Make Your Own Google Talk Theme

Make Your Own Google Talk Theme

Google talk uses an Jabber protocol, a free open source protocol for communication. Since its open source, all its services are free and customizable. You can even view the code and API provided by Google.

In this tutorial, I will tell you to make your own custom theme for Google Talk. If you aren't interested in creating your own theme then you can get unofficial themes from http://www.sravi.com/gtheme/download.html
and from
http://www.googletalkthemes.com.
Let us start with the Gtalk appearance customization:

1) Searching for Google Talk themes:

%userprofile%\Local

Copy and paste the above location in the My Computer address bar.Press Enter and you will see the default location for themes.

2) Create a new folder and name it gtricks.

3) Let us choose theme ClassicPicture because of its simplicity. Go inside the folder ClassicPicture and you will find another folder named Contents. Copy it.

4) Navigate back to gtricks folder. Paste the Contents folder inside gtricks folder.

5) You will discover folder named Resources inside Contents. And inside Resources you will find few more files like main.css, status.html and others.

So your file structure should look like this :

....Google\Google Talk\themes\system\chat\gtricks\Contents\Resources

Next is providing your own background image:

6) Choose a image of size 300x250 which will act as theme background.(Preferably a lighter color image). Name it aery.jpg .

7) Create a folder inside Resources folder and name it Images.

8) Put image Aery.jpg inside the folder Images.

So resultant cutomized backgroung will be
gtricks -> Contents -> Resources -> Images -> Aery.jpg

10) Double click to open it and try to locate this code:

BODY {
margin: 6px;
}
11) Add background-image: url("Images/Aery.jpg"); to above BODY class.

now it should look like :

BODY
{
margin: 6px;
background-image: url("Images/Aery.jpg");
}

Save it.

12) You are done for the first part. Close Gtalk from the system tray and restart. Go to settings and them appearance to select theme.

If you are familiar with CSS then you can continue editing main.css to modify fonts, colors, text alignments etc.

Google Tricks

7 Clever Google Tricks Worth Knowing

1. Find the Face Behind the Result – This is a neat trick you can use on a Google Image search to filter the search results so that they include only images of people. How is this useful? Well, it could come in handy if you are looking for images of the prominent people behind popular products, companies, or geographic locations. You can perform this search by appending the code &imgtype=face to the end of the URL address after you perform a standard Google Image search.

Examples (notice the differences in each URL):
Image Search for Google vs. Faces Behind Google Image Search
Image Search for Digg vs. Faces Behind Digg Image Search
Image Search for California vs. Faces Behind California Image Search

2. Google + Social Media Sites = Quality Free Stuff – If you are on the hunt for free desktop wallpaper, stock images, Wordpress templates or the like, using Google to search your favorite social media sites is your best bet. The word “free” in any standard search query immediately attracts spam. Why wade through potential spam in standard search results when numerous social media sites have an active community of users who have already ranked and reviewed the specific free items that interest you. All you have to do is direct Google to search through each of these individual social media sites, and bingo… you find quality content ranked by hundreds of other people

Examples:
site:digg.com free “desktop wallpaper”
site:reddit.com free “wordpress templates”
site:del.icio.us free “stock images”
site:netscape.com free “ringtones”
site:stumbleupon.com free icons

3. Find Free Anonymous Web Proxies – A free anonymous web proxy site allows any web browser to access other third-party websites by channeling the browser’s connection through the proxy. The web proxy basically acts as a middleman between your web browser and the third-party website you are visiting. Why would you want to do this? There are two common reasons:

You’re connecting to a public network at a coffee shop or internet café and you want privacy while you browse the web. You don’t want the admin to know every site you visit.

You want to bypass a web content filter or perhaps a server-side ban on your IP address. Content filtering is common practice on college campus networks. This trick will usually bypass those restrictions.

There are subscription services and applications available such as TOR and paid VPN servers that do the same thing. However, this trick is free and easy to access from anywhere via Google. All you have to do is look through the search results returned by the queries below, find a proxy that works, and enter in the URL of the site you want to browse anonymously.

Examples:
inurl:”nph-proxy.cgi” “start using cgiproxy”
inurl:”nph-proxy.cgi” “Start browsing through this CGI-based proxy”

4. Google for Music, Videos, and Ebooks - Google can be used to conduct a search for almost any file type, including Mp3s, PDFs, and videos. Open web directories are one of the easiest places to quickly find an endless quantity of freely downloadable files. This is an oldie, but it’s a goodie! Why thousands of webmasters incessantly fail to secure their web severs will continue to boggle our minds.

