Just What in the Heck is Google Anyway?

If you haven't heard of the Google Search Engine, you might as well be living in the 1950s. You're totally out of touch as to what's happening in the world of technology and you should just go back to bed and dream about the good old days.

But, if you're interested in living in the here and now, Google is the dominant free Internet search engine that indexes billions of Web pages (yes, billions), so ordinary people, like you and me, can search for any information we desire.

Google is an unlimited playground for information of all types. Type in How to Make a Worm Farm and more than a thousand different links to pages about worm farms will pop up. Type in how to make German Braided Bread or How to Build Your Own Rocket Propelled Spacecraft, and Google will give you the answer to all of these questions within seconds.

Google even has a language translator. If you're looking at a web page from France and don't know a croissant from a moldy donut, Google translator will translate the page for you.

Google recently acquired YouTube, the most popular video-sharing site on the Web. Google also owns Google Video, Google Earth and Google News. News is updated as it occurs. Are you interested in how to make a gazebo or how to toast a piece of bread with the picture of Baby Jesus on it? Google can show you the picture under Google Images and give you a few ideas. Perhaps, you could be the next millionaire!

Google also has a Group Function, where you can interact with other Internet users who are interested in the same activities you are. Google Groups are free and the electronic mailing list and posting to the group are also free. I'm personally interested in soap making, (yes, call me a nerd), writing, and talking to the dead, and there are groups for all of these. Just imagine any group at all (even camel riding), and there is a good chance you'll find similar people at google groups.

According to Omaha World- Herald, since Google Stock was first sold to the public at $85 less than three years ago, Google's stock has risen more than 500 percent. Analysts expect Google's earnings to grow 30 percent a year for the next five years

Click on Google.com, order a pizza, sip on a few brews, and settle in for a long weekend. I guarantee that the pizza will be gone by the time you're ready to go to bed, the beer will have mysteriously disappeared, but, hey, you're googling now, and Google is the word of this decade. And don't forget to give yourself a pat on the back because you have now entered the twenty-first century.