Blue Helm » google

Google Maps is for everyone

Emory Cook — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:48:20 +0000

Yes, I am oddly obsessed with Google Maps. I’ve always been a geography nerd, so Google Maps is like some sort of drug that satiates my permanent desire to inspect topographical anomalies, extreme locations and the earth’s antipodes. But Google Maps isn’t just for weird geo-addicted goobers like me. Google Maps is for everyone. And if you’re using any other map service online, like MapQuest or Yahoo! Maps, you should definitely convert to Google.

Google Maps would have made Christopher Columbus pee his pants.

This link takes you to a really cool site called Google Maps tips for life. It’s a user-friendly page that navigates you through all the cool things that Google Maps can do to help you find local businesses, addresses and directions. It also shows you Google Maps’ cool features like the Virtual Walking Tour, My Maps and Map Maker.

As our world gets smaller and online tools evolve, it becomes easier to explore the amazing places around us. In my humble opinion, Google Maps is one of the coolest Internet sites to come into existence. And it’s only getting better.

Social media’s newest loser wannabe—Google Buzz

Emory Cook — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 17:52:37 +0000

One day when I was in the third grade, one of my classmates showed me that trick where you hold a pencil and shake it to make it look like it’s rubber. You know the one. At the time, I thought that was the coolest thing any human child had ever done and possibly would ever do. I mean seriously—the pencil was wobbling as if it were RUBBER. Unprecedented. I showered praises on my talented peer and so did most other kids sitting around me. He did the trick for a while, until some other kid sitting near us shouted, “Hey look at me! I can do it too!” We all looked and witnessed his sorry attempt at the pencil trick, paling in comparison to our other friend’s feat. We severely berated him, telling him that he was just trying to copy what was already done to look cool. He was a wannabe.

Today I experienced a remarkable sensation of déjà vu….Google Buzz is that wannabe kid.

Now let’s be clear: I love Google. I love Gmail, Google Search, Google Maps, Google News, Google Wave, Google Earth, Google Everything. But this new attempt to jump on the social media bandwagon is lame at the very least. Why does Google even think its new social network can compete with Twitter or Facebook? It’s too closed up, too walled-in. With Google Buzz, you can only share information with other Gmail users. It also sends every Buzz update to my Gmail Inbox, which infuriates me to no end. And it’s just a ripoff of Microsoft and Yahoo’s previous attempts to integrate social media with email.

I’m not opposed to new, innovative and creative social networks that compete with Facebook and Twitter. Competition is healthy, even in a saturated market. But Google Buzz offers nothing new and only succeeds in annoying me.

Am I missing something? Do you love Google Buzz? Will Google prove me wrong and dominate the social network market? Let me know what you think.

Bloggers & Students Will Benefit Most from Google Wave

Emory Cook — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:13:44 +0000

Google Wave is all the fuss in the digital world, especially after Google invited 100,000 people to test out the beta program yesterday (alas, I was not one of the Chosen—I coped with the pain last night by drinking excessive quantities of root beer and watching Hocus Pocus).

All the tech gurus are chattering about how it will transform the way we communicate online and I think that’s absolutely true. According to Google Wave’s website, the new program “is an online communication and collaboration tool that makes real-time interactions more seamless — in one place, you can communicate and collaborate using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.” If you haven’t done so already, I highly recommend you watch Google’s super-cool overview to learn more.

I understand that Google Wave has the potential of altering the way everybody communicates online. But which industries will benefit the most from Google Wave? Who will profit from its innovation first? A few ideas:

Bloggers: As far as writing the post, I would love to collaborate, edit and research in real time with Chad. No more back-and-forth emails! The writing process becomes a fluid conversation as opposed to a sluggish, spasmodic procedure. Readers could also contribute and participate to a post in ways far more interactive than currently possible.

Journalists: I stole this one from an article in the Los Angeles Times. It points out that reporters could use Google Wave to discuss, liaise and archive more efficiently (similar to the way bloggers could use the tool).

Students/Professors: Imagine using a syllabus or taking notes with Google Wave! It will be such an innovational and valuable tool to communicate with other professors or students. And group projects won’t be nearly as asinine.

Event Planners: A collaborative tool like Google Wave would be of infinite value to anyone preparing or arranging an event with other people. Updated photos, links and content would be continuously available for reviewing and editing by anyone involved.

Politicians: Drafting a bill on Google Wave? It sounds like a promising idea. But I doubt even Google can resolve Washington’s chronic corruption and ambiguity. Oh well. At least there’s this.