Google Correlate Learn More about your Searches

Google Correlate is a website that allows its users to determine patterns in the use of search terms over time and compare it according to specific regions. It looks like Google Trends but with slight differences. Google Correlate can help you determine some extra info about your search terms such as which ones are more popular in winter, which ones were most likely to be issued in 2005,...etc.

According to Google Correlate some search words tend to have much popularity in certain states of America rather than in others.So for users to be able to find terms whose pattern of activity across the US reflects their own US states dataset, they need to enter their data using the search bar in the main page and hit " search correlations".

If you are interested in tracking the trending search terms then you can use Google Correlate to stay up-to-date.

Watch this video to learn more about Google Correlate.

Google Demo Slam Watch Awesome Tech Demos for Free

Google Demo Slam is a great  service from Google. This is a website that provides tech demos and tips. I have been exploring its content and found it Really interesting to include here. Educators and teachers can use Demo Slam to look for innovative ways to use technology in general Google services in particular.

Google Demo Slam is typically a platform where creative people and innovative minds share their awesome and unique videos of how to use technology in real life. There are several ideas and demos and what is even important is that you can also contribute with your own slam and let the world rate you. It is very easy to use and completey free of any charge.

All you need to do to start creating your Demo Slam is that upload a video into YouTube containing a new idea of how to use a piece of technology and then enter it into the demo slam and follow the steps found  here.

Why does Google created Demo Slam

This is a question that Google has answered in Demo Slam`s FAQ page when it said :``  We spend our time making a whole bunch of technologies that are free for the world, but a lot of people do not even know about them. And that kind of sucks.So, we thought of organizing the world`s most creative tech demo battle would be a great way to help spread the word and teach people about tech.``

Here are some examples of the slams I liked in Google Demo Slam

1- Google Video Chat







2- Google Goggles







3- Sky in Google Earth







4- Epic Docs Animation

Novels On Location Find Novels on Google Maps

Novels on Location is a great web service that allows its users to search for and find fiction works based on thier geographical settings. This is a smart use  of Google Maps technology to find literature works. The service is very easy to use and have a very user friendly service. It does not require any registration or software download. As soon as you are on Novels Location page you can straightforward start locating  novels by clicking on the placemarks that you see or if you have a name in your mind you can use the search bar on the upper right hand corner of the site to search for it.

Novels on Location is ont only designed to provide you with novels and other literary works but also lets you contribute with your own titles. To do so , you need to select the geographical location and then enter the title and author of the book you want to share.

Head over to Novels on Location and give it a try.

Google Image Ripper Provides Better Image Search

Google Image Ripper is a web tool that allows its users to search for and download images. It is not associated with Google in anyway except that it uses almost the same  search algorithm. Google Image Ripper "improves on the existing Google image seach tool by allowing you to safely and easily search through the results as thumbnails and also offers  a gallery of full-size images without having to surf to each website."

Performing  an image search using Google Image might look bloated and slower compared to Google Image Ripper. What I really do not like about Google Image is the fact that you always need to go to the source website and click on the full image to see it all or download it. I know this is paying credit to the source but adding their links under the image is all it takes. Imagine you want to download several images, you will spend a lot of time just going in and out of the search page and the website. Google Image Ripper works on this and provides you with search results in a minimalist layout display featuring thumbnails with a download link so you do not need to leave the seach page to download the link.

Head over to Google Image Ripper and give it a try

Google Released Inclusive Booklet for Educators

Google has recently released a great resource for educators everywhere. It has amassed all its education programs from primary school to university as well as a suite of free and open tools that " reach families and classrooms around the world" into one place called " Google in Education: A New and Open World for Learning ".

This new and all inclusive booklet from Google is meant to highlight how Googlers all around the globe are using Google products to enhance and develop teaching and learning. It covers debates and subjects ranging from physics to fiction. I personally see new  this move as a simple reaction from Google towards Apple,s latest releases which are mainly iBooks and iBooks Author. Geoole is feeling a strong competition coming from Apple in the domain of education and is now trying to shift this focus towards it services and we wont be surprised if we hear about new releases from its education department in the near future. Anyway, we do not care who competes against whom and all we want is a good service that lives up to the educational needs of this digital era.

