I’m not sure what to think of this program yet. I don’t really like the idea of any other company having access to my health records, but let’s face it, how do we know who has access to our medical records currently?
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Google, but the amount of information that they possess is somewhat scary when you step back and think about it. The thought of them having access to my medical records seems just a little much for me. However, the blog post does note that you will have access to your records through a secure API (Application Program Interface - aka. “nerd stuff”). So, it’s hard to say how much access Google will actually have to the records.
Either way, it seems a little scary and “Big Brother” to me.
Google just keeps rolling out the services (which may or may not be a good thing). I just read this afternoon over at Google Blogoscoped that Google released the Google Website Optimizer which allows users to test different versions of pages on their websites to see which perform the best.
This is something I am particularly interested in. Not that I would really use it on my own site, but I could see it’s use in e-commerce sites and the like. As long as you don’t mind Google seeing your data, and let’s be serious, look at all the other information Google has about you (assuming you use Gmail, the Google Toolbar, Google Desktop and a host of other Google offerings), what’s one more piece of data?
This tool seems like it could be really useful, and it gives an easier way to set up testing of multiple pages for performance issues.
If you’re interested in this kind of stuff, check it out.
Yesterday we received a Mini Fridge from Google for getting our millionth visitor to our website through the AdWords advertising program.
I snapped a video (after work hours mind you) of the fridge with my Razor, transferred that to my laptop via Bluetooth, and then did a little amateur editing in iMovie.
Earlier this year Google aquired a company name Writely, which specialized in allowing users to edit documents (imported Word files, etc.) online. I always thought this was a great way of working. Your documents aren’t tied to a machine, and there accessible from anywhere.
Google also released on online spreadsheet program earlier this year, which allowed you to edit spreadsheets online, rather than using Excel or OpenOffice.
This appears to simply be the combination of the two into one location, plus some other features. One of the coolest features is document collaboration. You (and other Google Accounts users) can edit the same document at the same time. My wife, Danielle, and I tried this out once, and it worked really well.
So, you don’t feel like paying a bundle of money for Microsoft Office? Try Google Docs and Spreadsheets (needs a shorter name I think). Do you loathe using OpenOffice for whatever reason? Try Google Docs and Spreadsheets.