I’ve been waiting a while for two Christmas presents (so to speak). The first has been incubating ever since Google bought Writely in March. Five minutes ago I opened Google Reader and found that the present has hatched, as
Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

This is very, very, very nice. I’m ecstatic. :) Writely’s UI wasn’t bad, but I much prefer Google blue. And having both docs and spreadsheets in the same app is wonderful. I really am giddy as…as…I don’t know what, but I sure am giddy. :) :) :)

(In case you’re wondering, the second “present” is the gDrive, aka unlimited file storage, coming sometime in the future from Google. I hope it’s soon!)

Technorati Tags: Google Docs, Google, Writely

Posted about Google Reader on Top of the Mountains:

From this blog it looks like Google’s getting ready to launch gDrive (codenamed Platypus). Here are the features from the screenshot:

A filer for the whole world. But better.

Storing your files in Platypus has a number of advantages over storing your files on either your C: drive or filer.

• Backup. If you lose your computer, grab a new one and reinstall Platypus. Your files will be on your new machine in minutes.
• Sync. Keep all your machines synchronized, even if they run different operating systems.
• VPN-less access. Not at a Google computer? View your files on the web at http://troutboard.com/p.
• Collaborate. Create shared spaces to which multiple Googlers can write.
• Disconnected access. On the plane? VPN broken? All your files are still accessible.

~drool~ :)

Technorati Tags: Google, gDrive, Platypus

This morning I got a link in my e-mail activating my test Google Spreadsheets account, so I’ve been playing around with it. It’s pretty cool, and I even think it’ll work out fairly well for managing my (meager) finances.

The collaboration, with inline chatting, seems cool. I had it open on my Windows box, then forgot about that and opened it in Camino on my Mac. And suddenly, to my surprise, there was a chat sidebar on the right. Easy and unobtrusive. (And yes, I did chat with myself, but only a little bit, I promise. :)) The chats aren’t logged in the Gmail chat archives yet, though. When I closed Camino, the chat sidebar on my Windows box didn’t change (it said I was still there), but I’m sure that’s just a small bug they’ll fix soon.

All the basic functionality seemed to be there (at least everything I need). Simplicity is bliss. Good call, Google.

For some reason it was quite slow in Firefox on my Mac, but in Firefox on my Windows box it didn’t feel slow at all. It was kind of slow in Camino, too, but it’s Gecko-based — go figure. It doesn’t support Safari yet.

So, hopefully it’ll get faster on the Mac. But even as it is, it’s sweet. I love Web 2.0. :)

Technorati Tags: Google, Excel, spreadsheets, Camino, Gmail, Firefox, Gecko, Web 2.0

Google Spreadsheets is almost out. You can send in your e-mail to be notified when it comes out. This is very cool. :) Goodbye, Excel. It was nice knowing you.

Now I just need to get cracking on Beyond so there’ll be a good Web 2.0 genealogy app out there…

Technorati Tags: Google, Excel