Recent events have highlighted the importance of local backups. Google makes getting data back onto your computer pretty easy but you can also use these same methods if you’re looking to ditch Google because of concerns about their privacy policy.

Google Takeout

You may have heard of Google Takeout, which we’ve covered in the directory. Google Takeout is supposed to package all your Google data into a single file for download, but it isn’t quite there yet. It is improving, though – Google recently added Google Docs support.

With just a few clicks, you can download photos from your Picasa Web Albums account, documents and files from Google Docs, contacts from Gmail and various bits of information from Google+. Google does all the work of getting your data together and packaging it into a single ZIP file for you — you can even close the window and have Google email you when the file is ready to download.

In a perfect world, this would be the end of the process. But we still have to manually back up our Gmail emails, calendar events and other information.

Gmail

Gmail emails are the hardest thing to download properly. Google’s other services let you download a file directly from the associated website, but Gmail requires an email application that supports IMAP. We’ll use Mozilla Thunderbird here. Gmail Backup, which we’ve covered in the past, is another option.

First, you’ll have to head into your Gmail settings, click over to the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab and ensure that IMAP is enabled. You’ll also want to disable folder size limits – otherwise, Thunderbird won’t see all your Gmail messages.

After that, you can launch Thunderbird and add your Gmail account. Thunderbird automatically detects and provides the appropriate settings for Gmail, so you don’t have to enter them manually.

IMAP isn’t meant for doing full backups, so Thunderbird won’t automatically download all email messages and their attachments by default. We can use Thunderbird’s Configuration Editor window to tweak some internal settings and transform Thunderbird into a proper IMAP backup application.

First, set the preference “mail.server.default.mime_parts_on_demand” to False to have Thunderbird download all email attachments. If you can’t locate this preference using the Filter box, you can create it by right-clicking in the window and creating a new boolean preference.

Second, create a boolean preference named “mail.check_all_imap_folders_for_new” and set it to true. Thunderbird won’t download messages from outside your inbox unless you click each label individually until you set this preference.

Third, set “mail.imap.use_status_for_biff” to false. This causes Thunderbird to always check each label for new messages.

Lastly, ensure “mail.server.default.autosync_offline_stores” is set to true, or Thunderbird might delay downloading of emails until you go offline.

That’s quite a few settings, but after configuring all four you can click Get Mail and Thunderbird will automatically download and store all your email and attachments. If you have a lot of email messages, this may take some time.

Thunderbird automatically updates your local backup each time you open it. If you want to switch to another email provider, you can even add another IMAP account to Thunderbird and drag and drop your Gmail emails onto that account.

Chat Logs

Your Google Talk chat logs are stored along with your email in your Gmail account, but you won’t see them in Thunderbird yet. Not to worry, you can back up your chat logs along with your email in Thunderbird.

Just go back into Gmail’s settings, click over to the Labels tab and enable the Show in IMAP check box for the Chats label.

Google Calendar

Calendars are easy to download from Google Calendar. Just click the arrow next to My Calendars in the Google Calender sidebar and click the Export Calendars link on the page that appears.

You can’t download calendars that have been shared with you using this link. Instead, download a shared calendar by clicking the arrow next to the calendar’s name, selecting Calendar Settings and clicking the iCal button.

Other Services

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Google offer easy ways of pulling your data back down to Earth from the cloud – not like Facebook, which requires tricks. If you want to download data from another Google service not covered here, check out Google’s Data Liberation Front page. It provides guides for nearly every type of data associated with your Google account (although its Gmail guide is incomplete).

Let us know in the comments what your experiences have been with backing up your Google data.  How easy or difficult was it?  Did you use a different method to the ones outlined here?

Solve for X is more focused on big picture global problems than TED, but the principle behind them is similar. They want participants to think out of the box. The more crazy the answer might seem, the better. Google actually claims that some ideas “sound like science fiction,” but they are all within the realm of possible. According to their site, “solve for X is intended to be a forum to encourage and amplify technology-based moonshot thinking and teamwork.”

A program like this, with a company as powerful as Google behind it can only lead to good things. Getting people thinking about the major problems that we face is always a good thing. The only way to make change happen is to find a solution, and it seems like that is exactly what Solve for X is trying to accomplish.

Source: BGR

When Google+ first launched, no one under 18 was allowed in. As if it were some adult-only secret society, Google decided to forego this huge chunk of Google+ users, which left them no choice but to remain on Facebook and other competitors, unable to even check Google+ out (unless they wanted to enough).

Well, good news. Google has decided to change its age policy, and will now allow anyone over 13 to join Google+. This age restriction is the same as Facebook’s, and will allow many teens who currently use Facebook, to move over to the Google side and give Google+ a try. According to Google’s Bradley Horowitz, not only will teens be allowed on Google+, they will now be able to enjoy a sharing experience they currently don’t get from competitors.

