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Exploring Google. If you're on the Web and you don't know about Google, then you need to know about Google, the best search engine. This page has some information about Google but my intention is to make it a more relaxed exploration.

• Miscellany
• Links

Miscellany

Various Google "philosophies":

• "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
• "You can make money without doing evil". Also "We aint evil".
• "You can be serious without a suit"
• "Work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun"
• Google engineers should spend 20% of their work time on projects that interest them.
• Started as a research project in 1996-01 by Larry E. Page and Sergey Brin, two Ph.D. students at Stanford.

Google Search Tips

• link:URL. Lists webpages that have links to the specified webpage. EG: link:www.georgehernandez.com.
• define: terms to define. EG: define: juxtaposition.
• stocks: Space separated stock ticker symbols. Will list several pages that have stock info about those symbols. As of 2005-04, these pages are on Yahoo, Fool.com, MSN, and ClearStation. EG: stocks: GOOG MSFT.
• +common word. 'If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a "+" sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign.)'. EG: Star Wars Episode +I.
• ~search term. 'If you want to search not only for your search term but also for its synonyms, place the tilde sign ("~") immediately in front of your search term.'. EG: ~food ~facts.
• this OR that. 'To find pages that include either of two search terms, add an uppercase OR between the terms'. EG: vacation london OR paris.
• keywords site:URL. Search within a specified site. EG: freedom site:www.georgehernandez.com.
• Google makes a great calculator including conversions.
• Google is usually not case sensitive.
• +mustHave. EG: +dog +cat.
• +mustNotHave. EG: +dog -cat.
• "has this exact phrase". EG: "I am not a crook".
• Search just titles, documents, or both.
  • google search. Searches docs.
  • intitle:google search. Searches titles and docs.
  • allintitle: google search. Searches titles.
• Search just urls, documents, or both. Ignores punctuation.
  • google search. Searches docs.
  • inurl:google search. Searches titles and docs.
  • allinurl: google search. Searches titles.
• Google does not allow nested searches, except when used as a calculator.

Links

Links that lead to off-site pages about Google.

Links by Google

Oddly enough they're don't categorize their Services v Tools (download required) well. I assume that they do this on purpose.

