Thursday, September 6, 2007

Groovle, Google With a Background Picture

Groovle allows you to browse a directory of background images – from celebrities to nature or sports, or your uploaded photo – to add to your “own” Google-like search homepage. Like one with Jessica Alba. Search results show ads and are powered by Google via the Google Custom Search Engine service.

The URL for the resulting search page is too long to type, but you can bookmark it. Still, there are several ways to photo-enable the real Google or iGoogle:

• Add the frame photo gadget via the gadget wizard for iGoogle
• Switch to one of the other existing themes in iGoogle
• Add a user-stylesheet to your browser adding a background image. This could also be done via Greasemonkey.
• Add the third-party Custom iGoogle Skins gadget and pick an existing theme.
• Add one of the other existing background image gadgets.

However, there’s a security issue with many third-party gadgets changing your iGoogle layout: they require you to inline them. While Google does some things to defend iGoogle, an inlined gadget may get hold of your Google cookie and compromise your account. Even if you check the gadget XML source before adding it, the source may later change and you will automatically get the updated version; and even if you trust the gadget maker, you don’t know much about their security model to defend their gadget source from being kidnapped by someone else at any point in the future.

[Thanks Search-Engines-Web.com!]

Groovle, Google With a Ba ... by Philipp Lenssen | Comments (1+0)

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