It's about time, YouTube announced that they are now supporting the ability to use deep links, to go directly to a specific second of a video. It's a bit surprising that it took Google so long to implement it, and more surprising that they needed their community to make them understand the need for that. Better late than never, and more importantly I always respect a company that listens to its users.

How to use deep link? well here is the YouTube team explanation: "To create a deep link, append the following to the end of a YouTube video URL: #t=1m15s. This says to link to the time 1:15 - you can replace the numbers before the 'm' and the 's' with anything you like.
As an additional bonus, if you mention a specific time in a video comment, e.g. "haha 1:14 is funny", this will become a hyperlink. Viewers can simply click on the time and the video will automatically jump to the point you are referencing. Pretty cool huh?"

In part 1- Google search shortcuts I gave you most of the shortcuts Google has to offer on its search box (the ones I know of). In part 2, I'm going to do the same for the Gmail Email Service.

Gmail Shortcuts Guide (Most of the help is taken from Google's Gmail help):

Searching Gmail:

• from:
  (Used to specify the sender)
  Example - from:amy
  Meaning - Messages from Amy
• to:
  (Used to specify a recipient)
  Example - to:david
  Meaning - All messages that were sent to David (by you or someone else)
• subject:
  (Search for words in the subject line)
  Example - subject:dinner
  Meaning - Messages that have the word "dinner" in the subject
• OR

(Search for messages matching term A or term B*)
*OR must be in all caps

Example - from:amy OR from:david
Meaning - Messages from Amy or from David

• - (hyphen)
  (Used to exclude messages from your search)
  Example - dinner -movie
  Meaning - Messages that contain the word "dinner" but do not contain the word "movie"
• label:
  (Search for messages by label*)
  *There isn't a search operator for unlabeled messages
  

Example - from:amy label:friends
Meaning - Messages from Amy that have the label "friends"

Example - from:david label:my-family
Meaning - Messages from David that have the label "My Family"

• i
  (Replaces the term Label)
  For Example: i:friends
• Gmail Label Shortcuts:

^b chats
^f sent mail
^i inbox
^k trash
^r draft
^s spam
^t starred messages
^u unread mail

• has:attachment
  (Search for messages with an attachment)
  Example - from:david has:attachment
  Meaning - Messages from David that have an attachment
• list:
  (Search for messages on mailing lists)

Example - list:info@example.com
(Meaning - Messages with the words info@example.com in the headers, sent to or from this list)

• filename:
  (Search for an attachment by name or type)

Example - filename:physicshomework.txt
Meaning - Messages with an attachment named "physicshomework.txt"

Example - label:work filename:pdf
Meaning - Messages labeled "work" that also have a PDF file as an attachment

• " " (quotes)

(Used to search for an exact phrase*)
*Capitalization isn't taken into consideration

Example - "i'm feeling lucky"
Meaning - Messages containing the phrase "i'm feeling lucky" or "I'm feeling lucky"

Example - subject:"dinner and a movie"
Meaning - Messages containing the phrase "dinner and a movie" in the subject

• ( )
  (Used to group words)
  Used to specify terms that shouldn't be excluded

Example - from:amy(dinner OR movie)
Meaning - Messages from Amy that contain either the word "dinner" or the word "movie"

Example - subject:(dinner movie)
Meaning - Messages in which the subject contains both the word "dinner" and the word "movie"

