Google just launched a new Google Apps Marketplace where users can discover and deploy third-party cloud applications that integrate with their existing Google Apps accounts.

Give the video above a watch for a full overview of how Google Apps Marketplace apps work, or, summed up from the Google Apps Marketplace homepage:

The Google Apps Marketplace offers products and services designed for Google users, including installable apps that integrate directly with Google Apps. Installable apps are easy to use because they include single sign-on, Google's universal navigation, and some even include features that integrate with your domain's data.

We've detailed how to trick out Google Apps in the past, but the Apps Marketplace brings an entirely new set of potentially useful tools to your Google Apps account—everything from accounting and finance apps to project and customer management.

And while the current set of offerings might seem like overkill unless you're a business running on Google Apps, the integration that these tools provide with Google tools like Mail, Calendar, Docs, and Contacts might be well worth it for the right app, and in time, Apps Marketplace sets the stage for all kinds of awesome third-party integration that could potentially take place with any outside application and the Google applications you use every day. (Time will tell on that front.)

We've been paging through the offerings since the site went up, but if you stumble onto a particularly snazzy looking Marketplace app, share a link in the comments.

Right now most of the apps look like they come with a recurring subscription fee, but we've found a few interesting looking options (some free), like:

• Aviary, the web-based creative suite.
• Shared contacts, which, as one might expect, lets you share contacts with your colleagues (something that's always been a little difficult in Google Apps). [Has a free trial]
• Gbridge, a "free, instant VPN for everyone" that can sync folders, share files, and share screens remotely between computers—and it's free.

Dear Lifehacker,
I've read about how HTML5 will change the way I use the web, but it seems like the biggest example of HTML5 in action is on sites like YouTube—which don't support my favorite browser, Firefox. What's the deal?

I find myself, and I'm sure tons of others, caught in the Adobe Flash Player vs. HTML5 battle. Flash Player runs terribly on my iMac. Videos on different sites either tell me to install Flash components, show up as blank white areas, load perpetually (CNET TV) or tell me to adjust global storage, and so on. If they do play, I often get the stuttering/buffering that drives me crazy. I had the latest version of Flash Player, uninstalled that and installed the latest 10.1 Beta3, and it's just as bad.

I considered signing up for YouTube's HTML5 beta test, but that only works for Safari, Chrome, and IE, not Firefox. I've read about Mozilla's stance on this issue, too.

I apologize for the long intro to my question, but do you know of any Firefox add-on or plug-in that installs the H.264 codec? We already have to install a plug-in for Flash Player, so perhaps it's possible someone can do this for H.264.

Thanks for any help,
Fighting with Flash

Howdy Fighting,
That's a good question, and unfortunately one to which there's no great answer. It actually is technically possible to play HTML5 YouTube videos in Firefox, but it's extremely convoluted (details below)—and Mac users like yourself won't have any luck. First, for those who aren't familiar with why Firefox is excluded from YouTube's (and some other video sites') HTML5 support, here's why:

The Problem

In order to move to HTML5 from Flash, video sites like YouTube need to host their videos in formats friendly to Flash-free HTML5 embedding. Unfortunately there's no default standard for the format HTML5 videos should use.

As a dedicated open-source, open-standards browser, Firefox chose to support the Ogg Theora video format for HTML5 video. Like Firefox, Ogg Theora is free and open; it's not covered by any patents, so it requires no licensing and is completely free to use for everyone involved.

Other browser makers, like Chrome and Safari, support H.264 for HTML5 video. Unlike Ogg Theora, H.264 is patented, and would theoretically require browser makers to pay licensing fees to use it (though the company that owns licensing rights to H.264 have said that they'll offer it royalty free until 2016). Additionally, the issue isn't just about licensing.

Some tests have shown H.264 to perform better than Ogg Theora in side-by-side comparisons. Apple's stance on the matter, via Wikipedia, is that "H.264 performs better and is already more widely supported." For video sites like YouTube, the main concern is likely which format can deliver the highest quality video with the greatest compression rates. Unfortunately for Team Firefox (and supporters of free and open web standards), it's looking like H.264 might deliver the best results.

It's worth nothing that browsers can support multiple video formats for HTML5 support, but currently Chrome is the only browser that supports both H.264 and Ogg Theora (though through the Frankenstein efforts of Google Chrome Frame, Internet Explorer also gets support for both). The chart below (from Wikipedia) lays it all out:

As you can see, unless either Firefox changes its stance or sites like YouTube decide to support a free alternative like Ogg Theora, Firefox fanatics don't have a clear way to watch HTML5 YouTube videos.

The "Solution"

If you're extremely desperate to watch HTML5 YouTube videos but you absolutely do not want to switch to another browser, you've got one simple-yet-absurd solution that'll only work on Windows:

Watch HTML5 YouTube Videos in Firefox (on Windows)

1. Install the IE Tab Firefox extension (or one of the other IE-in-Firefox extensions).
2. Install Google Chrome Frame for IE.
   
