Google chose the worst possible time to launch a social networking service, just when all tech blogs are fawning over the launch of the iPhone 3G.

Google Lively is a browser add-on that allows users to join Second Life-like interactive rooms anywhere where you can add some html code - blogs, Facebook, MySpace, etc.

First thing you need to do is download the add-on here & then sign-in with your Google account.

Choose a nick & your character. Customize it if you want & join a chat room... I joined the Google Room.

45 mins later & after countless His & Hellos & a nasty "Why are you so sloooow?" (I was too ashamed to tell them that I had a 128k connection), the room was still materializing... I couldn’t take it anymore as Firefox (3.0) was threatening to destroy my memory & CPU.
To be honest, everyone else in the room were lurkers like me with no idea of what to do in that room.

Verdict
The initiative is great - you can make your own rooms & interact with other users. Imagine each blog you come across has its own Lively room! That takes social interaction to the next level. Being only a 20% completed project, Lively has many bugs - you need to drag your character to move it, the graphics are not great & the level of customization is minimal for the time being. The browser add-on is not the best solution – it uses too much memory & CPU. Google Lively should be a stand-alone app like Google Earth.

Google Lively is crap... for non-broadband users. Since I live in a country where there's no broadband, I couldn't even have an adequate experience of cutting-edge web technology. Who is to be blamed? Maybe Google for not considering the plight the minority of Internet users… or… Orange?

Google AdSense Test Blog
Yep, if you want to know what latest testing Google is doing on AdSense ads, just keep checking my blog often. I strongly suspect it's a Google Guinea Blog (derived from Guinea Pig).

After the scrolling ads, the video ads... here are the customized font ads!

Comic Sans Ms

Times New Roman

Actually it's a great improvement for people looking for ads that blend into their content. But Google should add it as an option to choose which font you want, instead of an algorithm detecting the font. I use Segoe UI & I bet Google won't recognise that....

Religious Ads - unethical?

For quite some time, I've noticed these interactive Scientology ads on my blog.

Is it ethical for Google to display ads promoting religions without asking the publisher's permission?

There's no doubt that Google contextual algorithms have failed, but they should at least consider the demographic. Who in Mauritius would want to join a US-based sect? & because it's a controversial sect, these ads may actually harm publishers! No one would like to be affiliated with Scientology.

Instead of just focusing into reaping money, Google should also think of the social consequences of showing controversial ads. Best option would be to allow publishers to accept or reject such ads in their Ad Review Center.

PS. Tired of iPhone trash?? Check this video out!