| Shareware with Owen Saxton |
Not so much Shareware as Googleware from Owen this month, as he examines some of the many products from what many now deem Apple's biggest rival in the cool soft and hardware field.
This month's topic is "everything Google". Though Google started as just a search engine provider, it clearly aspires to be the starting point for all web interactions, providing a multitude of free services including maps, e-mail, photo and document sharing, translation, book access, and many more. Owen will give a brief overview of them all, and a more detailed look at a few of the less well-known ones.
Google's products can be grouped into several categories, as follows:
Searches
Blog Search - Find blogs on your favorite topics
Custom Search - Create a customized search experience for your community
Directory - Search the web, organized by topic or category
Images - Search for images on the web
News - Search thousands of news stories
Patent Search - Search the full text of US Patents
Product Search - Search for stuff to buy
Scholar - Search scholarly papers
Trends - Explore past and present search trends
Videos - Search for videos on the web
Web Search - Search billions of web pages
Other Anonymous Web Services
Alerts - Get email updates on the topics of your choice
Books - Read or search the full text of books
Dictionary - Look up definitions of words and phrases
Finance - Business info, news and interactive charts
iGoogle - Add news, games and more to your Google homepage
Knol - Share what you know
Maps - View maps and directions
Translate - View text and web pages in other languages
YouTube - Watch, upload and share videos
Personal Web Services
Blogger - Share your life online with a blog - it's quick, easy and free
Calendar - Organize your schedule and share events with friends
Checkout - Complete online purchases more quickly and securely
Docs - Create and share your online documents, presentations and spreadsheets
Groups - Create mailing lists and discussion groups
Google Health - Organize your medical records online
Gmail - Fast, searchable email with less spam
Orkut - Meet new people and stay in touch with friends
Picasa - Find, edit and share your photos
Reader - Get all your blogs and news feeds fast
Sites - Create websites and secure group wikis
Software
Google Chat Plug-in - Add chat functionality to Safari, Firefox and Chrome
Google Chrome - A browser built for speed, stability and security
Google Desktop - Search and personalize your computer
Google Earth - Explore the world from your computer
Picasa - Edit and share your photos
Picasa Web Albums Uploader - Share your iPhoto library
Google Quick Search Box - Search your computer, applications, and web history
Google SketchUp - Build 3D models quickly and easily
Google Toolbar - Add a search box to Firefox
Other
GOOG-411 - Find and connect for free with businesses from your phone
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Earthquake Preparedness with Dell Bleiler
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 Dell's made something of a study of Earthquake preparedness in the Bay Area as part of his community work in Los Altos. He'll be endeavoring to shake you up (in the best possible way), explaining why and how you should get ready for the Big One.
And we have a few interesting USGS and Google mashups to display as well.
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