• in:anywhere
  (Search for messages anywhere in Gmail*)
  *Messages in Spam and Trash are excluded from searches by default
  Example - in:anywhere movie
  Meaning - Messages in All Mail, Spam, and Trash that contain the word "movie"
• in:inbox
  in:trash
  in:spam
  (Search for messages in Inbox, Trash, or Spam)
  Example - in:trash from:amy
  Meaning - Messages from Amy that are in Trash
• is:starred
  is:unread
  is:read
  (Search for messages that are starred, unread or read)
  Example - is:read is:starred from:David
  Meaning - Messages from David that have been read and are marked with a star
• cc:
  bcc:
  (Used to specify recipients in the cc: or bcc: fields*)
  *Search on bcc: cannot retrieve messages on which you were blind carbon copied
  Example - cc:david
  Meaning - Messages that were cc-ed to David
• after:
  before:
  (Search for messages sent during a certain period of time*)
  *Dates must be in yyyy/mm/dd format.
  Example - after:2004/04/16 before:2004/04/18
  Meaning - Messages sent between April 16, 2004 and April 18, 2004.*
  *More precisely: Messages sent after 12:00 AM (or 00:00) April 16, 2004 and before April 18, 2004.
• is:chat
  (Search for chat messages)
  Example - is:chat monkey
  Meaning - Any chat message including the word "monkey".

Google explanation video:

Keyboard shortcuts

To turn these case-sensitive shortcuts on or off, click Settings, and then pick an option next to Keyboard shortcuts.

• c
  (Compose)
  Allows you to compose a new message. + c allows you to compose a message in a new window.
• /
  (Search)
  Puts your cursor in the search box.
• k
  (Move to newer conversation)
  Opens or moves your cursor to a more recent conversation. You can hit to expand a conversation
• j
  (Move to older conversation)
  Opens or moves your cursor to the next oldest conversation. You can hit to expand a conversation.
• n
  (Next message)
  Moves your cursor to the next message. You can hit to expand or collapse a message. (Only applicable in 'Conversation View.')
• p
  (Previous message)
  Moves your cursor to the previous message. You can hit to expand or collapse a message. (Only applicable in 'Conversation View.')
• o or
  (Open)
  Opens your conversation. Also expands or collapses a message if you are in 'Conversation View.'
• u
  (Return to conversation list)
  Refreshes your page and returns you to the inbox, or list of conversations.
• e
  (Archive)
  Archive your conversation from any view.
• m
  (Mute)
  Archives the conversation, and all future messages skip the Inbox unless sent or cc'd directly to you. Learn more.
• x
  (Select conversation)
  Automatically checks and selects a conversation so that you can archive, apply a label, or choose an action from the drop-down menu to apply to that conversation.
• s
  (Star a message or conversation)
  Adds or removes a star to a message or conversation. Stars allow you to give a message or conversation a special status.
• !
  (Report spam)
  Marks a message as spam and removes it from your conversation list.
• r
  (Reply)
  Replies to the message sender. + r allows you to reply to a message in a new window. (Only applicable in 'Conversation View.')
• a
  (Reply all)
  Replies to all message recipients. +a allows you to reply to all message recipients in a new window. (Only applicable in 'Conversation View.')
• f
  (Forward)
  Forwards a message. + f allows you to forward a message in a new window. (Only applicable in 'Conversation View.')
• 
  (Escape from input field)
  Removes the cursor from your current input field.
• #
  (Delete)
  Moves the conversation to Trash.
• +s
  (Save draft)
  Saves the current text as a draft when composing a message. Hold the key while pressing s and make sure your cursor is in one of the text fields -- either the composition pane, or any of the To, CC, BCC, or Subject fields -- when using this shortcut.
• + i
  (Mark as read)
  Marks your message as 'read' and skip to the next message.
• + u
  (Mark as unread)
  Marks your message as 'unread' so you can go back to it later.
• [
  (Archive and previous)
  Archives your conversation and moves to the previous one.
• ]
  (Archive and next)
  Archives your conversation and moves to the next one.
• z
  (Undo)
  Undoes your previous action, if possible (works for actions with an 'undo' link).
• + n
  (Update current conversation)
  Updates your current conversation when there are new messages.
• q
  (Move cursor to chat search)
  Moves your cursor directly to the chat search box.
• y
  (Remove from Current View*)
  Automatically removes the message or conversation from your current view.
• From 'Inbox,' 'y' means Archive
• From 'Starred,' 'y' means Unstar
• From 'Trash,' 'y' means Move to inbox
• From any label, 'y' means Remove the label

* 'y' has no effect if you're in 'Spam,' 'Sent,' or 'All Mail.'

