mod ssl and open ssl for https
Installing an ssl certificate on a local machine is pretty straightfoward. OpenSSL provides certificates for development. I found this tutorial the only one you need..
I also found a great way to make calls to Google Apps (like this)
using the Zend framework and these in particular.
and for those folks who have gotten accustomed to the drag and drop nature of some applications.. Magento is going to require a bit more, but it’s worth it compared to any other e-commerce application out there..