google gadgets for YOUR site November 24, 2006

another google entry here, but this one is a really fun one: google gadgets can be used and integrated in your personalized google page: nice and wonderfully useful thing: i have been using the personalized google start page for a long time now, i have my calculator on it, my toronto webcam, some weather data, and so forth (see screenshot).

but now, google announces to use these gadgets also for your own website, using a simple <script/> tag.

That’s so much fun, so you can include now all kinds of funny gadgets into your page: calculators, world clocks, games, web cams, searches and so forth: check out the gadget collection

 

do the math with google, huh? November 23, 2006

so, google is one of THE most powerful search engines in the world, google also just started offline advertising, it has a good stock market position, and now google can even slowly be used as a multi-functional information tool. while browsing the technology section of the new york times, i came across an interesting article about google shortcuts.

• did you know that you can use google as a calculator? well, try it out: type into the searchbox: 12+12, as a result, it will suggest the mathematical solution as a sum of 12 and 12.

• did you know that you can search for a fedex package by typing in the fedex number: it will give you as the first result, it will give you a shortcut to the tracking information for your package.

• do you need a correct and fast definition of a word: well, then type it: define: [word] and it will give you all the definitions it finds on the web.

• and the the one that most of us have seen already before: when typing in an address, it normally shows as a first result the map of a city the address is related to.

more google shortcuts are here

and this google cheat sheet is worth to be printed out and put next to your computer desk, it has the most useful search terms included.

google can recognize certain codes typed in or numbers into the search box and eases your way to your result.
try it out…it’s fun.

my (weekly) visit November 10, 2006

one of the things i do at least once a week is checking out the labs part of google. i don’t know if any of you readers have ever tried out the “more” button on googles’ startpage. that’s excactly how you get there. click on “more” and then click on “labs”: you will find a lot of nice “goodies” or should i say “googies” that google offers here.

my favourite ones are still the: google code search, google mars or google answers

always fun and interesting for me to browse through