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The Hidden Side of You Never Knew

By Steve Holt

Published 2012 © Steve Holt Consulting Version: 2.06

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.

TRADEMARK NOTICE: Product or corporate names and logos contained within this book may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective entities, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

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Forward

Let’s face it. Technology can sometimes be a pain in the butt. I have been a ‘computer professional’ for many years, and I still face things all the time that just make me want to pull my hair out. And I look forward to those brief times in my life, like family vacations, where I leave the technology (for the most part) behind and let myself decompress.

But having said that, one of the reasons why I love what I do is that I get to experience many of the newest tools / toys / inventions in the world of technology. And with each passing year I find myself more and more uttering under my breath…. ‘now that’s just cool’.

Google has been my of late, and I started to discover a lot of those ‘now that’s just cool’ things about Google. So I started making a list when I began to discover all these things that I never knew about Google, and shazam, I knew I had to write a book about it. So I picked what I thought were the most useful tools that to the great unwashed, and I organized them into 9 categories. I know what you are thinking… how in the world did he discover all these things?? Do you really need to ask that? Where else? Google.

I should also mention that as soon as I click the final ‘save’ on this document, Google could at any minute roll out another wiz-bang, wow-that’s-cool something-or-other that won’t be on this list. The folks over at Google are quite busy and extremely creative, so there’s no telling what they’ll come up with next. And it is possible that something I’ve listed in this document has changed or been updated, so please forgive me if you find any errors. I certainly didn’t intentionally make any.

Finally, on certain pages you’ll see a “Did You Know?” box. Those are information items that will provide you tips and tricks to using that particular Google ‘thing’. So let’s not waste time… let’s get right to it! And if you think of anything that I’ve left out that is deserving of ‘coolness’, feel free to let me know. You can always reach me at [email protected]. Let’s go Google!

NOTE: All of these things that follow are copyrighted by Google. I have no ownership or claim on any of these things… heck, I don’t even own Google stock and they aren’t paying me a dime for any of this, unfortunately.

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Table of Contents

Way # 1 ...... Let Google ‘find stuff’ for you ...... Page 5

Way # 2 ...... Let Google ‘organize your stuff’ ...... Page 10

Way # 3 ...... Google helps you ‘travel smarter’ ...... Page 13

Way # 4 ...... Google helps you ‘shop smarter’ ...... Page 19

Way # 5 ...... Google helps you ‘work smarter’ ...... Page 22

Way # 6 ...... Let Google ‘entertain you’ ...... Page 26

Way #7 ...... Google helps you ‘express yourself’ ...... Page 29

Way #8 ...... Google helps you ‘stay informed’ ...... Page 31

Way #9 ...... Google helps you ‘communicate with others’ ...... Page 33

Conclusion ...... Page 39

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Way #1 – Let Google ‘find stuff’ for you

Is there any doubt that Google does search better than anyone else? I mean, tag">c’mon, when Yahoo was the big-dog in town, who do you think was actually the company that powered Yahoo’s search?? Yep, Google. That is, until Google got a little too ‘big for their britches’ (as my grandma would say) and then Yahoo decided to kick them to the curb and make their own search engine. And Google hasn’t looked back since.

So if you want to ‘find stuff’, who else would you turn to? This chapter lists numerous things that Google can find for you, some of which you already know, but some of which I willing to bet you had no idea that Google could find. So let’s look at the various things that you can find with Google, most of which can be found simply by typing in that little box we are all so very familiar with.

Basic search

Millions of people rely on to find stuff every day. For several years now, Google has controlled the lion’s share of the search engine market, and I don’t see any way that is going to change in the near future, if ever. I even have Google set as my browser homepage so that every time I start up a browser, I can search immediately if I want to.

Did You Know? Google has implemented what they call “Instant Search”. What this does is provide you search results instantaneously as you type in the search box. So by the time you get done typing your search term, you don’t have to hit your enter key to perform the search... the search results are already there!

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Image Search

Just click the “Images” link at the top of Google’s homepage before you search for what you want, and Google will show you a list of images in your search results instead of a bunch of . You can even use the options listed down the left side of the search results page to narrow your search to certain sizes, colors, type, etc.

Did You Know? Under some images you’ll see a link that says “find similar images”. Click that link and your image search will be narrowed to just images that are similar to that image you are interested in.