• .
  (Show more actions)
  Displays the 'More Actions' drop-down menu.
• ?
  (Show keyboard shortcuts help)
  Displays the keyboard shortcuts help menu within any page you're on.

Combo-keys

• then
  (Send message)
  After composing your message, use this combination to send it automatically. (Supported in Internet Explorer and Firefox, on Windows.)
• y then o
  (Archive and next)
  Archives your conversation and moves to the next one.
• g then a
  (Go to 'All Mail')
  Takes you to 'All Mail,' the storage site for all mail you've ever sent or received (and have not deleted).
• g then s
  (Go to 'Starred')
  Takes you to all conversations you have starred.
• g then c
  (Go to 'Contacts')
  Takes you to your Contacts list.
• g then d
  (Go to 'Drafts')
  Takes you to all drafts you have saved.
• g then i
  (Go to 'Inbox')
  Returns you to the inbox.
• g then t
  (Go to 'Sent Mail')
  Takes you to all mail you've sent.
• * then a
  (Select all)
  Selects all mail.
• * then n
  (Select none)
  Deselects all mail.
• * then r
  (Select read)
  Selects all mail you've read.
• * then u
  (Select unread)
  Selects all unread mail.
• * then s
  (Select starred)
  Selects all starred mail.
• * then t
  (Select unstarred)
  Selects all unstarred mail.

And finally a nice post i found with interesting and unusual tips for using Gmail: Gmail Tips and Tricks Monster Roundup

I wrote about the Evolution of Auto Complete a few posts ago, This post is about the best Auto Complete I have ever seen (I Don't know how I forgot about this one, shame on me! :).

Read the text in the picture below:

Source: http://www.friends.hosted.pl/redrim/Reading_Test.jpg

Our brain is such an amazing auto-complete tool, and I always get excited to see great Priming effects. Our brain already seen these words in the past, and due to that he is able to re-create the correct word even though the word is all mixed up. Pay attention that the first and last letters of the word are in their correct location, to give the relevant clues for our brain to re-create the word (Top Down processes)

I came across  a few weeks ago by chance (Thank you StumbleUpon) with Bart Bonte's games, and I fell in love with them in just a few seconds. I fell in love with its simplicity, and with its creativity level. (The man is a genius).

What makes Bonte games so brilliant?

• Most of them do not include any instructions on how to play the game, you either get it, or try until you do.
• They require you to think differently every time, sometimes it requires you to think outside the box, sometimes you need to think in a very methodological way, and sometimes you just need to do the obvious. But you always have to think.
• When you pass a stage or finish a game, It always gives you a good feeling of accomplishment, you feel like you gained something by playing. Didn't play so many games that gave me that.
• The games are very simple and creative, each game has its own "spirit".

2 games I really adore and I must recommend you to play (I feel that I need to warn you that these games are highly addictive):

• Factory balls 2
• Duck, think outside the flock

I'm so happy when I witness such a great combination of simplicity, cleverness and creativeness ,Bart Bonte is certainly one to follow.

A a usability professional I'm a bit ashamed that I didn't know anything about it, and more ashamed that it didn't occur to me to do some Guerrilla Usability on my neighborhood myself.

If you don't know what is Guerrilla Usability, I'll explain shortly - It means improving usability level with methods that require a minimal budget.  And what I mean  by "Guerrilla Usability raid in your neighborhood"? Walking around finding things that are so horrible to use in your own neighborhood, and making them a little bit (or sometimes much) better. (see notes on the example below)

I saw some wonderful examples of such guerrilla raids when i viewed the blog post Users fix parking ticket machine interface themselves in etre company blog. There I saw some examples of such raids people did to very un-usable products in their neighborhood, here the best example:

Parking ticket machine:

Oh and one last thing, this reminds me of a really cool project that was done in a small supermarket in Israel - web2.0 supermarket - you must watch it:

I fell in love with the raid idea. If you got any cool examples or raid opportunities, let me know.

