And in case you don’t know what a favicon is, it’s that small image next to the URL of the page that you’re on.

In Google’s case, the voluptuous small “g” (Google) has replaced the big “G” (Google). Are they rebranding? Is it an attempt to appear less corporate and more humble as it increasingly dominates the search market?

We have a whiteboard hanging on the wall near the front desk at ArcStone’s Minneapolis office. The intent is to keep track of who is offsite, telecommuting, or out on an errand. In reality, most of us never use it properly. We forget to erase our names when we arrive at the office, forget to put our names up the day before if we plan to telecommute, or neglect to ask someone else to write our status on the board if we’re out sick. And, since it’s hanging on the wall at the office, you can’t read it if you’re working offsite.

In response to the shortcomings of the community whiteboard, ArcStonians have turned to email. We often see messages to the office distribution list, announcing when a team member will be available and where they’ll be during the course of the day. I’ve never liked it; I somehow manage to miss the notifications from members of my project teams.

But, as always, there was a better solution. We recently subscribed to Google Apps, a set of productivity tools offered by Google that includes calendaring. It’s allowed us to have company-wide shared calendars without the hassle and expense of using Zimbra or Microsoft Exchange Server for our email. Google offers an API for their calendar service; you can quickly write web application code that reads data from a Google Calendar and manipulates it. And the idea for the virtual in/out board was born!

The virtual in/out board is nothing more than a ColdFusion page that reads data from a shared calendar. When someone wants put their availability up on the board, they create an event on their own calendar and invite the in/out board as an attendee. The page checks the calendar for updates every five minutes or so, and refreshes the display (which is an otherwise unused PC at our front desk). We even have the data available in the ArcWeb, our custom time tracking and business management application, for viewing by offsite staff.

I’ll never have dry-erase marker on my hands again!

Anyone else notice the makeover gone wrong over at Blingo?

For the un-initiated, Blingo is a search engine where you are eligible to win a prize for up to 25 searches a day. I have been using it for about the past four months, and not too long ago won a $5.00 Amazon gift certificate. The regular search results were — until very recently — powered by Google.

Well, Spring has sprung and change comes with it, but in this case not for the better. Blingo’s reconstructive surgery has left it one hot mess. Now with intermixed results from Yahoo, LiveSearch, and Ask, inquiries on Blingo return mostly useless results. Nice work, Publisher’s Clearing House.

Boo. Hiss.

If you’re anything like me your daily digestion of web content can’t be contained in one browser tab. Between RSS feeds, work Intranets, gMail and other web applications, several tabs are needed, and flipping between them constantly becomes a carpal tunnel inducing nightmare.

The solution many choose is to setup a start page. Start pages are one page sites that aggregate data from many other web pages into a dashboard style display.

Google’s iGoogle is the most popular start page system, but I have started using a little known competitor that puts iGoogle to shame; Netvibes.

Keep reading for tips on setting up the ultimate start page and the secret to unlocking the start page’s hidden power.

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By now even casual web users are familiar with the term “Web 2.0″. Probably because the most popular brands (YouTube, Flickr, FaceBook) of the Web 2.0 revolution attract large amounts of novice and first-time web surfers.

Now there is a new revolution on the horizon, one that lacks the glitz and glamor of Web 2.0. This revolution is less about the human user, and more about the machine user.

Welcome To The Semantic Web, Where Machines Do All The Work
Imagine if you didn’t have to dig through Craig’s List, eBay, and Google separately for the best deals on antique soup spoons. Now imagine there is a way for web developers to aggregate all those sites together without much effort, therefore being able to offer users a single point of reference for antique soup spoons.

Welcome to The Semantic Web, where machines do all the work. Continue reading for a preview of the revolution.

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CES, the largest annual trade show for consumer gadgets, is quickly drawing to a close and I haven’t seen Google’s mobile OS make much of a showing. Although it has been only two months since it’s unveiling, I expected to see a handful of companies exhibiting at least early prototypes.

Considering this is an industry only show, and not open to the public, most companies show off products still in the early stages of development. Android’s release should have lit a fire under the metaphorical butts of handset developers everywhere, and CES is where these early stage efforts would first surface.

Keep reading for a quick Android refresher and more of my thoughts on Google’s mobile endeavors.

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There are so many ways Google can be used beyond research, stalking, and finding the quickest route to the primaries. For example, Googlewhacking and Googlebombing.

Googlewhacking is a time sucking game where the goal is to find a two-word search term that returns only one result. It sounds easy, but is remarkably difficult. Thankfully, I seam to have an unnatural talent for it and can field this example to you.

Googlebombing is a little more sinister. In a Googlebomb the goal is to manipulate Google’s search results for fun or profit. The most famous bomb had the terms “miserable failure” linking to George W Bush’s biography.

Here is an interesting image Googlebomb I discovered. When searching for “Word” a seemingly official photo of the Word 2002 box appears. Upon closer examination however, it’s a clever parody.

When you leave software to make up its own mind, like which ads to show a user, sometimes strange things happen, or worse. I have been noticing this more and more, especially in high profile sites, like Gmail, CNN, CNET, and other sites you would think sport top-of-the-line advertising engines.

Here is CNET’s media player, currently sponsored by T-Mobile, playing a Sprint phone review. Before the review you get to enjoy a short T-Mobile spot professing the superiority of their phones.

Here is Google attempting to peek my interest in purchasing a heavily armored vehicle. I have also been served ads for body armor and night-vision goggles. Just how dangerous does Google think Minneapolis is?

Poor Microsoft. They’re so desperate to get a better grip on the search market that they’re paying people to use their engine. It’s called the Live Search Trial Program. Yup – Microsoft’s new big bad search strategy isn’t a new algorithm or a better user interface. Instead, Microsoft is bribing you with prizes.

Nice try, Microsoft. I might have given your engine a little love just to win a prize, but I can’t even figure out how to participate in the program. Do I have to be a Hotmail user?

I’d rather try Blingo, powered by Google’s search engine (although Google’s universal search features are somewhat depreciated in Blingo’s interface). For 25 searches a day, you are automatically entered to win a prize on Blingo. When you refer your friends, any prize they win, you win as well.

Feel free to be one of my friends….

Oh what fevered dreams bid to rip the cellular industry a twain? With Google’s new mobile OS out, talks about a 700Mhz bidding war, and a possible Sprint acquisition rumor, the wireless industry is becoming very interesting.

Content providers like Google are increasingly becoming worried over being squeezed by network owners, and with the recent Comcast debacle, Google’s fears are appearing well-founded. The major network owners could destroy content providers’ revenue models if the cost to reach customers skyrockets.

Owning their own networks is the best insurance policy content providers can have, and Google knows this. My guess is, when everything shakes out, Google will own one or more major pathway to its customer. It may be cellular, land-based fiber, or a combination.