Google Now Indexes SVG

You can now use Google search to find Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) documents. SVG is an open, XML-based format for vector graphics with support for interactive elements. Google has made it its mission to organize the world’s information, so indexing SVG is a natural step.

SVG content whether a standalone file or embedded directly in HTML will be indexed. Do not get too overexcited though. The web is big, so it may take some time before they will be able to crawl and index most SVG files, but as of today you may start seeing them in your search results. If you want to see it yourself, try searching for [sitemap site:fastsvg.com] or [HideShow site:svg-whiz.com]

If you host SVG files and you wish to exclude them from Google’s search results, you can use the “X-Robots-Tag: noindex” directive in the HTTP header.

Secrets Of The Google Search Box

Bet you never knew Google’s search box has secret options that can do other things. Check these out:

• Calculator – use the +, -, *, / symbols and parentheses to do a simple equation
• Definitions – use the “define:” operator to get a quick definition
• Quotes – if you want to search for an exact phrase, use quotes
• Conversion – use Google for a quick conversion, from yards to meters or different currency
• File types – if you just want to search for .PDF files, Word documents, or Excel spreadsheets, use the “filetype:” operator
• Cached pages – use the cached operator
• Exclude words – use the “-” sign in front of the word you want to exclude.

Google Waves Bye To Wave

Google is pulling the plug on Google Wave. Not surprised though. When I first used Wave, there was no feel for me to wanting to use it. While it is aimed to combine many forms of online communication, even I was not attracted to it. Intended to be a near replacement for e-mail, I like GMail’s functionalities better.

Because it didn’t have traction with consumers, Google will be shutting it down. “Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked,” Urs Hölzle, a Google senior vice president, writes on the company’s official blog.
“We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects.”

The code for some of Wave’s innovative features — like instant messages that were sent letter-by-letter as a person typed — has been made available to the public and could be incorporated into future projects which probably can be beneficial to open source fanatics to who knows what others could create from that. Maybe a better innovation than Wave?

Rest in peace Google Wave …