New in Labs: Inserting images

Thursday, April 09, 2009 | 10:08 PM
Posted by Kent Tamura, Software Engineer
Permalink

Well, it’s about time. You no longer have to use workarounds to put images into your messages or attach images when you really want to inline them. Just turn on “Inserting images” from the Labs tab under Settings, and you’ll see a new toolbar icon like this:

Make sure you’re in rich formatting mode, or it won’t show up. Click the little image icon, and you can insert images in two ways: by uploading image files from your computer or providing image URLs.

Keep in mind that Gmail doesn’t show URL-based images in messages by default to protect you from spammers, so if you’re sending mail to other Gmail users, they’ll still have to click “Display images below” or “Always display images from …” to see images you embed.

Windows 7 64 bit SP1 / Windows Server 2008 R2- Fatal Error C0000034 Applying Update Operation

Users across the world woke up to that lovely little error on their computers after trying to update to Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 64 bit or Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft does confirm there is an issue and is currently working on the issue. Luckily for us there is a fix, a bit involved but a fix none the less. Once you get your system back up and running would be a good idea to put off the update until Microsoft can work out the bugs.

Instructions:
1. Reboot your computer.

2. When your computer starts up again, choose the option “Launch Startup Repair” When the Startup repair starts, click cancel.

3. After you click cancel it will show a box. Click “Don’t Send” Click the link “View advanced options for recovery and support”

4. In the new window click Command Prompt at the bottom.

5. In Command Prompt type this and press enter: %windir%\system32\notepad.exe

6. Notepad will open. In notepad go to File > Open.

7. Change the type of files notepad views from .txt to All Files

8. Now in Notepad, go to C:\Windows\winsxs\ (or whichever drive Windows is installed on)

9. In that folder, find pending.xml and make a copy of it.

10. Now open the original pending.xml (it will load really slow because the file is huge)

11. In Notepad click on Format and check Word Wrap

12. Press CNTRL+F and search for the following exactly: 0000000000000000.cdf-ms

13. Delete the following text

(yours may be a little different): Your PC might not have all 3 sections of code (, , ). Just make sure you delete section “Checkpoint” and whatever other sections have “000000000000000.cdf-ms”. They will be right next to each other.

14. Note when you delete your screen may become non responsive, just be patient.

15. Save the file, close notepad, close command prompt, restart your computer.

16. Perform a normal start-up, most likely you won’t need to do anything. Your computer may finish the update or just revert back your system to before the update, either way things should be working properly.

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office

Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office brings collaborative multi-person editing to the familiar Microsoft® Office experience. You can share, backup, and simultaneously edit Microsoft Word, PowerPoint®, and Excel® documents with coworkers.

Watch the videos below to learn how Google Cloud Connect teaches your old docs new tricks.

Learn how Cloud Connect helped Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Requirements:

* Windows XP with .NET Framework 2.0, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
* Microsoft Office 2003, Office 2007, or Office 2010

Using Microsoft Office Home and Student edition? Read more on how to install Cloud Connect.

“Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office.” Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office. Google. Web. 25 Feb. 2011. http://tools.google.com/dlpage/cloudconnect#.

12 new file formats in the Google Docs Viewer

Sabharwal, Anil. “12 New File Formats in the Google Docs Viewer.” Google Docs Blog. Googledocs.blogspot.com, 18 Feb. 2011. Web. 19 Feb. 2011. <http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2011/02/12-new-file-formats-in-google-docs.html>.

The Google Docs Viewer is used by millions of people every day to quickly view PDFs, Microsoft Word documents and PowerPoint presentations online. Not only is viewing files in your browser far more secure than downloading and opening them locally, but it also saves time and doesn’t clutter up your hard-drive with unwanted files.

Today we’re excited to launch support for 12 new file types:

* Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)
* Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 / 2010 (.PPTX)
* Apple Pages (.PAGES)
* Adobe Illustrator (.AI)
* Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)
* Autodesk AutoCad (.DXF)
* Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)
* PostScript (.EPS, .PS)
* TrueType (.TTF)
* XML Paper Specification (.XPS)

Not only does this round out support for the major Microsoft Office file types (we now support DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, XLS and XLSX), but it also adds quick viewing capabilities for many of the most popular and highly-requested document and image types.

In Gmail, these types of attachments will now show a “View” link, and clicking on this link will bring up the Google Docs Viewer.

You can also upload and share these files in Google Docs, so that anyone can view the content using their browser.

And as always, the Google Docs Viewer is available for use on any website, with both a full Chrome and embedded option. More information can be found here.

What Does the IPv6 Transition Mean to Me?

http://lifehacker.com/#!5753686/what-does-the-ipv6-transition-mean-to-me

I’ve heard that we’re running out of IP addresses and we need to switch to a new system called IPv6, but I don’t understand any of it. What does this all mean for the internet and for me?

