Friday, September 30, 2005

Up and Atom!

I think Google is having trouble displaying atom feeds from blogger in their Google Personalized Homepage... when I add the feed:

http://googleaddiction.blogspot.com/atom.xml

Most of the time it gives me an error saying "Information is temporarily unavailable"... and other times it gives me the feed, but the most current post is from yesterday!

There are many Googlers who visit this site regularily... do any of them have an answer for this?

Gmail Auto-Save

It looks as though GMail will be introducing a new feature called "Auto-Save" which is designed to save messages that you are writing automatically incase of a browser crash. This information can be seen on the GMail What's New Page.

There is no information on this page to suggest integration between GMail and GCalendar (yet), but we will keep our eyes peeled!

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Google Calendar is Here!!!

This is just in... breaking news!

calendar.google.com now has CName record pointing to www.google.com!

This is what happened just before Google Talk showed up.

More news to follow....

Update: calendar.google.com does not log you out anymore... it's possible they are getting very close to launching now.

Google Index Size Estimates

Since Google has removed their index size from their front page, one of our readers has decided to take it upon himself to figure out how large google's index really is. In his blog, he explains what he thinks the size of Google's index is by using information he has gathered.

Send Google Addiction tips and links you think our readers might find interesting. In just over a week this blog has exploded in popularity. We have regular visitors from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo... as well as the hundreds of regular Google addicts!

Cheers!

Unused Google Domains

One way to feed your google addiction is to search for domains that google has registered but not used. As posted by Gary Price from searchenginewatch.com Here is a good list of domains that you can take a look at.

If you are doing some investigation on your own, look for domains that are registered to either Google or Data Docket Inc. Have fun!

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

A Date To Remember

Google is developing a Calendar service that will likely be known to everyone as "GCalendar". There has been speculation in the past about such a service, but now there is evidence that Google has been thinking about it since 2004.

Another mysterious domain registered by our friends "Data Docket Inc." called gcalendar.com was registered April 2, 2004. From previous posts that revealed that Data Docket Inc. was somehow affiliated with Google, we can finally say that Google is the owner of gcalendar.com!

The only question we are asking now is... what date should we mark on our "calendar" for this one?


Domain: gcalendar.com

MarkMonitor.com - The Leader in Corporate Domain Management
----------------------------------------------------------
For Global Domain Consolidation, Research & Intelligence,
and Enterprise DNS, go to: www.markmonitor.com
----------------------------------------------------------

Registrant:
Data Docket Inc.
(DOM-1314960)
391 N Ancestor Pl.
boise
ID
83704
US

Domain Name: gcalendar.com

Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.com

Administrative Contact:
Data Docket Inc
(NIC-14393213)
Data Docket Inc.
391 N Ancestor Pl.
boise
ID
83704
US
info@datadocket.com
+1.2083895740
Fax- +1.2083895740
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Data Docket
(NIC-14393215)
Data Docket Inc.
391 N Ancestor Pl.
boise
ID
83704
US
info@datadocket.com
+1.2083895740
Fax- +1.2083895740

Created on..............: 2004-Apr-02.
Expires on..............: 2006-Apr-02.
Record last updated on..: 2005-Jul-25 19:10:31.

Domain servers in listed order:

REMUS.EROUTE.NET
MAXIMUS.EROUTE.NET

MarkMonitor.com - The Leader in Corporate Domain Management
----------------------------------------------------------
For Global Domain Consolidation, Research & Intelligence,
and Enterprise DNS, go to: www.markmonitor.com
----------------------------------------------------------

Monday, September 26, 2005

Google Video and Flash

Google now uses Flash Video for playing movies on Google Video. I am as much an open source fan as any, but I support this move unlike some users. Macromedia has made a great player that is simple for the average user to use.

It's true that VLC would have worked fine for what they needed, but what's the big deal? The majority of users who will be using this service already have Flash installed in their browser. Why bother installing more plugins that do the same thing?

