Google: It's More Than You Think

Google has created nearly 50 additional software services. In the class you took, we only had time to cover a fraction of the 50. This page lists all 50 Google services.

Over the years Google has collected an increasing amount of information about you, whenever you are using any of their many web sites, including their search page. The New York Times examined this issue.

In January 1994, the Today Show panelists discussed the internet

You can learn a lot about specialized searching on Google here or here.

I recommend visiting your Google Account and Aboutme where you can perform a Security Checkup, review your preferences and settings, see your account history, etc.

Here are directions to create your own 360 degree photo using your cell phone.

As you know, Google is one of the best sites to use to search all of the internet. Google Shopping is an excellent site if you want to search for products to purchase. Another excellent site you can use to search for things to purchase is Pricegrabber.

When you do a search in Google, the left side of the page offers several ways you can narrow the results of your search. For additional information about each of these methodologies, see http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=142143

Street View now offers historical images. You can get an overview of many interesting places you can visit using Street View. You can also visit Grand Canyon, El Capitan, Galapagos, Machu Picchu, Dinosaur National Park, 12 Disneylands around the world and more using Street View. You can learn more about Street View.

In our class you learned to use Google Maps. Several sites have created websites that build on Google Maps. One of these sites is FareCompare. It allows you to use a map of a specific city, country, or region, and see a map of all the airfares to other locations. You can "drill down" through these maps. For example, you can see a map of airfares from Washington D.C. to other cities, and then hone in first on fares to California, followed by fares to L.A., followed by fares on United Airlines to L.A., followed by fares on July 4 from D.C. to L.A.

If you have downloaded the newest version of Google maps and you own a tablet or cell phone that uses iOS or Android, you can download Google maps while you are at home, and then view the maps offline, while you are in the car. See this site or this site for directions how to accomplish this. This site offers 25 Google Map tricks for Android and iOS phones.

You can learn much more about Google maps here.

To use Google Earth, you must first download it to your computer. This article recounts a remarkable story about a person who was lost, but who was saved, partially thanks to Google Earth.

Websites that build on Google Maps are generically called Mashups. You can find thousands of Mashups here. These websites are continually being updated as new Mashups are created. One of the most useful Mashups is this one which shows local gas prices.

Many Mashups are more fun than useful. Some of my favorite Mashups that are a lot of fun are ones that show the find red light cameras, Montgomery County house assessments, an enormous database of interesting information about Washington DC, a pedometer for calculating the distance that you walk, bike or travel, prices of homes for sale or rent, and finally a Mashup that lists great hikes in all 50 states such as the Billy Goat Trail in Great Falls.

If you have a web page that is written in another language, you can have it translated instantly by using this Google translate website. That same site can also translate a few sentences or paragraphs from English to other languages, or from other languages back to English. You can learn more about the Google Translate App.

Google Trends allows you to see how often a specific search phrase, e.g. Abraham Lincoln, has been searched for over the past week, month, year, etc.

This website will allow you to create your own website at no cost.