Google Fun Facts

Google sorts billions of bits of information for its users. Here are some little-known bits of information about Google:

• Google’s name is a play on the word googol, which refers to the number 1 followed by one hundred zeroes. The term was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, “Mathematics and the Imagination” by Kasner and James Newman. Google’s play on the term reflects the company’s mission to organize the immense amount of information available on the web. Read more »

You can now create your own Google personal search engine customized with your name as logo in place of Google Logo. This is pretty cool..Check out it at www.googlealive.com.

You can easily add gadgets to the few that are initially displayed on the Sidebar  when you first install Windows Vista. Not only can you select new gadgets from among those that are automatically shipped with the Vista operating system (but just not displayed on the Sidebar), but you can always download gadgets from an ever-expanding online library.

To add gadgets to the Sidebar from among those that are included with Windows Vista, follow these steps:

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If you want to temporarily hide the Vista Sidebar and all its gadgets, right-click anywhere on the Sidebar outside of its gadgets and then click Close Sidebar on the shortcut menu.

To redisplay the hidden Sidebar, click the Windows Sidebar icon (the blue icon that at first glance looks like an old TV set) in the Notification area of the Windows taskbar.

If you want to get rid of the Sidebar on a more-or-less permanent basis, open the Windows Sidebar Properties dialog box by right-clicking somewhere on the Sidebar (outside of the gadgets) and then click Properties on its shortcut menu. Then click the Start Sidebar When Windows Starts check box to remove its check mark before you click OK. Doing this prevents Vista from starting up the
hidden Sidebar the next time you boot up your computer.

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Sidebar and gadgets are the names given to a new Vista’s desktop feature that gives you instant access to volatile information such as the current time, weather, stock quotes, and the like. The Sidebar is the name of the pane — appearing either on the right or left side of your computer’s desktop — that contains the gadgets, the name given to the specialized mini applications that give you the up-to-date information.

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