Geolocation is the identification of real world graphical location of computers, mobile devices and web site visitors connected to the Internet. Geolocation information can include Country, Region, City/Town, Postcode/Zipcode and latitude and longitute.

In the past couple of month two major players in the social networking arena have incorporating geolocation features and made this technology available to the end-user.

Last November Twitter introduced this feature for their mobile site as well their static web site. If you access Twitter from a mobile device not only are you tweets linked to your current location, but you can also view other users tweets that are in your surrounding location whether you follow them or not. The static Twitter web site allows users to add their location, and those tweets are also pinned to that location. You can read more at Twitter’s blog.

One of the most useful web sites I’ve seen to date that utilises this technology with a practical application is http://uksnow.benmarsh.co.uk. What Ben has done here is pull this information using a short hash tag and present peoples Tweets in a geographic layout plotting Tweeters who are reporting snow fall in real-time. I personally found this extremely useful in making decision whether to venture out or not. This real-time information far exceeds out dated, incorrect and national weather reports that simply where not local enough.

Last week we saw Google enter the social networking market with the launch of Google Buzz. Google Buzz can be access through your computer or mobile device and is pinned to your static location or uses the technology in your mobile device to pin-point your location much like Twitter when you are mobile.

So, what practical application does this new technology have for you and me other than the obvious? I’m sure we’ve all read the tweets or buzzes posted by our friends informing us what they’ve had for lunch. Now we will now where they’ve eaten lunch. But seriously this has mind blowing possibilities for marketing, real-time geographical information and practical application.

The possibilities are endless. For example, if you are a local business and you have a spontaneous promotion that you want local people know about it, tweeting and buzzing could be the answer in drawing people in. Perisable products that need to be sold at a discount is one example that springs to mind.

uksnow is an amazing example of this technology being put to practical use that incorporates real-time. Another idea is road traffic information: People reporting in real-time how traffic congestion, accidents and road works are hindering their journey and providing invaluable information to other road users.

I’m sure in the coming months their will be new web sites and applications being developed that incorporates this technology and providing real-time information. I wonder how long it will be before FaceBook jumps on board?

I’ve been using Google Buzz for a couple of days. It would appear the UK didn’t get access until a couple of days after the American’s did. This isn’t surprising as Google is an American company and their headquarters is located in the United States.

To date, a couple of my friends and family have followed my on Buzz and I’ve followed them back. Also, several other people have followed me who I do not know and I think this is as a result of others I’ve followed, or comments I’ve made on Buzzes (not sure if the is the PC term) that I found through searching.  The immediate issue that struck me if you want to use Buzz as a means to communicate with friends, family or colleagues, every one needs to have a Google account. Needless to say some do and others don’t. I have attempted to convert a number of people to Gmail; however, to some people email is email regardless of what the logo is in the corner.

There are number of improvements I would love to see already, and it does appear Google have been quick to address on major concern of privacy. The issue of followers seeing who your Gmail contacts are is a concern for everyone and Google have addressed this and made it easier for the end user to find and amend this setting.

Like most social networking platforms there is usually a lot of noise and within that noise somewhere is the interesting information that you want to read and reply too. I find it irritating the there is no easy and quick means to delete or in Google Buzz language ‘mute’ posts that you don’t want to see. What I would like to see is a filter, where you can filter in or filter out tags or keywords that are relevant to your interest. Plus a big delete button or X that is easy to hit if you don’t want to see that post again.

I was hoping there would be more drag and drop functionality. Having to type or pasting links to other web pages, images or video is a pain. I want to be able to drop it into my post.

As there are so many social networking platforms available today, Buzz would have the edge if it became the one-stop-shop for all your social networking activity embedded in your email. I personally only use Twitter and FaceBook and what a wonderful place Buzz would become if I can read and post directly to any social networking site from Buzz.

As usual from Google, this a real sterling effort, and I hope that it’s developed into something that no one can do without. At the moment I do have an open mind, and wait with anticipation of how this will develop.

