Virtual Notebooks: Google Notebook

Yesterday we discussed OneNote, a very good program for native use (you have to install it on your hard drive). Today we are going to talk about Google Notebook, a very good Web-based program that requires access to the internet but no installation.

Basic Concept: Take a look at the home page:

• On the left, you will see a list of the notebooks. Create new notebooks by clicking on "Create a new notebook" link. You can then name your notebook. If you need to rename it later, just click on the title where it shows up above the notebook's contents. You can also you use the "tools" dropdown menu. When you click on a notebook, it opens it and displays its contents. The open notebook displayed is "Cool Sites."
  
• Sections are displayed as blue bar headings. Sections are created by simply clicking the blank space inside a notebook and selecting the "add Section" link. That will place a blue bar dividing your notebook and prompting you to name it. The sections in the picture above are Software, Blogs, and Tech News. These different sections can be made to show and hide their contents. The open section is Blogs and it is displaying its only note.
• Notes are created under each section by selecting "Add Note" from the toolbar or by clicking in the blank space of a section and simply typing. You can type notes and edit the text using the very basic text editing options. The picture below shows the basic toolbar for text editing. You can change the font, bold, italics, underline, color, bullets, numbering, spacing, hyperlinks, undo, redo, and remove formatting. You will also notice the "New Note" button.

Features:

1. Get access to your notes from anywhere: Notebooks are saved online and you can access them anywhere where you have internet access. Simple, straight-forward, easy.
   
2. Take Notes while browsing: Many browsers (especially Firefox) allow for a Google Notebook Add-on which enables you to take notes while browsing. Lets say that I am looking up information on the Fourth Amendment and the Exclusionary rule. If I find a site or information that I like, I can click on bottom right corner of my browser and type notes as I am reading. I can also create a hyperlink in my notes for future reference. If I find a quote I like, I can highlight it, right click and select "Note This" and it will go into my notes. Here is an examplel:
3. Easy Sharing and Collaboration: You can click the "Share" link and collaborators to the notebook. Say you are in class and want to take notes collectively with a study group - or perhaps you are working on a project at work and need to collaborate with coworkers. Either way, Google Notebook makes sharing easy to accomplish.

Why I like it and Why I don't: Google Notebook is not a whole lot different than Mircrosoft's OneNote on a basic level. However, if you were to use OneNote for a while then switch to Google Notebook, you will likely find that Google Notebook is a little different conceptually and may even feel like it is harder to use. If you were to switch from using Google Notebook to OneNote, you would find that OneNote offers a lot more in the way of features and functionality. Google uses the same structure (notebook > Section > Page), it does it differently and perhaps a little less cleanly. This is mostly because Google Notebook is a purely a web-based application while OneNote is installed on your operating system. Applications on the web take away fundamentals like the functionality of a right click. However, Google Notebook may be exactly what you are looking for in a notebook application, especially if you are always online.

Google Notebooks is perfect for simple note taking. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that OneNote has and it certainly does not have the rich text editing. That may be a problem for users that are looking to take extensive, quality notes for school or work. OneNote is the more effective option for the virtual notebook "power user". However, if you are just looking to take notes at school, research, work on the web, websites you like, make simple shopping lists, to-do lists, or whatever - Google Notebook is a great option and its FREE.

Tomorrow I will discuss Evernote. It combines the two approaches we have discussed, allowing you to install the software AND use it online... and its free.

IMDB and IMDB... for music

IMDb - Internet Movie Database. If you want to know about movies, you go to the Internet Movie Database. Its a massive collection of pretty much every movie ever made. You have probably stumbled across it anytime you have googled a specific movie or even star. You can get plot summaries, cast listings (even click on specific stars and get all their career information), ratings (even specific information about exactly what is in movies), reviews, and a host of other information. I love to look at the top 250 movies and get ideas of movies to see or re-see. Well that's all fine and good...

BUT, WHERE IS THE OTHER IMDb (Internet MUSIC Database)? While various resources exist which definitely resemble an online music database, the most straightforward answer is that there really isn't one yet. Arguably, it seems only logical that there should be a database of information about music, bands, songs, or whatever. Compared against movies however, music is a much more complex animal. Think about how many groups and artists there are. Think about how many labels exist for each of them. Think about the vast complexity of information - from concerts to album releases to band members - that exists in the world of music. Truly, compiling a database for music is an extremely daunting task - especially in terms of what IMDB offers.

