Google Adds a Few More Zeros

If you read the Tech Journal in The Heights a few weeks ago, you heard about how Google.com is revolutionizing the way data is accessed online. Its effects are so far reaching that the term "google" is becoming a word in common usage (originally from googol, meaning 10^100, hence the witty title). However, their innovation is not limited to the world wide web; a slate of new Google products is changing the way we access all sorts of information: from pictures to email to IM conversations.

GMail, Google's mail service, is a clever new way to do email. Each user is given one gigabyte of storage space, which means that one really doesn't need to delete email. Combined with Google's search tools, you can build your own archive of information, recalling old conversations by keyword at will. GMail is still in beta testing, so you need to be invited by a current user in order to open an account. Fortunately, this website allows users to donate their extra invites so people who don't have an account (like you) can get an invite from a stranger.

Picasa is Google's streamlined approach to managing a digital photo album. Referred to by man web gurus as "iPhoto for the PC", Picasa combines simplicity and innovation to organize and store your digital pictures for easy manipulation, sorting, and sharing. The program scans your hard drive for all photos, then lets you input captions, descriptions, dates, etc. while also sorting the photos into albums. This data can also be imported from filenames and/or existing directories. The developers of Hello have teamed up with the Picasa team to create a messaging client that allows you to share your photos with your friends and family - and gives you the ability to chat about it. It also has an easy upload feature to allow you to share your photos on a blog or website. Though I initially had some problems with this, an upgrade to my Mozilla Firefox web browser corrected it - and the streamlined integration from Picasa -> Hello -> Blogger makes everything about digital pictures incredibly convienient.

Google Desktop Search is a new search tool from Google that searches one's own hard drive. After initial installation, it takes a few hours (do it overnight) to index your entire hard disk. It looks at all your files (from pictures to word documents to previously visited webpages to IM conversations) and indexes them for quick searching. It logs your IM conversations, emails, and web history (though these features can be turned off for privacy reasons) and stores them for later access. At a later date, you can search for keywords from a previous conversation or email without knowing the date or anything about it and it will generate results from your own computer in true Google fashion.

Various versions of these programs exist, from browser plugins to toolbars, so you can choose the format which works best for you. The three of them are extremely useful, especially when used in conjunction with each other or other applications. The ease with which Google products access data make technology more and more valuable and make human-computer interaction more and more painless. Isn't that the point after all?