David Notik

I'll be sharing news and other happenings I find interesting, particularly in the realm of technology and the Web, hopefully as it happens. I'll try to include useful information for those within the industry as well as everyday people who use the Web. This post is my first such attempt, and your comments are welcome.

Google has just announced a new API (Application Programming Interface) that lets developers build custom components for its personalized homepage service. The Google Homepage API, as it's called, was released along with documentation and a directory to showcase new modules. Google has already populated the directory with a few modules created by its staff.

I'm personally a huge fan of the Google personalized homepage. I use it to watch my e-mail inbox, monitor news I care about, check the weather, and a slew of other things -- all within one clean, colorful, and friendly page. I can't tell you how much cooler and convenient this has made my Web experience.

The new API means Web developers can now get to work creating these new components, and it means we'll soon see a host of new features you and I can add to our very own, personalized page -- making the Web an even friendlier place, courtesy of Google.

(Updated 12/14. Included definition of "API".)