http://malektips.com/google_help_and_tips.html Tips and tricks related to Google, including tips for using the Google search engine, Gmail, Google Groups, and Google Chrome. en-us Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:34:45 GMT Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:34:45 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Custom webmaster@envprogramming.com (Andrew Malek) webmaster@envprogramming.com (Andrew Malek) http://malektips.com/graphics/logo_88x30.gif http://malektips.com/google_help_and_tips.html 88 30 http://malektips.com/igoogle-feed-virtual-fish.html Don't want to purchase an aquarium and pay for the upkeep? Feed virtual fish on your iGoogle homepage.

Don't have the cash for an aquarium, exotic fish, fish food, and all the extras and maintenance? Add a virtual aquarium to your iGoogle page with the "Fish" gadget from Adam Bowman. Move your mouse pointer inside the gadget and the fish will follow. Press the left mouse button to release "food" and watch as the fish eat.

...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 3 Jul 2009 13:34:44 GMT http://malektips.com/igoogle-feed-virtual-fish.html http://malektips.com/igoogle-labpixies-calculator-skins.html Need to perform some basic math? Do so in style with the LabPixies Calculator for iGoogle.

If you need to add a few numbers, it's easy to use Google as a calculator or use your operating system's calculator. However, what if you'd like to use a calculator that can be changed via skins?

The LabPixies Calculator for iGoogle provides just that. Perform basic math, exponentiation, and square roots, and if you want a little variety, click the "Change Skin" button to choose from a variety of colorful skins....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 1 Jul 2009 20:02:36 GMT http://malektips.com/igoogle-labpixies-calculator-skins.html http://malektips.com/what-time-is-it-google-search.html Quickly answer the question "what time is it?" for many cities via a Google Search.

Before making a phone call or expecting a response to your e-mail or instant message, do you need to know what time it is for a city a few hundred miles away or halfway across the world? Instead of relying on third-party websites, use the Google search engine.

Performing a query in the format time CITY displays the current time in that city as well as its day of the week (Thursday in New York City may be Friday in Sydney). Some ambiguous searches where the city name matches multiple areas may show the times in both cities, or you can add the country name, province, USA state, etc. to hone in on the desired result. Instead of querying for the time in a city, you can also search for the time in a state, country, etc....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:03:57 GMT http://malektips.com/what-time-is-it-google-search.html http://malektips.com/igoogle-frogger-game.html Jump across the street and river to find your way home in this clone of Frogger for your iGoogle page.

Looking to play the arcade classic Frogger? If you're running Firefox and don't want to install a Frogger extension, or if you're running Internet Explorer, add a clone of Frogger to your iGoogle page.

You know the drill - avoid the cars and trucks, jump on the logs and turtles, and make it home before time runs out. Use the cursor keys to move. 'P' pauses the game in case you have an instant message or phone call to attend to, and 'Q' quits....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:58:26 GMT http://malektips.com/igoogle-frogger-game.html http://malektips.com/igoogle-english-yoda-translator.html Translate English to Yoda-Speak with this translator for your iGoogle page.

Star Wars fans, take note. If you would like to speak like the Jedi master Yoda, consider trying out the "Convert English to Yoda-Speak" translator for your iGoogle page. Simply insert a famous quote or some text, click the "Convert" button, and receive age-old wisdom.

To be or not to be, that is the question. - To be or to be not, the question, that is. Hmmmmmm....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:07:48 GMT http://malektips.com/igoogle-english-yoda-translator.html http://malektips.com/igoogle-currency-converter.html Convert between the Dollar, Euro, Yen, Yuan, and other currencies with this gadget for iGoogle.

Need to convert between various currencies such as the U.S. Dollar, Euro, Chinese Yuan, or Japanese Yen? Consider the FXware Currency Converter gadget for your iGoogle page, allowing you to convert currencies while performing other tasks.

You can convert between a variety of currencies, click an "invert" link to invert conversions, and click a "charts" link to display currency conversion charts over the last few days, months, or years....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:04:47 GMT http://malektips.com/igoogle-currency-converter.html http://malektips.com/google-city-tours-trips.html Google City Tours displays sample travel itineraries for major cities.