While in real life, teens share information with relevant friends only, on Facebook and such there is sometimes the problem of “over-sharing” because there is no good way to share only with specific friends. With Google+, they will be able to share information only with classmates, friends, parents, teachers, etc., via circles.

Time will tell if all those 13-and-up users will herd over to Google+, or if these 6 months were enough to cool them off and dampen their curiosity about Google+. What would you do?

Source: +Bradley Horowitz

The million dollar question for you, the user, is why should I care? By combining their privacy policies into one, it allows Google to take information you have shared with one service, and share it with another. Google says they will “treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.”

This is all well and good, but it also means that Google can share information about you across various platforms with advertisers. While this creates a more custom advertising experience for the users, it also means better targeted ads and more money for Google.

Of course, Google promises never to sell your information, as they always have, but that doesn’t mean they won’t use your information themselves.

The positive is that the documentation will be easier for users to read and understand. This way you will know exactly what Google is doing with your information across all Google platforms, instead of having to try to piece it together little by little.

Source: Google Blog

Google’s pseudonym issue, known also as Nymwars, first started when Google+ went live. Numerous people who tried to use nicknames or pseudonyms, had their accounts suspended because they did not meet Google’s name policy. According to Google, this policy was enforced to reduce spam and fake accounts, and following user feedback, they will now be a bit more lenient when enforcing the issue.

So how do you add a nickname to your Google+ account? Go to your profile, and click on “Edit Profile”. Click on your name, and then choose “More options”. You will now see a new Nickname field, which you can fill out and then choose how you want your new name to display. This will also work with names in different scripts. As you can see, there are not many options to choose from, but it’s still somewhat better than having no nickname at all.

Note that when you change your name here, it will affect all the Google products you use, not just Google+. If you want to use only a pseudonym, or something else Google flags as suspicious, you will need to submit the name for review by Google. To help the review along, you can submit:

- References to an established identity offline in print media, news articles, etc.
- Scanned official documentation, such as a driver’s license
- Proof of an established identity online with a meaningful following

You can read more on the Google+ Name Policy page.

Will this make a difference for most users, or is Google+’s name policy still too limiting? Will you try to change your name on Google+ following this new policy?

Source: +Bradley Horowitz

At first glance, Google’s decision to get rid of Picnik may seem odd. It remains a rather popular service and is one of the better browser-based image editors available. However, many of the service’s features have been gradually incorporated into Google Plus as part of the Creative Kit. Even the interface is nearly identical. It’s likely that management would rather see people looking to edit photos online sign up with Google Plus instead of continuing to use a separate service.

Picnik will remain fully functional until its closure. In fact, it will be a bit more functional than before. All of the premium features are free until the final day and users who have already paid for a membership will be refunded.

If you have any files on the service it would be a good idea to back them up. You can do this by using the new Picnik Takeout feature, which downloads your photos to zip files. The other option is to export your photos to Google Plus, where they can be stored as part of your profile. Make sure to do this before April 19th. You’re out of luck if you don’t export them before the site goes down for good.

Source: The Official Google Blog

When a user creates a Google account, they will be prompted to upload an avatar picture for their new Google Plus account. There is no way to skip this. You can choose not to upload a picture, but the following page will still welcome you to Google Plus. The fact is, Google Plus is a solid social network that is fully implemented with Google Search. There is really no reason not to check it out, so while some users might be annoyed that Google is forcing them to sign up, I think it is a good thing.

With Google Plus, you get a highly streamlined social network. A move like this is a great way to get the people who are not actively seeking a new social network to try it out. It may not pull them away from Facebook, but it will at least let them know that it is out there for their enjoyment.

How do you feel about Google making this move? Do you think it’s a good thing? Or do you think they shouldn’t use their online position and influence to force their social network on people? Let us know in the comments!

Source: TheNextWeb

Have you ever looked through your Facebook feed and thought to yourself “It would be really awesome if all of this useless crap came up when I was searching for something?” Me neither! Google seems to think differently though, so last week they started flooding everyone’s search results with a bunch of nonsense. Happily they’re not complete idiots – they did provide a way to turn this crap off. Let’s get right to that.

The Fix

Are you ready to restore sanity to your search results? Pull up a Google search. See the personalized results at top, then swear (loudly if you’re at home or quietly if you’re at work). When you’re done swearing, click the gear in the top-right corner. Click “Search Settings“, and you’ll find this amazing option:

Click the “Do not use personal results” button with the enthusiasm of a kid stealing candy. Make sure you click “Save” before leaving this page, or the frustration during your next search will be immense.

That’s it! Google is back to not sucking, and you can go back to being a well-adjusted person (if you were well-adjusted before, of course).

Some Background

What was Google thinking? Well, here’s the story so far. Google fears Facebook, because Facebook is the only company on earth with comparable amounts of your personal information to exploit. Which brings us to Google Plus, the latest of Google’s many freaking attempts to create a repository of your personal preferences, friendships and interactions social network.

