Online search giant, Google, often tests the waters for new
services by rolling out a "beta" (first) version of an idea
to gauge public reaction.
By employing this strategy, it's easy to imagine a building
full of creative, "mad scientist" types cooking up the
latest and greatest online gizmos.
In fact, you can take a peek at what's cooking at Google by
logging on to http://labs.google.com.
There you'll find glimpses of the true "bleeding edge"
technology Google thinks will shape the way we use
information on the Internet in the very near future.
** Online Video Search **
Log on to http://video.google.com to see the next step in
Google's quest to become the world's foremost repository of
online and offline information.
This first attempt at providing searchable data about video
is currently restricted to recent television shows.
Unlike the video search at rival Yahoo!
( http://video.yahoo.com ) which provides a searchable
database of actual video clips available for viewing right
online, Google's video search results take the browser to a
page with still frame images and text transcripts of the
show.
Since it rates much easier to search text than video, this
particular format of transcript combined with still frame
should win out over the straight video clip method (at
least for now).
** Help With Keyword Searches **
One problem everyone encounters periodically online
involves wanting to find something, but not knowing exactly
how to phrase the request to a search engine.
You sort of know what you want, but aren't 100% sure how to
phrase it or the results you get from the phrases you use
don't give you the results you want.
Log on to http://labs.google.com and click the
"Google Suggest" link (currently third link from the top on
the left side of the page).
This link takes you to a search page where, as you type in
your keyword phrase, Google will make additional
suggestions on related search terms you should consider.
Other gizmos in the Google "lab" include: Google Maps.
Google Desktop and Google Scholar.
** Recent Graduates From The "Lab" **
Some recent graduates of the Google Lab include:
"Web Alerts" - Log on to http://www.google.com/alerts to
receive an email notification any time a new web page or
news article enters the Google database containing a search
phrase you specify.
This provides an excellent means to quickly find new sites
that mention anything from your favorite movie star to use
of a trademarked product name you want to monitor.
"Search By Location" - Log on to http://local.google.com to
find local businesses and other interesting information
based on geography.
A search on "printing" in "norge, va" immediately brought
up the Print well printer I use, and a search for "Mexican"
in "light foot, van" turned up my favorite Mexican
restaurant.
Also, a search for "museum" in "williamsburg, va" turned up
some very interesting places I didn't know existed, even
though we live in a tourist town.
I actually doubt that Google hires mad scientists, but by
the looks of all the projects they have going, it's safe to
say they hire extremely creative people who like to push
the boundaries of technology.
