Archive for September, 2009
Google SMS
Talking on the phone has never been something I enjoy. By far, my favorite way to use my phone is to use the SMS text messaging service. In a previous article, I wrote about 20 cool things most people probably don’t know you can do with your SMS service. If you are like me, you’ve grown accustomed to relying on the internet to provide you with instant answers to all of your questions from “what time does the bank close” to “what was the band that sang that one song?” But even if you don’t have internet access on your cell phone, you aren’t necessarily cut off from all the answers. You can get answers to many of these just by sending text messages to various service providers.
I find Google SMS services to be the most useful in my daily life. If you send a text message to “GOOGL” (“46645”) with your search text, you get an instant reply. Here’s some of my favorite Google SMS searches.
Q&A
Here’s how it works. Maybe you have a question. For instance, you want to know when President Obama was born. You whip out your handy phone and text “Barack Obama Birthday” to Google’s SMS number. Within seconds, you should get a reply something like this (complete with the reference website):
Movies
Texting “movies 48917” will return numbered list of movies currently showing. For example, I received:
If you reply to that message with the number for a specific movie, Google SMS sends you the times that movie is playing. So I reply with the number 2 (or if you already know what movie you want to see, you can skip the first step and just send “gamer 48917” as your text message). Google’s response:
Weather
Texting “weather lansing” (or “weather 48917”) returns something like this:
…and so much more
The following list of additional searches and sample queries comes from Google SMS’s own page. One real handy thing is that Google SMS will remember your zip code once you set it (text “location 48917” or “location Lansing” to Google to set your default location). Once you’ve set your location, you can simply text “movies” instead of “movies 48917.”
| Search Feature | Sample Query |
|---|---|
| Local | sushi 94040 |
| Glossary | define zenith |
| Sports | score red sox |
| Stocks | stock tgt |
| Zip Codes | zip code 72202 |
| Directions | directions pasadena ca to 94043 |
| Maps | map 5th avenue new york |
| Flights | flight aa 2111 |
| Area Codes | area code 650 |
| Products | price ipod player 40gb |
| Airlines | united airlines |
| Translation | translate hello in french |
| Web Snippets | web hubble telescope |
| Calculator | 1 us pint in liters |
| Currency |
8 usd in yen |
| Airports*** | sfo airport |
| Help | help local |
| Local time | time new york |
1 comment September 18, 2009
Easy-Breezy Bibliographies
Enter source data and let Word 2007 make the bibliography.
Continue Reading Add comment September 14, 2009
Computer Classes
Friendly reminder to Capital Area District Library patrons, next week Friday is the Job Searching class from 10-12 at the Downtown Library Branch. Please register for class by calling 367-6356. In this class we will cover resume templates in Word 2007, online job searching strategies and tips and some of the key features of monster.com and careerbuilder.
Add comment September 11, 2009
Downloading Streaming Videos
YouTube has become one of the most popular sites online for watching streaming videos. One common complaint though is that you can’t easily save these videos to watch at a later time. Here are three different ways to do just that.
Keepvid is designed to assist you in downloading streaming videos. It’s interface is entirely through the website so you don’t need to download any additional programs. It even has a button you can drag to your browser to make saving videos easier. It also offers an option to convert videos to different formats including .mp3 so you can watch it on your ipod.
VideoDownloader is essentially the same program as Keepvid however it operates as an extension of firefox and can used when you are using the firefox web browser.
One final, commercial, version is Snagit which is available for a free trial but then costs $50 for the full version. Snagit offers a wider range of options for capturing streaming video including screen stills and other video editing.
Add comment September 2, 2009
LinkedIn has been mentioned once before on CADL’s Tech Corner, but today, we’re going to delve into a little more detail on the subject. Is it relevant? Should I bother? Is it safe? In short, the answer to all these questions is yes.
First of all, having a LinkedIn account is a good idea if you’re looking for a job these days. It’s a way of communicating to a potential employer that you’re computer-savvy, and it’s also a way for you to easily send an alternative form of your resume to them. I have been on LinkedIn for years and have found that it’s a great way to remain in contact with former co-workers.
Creating an account is easy, all you have to do is visit www.linkedin.com, and follow the directions given on screen.
Once you have an account, you can add a photo, resume information, join alumni and work groups/networks, and connect with present and past co-workers and friends. More recently, LinkedIn has also added Facebook-style applications that allow you to connect your LinkedIn profile to certain blogging sites, Google Presentation, and others.
Add comment September 1, 2009
