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When you search for [causes of multiple sclerosis], [causes of hiccups], [symptoms of the flu], [how to treat iron deficiency] and other similar health-related queries, Google shows snippets from authoritative sites like WebMD and MayoClinic. Sometimes Google also shows instant answers, but they're not always accurate.



{ Thanks, Sunite. }

YouTube continues to tweak the center-aligned UI experiment. The latest version includes a new upload button, a refined guide sidebar with new icons and "more" drop-downs for playlists and subscriptions, a list of recommended channels and probably other features.


The "guide" sidebar is displayed by default only if there's enough room. If there isn't, the sidebar is hidden and you need to click "guide" to see your playlists, subscriptions, video history and more.


The layout still uses cards and it's center-aligned.


Here's how you can enable the experimental interface. If you use Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari or Internet Explorer 8+:

1. open youtube.com in a new tab

2. load your browser's developer console:

* Chrome or Opera 15+ - press Ctrl+Shift+J for Windows/Linux/ChromeOS or Command-Option-J for Mac

* Firefox - press Ctrl+Shift+K for Windows/Linux or Command-Option-K for Mac

* Internet Explorer 8+ - press F12 and select the "Console" tab

* Safari 6 - if you haven't enabled the Develop menu, open Preferences from the Safari menu, go to the Advanced tab and check "Show Develop menu in menu bar". Close Preferences and then press Command-Option-C to show the console.

* Opera 12 - press Ctrl+Shift+I for Windows/Linux or Command-Option-I for Mac, then click "Console".

3. paste the following code which changes a YouTube cookie:

document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=rkZGzYxfbLQ; path=/; domain=.youtube.com";window.location.reload();

4. press Enter and close the console.

To go back to the regular interface, use the same instructions, but replace the code from step 3 with this one:

document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=; path=/; domain=.youtube.com";window.location.reload();

{ Thanks, Florian K. }

Back in September, YouTube's player grouped controls for annotations, player size and video quality. A few weeks ago, the "large player" button has been removed from the drop-down and brought back to its original position, next to the "full screen" button.


If the video doesn't have annotations and you use the Flash player, you'll even see the video quality drop-down without an additional click:

Sometimes you have to go back to basics, create something simple that works and constantly improve it. That's how Google Search, Gmail, Chrome and other Google products became successful. Google TV tried to solve too many problems and ended up with complicated remote controls, buggy software, browsers with blocked content, unhappy partners and disappointed users.

Google Cast and Chromecast try to solve fewer problems and are much more limited. Apps live on your phone or tablet, the remote control is your phone or tablet and Chromecast is just a way to play content on your TV.

The number of apps that support Google Cast is still very small, but they're some of the most popular apps in their category: YouTube, Google Play Music, Google Play Movies, Netflix, Pandora, Hulu Plus, HBO Go. This is about to change when Google releases the official Cast SDK and allows any app or site to integrate with Chromecast.

For now, Google continues to promote Chromecast. "For a limited time we're giving you an HD movie rental from Google Play with every purchase of a Chromecast device. It's the perfect treat to add to that special someone's stocking. At just $35 each, why not pick one up for both of you?" suggests Google Play's site. The promotion is actually "valid for any movie rental or other content on Google Play valued at $6 or less".

Sterling Alvarez noticed a Chromecast button in the Google Play Store app (landscape mode). It only lists the apps that support Google Chromecast, but it's interesting to notice that the link is prominently placed in the default Play Store section for apps.



{ Thanks, Sterling. }

Google's account permissions page has a new interface which does a better job at listing the permissions, shows bigger thumbnails and the date when you authorized a service.

"On the Account Permissions tab of your Google Account, you can see a list of third-party sites and applications. These are sites and applications to which you've granted permission to access your Google Account, and you can see on this list to what parts of your account they have access. For example, you might have downloaded an app that helps you schedule workouts with friends. This application might have requested access to your Google Calendar and Contacts to suggest times and friends for you to meet up with," informs Google's help center.

Google shows your Android and iOS devices at the top of the page. My Nexus 7 tablet was listed 3 times, so I clicked "Revoke access" next to the entries that include: "Inactive - We haven't seen activity from this device for at least 60 days."


If you see some services you no longer use, click "Revoke access". You'll be asked for permission the next time you use them.