Examples:
Find Music: -inurl:(htmhtmlphp) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(wmamp3) “Counting Crows”
Find Videos: -inurl:(htmhtmlphp) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(mpgwmv) “chapelle”
Find Ebooks: -inurl:(htmhtmlphp) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(pdfdoc) “george orwell 1984″

5. Browse Open Webcams Worldwide – Take a randomized streaming video tour of the world by searching Google for live open access video webcams. This may not be the most productive Google trick ever, but it sure is fun! (Note: you may be prompted to install an ActiveX control or the Java runtime environment which allows your browser to view certain video stream formats.)

Examples:
Axis Webcams: inurl:/view.shtml or inurl:view/index.shtml
Cannon Webcams: sample/LvAppl/
MOBOTIX Webcams: control/userimage.html
FlexWatch Webcams: /app/idxas.html
JVC Webcams: intitle: intitle:”V.Networks [Motion Picture(Java)]”

6. Judge a Site by its Image – Find out what a site is all about by looking at a random selection of the images hosted on its web pages. Even if you are somewhat familiar with the target site’s content, this can be an entertaining little exercise. You will almost surely find something you didn’t expect to see. All you have to do is use Google’s site: operator to target a domain in an image search.

Examples:
Digg in Images
Wired in Images
Reddit in Images

7. Results Based on Third-Party Opinion - Sometimes you can get a better idea of the content located within a website by reading how other websites refer to that site’s content. The allinanchor: Google search operator can save you large quantities of time when a normal textual based search query fails to fetch the information you desire. It conducts a search based on keywords used strictly in the anchor text, or linking text, of third party sites that link to the web pages returned by the search query. In other words, this operator filters your search results in a way such that Google ignores the title and content of the returned web pages, but instead bases the search relevance on the keywords that other sites use to reference the results. It can add a whole new dimension of variety to your search results.

Examples (notice the added variety between search results):

allinanchor:”google hacks” vs. basic search for Google hacks
allinanchor:”wordpress exploits” vs. basic search for Wordpress exploits

Bonus Material:

Here is a list of my favorite Google advanced search operators, operator combinations, and related uses:

link:URL = lists other pages that link to the URL.
related:URL = lists other pages that are related to the URL.
site:domain.com “search term = restricts search results to the given domain.
allinurl:WORDS = shows only pages with all search terms in the url.
inurl:WORD = like allinurl: but filters the URL based on the first term only.
allintitle:WORD = shows only results with terms in title.
intitle:WORD = similar to allintitle, but only for the next word.
cache:URL = will show the Google cached version of the URL.
info:URL = will show a page containing links to related searches, backlinks, and pages containing the url. This is the same as typing the url into the search box.
filetype:SOMEFILETYPE = will restrict searches to that filetype
-filetype:SOMEFILETYPE = will remove that file type from the search.
site:www.somesite.net “+www.somesite.net” = shows you how many pages of your site are indexed by google
allintext: = searches only within text of pages, but not in the links or page title
allinlinks: = searches only within links, not text or title
WordA OR WordB = search for either the word A or B
“Word” OR “Phrase” = search exact word or phrase
WordA -WordB = find word A but filter results that include word B
WordA +WordB = results much contain both Word A and Word B
~WORD = looks up the word and its synonyms
~WORD -WORD = looks up only the synonyms to the word

Google Talk Cheats

With Google Talk being all the craze right now, some people hating it, and others loving it, I figured that I would post a list of tips and tricks for those curious about the extra "features" Google implemented and has not said much about.

Registry Tweaks
You can edit most settings by opening regedit (start -> regedit),and navigating to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk.The "Google/Google Talk" key has several sub-keys that hold different option values:Accounts: This one has subkeys for each different account that has logged in on the client. These keys have different values that store the username, password and connection options.Autoupdate: Stores the current version information. When the client checks for updates it compares Google's response with these values. If an update is needed, it will download and update the new version.Options: This is the most interesting part, where most of the current hacks should be used (keep reading).Process: Stores the process ID. Probably used by Google Talk to detect if it's already running or not.

1.) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\show_pinIf 1, shows a "pin" next to the minimize button that keeps the windows on top of all the other open windows when clicked.
2.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\view_show_taskbuttonIf 0, hides the taskbar button, and leaves the tray icon only, when the window is shown
3.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\away_inactiveIf 1, status will be set as Away after the specified number of minutes.
4.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\away_screensaverIf 1, status will be set as Away after the specified number of minutes.
5.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\inactive_minutesNumber of inactive minutes to become away if auto-away is on.

More Tips & Tricks

Change the font size - While holding the control key, move the scroll wheel on your mouse either up or down. This trick works while being focused in either the read or write area.

