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Google Buys Nik Software

16 Oct

Google Buys Nik Software

Vic Gundotra announced this morning that Google has purchased Nik Software. Nik makes the popular iPhone app Snapseed and also makes some serious editing tools for Lightroom and Photoshop. I’ve been a big fan of Nik’s Silver Efex Pro and find that it is one of the best software packages for doing black and white conversion work.

It seems like photo processing is increasingly becoming a desired tool for photo sharing networks. Previously Google had purchased Picnik and has since integrated some of Picnik’s mad skills into the Google Photos experience. After the Google acquisition of Picnik, Yahoo’s Flickr switched from Picnik to Aviary earlier this year for online photo editing. Some of Flickr’s users have complained that Aviary is not as good as Picnik was.

With the Nik purchase, I’d imagine that even more photo processing tools will be coming to both Google Photos on the web and especially Google Photos on mobile.

It’s great to see Google continue pushing forward innovation and investment in the photography space. I don’t really use online photo editing tools as I prefer the more powerful and professional editing through Lightroom on my MacBook Pro, but obviously the masses out there do (as Instragram can attest to).

Facebook owns Instagram (and could theoretically include Instagrammy filters into the broader Facebook photos experience). Google now owns Picnik and Nik. Flickr feels like they are being left out in the cold in terms of online photo editing talent. People don’t seem to like Aviary.

So what should Flickr do? If I were them I’d seriously look at MacPhun’s FX Photo Studio Pro Software. This is the best super simple drag and drop photo processing application on the market today. MacPhun also has snapheal, which is a pretty interesting content aware photo processing tool that can remove objects from photos as well. Flickr could buy MacPhun and integrate these application based processing tools into an online photo editor and would have a pretty powerful online editor. Rumor is that Marissa Mayer just got a boat load of cash. Of course Google or Facebook could also buy MacPhun and integrate their drag/drop functionality as well.

Although for us photo geeks the big news story today is the Nik purchase, within his announcement post Vic Gundotra probably buried the real lead, which is that Google+ now has over 400 million members. Wow! 400 million! Amazing growth and congratulations to the Google+ team!

Thomas Hawk Digital Connection

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Google Chrome – Disable Plugins Such as Flash Unless You Want Them to Run

16 Oct

Show boxes inside Google Chrome when a Flash, Shockwave, Adobe Reader, or other plug-in wants to run, allowing you to click to play them.

If you are concerned about the privacy, security, and system stability implications of running plug-ins such as Flash and Shockwave inside Google Chrome, you may have thought about completely disabling plug-ins. Unfortunately, doing so makes some websites difficult, if not impossible, to access.

One option is to have Google Chrome show you when it wants to run a plug-in, but not actually do so, giving you the ability to selectively turn on a Flash widget, play a Shockwave game, display a PDF file with an external viewer such as Adobe Reader, etc….

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Posted in Technology

Google – Find Google Blogs, Plus Google on Twitter, FaceBook, Elsewhere

16 Oct

Display listings of Google’s presence on blogs and social networks.

Google maintains a wide variety of blogs on various subject such as the Google Chrome web browser, Gmail, YouTube, and other subjects. Their social network presence includes Twitter accounts containing Google puzzles, information on accessing Google for those with disabilities, and updates from Google office locations around the globe. They maintain Facebook accounts regarding their products for nonprofits, using Google Maps, and information about the daily life at Google.

With all of these ways to see what is going on at Google, as well as via Google+ accounts and YouTube videos, how can one see it all or find what they are most interested in? The “News from Google” page offers all the above information, as well as updates from the official Google blog. Instead of hunting through links from one Google-related Twitter account or Facebook page to the other, find the lists of all Google accounts in one easy-to-access place….

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[MODIFIED] Google Chrome – View Web Pages in Full Screen Mode and Switch Between Tabs with Keyboard Shortcuts

30 Aug

Toggle full screen mode in the Google Chrome web browser. While tabs are hidden, switch between pages with keyboard shortcuts.

This is a simple Google Chrome tip, but beginners may find it useful. Others still may learn a keyboard shortcut or two.

