In recent years, educational institutions have widely adopted the regular use of laptops in the classroom, and with budgets being a pressing concern for many of these institutions, the cost-sensitive nature of Chromebooks make them an excellent option… at least, that would be the assumption. However, this is not the case in the slightest, as the software that powers these devices regularly reaches its end of life, despite the hardware being perfectly capable of more.
Since its domain was first registered on September 15, 1997, Google has exploded from a relatively simple search engine to the massive assortment of platforms and services that fall under the Alphabet umbrella. That being said, most people tend to think of very specific aspects of Google’s Search function… like the amusing Easter Eggs that the platform has become somewhat famous for. Let’s explore some of the many, many jokes and entertaining features that Google has added to Search over the years. Who knows, you might find out about a new favorite. Full Disclaimer: Google Has WAY Too Many Easter Eggs to Cover Here Comprehensively Honestly, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. With these Easter eggs first being secreted into Google’s assorted offerings back in 2000, the sheer volume of these hidden features has grown to be truly significant. Plus, some of them are no longer active, being tied to a specific day or event—for example, the search for “2/22/22” made the phrase “Happy Twosday 2You!” appear on that day, but no longer. Others have been rendered inoperable with Google’s shift to an infinite scroll format, rather than pages, as the “Goooo…gle” indicator housed many of these Easter eggs as well. Many, many of them, however, are still active, with more being added all the time… just do a quick search for “Barbie” for a practical example of how up-to-date these Easter eggs are kept. So, let’s explore some that are (as of this writing) still active. A Tiny Sample of Google’s Easter Eggs Searching for “dvd screensaver” will cause the Google logo in the top left corner to begin bouncing around the screen, changing colors as it goes, similarly to—you guessed it—the screensaver that DVD players would display after remaining idle for too long. Searching for “text adventure” and then using the Ctrl+Shift+J shortcut to open the developers console will give you access to a Google-themed text-based adventure game, where you set out in search of the letters in the word “Google.” As a bonus Easter egg within an Easter egg, responding “no” to the introductory prompt “would you like to play a game” produces a reference to the 1983 movie WarGames. Searching for “puppy/puppies/dog/canine” or “kitten/cat” will produce a button that, when clicked, will cause a paw belonging to the corresponding animal to swipe up and leave a paw print behind. Searching for “define anagram” asks you if you meant to search for “nerd fame again,” which itself is an anagram of “define anagram.” Searching for “pi” will produce the Google calculator with the pi symbol prominent. Clicking it will start a memory game that takes the player through the digits of pi. Searching for “meteor shower” will darken the screen momentarily as three meteors pass by, shifting back to the way it was once they have passed. Searching for “netwon/Isaac Newton” will produce a button with an apple tree on it, which causes an apple to fall down the screen when clicked, just as the legend goes about how the physicist conceptualized the theory of gravity. Searching for “han/greedo shot first” will show the alternate result, posed as a “Did you mean” at the top of the screen. Searching for “the one ring” will ask if you meant “my precioussss,” in a nod to Gollum […]
Google Docs has been a worthy competitor to the ubiquitous Microsoft Word since the search engine giant launched the service in 2006. Since then, it’s been used by personal accounts and businesses as a fantastic alternative to the Microsoft Office suite. Google was able to beat Microsoft to the punch with a nearly fully-featured, browser-based document editor that allowed incredibly easy collaboration and sharing capabilities. However, there’s one little hang-up that people often run into when using Google Docs, and we’re going to show you how to overcome it.
Have you ever wanted to put a YouTube video on repeat for an inordinately long amount of time, perhaps looping on a kiosk or on a conference room tv in the background? There are several ways to do this, including a feature built into YouTube itself and third-party websites. Let’s take a look at both options.
Have you ever considered the importance of client-side encryption for your Gmail and your Calendar? If you implement it, you can create meetings and send or receive emails that have been encrypted before they are sent to Google’s servers. Organizations using Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus can expect this client-side encryption tool, but personal users will be left in the dust.
Have you ever tried using an email group? You might find that it helps you stay organized and efficient. Instead of sending a copy of an email to each and every recipient, you can basically create a “forum” of sorts to make collaboration easier than ever. You can do this through the groups feature in Gmail.
Your Google Calendar can be a gateway to productivity when it’s set up appropriately, and one way you can do so is to implement additional calendars to help you manage your day-to-day obligations. Let’s go over why you might consider using multiple Google calendars and how you can set them all up.
Most people look at only the first page of Google when they are trying to find results; anything seen past the first page is looked at as inferior, inaccurate, or possibly even dangerous. However, Google’s new plans for the search engine will put an end to this bias through the use of a continuous scroll feature.
In our last article, we started to tell you about the search engine and outlined Google’s complete predominance of the space. This time around, we will take a closer look at a couple of other search engines that you may or may not have heard of, and how they stack up to Google Search.
Google is a tool that everyone uses to varying degrees, but the reality is that Google is but one search engine. There are others out there, and while they perform similar functions, there is a reason why Google is synonymous with web browsing. Let’s take a look at why Google is so popular, as well as how it works to give you the best search results.