Came across a blog post in Techcrunch on a cool company Snapily, which is currently in Beta.

Snapily allows you to upload pictures you want to print (As Business card, Birthday invites and etc..) and create all sorts of effects on the printed version, for example - 3D effect, Morphing effect, flipping effect.

In addition to that, in the end of video, they mentioned that soon they will also be able to offer another product effect - To present a "video" in the printed picture (made from a couple of consecutive frames from a video you upload). This is an amazing effect. Can't wait to see that one!

It was done before in one way or another ,but their implementation just hits the target, a really cool product, Hope it looks the same in real life as in the video.

I read an interesting blog post on the article "Lacking Control Increases Illusory Pattern Perception" in The mouse trap blog.

In general the experiment described in the article found that "Participants who lacked control were more likely to perceive a variety of illusory patterns, including seeing images in noise, forming illusory correlations in stock market information, perceiving conspiracies, and developing superstitions".

The blog post took the article conclusions in to one direction, and I want to take it in another. From brief reading, the article made me think of a creativity and not psychosis... Illusions, imagining things, conspiracies and etc... these can all be examples of creative thinking, and high imagination. To be able to create things from nothing requires a lot of creativity.

Think about it, it might be good to feel lack of control, we don't need to control everything or be afraid of loosing control. Sometimes it is good to flow to where life takes you.  

Next time when you are trying to think of a creative solution to something, or to discover the next big thing, think about it.

There are a lot of people out there that don't know they can use Google to refine their searches and to apply the search box for many many more functions. (In Part 1, I'm going to list here all the functions I found that can be used in Google's search box (Feel free to add more), and in Part 2 I'll present some Gmail shortcuts).

All the functions that I'm going to present below are operated from the search box. But easily they could have been operated not by the search, but (for example) by a tool box, or a select box or in many other ways... Am I suppose to remember only my 5 favorite functions from the massive options? Wouldn't it be easier if I had an option list? I guess the simple answer is that Google expect the pro users to remember what they need to use, and they don't think these options are relevant to all.

So here it is a pretty full guide, you will find a lot of useful options here.

A guide to Google shortcuts (First some links to nice sources I gathered, of unique shortcuts):

• Calculator shortcuts and a nice calculator tool based on Google search - Soople (removed the need to use the Google search to calculate, but I guess using a web calculator instead is easier)
• Travel Planing
• Travel Conditions
• Phone numbers & addresses
• Street maps
• Stock quotes
• Definitions (Google Glossary)
• Search by Number

And some additional functions that do not exists in the above links:(some of them taken from Google web search help)

• Plus (+) Operator

Google ignores common words and characters such as where, the, how, and other digits and letters that slow down your search without improving the results. If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can make sure we pay attention to it by putting a "+" sign in front of it.
Example: peanut butter +and jelly

• Related Search  

To search for web pages that have similar content to a given site, type "related:" followed by the website address into the Google search box.
Example: related:www.cnn.com 

• Fill in the Blank  

Sometimes the best way to ask a question is to get Google to ‘fill in the blank’ by adding an asterisk (*) at the part of the sentence or question that you want finished into the Google search box.
Example: Isaac Newton discovered *

• Sports Scores

To see scores and schedules for sports teams type the team name or league name into the search box. This is enabled for the English Premier League, National Football League, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball.
All sports data provided by STATS, Inc.
Example: san francisco 49ers

• Book Search

If you’re looking for results from Google Book Search, you can enter the name of the author or book title into the search box and we’ll return any book content we have as part of your normal web results. You can click through on the record to view more detailed info about that author or title.
Example: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