• Google [Google.com]. The standard search interface.
  • GH.com related
    • link:www.georgehernandez.com. Links to me.
    • related:www.georgehernandez.com. Related to me.
  • Miscellany
    • Advanced Operators [google.com/help/operators.html]
    • Advanced Search [Google.com/Advanced_Search].
    • CheatSheet [Google.com/Help/CheatSheet.html]. Excellent!!
    • I love calculating from the Google search bar: math, unit conversions, currency conversions. EG: "1 USD in PHP" for a U.S. dollar in Philippine pesos. Some other currencies I frequent: EUR (euro), CAD (Canada dollar), GBP (U.K. pound), AUD (Australia dollar), JPY (Japan Yen), MXN (Mexico peso).
• Services. Requires no download from Google.
  • Froogle [Froogle.Google.com]. Shopping. As of 2005, this was less useful than searching through regular Google.
  • GMail [GMail.com]. Awesome free multi-GB email.
    • The Official Gmail Blog [http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/]. "News, tips and tricks from Google's Gmail team and friends". Stuff like "5 little-known Gmail features you may not yet know about".
    • Some GMail shortcuts:
      • Navigating
        • K. Move to newer conversation/thread. (On the keyboard, K is on the right of J, thus forward in time).
        • J. Move to older conversation/thread. (On the keyboard, J is on the left of K, thus backwards in time).
        • N. Next message/post. (Later in time and down the conversation/thread.)
        • P. Previous message/post. (Earlier in time and up the conversation/thread.)
        • [. Archive and move to the previous one.
        • ]. Archive and move to the next one.
        • ENTER or O. Opens/closes the message/post.
        • U. Return to message list.
      • Composing
        • C. Compose. SHIFT+C in new window.
        • R. Reply to sender. SHIFT+R in new window.
        • A. Reply to all. SHIFT+A in new window.
        • F. Forward. SHIFT+F in new window.
      • Miscellany
        • /. Search.
        • Y. if(Inbox) archive(); if(Starred) unstar(); if(Label) removeLabel().
        • X. Select/deselect conversation/thread.
        • S. Star message/post or conversation/thread.
        • !. Reports spam.
        • #. Delete to trash.
    • Some Gmail searching tips:
      • from:.
      • to:.
      • subject:.
      • label:.
      • is:starred.
      • has:attachment.
      • filename:. Enter filename or extension.
      • is:chat.
      • after:yyyy/mm/dd.
      • before:yyyy/mm/dd.
  • Google AdWords [AdWords.Google.com]. Have your ad pop up when a person does a search for keyword phrases of your choice.
    • $5 startup. Choose a maximum Cost-Per-Click (CPC) from $0.05 to $100. Choose a maximum Daily Budget. Minimum total of $20/month.
    • The neat thing is you only pay for per clicks per day.
    • Your ad is tied to keyword phrases that you choose. If no one else is paying for your keyword phrases, then you'll get the lowest price. If you have competitors, then the one with the higher maximum CPC is put higher on the ad bar.
  • Google Alerts [Google.com/Alerts]. Receive an email whenever a preset search returns a result. Can be used for new, web, and groups.
  • Google Base [Base.Google.com]. Google allows you to post content (usu. HTML in RSS format) that they will host and then allows you to add labels (aka tags. EG: "fantasy") as well as attributes (EG: "author: J. R. R. Tolkien"). Has some potential.
  • Google Blog Search [BlogSearch.Google.com]. Search the blogs.
  • Google Bookmarks [google.com/bookmarks]. Two main functions: 1) See your search history at Google. 2) You can save, label, and annotate bookmarks. I love this feature since with it I can access it from any browser (IE, Firefox, etc.) anywhere (home, work, etc.).
  • Google Books [Books.Google.com].
    • 'Search the full text of books to find ones that interest you and learn where to buy or borrow them.'
    • Part of Google's master plan to scan all the books they can.
    • As of 2006-08-30, Google also allowed you to download stuff too!
  • Google Calendar [google.com/calendar]. Came out ca. 2006-04-12.
    • Some Google Calendar shortcuts. I'll probably use these most frequently:
      • T. Today
      • D/W/M/X. Day-/Week-/Month-/Customized- view
      • A. Agenda view
      • J/K or P/N. Previous/Next date range (these Unix like shortcuts never die)
      • /. Search
      • C. Xreate event
      • Q. Quick add
      • S. Settings
      • ESC. Back to calendar
    • Using the Google Calendar Data API [code.google.com/apis/gdata/calendar.html]
  • Google Catalogs [Catalogs.Google.com]. 'Search and browse mail-order catalogs online'
  • Google Code [code.google.com]. A variety of developer resources for Google, including APIs, tools, open source programs, etc.
  • Google Code Search [google.com/codesearch]. 'Search public source code.' Searches inside sources like .zip and .tar too.
  • Google Directory [Google.Dirhp]. Sadly no one does directories anymore?
  • Google Docs & Spreadsheets [docs.google.com].
    • Functions: Functions. Google SS functions appear to based upon OpenOffice. Dates and times are stored as numbers where 1 is a day, and 1899-12-30 00:00:00 is 0.
    • What keyboard shortcuts can I use with my spreadsheets?. The page doesn't mention it but CTRL+PAGE UP changes tabs in Firefox instead of changing worksheets. CTRL+ALT+PAGE UP/DOWN does page up/down within a worksheets, as opposed to CTRL+ARROW UP/DOWN which go the next/previous item in a column within a worksheet, and CTRL+HOME/END which goes to the first/last row and column within a worksheet.
  • Google Finance [finance.google.com]. Searchable plus Google Maps like charts that are fast, dynamic and interactive.
  • Google Groups [Groups.Google.com]. All the Usenet groups that aren't binary. You can create your own group and control the access level. This can be used as email mailing list when used in conjunction with Google Alerts.
  • Google Image Search [Images.Google.com]. Good but only comparable to other image searches.
  • Google JotSpot [jot.com] or [jotspot.com]. A wiki combined with collaborative documents, calendars, and spreadsheets. 2006-10-31: Acquired by Google.
  • Google Language Tools [Google.com/Language_Tools]. Nifty but not unique anymore.