Signed,
Infinitely Perplexed

Dear IP,

The transition from IPv4 to IPv6 is kind of confusing if you’ve never really read much about it, but the idea is pretty simple. IPv4 is what we currently use, and it results in IP addresses with four sets of numbers. For example, the IP address to your router is probably 192.168.1.1 or 10.0.1.1 (or something similar).

What Does the IPv6 Transition Mean to Me? The periods separate each number, and there are a total of four. Because there are only so many combinations, we’ve actually managed to (essentially) run out of IPv4 addresses. Without IP addresses, we can’t keep adding more computers to the internet. That’s a simplified explanation of the problem, but that’s essentially the issue. The solution is iPv6, which results in longer addresses that look like this: 3ffe:1900:4545:3:200:f8ff:fe21:67cf. This offers up many, many more combinations so we’ll be able to allocate new IPv6 addresses for a long time. For a good overview of the whole situation, check out this infographic.

How the Change Affects You

What Does the IPv6 Transition Mean to Me?It’s pretty easy to memorize an IPv4 address—it’s not much different than memorizing a phone number—but IPv6 addresses are quite a bit more difficult. On the surface, you’re dealing with something a bit more complex. Beneath the surface, IPv6 also works a bit differently than IPv4 and requires both hardware and software support to function. IPv6 support is built in to most modern computer hardware, but not all. If you want to check if your hardware supports IPv6, the easiest thing to do is head for the command line. In Windows you can run ipconfig. On a Mac or Linux machine you can run ifconfig. These commands should list IPv4 and IPv6 addresses for your hardware. If you see an IPv6 address listed, you’re good.

Sort of.

Software support is also necessary for IPv6 to work. You can’t just enter an address like 3ffe:1900:4545:3:200:f8ff:fe21:67cf because, at the moment, your browser probably doesn’t recognize the format (or sort of does). Fortunately there isn’t much to worry about here because, 1) you can’t do anything about this and 2) software support will be on its way.

When the Change is Coming

June 8, 2011, is World IPv6 Day, during which web companies like Google and Facebook are participating in a 24-hour test of IPv6. In reality, the IPv6 change isn’t likely to mean much to you for quite some time. In the United States, the IPv6 compatibility deadline set by the federal government is September 30, 2012, according to Information Week. This is the date after which “webmail, domain name server (DNS), and Internet service provider (ISP) services, must operationally use native IPv6.” This is soon, but not terribly soon, and for most of us, that deadline won’t really mean a lot. If you’re running a popular browser, you can expect compatibility by the time you’ll need it, and likewise with most hardware. Chances are you won’t have to do anything other than keep your software up to date, but if you have IPv6-incompatible hardware, you’ll likely have updated anything that isn’t compatible by then. While the IPv6 transition won’t halt your ability to access the internet, it could cause some issues moving forward.

Hope that helps!

Love,
Lifehacker

New Internet Explorer Flaw Affects All Versions, Every User

http://www.switched.com/2011/02/01/internet-explorer-mhtml-flaw-affects-all-versions/

On Friday, Microsoft announced it had discovered a security flaw in Internet Explorer, used by over 900 million people, that could potentially affect every single user of the browser, regardless of version, on Windows XP, Vista and 7. The flaw rests with how the browser handles MHTML files. Microsoft said an attacker could use a simple HTML link to launch malicious code that could collect user data or redirect the browser to phishing sites. Microsoft has released a temporary security patch that simply blocks attempts to use the exploit, but it does not actually fix the flaw. While IE fans are busy installing hacked-together patches for a serious security flaw that, according to Ars Technica, was reported back in 2007, those using alternative browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Opera are sitting pretty. In addition to being just plain better, faster browsers, they’re also more secure. In fact, Safari, Chrome and Firefox don’t even support MHTML files, a weird Web format cooked up by Microsoft back in 1999 that allowed webpages to be saved to a single file, even if they contained elements normally separated from HTML, like Flash video and images.

If you must use Internet Explorer (and we know some of you have no choice), we strongly suggest you install the temporary fix (found here) now. If you have a choice, though, we continue to urge you to pick an IE alternative. You’ll not only be safer, but you’ll probably have a much more pleasant browsing experience.

Microsoft leaving two vulnerabilties in Internet Explorer 8 unpatched

Microsoft said today that it will release two security bulletins next week fixing three holes in Windows, but it is still investigating or working on fixing holes in Internet Explorer that have been reportedly exploited in attacks.

One bulletin due out on Patch Tuesday, rated “important,” affects only Windows Vista but the second one, with an aggregate rating of “critical,” affects all supported versions of Windows.

Microsoft said it is not releasing updates to address a hole affecting Windows Graphics Rendering Engine that it disclosed earlier this week, or one disclosed in late December, Security Advisory 2488013, that affects Internet Explorer and for which there have been reports of targeted attacks, the company said in a post on the Microsoft Security Response Center blog.