Google is a fast moving company wanting to provide the best service they can to the majority of users. They make very complicated systems run easily on computers with close to zero configuration and that's exactly what they have done here.

Google does loves idea of open source, yet they also love idea of functional and easy-to-use software. It's all about balance.

I could get into a lengthy rant about how many open source advocates take it way too far and don't believe anything good can come from closed source software... but I'll save that for another time.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Google Talk 1.0.0.70

Google has released this new Google Talk version. I am unable to see any differences between .68 and .70... it's probably only bug fixes.

The only real difference I see is the version number in the about box is black instead of a hard-to-read grey.

If you find any changes post a comment!

Thursday, September 22, 2005

DataDocket & MarkMonitor Related!

A very intelligent researcher has determined there is a link between DataDocket and MarkMonitor.  In his comment to the article "Who is DataDocket and Why Does Google Love Them", he explains the following:

"If you look at the initial filing of Data Docket, you will find that the officers of the company are the same as the officers of Mark Monitor (see thier web site, about us, management team). Also, you will see that Mark Monitor has a European presence. So there could be a Norwegean connection. My guess is that Google is using Mark Monitor and Data Docket, (and probably others..) to acquire and monitor all "google" names / products, for possible / planned future use, without them being directly tied to Google. At least for now..."

Thanks imghost!

Google Payment Corp.

Thanks to a tip from one of our readers, we have some more information regarding the "Google Wallet" service that is set to come out in the future.

Google has registered a corporation in Delaware on April 13, 2005 that "Will do business in California" called Google Payment Corp.

As you have probably guessed, or knew, there is also a domain registered to Google called "googlepayment.com".

I would say that we should be looking for a payment.google.com in the coming months!

Update: This is OOOOOOLD news!

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Data Docket Inc. & Google

I'm calling for an investigation. All addicts on board! I would really like to know who DataDocket is and possibly even some domains that they have registered in the past. There is a definite link between Google and this company as I mentioned in my article about GDrive.

An online reporter has covered this story and he is just as curious as I am. If you have any information or if you can dig up some dirt on this company everyone reading this blog would LOVE to hear from you.

Feel free to post comments anonymously.

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

WiFi & VPN... it makes sense now

As I posted a few days ago, I noticed that wifi.google.com and vpn.google.com were live and functioning domains @ Google... it now looks like google is providing a new service called Google Secure Access Client.

This client is used for Secure WiFi access via Google VPN (as of right now it has only been tested in San Francisco on "certain wifi networks"). Basically what happens is the following:

1) anything your computer would normally send over the internet becomes encrypted using the Secure Access Client.
2)Once encrypted, it is then sent to Google for processing.
3)Google decrypts your data
4)Google sends your data to it's final destination
5)a response is sent back to google.
6)Google takes that information and encrypts it
7)Google sends you the encrypted information
8)Google Secure Client decrypts the information
9)everything seems to have worked as it did before you had Secure Access Client installed.

Here is more information

Yet another great product idea from Google :)

Sunday, September 18, 2005

GoogleTV in the works?

Is it a surprise that Google is also getting into television? There have been rumors flying around that google will try to incorporate it's wireless network with on-demand streaming television. Purchasing unused fiber lines would be one way they could afford to do it. Surprise surprise, It seems as though Google has purchased unused fiber from Cogent according to this article.

Google has registered the domains googletv.com, googletelevision.net, googlehd.net, googlehdtv.net, googlehidef.com and googlehighdevinition.com... It definitely looks like they are going to be doing something with TV in the future.

I'm looking forward to it! :)

Saturday, September 17, 2005

VPN.google.com... interesting...

What do you figure Google is doing with a domain like "vpn.google.com" or better yet, the domain "googlevpn.com"?

Non-Authoritative answer:
Name: vpn.google.com
Addresses: 66.28.250.23, 66.28.250.25, 66.28.250.26, 66.28.250.27

These IP addresses belong to a company called Cogent (which has the "Google Feel" doesn't it?).