So what are some of the resources that can help in the quest for information about music:

1. Google: obviously - this isn't the most all-in-one solution for information. Using it to get information about Music is more time consuming and daunting a task than other options on the list.
2. iTunes (Amazon)- want information about music - go to where its sold! iTunes is one of the most vast compilations of music for sale on the web. Not only dones iTunes bring you information about artists and songs, it brings you information about artists and songs that are alike, thereby giving you a means to conceptualize what kind of music you are looking at and find more music that fits your taste. See Genius Sidebar. As for Amazon, same concept, just a little more difficult to use - in my opinion.
   
3. SoundUnwound - this is Amazon and IMDB's early attempt at making a music database. Its in the beta stage of its development but to me, it seems to be a pretty darn good start. You can search any person, group, or band and it shoots back a list of results for what you might be looking for. I searched the band U2. There were thousands of matches for the band, but I knew from looking that the first option was the band summary. The site then provides the following: profile, discography, members, and "like U2... well check out..." Go check out a band or person you want and see how you like it. The benefit of using SoundUnwound to iTunes is that you get information about each individual in the band and you can use that to find what other band or music that person has influenced. I have a feeling I will be talking about this again in the future.
4. Soundflavor - if you've heard it, they probably have it - Soundflavor compiles music by genre, decade, lyrics, songs, and artists so that you make music and video playlists. Postable on Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, blogs, and other websites, Soundflavor's more than a share-site, it's a place to discover. Search over the extended musical listings and discover new artists and sounds. Did I mention that some free music tracks are downloadable? With 30,000 songs and climbing, Soundflavor is definitely a resourceful guide to music! I will likely be re-visiting this site as well.
   
5. Pandora - are you looking for music similar to music that you like? Why not just listen to some music on Pandora for awhile, pay attention to what you hear, and take note of what you hear?
6. Any other ideas? Let me know!

So there you have it, IMDb and IMDb for Music! Search, Learn, Discover, Enjoy!

Open Source OS's Part 2: Ubuntu

Welcome to Part 2 of Open Source Operating Systems. If you missed Part 1, click here. Today we will focus on Ubuntu. I really like Ubuntu. It was the first Linux distro that I used and I really think it is intuitive and very similar to Windows XP. This is how I will break down each exploration of the operating systems featured in the mini-series: Basic Introduction (background, history) and then Basic Features (userability and how it compares to Windows). The breakdown will be pretty simple but hopefully give you enough of an introduction to understand how you could benefit from it.

Introduction

Ubuntu says this about themselves: "Ubuntu is a community developed, Linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need - a web browser, presentation, document and spreadsheet software, instant messaging and much more." It was made by a develpoment team (and a community of open developers) for developers and for the use of an everyday Joe like me. So the intimidation factor is really a non-issue when you consider that this product was made for a wide spectrum of users, you included. Ubuntu is an operating system much like Windows actually. It has many of the same characteristics. Using VMware Fusion (click here for info on that little gem of technology) I installed Ubuntu on my computer. I don't use it primarily as I have no need to. The OS, however, is definitely usable as a sole operating system. In fact, I would wager that it could substitute for any mainstream OS.

Features

Accessories: Ubuntu has all the basic accessories you would expect from an operating system like a calculator (advanced one even), desktop sticky notes, dictionary, text editor, bluetooth, wireless technology software interface, screenshot taker, disk analyzer, and anything else you could need. If the basic package does not come with a specific accessory that you need or want, you can get it very easily on the internet. All those things are really limited use and luxury items but Ubuntu has them. It doesn't do anything better necessarily than Windows in this arena although it does have a sticky note applicataion that is pretty cool.

Install: Easy shmeezy... Using a virtualization software, simply load up the ISO and go for it. If you are formatting and installing Ubuntu, boot from CD and follow the instructions. Its pretty step-by-step but if you need assistance, contact me.

