Google (at their philantropic arm Google.org) launched the Flu Trends USA page . Google.org explains: <<We have found a close relationship between how many people search for flu-related topics and how many people actually have flu symptoms. Of course, not every person who searches for "flu" is actually sick, but a pattern emerges when all the flu-related search queries from each state and region are added together.

Google has announced that users of their GMail email and chatting service will soon have the option to chat and converse with friends via a new video chatting service which will take on Skype and other video conferencing tools head on as Google moves to further define itself as an all rounded media company and not just a search engine.

by Mike Krumboltz When Hollywood makes a futuristic flick, there are usually a few flying cars on the set. Now, reality is finally catching up with fantasy. An honest-to-goodness flying car is in the works and buzz on the vehicle is taking off. An inventor named Giles Cardozo has high hopes for his Parajet Skycar . The car is ethanol-powered and will have a flying range of 180 miles. Gas 2.

The Internet is a giant treasure trove of information ??" some of it erroneous and some of it valuable. Search engines are the card catalog (ask your parents) and the librarians wrapped into one ??" sifting and categorizing this information to allow users to find the most relevant and valuable responses nearly instantaneously (longer if you're still on dial-up). However, like David Bowie in his Ziggy Stardust phase, this goes both ways. Knowing what people search for,

On Monday we announced a search distribution deal with Sun Microsystems. Now, when U.S.-based Internet Explorer users download the Java TM Runtime Environment (JRE TM ), they're offered the MSN Toolbar. Like our partnerships with HP and Facebook, this agreement is another example of our strategy for gaining traction in the search market. When Internet Explorer users downloading Sun's JRE opt to download the MSN Toolbar, they'll have one-click access to Live Search features,

If you're a Flash nut then you probably know about the SWFObject Javascript library. I'm not, so I didn't. However, since I promised myself I would play with Flex soon I am very happy that a "Flasher" suggested that we add it to our AJAX Libraries API. I took a look at it and found out that it's a great little must-have library! See, embedding a Flash video on a page is actually more complicated than it should be.

Many people, including yours truly right now, are writing about the new feature in Google Reader , which now automatically translates RSS feeds in multiple languages. So if I find something written in Japanese, I can do the following ( see pic here ), according to Google Reader Chrix Finne manager: Next time you find an interesting feed in another language, just subscribe to it as normal in Reader. When you view the feed in Reader,

Two years ago, the WebmasterWorld forums didn't always show the same page when you clicked through to them via Google. Matt Cutts was aware of it and then posted about how the WebmasterWorld owner made some changes. Today, issues with clicking through to WebmasterWorld results persist, in manners not quite like in 2006 (just today I experienced it while researching some JavaScript task). Because different people see different things,

Hi blog readers, I'm Scott Guilfoyle, PayPal's senior vice president of platform services.? Within this role, I'm responsible for maintaining and improving PayPal's payment service to help deliver you a fast, safe and reliable way to pay and get paid online. Early this morning, we made a change to our site .

Google say they're currently rolling out a video chat option to Gmail . I can't see it yet, but according to Google, once it's rolled out and you installed the Windows plug-in (and restarted your browser), you'll see a "Video & more" -> "Start video chat" option at the bottom of your Gmail chat box. Contacts of yours who also installed this plug-in are supposed to show with a camera icon next to their name in the chat list. Once you contact a person,