Google TiSP (BETA) is a fully functional, end-to-end system that provides in-home wireless access [...] via fiber-optic cable strung through your local municipal sewage lines.

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With professional installation service, you can also have your Google Checkout purchases delivered directly through the sewage network into your bathroom.

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We’re actively developing a higher-performance version of TiSP specifically tailored to small and medium-sized businesses, including 24-hour, on-site technical support in the event of backup problems, brownouts and data wipes.

Hilarious!

They even, uh, use the location of this WiFi access to provide uncanny monitoring:

Your FREE TiSP service includes a Google Toolbar-based analysis of your dietary habits and genetic predispositions, along with recommendations for healthier living.

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To offset the cost of providing the TiSP service, we use information gathered by discreet DNA sequencing of your personal bodily output to display online ads that are contextually relevant to your culinary preferences, current health status and likelihood of developing particular medical conditions going forward.

Read more at Google TiSP (haven’t figured out what it stands for yet…).

Update: it appears that TiSP stands for “Toilet Internet Service Provider.” Makes sense.

Gmail sign-ups are now open worldwide! No more waiting for someone to invite you—just create an account directly at www.gmail.com

Read more, or go to Gmail.com to register.

Google is a company fueled by innovation, which to us means trying lots of new things all the time — and sometimes it means reconsidering our goals for a product. Later this week, we will stop accepting new questions in Google Answers, the very first project we worked on here.

They don’t give a specific reason, but from what I’ve read across the Internet it seems to be at least in part because of the explosive popularity of Yahoo! Answers.

It’ll be somewhat sad to see this product go. But it’s kind of like a floppy drive: you have a peace of mind knowing you have one in case you really need it, but you almost never end up using it.

• Google Earth
• Picasa
• Google Pack Screensaver (photo screensaver)
• Google Desktop
• Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
• Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar
• Norton Antivirus 2005 Special Edition (with free 6-month subscription)
• Ad-Aware SE Personal
• Adobe Reader 7
• Google Talk
• GalleryPlayer HD Images
• RealPlayer
• Trillian

Any software that you choose to download will be kept up-to-date by an application called the Google Updater.

However, according to a SuperSite for Windows review, the security software is sorely out of date, not all of the programs included are at their latest versions, the Start Menu and notification area are expectably cluttered, and RealPlayer will prompt users to upgrade to a paid version.

Though I don’t think the SuperSite for Windows review makes clear enough the fact that you can customize which applications you download in the pack, so, thankfully, you can just download the “good programs.”

To use the radar, first you’ll need to download Google Earth if you don’t have it already. Then you’ll need to download and open the Santa Radar data layer. Have fun!

Although Google gives the impression that it’s Blogger-only, their FAQ says in question 4 that it uses Google Blog Search, meaning it supports all blogs (yippee!).

The extension puts an icon in Firefox’s status bar. When you click on it, you get a context menu:

When you click “View Comments,” it shows you a list:

A neat idea, but I haven’t discovered any interesting blogs (except mine, of course ) using the extension yet.

Of course, if you follow basic anti-phishing rules (mainly, don’t click links in any email asking for information; type the links in manually), you should be safe from phishing threats, but this adds a nice extra level of protection.

Here’s a screenshot of what the alerts look like: