Google Instant Previews: A Hands-On Tour - PC World

Finding yourself short on time and/or patience? Good news: Google's got a little something new to make your next Web search even speedier.

Google announced the debut of Google Instant Previews on Tuesday. And no, you aren't experiencing déjà vu: This is something different from the Google Instant feature we saw rolled out in September.

The original Google Instant allows you to see search results as you type. The new Google Instant Previews takes it a step further, letting you actually peek at snapshots of sites without ever leaving the results page.

"Instant Previews provides a graphic overview of a search result and highlights the most relevant sections, making finding the right page as quick and easy as flipping through a magazine," Google Product Manager Raj Krishnan explains.

Hey, we're talking about images here -- so why try to illustrate with words? Here's a hands-on tour of what Google's new Instant Previews feature actually does and how it can work for you.

Google Instant Previews: The Newest Way to Search

Click to Zoom

Once you have Google Instant Previews enabled, you'll see a small magnifying glass to the right of every Google search result (view full-sized image). To start using Instant Previews, you simply click on one of those icons. You can also hit the right arrow key if you prefer a mouseless navigation experience.

Whichever way you do it, activating the magnifying glass brings up a preview thumbnail for the page in question. It doesn't take long, either; Google says it's usually a delay of less than one-tenth of a second. Despite my best speed-counting efforts, I couldn't quite tell if that estimation was precise -- but let's just say it was pretty darn close.

Click to Zoom

Each "instant" preview shows you a current view of the page, complete with text, graphics, and anything else that might be present (view full-sized image). If you click on the thumbnail, Google takes you to the site. If you move your mouse anywhere else within the search results, Google starts loading previews for other pages in the list.

Click to Zoom

When Google detects text that seems particularly relevant to your search, it creates an orange-highlighted pop-out box within the preview so you can read the words (view full-sized image). When I searched for "Conan O'Brien review," for example, Google Instant Previews pulled out text showing a review of Conan's first show from People.com.

Google Instant Previews: The X-Rated Question

Maybe it's just my warped mind, but one of the first things I wondered was whether Google Instant Previews would blacklist certain "obscene" terms from instantly appearing, as it did with the original Google Instant feature. Google's explanation for the blacklisting made enough sense, by the way: You can always search for that stuff by hitting the "enter" key -- but having the material pop up automatically could cause a child to be inadvertently exposed to something saucy.

Strictly in the name of research, then, I took it upon myself to search for a few terms far too raunchy to spell out here. (Hey, it's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.) The verdict: Google does not block adult-oriented content from showing up in its Instant Previews feature. In other words, depending upon what your search entails, click the magnifying glass with caution; whatever's on the sites will show up in the previews on your screen.

Google Instant Previews: Final Thoughts

In general, I found Google Instant Previews to be a fairly handy feature. While the original Google Instant option did little more than annoy me (I disabled that bad boy about 5 minutes after it came online), I could see this one being something I'd actually use. Google suggests using it for times when you want to compare results, find a result that meets a specific need -- something with a chart or image, for example -- or quickly find a page you'd previously visited without having to click through to a dozen different sites. I could envision myself using it in any of those contexts.

So there's your tour -- now, ready to try out Google Instant Previews for yourself? Head to google.com/landing/instantpreviews to give it a whirl. If the page doesn't load for you, don't worry: Google says the feature is being rolled out as we speak and will be available to everyone soon.

Hopefully, your wait won't be much longer than a tenth of a second.

JR Raphael is a PCWorld contributing editor and the co-founder of geek-humor site eSarcasm. You can find him on both Facebook and Twitter.

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Investigators see 'culture of complacency' behind gulf oil spill - Los Angeles Times

Chief counsel Fred Bartlit, standing, questions witnesses as Commission co-chairs William Reilly, left, and Bob Graham, commission members Elena Melchert, Fran Ulmer and Don Boesch listen during a hearing before the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. (Alex Wong / Getty Images)

A stream of evidence shows that "a culture of complacency" rather than a "culture of safety" prevailed at BP, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton as they worked on the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, according to the chairmen of the presidential commission investigating the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The panel's investigators uncovered "a suite of bad decisions," many still inexplicable, involving tests that were poorly run, alarming results that were ignored, proper equipment that was sidelined and safety barriers that were removed prematurely at the high-pressure well, said William K. Reilly, who is co-chairman of the commission with former Democratic Sen. Bob Graham of Florida.