Find stuff with Google’s browser - www.google.com/chrome

You probably already use or Explorer, but you may not have realized that Google has a browser too… called Chrome. It does what you would expect a browser to do, but it does some pretty cool things that other browsers can’t do. For example, you can download extensions for Chrome that do cool things, like notify you of unread , track your e-bay auctions, or display news feeds…. All within the browser!

Did You Know? Chrome will recognize when a webpage isn’t in your own language and offer to translate the page for you.

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Find stuff with the - www.google.com/toolbar

Now, this one might actually be seen by some of you as a hassle, because sometimes when you buy a piece of or download something from the internet, these toolbars can be installed unintentionally. I for one happen to like it, because once you install it you can search for something right on the toolbar instead of having to go to Google’s homepage.

Find Books and magazines on any subject on earth - www.google.com/books

Almost 15 years in the making, and one of the most controversial projects every undertaken by Google. seeks to digitize all printed material ever written. Available in 35 languages, you can search for and read millions of books, including magazines. Facing legal obstacles galore, Google still plods on with this project to digitize all the written word. And with 10,000 publishers and authors from 100+ countries already on board, and dozens of the largest libraries participating, more books are added every day.

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Search for scholarly works - www.google.com/scholar

Google Scholar allows you to search for scholarly works on any academic topic. It even searches things like articles, abstracts, and even court opinions!

I even heard that if you use it, you’ll get smarter. It’s true.

Get stock prices

Yes, yet another way to get stock prices! As seen in the screenshot to the right, you can search for a stock ticker (or a company name) to get detailed info about them, including press releases and news stories.

Find the answer with Google Calculator

Don’t have a calculator handy? That’s ok, just type your mathematical formula in the search box and Google will perform the calculation for you.

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Find your local weather updates

Just type the word ‘weather’ followed by either the zip code or the city/st and Google will show you the upcoming outlook.

And of course, the search results below it allow you to quickly jump to your favorite weather !

Find the meaning of that word with Google

Don’t have a dictionary? That’s fine. In the search box simply type ‘define:” followed by the word you want defined, then Google will define it for you!

Text Google and find stuff If you want to find a phone number to something (or someone), simply send a text message to 46645 (wonder what that spells??) with your search item in the body of the text. Google will then text you the info you are looking for. For example, text ‘mexican #####’ (those # represent a 5-digit zip code) and you’ll receive a text about all the Mexican restaurants in that zip code. As you can imagine, that could be a lot of texts, so be careful what you ask for!!

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Way #2 – Let Google ‘organize your stuff’

Some people need more help than others when it comes to organizing their stuff. If I came over to your house or to your office, what would I see, besides the creeped-out look on your face because a total stranger showed up at your house?

What would your garage look like? What about your desk? Should I even try to take a peek at your closets? I thought so. I can only imagine what organizational disaster exists on your computer. Looks like God just sent you a gift with this chapter… so let’s go find out all the ways that Google helps you organize all your stuff!

Organize your bookmarks with - www.google.com/bookmarks

Have you ever been talking to someone and they ask you a question, which you know the answer to, but you can’t tell them because you book- marked it on your computer. And you aren’t in front of your computer. Well, if you used Google Bookmarks, then you all you would need to do is get in front of a computer on the internet and you’ have to all the bookmarks on your computer. So your bookmarks aren’t tied to your computer, they are available on the internet. You can save links to anything you want… websites, , PDFs… whatever. Internet bookmarks that are actually on the internet. Genius.

Did You Know? If you have the Google Toolbar, then you can use it to import all your Firefox bookmarks directly into Google Bookmarks, so you don’t have to recreate all those bookmarks you have worked so hard to collect!

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Keep track of your schedule with - www.google.com/calendar

You probably use a calendar of some kind, so an electronic calendar isn’t that big of a deal to you. But do you ever have a need to share information with others? Perhaps you do. And with Google Calendar you can share your calendar and even allow others to use your calendar as well. When working with a group of people, sharing a web calendar is a great way to keep up-to-date with what’s going on. With family members…. With co-workers… Google Calendar can help you stay in touch and on-track.

Did You Know? If you are already a Outlook or Apple iCal user, you can sync your calendars with a Google Calendar.

