Advanced Google

December 9, 2008 flowerfarmer

I had great fun with Google Maps, especially the street views. I looked up my house, my son’s, my sister’s… They also appear to be current views, because I recognized new features on neighbors’ houses, etc. For the map-challenged this might be a great way to help with directions. Some people just need visual cues when looking for an address. One time I helped a patron looking for a picture of a house up for public auction, but I used the Cook Co Assessors Office website (didn’t know about Google maps yet). On the down side, I can see this aiding stalkers. I wonder if someone can have Google exclude an address the way you can have an unpublished phone number?

I’m quite familiar with Google News, but tried out the Shopping for the first time. I put in a specific item and got lots of eBay hits as well as retail stores. Didn’t quite have the patience to look at the details in each hit, but then again I don’t enjoy shopping much in any venue.

FYI – the Google translation feature under Language Tools is pretty good. I tested it by having my Italian-speaking brother-in-law give me phrases to translate to English and it seemed quite accurate. Now, will I get too lazy to even get up and look at a foreign language dictionary in the Reference Room?