Google products

Over the past few months, I been fooling around with many of the Google products. Here are my thoughts on some of them.

Google Earth
Awesome. I haven't tried it on dial-up, but it fairly amazing on a T1 line. Some of the satellite photos are fuzzy, but others are pretty sharp. The coolest thing is typing in an address and watching the world spin around and zoom in.

Google Talk
Just started using this software. It is still fairly limiting with some dropped calls, but I was able to talk to my sister, Missy and her kids in Southern Minnesota with minimal problems. I was on 56K dial-up and they were getting about 21K/s connection speed.

Google Sidebar
Nice option. I really like the option that takes all the photos on your computer and runs them as a slideshow. Since I utilize Google mail, the sidebar automatically shows any incoming email. I can then click into the actual message without having to open my inbox. It also has the standard weather and news stuff, plus the Google search bar.

Google Book Search
I am a big fan of this option. I cannot understand the thought process of those concerned about copyright issues. Google has done a great job with the protecting the author and publishers information. What I like about this search is the fact you can get into some of the pages and get a sense of the writer's approach. If you are looking for a specific book, don't overlook this tool.