Organize your photos with - www.google.com/picasa Be honest. Do you have any idea how many pictures you have on your computer? Could you find them if you needed to? Yeah, but could you find that ONE picture you took 5 years ago of your son with that cute little monkey at the zoo? 11

I didn’t think so. Using the free Picasa program from Google, you can organize all your digital photos on your computer, and with just a few clicks upload them to web albums to share with friends and family. And with 1 GB of free online storage, that’s a lot of albums. Picasa can find all the photos on your hard drive, you can tag them with the names of people in them so you can to find pictures faster, and you can perform edits like adjusting lighting and fixing eye color.

Organize your own with Google Custom Search - www.google.com/cse

Yeah, it’s true, you have to actually have a website before you can use this one, but if you happen to have a website, wouldn’t it be cool to have a customized Google search on your site so you and visitors could find things they need? Using Google Custom Search you can provide a Google search on your website to allow your visitors to search just your website. Integration into your website is pretty easy, and you are providing the power of Google on your website.

Did You Know? If your website gets big enough, or you want more control over the search results page with no , then you need to switch over to “Google Site Search”, which costs anywhere from $750 - $2,000 per year.

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Way #3 – Google helps you ‘travel smarter’

Convert currency

If you travel internationally, then at some point you’ll need to know what the exchange rates are. Keeping in mind that currency rates change almost every minute, Google can tell you what currency is exchanging for simply by typing what you want to convert. In the example above, you simply type how many US Dollars (USD) you want to convert to Japanese Yen, and it tells you what the exchange rate is at that moment.

Find the time around the world

Traveling to London? Wanna know what time it is there? Don’t worry about trying to use math to figure it out… let Google tell you. In the search box simply type ‘time’ followed by the city and Google will tell you what time it is there. Then you can tell all your friends and family to do the same thing, so that your grandma doesn’t wake you up in the middle of the night!

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Track flight status

Want to know when your grandmother’s flight is going to arrive? Did they take off on time? When are they supposed to land? I just can’t remember. No worries mate. Ask Google. In the search box simply type the Airline name followed by the flight number. Google will give you a status update…. When they took off… when they will land… if they are on schedule.

Navigate the earth - www.google.com/earth

Years in development, provides you an interactive view of any place on earth. I use Google Earth to explore every place that I travel to before I even step foot on the plane. Take the map and tilt it on its axis to see it at an . Spin around 360 degrees to see the map from any angle. You can also enable special features to display on the map, such as hotels, ATMs, street names, restaurants, etc. And some locations can even provide you a 3-D view of what you are looking at, for example in the screenshot above, like downtown . From the bottom of the Grand 14

Canyon to the top of the highest mountain, Google Earth provides you unprecedented views of any place on earth… even under the surface of the ocean! Yeah, pretty cool.

Did You Know? While inside Google Earth, please CTRL – ALT – A on your keyboard to enter the ‘flight simulator mode’, which enables you to take off in a plane and fly around inside Google Earth. Need help? http://earth.google.com/intl/en/userguide/v4/flightsim/index.

Find your way with - www.google.com/maps

Finding your way has never been easier than with Google Maps. Using Maps you can pull up a map of just about anywhere on the , as well as get directions to wherever you want to go.

But there is more that you can do with Maps... a lot more. Check out the Did You know below.

Did You Know? Grab the little yellow-ish/orange-ish dude in the upper left corner and drop him on any street on the map. You’ll then be able to see ‘street view’, which is an actually 360-degree picture of that particular road/street. If you search for a business while on the Google Maps page, you’ll see a marker on the map for that business, which you can then click on to see details about that business like contact info, clips, reviews, etc. Which leads us to the next item….

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Find stuff when you travel, with Google Places - www.google.com/places

If you have ever seen one of those markers on Google maps that shows you the location of a business, then you know what Google Places is. You can use it to get information about businesses that show up on the Google Map. You’ll find customer reviews, contact information and addresses, and sometimes you’ll even see picture galleries and video clips. But it is also a free service that you can use to locate your business on Google Maps, making it easier for customers to find you. You can include contact info, video clips, links, pictures, customer reviews, etc. And it’s free, so go do it now. No, don’t get that bowl of ice cream, do it now.

