From Funky Animals To War On Terrorism - It's All On Google!
Written: Mar 28 '03
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| Full Review |
I always like going on the internet, no website specifically, and just looking around to see what I can find. Sometimes I type in “funny animals,” or “games” just to see what website will come out to help pass the time. Google is my main search engine when searching for anything from a research projects in college, to just plain-out having fun. Whatever it is, I’ll be sure to find it on one of the 450,000,000 web pages the Google searches.
Layout
Google has a very simple, yet attractive way of displaying its site. When coming to the main page, you can select from:
- Web
- Images
- Groups
- Directory
- News
Often, Google does have holiday decorations around its search engine just to make the site more attractive and user-friendly.
Web
Web is one of the five areas of the site to select from. This is the place to get information on any facts that aren’t too recent as in the last week or so. If you type in something under Web, it will most likely bring results up for the home page of the subject you are looking for.
After typing in what topic you are looking for information on, you have two choices. You can either click “Google Search” or “I’m Feeling Lucky.” If you click “Google Search”, a page will come up to display all of the results to your search. If you click “I’m Feeling Lucky”, the home page of the object being searched for will pop up.
Images
This is my favorite feature on the site. Just type in an object, place, or person that you want a picture of. When typing it in, pages of results will show up. Each page has about 30 pictures on it, and they all are shrunken down. If you click on the thumbnail, it will bring you to the page of the picture on it, and it will also allow you to see the full-sized image of the picture.
Groups
The Groups section of Google is a very smart invention. Here, you can ask people questions on certain topics, and within a week or two, someone is bound to answer. You can also leave comments on what others have said. Say if you type in “epinions” in the Group section. It will come up with any conversation, comment, or thought that has the word “epinion,” and will highlight it.
Directory
If you click on Directory, you will get many websites with information on what you are looking for, and related items. Before clicking on the web page, you can see if you want to visit it or not. There is a caption below it explaining what the site is like and what information it provides.
News
The News section of Google is the newest of the five sections. When clicking on the News section, it will come up with pictures and articles of the most important news in the world. Then, you can go ahead and read the articles, or you can type in to see news on other subjects.
Once typing in what you want to find news on, Google will list a bunch of pages to visit to find the most updated news. Also, Google tells you when the story was released so you know that your information is always the most recent.
If you don’t really know what you want to find information on, Google does give you a few choices on the side bar including: Top Stories, World, U.S, Business, Science and Technology, Sports, Entertainment, and Health.
And If You Dig In A Bit More...
....you may just find some more features! These features include:
- Dictionary: Find a word that you don’t know the definition to, and use Google’s Dictionary feature!
- Phone Book: To find a phone number of someone, you must know at least their first name and an idea of where they live. This would come in handy just in case you forgot to order a Yellow Pages or a White Pages.
- Spell Checker: When you forget how to spell word like onomatopoeia. If you do make a mistake spelling when typing in something to search, the site automatically asks if you meant another word.
- Stock Quotes: You can’t get the exact stock quote directly from the site, but it will give you links to the pages with stock quotes of the company you are looking for.
- Street Maps: Nothing is more useful than getting directions before setting out on a long car drive.
- Web Page Translation: If you want to go to a website that’s not English, this feature allows you to do so.
- Who Links To You: This is the coolest feature. You can see who has a link to any web page out there.
Services
- Froggle: This is a page made by Google to buy products off the web.
- Google Answers: Here, you can pay to have people answer your questions....why not just look it up in the internet?
- Google Catalogs: This is the place to search catalogs from different stores and companies.
- Google University Search: Here you can find a website to any school, college, or university.
My Thoughts
And now you thought that Google was just a search engine. Now you know that it’s more than just that. It can give you the answer to anything you may have in mind. The different areas, features, and services of the site make it great to really narrow down your search to one specific piece of information your looking for. So, the next time you’re stuck with a question that you don’t know the answer to, check www.google.com.
Recommended:
Yes
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