Free Computer Consultant Tip-Of-The-Week for July 25,
2008
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You may have noticed that my blog has had a bit more
activity
recently.
One thing that kind of surprised me was that two software
vendors
contacted me about posts I had made; one was offering me a
chance
to promote the paid version of their product (which I probably
won't)
and the other to clarify a point that I had made.
Both found out about my post via Google Alerts.
Google is ordinarily thought of as the primary search engine
of the
web. So much so that the word Google, unknown just 10 years
ago, is
now a verb in widespread use everyday throughout the world.
(Google derives from a misspelling of the word googol, which
is
10 to the 100th power.)
Google now has an incredible array of free tools and
applications.
http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/
Alert being only one of them.
I have recently been using Google Documents for a project
and was
blown away by how well it worked for a "software as a
service"
application. Of course, it's totally free.
Who needs to pay hundreds of dollars for Microsoft Office,
bugs
and all, when OpenOffice.org offers a competitive product for
free
and now Google offers an online version that has most of
the
features the average MS Office user knows how to use?
Google Docs even has an offline version and a convenient way
to
download your data to your PC should you be working
somewhere
without online access. (I recommend downloading a copy as
a backup anyway.)
The list goes on.
One caveat though. If you are a privacy buff then you may
want
to give second thought to reading your email, blogs/rss,
news,
doing all your searches, and storing your data all with
Google.
Google employs people, people are human. Your data and
personal
information can and will be used against you. Google will
target
ads your way (which some say is a good thing) and probably
not
hesitate to turn over whatever the government asks for.
Google employees may succumb to offers, like that
Liechtenstein bank
employee.
Who knows, Google may someday be acquired by a foreign
sovereign
wealth fund.
If you want Google searches without Google tracking, try
https://ssl.scroogle.org/
Either way, Google is a whole lot more than just a search
engine.
Maybe you can benefit by what they offer.
Until next time...
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You can keep up with articles I write and videos I create,
for the most part, at:
http://www.AssociatedContent.com/FreeComputerConsultant
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