 "Photo: Caleb Miller; The Daily Texan")
It’s been over a decade since Larry Page and Sergery Brin started Google as a collaborative project while in graduate school. The search engine is now an ever-expanding empire, dipping into other markets including radio.
Their expansive web content, though, is what makes Google. You can get free instruction from Google black belts at the PCL Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. But if you’re pressed for time, just follow my lead.
One of the coolest Google features that may have flown under your radar is iGoogle, formerly known as Google Personalized Homepage.
My former homepage — as I push my glasses up the bridge of my nose and giggle nasally — happened to be UT’s Web site until I set up iGoogle. If you have a Gmail account, getting your iGoogle page up and running is a cakewalk. Simply click “more” at the top of the page where your inbox opens. Now scroll down to “even more,” and you’ll have at your disposal all of Google’s goodies.
You’ll find iGoogle in the “Search” category. Click it, and a very unpersonalized homepage will pop up. That means it’s time to add gadgets and RSS feeds. Gadgets, which you can add simply by pressing “Add stuff” at the right-hand side of the iGoogle page, run the gamut from games and jokes of the day to weather forecasts and an application that tells you the current phase of the moon.
Your homepage is completely customizable. When you add gadgets to your page, they are situated in boxes. If you don’t like where they’re placed, you can always manipulate their positions with your mouse.
I have a calendar fixed up in the top left, my day’s digital to-do list right below it and my Gmail inbox sits front and center — I compulsively monitor my inbox and need it there.
I have several RSS feeds on my iGoogle homepage. I get New York Times headlines, New York Times Science and Pitchfork Media (I know, I know).
You can also customize the look of your homepage by clicking “Select theme.” If you find that these themes resemble the rather dull wallpapers that come with your PC, try perusing some of the artist-rendered themes.
Google Books is another tool in the Web searcher’s arsenal. It can come in handy when you’re in need of a leisure read, looking for cookbook recipes or researching for class. The feature provides limited previews for most books still in copyright, but for others, the full text is typically available.
Run a search for “A Modest Proposal,” and you’ll have a copy of Jonathan Swift’s classic essay at your fingertips. You can download the book and read it offline or, better yet, print it and own a hard copy without purchasing a ridiculously expensive anthology of British literature.
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