Gmail updated

Looks like Gmail got some updates today:

Updates noticed first:

New UI elements.





Updates that could be improved:

Embarassment-reducing new message notifications

Why not just update the conversation instead of posting a little yellow box that asks if you want to see the updated conversation?

local.live.com in 3D

Live labs has just released "3d mode" for local.live.com. I've tested it on IE7 and it's like Google Earth mapped with local.live.com data.

Here's what it looks like if you haven't installed it yet:


Once you click the install button in the left sidebar, you get a helper program to install locally, which augments the local.live interface whenever you visit the site.

Here it is installed on Vista in IE7:

Visual Search

From the makers of Riya.com comes Like.com, where you can search for things that are similar to each other in shape and/or color.

Here's what happens when you click on a watch some celeb is wearing in a picture, and say you're looking for other watches with a similar minidial arrangement.

Video Games as Art

This article puts a new perspective on the interactive graphical narratives we call video games.

Gratuitous use of interactive fluid dynamics

It's a Mac application for burning disks. They've really taken the metaphor to an extreme. I like it.

Serendipity

I noticed this pattern on my Facebook page today:



The length of each network name is correlated with how many friends I have in that particular network.

Google Base Local

Have you ever wanted to use Froogle, not just to find the best price on goods, but the best price on goods near you? Well now you can.

Notice the little blue sliver at the bottom of the screen shot? That actually extends into a second search box and a group of site-navigation links. For some reason, I couldn't scroll down there; so, I used TAB.