Tired of plain white on iGoogle's page, now is your chance to put your photography and digital design skills to the test.

Like Jimmy Choo, Gucci and Tommy Hilfiger, now is your chance to change the way iGoogle looks. The winner will receive a £5,000 ($7500 USD) bursary and an invite to spend a day with Martin Parr.

Join the bandwagon here. Click away and become famous. Go here.

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Google is to launch a signifant overhaul to its search engine allowing users to modify and customize search results with options to rank the results yourself, comment about search results and remove them if you dont like the result. You can also view other's comments regarding the search result and see others search rankings. Check out the video for more details

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1. Emoticons upgrade - I liked the new emoticon options in gmail, they really pep up my email conversations with friends.

2. Custom keyboard shortcuts - makes my navigation in my mail box mouse free and fast.

3. I can go invisible in chat if I have work to do, abracadabra and I disappear and whoosh, appear again when I have some time to spare. Allows me to manage my time at work well.

4. Google calendar gadget reminds me of all the things that are upcoming and I need to keep organized to meet my day to day demands.

5. I can use the video chat that is embedded in gmail itself! Yay! www.gmail.com/videochat.



6. Google Docs widget, allows me to keep my travel plans, my restaurant number list, my personal diary at my fingertips.

7. Superstars allows me to tag my email the way I want to, e.g. Mums mail gets a blue star, pay-the-bill mails get an exclamation mark.

8. Remember the milk gmail widget lets me keep my to-do list up to date

Here's how you set it up -

• In Gmail, go to Settings then the Labs tab. Find "Add any gadget by URL" and make sure it's enabled, then press Save Changes.

• Still in Settings in Gmail, go to the Gadgets tab. Copy and paste the following URL(http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/modules/gmail/rtm.xml) into the "Add a gadget by its URL" field. Press Add.

9. Mail Goggles helps me from sending the mean mails (Yes I do that and I hardly regret it). Its the mail version of breathing deeply and counting till 10 to reconsider what you're about to do.

10. It's non cluttered look is really really nice after the junk I get to see online all the time.

Thank you gmail don't know what I would've done without you.

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Yes, Obama won! And I'm happy. I decided to go and revisit the Presidential debate on Youtube. There was this peculiar little tag on the top left, that said "Theater View" and "Lights Off". I tried both and absolutely loved it both.

The theater feature allows you to have a red curtain around the video and turns the lights off.

The lights off just switches the lights off. I like this feature.

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We've written about Google Phone Search before. And recently Google Phone Search is released in New Delhi. Again the number is the same 1-800-41-999-999

Here are 5 things I like about the phone search.

1. Anytime information - Getting the information when you want, where you want is amazing. I just need to dial the toll free number to get the number to the nearest Chinese restaurant.

2. Really low call wait time - I've never had to wait for more than 15 seconds (Yes I've counted) for someone to lift the phone on the other end

3. You get the information sms'd quickly - Sometimes I've received the information on a sms while on the call with Google.

4. I trust Google not to sell my number to cold callers - I've asked the agent and they've assured me that they don't keep a record of the number. In fact the agent asks you if you want the information sms'd or over the phone and you give your number just incase you want it sms'd

5. Free call forwarding - They offer to forward the call to the number that you require for FREE!

3 Things I don't like about Google Phone Search

1. Speech Recognition - It could work better, much better. But right now it doesn't work all that well. Sometimes you've got to repeat 3 to 4 times to get the computer to understand what you are saying. With thick Indian accents it might be difficult for users to get their desired number soon.

2. Agents google the queries- I've asked one of the agents how they get their information and he simply said "Ma'am I google it". So when I asked for a launderer in my area, they were unable to provide information as it wasn't available in their search result. 

3. Enough local content - I wonder if there are enough local results online. Are local businesses putting their information online? 

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I came across this browsing online:

1. Read an excerpt from a book (Book Search)
2. Use Google to keep time (just type "time country" to get the present time in the location)

3.Converting currencies (£100 in chinese currency)

4. Look at the Leaning Tower of Pisa (Google Earth)

5. Make lists, share presentations (Google Doc)

6. Make travel plans (Flight timings - US)

7. Translate, learn a new language

8. Find a skill in Youtube and learn something new.

9. Read the newspaper in a language of your style.

10. Become famous - upload a cool video.

And another 42 reasons to check out this page.

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I was surprised to see billboards today across Hyderabad urging us to try out Google Phone Search. Call 1800- 41-999-999 to contact Google Phone Search. I couldn't help myself so I took out my handy camera and took a few snaps.

I also picked up the phone and was connected to a Google representative and I asked him for Chevrolet dealer in Hyderabad. While the representative wasn't able to give me the required answer, he did take my feedback and said that the listing will be updated soon.

I also called them now (1.43am. June 26) and was connected to a voice recognition software. It asked me for Business Name or Type of Business. I selected Pizza Hut and Madhapur and within seconds not only did I have Google send me an sms to my cell phone but the voice recognition software also read out the listing.

When I tried the search yesterday I was also offered the option for call forwarding, which I didn't utilize. Kudos Google!

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