Google Alerts
Google has made many free services available to the public. The Google Search function is undoubtedly the best known but there are several others that you could be using in your everyday life.
A friend and I were looking at Google Earth together when it first became available. This program allows you a very detailed bird’s eye view of the world from the comfort of your computer chair. Some areas are much clearer than others and you can zoom in or out plus rotating your view. It’s an interesting way to look at our world.
Google does not discuss their sources very much but there is an aging factor to consider. My house (in eastern Oklahoma) was fuzzy and difficult to see clearly. My friend’s old house in Texas was crystal clear and we were able to see his car in the driveway. He had moved from there about two years ago so the view wasn’t current. As much as this program has been touted to agencies who want to market an area and use Google Earth as a selling resource, this should be considered. And from a buyer’s perspective, you might want to remember that the view may not be current when an agent uses it to show the area’s development. The paid version of this service may be more up to date than this free version.
The program you may want to start using for yourself regularly is the Google Alerts. This program will send you a once daily digest of web pages that have been created about whatever topic you chose. I was using it to keep me posted about the new Google Checkout payment service (I’ll discuss that in an upcoming Muse). Every day I would be told where new articles had been created as companies around the world shared their views and experiences about the new way to pay on-line.
This isn’t just for businesses, though. You could easily set up an Alert about any topic that you want to know more about. It is very easy to set up and delete or change the Alerts you want to see. Unlike some other alerting systems I’ve tried, this one is clean and doesn’t inundate your inbox with excess mail. You could set up alerts about your favorite personality, sports team, news item, fishing destination, vacation destination, your company or even your school. In this day of information overload, this may be one of the best free services you can find.
A friend and I were looking at Google Earth together when it first became available. This program allows you a very detailed bird’s eye view of the world from the comfort of your computer chair. Some areas are much clearer than others and you can zoom in or out plus rotating your view. It’s an interesting way to look at our world.
Google does not discuss their sources very much but there is an aging factor to consider. My house (in eastern Oklahoma) was fuzzy and difficult to see clearly. My friend’s old house in Texas was crystal clear and we were able to see his car in the driveway. He had moved from there about two years ago so the view wasn’t current. As much as this program has been touted to agencies who want to market an area and use Google Earth as a selling resource, this should be considered. And from a buyer’s perspective, you might want to remember that the view may not be current when an agent uses it to show the area’s development. The paid version of this service may be more up to date than this free version.
The program you may want to start using for yourself regularly is the Google Alerts. This program will send you a once daily digest of web pages that have been created about whatever topic you chose. I was using it to keep me posted about the new Google Checkout payment service (I’ll discuss that in an upcoming Muse). Every day I would be told where new articles had been created as companies around the world shared their views and experiences about the new way to pay on-line.
This isn’t just for businesses, though. You could easily set up an Alert about any topic that you want to know more about. It is very easy to set up and delete or change the Alerts you want to see. Unlike some other alerting systems I’ve tried, this one is clean and doesn’t inundate your inbox with excess mail. You could set up alerts about your favorite personality, sports team, news item, fishing destination, vacation destination, your company or even your school. In this day of information overload, this may be one of the best free services you can find.
posted by Mike Myklin at 6:26 AM
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