and reinstall Thunderbird 1.5 in order to use the Plaxo add on.

Hello!?

Today I say: Good Bye Plaxo! Any alternatives for Plaxo? If yes, drop me a mail.

UPDATE: Seems that someone from Plaxo read that blog because a comment on this post - see below - told me that there is now a Thunderbird 2.0 addon for Plaxo available.
Well, I was happy for 5 minutes, because after installation and syncing - all my contacts are gone - I now have an empty adressbook on Thunderbird as well as on Plaxo online! Thank you and again Good-Bye Plaxo! I hope I can resync them with my iMac to get all my contacts back!

UPDATE 2: I managed to resync my existing contacts from my iMac to Plaxo again and than to my Windows PC where I lost all my contacts during a sync - don't know why. The Plaxo toolbar shows some info that I need to install an addiotional addon for security reasons - but it is not showing which addon or more info about it? Also, when you click on "settings" in the Thunderbird AddOn menu - a window popsup that only displayes the window titlebar - strange. I will keep you updated on this mystery case.

UPDATE 3: Jing from the Plaxo team contacted me to get a deeper look whats happening during that sync and why I lost my contacts. First of all thanks to Plaxo and Jing that they contacted me and we solved the problem in some way. More and more I think it was not a really problem of the Thunderbird Plaxo Add On - I think it was a problem in my action to sync my contacts. When I first installed Thunderbird I imported all my contacts from Outlook. Then later on when I installed the Plaxo Add On, I synced my contacts - Thunderbird crashed - and all my contacts were doubled. Than I deleted all my contacts in the address book and tried to get a fresh address book with a new sync. And this time, Plaxos Add On synced my empty address book into my online stored address book and all my contacts were lost. Don't know if this was my failure or if a simple alert box would be great thats says: "Do you really want to sync your empty address book and delete all you stored online contacts?" Anyway, Plaxo is still a great product - also on Thunderbird.

plaxo thunderbird thunderbird2.0 thunderbird2 add+on thunderbird+2

Good-Bye Outlook, Welcome Thunderbird 2.0

Today I downloaded the new 2.0 version of Thunderbird and started a testdrive that I did so many times with earlier versions. All the time when I tried Thunderbird it crashes during the import of my "huge" email database. I have more than 25,000 emails in my Outlook 2003 version and it is more like a huge knowledgebase and of course storing most of my company correspondence. I didn't expect it but the new version of Thunderbird 2.0 did a great job on importing all emails and I only did some changes on the folders - thats all. After some 30 minutes of creating all my email accounts and other stuff I am very happy with Thunderbird and I really don't miss Outlook.

Although my huge number of emails are stored in Thunderbird, the application starts much faster than Outlook. The only problem, no calender anymore - but I use Google Calender from now. Thunderbird is really worth a try to switch to a great email client. If you need help converting your data from Outlook to Thunderbird you can find great resources on the web but in most cases Thunderbird is doing a good job on converting your existing data.

thunderbird outlook email client

Whats that?

Can someone tell me what the hell is going on with the search results below?

I saw that problem on many search results the last days. Is this a bug or a feature?

Google AdSense Problems? Whats Up?

Since three weeks I can't access the "My Account" option in Google AdSense. I wrote an email to Google Support: No respond! I post a question in the forum: No answer from Google. There are many others in the forum with the same problem. I think it would be great to get a better statement from Google rather than saying "Sorry, we have a problem with your request our technical stuff has been notified!". Is this the Google way - I don't think so. Don't ne evil Google!

UPDATE:
Damn, Google seems to read my blog. Right after I wrote this post I got an Email from Google saying that they check the problem and get back to me as soon as possible. And no, it is not an automaticly created email.

google adsense problems my+account

Apple iPod with Wi-Fi?

DigiTimes is reporting that Apple seems to plan an Apple iPod with Wi-Fi access. Apple will launch the new iPods in the second half of 2007. Users can than proabably exchange music and videos from one iPod to another. Read the full article here

apple wi-fi ipod 2007 wi-fi+ipod

My Google Search Protocol

Did you ever took a look at your search protrocol on Google? I am using the Google Firefox Bar and you can see all search phrases that I entered lately. It is very interesting and it is like a travel through time when you see that you searched for some online shops that sell anti ant spray - and you remember that you had some huge amount of ants in the garden last week. It is really funny - try to write down your search protocol and think about what Google can think about your search phrases. Here is mine:

Here are some of my search phrase and what Google could think about it:

My search: "sony ericsson gps"
Google: "he probably want to buy a new mobile phone with gps"

My search: "venice map"
Google: "he probably want to visit Venice and want to use his sony ericsson phone with gps tracker to make some photos"

My search: "techcrunch shirt"
Google: "he is probably some tech geek or techcrunch fanatic"

My search: "quiksilver online shop"
Google: "damn, he is a skater or something else that is cool"

My search: "AAPL"
Google: "he is buying Apple shares or would like to buy some if he had the money"

My search: "ikea, wash mattress"
Google: "poor boy, you can't wash them - you need to buy a new one"

My search: "anti ant spray"
Google: "this person has a problem with his mattress and some huge amount of ants"

etc...

Google Ads Show New Google Logo

Today I noticed that Google AdSense now showing a new Google Logo. I think it looks great but it is a lot more larger than the old style. The background color of the logo can be defined with the border color in the AdSense Ad Setup.

google adsense banner logo google+adsense

Google with New Feature : My Maps

Google Maps just released a new feature to its maps application. Registered users can create and add own special additional informations to Google Maps. To add a new information or point of interest you can use a point tool and you can draw lines and shapes to show ways and areas on the map. Created maps can be shared, published to public and will be listed under the new "My Maps" tab in the sidebar. I think this is a great feature to create TravelLogs.

google+maps my+maps maps google