Go Go Google Gadget!

I'm beginning to think Google is taking over my life. And the weird part is, I'm not objecting!

Let's start with the important things first - entertainment. Everyday, when I first log on to the internet, I'm greeted by my iGoogle homepage. It brings me everything I need to start out the day - the weather, a joke or two, a few cool pics from National Geographic, and news headlines from my favorite sources. From there, we jump to communication. iGoogle does this as well, in two ways. First, there's a direct window to my gmail account, and while it's not my main email account yet, it's quickly building momentum. The second feature is Google reader. This spoon-feeds me all of the updates from every one of my friends' blogs that I'm subscribed to. And as long as we're on the subject of blogs, it's only two clicks from iGoogle to here, my own blog. The same number of clicks gets me to Google Analytics, which tells me everything I could ever want to know about website traffic on any site I own. All of this, and I don't even have to log in!

Now lets get a little more practical. Data storage, for example. Google hosts my website (not much that I really store there, but I could if I wanted to!). Google Docs is where I keep almost all of my lists - budget categories, to-do lists, travel destinations, writing topics, favorite quotes, drafts of talks/papers, you name it. How about pictures? It just so happens there's Picasa Web Albums, perfect for organizing, editing, and sharing all of your photos. Plus, it's a breeze to move them from there to your blog, your website, or wherever! How about videos? Hmm... Their name certainly isn't plastered across the top, but it's also not top secret information that Google owns YouTube. Let's not forget about my personal favorite - Google calendar. It's easy to use, can be shared with friends, is color coded, and is currently set up (took 2 min.) to text me reminders for birthdays, weddings, meetings, anything I want!

Lastly, the important stuff. Like directions. If Google Maps/Google Earth were to suddenly disappear, I highly doubt that I would ever again visit a new place. How would I get there?!? Finally, I give Google significant credit for almost every skill I have. I use Google Search countless times a day to learn everything from Cad, physics, and programming for work to cooking, guitar music, and origami at home. Granted, I could probably use other search engines for some of these things, but after all that, what's the point?! After all, Google is the only one to infiltrate our language as well. Think about it... when's the last time you Yahoo'd anything?!

That's not even everything. There's the ease for developers to make their own gagdets, or AdWords for online advertising. I'll also soon be making the switch from Mozilla Firefox to Google Chrome for my web browser! And did I mention this is all for free? Because it most definitely is.

Hmm... sorta sounds like I'm a surfing, chatting billboard for Google. I don't really mind though... hard to argue with a company that uses "Don't be evil." as it's business motto! Plus, JT has shared some pretty awesome stories about being an employee (things like ball pits, arcades, and world reknowned chefs!). So I guess until Google takes the final steps towards world domination, I'm going to enjoy the ride. And even when that does finally happen, I'll find out about it through Google, all of my friends will be right there with me, and they'll know so much information about every last one of us that it'd be pointless to even bother.

Anyway, I'm off to a friend's place. I hear she's thinking about buying the new Google phone...