Did You Know? Google Places is also used inside Google Earth to show business locations on the Google Earth maps. So if you sign up for Google Places to show your business information on Google Maps, you’ll also be added to Google Earth. Wouldn’t your momma be so proud??

Get there with - www.google.com/mobile/navigation

NOTE: it’s only available on Google Android . More on that later.)

If you have a Google Phone that has at least Android version 1.6 or greater, then you can get the Google Maps Navigation tool, which is Google Maps on steroids! Google Maps Navigation in a nutshell replaces

16 your GPS unit that you bought. I know, I know, it stinks that you just bought it. But having been a GPS unit owner for years, from multiple different brands, I can tell you that Google Maps Navigation is an excellent navigation tool that truly can replace your GPS unit, and you always have it with you. Built right into the Navigation tool is voice search, traffic updates, points of interest (gas stations, restaurants, shopping), and more.

Did You Know? Remember that really cool ‘street view’ thing I mentioned about Google Maps? Yeah, you can see that same street view here as well. Way cool! Also, while using Google Maps Navigation, if you happen to run up on a closed road or maybe a wreck, you can submit a report to Google right there inside the Navigation program so that others using Google Maps Navigation who may be on the road behind you will be notified about it on their Google Maps Navigation screen. People helping people. Just kinda makes you feel good all over, doesn’t it?

Let Google be your tour guide, with Goggles - www.google.com/mobile/goggles (NOTE: it’s only available on Google Android smartphones. More on that later.)

Every now and then something comes along that makes you shake your head and go ‘how did they do that?’ For me, is one of those things. So if you are traveling someplace and wanna know what this or that is, use Goggles. Just take a picture of something using your cellphone camera…. Like a building, a tree, a book, a product of some kind… and Google will not only tell you what it is, but will provide you a list of links on the web to get information about it…. on websites, reviews of it, places you can buy it, etc. I have no idea how they got this to work, but it really is ‘way cool’.

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Let Google find you a parking spot - http://bit.ly/xhnQIM (NOTE: it’s only available on Google Android smartphones. More on that later.)

I don’t know about you, but I hate trying to find a parking spot, especially in larger cities where I don’t know where I am or my surroundings. With Open Spot, created by those wonderful geeks at , and an Android cellphone, you can pull up a map that shows available parking spots around where you are at that minute. And don’t forget that when you leave your parking spot to go on your way, use Open Spot to let others know that your parking spot is now available. After all, you get ‘karma points’ for doing that…. And don’t we all need good karma??

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Way #4 – Google helps you ‘shop smarter’

Find what you want to buy with - www.google.com/shopping

Yeah, you could hop around from website to website trying to find what you want, but why? If you aren’t real sure where to start looking for what you want to buy, use Google Shopping. Search for what you want and it shows you a list of where you can buy it on the internet. Comparison shopping at it’s best!

Did You know? You can click the “advanced product search” link to narrow your search, for example, by price.

Pay for things with - www.google.com/checkout

Who doesn’t like to shop online? I know I love to shop online, especially around the holidays when a lot of online retailers will wrap it and send it right to them! But what I don’t like about shopping online is having to enter all my checkout information every… single… time. Wouldn’t it be cool if Google would keep track of your checkout information (addresses, credit cards,

19 etc) and then you wouldn’t have to enter all that stuff every time? Wow, you like read my mind.

By using Google Checking you can enter your information and then use Google Checkout to pay for things on websites. That way, you don’t have to constantly enter all your billing and purchase information. The only catch is that the online merchant must allow Google Checkout as an option, and some do not. But more and more merchants are being added every day, and it’s free for you, so why not sign up today?

Did You Know? Some online merchants will give you discounts for using Google Checkout. It’s free to sign up, so do it today.

Google Shopper - www.google.com/mobile/shopper (NOTE: it’s only available on Google Android smartphones. More on that later.)

How many times have you been standing in the store looking at something to buy and you wondered if perhaps you would get a better deal somewhere else? With Google Shopper on your Android phone, all you have to do is snap a picture using your cellphone camera of the bar code on the box and it will tell you where you can find that exact product at other stores and how much they are charging for it. And best of all, Google Shopper knows where you are, so it shows you this information based on where you are at that moment. And the icing on the cake is that it also shows you product reviews so you’ll know if you are getting a reliable product.