Insert line breaks - If you want to have a message that spans multiple paragraphs, just hold shift and hit enter. You can add as many new lines as you want to create.

Bold Text - To write something bold, you can use an asterisk before and after the word, like *this* .

Italic Text - To use italics, use an underscore before an after the word, like _this_ .

Switch windows - Hitting tab will cycle through open windows. It will select minimized conversations, to expand them just hit enter. If you just want to cycle through IM's and don't care about the buddy list, control-tab will do that and will automatically expand a minimized conversation if you settle on one.

Invitation Tips - You don’t need to say Yes or No when someone wants to add you as a friend; you can simply ignore it, the request will go away. (On the other hand, someone with whom you chat often will automatically turn to be your friend, unless you disable this in the options). ]

Show Hyperlinks - You can show your homepage or blog URL simply by entering the it in your away message (at the top of the main window). It will automatically turn to a link visible to others.A message can be 32767 characters long.

How To
Conference Calls :

What you need to do to have conference calls: Open up a copy of Google Talk on all computers with which you wish to conference. After one copy is opened make a new shortcut for Google Talk but at the end of it add /nomutex. If you installed it to the default folder then your shortcut should read "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe" /nomutex. Open 2nd instances of the software on every user's computer. After this start a chain: User 1 should connect on one instance to user 2. User 2 will connect on his second instance to user 3. User 3 will connect using his second instance back to user 1. With this chain everyone is connected to everyone.

Nickname & Status Message :
You can't change your nickname in a way that other people will see it change. Every nickname in the Google Talk contactlist is the part that is before @gmail.com (only the alphabetical characters are used) or the name you chosen for your GMail account. To change the nickname need to go to your Gmail account and change the name there. Choose Settings, Accounts, and then Edit info. Click on the second radio button, and enter your custom name. As a result all of your emails will have that nick as well, there is no way to seperate the two. You can add a website in your custom message, it will be clickable when someone opens a conversation window with you.
Contacts :
You don't need to say Yes or No when someone wants to add you as a friend; you can simply ignore it, the request will go away. (On the other hand, someone with whom you chat often will automatically turn to be your friend, unless you disable this). The Gmail account mailto:%27user@gmail.com%27 can't be invited as your friend.

Play Music :

It's possible to broadcast music, MP3, etc.. through Google Talk.Unplug your microphone. Double click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner. This will open up "Volume Control". Select "Options" and then "Properties". Then check the button next to "Recording" then click OK. You may also have to change your setting under Mixer Device. Now the Recording Control screen should be up. On my computer I selected "Wave Out Mix". Click on the green phone in Google Talk and call your friend.

Keyboard Shortcuts
Ctrl + E - It centralizes the selected text, or the current line.
Ctrl + R - It justifies to the right the selected text, or the current line.
Ctrl + L - It justifies to the left the selected text, or the current line.
Ctrl + I - The same thing does that Tab.
Tab - It is giving the area to each of the windows opened by Google Talk.
Ctrl + Tab - The same thing does that Shift + Tab .
Shift + Tab - The same thing does that Tab but in reverse.
Ctrl + Shift + L -Switch between points, numbers, letters, capital letters, roman numbers and capital roman numbers
Ctrl + 1 (KeyPad) - It does a simple space between the lines.
Ctrl + 2 (KeyPad) - It does a double space between the lines.
Ctrl + 5 (KeyPad) - A space does 1.5 between the lines
.Ctrl + 1 (NumPad) - It goes at the end of the last line.
Ctrl + 7 (NumPad) - It goes at the begin of the last line.
Ctrl + F4 - It closes the current window.
Alt + F4 - It closes the current window.
Alt + Esc - It Minimize all the windows.
Windows + ESC - Open Google Talk (if it's minimized, or in the tray)
F9 - Open Gmail to send an email to the current contact.
F11 - It initiates a telephonic call with your friend.
F12 - It cancels a telephonic call.
Esc - It closes the current window.

[HOWTO] Use multiple identities on Google Talk

Want to run Google Talk with multiple Gmail identities? If you have several Google Gmail accounts you also may want to run multiple instances of Google Talk This is especially important for families that share a single PC. Nothing worse than a family member signing you out so they can sign in under their own account! Basically, to have "Google Polygamy" you need to run Google Talk with the following switch: /nomutex
Step 1: Right-click on the desktop
Step 2: Select New
Step 3: Select Shortcut
Step 4: Paste this into the text box: "c:\program files\google\google talk\googletalk.exe" /nomutex
Step 5: Click Next and choose a shortcut name such as Google Talk1, Google Talk2, or something related to your Gmail account for easy remembering which account is which.
Step 6: Click OK a few times.