Gmail has added new functionality that inserts an interactive map into any email you receive that includes an address.

You need to enable this feature from the “Labs” page of Gmail (the green beaker in the upper right of the page).

Once you have it enabled, you’ll get a expandable link at the bottom of your email that includes maps for each address contained in the email.

You can expand the map within your email or open into a new window as a full-fledged google map.

Note: I picked up this tip from my all-time favorite podcast, “This Week In Google.”

Links:

• Gmail Labs Settings
• This Week in Google

I love Google Wave. No doubt, it will take some time to catch on. If you grew up with the e-mail paradigm, chances are you’ll struggle with Wave. It’s a whole different way to think about communication.

I often use Wave to create documents I know will build over time. An example would be a reference document for SEO best practices I come across. Certainly, Wave would be more effective if I were using it collaboratively to build these types of documents. Unfortunately, it’s currently a lonely world for Wave users.

While researching ways to embed a Wave into a WordPress blog (which I won’t  be doing in the near future), I stumbled across MicroWave. It is a tiny, mobile-friendly Google Wave client. It allows you to quickly and easily access your Wave information on your smartphone, which can really come in handy.

If you Wave, you’ll surely find it useful.

Links:

• Google Wave
• MicroWave
• The Complete Guide to Google Wave

I played Carcassonne once . . . quite a number of years ago. I remember liking it. And I think I even purchased the board game, which is probably buried at the bottom of a closet.

I was thrilled to see that the game is now available as an iPhone app. Now there is a much greater chance I’ll actually get the play the game again.

UPDATE: I’m hooked.

It’s about time to start a new blog. I needed an excuse to learn WordPress, and this is it. Who knows how long I’ll keep this thing going. But at least it has a decent domain at WalterReade.net. (The coveted .com has long been registered by someone not using it.) And it’s also a good place to link to my other social media sites, as well as have a extended resource and “about me” pages.

I’m calling the blog “Inversion of the Primal Puppet.” It doesn’t mean anything or have any significance.