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Google Wallet – www.google.com/wallet

Using your cellphone, Google Wallet allows you to pay for things at places that accept Google Wallet as a form a payment. At the writing of this e-Book, only the from Sprint has this ability, but over time all cellphones will have this feature and you won’t have to carry forms of payment anymore. You’ll simply need your cellphone? You’ll be able to pay for gas, dinner, clothes, and just about anything that you now pay for with a credit card. Heck, there are already 4 places here in my little hometown that accept it, so it’s only a matter of time folks!

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Way #5 – Google helps you ‘work smarter’

Google tracks your website for you, with Analytics - www.google.com/analytics

Google Analytics is the best way to keep track of the website hits for your website. It’s not only free, but you can also find out lots of cool information like…. where visitors are coming from, how long they stayed, how many pages did they look at, did they come from a search engine and what they typed to find you, and much, much more. If you own a business, then you already know how important it is that your website ‘work’ for you, instead of against you. Analytics can help you.

Did You Know? If you want to learn more about what can do, look no further than Youtube. Search on Youtube for how-to Google Analytics videos.

Make money with AdSense - www.google.com/adsense

You’ve seen them. Google ads on websites. What you may not know is that you can make money using Google AdSense. By allowing AdSense ads to be placed on your website, you make a little money every time that a website visitor clicks on one of those ads. You can also customize the ads somewhat, so that the colors and fonts match your existing website.

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Did You Know? You don’t control what ads show up in the AdSense ad area. Google controls that. So it is possible that you won’t like the ads that show up, even though Google tries to place ads there that are relevant to what your website is all about.

Advertise with AdWords - www.google.com/adwords

If you want to drive more traffic to your website, then you can sign up for AdWords and have your website ad appear on other websites. Then when someone clicks your ad, you pay Google a little money. The only trick is that in order to make money, you have to convert that website visitor to a customer! But the exposure you get with AdWords will increase the number of people coming to your website.

Small Business gets a ‘boost’ - http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/10/advertise-your-local-business- with.html

Google Boost is a simplified version of Adwords that provides small businesses with the ability to quickly create ads from their Google Places account (we talked about that earlier, remember?). Boost ads are easier to create and manage 23 than ads that are created with the Google Adwords product, so small businesses can save time and effort by using Google Boost. Boost ads are eligible to appear in the ‘sponsored links’ section of Google.com and Google Maps search results (see the image on the previous page) pages, and they make it easier for potential customers to find you! So give your small business a ‘boost’ today! (NOTE: Google Boost is currently in BETA only in , , and .)

Collaborate with others to create documents - www.google.com/docs

If you have used computers long enough then you have experienced what I call the great ‘document dance’. That’s where you are working on creating something with other people and you end up emailing versions of that document back and forth to everyone else until you end up with a final document. Sometimes it gets so frustrating that you end up just calling a meeting to settle the whole thing. With you can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations on a website so that everyone simply goes to that website to edit the document together. No more emails back and forth.

Did You Know? You can protect your document so that only specified people can edit it. You can also import existing documents from Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Finally, a version history of each document is maintained so that you can see exactly who made what changes, and you can ‘step back in time’ and revert to any version of the document that was created since its inception.

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Google makes your phone and computer talk to each other – (NOTE: it’s only available on Google Android 2.2 smartphones. More on that later.) http://code.google.com/p/chrometophone & http://www.2cloudproject.com/ Have you ever looked up something on your computer and then wanted to also view the same thing on your phone? Let me give you an example. Let’s say you are getting ready to go visit someone and you look up the directions on Google map on your computer. Since you are getting ready to walk out the door, it would be great if you could have Google Maps Navigation open up on your phone with directions on where you are going. With Chrome to Phone, you simply press 1 button in your Chrome browser and a message is sent to your Android 2.2 phone and Google Maps Navigation automatically opens up with directions to where you are going.

Now how about this…have you ever looked at something on your phone on the internet and it just wasn’t the best experience? And so, what do you do? If you are like me, you copy the URL and it to yourself so you can look at it once you get back to your computer, right? You don’t have to do that anymore with Android2cloud. Simply choose the ‘share’ option on your Android 2.2 phone. Then your phone will send a message to your computer and the browser on your computer will open up the URL that you just sent. So when you get back to your computer, the page will be up and ready to go when you sit down.