“We continue to actively monitor both vulnerabilities and for Advisory 2488013 we have started to see targeted attacks,” the post said. “If customers have not already, we recommend they consult the Advisory for the mitigation recommendations. We continue to watch the threat landscape very closely and if the situation changes, we will post updates here on the MSRC blog.”

Also not mentioned in the Patch Tuesday preview announcement by Microsoft is a bug in IE disclosed last weekend by Michal Zalewski, a security researcher for Google based in Poland. Zalewski released a tool he used to find the hole and others in all the major browsers and said that an exploit for the IE bug had been leaked to the Web accidentally. Security firm Vupen has confirmed the critical hole in IE 8. Microsoft says in Security Advisory 2490606 that it is investigating the bug reports.

Josh Abraham, a security researcher at Rapid7, was surprised that Microsoft was not rushing to fix holes that were reportedly being used in attacks.

“With only two bulletins this month, the big shock is that Microsoft is not addressing two security advisories that have already been weaponized,” Abraham said. “I would bet that if the malicious attackers start using the exploits, then we will see an out-of-band patch.”

Meanwhile, as Microsoft released its Patch Tuesday preview, Sophos is warning people about a fake Microsoft security update e-mail circulating that contained a worm. The subject line says “Update your Windows” and urges recipients to download an attached executable. But Microsoft does not issue security patches via e-mail attachments. Another clue that it’s a scam–Microsoft is misspelled in the forged e-mail header as “microsft.”

http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20027620-245.html

Google Docs Plays Videos

Google Docs lets you upload any kind of files, but not many of them can be previewed in Google Docs. You can open Microsoft Office documents and presentations, PDF files and some images. Now you can also play videos.

Uploaded video files can be up to 1 GB. These are the most common video formats that you can upload and play:

* WebM files (Vp8 video codec and Vorbis Audio codec)
* .MPEG4, 3GPP and MOV files – (h264 and mpeg4 video codecs and AAC audio codec)
* .AVI (many cameras use this format – typically the video codec is MJPEG and audio is PCM)
* .MPEGPS (MPEG2 video codec and MP2 audio)
* .WMV
* .FLV (Adobe – FLV1 video codec, MP3 audio)

Since Google uses YouTube’s player, it’s obvious that these are the formats supported by YouTube. After uploading a video to Google Docs, you’ll have to wait until it’s processed.

Why would someone upload videos to Google Docs instead of using YouTube? When Google adds more free storage to Google Docs and makes it easy to sync all your files, you’ll upload documents, photos, music files and videos. Google Docs lets you organize files into folders, share multiple files with your friends and even keep old versions of your files.

Tip. To find all the videos uploaded to your Google Docs account, use this URL: https://docs.google.com/#videos.

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2011/01/google-docs-plays-videos.html

Goodbye to an old friend: 1-800-GOOG-411

10/08/2010 11:00:00 AM

Back in 2007 we launched, a voice-powered directory assistance service that connects you quickly to businesses across the U.S. and Canada. On November 12, 2010, we will shut down the service.

GOOG-411 was the first speech recognition service from Google and helped provide a foundation for more ambitious services now available on smartphones, such as:

• Voice Search – search Google by speaking instead of typing.
• Voice Input – fill in any text field on Android by speaking instead of typing.
• Voice Actions – control your Android phone with voice commands. For example, you can call any business quickly and easily just by saying its name.

Our success encouraged us to aim for more innovation. Thus, we’re putting all of our resources into speech-enabling the next generation of Google products and services across a multitude of languages.

If you don’t use a smartphone, and you’re trying to call a business, you can send a text message with the name and location of the business to 466453 (“GOOGLE”) and we’ll text you the information, or on Gmail you can use the new phone-calling features to call any U.S. business free of charge. Also, if you don’t have the free voice search app pre-installed on your phone, you can download it here.

Thanks for all the calls, and keep an eye out for all the innovation to come.

Posted by The GOOG-411 Team

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/goodbye-to-old-friend-1-800-goog-411.html

About Google Instant

[Source: http://www.google.com/instant/#utm_campaign=launch&utm_medium=van&utm_source=instant]

Google Instant is a new search enhancement that shows results as you type. We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type.

The most obvious change is that you get to the right content much faster than before because you don’t have to finish typing your full search term, or even press “search.” Another shift is that seeing results as you type helps you formulate a better search term by providing instant feedback. You can now adapt your search on the fly until the results match exactly what you want. In time, we may wonder how search ever worked in any other way.

Benefits

Faster Searches: By predicting your search and showing results before you finish typing, Google Instant can save 2-5 seconds per search.

Smarter Predictions: Even when you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, predictions help guide your search. The top prediction is shown in grey text directly in the search box, so you can stop typing as soon as you see what you need.

Instant Results: Start typing and results appear right before your eyes. Until now, you had to type a full search term, hit return, and hope for the right results. Now results appear instantly as you type, helping you see where you’re headed, every step of the way.