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The Hidden Side of Google 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, now 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. 2 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 search engine 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 Google offers 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. 3 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 4 Way #1 – Let Google ‘find stuff’ for you Is there any doubt that Google does search better than anyone else? I mean, 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 Google search 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! 5 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 web page links. 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 Firefox or Internet 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 emails, 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. 6 Find stuff with the Google Toolbar - 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 software 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. Google books 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. 7 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 symbol (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. 8 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 websites! Find the meaning of that word with Google Dictionary 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.

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