Talk about working smarter!

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Way #6 – Let Google ‘entertain you’

So we just got done talking about work. And we all know what happens when you get over-worked, right? You end up acting crazy and saying stuff like Uncle Larry does at your family reunions, where everybody just shakes their head and rolls their eyes. So you gotta find some time to cut loose and relax. And Google has you covered.

Pay a visit to the moon with Google Moon - www.google.com/moon

Google teamed up with the NASA Research Center to provide lunar maps and elevations of all the Apollo moon missions. You’ll be able to tour the lunar landing sites, see 360-degree photo panoramas, and watch rare footage of the lunar landings and TV coverage back in the day.

Listen to podcasts & radio with Google Listen - http://listen.googlelabs.com (NOTE: it’s only available on Google Android smartphones. More on that later.)

If you have a Google Phone, you can use the Google Listen product to subscribe to, download, and listen to thousands of free audio sources on the internet, such as podcasts and radio shows.

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Watch videos - www.google.com/video & www.youtube.com

If you haven’t heard of Youtube, well then, you’ve probably been living under a rock in a cave over in Afghanistan. But I betcha didn’t know that Youtube is actually owned by Google. Well, now you know. I also betcha didn’t know that is a great place to go to look for videos from all over the internet, not just Youtube. Google Video will search Hulu, news websites, Youtube, , and hundreds of other video websites. I know you were thinking at dinner about that video of the dog riding the skateboard they were talking about at work. Well, go find it my man!!

Google Sky Map (NOTE: it’s only available on Google Android smartphones. More on that later.)

As we have seen, Google has mapped out the entire planet with Google Earth (including under the oceans), mapped out the surface of the moon with Google Moon, so why stop there? Now with Google Sky Map on your Android phone you can simple hold your phone up to the night sky and the entire universe unfolds before your eyes. Gee, I wonder what the really bright star is? No problem, with Google Sky Map you’ll be able to discover that it’s Mars. Yeah, that’s right. You’ll be able to see the other planets. Talk about amazing.

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Google Easter Eggs

Well, as it turns out, the folks over at Google are funny guys and gals. And maybe they are that way because when you become so darn smart, it makes you a little loopy. Whatever the case may be, when they have some downtime on their hands they get a little creative and make little things that we geeks like to call ‘Easter eggs’. Those are little things that they create but don’t tell you about. They hide them… like Easter eggs…. get it? And they hope you find them to get the goodies. They don’t accomplish much or provide much of anything in the way of services or benefit. But hopefully, they bring a smile to your face and brighten your day.

So I present to you my personal favorite Google Easter Eggs… drum roll please…

Chuck Norris.

Who doesn’t love Chuck Norris? You’re probably thinking right now about your favorite “Walker Texas Ranger” episode, aren’t you? And if you are like me, you’re wondering… why didn’t Walker and MacGyver ever meet?? That would have been a cool show. But I digress.

Simply type “find Chuck Norris” into the search box and click on the first result in the Google Instant Search results to get your delicious ! You didn’t actually think I was going to tell you, did you? Go do it now, and see how fast it takes you to forward that to your brother-in-law.

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Way #7 – Google helps you ‘express yourself’

Everyone has that inner child, right? Just waiting to burst out with all the energy and creativity that only a child can possess. So don’t hold back anymore…. Let Google help you release that child. Here’s how.

Let Google document Your Life with - www.google.com/blogger

Let’s face it… what do you like talking about more than yourself? And doesn’t everyone have a book inside them just waiting to get out? You have things to say, so why not start a blog? It’s free, and who knows… you might just end up with a bunch of fans!

Create a website - www.google.com/sites

Get a free website with . With the free version, you can select one of their templates to quickly get started. Then you can grab hold of all your creative juices and just go to town.

Your website will be something like http://yoursite.google.com

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Customize your browser with iGoogle - www.google.com/igoogle

Use iGoogle to customize your browser homepage so that it shows your local weather, your favorite news feed, your inbox, and more. You get to decide what shows up on your iGoogle page, and there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of ways to customize it to show exactly what you want to see.

