Wednesday, March 30, 2011

It Works! Of course, it's by Google



The wizards at Google have provided another wonder. It may not be any quicker than the recently enhanced Google Search, but it's fun! Here's what they have to say:


Welcome to Google Talk Guru!
Get started! Send a chat invitation to guru@googlelabs.com.
Google Talk Guru is an experimental service that allows people to get information like sports results, weather forecasts, definitions etc via chat. It works on many popular chat applications that support Google Talk.
To start using Google Talk Guru:
1. Sign into a chat client that supports Google Talk
2. Send a chat invitation to guru@googlelabs.com or click the link "Sign in and invite myself to chat with Guru" at the bottom of this page.
3. Find guru in your contact list and send chat queries to guru using the examples below:
Sport scores:score arsenal
Weather:weather Nairobi
Calculate:123 * 45
Currency:120 KES to USD
Definition:define laptop
Translation:translate earth to French
Web result:web Mount Kenya
Help:help translate

MatalasCo -- Web development with a sharper idea for your online presence

Friday, March 25, 2011

Yesterday's Update to OED

  The Oxford English Dictionary published its new word list yesterday, including the verb to heart as in the famous NY logo. A couple of weeks ago I saw this usage in a program title on GMA Manila TV and experienced some cognitive discomfort, the noun feeling awkward used as a verb. This OED article offers several spins on how people come to prefer usages such as this and OMG, LOL, and FYI, which are new in this OED. These initialisms occur a lot in my natural online communication. It seems I'm always editing them out, occasionally leaving them. How about you? Do you like or lament the fluidity of language change? Do you believe that SMS text shortcuts and spell-checkers are creating generations of illiterate barbarians? :-)Another whimsical fave is the 10-second rule for food morsels fallen on the floor, now in an OED near you!MatalasCo -- Your BFF with a sharper idea for your online presence


Monday, March 7, 2011

Google Maps now has Live Traffic Info


Sweet!
I just entered my wife's place of work and saw the red lines where the traffic is slow.
Use Google Search then click on Maps, or use your Android phone.





MatalasCo -- Web development with a sharper idea for your online presence

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Riding in the Google Car That Drives Itself

See videos of the car in action at the TED conference last week.

"The car traveled from San Francisco to Long Beach, California, for the conference as part of Google’s ongoing tests. Sebastian Thrun, one of the developers of the project, says he thinks we’ll see self-driving cars in the hands of consumers within our lifetimes, he notes that at this time, “It’s really just a science project … pushing the boundaries of what’s possible."
Also, here's a TechCrunch article from last October with highway videos.


MatalasCo -- Web development with a sharper idea for your online presence

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

China Starts 12th Five-Year Plan: Highlights

This article describes the two main themes of China's new economic plan, to be discussed starting tomorrow at the big annual event of the Communist Party of China. 



This is my first visit to Business Insider. There is a wide selection of articles, not only on business, but also politics, technology and, of course, the ubiquitous celebrities. Looks good!

MatalasCo -- Web development with a sharper idea for your online presence

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Other uses for Google Search

Want to convert dollars to Euro's? 
Find the current time in London? Spell check? Calculate? 
Define a word or search within a website?

The Social Media Guide offers 10 simple Google search tricks some basic and some new ones which you may find yourself using regularly. We've been using the currency converter and the recipe measurement converter a lot since we discovered them.


Thanks to Linda Lawrey for this post on Google Buzz!


MatalasCo -- Web development with a sharper idea for your online presence