Plus is different than previous attempts, though, in that Google is pushing it, hard. Sure, Buzz was integrated with Gmail, but Plus goes way beyond that – we’re talking about TV ads, integration with Android, and even a big freaking arrow on the Google homepage:

And then, last week, Google decided they really wanted to piss off their user base. Now Google Plus posts are now integrated with Google search itself. That’s right – the totality of human knowledge, filtered through your friends and family.

No offense to the people I know; most of you guys are perfectly acceptable human beings. I just don’t want your input on the hundreds of searches I run each day. It clutters my search for information, and puts me inside a social bubble instead of helping me engage with the wider world.

Conclusion

Did you turn this off? Did it somewhat improve the quality of your life? Let us know in the comments below. Also feel free to rant about this being a bad decision on Google’s part, because that’s totally what I just did.

Did you not turn this off? Then, please add us on Google Plus to clutter your search results with our articles get awesome updates from us!

Surprisingly, not everyone can enjoy the new bar yet. In a previous article, I explained how to enable the new bar by editing a cookie, which worked like a charm. But what if you don’t want to mess with that stuff? There are now some better and easier solutions which will get you that new shiny bar in a snap.

Aside from not letting everyone have it, Google also “forgot” to make the bar customizable. You can’t change the order, you can’t add or remove items – you’re basically stuck with what Google wants you to see. Here are two great ways to get the new Google bar, and to customize it exactly the way you want.

Big G Drop Down Sorter [Chrome]

This handy little Chrome extension will not only give you the ability to sort, add and remove items from the new Google bar, it will also make the bar itself appear if you don’t already have it.

This is what the Google bar menu looks like before changing anything. Not the most convenient thing in the world. Now, install Big G Drop Down Sorter, access any *.google.com domain, and behold the magic!

You can now easily drag and drop any item from the menu to change its position. You can also drag an item into the More section, or drag items from the More section into the main section.

And that’s not all. Are there items from the not-so-accessible “Even more” you would like to add to the toolbar? Big G Drop Down Sorter lets you do that too. Click on “Even more” to find new buttons added to every item on the list.

You can now easily add items from here to the dropdown menu. If you change your mind, you can remove the item from the toolbar from here as well.

Big G Drop Down Sorter is very easy to use, and has worked for me on Google Search, Google Reader, Gmail and Google+. Its only downside is that it only works on *.google.com domains (so if you use google.co.uk, for example, this won’t work), but that aside, this is a great answer to a huge oversight by Google (at least, I would like to think of it as an oversight).

Google Bar+ [Firefox & Chrome]

Google Bar+ is a user script which works on both Firefox and Chrome. Before installing it, you would need to install either Greasemonkey for Firefox or Tampermonkey for Chrome. After installing one of these, head over to the script’s homepage and click “Install”.

To start, if you don’t already have the new Google tool bar, this script will enable it. While not as smooth and easy to use as Big G, Google Bar+ offers some in-depth customization for the Google bar, including the ability to add entirely new items which are not Google related.

To change an item’s location, right-click on any item to open its edit window.

From here, you can choose a different pre-set button from the dropdown menu, and thus change this button into a different button (this basically changes a button’s location). Note that this does not switch between the two buttons, and you will end up with two of the same button. You will have to right click the second button and change that one over as well. From this window you can also change an item’s name, or create an entirely new item, complete with icon.

The icon part did not work perfectly for me every time, but it was very easy to add menu items of my own other than that.

The script also comes with an option called Thinbar. If you find the new bar overly bulky at the top, click the Profile menu and choose “Enable Thin Menu”.

This will change the entire thing into a more manageable size – a welcome change.

As you can see, my MakeUseOf icon does not appear exactly as it should, but this might be solved with some tweaking. Google Bar+ also comes with a built-in Google ad blocker, which you can also enable from the Profile menu.

All in all, Google Bar+ is a useful script, especially if you want to create custom buttons in the menu, or if you’re a Firefox user (until someone comes up with a Big G add-on for Firefox).

Do you know of more ways to customize the new Google tool bar? And what do you think of this new bar anyway? Share in the comments.

Good To Know is a new online guide which deals with various topics, from general online safety issues to specific ways Google and other websites use your data, and tips on how to better manage it. On the online safety side, these include information about malware, phishing, family and shopping safety on the web. You can also find detailed explanation about how Google uses your private data in ads and in many Google services such as Google+, YouTube, Gmail and more.

There’s a lot of information on the site itself, and many links which lead to already existing support pages on Google’s different product pages. There’s a lot to learn about how Google and websites in general use our data, and whether this information is new to you or not, it’s nice to have one comprehensive source in which you can easily find any piece on information you’re looking for. For example, you can easily find what exactly happens when you click the +1 button, or when you let Google Maps use your current location.

What do you think of Good To Know? Does it help you trust Google with your private information?

Source: Official Google Blog