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Way #8 – Google helps you ‘stay informed’

The Google things in this chapter are some of my favorite things. I use these things daily, and honestly, I don’t think I could do without them. I use them in my personal life, as well as for work. These things truly can make your life better, because they can save you so much time.

Google News isn’t your average news site - www.google.com/news

Sure, there are a lot of news web sites that you could hit for news, but each one of them has their own political slant, and who knows if they’ll be covering the story you’re looking for, right? provides stories on all the various news topics you would expect, and they provide stories from all the leading news organizations around the world and the country, and news organizations from major cities around the US as well.

Let a watch out with - www.google.com/alerts

Using Google Alerts, Google will notify you when a certain word or topic pops up on the web. For example, you can list your company name as a Google Alert and every time your company name is mentioned in a news

31 story, a video clip, a blog post… whatever… you’ll get an email about it. List your name and make sure you are notified whenever your name pops up on the internet. You can decide how often you want Google to alert you… once a day, once a week, or immediately as it happens.

Let find it for you, while you sleep - www.google.com/reader

Google Reader is the ‘ying’ to Google Alerts ‘yang’. Using Google Reader, you tell it what topics you are interested in… the news, the sports, the companies, the products, the people, the podcasts, the blogs… you get the picture… then Google Reader finds the latest news for each of the things that you are interested in and it provides all the news headlines on one page so you can easily scan down the page to see the headlines. Then, if you want to read one of the stories you simply click the headline and go read it. No more hopping around from web site to web site trying to find news on the things you want to read. Let Google search for the news for you!

Have I mentioned that Google does a really good job finding things???

Did You Know? Google Reader allows you to ‘follow’ other people who use Google Reader so you can see what they like to read, which is a great way to find new sources of information.

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Way #9 – Google helps you ‘communicate with others’

This chapter is my favorite, which is why I save it for last. I think that the most cutting edge things that Google is doing are being done in the area of communications. For better or worse, staying in constant contact with others has become a high priority for just about everyone nowadays. And having access to the information you need, when you need it, where you need it, is becoming a way of life. So here are my favorite ways that Google helps us communicate.

Email accounts - www.gmail.com

Google may have been a little late to the party (compared to guys like Yahoo and Hotmail) when it comes to webmail, but hey, they have since made up for it. Gmail’s philosophy is pretty simple… they want to provide you with enough storage space that you’ll never have to delete anything… ever. In fact, they would prefer that you don’t, but that’s another book on another topic for another day.

They keep adding so many features to Gmail that it would drive me crazy trying to keep up with them in this document. So I’ll just say… go get an account. They won’t charge you anything for any of the services you get with it, unlike some of their competitors.

Did You Know? Gmail started out as a personal side project of a Google engineer? In fact, that’s how a lot of these things got started… By someone’s bright idea!

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Chat with others - www.google.com/talk

If you have ever used a chat program like AOL Instant Messenger, or Yahoo Messenger, then you probably already know how to use . But what is interesting about Talk is that it seamlessly incorporates with other Google products, like Gmail and iGoogle.

Google + - www.google.com/+

In response to the explosion in social media use in world, Google launched their own social network in 2011 called Google+ (also called Google Plus). If you are a regular user of Facebook you’ll recognize a lot of the features in Google+. But then again, if you are a regular Twitter user you’ll also have no problem getting busy in Google+. In many respects, Google+ is a merging of these 2 popular platforms and at the beginning of 2012 it was experiencing phenomenal growth. In fact, activity in Google+ is now included in Google search results, which means that if you want more Google Search Engine Optimization for you or your business, then you better open up a free account in Google+ and get busy. Like now.

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Create Communities - www.google.com/groups

Google groups is a great way to connect with other people who are interested in the same things that you are. With a Google Group, you can create a custom page for your group, everyone can edit pages together to really collaborate on things, and you can even share with each other.

Translate languages - www.google.com/translate

I guess this one could have gone in the chapter about traveling smarter, but it allows you to communicate with others who don’t even speak the same language as you, so I put it here. College students all over the world have relied on to get them through Spanish. While the translation isn’t perfect, you can use Google Translate to paste any foreign language text and it will translate it for you. You can also paste the URL of a website (like I did with www.harvard.edu see below) and it will show you that website in the language of your choice, in this case, German. I have used this before to reply to a discussion board post of a person who was speaking in Romanian. We were able to communicate back and forth using Google Translate. And that’s just darn cool.