• Synonym Search

If you want to search not only for your search term but also for its synonyms, place the tilde sign (~) immediately in front of your search term.
Example: ~fast food

• Spell Checker

Google’s spell checking software automatically checks whether your query uses the most common spelling of a given word. If it thinks you’re likely to generate better results with an alternative spelling, it will ask “Did you mean: (more common spelling)?”. Click the suggested spelling to launch a Google search for that term.
Example: Expolasion

• Movie Showtimes

To find reviews and showtimes for movies playing near you, type "movies" or the name of a current film into the Google search box. If you've already saved your location on a previous search, the top search result will display showtimes for nearby theaters for the movie you've chosen.
Example: movies 94705

• Local Search

If you’re looking for a store, restaurant, or other local business you can search for the category of business and the location and we’ll return results right on the page, along with a map, reviews, and contact information.
Example: Italian food 02138

• Real Estate and Housing

To see home listings in a given area type "housing", "home", or "real estate" and the name of a city or a U.S. zip code into the Google search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button. Clicking the "Go" button on the results page will display details of individual homes that Google has indexed.
Example: homes Los Angeles

• Plus (+) Operator

Google ignores common words and characters such as where, the, how, and other digits and letters that slow down your search without improving the results. If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can make sure we pay attention to it by putting a "+" sign in front of it.
Example: peanut butter +and jelly

• "OR" search

To find pages that include either of two search terms, add an uppercase OR between the terms. For example, here's how to search for a vacation in either London or Paris: vacation london OR paris

• Domain search

You can use Google to search only within one specific website by entering the search terms you're looking for, followed by the word "site" and a colon followed by the domain name. For example, here's how you'd find admission information on the Stanford University site: admission site:www.stanford.edu

• Num Range search:

Feel like a number? Numrange searches for results containing numbers in a given range. Just add two numbers, separated by two periods, with no spaces, into the search box along with your search terms. You can use Numrange to set ranges for everything from dates ( Willie Mays 1950..1960) to weights ( 5000..10000 kg truck). But be sure to specify a unit of measurement or some other indicator of what the number range represents. For example, here's how you'd search for a DVD player that costs between $50 and $100: DVD player $50..$100 

• Cache:

If you include other words in the query, Google will highlight those words within the cached document. For instance, [cache:www.google.com web] will show the cached content with the word "web" highlighted.The query [cache:] will show the version of the web page that Google has in its cache. For instance, [cache:www.google.com] will show Google's cache of the Google homepage. Note there can be no space between the "cache:" and the web page url.

• Link:

The query [link:] will list webpages that have links to the specified webpage. For instance, [link:www.google.com] will list webpages that have links pointing to the Google homepage. Note there can be no space between the "link:" and the web page url.

• Info:

The query [info:] will present some information that Google has about that web page. For instance, [info:www.google.com] will show information about the Google homepage. Note there can be no space between the "info:" and the web page url.

• Stocks:

If you begin a query with the [stocks:] operator, Google will treat the rest of the query terms as stock ticker symbols, and will link to a page showing stock information for those symbols. For instance, [stocks: intc yhoo] will show information about Intel and Yahoo. (Note you must type the ticker symbols, not the company name.)

• Site:

If you include [site:] in your query, Google will restrict the results to those websites in the given domain. For instance, [help site:www.google.com] will find pages about help within www.google.com. [help site:com] will find pages about help within .com urls. Note there can be no space between the "site:" and the domain.

• Filetype:

You can search a specific file type, for example: filetype:doc

• Allinanchor: 

Allows you to search for a link or an anchor text - allinanchor:get more referrals

• Allintitle:

If you start a query with [allintitle:], Google will restrict the results to those with all of the query words in the title. For instance, [allintitle: google search] will return only documents that have both "google" and "search" in the title.

