Google Health Is Dead!

 If you have ever signed up for Google Health, you probably know that Google is shutting down it's Google Health service. So, you are left with a very few days to back up any data you may have in your Google Health account. I recently got an email from The Google Health Team and followed the instruction to download all my data and deleted my account. In this blog post I'll walk you through this process.

Here's the email I got.

This is an important Google Health service announcement. You are receiving this email because you have an active Google Health account.

As we announced in June, 2011, the Google Health service will be discontinued as of January 1, 2013. After that date, any remaining data in your Google Health account will be permanently deleted, and you will no longer be able to access or download any data from Google Health.

If you want to keep using the data you have stored in Google Health, you will need to take action before December 31st, 2012 to download it or transfer it to another online health service. We've made this easy for you. All you have to do is:
 - go to the Google Health site at https://health.google.com
 - log in with your Google account
 - follow the on-screen instructions to download your information and close your Google Health account.
For more information, see our help center article at http://www.google.com/support/health/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1347989

Note that, if you log in to Google Health, and are not given an option to download your data, it means that you do not have any data stored in Google Health and you do not need to do anything more.

If you have not retrieved your Google Health data by January 1, 2013, it will be removed from Google's systems and permanently and irrevocably deleted. Google will be unable to recover any Google Health data for any user after this date.

For more details on the discontinuation of Google Health, see our blog post at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/update-on-google-health-and-google.html, and see answers to frequently-asked questions at http://www.google.com/intl/en/health/faq.html.

Note: you will continue to receive periodic service announcements as long as you have an active Google Health account. If you do not wish to receive further announcements, simply go to https://health.google.com and follow the process to download your data (if desired) and delete your Health account.

Thank you for your support and use of Google Health.

The Google Health Team

1. Go to https://health.google.com and login with you Google account.
   
2. Now you'll see a 'Download as ZIP' button.
   
3. Click on the 'Yes, download' button. Open the downloaded file and verify the contents before continuing.
   
4.  Now that you have safely backed up your health data, it's time to close the account. Click on "Close my Google Health account" button
   
5. Select the check box and click on "Remove Google Health" button.
   
6. That's all! Make sure you keep the downloaded health records in a safe place!

Cheers!

Bye Bye Meebo Messenger

Meebo Messenger is going away.

If you are a meebo user you would have got an email by now to let you know the same.
I got the following email couple of days ago:

You may have heard the news recently that Google has acquired Meebo. 

The Meebo Bar for site publishers will continue to be available and will see continued improvements and new features in the weeks and months ahead. 

However, as part of this transition, Meebo Messenger will be retired on July 11, 2012. 

As a past Messenger user, we wanted you to know that until July 11 you can download your archived Messenger chat logs. Log into your account on Meebo Messenger for a download link. Please act soon — after July 11, chat archives will be deleted. 

If you don't want to retrieve your chat logs, no action needs to be taken. 

This is a one-time courtesy email to let you know about the upcoming changes and the availability of your chat logs for download; there is no need to unsubscribe. 

Thank you for being a part of the Meebo community. The team here has loved every minute of the past seven years, and we're honored that you chose to trust Meebo as a place to have conversations with friends, family and colleagues. As we turn our attention to a new chapter, joining forces with the Google+ team, we look back with great appreciation to everyone who used and loved Meebo Messenger along the way. 

Sincerely,
Sandy, Seth, and the Meebo Team

As noted in the email, if you want to retrieve your chat logs, you have to do so before July 11, 2012. You can start by downloading the Meebo Messenger from https://www.meebo.com/messenger.

Google Knol Is Going Away

Google is shutting down Google Knol!

Here's an email I recently received from the Knol team:

As part of Google’s prioritization of product efforts, we will be retiring Knol.  From now through April 30th, 2012, Knol will work as usual, but we’ve made it easy for you to download your knols to file and/or export them to Wordpress.com.  From May 1, 2012 through October 1, 2012, knols will no longer be viewable, but can be downloaded and exported.  After that time, knol content will no longer be accessible.  We hope that this timeline provides you ample time to transition your content.  For more information, please visit our FAQ: https://knol-redirects.appspot.com/faq.html

Thank you,
The Knol team

© 2012 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 

Some FAQs

What is Knol?

Knol launched in 2007 as a method for authors to work together to create authoritative articles about specific topics that they know about.

Why is Knol being discontinued?

Google is prioritizing our product efforts so we can make things much simpler for our users and devote more resources to high impact products.

When is Knol being discontinued?

From now through April 30th, 2012, Knol will work as usual, but we’ve made it easy for you to download your knols to file and/or export them to WordPress.com. From May 1, 2012 through October 1, 2012, knols will no longer be viewable, but can be downloaded and exported. After that time, Knol content will no longer be accessible.

How do I download my knols?