When browsing a web page that you plan on staying at for awhile, such as a web-based electronic mail service such as Gmail, you might wish to temporarily hide everything else onscreen including Chrome’s address bar to view more of the page. …

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[MODIFIED] Google Image Search – Search For Icons or Other Specific Image File Types

03 Aug

Query Google for icons, BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG, or SVG files on the Internet.

With Google’s Image Search you can find images found on websites across the Internet. Several types of filters are available, allowing you to limit your searches to faces, photos, clip art, or line drawings.

However, what if your needs require you to search for icons, or certain types of images such as BMPs, GIFs, JPGs, PNGs, or SVGs? Just add the following to the end of your search query:…

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[MODIFIED] Google Search Engine – Automatically Open Results in a New Tab or Window

02 Aug

Save time browsing Google results by opening websites in a new tab or window, keeping the search results visible.

As mentioned in a previous MalekTip, if you open Google results in a new browser tab or window, you can more easily return to your search results without having to use the “Back” button or re-enter your search query. However, this requires you remembering to manually do so every time. If you wish, you can have Google automatically perform this task for you:

(Note this tip was updated on 7/29/2012, and Google’s interface is subject to change.)…

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[MODIFIED] Google Search Engine – Look for Stock Quotes and Charts

01 Aug

Search for stock quotes, charts, and related company news and information using the Google search engine.

To search for stock quotes using Google, you don’t have to search for the phrase “stock quotes” or “online stock quotes” if you know the company’s stock exchange abbreviation. Just enter the symbol directly into Google’s search box, such as:

* AAPL – Apple…

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[MODIFIED] Google Search Engine – Google Talking Like Elmer Fudd

31 Jul

Make Google look like your favorite cartoon character wrote it.

Here’s a “Stupid Google Tip”.

Want to make Google look like it was written by a fan favorite cartoon character, Elmer Fudd? If you want to look for “that wascally wabbit”:…

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[MODIFIED] Google Search Engine – Reverse Phone Number Lookup Alternatives

31 Jul

A list of services you can use to attempt to reverse lookup a business or person by their phone number.

Did you write down a phone number and forget for whom it was for? Receive a phone call and don’t recognize the number on Caller ID? While typing a phone number into Google sometimes results in useful web results, the ability to directly query white and yellow page results just by typing in a phone number has been removed.

However, various Internet services still offer reverse number lookup, each with varying results. While these may work for persons and businesses that can be found in the phone book, you may not have much luck finding telemarketers. Nevertheless, a list of a few services is below:…

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[MODIFIED] Google Chrome – Prompt Where to Save Downloaded Files

10 Jun

Have Google Chrome ask you where to save downloaded files instead of placing them in a default location.

By default, Google Chrome places all downloaded files in a “Downloads” directory underneath your main user folder. For example, if your username is “John” and you are running Windows 7, downloads are placed in the folder: C:\Users\John\Downloads.

While many people may find this location acceptable and appreciate Google Chrome downloading files immediately without an added dialog box, power users may wish to be prompted every time a file is to be downloaded. This way you can choose where to place each file, putting movies in one folder, games in another, and utilities in yet another folder, for example….

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Posted in Technology

360Photography

Posts Tagged ‘Google’

Google Buys Nik Software

Google Chrome – Disable Plugins Such as Flash Unless You Want Them to Run

Google – Find Google Blogs, Plus Google on Twitter, FaceBook, Elsewhere

[MODIFIED] Google Chrome – View Web Pages in Full Screen Mode and Switch Between Tabs with Keyboard Shortcuts

[MODIFIED] Google Image Search – Search For Icons or Other Specific Image File Types

[MODIFIED] Google Search Engine – Automatically Open Results in a New Tab or Window

[MODIFIED] Google Search Engine – Look for Stock Quotes and Charts

[MODIFIED] Google Search Engine – Google Talking Like Elmer Fudd

[MODIFIED] Google Search Engine – Reverse Phone Number Lookup Alternatives

[MODIFIED] Google Chrome – Prompt Where to Save Downloaded Files

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