When reading a?blog or engaging in a heated discussion with a pack of pseudo-intellectuals on your favorite message board,? we all finding ourselves scratching our head over some of the words we come across.
Should you ever happen upon a word for which you have no definition, or you?re a budding scribe looking for a word to break up the monotony of your latest piece, Google has just rolled out with their own online dictionary.?
Giving both definitions and synonyms, Google dictionary is a database of words that includes definitions culled from other academically certified sources.
If you?re someone who needs to look up a word several times before having its definition singed into your synapses, you can mark a word ? with a star ? to which you?d like to return or you can look up recent searches.
In the age of the internet, where print is become obsolete in favor of what?s available on the web, this is just another step in our transition to a fully digital world. For the student who?s laboring over a term paper, to the forum denizen looking to impress upon others his masterful vocabulary, Google Dictionary is a welcome resource that?s just a few keystrokes away.
If you?re looking to see your web browsing pick up its pace a few notches, Google is rolling out with a new service that aims to introduce faster browsing speeds ? and, like all of their innovative rollouts, it?s completely free.
It?s called Google Public DNS, and the company has offered a brief explanation of just what DNS does:
?Most of us aren’t familiar with DNS because it’s often handled automatically by our Internet Service Provider (ISP), but it provides an essential function for the web. You could think of it as the switchboard of the Internet, converting easy-to-remember domain names - e.g., www.google.com - into the unique Internet Protocol (IP) numbers - e.g., 74.125.45.100 - that computers use to communicate with one another?
As you see, it?s a means of organizing the numerous locations you visit when venturing into the Worldwide Web. What Google Public DNS means for you ? assuming, of course, that you use it ? is a faster and more stable alternative to the one offered by your Internet Service Provider.
Some of you may be ambivalent about the use of this, given Google?s questionable history of data collection, but you probably don?t have much to worry about. It?s in Google?s best interests to ensure that you?re comfortable using their services, and this is just another addition to their growing stable of unique web-based tools that improve your life on the net.
If you?re interested in using Google Public DNS and would like instructions on doing so, you can find them here.
A recent blog of mine touched upon Google?s impressive search engine capabilities, one of which is perfectly tailored to those movie buffs who love to spend an evening taking to the town for the latest feature. From a simple search of the movie (at www.google.com/movies ), you?re able to not only show those movies playing in your area, but find the nearest showings in your zipcode.
This feature has now gone mobile, with Google offering the very same functionality to those users who?re constantly on the move but always up for the occasional film.
As you would with your computer, visit www.google.com with the web browser you use on your phone (iPhone, Palm WebOS, or Android-enabled device), run a query for ?movies,? and select the ?More movies? link. Upon that selection, you?re able to view a list of movies or hit the ?Theaters? button those theaters showing movies in your area.
If viewing the list of films on your phone, you?re now able to view the trailers accompanying them, see how they?ve been reviewed, look at showtimes, and even take a peek at the movie posters; on the last feature, when clicking on a movie poster, Google offers an informative synopsis of the film ? without spoilers, of course ? that comes with everything from cast and crew to pictures from the set.
If browsing by theater, you?re given a map of those locations in your immediate vicinity, with an opportunity to select any of the theaters and see exactly what?s showing on their screen and when. If you?re someone who?s well aware of what you?re looking to see, not requiring a list of available films, you can run a search for that specific film ? or theater, if you so choose.
Whether it?s when you?re lounging at home or during those times you?re pounding the pavement of your city, Google is there, on computer or phone. This company continues to pioneer how we use the internet, making helpful information instantly available at our fingertips ? ultimately, making our lives that much easier.
Still in its infancy, the internet is a growing community, home to everything from recipes for the most outlandish dishes to books that are no longer in print. As use of the internet has exploded, so has the content it exists as a medium for, with no boundaries on what?s available to those entering its domain.
This includes content that some might deem objectionable.
Guarding your family against this has been difficult, the near unregulated structure of the internet serving as a platform for what many would find highly offensive. While there are safeguards that monitor internet use, they?re not always effective, a result of the internet?s unceasing growth.
Given the internet is almost inextricably tied to the development of our children, at home and school, it?s unreasonable to assume that they will not make use of its function. As any responsible parent knows, protecting our children against harmful material is paramount in the process of nurturing them into well-adjusted young adults. However, preventing children from using the internet does them a disservice that has been shown to stunt development in this information age.
With Google?s search engine being the most popular of its kind, it?s? likely that your children will put it to use at some point.? Whether it?s a search for the latest videogame tips or rumors about their favorite teen starlet, there?s plenty of safe content that?s available for them to search for. Unfortunately, the chance of them happening upon search results of a questionable nature can be high.
Google has always allowed its users to filter the results of their searches, removing content that is deemed inappropriate. Helpful as that feature?s been, the ability to lock those settings has never been available until now.
Today, Google launched an improvement that allows one to lock the SafeSearch setting to the strictest level of filtering. To prevent a minor from tampering with this feature, it will be password protected, leaving only the guardian empowered with the ability to change the setting.
As seen below, results generated by any future use of the Google search engine will be observably different, the page on which they?re normally displayed accompanied by colored balls that sit on top. This serves as a reminder to parents and teachers standing from afar that their children?s content is being filtered.
For a demonstration of how to use this feature, Google has provided a video:
This is but one of several measures you can take to protect your children during their time on the internet. While Computer Geeks encourages responsible use of the internet, we understand that many children aren?t informed about the dangers that lurk about its corridors. Use of this option in combination with other measures and discussion with your children about online safety should ease that concern.
Whether you?re looking for your seasonal flu shot or you?re concerned about the availability of a vaccine that combats the H1N1 swine flu, Google has rolled out with a handy locator that points you towards the nearest location to service that need.
Once that?s loaded, it might prompt you to enter your location. To do so, select the ?Change location? link.
Once the search is completed, you will see a red icon in the form of a needle. This will show you where to obtain the regular seasonal flu shot. A blue icon of the same type notes where you can get the H1N1 vaccine. A needle that?s mixed with both red and blue indicates a location where both services are available.
Clicking on any of the icons will present you with more information about that particular location.
On the left-hand side, you?ll see all of the locations on the map. While most of these are pharmacies, Google has said that more sites will be added with time.
One important bit of information that?s omitted from these details is whether or not the flu shot or vaccine is in stock. While the icon indicates that the location is supplying those services, looking to the left of the map tells you that the stock is depleted.
In addition to the locator, Google also has a site that follows flu activity, highlighting those areas in which its prevalence is high.
Google continues to remind us why their presence on the internet is so invaluable. They harness the simplicity of their model to innovate how our community utilizes an internet that is still in its infancy when considering the possibilities.
While we at Computer Geeks hope you never come down with the flu, we also know that staying informed can often be the best possible defense.
