Woah, that was a long break. Anyways, seeing as how Google is slowly beginning to conquer the internets, what with the out-of-beta Gmail, the upcoming Google OS, Google Wave, etc. I thought it would be useful if I put this up, now it is definitely missing a lot of newer Google apps and services, but it is taken from a book from 2006, its called 55 Ways to have fun with Google by Philipp Lenssen. Watch out for Part Two of All About Google where I will show you neat tricks and tips about Google’s Search Engine.

Oh, by the way, Tony is a Google Dev.

Tony, what is Picasa?
Tony: It’s a photo management/ organization application. You can download a program that allows you to manipulate your images.

What is Google Talk?
Tony: It’s an IM – Instant Messenger – application that allows online conversations and VoIP, Voice over IP.

What is Google Earth?
Tony: It’s fantastic! I’ve told my friends that it’s arguably the best thing to appear on the Internet this year! Seriously though, it’s a program that allows you view the earth from space. You can zoom in and view certain areas really close up.

What is Google Labs?
Tony: In my view, Google Labs isn’t really a service as such. It’s simply a name they give to many new releases that don’t quite make it to Beta. It often consists of smaller projects that some of the Google Employees create in their 20% time.

What is Google Local?
Tony: It’s pretty much like an online service directory, like the Yellow Pages. In fact, Google Local UK uses Yell.com for its results, I think. It’s recently been integrated with Google Maps so that it’s easier to see  where the businesses are located.

What is Google Scholar?
Tony: It’s an online search that searches educational papers and theses, things like that.

What is Google Video?
Tony: It’s a video search that searches for videos that have been uploaded by the public or by a number of different associations who have agreed to let their content be available for free. I think it only searches the description or transcript that’s been provided by the user.

What is Google Answers?
Tony: Google Answers is an “ask the expert” service where you can submit a question, name your price and, hopefully, get an answer from an expert in the field.

What is Froogle?
Tony: It’s an online price comparison service to help you with your online shopping.

What are Google Alerts?
Tony: Basically, Google will send you an email whenever something new appears in the Google web results or Google News.

What is Google Desktop?
Tony: Google Desktop started off as a desktop application – Google Desktop Search – that enabled you to search your PC for information. I think it’s turned into something much bigger now, where you can add your own bits to it. I’ve never used it.

What are Google Groups?
Tony: Google Groups encapsulates Usenet groups as well as Usenetstyle groups that have been created by Google Account owners. They are basically discussion forums/ mailing-lists.

What was Google X?
Tony: I think it was a service similar to the existing home page that used a Mac OS X style interface. It appeared in Google Labs but then disappeared. Presumably because of legal reasons… but we don’t know. I never saw it, but I’ve seen some copies of it.

What is Google Base?
Tony: Good question. It seems to be everything! It’s an online repository where people can upload practically any data that has a structure. It can be used for storing things like recipes, people profiles and classified ads. So you can advertise anything you might have for sale – although there’s no way to take payment via Google Base at the moment. In short, it’s an online database application.

What is Google Analytics?
Tony: It’s a web stats analysis application. You place some JavaScript in your website which then collects data from your visitors using cookies. Google Analytics takes all this data and analyzes it, creating graphs and reports about your visitors’ trends.

What is Google Sets?
Tony: It’s in Google Labs. I looked at it a long time ago so I’ve forgotten exactly what it does! I think it’s a service that lets you provide several items – up to five, I think – and Google will suggest some more items that are in the same group.