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Android (Google) Mobile Phones - www.google.com/phone

Just about everyone, and I mean everyone, has a cellphone these days. I actually remember the day when we didn’t have cellphones, and when we did get our first one, it was in a bag. Google created software for cell phones called “Android”, and those phones are affectionately called “Google phones”, and just about every carrier in the US now has at least one. Other companies make the hardware and Google makes the software that goes on it. Google has been so successful with Android, that as of this writing, Android phone sales are the fastest growing phones in the cellphone market, and that includes Apple’s iPhone. And they have used the Android cellphone to create and implement some of the coolest products that they have ever come up with. I even bought one myself, and I must say, it is ‘incredible’!

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Keep track of your friends and family - www.google.com/latitude

Using on your you can see where your friends and family are… right now. It works with any mobile phone that has a GPS chip and can use the mobile version of Google Maps. You’ll see a map on your phone’s screen that shows you a little picture of where they are standing right this minute. And if they start moving, you’ll see their picture start to move on the map so you can always know where they are. Each person who is your friend in Latitude has to voluntarily sign up before you can start tracking them. And you always have the option to hide your location if you don’t want people to find out where you are.

Did You Know? If you use the iGoogle homepage, then you can add a Latitude ‘gadget’ to your iGoogle page to use, even if you don’t have a cellphone.

Always stay in touch with - www.google.com/voice

A free Google Voice number (mine is 313-444- HOLT by the way) will enable you to do some pretty cool things. First of all, you can set up all your phone numbers… home, cell, work, etc…. so that when someone calls your GV number all those numbers will ring. That 37 way, you’ll never miss a call. You can also let GV be your voicemail and every time someone leaves a voicemail for you, GV will translate that voicemail and send you a text message or an email with the transcript. So you’ll never have to actually call another voicemail system ever again. That is worth celebrating right there!

Did You Know? During the signup process you will be able to choose which Google Voice number you want. You can even pick a number that spells out something, like in my number which spells “Holt” in my last 4 digits.

“Near Me Now” http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/01/finding-places-near-me-now-is- easier.html

(NOTE: it’s only available on Google Android smartphones.) If I had to pick the one greatest thing that Google has implemented, it would be tough. But I believe that “Near Me Now” might just be it. You know how to search, and perhaps you have even done a Google search on your mobile phone. But if you have a Google Phone then you can use “Near Me Now” to find things around you.

For example, if I am in and I search for “pizza”, I don’t want to see a list of links that point me to Domino’s Pizza and Pizza Hut’s websites. Obviously, if I am in Denver then I want to eat pizza right now, right? So by clicking “Near Me Now” on the search screen of my phone (pictured above) I’ll see a list of pizza places that are…. wait for it…. ‘near me now’.

This is the power of mobile computing, and this is the power of Google search. Providing you the information you need at the right time, but also in the right place.

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In conclusion….

One of the reasons I am so passionate about technology is because I am constantly discovering new things that can make my life easier, allow me to be more productive, and allow me to connect with people in ways I never could before. For me, it isn’t about just having the latest and greatest toy. It is about what technology can do for me, and how my life can be ‘better’ than it was before. What we are seeing with these technology advances is a future that we have never experienced before. We are advancing into a future of communication and information that until now has been only dreamed of.

If you think about some of the things that I mentioned in this book, you can see how things are going to be very, very different in the near future. Kids today will have the knowledge and advantages that we never had, and the future that they live in will be vastly different from even the world in which we live today.

We will use technology like Google Documents and Google Translate to work with others regardless of place, and even regardless of language barriers. We will be able to use Google Books to find anything that has ever been written, ever. We will use technology like Google Alerts and Google Reader to let computers to do the mundane work for us and just provide us only the information we want, when we need it. We will use technology like Google Earth and Google Moon to go places and experience things that we never have before. And we will use technology like Google Latitude, Google+, Maps Navigation, and ‘Near Me Now’ to connect to others and explore the world around us in richer and deeper ways than we ever thought possible.

It is a good time to be alive my friends. And I have a feeling that I am going to updating this book over and over and over again.

Happy Googling my friends.

Steve Holt www.steveholt.com

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