{ Thanks, Florian K. }

FIGURE SKATING Costume Fans: As you know, this past weekend was the Rostelecom Cup/Cup of Russia 2013--the last Grand Prix competition before the Grand Prix Finals of this 2013-2014 Season. I talked about the LADIES and PAIRS of the Rostelecom Cup HERE in my last post. And now, it's time for the MEN and ICE DANCE. Let's get started:

The Men:


Konstantin Menshov Russia, Short Program: Skating his SP to "Coultergeist" by Phil Coulter, Konstantin wore this above: a white loose top with images of Michelangelo's' Sistine Chapel hands, black pants and white gloves. The song is from Phil Coulter's "Highland Cathedral" album and so I surmise that there's religious imagery in the theme. Even then, I kind of don't get it. It's a cool long sleeve t-shirt but other than that, I'm a bit costume-confused.




Tatsuki Machida Japan, Short Program: Japanese male skater skated his SP to East of Eden (TV Miniseries Soundtrack) by Lee Holdridge in this white and black costume. I liked the costume but still have no idea what this has to do with "East of Eden" and the TV Miniseries; the costume looks more like something one would wear to Beethoven or Mozart music.




Free Skate Costume Change: For his FS to Music from The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky, Japanese Figure Skater Taksuki Machida wore this above. It was a black long sleeved jumpsuit that had fire-like references in black, red and yellow upon a not-matching skin-colored illusion background. I didn't like it. This is what he wore in his previous ISU Grand Prix appearance which I REALLY LOVED:








Misha Ge Uzbekistan, Short Program: For his SP to I Still Got Blues, Still Got Rock by Gary Moore, Misha Ge wore this colorful costume. It is VERY "Blades of Glory" and I have to admit, I kinda like it! Yes, it's rather tacky but boy, did it make me sit up and come alive with joy when I saw it. He definitely should get a "Oh No He Didn't" trophy for his very "Hollywood Costume Designer"-designs-a-costume-for-an-actor-playing-a-Figure Skater.




Free Skate: For his FS to World Dance Collection including Neo Tango; Rhumba; Electro; Jive; Rock'n'Roll, Misha did not disappoint. This was a red, black, white, laced-up costume of CRAY-CRAY. I love that Misha--and whoever is designing his costumes, are still stuck in the 1990's era of figure skating. This makes me smile. Yes, it is so tacky and so not chic but it's kind of nice of have some retro...even tacky-licious retro.



Ice Dance:


Ksenia Monko and Kirill Khavalian Russia, Short Dance: For their SD to Quickstep by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, "L-O-V-E-" by Nat King Cole, Russian Ice Dance team Monko and Khavalian wore these costumes above. I thought her costume was so intricate, so well done. Loved the color and Art Deco-like sequin work. And he looked like a very fab waiter with his double-breasted shawl collared jacket and pants look. I just wished he had some royal blue in his costume--to tie her costume to his.




Free Dance: For their FD to Selection by Rene Aubry and selection by Gaetano Donizetti, this Russian Ice Dance pair gave "Venice Gondola" in their costumes. Overall, I liked these costumes, I just wish his pants were more fitted; there's too much thigh-leg excess. Make them stretch woven and thin out the leg. Please! At least, it's an improvement from her wearing "Olivia Newton-John/Let's Get Physical" leg warmers in their last appearance at 2013 Trophée Eric Bompard:








Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev Russia, Free Dance: For their FD to Music from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and "Lacrimosa" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Rostelecom Cup/Cup of Russia 2013, the Russian Ice Dance team of Bobrova and Soloviev changed their costumes! And...I wasn't a fan. These new costumes featured ombre-dyed white-to-blue-to-dark gray...BORING and un-Olympic level material...

Mail services are inefficient when it comes to storing files because of the MIME encoding overhead. "This encoded size is the actual size of the message as it travels over the Internet and is always larger than the raw size because of the MIME overhead and because binary attachments are generally encoded using base64 encoding.  Base64-encoded files are usually about 137% the size of the original files," says Erik Kangas.

If you want to use Google's storage more efficiently, you can find some old messages with large attachments, save the attachments to Google Drive and delete the messages. To keep the messages, you can forward them to yourself, remove the attachments, add Google Drive links and remove the original messages.

I've tested this by saving 2 FLAC attachments from 2 messages (about 43 MB) to Google Drive and deleting the associated messages from Gmail, including from the trash. Here's what I got:

* 1.58 GB used before moving files to Google Drive:


* 1.56 GB used after moving files to Google Drive:


To find Gmail messages with large attachments, you can use these operators. For example, search for [larger:5M] to find messages larger than 5 MB (that's the total size of the message).