Would this have something to do with the WiFi rumors floating around? On that note, wifi.google.com (googlewifi.net is also registered by Google) accepts web connections, but redirects to google's main page.

I'm still figuring out what this means so when I find out more information, you will be the first to know!

Friday, September 16, 2005

GDrive wasn't such a bad idea....

Google is making their own G: drive as we speak. You may think this is speculation... but there is lots of evidence to support the idea that google is really digging into "Online Storage"...

Just imagine. A place where you can store files which can be used anywhere, anytime on any device... believe it! Google will allow people to store information on their servers using something as easy to use as a G: drive.

Here's what I know....

Do you remember gbrowser.com?

Registrant:
Google Inc. (DOM-1278108)
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View CA 94043 US

Domain Name: gbrowser.com

Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.com

Administrative Contact:
DNS Admin (NIC-1467103) Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View CA 94043 US
dns-admin@google.com +1.6502530000 Fax- +1.6506188571
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
DNS Admin (NIC-1467103) Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View CA 94043 US
dns-admin@google.com +1.6502530000 Fax- +1.6506188571

Created on..............: 2004-Apr-26.
Expires on..............: 2006-Apr-26.
Record last updated on..: 2004-Apr-26 16:46:39.

Domain servers in listed order:

NS1.ALLDOMAINS.COM
NS2.ALLDOMAINS.COM

MarkMonitor.com - The Leader in Corporate Domain Management
----------------------------------------------------------
For Global Domain Consolidation, Research & Intelligence,
and Enterprise DNS, go to: www.markmonitor.com
----------------------------------------------------------


We know that google owns a domain called gbrowser.com for whatever reason... many people have speculated that a future web browser created by Google will be named "GBrowser"... After you read this, you may reconsider what they are calling a "browser"... how about a "File Browser"?

I was doing a little brainstorming and decided that if google was smart, they would provide some sort of online storage medium that can be accessed from anywhere... a similar 3rd party application had been developed called "GDrive" which utilized GMail as it's storage. This application has suspiciously been discontinued.

Is it possible that the developers of this 3rd party application came under some serious pressure from Google? I decided to do a quick lookup on the domain gdrive.com just to take a look at who the owners were... here's what the whois information says....

Registrant:
Data Docket Inc.
(DOM-1291683)
391 N Ancestor Pl. boise
ID
83704 US

Domain Name: gdrive.com

Registrar Name: Markmonitor.com
Registrar Whois: whois.markmonitor.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.markmonitor.com

Administrative Contact:
Data Docket Inc
(NIC-14393213)
Data Docket Inc.
391 N Ancestor Pl. boise
ID
83704 US
info@datadocket.com +1.2083895740 Fax- +1.2083895740
Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Data Docket
(NIC-14393215)
Data Docket Inc.
391 N Ancestor Pl. boise
ID
83704 US
info@datadocket.com +1.2083895740 Fax- +1.2083895740

Created on..............: 2002-Apr-04.
Expires on..............: 2006-Apr-04.
Record last updated on..: 2005-Jul-25 19:01:51.

Domain servers in listed order:

NS.HOSTING4U.NET
NS2.HOSTING4U.NET

MarkMonitor.com - The Leader in Corporate Domain Management
----------------------------------------------------------
For Global Domain Consolidation, Research & Intelligence,
and Enterprise DNS, go to: www.markmonitor.com
----------------------------------------------------------

It looks like a company called "Data Docket Inc." has registered this domain... however, i became a little bit suspicious when i noticed that both gbrowser.com and gdrive.com were registered using the registrar "MarkMonitor.com" which (from what I can tell) don't really offer their domain registration services to just anybody.

It was a long shot, but I decided to pursue this a little bit further... you will be surprised what I found...

The whois information for the domain DataDocket.com didn't provide any kind of helpful information other than it was also registered with MarkMonitor.com... that wasn't a huge surprise... however, a subsequent WHOIS lookup blew this whole thing wide open and put things into perspective....

