It’s hard to look up info online because you’re often given a myriad of options that really have nothing to do with what you are looking for. It’s like going shopping, at least for me. I get to the store and if there is too much to look at, I don’t even get thtrough the door, I turn around and walk (or run) out. I just don’t feel like spending all that time swimming through the options to then end up not finding what I need. The same applies to things like Googling. So many choices, but so little patience and it’s far too time-consuming. So its nice to see things like inSuggest pop up. inSuggest helps you find exactly what you’re looking for by providing, as the name suggests, suggestions.

It’s like Google, but more personalized. You can search in different languages and tell it what you already use so it can help you find what you’re looking for by suggesting sites or images that users with similar profiles liked. Since I do some work in translation, I am always on the lookout for good online dictionaries. So it was comforting to find so many useful, relevant suggestions instead of coming up with a random list of sites. I came across so many sites that surely have come out in previous Google searches I’ve done, but because I haven’t had time to look through thousands of Google search page results, I hadn’t yet found them.

Photo credit: webg.inSuggest.com

Bored and no idea what to do? Try Guess-the-Google then! It works just like Google image search, only the other way round. Instead of typing a word and getting lots of images, here you get lots of images and have to guess which word was searched for! Sometimes it’s easy, but it can also be tricky…

If you are more inclined to enjoy artwork you might also like to test Montage-a-Google, an application which allows you to create image montages based on keyword searches. Hmmm, to be honest I don’t really get the sense of that… and then there is also Scribble, which does exactly what it sounds like. You scribble something on an empty sheet and send it to your friends, complete with gilt frame. Again, if I did that in real life, would anybody be impressed? Probably not… but I admit that it’s fun. Makes you feel like being in first grade again, with your writing going all wobbly. I’d better go and practice my ABC again… see you later!

Since Google Earth and Google Maps have brought maps into our digital life we are used to combining content with geographical data. In order to promote this service Google also releases tailor-made maps for special events such as the Olympic Games in China: on an Olympic Torch Relay Map web users can track the Olympic torch on its way around the world!

The map is regularly updated according to the current location of the torch. You can also click on the torch icon for information about the cities or download the Google Earth layer to watch the relay in action. Unfortunately the map isn’t very helpful when it comes to the exact route through the cities, but it is a great idea and a smart application that is creating a lot of buzz both online and offline.

As are the Olympic Games even although they haven’t even started yet - heated debates are going on in the blogosphere about the violent protests in Paris and San Francisco and the idea of boycotting the games because of the Tibet conflict (check out the press coverage below). Personally I don’t think that boycotting an event the athletes have been training for all their lives is more than unfair towards them. Neither will it change a political situation, which by the way was well-known before China was awarded the games. So talking politics now after a supposedly “unpolitical” decision years ago does seem rather hypocritical to me. Or what do you think? Any political sports experts out there?

Source: Google-latlong blog

Discovered by our French friend Roycod in the graphic designer community Wilogo, a day in logos has created a lot of interest on marketing blogs. We found the idea (which was to show a typical day by using the logos of brands that surround us) interesting and amusing. Below you can see a typical working day in the Paradise of buzz…