Planning on traveling to a large city and looking for places to see and things to do? One option is to use a new tool from Google Labs, Google City Tours.

Enter a starting address such as a city name, or type the address of your hotel. Google will respond with a sample itinerary with possible locations to visit such as museums, libraries, and zoos. All places are marked on a map, and Google City Tours also lists the times it takes to reach each destination. Itineraries can be customized - you can add or remove sights and change travel dates. ...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:02:35 GMT http://malektips.com/google-city-tours-trips.html http://malektips.com/igoogle-pacman-game.html Time for some ghost-chomping fun with a clone of PacMan you can play on your iGoogle page.

If you were around in the early 1980's and still have a case of Pac-Man Fever, or perhaps you want to see what all of the hype was about, check out this clone of the arcade classic PacMan for your iGoogle page.

To control PacMan use your arrow keys. If you're playing in the office (ssshhhhh!) press 'M' to mute the sound. 'P' pauses in case you need to answer the phone or e-mail, 'L' toggles the quality, and 'Q quits the game. If desired, you can click the provided link in the gadget and play the game in a larger window....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 25 Jun 2009 15:58:40 GMT http://malektips.com/igoogle-pacman-game.html http://malektips.com/igoogle-moon-phase.html Display a graphic with the current moon phase on your iGoogle page.

A simple yet popular iGoogle gadget, Current Moon Phase displays the phase of the moon, its full percentage, and the current time and date (based on your system time and date) against a starry sky.

If you need to switch hemispheres, click the down-arrow on the gadget, select "Edit settings", click the pull-down and choose the desired hemisphere, and click the "Save" button. You can also click on the half-circle inside the gadget....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:05:40 GMT http://malektips.com/igoogle-moon-phase.html http://malektips.com/google-search-population-unemployment-rate.html Google provides quick access to population and unemployment data for USA states and counties.

For research purposes it might prove useful to display the population or unemployment rate of a particular USA state or county. Perhaps you are looking to move where seemingly more jobs may be located, or are curious about the population growth (or lack therof) near your home town.

The Google search engine allows for these types of searches via the following formats:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:05:22 GMT http://malektips.com/google-search-population-unemployment-rate.html http://malektips.com/google-translate-persian-farsi.html Google has added an Alpha version of Persian (Farsi) support to Google Translate.

As noted in The Official Google Blog, seemingly in response to recent events in Iran, Google has updated their Google Translate tool to support the translation of text and webpages from Persian (Farsi) into other languages.

While this currently is not available on Google's "Language Tools" page (hyperlink is for English version), it is available via their "Google Translate" page at http://translate.google.com/. To perform a translation:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:38:38 GMT http://malektips.com/google-translate-persian-farsi.html http://malektips.com/igoogle-nature-themes.html Theme your iGoogle homepage with nature-related images including songbirds, the ocean, and birds of prey.

Google's iGoogle allows you to create a personalized Google homepage where you can perform searches, play games, check stocks, read e-mail, and more.

iGoogle homepages can be themed, and Google has created a page focusing on several nature-related themes you can install from BBC Earth, the National Audubon Society, National Geographic, and various nature photographers. Themes include:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:45:52 GMT http://malektips.com/igoogle-nature-themes.html http://malektips.com/igoogle-showcase-celebrity-homepage.html See how famous people such as Dave Matthews, Martha Stewart, and Donald Trump are personalizing their iGoogle homepages.

Google's iGoogle lets you create and customize a homepage where you can perform web searches, check your Gmail account, display weather reports, view news items, and even play a clone of Pac-Man.

To showcase some of what can be done with iGoogle and to offer glimpses in the lives of some famous people, Google has created the iGoogle Showcase, displaying the homepages created by 30 people such as Seth Godin, Wyclef Jean, Dave Matthews, Rachel Ray, Andy Roddick, Martha Stewart, and Donald Trump....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 4 Jun 2009 16:21:41 GMT http://malektips.com/igoogle-showcase-celebrity-homepage.html http://malektips.com/google-news-text-only.html Search Google News without Photos and Other Imagery

