Online Tech Tips » Google Software/Tips

Have Any Website Read to You in Chrome

kjackson_ott — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:24:02 +0000

Ten years ago, text-to-speech conversions were awful. Robotic voices tripped over words with more than two syllables at maddeningly slow paces. Today, text-to-speech conversions are smoother, with a variety of human-sounding voices from which to choose. If you are a fan of text-to-speech conversion, you will appreciate a new extension for Chrome called Select and [...]

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Have Any Website Read to You in Chrome

Skip Ads on YouTube

kjackson_ott — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:04:20 +0000

YouTube was once a place where we could peacefully watch videos starring skateboarding cats and nasty honey badgers. We could bounce from video to video, never encountering any resistance other than the occasional slow Internet connection or rogue flaming comment from disgruntled video watchers. It was a beautiful place to squander time—then Google decided to [...]

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Skip Ads on YouTube

Google 466453 Text Number Hacks and Commands

nmcgrory_ott — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 11:48:47 +0000

Google’s SMS (text messaging) search function can be very useful, particularly for those people who don’t have smartphones or have a data plan for their cell phones. Most everyone has text messaging, but many mobile phone users simply prefer standard flip phones, or standard, “non-smart” phones. If you don’t have an iPhone, Android phone, BlackBerry, [...]

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Google 466453 Text Number Hacks and Commands

Find YouTube Videos Based on Geolocation

kjackson_ott — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 11:15:25 +0000

If you plan to visit a specific area, YouTube videos can help you see small glimpses of attractions, festivals and local culture. However, a search string to find the kind of videos related to a specific location is not always obvious. MapsTube displays YouTube videos based on geolocation tags embedded in videos. This means you [...]

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Find YouTube Videos Based on Geolocation

Opt Out of Google Advertising

nmcgrory_ott — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:47:22 +0000

Online advertising is a multi billion dollar industry that is ever growing and becoming more complex. In the earlier years of the web, online marketing was much more basic, and simply revolved around placing generic banners on websites for a fixed rate. These days, however, advertising is much more targeted. I recently ran across a [...]

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Opt Out of Google Advertising

Google Currents Editions Review

nmcgrory_ott — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:44:44 +0000

Apple iPad owners who have used the popular Flipboard app know that it’s almost unbeatable in terms or reading experience and user interface. Flipboard is a customizable, yet very unique magazine style web reader app that pulls in articles from several different news sources. As great of an app that Flipboard is, it is still [...]

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Google Currents Editions Review

Add Gadgets to Gmail

kjackson_ott — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:45:43 +0000

Third-party developers have created hundreds of Gadgets for iGoogle. These gadgets can do everything from calculating complex math problems to helping you waste time at work with a video game or virtual hamster. If you are a Gmail user, you can add iGoogle’s plugins to your Gmail page. From your Gmail account, click your email [...]

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Add Gadgets to Gmail

Store and Purchase Songs with Google Music

kjackson_ott — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:33:18 +0000

When Apple announced iCloud would be able to store and backup music files from iOS devices, the iPhone and iPad-loving community inhaled gleefully—imagine, all of our music, with no computer connection! It seemed too good to be true. However, in all honesty, our iPhone 4s arrived in the mail more than a month ago, and [...]

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Store and Purchase Songs with Google Music

Create a Google+ Business Page

nmcgrory_ott — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 11:29:52 +0000

Google’s social network, Google+, has been around for quite a while now. However, with the initial launching of +, Google basically offered personal accounts only. Recently, they have added a new division that will be more directed towards businesses and websites. Google+ for businesses is similar to Facebook in that you can create Pages, but [...]

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Create a Google+ Business Page

Create Shortcuts for Text Phrases in Chrome

kjackson_ott — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:58:22 +0000

True work efficiency is greatly improved by creating shortcuts for tasks we perform all the time. Most of us type the same phrases continually throughout the day in response to emails. When asked to date something, we look at our calendars—even if we just looked a moment earlier. Chrome users can decrease the time they [...]

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Create Shortcuts for Text Phrases in Chrome

Convert YouTube Videos to Any Video Format

kjackson_ott — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 11:50:04 +0000

YouTube video downloaders are plentiful throughout the Web, but most only allow you to download the video as either an FLV, which requires you to then download an FLV player, or as an MP4, which does not play on all devices. Most of us have combatted this problem by using one service to download a [...]

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Convert YouTube Videos to Any Video Format

How to Block Sites from Showing up on Google Search

byirka — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:57:07 +0000

If you find you do a lot of searching on the same keywords, and there are certain sites that you keep seeing that are not helpful, and in fact tend to get in your way, there is a way to block them so they won’t ever show up in on your Google searches again. Note: [...]

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How to Block Sites from Showing up on Google Search

View RAR and Zip File Contents in Google Docs

kjackson_ott — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:03:06 +0000

Zip and RAR files are notorious for hiding viruses. For an anti-virus program to scan compressed files, it must first unpack them, which often means downloading the file to your hard drive before scanning it. With the recent addition of Zip and RAR support in Google Docs, Chrome users no longer need to download a [...]

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View RAR and Zip File Contents in Google Docs

Sync Google+ Posts with Twitter

kjackson_ott — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:52:16 +0000

Google+ finally released to the general public late last week. The service is still very new, with few apps to give it the wide range of functionalities we currently enjoy with Facebook. One of these missing features is syncing Google+ public posts with Twitter. PlusTo is an early, no-frills way to sync your Google+ posts [...]

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Sync Google+ Posts with Twitter

Make a 3D YouTube Video

kjackson_ott — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 11:45:13 +0000

Among the other big Web announcements this week, YouTube has announced a new feature where would-be movie makers can now make 3D videos without any special video equipment. Consumers have a love/hate relationship with 3D technologies. The Nintendo 3DS has received grave criticism, while 3D TVs from Sony and Samsung have received rave reviews. YouTube’s [...]

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Make a 3D YouTube Video