Unedited Google Profile Pictures, Publicly Available

If you want to upload a profile photo to your Google Profile and use the cropping feature to edit the photo, it's important to know that the original version is publicly available. François Beaufort noticed that you can go to http://profiles.google.com/s2/photos/profile/me (replace me with the profile ID) and get the highest resolution of the profile picture as it was uploaded by the user.

When you upload a photo, Google says that "the full photo will be stored in your profile photos album, but we will display just the square crop on your profile page." By default, the profile photos album is not publicly accessible so it was reasonable to assume that the original photos can't be accessed by anyone but you. (Update: As Brian Rose points out, the profile photos album is unlisted if you haven't connected Picasa Web with Google Profiles and it's public otherwise.)


Until Google fixes this issue, it's probably a good idea to use a photo editor to crop and resize the image before uploading it to Google Profiles.

Fragments For All

[This post is by Xavier Ducrohet, Android SDK Tech Lead. — Tim Bray]

A few weeks ago, Dianne Hackborn wrote about the new Fragments API, a mechanism that makes it easier for applications to scale across a variety of screen sizes.

However, as Dianne noted, this new API, which is part of Honeycomb, does not help developers whose applications target earlier versions of Android.

Today we’ve released a static library that exposes the same Fragments API (as well as the new LoaderManager and a few other classes) so that applications compatible with Android 1.6 or later can use fragments to create tablet-compatible user interfaces.

This library is available through the SDK Updater; it’s called “Android Compatibility package”.

Add Multiple Google Profile Photos

The new Google Profiles interface lets you upload multiple profile photos and switch between them with a simple click. Visitors can see all the photos you've uploaded, so you must be careful when you replace a profile photo. It's not enough to click "change photo" and upload the new image: you should also click on the image and delete the previous profile photo.


Profile photos are stored in a Picasa Web album, just like the photos from the Scrapbook section. The main difference is that profile photos can be cropped or edited in Picnik.

If you already have a Google Profile, it's a good idea to upload a new profile photo. The new interface uses bigger photos, so your old avatar looks pixelated.

Google Tests Enhanced Suggestions

Google's search suggestions are useful, but they're only displayed if many people search for them. If you type a "long tail" query, Google doesn't show suggestions and can't even finish the words you type.

Adam Harris, a reader of this blog, noticed that Google tests an enhanced version of Google Suggest that autocompletes words. For example, if you search for [javascript eval] and you add "conca" to your query, Google doesn't normally show suggestions. The new version of Google Suggest autocompletes the word you started to type and guesses that you wanted to use the word "concatenate".



Note: the first screenshot also shows a feature of a Chrome extension for Evernote.

{ Thanks, Adam. }

Google Profiles Has a New Interface

Google Profiles has a new user interface that emphasizes the profile photo, includes many new sections and uses encrypted connections. You can now click on a section of your profile to edit it, add "10 words that describe you best", bragging rights, relationship information, structured information about your education and employment, a scrapbook with your favorite photos. Another change is that you can now hide the Google Buzz tab from your profile.




The new Google Profiles is closer to a social networking feature, but it's just one piece of the puzzle.

A New Google Error Page

Google has a new 404 error page that's displayed when you type a Google address that can't be found (for example: google.com/hosting). The new error page is supposed to be funny, but it's not useful. Google's laconic page informs visitors that "the requested URL was not found on this server. That's all we know."


Google actually knows more than that. The previous version of the error page showed a search results page that provided useful suggestions.


{ via Google Blogoscoped Forum }

Picasa Web's New Homepage

Picasa Web's homepage has been redesigned to emphasize the photos recently uploaded by the people you're following. The homepage no longer displays all your albums, so you'll only be able to see the most recent 8 albums.

"This new design centers around photos that are interesting to you. We wanted to give you faster access to the newest photos from your family and friends along with some great photos from the talented Picasa community. When you log in to Picasa Web Albums, you will not only see your own albums, but albums that have been shared with you, the latest public albums from people you follow, and featured photos from the Picasa community right on your home page," explains Google's Ping Chen.


While "recent activity" has always been a section on the homepage, now you can no ignore it. YouTube's homepage has recently switched to a feed view, a stream of activities popularized by Facebook.

If you don't like the new homepage, bookmark this URL: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/myphotos or click "My Photos" when visiting the homepage.