From now through October 1, 2012, you can download your knols from knol.google.com. There will be a large section at the top of the page with links to either export your knols to WordPress.com or download them to a file. Clicking the latter will take you to Google Takeout where you can create your archive.

 Find answers for more FAQs here.

You'll see a Big notice on Knol Website

with links to Export my knols to WordPress.com and Download my knols to a file.

Read Wikipedia entry for Knol to know more about Knol. For an alternative to Google Knol, check Annotum.

Annotum helps you to easily migrate your knol data. They have a neat Getting Started Guide.

Google Introduces Google Play

Google is introducing Google Play, that replaces and extends Android Market.

See this video: Android Apps on Google Play



Google Play is not just a new name for Android Market. It's going to be an integrated destination for Music, Movies, Books and Apps.

Read more:

• Introducing Google Play On Android Developers Blog.
• Introducing Google Play: All your entertainment, anywhere you go On Google Official Blog.

Also watch this cool video


Learn more about Google Play https://play.google.com/about/.

When Larry Met Sergey

Created by Online PhD

A friend shared this on Google+. I liked it so much, I had to share it here!
Enjoy!
-SN

Google Buzz is going away

I got the following notification when I logged in to my gmail account last evening.

it read: "Google Buzz is going away, but your posts are yours to keep." With a link to more info on how can I keep my posts.

Google announced their plan to shutdown Buzz (along with Jaiku and iGoogle) in a blog post on Official Google Blog. Click on Official Google Blog: A fall sweep to read the full post.


However, even after the Google Buzz is shutdown, you can access all your previous Buzz data on your Google Profile.


According to this page on Gmail help, you can download your Buzz data using Google Takeout.


Download your Buzz data and share your experience in comments.

Google: App Engine SSL for Custom Domains

Google announced that SSL support for custom domains on App Engine is in testing.

To see the announcement visit this blog post
App Engine SSL for Custom Domains in Testing  on Google App Engine Blog.

This feature will we made available only to 'trusted testers'. You can sign up to
test this feature by filling up this form.

How to Import Orkut Photo Albums to Google+

When we opened Facebook accounts and started using it, most of us didn't bother importing photos or contacts from our Orkut profiles.

Now, most of us are on Google+, but we are still hooked to Facebook. Nobody is thinking seriously about moving to Google+ or copying content to it. However, Google thinks people may want to import their Orkut photo albums to Google+. So, they have introduced "Orkut Photo Album Importer".

If you have any important photo album on Orkut that you wish to import to Google+, here is how you can do it.

1. Login to your Orkut account. You should see a banner like the one shown below.
   

   

   Link to Orkut Photo importer as displayed on orkut profile.

   
   
2. If you can't see the link on your profile, you can direct access it here Orkut Photo Importer
3. Click on the "Copy my Orkut photos to Google+ now" button, you will see a list of your photo albums. Select the ones you want to share on Google+.

   

   Photo selection to share on Google+

4. Click on the "Import Selected" button to start importing photos to Google+

   

   Status after import.

5. Now login to Google+ to see your new photos.

   

   Photo albums imported from Orkut.

6. Don't forget to read Google's User Content and Conduct Policy before you import.

Google +1 buttons on AdSense ads soon

Google is planning to introduce +1 button and personal recommendations to display ads. They plan to roll out this new feature from October 1st.

Extract from blog post +1: Now making Display ads more relevant on Inside AdSense Blog:

Starting in October, the +1 button will begin to appear on display ads on your site. With a single click, people will now be able to endorse specific ads and make them more likely to appear to their social connections.  We believe that these recommendations could lead your readers to notice ads on your site more, leading to more clicks and higher returns for you over time. 

Google hopes to deliver more relevant ads based on recommendations from your friends and connections. It will be interesting to see this in action.

How to display Ads on your blog using Google AdSense

You might have heard about people making money by displaying ads on their blogs using services like Google AdSense.

If you have a Blogger blog, setting up AdSense is fairly simple. Just follow these steps.

Step 1:

          Sign up for Google AdSense. The approval may take anywhere between few hours to many days. 

Step 2: Once you have an activated AdSense account,

• Login to Blogger.
• Goto Monetize tab of your blog by clicking on Montize from your blogger dashboard.

• 

  Monetize link in Dashboard

  In 'Adsense overview' tab, configure how and where you want the ads to appear.

Configure ads

• Choose/login to your adsense account that you created in step 1.
• And you are done! Now you track the ad statistics from this tab! Congrats :)

Track your earnings!

P.S: I just did this to my blog.

Accessing Local Data Store In GWT/Eclipse Development Environment

Surprisingly, not many developers know that you can browse the local data store in Java/Eclipse/GWT environment.

So, here's how you can  do it. Just point your browser to
http://localhost:8888/_ah/admin/datastore

P.S: Make sure you are Running/Debugging your app while trying this.

Leave a comment if this helped you!

Cheers,

--

Sandeepa Nadahalli