  • Google Maps (aka "Google Local") [Maps.Google.com]. Awesome! Unique drag the map around interface. Satellite images too.
    • groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps
    • Google Maps: Transit
      • Google Maps: Chicago Transit [http://maps.google.com/help/maps/transit/chicago/]
  • Google Mars [google.com/mars]. Like Google Maps but for Mars.
  • Google Mobile [Google.com/Mobile]. Search Google if you have a Web enabled phone.
  • Google Moon [Moon.Google.com]. Like Google Maps but for the Moon.
  • Google Movie Showtimes [Google.com/Movies]. Just enter your U.S. city or zipcode.
  • Google Music Search [google.com/musicsearch].
  • Google News [News.Google.com]. Nice.
  • Google Notebook [google.com/notebook/]. Keep notes online with a simple WYSIWYG interface. Make notebooks private or public.
  • Google Page Creator [pages.google.com]. Simple enough. Let's you make free web pages hosted by Google. Contrast with Blogger.com, which let's you make free blogs hosted by Google.
  • Google Reader [Google.com/Reader]. RSS reader. 2006-10-09: Major upgrade.
  • Google Scholar [Scholar.Google.com]. Searches only peer-reviewed content.
  • Google Short Messaging Services (SMS) [Google.com/SMS]. Simple searches from texting cellphone.
    • Simple steps:
      • Start text message. Type in query. EGs:
        • "weather Chicago"
        • "160 pounds * 4000 feet in calories"
        • "translate coffee in french"
      • Send to "46645" (GOOGL) or "466453" (GOOGLE).
      • You'll get a text message answer soon.
    • Demo simulates how it would work on your phone.
  • Google Sites [sites.google.com]. Sort of like wikis Google style but so "friendly" that they don't call it them wikis. Collaborative and easy building of web pages for info, pics, video, data, etc.
  • Google Sitemaps [Google.com/webmasters/sitemaps]. Provide Google with metadata about your site and its content using a protocol that Google can consume.
  • Google Trends [google.com/trends].
    • Interesting but should be taken with a grain of salt.
    • 'compare the world's interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they've been searched for on Google over time. Google Trends also displays how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and which geographic regions have searched for them most often.'
  • Google Video [Video.Google.com]. 'Search TV programs and videos'.
    • Video Upload [Upload.Video.Google.com]. This requires a download from Google.
    • Google Video Blog [googlevideo.blogspot.com/]
    • YouTube.com. Purchased by Google 2006-10-09.
  • Orkut [Orkut.com]. A social networking site, but by invitation only. Underwent a Brazilian invasion.
  • Writely [writely.com]. An free, online, collaborative text document service.
• Tools. Requires a download from Google.
  • Blogger.com. Simple enough. Let's you make free blogs hosted by Google. Contrast with Google Page Creator [pages.google.com], which let's you make free web pages hosted by Google.
  • Google AdSense [google.com/adsense]. Add Google ads to a website via simple JavaScript
  • Google Analytics [Google.com/Analytics]. Website visitor usage analysis via simple JavaScript.
  • Google Apps [google.com/a/]. A suite of somewhat souped up versions of Google's free stuff like Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Sites.
  • Google Desktop [Desktop.Google.com]. A small footprint, multi-purpose Google app. Sort of like a toolbar that isn't attached to a browser.
  • Google Earth [Earth.Google.com]. A souped up version of Google Maps.
  • Google Platypus. This seems to be the current [2006] name for the client for the Google Gdrive, i.e. online file storage.
  • Google Send to Phone [toolbar.google.com/firefox/extensions/sendtophone/index.html]. Add an extension to your Firefox browser that lets you text to someone's mobile phone.
  • Google Talk [Google.com/Talk]. Google does instant messaging (IM). Not terribly impressive so far.
  • Google Toolbar [Toolbar.Google.com]. A small footprint, multi-purpose Google app that insert into your browser.
  • Hello [hello.com]. Use in conjunction with Picasa to essentially IM pictures.
  • iGoogle [Google.com/ig]. Nice. I use it in place of just Google.com. It's like a RSS reader too. --> 2007-05-01 Google switched over from calling it "Google Personalized Homepage" to "iGoogle".
  • Picasa [Picasa.Google.com]. Photo management (.tif, .bmp, .gif, .psd, .png, RAW). Locates stuff automatically. Tag and keyword stuff too. What they don't stress is that Picasa can manage videos too --both Microsoft (.mpg, .avi, .wmv, and .asf but not .asx) and Apple (.mov) formats. Picasa looks fabulous but the great thing is that it attaches all the meta data in the media themselves, so the media are the database! Thus you can make "playlists" without a playlist file. Too bad it doesn't play audio files (like .mp3 and .ogg) unless you fudge with the audio files stored as video (.asf, .mov, etc).
    • Keyboard shortcuts. For next/prev picture/video in Picasa use the L/R arrows or scroll wheel. U/D arrows zoom. CTRL+ALT view in full screen. CTRL+ENTER to view folder. To truly delete keywords from picasa, temporarily remove the folder from Picasa.
    • Picasa Web Albums [picasaweb.google.com]. Google let's you have them host and display your images and videos. You can tag them, make albums, etc.. As of 2007-02 they give you 250 MB free storage and you can purchase more storage.
  • SketchUp [sketchup.com]. A commercial 3D drawing app bought by Google. Even their free version is awesome!
• Miscellany
  • Google.org. 'the philanthropic arm of Google'
  • Google Blog [googleblog.blogspot.com]. A blog about Google, by Google employees
  • Google Code [Code.Google.com]. Google APIs and open source projects.
    • Google Maps API [Google.com/APIs/maps/]
      • groups.google.com/group/Google-Maps-API
    • Using the Google Calendar Data API [code.google.com/apis/gdata/calendar.html]
  • Google Holiday Logos [Google.com/HolidayLogos.html]. Fun.
  • Google Labs [Labs.Google.com]. It's good to see what Google's up to.
    • Google Ride Finder [labs.google.com/ridefinder]. Ha ha. Taxis mapped in near-real time.
    • Google Transit [google.com/transit]. Plan a trip via public transportation. Very beta: Only for Portland, Oregon as of 2005-12.

