The Computer Corner
By Charles Miller, Sept 29, 2006

Making googly eyes

There might still be some people on earth who have never heard of Google.com, but not many. This website is so ubiquitous that even its name has now entered the English language as a verb, as in “I googled the company to get its address.”

Google is a lot more than a search engine. There are whole books on this subject, and so this 500-word article in Atención will only touch on a few answers to the question What is Google?

Google is a dictionary. To look up a word or phrase, simply type the word “define” followed by one space and the word or phrase you want to look up. Your answer will be displayed at the top of the search results. If you are using the dictionary to look up the correct spelling of a word, just enter something close. Google will come back and ask you “Did you mean …” and suggest a correct spelling, or it may bring up a list of websites on which other people misspelled the word just as you did.

Google is a phone book. If you are looking for a number or address, enter the name, address, zip code, telephone area code, or whatever you know. Google will do the rest and will frequently find what you seek.

Google is a simple calculator. Type in a mathematical equation such as “12 × 8” and Google gives you the answer “108.” Slightly more complex equations such as “25% of 19.95” work also. The calculator can do hexadecimal, octal and binary numbers also.

Google is a currency converter. Enter “US$100 in Mexican pesos” and Google will answer “US$100 = 1,090.65 Mexican pesos.” Google even does more complex conversions such as “6.62 Mexican pesos per liter in US dollars per gallon,” and the answer is US$2.29 per gallon. Wow!

Google is a travel agent. Type in a three-letter International Air Transport Association (IATA) code followed by the word “airport.” Google will usually find information about current weather conditions and delays for that airport.

Google is a translator. Go to google.com/language_tools and Google will translate to or from English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese, Korean or Chinese.

Although Google is not (yet) able to translate to and from all of the world’s languages, listed lower on the language_tools page are the 72 languages the Google interface does support. For a good laugh read the list carefully. It includes Hacker (as in computer), Klingon (of Star Trek), Pig Latin, Elmer Fudd, and Bork-bork-bork (of the Muppets’ Swedish chef). Methinks a few computer programmers have too much time on their hands.

Google is a stock ticker. To get up-to-the-minute stock and mutual fund information, enter a NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX or mutual fund ticker symbol. Google usually recognizes your query as a stock and will go find a link that leads directly to one of several financial information providers.

Google has your number. If you are expecting a shipment to arrive at your door, enter its UPS tracking number or FedEx or USPS tracking number. Do not be surprised when Google sniffs out a page showing exactly where your package is at the moment.

And best of all, Google is free! Many will find it a good investment of their time to learn more about these and other features. Additional information can be found at google.com/help/features.html.

Google is continuing to develop new features. For a sneak preview of the products that Google is currently working on, go to labs.google.com.

Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 044-415-153-8528 or via email at FAQ@SMAguru.com