Have you ever been tempted to click on your own AdSense advertisements? I am not suggesting for monetary gain, but because you have been on your own site, checking your latest blog for example when you see an advertisement that actually interests you. If I was visiting a web site that didn’t belong to me, I would have certainly clicked on the ad.  But, because this ad is on your own site you run the risk of receiving a nasty gram from Google threatening to cancel your AdSense account. So what do you do? Do you take the risk of clicking on it, or Googling similar posts to yours and hoping the same ad appears elsewhere? What if you cannot find this ad?

There is one simple process that I find out by playing around with the ad link:

1. Place your mouse over the ad you want to check and RIGHT CLICK on the ad. Do NOT actually click the ad as you will link to it! Now, you will see an option to Copy link location.

2. Once you have copied the link location to your clipboard, paste the data into your Browsers address bar. Do Not click on Go or press Return.

3.  Being deleting the information in your address bar from left to right. Eventually towards the end of the long url you will see the web site address of where the ad would take you too. Once you have deleted all the Google information, press return or click go and you will be taken to that location.

I’ve had Google Wave for a couple of months now and not really had the opportunity to use it much purely because I don’t know anyone who actually interested in using it with me. I still have a number of invitations available and would be happy to share them with anyone who would like to collaborate in trying out Wave. If you are interested them please use the comment section below, or contact me via the ‘contact us‘ page, e-mail me here or send me a tweet and I’ll be happy to send you an invitation.

I’ve read numerous blogs concernings Google Chrome extension and there is lots of information around concerning what the best / useful top-ten extensions that are available. Therefore rather than duplicate existing content, I thought I would list the few extension I use and why.

I should add that in order to make use of Chrome extensions, you will need to be running the beta version of Chrome.

1. G-mail – This is probably the most used extension and certainly the first one I installed. I don’t think I need to explain why.

2. Google Reader – This is a very simple extension that shows you how many unread feeds you have currently in Google Reader. It also allows you to previous these posts. I find this very useful as I subscribe to lots of blogs, and keeping on top of them all is almost a full-time job.

3. Chromed Bird – This extension accesses your Twitter account and allows you to follow your timelines and interact with your Twitter account. When your browser is open it also shows the number of unread tweets from your followers since you browser was opened. I find this so useful and instant access to my twitter account.

4. Google Tasks – A simple Google Task extension for Chrome. Again, instant access from within Chrome to view, create and update tasks. This is so useful in managing one’s activities and keeping on top of everything.

5. e-Bay – Keep an eye on your eBay activity wherever you are on the web when you install the official eBay extension for Chrome. Again, a really simple to use extension to keep tabs on your bids, sales and purchases.

6. FaceBook – Access your Facebook account, chat and notifications anytime right on Chrome.

7. SEO – The Google Chrome SEO Extension. Make you daily Search Engine Optimization tasks easier in Chrome. This extension is still under development and some of the functions are not yet active. Even so, it’s still a very useful extension for a web developer.

I haven’t managed ten extensions as yet; however, I’m sure in time as more are written, I’ll be adding more.

How do you keep informed with all the constant change in web development and design? Everyday there are new releases of software upgrades, new plugins, themes, and much much more.  I find myself everyday spending at least an hour of my time reading information, and updating the websites I manage with these new releases of software and plugins. To faciliate these releases, I subscribe to various websites via the RSS feeds and all these updates are presented in my blog reader. My preference is Google Reader.  It’s very well presented and easy to use, and this helps to decide what prioritise reading first. I’m not sure how many different blogs or RSS feeds I’m subscribed too, but I certainly get through at least a 100 different blogs or updates a day.  Although it can be time comsuming, however, it’s important to keep your website in tip-top condition ensuring it’s using the latest software and plugins. Failure can result in security issues, and the site not functioning in the most efficient and effective manner.

I’ve featured this video for a couple of reasons:

1. I want one.
2. I would like to know when this phone will be available in the United Kingdom?

I’ve twittered this several times and no one has replied to my question.

When will Google’s Nexus One be available in the UK?