Searching and Saving Updated

Google, always seeking headlines, announced they are updating their desktop search application (top story on the right). Now the standard for millions of users (including my school-teaching wife), Google now ties desktop search into Google Talk with Instant Message communications to share search results.

Searching is one thing, but saving and finding again is another. Paging through bookmarks leads me to more frustrations than answers. In my constant quest for better data organizing tools, I recently discovered Net Snippets (.com). Mark Gibbs talked about them earlier, but I forgot about them until a recent reminder. See why I keep looking for better tools?

SECURITY NOTICE:warning here about the new “Search Across Computers” feature added to the newest Google Desktop beta release. Since we know Google censors the Internet for a billion Chinese users, and is the focus of the Feds in this country, some privacy watchdogs feel this new feature could be exploited to further reduce privacy of American computer users. Perhaps we should wait a bit before trusting Google with every bit of information in our computers.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (eff.org) posted a

SECURITY NOTICE OFF.

Going back to Google, I believe this new desktop search version heralds integration across multiple Google applications (with potential security implications, as in the previous paragraph). They’ve already tied Google Talk into Google Mail to some extent, and using Google Mail search capabilities almost eliminates the need to use folders for organization. I have to say I’m surprised no other developer has added similar features to their own e-mail clients. Perhaps I’ll try an experiment myself cobbling together some tools to make finding saved e-mails on my desktop as easy to retrieve as they are in Google Mail.