The outage of Google's Gmail last month and on September 1 should be wake-up calls to business people who depend on the service. Many were unable to access their accounts for up to two to three hours.

The September 1 shutdown, due to a glitch when the service underwent maintenance, lasted for 100 minutes. People were counting. For ordinary users such an outage might not mean much. For business people who need to keep track minute by minute, the outage sparked outrage.

I use Gmail a lot. All of my work e-mails are routed there, just in case I need to answer someone at home, or just in case I need to check an old message or file from a client when I am on the road or teleworking from home. It also saves me from having to log into my work server whenever there is a problem.

For those worried about the frequency of the outages Google already has the answer, even though it might not be ideal. Off-line Gmail is experimental software available from Gmail Labs that allows you to work with your Gmail account even if you are not connected to the Internet or Gmail is out of action. Of course, you will not be able to send or receive e-mails. But you will be working with the version of your e-mail account you had since the last update.

You can read e-mails, answer them or write new ones. Everything will update and the e-mails will be sent the next time you access you Gmail account. Offline Gmail works by synchronising a cache with Gmail's servers. When you lose the connection, Gmail automatically switches to offline mode, and uses the data stored on your computer's hard drive.

"Our goal is to provide nearly the same browser-based Gmail experience whether you're using the data cached on your computer or talking directly to the server," Google states.

To get the service first sign into your Gmail account and click on the Gmail Labs icon, that green thingy at the top, to find the software. Enable the service and it will begin caching your Gmail account to the computer you work from.

While you are at it, scroll down to see some of the other features you can enable for your account. Some are downright bizarre, such as Gmail Addict, and others, such as Forgotten Attachment Detector and Mouse Gestures, can be useful.

You might also want to take a visit to Google Labs (www.googlelabs.com) to see what the internet behemoth is up to these days. Some of those released this year include Android Scripting Environment and Google Listen. Android is a Google application for accessing the internet from a cell phone or device. Android Scripting is for developers who want to add various features, such as making phone calls via the internet from a cell phone, to Android. Google Listen is an Android application that allows users to create a personalised audio news magazine when it is turned on. In July Google released the Checkout Store Gadget. This allows you to set up a store on Google Sites or Blogger or on your own website using Google Docs spreadsheet. This is for those who do not have the resources or the technical knowledge to do it themselves.

I have tried out Similar Images, which allows you to search for images on the internet using pictures rather than words. The search feature finds images that are visually similar to an existing result. This is very useful if you have an image you want in mind but cannot remember the exact image.

City Tours is useful to any business traveller or those who want to create specialised itineraries for guests. It has a limited number of cities, but still the start of a good idea.

Google Squared, Places Directory, Sky Map for Android, and the Google News Timeline all demonstrate that the ideas factory that Google has created is churning out the good, the bad and the ugly almost monthly. Some will live, some will die, but there are lots of ideas for entrepreneurs to begin thinking about how they someday might conquer the internet.

Send any comments to Ahmed at elamin.ahmed@gmail.com.