Domain Name: GOOGLEVIDEO.BIZ
Domain ID: D8667205-BIZ
Sponsoring Registrar: EMARKMONITOR, INC.
Sponsoring Registrar IANA ID: 292
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Registrant ID: MKN-1467103
Registrant Name: DNS Admin
Registrant Organization: Google Inc.
Registrant Address1: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Registrant City: Mountain View
Registrant State/Province: CA
Registrant Postal Code: 94043
Registrant Country: United States
Registrant Country Code: US
Registrant Phone Number: +1.6502530000
Registrant Facsimile Number: +1.6506188571
Registrant Email: dns-admin@google.com
Registrant Application Purpose: P1
Registrant Nexus Category: C21
Administrative Contact ID: MKN-1467103
Administrative Contact Name: DNS Admin
Administrative Contact Organization: Google Inc.
Administrative Contact Address1: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Administrative Contact City: Mountain View
Administrative Contact State/Province: CA
Administrative Contact Postal Code: 94043
Administrative Contact Country: United States
Administrative Contact Country Code: US
Administrative Contact Phone Number: +1.6502530000
Administrative Contact Facsimile Number: +1.6506188571
Administrative Contact Email: dns-admin@google.com
Administrative Application Purpose: P1
Administrative Nexus Category: C21
Billing Contact ID: MKN-1467104
Billing Contact Name: Data Docket
Billing Contact Organization: Data Docket
Billing Contact Address1: 391 N Ancestor Pl.
Billing Contact City: boise
Billing Contact State/Province: ID
Billing Contact Postal Code: 83704
Billing Contact Country: United States
Billing Contact Country Code: US
Billing Contact Phone Number: +1.2083895740
Billing Contact Facsimile Number: +1.2083895740
Billing Contact Email: info@datadocket.com
Billing Application Purpose: P1
Billing Nexus Category: C21
Technical Contact ID: MKN-1467103
Technical Contact Name: DNS Admin
Technical Contact Organization: Google Inc.
Technical Contact Address1: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Technical Contact City: Mountain View
Technical Contact State/Province: CA
Technical Contact Postal Code: 94043
Technical Contact Country: United States
Technical Contact Country Code: US
Technical Contact Phone Number: +1.6502530000
Technical Contact Facsimile Number: +1.6506188571
Technical Contact Email: dns-admin@google.com
Technical Application Purpose: P1
Technical Nexus Category: C21
Name Server: NS1.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS2.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS3.GOOGLE.COM
Name Server: NS4.GOOGLE.COM
Created by Registrar: EMARKMONITOR, INC.
Last Updated by Registrar: EMARKMONITOR, INC.
Domain Registration Date: Tue Jan 11 22:58:17 GMT 2005
Domain Expiration Date: Tue Jan 10 23:59:59 GMT 2006
Domain Last Updated Date: Mon Jan 24 08:51:19 GMT 2005


Attention should be paid to the "Billing Contact"...

You can now put all the pieces of the puzzle together.... step aside.. here comes google's very own GDrive!!!

Thursday, September 15, 2005

The Introduction

Hello Readers!

If you are reading this right now, you have probably already declared yourself an addict when it comes to the inner workings and mysteries of the greatest company on (google) earth. Your friends and family are probably sick of hearing you spout off random tidbits about Google and every little service they offer. You have probably become that little paper clip that everyone hates in Microsoft word!

There are many things I have discovered about Google that you will find interesting... I will share one of them with you in the upcoming days as I compile all the notes I have gathered. I know you are interested in learning more of their secrets, and I won't disappoint you. Keep tuned, and don't hesitate to share your ideas with other addicts reading this blog. There are many.

All ideas and posts that appear on this blog are derived purely from the author's own personal research by means of using conventional tools available to the public. No information gathered or shared have been obtained by any means other than that of common research.