Author Archive

Posted by Mihai Ionescu, Software Engineer



For our developers here's a neat trick to help you easily develop, test and fine-tune a Sidebar script plug-in without the need to repeatedly install the plug-in after each modification.



1. Create the installer for your plug-in and install it once. The plug-in is installed in the Program Files directory under Google Desktop Search\Plugins\YourPluginName. Once installed you can modify the plug-in script sources directly.



2. To test changes after modifying the script sources use the "Add/Remove Panels" menu option to unload the old plug-in and load in the new version.



3. Once you are satisfied with the results transfer the modified files back to your original code base and use the plug-in installer to create the final plug-in package.

Posted by Mihai Ionescu, Software Engineer



Fridays are for movies...



Now the Sidebar Movies plug-in makes it easier for you to find out which movies are playing in your neighborhood. Showtimes, reviews, and movie theater information are now just one click away. Give it a try!





The Movies plug-in group or the Google Desktop Developer group are good places to submit feedback and suggest further plug-in improvements.

Posted by Niranjan Tulpule, QA Engineer



You had a great idea for a plugin which you have already developed. But if you're wondering how to test it before you submit it to us, wonder no more. Here are some tips:

• Your plugin should do what it says it does.



• Make sure that it doesn't crash Google Desktop -- or another plug-in.



• Make sure that it's easy to uninstall.



• If your target audience is global, test to see if your plugin works well in languages other than English.



• Make sure it doesn't hog resources like the processor, memory and network. We recommend that you use asynchronous calls to receive data so that your network activity does not block the sidebar and other plugins.



• If it connects to the Internet, test it without a valid connection to make sure it works well in offline mode.



• Have good online documentation about its installation and use (it will help us test it before publishing).



• In addition to submitting the plugin, plan to post it in the Google Desktop and Google Desktop Developer groups so that a variety of users will try it out and point out potential issues.

We are always eager to hear from you and see lots of cool plugins for Google Desktop.

Posted by Mihai Ionescu, Software Engineer



Thanks to our dedicated developers, new Google desktop plugins are available for download:

• Del.icio.us Bookmarks plug-in - View your del.icio.us bookmarks in the Google Sidebar.



• JobSearch plug-in - Search jobs on thousands of job sites, newspapers and company websites. Receive new jobs as they are added.



• Horoscope plug-in (updated version) - Read your daily horoscope.



• Logitechio2 plug-in - Index and find all handwritten notes taken with the Logitech io2 Personal Digital Pen.



• Google Earth plug-in (updated version) - Index and find Google Earth files on your computer.

Posted by Mihai Ionescu, Software Engineer



About a month ago we released the English out-of-beta version of Google Desktop. Since then we have been working on providing the latest features and enhancements to our non-English language users as well.



Today we're pleased to announce the out-of-beta release of Google Desktop in 16 languages, including Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese/Brazilian, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish.



In addition to stability and performance improvements, this release introduces exciting new features such as an international Weather panel, a Google Maps panel and support for script plug-ins.

Posted by Mihai Ionescu, Software Engineer



The Google Desktop Team would like to wish all our users and developers a very happy and prosperous New Year. See you in 2006!

Posted by Mihai Ionescu, Software Engineer



Planning a vacation or getaway anytime soon? The Sidebar Airfare Tracker panel can help you keep an eye on the best airfare deals for your favorite destinations. The panel automatically checks for the lowest fares and enables you to watch multiple itineraries and specify your preferred airlines. Check it out!

Posted by Mihai Ionescu, Software Engineer



Our developers have been coming up with some innovative ideas to use the Sidebar to simplify familiar tasks. Below are some new plug-ins we found very useful:

• Task Tracker by Matthew Cowgur - Track time spent for tasks that you are working on.



• NetStat by Catalin Patulea - Monitor your computer's network connections in real time.



• QuickLaunch by Benjamin Schirmer - Get quick and easy access to your files and folders (updated version).



• IeCalendar by Peter Sitterly - Stay up-to-date with information stored in your online IeCalendar account.



• PrintButler by Jon Speiser - Display installed printers and easily change the default printer.



• gdShutdown by Yannick Stucki - Easily control your computer sign-off options.

The developers of these plug-ins are welcoming any feedback or improvement suggestions. Good places to discuss the plug-in are the Google Desktop Developer group or the individual plug-in groups.

Posted by Mihai Ionescu, Software Engineer



Today we're very pleased to announce the launch of Google Desktop 3 Beta. The new version comes loaded with features that make finding and sharing information even easier and more fun than before.



As a Sidebar user, you can now customize and view personalized information anywhere on the the desktop by clicking and dragging your favorite panels wherever you like. Furthermore, you can now easily share information from your Sidebar panels with your contacts by sending it to them through email, chat or directly to their Sidebar. As an added bonus you and your contacts can also play online games through the Sidebar.



We also provided the means to access your data no matter where it resides. The Search Across Computers feature makes it seamless to search the content of your documents and web history from any of your computers.



For developers we have packed the Google Desktop SDK with new APIs and tools to enable the development of applications that leverage the product's new indexing, display and communication capabilities. These include a Query API, a Communication API, improved Script API support, plug-in logging support, and new code samples.



Other new features include the addition of a Search Lock, an advanced search form, spelling suggestions, zip file indexing, and an improved preferences page.



As always we would love to hear your comments, suggestions, opinions, and testimonials.