I’m more and more getting into Google and all of their offered services. Not all as good as the other, but through the open source development (Labs and Apps) those products keep getting better and better.

Recently someone asked me why I only used Google services and discussed with almost anyone why Google products are better then the product from their rivals. Then it occurred to me, I was becoming a Google Fan boy….

Luckily I’ve always had an open view towards other alternative solutions to the Google Products I use , but I still have to say….Google is just better!

My Internet usage is Googlefied in the last two months and a normal day consists of checking my email accounts with use of Gmail. There I take a look at my upcoming appointments and tasks with Google Calendar. When finished Gmail is done and Google Reader enters which provides me with the latest news from the RSS feeds I’m subscribed to. Some days it even goes further by working with Google Docs to write a letter or collect information in a spreadsheet with the use of forms. If I have some new pictures I upload them to Picasa and while uploading I watch some vid’s on YouTube.

At work Google comes in the picture by searching the Google Groups to find a solution for a problem I’m running into. When I have to go to a customer I check my route with the use of Google Maps and of course searching goes through Google.

As you can see Google is used a lot by me throughout the day! And of course all those products are getting browsed with Chrome.
So yes! I’m a Google Fanboy. Get used to it, because there’s more Google stuff coming up!

The last few months I keep hearing about Mash Ups and what they can do. In short it’s just a page which uses technology from other web services and sort of combines them on one. Take Google Maps for example. Use this tool to show visitors where they can find your products or to show them news at the location it happened. This would be a nice mash up in my opinion.

Wikipedia shows a very nice explanation and links to up to date documentation. I Quote:

In web development, a mashup is a web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool. The term Mashupimplies easy, fast integration, frequently done by access to open APIs and data sources to produce results data owners had no idea could be produced. An example is the use of cartographic data from Google Maps to add location information to real-estate data, thereby creating a new and distinct web service that was not originally provided by either source.

Of course it goes a lot further then I stated above.  However for that you’ll need a lot of programming experience. And it will be hard to make a professional mash up. I know this is new to the web, but developing goes quickly and new mash ups are launching as we speak.