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Google acks First Edition

Philipp Lenssen

O'REILLT BEIJING • CAMBRIDGE • FARNHAM • KÖLN • PARIS • SEBASTOPOL • TAIPEI • TOKYO :;:;; »p;;;» mmm ;*. ^ P;i?|p:*: JK*S,.

FOREWORD xi

PREFACE xiii 's Apps—a Google Office, or a Google OS? xiii How to Use This Book xiv HowThis Book Is Organized xiv Conventions Used in This Book xvi Acknowledgments xvi We'd Like to Hear from You xvii

CHAPTER Ol: MEETTHE FAMILY 2 HACK oi: How to Get Your 2 HACK 02: Collaborate with OthersThrough Google Docs 5 HACK 03: Make a Desktop Icon to Create a New Document 9 HACK 04: Embed a Dynamic Chart into a Google Document or a Web Page 12 HACK 05: Share Documents with a Group 16 HACK 06: Automatically Open Local with Google 17 HACK 07: Google Docs on the Run 19 HACK 08: Back Up All Your Google Docs Files 21 HACK 09: Beyond Google: Create Documents with Zoho, EditGrid, and more 23

CHAPTER 2: THE GOOGLE DOCS FAMILY: GOOGLE DOCUMENTS 28 HACK 10: Let Others Subscribe to Your Document Changes 28 HACK U: Blog with Google Docs 31 HACKI2: Insert Special Characters Into Your Documents 34 HACK 13: Search and ReplaceText Using Regulär Expressions 35 HACK 14: "Google Docs Light" for Web Research: 39 HACKI5: Convert a Word File Intoa PDF with Google Docs 42 HACK 16: Write a JavaScript Bookmarklet to Transmogrify Your Documents 44 HACK 17: Remove Formatting Before PastingText Into a Document 47 HACK 18: Prettify Your Document with Inline Styles 47

v CHAPTER 3: THE GOOGLE DOCS FAMILY: GOOGLE SPREADSHEETS 52 HACK 19: Add Live Data to Your Spreadsheet 52 HACK20: Picka Winnerat Random 57 HACK 21: Embed Your Spreadsheet in a Web Page 59 HACK22: Use Google Spreadsheets as a Content Management System 62 HACK23: Show ElapsedTime as Days and Hours 65 HACK 24: Show the Weekday or Month of a Date 68 HACK 25: Show the Difference Between Two Dates 69 HACK 26: Automaticaily Complete Lists of Related Items 70 HACK27: Import Data from Web Sites 72 HACK 28: Format Cells According to Their Values 77 HACK 29: Convert Currencies Within Your Spreadsheet 79

CHAPTER 4: THE GOOGLE DOCS FAMILY: GOOGLE PRESENTATIONS 82 HACK 30: Add a Custom Presentation Theme 82 HACK31: Find Images for Your Presentation 85 HACK 32: Shrink Your Presentation for Easy Sharing 86 HACK 33: Use PowerPoint Templates 89 HACK 34: View Your Presentation on a Mobile Phone 90 HACK 35: Make Your Presentations Easy to Read 91 HACK 36: Embed a Presentation in Your Web Page 92 HACK37: Drag and Drop Images from Other Web Sites 93 HACK 38: Save Your Presentations as Video 94

CHAPTER 5: BECOME A POWER USER 98 HACK39: Send Mail to Several People at Once 99 HACK40: Import Contacts from Other Email Programs 101 HACK4i: AdjustYourGmail Layout 103 HACK42: Change the Appearance and Behavior of Gmail 106 HACK 43: Read Gmail on Your Mobile Phone 110 HACK44: Organize asTheyArrive 111 HACK 45: Gmail Drive, Your Online Hard Drive 114 HACK 46: Know Your Gmail Keyboard Shortcuts 117 HACK 47: Make Gmail Better 118 HACK48: Back Up Your Email 119 HACK 49: Attach a Google Docs Document to Your Email 123 HACK 50: View Unread Messages 125 HACK5i: Insert Pseudographical Email Signatures 126 HACK 52: Forward Messages to Your Cellphone 129

vi HACK53: Create Spare Gmail Addresses 130 HACK 54: Search for a Specific Language 132 HACK55: Linkto Conversations, Searches, Labels, and More 133 HACK56: Beyond Google: Yahoo! Mail, MS Hotmail, and More 135

CHAPTER 6: CUSTOMIZE YOUR GOOGLE HOME PAGE 138 HACK 57: Add Google Tools to iGoogle 140 HACK 58: Chat from iGoogle 141 HACK 59: Create Your Own iGoogle Gadgets Quickly 144 HACK 60: Program Your Own iGoogle Gadget 146 HACK 6i: Create an iGoogle Theme 150 HACK 62: Add to iGoogle 153 HACK 63: Embed Content from Any Web Site in a Gadget 155 HACK 64: Add Any Flash Game as a Gadget 158 HACK 65: Beyond Google: Netvibes, , and More 160