Links not by Google

• Map related
  • Cool Google Maps [coolgooglemaps.blogspot.com]
  • "Embed Google My Maps in Your Blog or Website" [http://ongopongo.com/maps/google_my_maps_embedding_tool]
  • Frappr! [frappr.com].
    • 'Create a map for your group. Share Group Photos Get others to add themselves. Its easy and fun!'
    • Sort of like a Google Maps crossed with Flickr.com and social software.
  • Google Mapki [Mapki.com]. A wiki about Google Maps and the API.
  • Google Maps EZ [bluweb.com/us/chouser/gmapez/]. 'Now it's easy to put a Google map on any web page, without writing a single line of JavaScript. Google Maps EZ uses standard HTML syntax with a few special keywords'
  • Google Sightseeing [googlesightseeing.com]. Collects interesting satellite views via Google Maps.
  • Google Globetrotting [googleglobetrotting.com]. Collects interesting satellite views via Google Maps.
  • GymPost.com. Locates and reviews gyms.
  • "HOW TO: Embedded Google Maps" [http://paulstamatiou.com/2005/12/04/how-to-embedded-google-maps/]
  • MapBuilder.net. Store your own maps and see the maps of others. Folksonomy tags and ranks maps too.
  • maps.huge.info. Some statistical info integrated with customized Google maps --sort of like Google Earth.
  • MapSexOffenders.com. Maps sex offenders in the U.S.. Interesting use but I do not promote living in fear.
  • Placeopedia.com. Google maps locations in Wikipedia.
  • Sightseeing with Google Satellite Maps [perljam.net/google-satellite-maps]. Collects interesting satellite views via Google Maps.
• Video related
  • Google Video of the Day [gvod.blogspot.com]. 'I sift through the crap to give you at least one video every single day.'
  • The Best Google Videos [bestgooglevideos.blogspot.com]
  • Video Finds [videofinds.com]
  • Video Google del dia [vgdd.blogspot.com/]. En español, of course.
• Wikipedia
  • Google
  • Google Maps
  • List of Google services and tools
• Miscellany
  • Goofile [goofile.be]. 'Customized Google search, designed especially for finding media on the web. Searches only pages which represent listing of folders' downloadable content.'. Essentially creates Google searches like this: -inurl:htm -inurl:html -inurl:php intitle:"index of" (mpg|avi|wmv) banana.
  • Google Cheat Sheets [adelaider.com/google]
  • GoogleCommunity.com
  • GoogleFight.com. Enter two keywords and see which one gets more Google search results.
  • GoogleGuide.com
  • Google Q-card [pandia.com/q-cards/google.html]
  • GoogleTalkForum.com
  • Google-Watch.org
  • Newsmap [Marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/newsmap.cfm]. Take Google News data and then colors stories by category and makes the stories different sizes depending on # of hits.
  • Simply Google [usabilityviews.com/simply_google.htm]
  • Soople [Soople.com]. Like advanced search.
  • Within Google's World [googlesworld.wordpress.com]. Blog by Angelo Embuldeniya, a Google enthusiast.

Page Modified: (Hand noted: 2008-04-28 15:34:02Z) (Auto noted: 2008-11-18 20:22:35Z)