For more information about Google s products for education and to help you stay updated about their future releases in education I would direct you to their website www.google.com/edu

Google+ Safety Guide for Educators and Parents

Google+ is now rolling out to teens whose age is 13 and up. This move has been unexpected especially with the growing concern worldwide over issues of cyberbullying and the raise of cyber crimes. Simultaneous to this release, Google announced the launch of an online safety centre for teens on Goolge+ in an attempt to ease out the worries of parents. These new safety enhancements are meant to protect teenagers, "encourage safe behaviour through appropriate defaults and in-products help, and make abuse reporting tools easy to find and use."

Google+ safety center provides a wide range of resources to teachers, parents and teens to help them learn more about how to use Google+ in a fun, smart and safe way. It has a lot of materials that we can use with our students in the classroom to sensitize them about the online privacy issues. I do recommend these tools to educators.
There are three guides provided by Google+ safety centre :
Teens Guide
This guide provides tips to teenagers on how to use Google+ and navigate the social web safely


Parents Guide
This one here is to help parents teach their kids how to stay on the righ side of the line while online


Educators Guide
This is for teachers to show their students how to operate safely and responsibly in their social expereinces online

Google Earth 6.2 Great New Features

Google 6.2 is  the latest version of Google Earth released yesterday ( 26/01/2012). This new update has several new features that improve the overall viewing experience of its users and lets them virtually explore the globe in  new intuitive ways. It provides seamless imagery with an advanced search functionality that never existed in the old versions. Google 6.2 has also introduced for the first time the ability  to share images from withing Google Earth  using Google Plus.

The following are some of the new features you will find in Google Earth 6.2 once you start using it.

• Images are no more patchy. Google Earth 6.2 uses a sophisticated technology to provide a refined imagery that " preserves the unique textures of the world s most defining geographic landscapes".
• Google Earth 6.2 provides the best earth viewing experience to both mobile and desktop users
• It allows its users to share a screenshot of their current view in Google Earth via Google+. To use this service just log on to your Google account in the upper right hand corner of Google Earth and click " Share ".
• It offers the autocomplete feature to its search functionality with several search layers showing all the relevant search results and not only the top ten as used to be before.
• Google Earth 6.2 has also added biking, transit and walking directions.

Download Google Earth 6.2 and start exploring the world.

Google Takeout Back up your Data

Goolge Takeout is a service that is provided by Google for its users to help them back up their data and even transform it to other platforms . Google has more than 70 products published online and most of them are free to use. At average every user has access to ten of its services which remains a high percentage compared to Googles competitors.

According to the recent updates, Google has changed its terms of privacy policy and makes it very easy for everyone to understand its rules without too much legal bubble. Instead of having a privacy policy for each product, Google has a universal privacy policy for al of them. This is just one update among hundreds coming up soon. I do not know if these changes have anything to do with the recent debates on SOPA ( Stop Online Piracy Act ) and PIPA ( Protect IP Act ) or just a step forward in the improvement of user- experience as Google itself claims.

As is the case with every virtual platform, some users change their mind about certain services as soon as they try them and  so they look for ways to undo what they did. for Google users who have been using its products for a certain period of time and want to quit, they need to use Google Takeout. This service will enable them to back their data and take it with them to other services if they want to.

Google Takeout lets you download your data into your computer. You can either download all of it at once or go around selecting the services from which to download it. Google products covered by the Takeout are : Circles, Contacts, Docs, Buzz, Knol, Picasa web album, Profile, Google Voice, Google+ Stream and Google+. Unfortunately Blogger is not included but if you have a blog and want to back up its data you need to head over to its setting and click on "other" and then export blog.

Head over to Google Takeout and give it a try.

Watch this video tutorial to learn more

Doodle for Google 2012 is Now Open

Doodle 4 Google for the year 2012 has already started. Participants are submitting their doodles for the competetion. Students from all over the United States from grade K to 12  are invited to take part They need to contibute with their own drawings for this year's theme which is ' If I could travel in time I'd visit " . Google has some  very motivating prizes for the winners The first doodle will have $30.000for their college and $50.000 for their school plus the winning doodle will also be featured in the Google homepage.

Read this excerpt from Google Doodle page and watch the video below to learn more about Google Doodle 2012.

