Google Labs

[Deborah Babb]

Head to http://www.googlelabs.com and have a look at the current experiments.

Choose one experiment to explore from the general list, or any of the specialized project lists like Gmail Labs. You'll need a Gmail account if you want to play with the Gmail labs.

Share your experiences here, in the Google Labs forum!

Our subject specialist this week is Maria Sochor.

[Ann]

I chose Google Mars http://www.google.com/mars and explored the stories and pictures. When I clicked on one of the bubble icons, I was able to click on the link for stories related to the pictures I viewed.

Another site I discovered with more information about Mars and its history was here: http://themis.asu.edu/

I think I'll get a Gmail account and play around with the labs next. ;)

[Maria Sochor]

Google Mars is so cool! It's wild to be able to "walk" around Mars by clicking and dragging the map.

[Stephanie]

I really liked Google Mars and had playing with it.

[Maya Berry]

After browsing through a few of the experiments on the general list, I took a closer look at the Google News Timeline. This is very interesting, as it shows news results in a chronological format.

If you were interested in the most up-to-date news on a particular subject, you would just have to type the subject in the search box, and the Timeline will return the results with the date and the time the news was posted in an easy to read chart. There are also a variety of other categories that you can search for besides news, such as movies, prizes, and buildings.

You can also customize the results so that you can add your favorite blogs, news sources, and other sources that are available to access through the Timeline.

There is also a books search where you can type in an author's name in the search box and a list of titles that the author has published will appear in chronological order. You will need to spell the author's name correctly, or it will not find any results, as I found out when I tried to type in Audrey Niffenegger's name from memory. It appears that the Timeline is retrieving its information about the book search through the website Freebase.com. In the end, I found that the books search for the Timeline worked better for some authors and not so well for other authors that I tried.

[Christi U.]

I look forward to seeing how they translate Audrey N's Time traveler's wife from book to screen. Have you seen it yet? Did you ever read her other works?

[Deborah Babb]

Oh yeah, I also enjoyed that book. I haven't read any of her other works. do you have any recommendations, Christi?

[Maya Berry]

I think the movie comes out on August 14. I am looking forward to seeing it as well, but I think I'll probably wait until it comes out on video. If you see it, let me know what you think of it if you get a chance.

Like Debi, I haven't read any of her other works. Have you?

[Christi U.]

I haven't, but I know they exist. I would love to hear a review from someone who liked TT'sW. Maya, if I get to see the movie in the theatre, I 'll definitely post a review here. Honestly though, I don't know when I'll have time.

[Suzanne Costner]

You have to find a place to live - no movies for you! I'll probably wait for lots of reviews from friends, then wind up catching it on DVD.

[Beth Dailey]

I *heart* Google! I am a HUGE fan of Gmail and have so many accounts I've lost count. I have them all roll into one that I can respond from and my emails automatically respond from the account the email was originally sent to! I have an IGoogle page to keep up with news and other "important" stuff (like my horoscope!). I really, really wanted to jump on the new labs features but my work computer does not have the correct IE to allow labs (I am embarassed to say how long it took me to figure out why I couldn't find that "lab" tab they kept showing!). I can't wait to get to another computer and try out these new and great features!

[Christi U.]

Out of curiosity, why do you have so many accounts? I have a work, a personal and a general professional e-mail accounts.

[Sally Raye]

Today a patron inquired about a computer virus unleased by North Korea. Google news timeline has the whole sequence of events and speculations. One headline was "How zombie PCs took down big U.S. Web sites." Another was "Strategy Page KOREA; Who Cares?"


Sally Raye