Test Your Google Searching Skills With Gwigle!

UPDATE:  I'm very sad to say that as of today (well, really I've been trying for a week now...), Gwigle seems to be down.  As in, gone from the Internet.  I'm hoping that it may pop up again, so I am leaving this post in the hopes that it could possibly redirect you to a new Gwigle, if one ever emerges.  But for now, our Gwigling days are over. :(

Use Gwigle, the fun online game to improve your Google searching skills!  With each level you progress through, you will learn the ins and outs of doing a proper search --No, it's not always just putting in a word and hitting go!--

Gwigle will teach you about using notation that will help you filter or expand your searches, making them much more effective. The game will show you a Google search screen, with certain key search terms replaced by question marks.  It's up to you to figure out what replaces the ?????

Having trouble answering a question to move on to the next level?  Click on the link to "Show Tips" to read about what search strategy is being displayed. Or, if you still can't get it, I tried Googling some of the results that show, using some of my newly-learned searching skills of course!

Try it out to become a Googling expert today!

Google (googol) lives up to it's name...

My self-proclaimed Google week is coming to a close...  I hope that you all were able to gain some valuable information about the many uses of Google beyond the typical search feature.  Today, I am going to post some short descriptions of some of the other tools Google offers.  But, I encourage you to always come back and check out the new features that Google puts out.  In fact, just this week, Google launched Buzz, a social network that is rumored to rival Facebook.  But, I digress:

Google Books:  Search for books, magazines, and articles.  Some are full text, others are partial.  Create a profile detailing books you want to read, have read, or are reading.  Buy/borrow books right from the site.  Read samples, or full text articles.

Google Scholar: Search for scholarly journal articles.  Many are full text.  Very reliable sources.

Picasa: Upload, store, and browse for pictures.  Also a wonderful download that is a great alternative to other picture managing software.  One of my favorites!

Google Sites: Easily make your own website.  Interesting and colorful themes to choose from.  VERY easy to add content and keep updated.  Manage as many sites as you want!

Blogger: Manage your very own blog!  Different from sites in that other people can leave comments on the page.  Host discussions and post resources (like your favorite Penguin's Slide.... :)  )

Chrome: Sick of Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari?  Try Google's version of a web browser.  Download Chrome and begin customizing your web browsing experience. (Doesn't the logo totally remind you of that Simon game?)

HAPPY GOOGLING!

Google Earth

Sorry, no time to make a lengthy post today.  The next stop on the tour is Google Earth.  Go to the link, download the application, and EXPLORE!

Google Docs

Ready for more Google greatness?  Today I'm going to talk about one of  my favorite features of Google: Google Docs.

 Google Docs basically puts a free, online version of Microsoft Office at your fingertips.  Once you sign up for an account, you have the ability to create documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and forms for surveys.  Pretty cool right?  That's not even half of it!  Once you create those documents, you can export them as .doc's, .xls', .ppt's, .rtf's, .pdf's, and more.  What's great about this is that your documents are stored online where you can get to them anywhere.

Another really great aspect, that's also a somewhat new feature, is that you can upload documents, presentations, spreadsheets that are saved on your computer to your Docs account.  You get 1 GB of space free with the option to upgrade to more space for a low cost, but I doubt that you need to do that since 1 GB is plenty of room!


Finally, one other major seller for Docs is the ability you have to share your files with other users.  Just like in calendar, you can opt to only share a file or make the file editable by your peers.  This means that you could have online collaboration for working on one document!


I really think I could go on all day about Google Docs....Instead, if you're still curious about some of the other features of Google Docs, go here to see their latest additions.  Oh yeah! Also, don't forget to add the Docs gadget to your iGoogle page so you can see a short list of you docs right on  your iGoogle.

Google Calendar

 The next stop on our tour of Google is the Google Calendar.

When you sign up for the Google Calendar, you get a place to store all your appointments, meeting, reminders, and events.  You can create separate calendars, distinguished by color, that you can make visible, or invisible.  You can also choose to share your calendar with others so that they may look or even add events to the calendar.  There is also an option to embed the calendar in a webpage.  For instance:

Finally, you will be able to add a gadget to your iGoogle page that contains your calendar! (Just search for calendar when adding gadgets.)

It's Google Week!

Hello!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I've decided that I will make this week a highlight of all that Google has to offer.  You may or may not know that Google is more than just a search tool.  But, there are so many useful tools offered by this giant of the Internet.

The first stop on our tour: iGoogle

 By making an iGoogle page, you can customize Google to look just how you want. You can apply themes to your page to get the appearance you want, but more importantly, you can add "gadgets" to display the information that is most important to you.  For example, on my penguin-themed iGoogle page, I have added in news headlines, tech headlines, weather, calendar, email, and much more.  So, when I go to Google, I am automatically re-directed to my iGoogle page where I can view everything in one place.

Want to try?  Just go to Google.com, click on iGoogle in the top right corner and sign up for an account.  You do not have to use a gmail account!  You can use your existing school email as a username.  But, remember what you use because that same username will come in to use later on this week!

After you've got your page, begin customozation by clicking on "Change Theme" or "Add Stuff".  There are lots of choices for adding gadgets, so I recommend using the search box to find specific ones you may be looking for.

Happy iGoogling!