The last three weeks I have been sharing the new Gmail interface from Google. Due to the large number of emails I received, thanking me, discussing and questioning me I thought that you may want some more about Google “stuff.” So today we continue with a couple of more pieces of information about other Google items.
Years ago, Google came out with the Google Earth application. There was a free version and a paid version. Needless to say, I never knew the paid version but the freebie was pretty good. It may still be downloaded (now only available free) at, “google.com/earth/desktop” if you are interested. However, you can also use the free online version in your Chrome browser only at, “earth.google.com.” To start it click the. “Launch Google Earth” link in the center of the page. Then use the menu items on the left and look around. It is very amazing. Use the search icon (magnifying glass) as I did and check out, “Crab Migration on Christmas Island.”
You can also try, “sky.google.com” and view the heavens. This is not as intuitive to use as Earth but I recommend trying the icons at the bottom of the page. If I search for something, say Saturn at the top search area…I got a field of stars. I guess the planet was somewhere in there.
If you are more into culture instead of the sciences you should check out Google’s, “artsandculture.google.com” site. You can explore the masters of art into the ancient times up to Wall Art of today. You can also try the “Nearby” link and see what is close by that you may want to visit and get cultured.
You may be looking for some more dependable information online. Go to, “scholar.google.com” to search for scholarly works. You can search in many disciplines within various articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other more reputable sites.
If you have a topic you are interested in you can check how it is trending on Google. Visit, “trends.google.com” enter a search term and look around. I checked on “Smartphones” and found that worldwide Kenya is the county that has performed the most search for them. I also found out that Tennesee has searched most for, “have smartphones destroyed a generation.” I could not find out why they were more interested than say, Virginia. However, it was some interesting information available to view.
Do you have a word or phrase you need to translate into or from another language? Go to Google.com and type in the phrase and the translate to language like this: “translate banana farm to French.” You will immediately get, “ferme de bananes” in response. You can also go to, “translate.google.com” and type in “ferme de bananes” on the left and it will figure that it is in French. Then on the right side choose the language you want to translate it into. I chose Swedish and got, “banan gård.” And sure, “tuathanas banana” is Gaelic but you already knew that.
Google started out in 1998 by two young Ph.D. students at Stanford University, California as a very simple search engine. Now, look at what it can do today. As a matter of fact, they had human volunteers that verified various searches when it first started up, of which I was one. So I guess, basically, I am responsible for Google’s success today. No, not even close.