');//-->Windows Live Mail automatically checks messages such as e-mail as you type, underlining suspected problem words with the now familiar red squiggles. This way you can see while composing your message if any words need to be examined for correctness.By default, although Windows Live Mail performs this automatic spell check, you can completely ignore it and send your message anyway. Sometimes you may do this intentionally; other times you may be sending batches of e-mail and not even notice the squiggles. By making the following small configuration change you can have Windows Live Mail force you to deal with the problem words before sending your messages.');//-->Windows Live Mail showing the "Spelling" dialog box to alert the user that "financil" is not a known word');//-->1. Access ...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Mon, 25 May 2009 19:33:28 GMT http://malektips.com/google-news-text-only.html http://malektips.com/google-image-search-domain.html Only show matching images from Google Image Search that are hosted on a specified website.

When performing Google Image Search queries, you often may find yourself scrolling through pages of unusable results, looking mainly for images contained on particular sites. When searching for photos relating to breaking news, your best results may come from newspapers, TV stations, and blogs. Photos of athletes often can be found by querying the league's site. And screenshots of computers, phones, and other devices may be found at the manufacturer's homepage.

Instead of searching the entire web, you can limit Google Image Search to look for pictures contained on a particular site. Here are two ways to do so:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Fri, 8 May 2009 13:43:26 GMT http://malektips.com/google-image-search-domain.html http://malektips.com/google-news-add-local-news.html Display local news on the Google News homepage.

Besides displaying national, world, and topic-oriented news stories, Google News can display stories targeted to your local area or another area of your choosing. This lets you find information from your local newspaper, television stations, and other sources. The quick way to do so is listed first, followed by a way to store your settings between sessions in case you do not save browser cookies.

Scroll down the Google News homepage and underneath "Local News" you should see a box labeled "View stories near". Enter a city name or US zip code to display targeted stories and click the "Add" button. The page will reload with stories from your targeted area, and you can click "Show more stories" or "Show fewer stories" to adjust the amount of local coverage....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Wed, 6 May 2009 16:29:25 GMT http://malektips.com/google-news-add-local-news.html http://malektips.com/google-image-search-color.html Limit your image searches to photos and other pictures mostly containing a given color.

When searching for clip-art, photographs, and other images with Google Image Search, you may require pictures mostly containing a given color. Perhaps you need a red race car, a yellow chrysanthemum flower, or a green apple.

Instead of searching through dozens, hundreds, or perhaps thousands of results and manually looking for matching images, you can perform color-specific queries in one of several ways:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Mon, 4 May 2009 16:02:45 GMT http://malektips.com/google-image-search-color.html http://malektips.com/google-news-timeline.html Search for news articles, displaying a timeline of when resulting stories were written.

While Google News lets you search for news items published within a particular range of dates, perhaps you are searching for a particular news story or subject of a story and do not know the exact date when the information was written? Or what if you are researching a news story or subject that spans months, if not years, and to get a synopsis of the available information you'd like to view articles written over that period?

A Google Labs project called Google News Timeline lets you display a graphical timeline of when matching articles were written. The timeline can span days, weeks, months, years, or decades. For example, a search for "Stephen Colbert" over the last few years may display a 1999 news article from the "New York Daily News" touting "A PROMISING START FOR JON STEWART'S 'DAILY SHOW'", a 1997 "New York Times" opinion piece co-written by Stephen Colbert, and a "USA Today" 2005 article discussing his show. ...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:18:17 GMT http://malektips.com/google-news-timeline.html http://malektips.com/google-image-search-exact-size.html Limit your Google Image Searches to images matching an exact size.

While you can use Google Image Search to search for images by relative size such as small or large, what if you need to search for images of an exact size?

The following are two ways you can limit results to images of a specified height and weight in pixels:...

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:06:43 GMT http://malektips.com/google-image-search-exact-size.html http://malektips.com/google-news-limit-title-allintitle.html Force Google News to only display resulting articles where the query is located in a story's title.

By default when you perform a search in Google News, if Google finds your query in an article's title, body, or URL, the article may appear in your search results.

However, there may be times where you want to limit your searches to where the query is in the article title, removing results where the query is located only in the article body. This assumes that articles with titles matching your query are more focused on your desired subject....

Read more at MalekTips.]]> Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:51:49 GMT http://malektips.com/google-news-limit-title-allintitle.html