CHAPTER 7: MANAGE YOUR EVENTS WITH 164 HACK 66: Access Your Calendar f rom a Mobile Phone 165 HACK67: Subscribe to Public Calendars 167 HACK68: Create a To-Do List in Google Calendar 169 HACK 69: Share Calendars 171 HACK 70: Put a Calendar XML Widget in Your Blog 175 HACK 7i: Embed All Kinds of Content in Calendar Events 179 HACK 72: Style Your Calendar 181 HACK 73: Quickly Add Events from Anywhere 183 HACK 74: Know the Weather 184 HACK75: Beyond Google: Yahoo! Calendar and Others 185

CHAPTER 8: KEEP UP ON NEWS WITH .. .188 HACK76: Use Google Reader Offline 190 HACK 77: Subscribe to Google's Feeds 191 HACK 78: Take Your Old Subscriptions with You 194 HACK 79: Get Alerts for New Blog Posts 195 HACK 80: Share a Post with a Single Shortcut 197 HACK 81: Use Google Reader's Mobile Version 198 HACK 82: Track What Wikipedia Says About You 199 HACK 83: Track Your Package 200 HACK 84: Compare Two Posts to See the Changes 202 HACK85: Beyond Google: Bloglines, Kinja, and Other Feed Readers 204

VII CHAPTER 9: MANAGE YOUR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS WITH AND YOUTUBE 210 HACK 86: Turn a Picasa Photo Feed Into a Screensaver 213 HACK87: Link to a Specific Position Within a 216 HACK88: Watch Videos on Your Cellphone 216 HACK89: Optimize Streaming When Embedding Multiple YouTube Videos 217 HACK 90: Add Subtitles to a Google Video 219 HACK 9i: Download a YouTube or Google Video Film for Offline Consumption 221 HACK 92: Geotag Your Photos and Share Therm on 225 HACK 93: Resize and Customize Embedded Videos 227 HACK94: Disguise Your Picasa Identity 229 HACK 95: Display Music Video Lyrics 230 HACK96: Beyond Google: From Flickrto Vimeo and Blip.tv 231

CHAPTER 10: CREATE YOUR OWN HOME PAGE, BLOG, OR GROUP 236 HACK 97: Add a Gadget to Your Google Page (or Blog) 240 HACK 98: Battle Spam in Your Blog 243 HACK 99: Add a Search Engine to Your Home Page 246 HACK IOO: Get a Taste of 's Experimental Features 248 HACK ioi: Keepa Discussion Threadatthe Top ofthe Group 249 HACK 102: BlogTransparently 251 HACK 103: Hide the Blogspot Navigation Bar 254 HACK 104: Monitor aThread for New Posts 255 HACK 105: Hide the Ads in Your Google Group 257 HACK 106: Track Who Links to Your Blog Posts 259 HACK 107: Quickly Share YouTube Videos on Your Blog 260 HACK 108: Generate Text Images 263 HACK 109: Blog via Email 265 HACK HO: Outsource Your Knowledge Base Hosting 266 HACK in: Test Your Web Site in Other Browsers 267 HACK 112: Get a (Google) Site 268 HACK U3: Turn Your Blog Into a Book 273 HACK 114: Beyond Google: From WordPress and FriendFeed to Yahoo's GeoCities 275

CHAPTER 11: DIVE INTO GOOGLE MAPS, , AND SKETCHUP 3D 280 HACK 115: Drop a Google Map Onto Your Site 282 HACK 116: Add a Gadget to Google Maps 286 HACK 117: CreateYourOwn Google Maps Layer 290 HACK 118: Enable Advanced SketchUp Tools 293 HACK 119: Load Plug-ins Into SketchUp 294 HACK 120: View the Moon and More on Google Maps 295 HACK 121: Create Google Maps Overlays On the Fly 297 HACK 122: Add a Sky to Google Earth 300 viii HACK 123: Add Your Business to Google Maps 302 HACK 124: MakeYour3D Model More Sketch-Like 303 HACK 125: Avoid the Clash of Context Menüs 304 HACK 126: Plot Google Calendar Events on a Google Map 305 HACK 127: Turn Google Earth Into a Flight Simulator 309 HACK 128: Beyond Google: The Yahoo! Maps Web Service, Live Maps, and More 310

CHAPTER 12: AND BEYOND: MARKET YOUR SITE, TRACK VISITORS 314 HACK 129: Customize Your Google Analytics Dashboard 316 HACK 130: Optimize Your Site for Search Engines 317 HACK 131: Track the Traftic of Your iGoogle Gadgets 319 HACK 132: Create a Keyword to Skip the Analytics Login Box 321 HACK 133: Export Your Analytics Trafficto Google Spreadsheets 322 HACK 134: Promote Your Site Using Google Gadgets 324 HACK 135: Roll Your Own Analytics API for a "Most Populär Posts" Widget 326 HACK 136: Conduct a User Survey 330 HACK137: Visualize Traffic with DlYVector Graphics 332 HACK 138: Talk to Your Visitors 336 HACK 139: A Different Display for Google Analytics 337 HACK 140: Follow the Online Discussion 339 HACK 141: Beyond Google: Clicky, Mint, and Others 341

CREDITS 347 INDEX 349

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