Internet: you can use whatever open source web browser you want with Ubuntu. My preference is Firefox (on all platforms really) and it works beautifully with Ubuntu. The internet experience is basically the same as on Windows although some websites interact differently with Firefox than with Internet Explorer. (I took a screenshot of Firefox for y'all - see right)

Instant Messenger: Ubuntu comes standard with an instant messenger that interfaces with a variety of different e-mail accounts, Gmail most importantly.

E-Mail: the application interfaces with Google and some other e-mail services but does not work with Exchange accounts. I also loaded up Thunderbird (which I will feature in later posts) and found it to run delightfully.

Office Applications: Ubuntu comes with Open Office. Learn more about it here.

Audio: Ubuntu comes with an application called Rythmbox Music Player. Playback is great. I like the way it organizes the music. It has a window for artist, album, and songs. It also has access to music stores similar to iTunes. The OS also comes with a CD burner, CD ripper, and sound recorder. You can see the player to the right with a little chess going on in the back.

Visual: The graphics and general user interface are great. You can see in the scren shots I have taken and appear throughout this post that it has a pretty cool look. Of all Linux-based operating systems, I have found Ubuntu to be the most basic but easiest to use. In this arena, think of Ubuntu as XP. It is really quite similar. Video playback with Ubuntu is great. There is an aplication called Movie Player that plays DVD, AVI, MPEG4, etc. It also comes with a graphics editor and photo manager that both are easy to use and pretty cool actually.

Games: the OS comes with basic puzzle and arcade games (more than XP and a better variety too) but you cannot play games that you purchase from the store as they are not made (typically) for Linux-based OS's.

Takeaways

Basically, Ubuntu is a great OS for anyone looking to surf the web, listen/download music, watch movies, and produce any kind of office document (spreadsheet, document, presentation, database). It does all the basic things you would expect from an OS and with style. If you think about it, it is pretty amazing to get those applications without costing you a penny. Truthfully, I think Ubuntu has done a huge thing for the Open Source community by really making OSS OS's usable by the everyday person. Other distros are doing similar things which is execellent. The OSS movement really needs OS's like Ubuntu because they standardize and drop the level of skill required to use them. So check it out. The live CD is really good.

RSS Feeds and Google Reader

I enjoy "blogging" to an extent. I like to blog because I feel like it is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family. One thing is for sure, though, I never thought I would have my own blog. I created this blog in an effort to tell people about some of the stuff I think is cool on the internet. Anyway, so if you are reading this blog, that meant you had to come to my site by either typing in the url or whatever. To me, the worst part of checking other peoples blog is having to check each one individually. You have to go to each site separately and it can be time consuming and annoying. This is is why RSS feeds come in handy.

What is an RSS feed? Basically, they change the way you look at the internet. Rather than you going to your favorite sites (the ones that are updated regularly like blogs and news sites), you bring the sites to you. All you have to do is subscribe (for free) to a RSS reader like Google Reader. I found Google Reader to be the easiest to use but I'm sure there are other really good ones. Anyway, you set up your account (which takes like 45 seconds) then you simply go to your favorite sites and click on the RSS feed symbol which is located on the navigation toolbar (where you type in a web address) and go through the steps to add it to your reader (which takes about 10 seconds). Its really easy and it puts all of your favorite sites in one place, saving you millions of seconds. Here is a nifty video that explains RSS in very simple terms:

Try it out, you will see that its really easy to use and makes viewing your favorite sites much easier and faster. You can even add my site to your RSS reader.

For more info, go here: RSS Feeds

Google Pack

Google Pack is a free software package from Google containing the following software:

1. Google Earth: You know... that really cool interactive globe that Google has created? The program allows you to see a satellite image of any place in the world. You simply need to input an address or place and the globe rotates and zooms into the area that you indicated. If you haven't played with this yet, check out your house or workplace, school, or whatever. It sweet.

2. Norton Security Scan: This is a basic security scanner. If you can't afford virus protection software this will help you at least scan and see whether you have an imminent threat. If you don't have anti-virus software, let me know and I will see what I can do... Its important, especially if you have a PC.

3. Spyware Doctor: The Spyware Doctor is also a starter program that scans for problems and fixes most minor issues. If you have a big spyware problem, you may be allowed to fix it only by upgrading. Truthfully, I have used this program many many times and have found it to be quite efficient. I have never been prompted to upgrade.