" Welcome to Doodle 4 Google, a contest where we invite students in the United States to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign Google’s homepage logo for millions to see. This year we ask students to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, "If I could travel in time, I'd visit…" One lucky student artist will see their artwork appear on the Google homepage and take home some cool prizes--and as a special bonus, the winning artwork will appear on a limited edition of Crayola's iconic 64 box! "

Head over to Google 2012 to learn more.

Google Things to Do Page Offers Tips and Video Tutorials to Learn more about Google Services

Imagine you were asked to explain what Google does and name all its products and features to a group of novice users. I am sure it would take you all day to do so if you ever managed to. Thanks to Google Things to Do , you can now have access to an interactive guide listing all Google services together with tips on how  to use each one.

When you access Google Things to Do you will find a colourful page containing 52 tips that can really help you demystify the secrets of each service Google provides. Almost all tips feature a YouTube video that shows you how to try it out.

Here is a snapshot of how Google Things to Do looks like

Now you have a practically useful webpage to give to your students to let them know what Google can do  apart from searching the web.

Search Multiple Google Services Using What Do You Love Tool

Google has recently created an awesome tool called What Do You Love ( WDYL ) . This is an all-in-one search page that allows users to conduct a search for a single query using  several Google services. These services are mainly  Google Translate, Google Trends, Google Books, Google Alerts, YouTube, Maps etc.

When you first access the WDYL homepage you will see just a clean and  simple interface with a search bar in the middle as the picture  shows above. Once you type in your query and hit  that button, you will then be provided with results from different Google services in a grid based form with snippets from each search provider.

Here is a snapshot of what a result page looks like in WDYL.

Google Street View Your University Campus Guide

Google Street View has added more imagery of the university  campuses from all around the world . This is its first update in the year 2012. With this new addition students and educators will be able to virtually visit and walk around any university  campus they want provided it is included in the list.

" the Street View feature in Google Maps can be your tour guide without the backward walking. We recently added imagery of more university campuses to the existing special collections already available via Street View through our Partner Program. Let’s take a quick tour of some of the many beautiful campuses around the world."

Standfod University

Head over to Google Official Blog to learn more about this service.

Useful Tips on How to Use Google To Improve your Research

Google is the backbone of Internet and we can not imagine the world wide web without the services of this search engine. I am personally a very big fan of it and I have written several articles about its products. I have almost covered all of its services from Google Docs to Google Social Search. There are special sections in my blog devoted entirely for Google tools. You can check out these to learn more :

1. Free Google Tools
2. Google Search Tips
3. Google Tutorials
4. Google Mobile Apps

I will not be repeating myself again here in trying to show you the importance of Google in education for I have said that in over 50 articles during the last year but will instead jump right into the topic of this post. Below is an infographic that summarizes the techniques and methods we need to use to get the best out of this service. Many educators and teachers still think that all it takes to search in Google is to plug in random words in that empty search bar and hope with crossed fingers that what they are seeking will magically pop up. Unfortunately this is not the case, there are some tips and tricks that you need to be equipped with to get the most out of this search engine.

Read attentively the infographic below and try to put to test the tips it provides and you will see by yourself the efficiency  of those methods. Make sure to share it with your colleagues and students.


Created by: HackCollege

Official Google Blog: Keeping up with the 2012 U.S. election with Google.com/Elections

This is a post that is originally posted in Google Official Blog and I am giving you some of what it talks about in case you are interested to click on the link below and read the whole post in their page.

" Today, just in time for the Iowa Caucuses, we’re launching google.com/elections, an election hub where citizens can study, watch, discuss, learn about, participate in and perhaps even make an impact on the digital campaign trail as it blazes forward to Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

The site enables voters, journalists and campaigns to quickly sort through election info by popularity, race or issues. People can also check out the Trends Dashboard to take the web’s real-time political pulse by comparing candidates’ YouTube video views, search traffic and Google News mentions. Campaign staffers, advocates and everyday citizens can utilize our tools and features to reach, engage and inspire voters."

read more in

Official Google Blog: Keeping up with the 2012 U.S. election with Google.com/Elections

InserText Inser Preselected Text with just One Click

Today I am going to talk about a very important tool  called InsertText. This is a Chrome extension that allows users to save blocks of texts to paste them wherever they want. I found this extension very useful for I used to retype the same information almost  everyday when I am accessing certain websites. For instance you would always type your email address each time you want to register in an website or the like. You would also look for your email signature to annex it to a certain posting, these actions can now be done easily and with just one click. All you need to do if you are working on Chrome browser ,which I would advise you to use because of the several advantages it has over other browsers, is to install InsertText add-on and whenever you want to insert a chunk of saved text simply right click where you want to insert it, open the InsertText menu and  select the text to insert. Yes it is that easy.