• Intitle:

If you include [intitle:] in your query, Google will restrict the results to documents containing that word in the title. For instance, [intitle:google search] will return documents that mention the word "google" in their title, and mention the word "search" anywhere in the document (title or no). Note there can be no space between the "intitle:" and the following word.

Putting [intitle:] in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting [allintitle:] at the front of your query: [intitle:google intitle:search] is the same as [allintitle: google search].

• Allinurl:

If you start a query with [allinurl:], Google will restrict the results to those with all of the query words in the url. For instance, [allinurl: google search] will return only documents that have both "google" and "search" in the url.

Note that [allinurl:] works on words, not url components. In particular, it ignores punctuation. Thus, [allinurl: foo/bar] will restrict the results to page with the words "foo" and "bar" in the url, but won't require that they be separated by a slash within that url, that they be adjacent, or that they be in that particular word order. There is currently no way to enforce these constraints.

• Inurl:

If you include [inurl:] in your query, Google will restrict the results to documents containing that word in the url. For instance, [inurl:google search] will return documents that mention the word "google" in their url, and mention the word "search" anywhere in the document (url or no). Note there can be no space between the "inurl:" and the following word.

Putting "inurl:" in front of every word in your query is equivalent to putting "allinurl:" at the front of your query: [inurl:google inurl:search] is the same as [allinurl: google search].

• Acronym:

Putting "Acronym:" in front of an acronym, you will receive results with the acronym explanation. for example: Acronum:P.S

• Safesearch:

If you start a query with SafeSearch: you will exclude adult oriented search results. for example: Safesearch:breast

I hope I gathered most of the possibilities out there of the giant Google search engine.

Came across this very unique demo of a "Painting game" by Ian Dallas

What fascinated me the most, was the fact that in this game you reveal the world by splattering paint around. You decide where to splatter paint and what parts you think are crucial to be revealed in order for you to progress in the game.

It will be interesting to see if all people will splatter the same things or not, do we view the world differently? do we need the same visual "anchors" to understand the world we are in?

Very creative and innovative, but regarding game play, would we be able to splatter paint for the entire game?

The Unfinished Swan - Tech Demo 9/2008 from Ian Dallas on Vimeo.

Few posts ago I wrote on another Google experiment - Keyboard Shortcuts. This new experiment is a bit different.

Google accessible view, I presume, was created for disabled people who can't see well (This is why its called accessible view...). I am very glad to see that "Accessibility" is embraced for Google .

What the Accessible View gives the user, is a very simple and intuitive navigation alternative, that allows him to browse the search results. You can navigate between results by using the keywords "J", "K" (very similar to the keyboard shortcuts experiment)In addition "N", "P", & the up/down arrows (Very good improvement for the keyboard short cut experiment) allow you to do almost the same.

The added value here is that the results are highlighted. But it is not just a highlight of the results, but a sort of  magnifying-glass view of the result. The magnified area floats in different layer above the actual results page. This solution is great for people who have difficulties seeing, as they can magnify the text even further by using the "=" key or the "-" key, and in addition if the user has a screen reader (commonly used by blind people) - the result that is currently highlighted, will be read to him, and only that (nothing else in the screen will be read to him, as this might distract them).

Few insights:

• I will not recommend using it for people who have no difficulty in reading, as the floating layer of the highlighted result, is floating above other results as well, and because you can't see the next results or the previous one, it is very hard to have good orientation when navigating between the results.
• J,K,Up and Down keys have the same functionality, they allow you to navigate between the results (but not to jump to the next index page). Using "N" & "P" do the same, but also when you are standing on the last result of the page, pressing the key "N" will send you to the next index results page (and the other way around with "P"). what I find confusing is why do we need different functionality for these buttons. Either create buttons that will allow you to jump between index pages, or just use the same functionality as the "N"&"P" keys, for all buttons. This way it will have a better logic to me in terms of user experience.
• Too many buttons that act the same, well I realize its an experiment, but why can't you decide?

Keep them coming Google, you're doing good to the user experience and accessibility.