DemoGirl

Kikin is an add-on that puts relevant search results for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, eBay, and iTunes above your regular search results from sites like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.  It works with Firefox, IE, and Safari.

After you install it just perform your searches like you normally would.  Kikin will appear on the results page at the top, and there will be tabs for each service (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc) with relevant search results. If you connect your Twitter account you’ll also see all relevant tweets or just tweets from people you follow.  You can also reply and send out tweets right from the results page.

If you’re viewing the YouTube tab, you can watch the videos without leaving the page.  If kikin gets in your way, you can easily minimize it.  To see kikin in action, check out the screencast below (best viewed in HD in full screen):

Google Labs recently launched Fast Flip.  It aggregates news stories from many popular sources and presents them in a format that is very east to navigate.

Readers can sort stories by different categories, sources, topics or search terms.  Navigating through the articles is as simple as clicking arrows on the page or using a keyboard.  Google Fast Flip is also available for the iPhone and Android devices.

I found that the pages loaded extremely fast — and if you use your keyboard to flip through articles, navigation is even faster.

To see Fast Flip in action, click on the screencast below (best viewed in HD in full screen):

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[via:  Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day]

GButts is a Firefox Add-on that allows you to create a single menu loaded with all of your favorite Google services.

After you install it you can choose to have an icon for each service displayed or a drop down from the Google logo (which is what I chose).  You can select as many, or as few, services as you’d like to include in your button.

To see GButts in action, watch the screencast below (best viewed in HD in full screen):

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If you use Google Calendar then you may have noticed the little green labs icon up near your settings.  This is where Google is allowing you to test out some features that may or may not get pushed through as permanent fixtures in Google Calendar.  As of now there are six features:  Adding a background to your calendar, attaching Google Docs to an event (love that one!!), a world clock, jump to date, next meeting, and free or busy.

Once enabled, they sit on the right side of your calendar – and there doesn’t seem to be a way to rearrange them or move them to the left side.  I’m not going to explain what each one does here – you’ll need to watch the 3 minute screencast if you want to find out.  Or, you can just test them out yourself.  I recommend doing the former

To see Google Calendar Labs in action, watch the screencast below (best viewed in HD in full screen):

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A few days ago Gmail released a new feature in “Labs” called multiple inboxes.  It’s a handy way to see not only a preview of your inbox when you log into your Gmail account, but to also see a preview of certain emails that you apply labels to.

In order to use multiple inboxes, you need to go into the Labs section of your Gmail account and enable it.  Then you can change the settings to display a preview of mail that has specific labels attached to it.  So, I have a panel with my regular inbox, one with Google Alerts set for DemoGirl, and one with all emails that are labeled family.

After I set up my different panels I decided I wanted to also get a preview of mail from one of my other Gmail accounts.  This takes a little bit of tinkering around with filters, but it’s pretty easy to do.  I thought this may be useful to you, so I decided to make a screencast.

After I patted myself on the back and then thought loudly, “Damn I’m Smart! Go Molly!”  for figuring out how to do this little task, I stumbled upon an article written by Josh Lowensohn from Webware.  In his article he describes, step by step, almost exactly what I am showing you in my screencast.  I just thought I would disclose that piece of info, since Webware is probably a far more read blog than DemoGirl.  So, Josh, I guess great minds think alike!

To see Gmail multiple inboxes in action, watch the screencast below:

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KwiClick is a Firefox Add-on that allows you to perform searches and look up information without having to leave the page you’re on.  It’s currently an experimental Add-on, so keep that in mind if you’re planning on testing it out.

After you install it, you’ll see the KwiClick favicon in the lower right corner of your browser window.  When you click on it, it will pop open a window where you can perform searches on Google, Google Maps, YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, Technorati, Amazon, Delicious, and Friendfeed.

Besides doing searches, KwiClick will also come in handy when you’re on a site that contains Flickr photos or YouTube videos.  You’ll see a set of icons on top of the photo or video that allows you to view the contents in the KwiClick window.  You can also view related photos or video, view comments, and share the media via email or on various social networking sites.  All of this takes place in the pop out window so you never need to leave the site.

I would like to see some more features added like the ability to search for restaurant reviews on Yelp, listings on Craigslist, news stories, and the ability to do a Twitter search.  With that said, KwiClick is in the experimental stage and will most likely be releasing features I didn’t cover in this screencast.  To see KwiClick in action, watch the screencast below:

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Click Here To Watch Better Quality 2m51s

[via Go2Web20 Blog]

Chrome is a Web browser that was launched by Google earlier today.  I’ve spent all afternoon testing it out and learning about all of the features, only to stumble upon something new just when I think I’ve got it all down.  I tried to keep this screencast short, but there is a lot to show off.  Unfortunately, Chrome is only available for Windows users but they say Mac and LInux versions are on the way.  If you want to see Chrome in action before you download it (or if you’re not running Windows) then watch the screencast below:

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Click Here To Watch Better Quality 5m42s

Ubiquity is a new experiment from Mozilla Labs that allows you to take bits and pieces of the Web and make them work together just by typing in basic text.  It’s an Extension for Firefox that allows you, as the user, to decide what Ubiquity should do.  This happens by giving Ubiquity commands.  On the developer end, it allows you to create commands that other people can subscribe to and use.

I installed Ubiquity this morning and have, and can not, stop using it.  I also recommend checking out new commands that are being developed.  To see Ubiquity in action, watch the screencast below:

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Click Here To Watch Better Quality 3m55s

Yesterday, while I was talking to my Mom, I learned something fascinating.  Not everyone has, or even knows, what a Google account is.  As I was trying to explain to her what you can do with a Google account, I realized that nothing I was saying was sinking in.  I also realized that there are probably a lot of people out there that have no idea what Google is beyond a basic search engine.  That’s where this screencast comes in.

I originally created this screencast just to send to my Mom as sort of an introduction to Google.  I had plans to create a few more screencasts showing her how to set up a Google Calendar and how to chat with me using Google Talk.  I decided that there may be more people out there who could benefit from a quick intro to the search giant, so I’ve decided to share the screencast I made for my Mom, here.  In the coming weeks I plan to create more “how-to” screencasts for basic services that we may use from day to day but some of our loved ones may not have the faintest clue how to operate.  If you have any suggestions on a topic that you think could be helpful, please let me know in the comments.  Remember, I made this screencast with the intention of helping someone who is just getting started with Google, so it’s very basic.

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Click Here To Watch Better Quality 3m27s

A few months ago I noticed a new icon in my Gmail account .  Upon clicking on it, I was brought to Gmail Labs, where new Gmail features are being tested.

I played around with some of the features for a while but never really looked into them to see how they could really make my Gmail experience better.  Today, after I installed Firefox Extension, Better Gmail 2 (highly recommended!), I decided it would also be a good time to see what, if anything, these features could do for me.  To see what I found, watch the screencast below:

Click Here To Watch The Screencast 3m46s

Want this screencast on your site?  Click here to get the embed code for this and other DemoGirl screencasts!