   
3. In the IE Tab preferences inside Firefox, set YouTube to always open inside an IE Tab (see image below).
   
4. Visit the YouTube HTML5 Video Player opt-in page (if you've set up IE Tab correctly above, it should open in an IE Tab inside Firefox) and click the Join the HTML5 Beta link at the bottom of the page.
   
5. Go watch an HTML5-supported YouTube video.

And... that's it. Ridiculous, but I've tried it, and it seems to work. (Though, unsurprisingly, it seemed buggy, and worked much better in straight Chrome than it did in either IE with Chrome Frame or Firefox with IE and Chrome Frame.) Unfortunately it doesn't help Mac users like Fighting with Flash much, but it's the best we could do.

More than anything, the convoluted process involved in watching an HTML5 YouTube video in Firefox only serves to underscore the problem. It's not something that'll likely be solved overnight (though I guess if Mozilla decides to cave into H.264, change could come pretty quickly), but it's a good reminder that important, web-changing technology almost always comes with a few speed bumps.

Love,
Lifehacker

Got a better method you're using, or want to weigh in on this whole H.264 vs. Ogg Theora battle? Let's hear it in the comments.

Think you've got what it takes to join Team Lifehacker? That's good, because we're on the hunt for a new writer to join the crew.

You could be a great fit if:

• You love and understand a lot about technology, and have a knack for tinkering with software and bending gear to your will. (Bonus points for command line/programming junkies in general.)
• You know how to slap together nouns, verbs, and the occasional em dash and enjoy a good href.
• You can deliver clean, crisp, and informed takes on everything from software and web sites to food and personal finance.
• You're creative, and you've got all kinds of ideas that would make for great Lifehacker features. (We particularly love a good how-to feature.)
• You're ambitious, looking to make a name for yourself, and are prepared to work hard.

I'm emphasizing the hard work aspect because Lifehacker is a job that does require some serious hours and dedication, and if you don't have the time or aren't interested in a job that requires a lot of hard work, it's probably not for you. But if you're a good fit, it's also an extremely rewarding job.

If you think you may be a good fit, send an email to tips at lifehacker.com with "Lifehacker Job Application" in the subject. Don't include any attachments. Do include your Lifehacker commenter ID if you have one, along with anything else you've written, Lifehacker-y ideas you have that you think would make you a good fit, or anything else you think might wow us.

The position we're looking to fill is part-to-full time and pays accordingly. We're expecting a lot of submissions, so we won't be able to respond to each email individually; rest assured that your interest is much appreciated.

Google dips its toe into TV programming searches, netbooks' market share is growing, Twitter and Facebook gear up for geolocation, and researchers make the case for fat as a sixth taste sense.

• The Rise of Netbooks
  Think netbooks are a dwindling fad? GigaOM's infographic designers look at the last three years and disagree. [GigaOM]
• Readability
  The very handy, text-focused reformatter we all know as a bookmarklet has arrived as a Firefox add-on, with a few unique features like auto-scrolling. [Firefox Add-Ons via gHacks]
• Google Testing TV Search Service On Android-Enhanced Set-Top Boxes
  Google employees with DirecTV are trying out a search app that scans TV programming and web video. It's powered in part by Android, and we're kind of hoping makes it to a wider market. [Business Insider]
• Just In Time For The Location Wars, Twitter Turns On Geolocation On Its Website
  Just in time for SXSW, Twitter opens up geolocation embedding from its main site. It had previously been available through its API. [TechCrunch]
• Facebook Will Allow Users to Share Location
  Upping the arms race, Facebook might launch its own geo-smart status updates at its f8 conference next month. [Bits Blog]
• Parallels Desktop update adds support for Chrome OS
  It's not clear whether the $80 Mac virtualization suite means Google's unreleased, official Chrome OS or the open-source Chromium OS builds floating around, but either way, Parallels is on it. [Yahoo! News]
• So Fat, You Can Taste It
  The presence of fat in food may be a kind of sense, or at least a distinct taste, and researchers suggest those with less fat on their bodies can taste more fat in foods. [Slashfood]

Mac only: Multiple monitors do great things for your desktop space, but your menu bar sticks to one screen. If you're looking for more menu access, free utility SecondBar puts one at the top of each monitor.

As veteran Mac users know, each application's menu fills in the menu bar at the top of the desktop, not the window of the app itself, as in a Windows desktop. When you have a lot of apps open in different spots, it becomes inconvenient to access an app's preferences or deeper features with a mouse. SecondBar adds a customizable menu bar to your second, third, or tenth monitor, letting you keep your focus on one screen at a time.

SecondBar has all the features of OS X's built-in menu bar, along with being drag-able and having the half-and-half resizing features of Windows 7's Aero Snap. The app is still in its super-early development stage, but it seems stable enough for regular use at the moment, and more features appear in the works.

SecondBar is a free download, Mac OS X only. Thanks, Douglas!