"Each company is responsible for one or more egregiously bad decisions," said Reilly, who was an administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush.

Graham agreed. "Leaders did not take serious risks seriously enough and did not identify a risk that proved to be fatal," he said.

Their blunt assessments Tuesday came a day after the panel's chief counsel said he had found no evidence that BP and other workers "made a conscious decision" to cut corners on safety to save money.

"They didn't rule out cost, just said they weren't prepared to attribute mercenary motives to men who cannot speak for themselves because they are not alive," Reilly said of the panel's investigators and the 11 workers who were killed when the drilling rig exploded and sank on April 20. "But the story they told is ghastly: one bad call after another."

He said the story that has unfolded so far indicated the need for "top to bottom" reform of the companies.

Created by President Obama a month after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the commission is investigating the disaster and developing recommendations for preventing oil spills and cleaning them up. Its final report is due in January and its recommendations could be the basis of new laws or regulations.

During Tuesday's hearing, panel investigators questioned industry experts who have studied decisions made on the Deepwater Horizon.

"I know that there was pressure on this group of people to get done and move on," said Steve Lewis, an advanced drilling technology engineer at Seldovia Marine Services, who said he had often worked with BP. "I have seen internal communication at senior BP management level inquiring whether this well would be done on time."

Testimony at other hearings has detailed the time and financial pressures BP faced while trying to finish at the well, which BP staff members had called a "nightmare." Drilling was six weeks behind schedule, costing BP at least $21 million in leasing fees alone.

When the explosion occurred, BP was temporarily plugging the well to defer oil and gas production and move the rig to another site. During questioning by panel lawyers, industry experts said BP made an "unusual number" of changes to the plan to plug the well in the week before the explosion. They also said that a crucial test to determine pressure in the well was improperly done.

Investigators said Monday that BP and Transocean staff members on the rig ran pressure tests on the well several times on the evening of April 20. A successful test would have shown no upward pressure, but the tests the team ran showed otherwise.

For reasons still not entirely clear, the team declared the test a success at 8 p.m. The rig exploded about two hours later.

nbanerjee@tribune.com

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Loopt Launches Windows Phone 7 App - PC Magazine

Location-based service Loopt launched its app for Windows Phone 7 on Monday.

"The Windows Phone 7 Loopt app is distinctly different from any version we've ever made," Sam Altman, Loopt co-founder and chief executive, said in a statement. "Microsoft has created a smartphone experience that lets people get out of their phones and back to their lives. Loopt is all about using your phone as a tool to get out, find friends, and socialize, and with this phone, Microsoft has opened up a new window into that valuable, social information."

The app includes Loopt's social map, a tool that lets users see where their friends are in relation to their own current location. Users can share their location and photos and see where their friends have been, with the option to include photos in friend updates.

Similar to a text message, the Loopt app allows users to "Ping" a specific user in order to connect, rather than sending out a message to all their Loopt friends at once. Privacy controls enable location-sharers to determine who gets to see where they are.

The app is available for free in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

Also on Tuesday, Sling Media released its SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Phone 7 app, which will sell for $2.99. When connected to a Slingbox Solo or Slingbox PRO-HD via the Internet, the SlingPlayer Mobile software lets users watch their home TV on a variety of handsets. Other Windows Phone 7 apps that have been made their debuts recently include Google's search app, an official Twitter app, and one for Amazon's Kindle.

The first three phones on the Windows Phone 7 platform hit U.S. stores on Monday. Two phones, including the Samsung Focus and the HTC Surround, are supported on AT&T, while the HTC HD7 is supported on T-Mobile. Each phone is $199 with a two-year contract.

The Windows Phone 7 Marketplace already has more than 1,000 apps, including games, utilities, and other social-networking applications.

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