Great Google Tools

I don’t usually write about tech stuff on this blog (or anywhere else for that matter). However, I thought I’d write a blog about two great tools that Google has developed which have helped me get the most out of the internet in the last year. Each of these tools can be accessed via Google’s web search page and you don’t ever need to download or install programs to your computer in order to use them. Google is basically building a set of online desktop applications. Pretty cool.

Google Video Chat

I have long been a fan of Skype for making cheap international calls over the internet (free between Skype users). But I found that some of the people I most want to keep in touch with had a hard time installing, configuring or using the program. Google has now circumvented this problem for users of Gmail with its built in chat software. Now you can even make video calls to other gmail users with your computer’s webcam. Over the Christmas season we were able to have “face-to-face” conversations with everybody in the Edminster family using this technology so I’m in!

Google Reader

The net has finally developed the ability to provide you with up to date news on all the topics you are interested in. The trouble is, now you’ve got handful of sites to visit on a regular basis rather than one central “newstand” where you can skim titles and pick up what looks good while you’re on your way to something else.

That’s where RSS technology comes into play. RSS is like a little news ticker built into a web site. If you have an RSS reader, you can subscribe to and organize these little RSS ticker tapes and collect them all in one place. Most of the time, you need to download reader software and set it up on your compluter. But I prefer Google Reader which is accessible online and very easy to use. For all the top sites that I visit the most, I now look for the universal RSS icon or for a link that say “subscribe to this feed”. Google does all the importing for me and all I have to do is visit Reader for my daily update.

And guess what? Edminsters Online has RSS feeds too. So instead of coming to visit to check if there’s anything new, you can subscribe to our feed and have updates sent to your reader automatically.

If you’d like a little tutorial on how to set either of these up, let me know in the comments section and I’ll write another post.