#84 The Google Empire Post 2

Google has lately ventured into moving more products on to the web. Google Docs & Spreadsheets lets you do you word processing and calculating on line. It takes a bit getting used to but it means you don't need that laptop everywhere you go. Google Docs & Spreadsheet

Another application Google is promoting is their online calendar. This is a wonderful way to share information with a group on what is going on. Google Calendar If your family is really technically savvy you can set up the family schedule online!

Google Books is a Nick favorite. You can search the full text in the books or for topics. A great search engine BEFORE you go to the library! Google Book Search

Need a quick look at what happened in financial Markets? Check out Google Finance!

We use the iGoogle for our home page under Internet Explorer. You can customize it to have the information you want not that your ISP wants! iGoogle

Google has recently added Google Notebook to their list of web utilities. You can clip useful information from most web pages. You can add clippings of text, images and links from web pages to your Google Notebook without ever leaving your browser window. Organize your notes.You can create multiple notebooks, divide them into sections, and drag-and-drop your notes to stay organized. Get access from anywhere.You can access your Google Notebooks from any computer by using your Google Accounts login. Publish your notebook.You can share your Google Notebook with the world by making it public.

Lastly Google recently purchase YouTube, the online home video phenomenon.

Here is the home of all the Google products: GOOGLEMANIA

#83 - The Google Empire Post 1

Google is one of those few companies I knew was good from the get go. I first saw the Google search engine in 1998. It was developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Stanford University students. It just worked better and is still the best search engine. They have moved on from search and here is a brief list of Google products.

This blog is hosted on Blogger a Google application. We know it is very cool.

Google Desktop was a natural extension of the Google search engine to the PC. It searches and indexes everything on your PC. It is 3 times as fast as the search built into Windows.

Google Earth. Everyone loves this application when they see it. It is essentially a composite of all the satellite photos that are taken every day. You can zoom in on your house, place of work or next vacation destination from outer space. Very cool. I saw an article recently where the rescuers of Hurricane Katrina victims used it to search New Orleans when there were no recognizable landmarks.

Gmail. There probably are better email services (we like AOL), but this one has it all at a great price (free).

Google Hello is a web based photo sharing site. Again there are lots of competitors, but this one is a bit better.

Picasa is a very good desktop picture management software. You can organize, edit, rename and even display your digital pictures. We highly recommend this product.

Google Talk is an Instant Messenger host. You can only talk with other Gmail customers, but there are lots of features that make it fun to use.