UPDATE: via Google Blogoscoped Google Web Accelerator is closed. I guess all of those cached pages added up! Google Web Accelerator page states:
Thank you for your interest in Google Web Accelerator. We have currently reached our maximum capacity of users and are actively working to increase the number of users we can support.
_______________________________________________________________ I love Google and many of the things they are doing. They are breaking new ground left and right, however, I tend to be cautious about jumping onboard with every new thing that comes out. This may be a good reason to steer clear of the new Google Web Accelerator. Google is my primary search engine, I have multiple gmail accounts(with way more invites than I will ever know what to do with, if you want one let me know), Google maps is awesome, Google toolbar is the greatest thing since sliced bread(although sliced bread doesn’t really excite me, so that’s probably the wrong metaphor), every PC in my church is equipped with Google toolbar, mainly for the popup blocking, Froogle definitely has it’s place, Google news is a daily read in my life and on and on and on. There’s more but you get the idea. Google rocks. There are a couple of things that I have steered clear of. The first being Google desktop search. I don’t need an outsider searching my computer for me, that just seems to have some vulnerabilities built into it. Plus, I’m anal enough that I tend to know where everything is on my computer. Things are not saved randomly, then I wonder later where they went. I save everything on purpose. There might be a book in that, let’s see….Purpose Driven Computers….nah, I think that theme has already been taken. I saw the Google Web Accelerator had come out and I also didn’t jump in on that one on day 1. Partly because I personally don’t have a need. My church is already equipped with broadband, but I have never really been real big on accelerators anyway. However, Google says this is designed for broadband and is not optimized for dialup. According to the official GWA support page, secure and encrypted pages will not be cached, however, not all sites that you sign into are secure and encrypted. I am the first to jump on board many new things, but if I have any doubts, I won’t touch it, especially when it comes to security. So, I’m probably overly cautious and maybe a little paranoid, but this is something that needs a little time to be proven and tested…..by others. By the way, to see some of the other cool stuff Google is working on, check it out here.