Google Activity

For most people, Google is nothing more than a way to search for information. However, at further glance, there is so much more. For my assignment, I found and explorered three different applications: Picnik, SketchUp and Google Product.

Similar to Adobe's popular Photoshop program, Google's Picnik is an image manipulation program that is entirely online. You can upload pictures and manipulate them using a bunch of different tools, including the clone tool, burn and doge and more. Picnik also allows users to make a quick online card to a close friend or family using the Frames tool, which puts cool frames that are related to the holiday's and seasons. If you are willing to do even more to your pictures, you have the option of purchasing upgrades for the reasonable price of $2 a month. Although certainly not as advanced as Photoshop, Picnik is definitely a great free alternative.

Google SketchUp is 3D modeling program that allows the user to create models of your choice. The limits to this program are endless - you can create a model for your living room, invent a new model of furniture and even design a whole city! Although the learning curve for the program is a bit steep, if you don't let yourself be daunted it can be a great time waster. Simply messing around with tools to create a hidiously deformed chair is a lot more fun than one would typically think. Although SketchUp lacks some features compared to similar programs like AutoCad, it is one of the best modeling programs that I have seen for the price.

Google Product is yet another useful application released by Google. Although still in the Beta stage, Google Product already caught my eye because of the "Recently found" table at the bottom. The most randomness things could be found, such as glycolic acid, Febreeze and a rubber chicken. Another great feature of this application is the price comparison with other websites. For instance, if you wanted to purchase a rubber chicken, you could see the prices that Amazon.com or buy.com are offering. There are also a number of options that you can select to make your search more specific, such as ones for price, stores, and location. The usefulness of the Google Products will make online shopping a snap.