Some features of InsertText

Here is a list of some of the best features that InsertText offers to its users:

• It is free
• It is easy to use
• It lets you create several blocks of text and save them for later use
• It allows you to paste the saved text with one click
• You can use either plain text or rich text format
• It lets you create multiple folders to organize different types of text

To installt InsertText you need to head over to Chrome Extension Store and click on download button.

Google Announced Great Improvements to its Apps

Google is always amazing us with its constant updates and news. Just recently some great improvements have been introduced. It has namely improved Google presentations and introduced a new version of Google docs optimized for Android tablets.


Google Presentations Updates

Google has recently added some awesome features to Google  docs enabling thus its users to build nice looking presentations, among these features we can mention as an example :

1. Users can now make great looking slides with animated builds
2. Google added advanced slide transitions
3. Google Docs has now a better support for drawings, tables and themes
4. Users can now collaboratively create presentations without the need for any attachments
5. They can also work on the same version of presentation and be able to see real time changes being done by their colleagues, they can also chat with them as they work

Google Docs Optimized for Android Tablets

With this new improvement, Google has made it easy and fast for Android tablet users to use Google Docs. The app is completely free and adds several advantages such as :

• Larger screen real estate
• Three panel view that allows users to browse filters and collections, see document lists  file thumbnails, and details simultaneously
• make quick changes to spreadsheets
• take a photo of printed text and convert it to Google docs
• share docs with your android contacts

If you want to get this app , it is free and available in Android Market
You can also visit Google Mobile Blog to learn more

Google Finally Introduced The Digital Bookcase

Google has recently introduced a new experimental product that will really amaze educators and bookworms. It is the digital bookcase. Yes you have a traditional bookcase at home in your living room where you organize your books and now you can have another bookcase that is virtual and will hold as many electronic books as possible , and guess what ? it is much organized than the traditonal one you might have home.

The digital bookcase operates with the latest technology and has an infinite 3D helix.

" The books are organized into 28 subjects. To choose a subject, click the subject button near the top of your screen when viewing the bookcase. The camera then flies to that subject. Clicking on a book pulls it off the shelf and brings it to the front and center of the screen. Click on the high-resolution cover and the book will open to a page with title and author information as well as a short synopsis, provided by the Google Books API. All of the visuals are rendered with WebGL, a technology in Google Chrome and other modern browsers that enables fast, hardware-accelerated 3D graphics right in the browser, without the need for a plug-in. " taken from Official Google Blog

Here is a video to learn more about the digital bookcase





You can also read Google's original article to learn more

Designing an Infinite Digital Bookcase

Google Plus : great news for you

As you’ve probably heard, Google+ is now open to everyone! No more invites necessary. But, that’s not all. When all your friends sign up they’ll be greeted by a bunch of new features that make Google+ a great tool for sharing and communicating on college campuses! Here are some ideas for how the new features that launch today can work for you: read more in


Google Student Blog: Open beta: How the next step for Google+ is great news for you

Official Google Blog: Google+: 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99... 100.

The Google+ project has been in field trial for just under 90 days, and in that time we’ve made 91 different improvements (many of which are posted here). Google+ is still in its infancy, of course, but we’re more excited than ever to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. Today we’re releasing nine more features that get us that much closer.read more in

Official Google Blog: Google+: 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99... 100.:

Introducing Voice Actions for Android

crossposted from

Introducing Voice Actions for Android in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain - Official Google Mobile Blog

Today, we’re pleased to announce that users in the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain can now use Voice Actions in British English, French, Italian, German and Spanish.

To use Voice Actions, tap the microphone button on the Google search box on your home screen, open the Voice Search app, or press down for a few seconds on the physical search button on your phone to activate the “Speak Now” screen. You can see how it works in this video

.