4. Google Desktop: Google desktop is fun little widget-like program for Windows users. Windows XP already comes with a sidebar which is what Google desktop essentially does. But, if you have XP and want the sleek look of a sidebar, hook it up with Google Desktop.

5. Picasa: this one does stuff with photo organization... I have never used it and don't have much desire to at this point. But, I am sure it is okay.

6. Mozilla Firefox: This is a shareware web browser. Firefox has established itself as a truly wonderful browser over the past years. It has less security weaknesses than Windows Explorer (although this may be a result of the smaller market share it possesses. If you think about it, people that write viruses or try to break into your system through application hacking do so most often through the application that has the greatest market share. It is more likely to be successful in hijacking a computer through the web browser's port by assuming that that computer is using the most common web browser). Anyway, Firefox also allows you to customize it much more than explorer. Pretty much, it does everything Windows Explorer does better and it does more things than what Explorer allows you to do (completely change color scheme, for example). Its cool.

7. Google Photo Screensaver: This is a fun little screensave that allows you to make better picture screensavers from your own photos than the default windows picture screensaver. Its kind of fun to use.

8. Adobe Reader: This is an essential, must have, get it right away, program. You need it to read .pdf files which are rampant over the internet and through business. If you don't have it, you better get it.

9. Google Talk: This is a instant messenger. Not essential.

10. Skype: Pretty cool communication tool (that rhymed). If you don't know much about Skype, it is a instant messenger that allows you to make phone calls through your computer to other skype users for free or allows you to pay a small price to use it as a telephone line, Voice-over-IP style.

11. RealPlayer: yucky... to me, this is as bad as Winamp (sorry winamp and users (all 3 of you) and sorry RealPlayer users, you aren't as bad as Winamp users).

12. Star Office: This one is like Open Office, which was featured in an earlier post. You would do well to use either Star Office or Open Office. They are very similar and both are good.

Here is a link to the download site: Google Pack

Google Books

Recently I was listening to a book-on-ipod and felt like I wanted to read a bit of the book for myself. I didn't want to go to a library to check it out (too much effort) and I didn't want to buy it either. Pretty much, I just wanted to read the thing without having to move (call me lazy... I'm a victim of convenience). So I grabbed my trusty computer, pulled up Google, typed the book title in the search field, and there it was... a link to an online copy of the book, hosted by none other than Google. I am sure that many of you know of this feature, but I imagine there are many people that do not.

Google Books is an excellent resource for people that want to read an entire book or just parts. Google Books is not the only site out there to find online books. Many libraries are putting books online for our convenience. It is important to note that you typically cannot find complete versions of newer books. Most books are on the site, however, in a "limited preview" format. The site is still a Beta version because I'm sure they are working on getting it to the point where more books are completely accessible.

I'll tell you one thing though, it is very difficult to read for extended periods of time on the computer. The inherent problem with reading the computer screen is the fact that the monitor has a backlight. When you read a book normally, the words are lighted by the light in the area in which you are reading. It is much easier on the eyes to read a lighted surface than it is to read a back-lighted surface. Anyway, check out Google Books and see if you like it. I think its pretty fantastic.

Google Maps: Street View

I am pretty sure that anyone reading this (all 2 of you) know about map sites like mapquest, google maps, or whatever. Well, this is not to introduce you to the sites themselves but a feature of my favorite of the sites, Google Maps.

So let's say you are trying to find directions to a house on a side of town that you are not very familiar with. You have the direction and you even printed off a map with a little line leading right to the house. Well that's all fine and good. Unfortunately, you don't know the area to well and you don't really want to have to search through the neighborhood trying to follow the directions to Walnut Drive (or whatver) some obscure road. Well, never you fear. Google Maps can help you get to your destination by showing you what the road looks like from the perspective of a driver. How, you might ask? Street View. Google Maps has sent (is sending) drivers all over the country to take 360 degree pictures on every road in major cities. Pretty sweet huh. Try it out. Enter your address into Google Maps and if it provides a link to street view you can see the street from the street rather than the satellite.

Below is a picture of my favorite Subway and Albertson's Grocery store in Street View.