New Google (and Mozilla!) 30 Day Challenges-Fantastic 5 For Friday-Issue 16
March 7th, 2008 | by Jeniffer |Believe it or not, there are still some offerings from Google (and one from Mozilla!) that I haven’t yet tried.
I know this, because of Jesse, a helpful reader who made some great suggestions. To quote Jesse:: “I really like Google reader, Google SketchUp, Picasa photo editor and web album, and Google maps.”
Based on these suggestions, I will begin a thirty day trial of these, and report after the thirty day period.
First up, however, I installed Mozilla Firefox onto one of my computers. I’ve been meaning to try Firefox for awhile now.
I did it on only one, so that I could do a fair comparison. The other one will still have Internet Explorer, for now. 
The installation was easy, I just downloaded the program, saved it and launched the setup,
Then I answered a few questions about what to import from my previous browser, what I wanted for my home page, and presto! Firefox was right there on the screen!
My impression so far: really, I literally just finished installing it, but so far I do like the ability to open links in different tabs, rather than having all these windows opening up.
I like the security of built in Phishing protection. A Phishing site is a fake site, a forgery of a real site, looking for your personal or financial information. You innocently give them your credit card number or information on your identity, and you end up thousands of dollars in debt for stuff you didn’t buy.
I also like knowing that Firefox does not allow any Web site to download, install, or run programs unless you agree that they can. That’s Spyware protection you can count on!
Plus, you can choose to clear your data from your download history, cache, search history, and browsing history, among other places.
As well, they have an add-ons website which contains over 1000 add ons.
As I said, I’ll be reporting more when I find out more.
One other thing I like about Firefox: it’s provided absolutely free of charge!
You just gotta love that!
The next thing is a Google tool I had never heard of until a reader left a recommendation about it. It’s called Google SketchUp. Again, I have only played around with it a little so far, and will be able to report more about it after using it for thirty days.
Google SketchUp is a 3D software tool.
I’ll be using the free Google SketchUp6, making models of our house with it, and likely of the cottage we are in the planning stages of building.
It should be fun, especially because if you use Google Earth, you can place the 3D models from SketchUp anywhere you would like them to be.
Should be cool, seeing approximately what that cottage will look like when it is completed!
Google Maps I have used before, most regularly when my husband and I were searching for a suitable piece of property to build a cottage on.
It is a very useful tool, providing you with a route to and from almost any destination you can think of inputting.
One warning, however-plan more than one route if you use this tool to plot your way to somewhere new!
Google Maps once found us staring up a muddy, snowy, slippery, twisting woody trail it optimistically referred to as “Devil’s Four Mile road”. We took out our paper map (a must for any road trip, regardless of pre-planning the route. The “just in case” theory is good to heed!), and found an alternate route to our destination.
But Google Maps is a good tool, just the same.
Next up, is Google Reader.
I have never used this, but it would be convenient to have all of my feeds displayed in one place. They are scattered across various email addresses at the moment, so this should at least tidy that up a bit.
Plus, when you subscribe to a feed via email, I find you get the article/articles the day after they are posted.
I am hoping switching to Google Reader will speed things up a little!
Also, you can access it anywhere you happen to find yourself with a computer that has Internet access.
And again, it’s FREE!
I also tried Google Book Search for the first time this morning.
This tool allows you to view previews of various books.
You can choose from a variety of available topics, including those which are fiction (such as science fiction, fairy tales, and short stories), non fiction (such as Philosophy, Mathematics, and Biology), and there is a Random Subjects category, which includes such things as computer crimes, solar houses, and cartography. Of course, each category has many more subjects than these.
Not all of the pages of the books are included in the previews, but there is more than enough to help you determine whether or not the book is worth a full read.
Something I’ll Try For Next Month’s Challenge:
Next month, I am going to do a thirty day trial on Google Pack, a very promising package of programs including Norton Security Scan, Spyware Doctor, Picasa, Adobe Reader, and Google Photos Screensaver.
It would also include Firefox, if I didn’t already have that.
I’ll be downloading that then, and again will report back after thirty days.
Very likely I’ll report on these other things after the first week or two, to let you know my early impressions.
Well, that’s it for today’s issue of Fantastic 5 For Friday.
Now go have yourself a fantastic day!
Have anything to add about any of these items? Had experiences, good or bad, you want us to know about? Had a particularly fantastic Friday? Why not Share? Comments are always most welcome!
