Okay, this is scary to some people. To me, it's convenient. If you want to find my phone number and you know that I live in "Slidell, Louisiana" (I used to live there until about 8 months ago so my phone information hasn't been updated) you can type the following phrase into a Google search box: "Ernest Svenson, Slidell, LA" and you will get this result.
Note that the at the top is a special icon of a phone book that represents the Google Phone book feature. Next to that is the address and phone number of my old home, along with two links to Yahoo Maps and MapQuest, which will show you exactly where I used to live.
Try this out with people that you know. It may not work all the time, but when it does it is pretty amazing.
Later:Steve Covell informs me that you can also enter the phrase "phonebook:985-726-0914" into the google bar and it will do a reverse phone lookup. Also, if you don't like the idea of having your phone number available through Google you can click on this link and fill out a form to have your number removed. I just filled that form out for my old number so that it would be removed from the system. I didn't see anyway to tell Google my new phone number, which I would have if I could. Oh well, back to work...
I love that line in The Jerk when Steve Martin gets so excited about the arrival of the new phonebooks. Well, I guess I'm a jerk when it comes to Google, which has now released a Beta 2.0 version of their toolbar (for Internet Explorer only). Usually, I wouldn't recommend that you try a Beta version of software unless you are really comfortable with computers, but I've learned that the Google Toolbar is not harmful, and in fact is amazingly useful.
Basically, it just makes it so you have a Toolbar in your Internet Explorer browser from which you can launch a Google search immediately without having to leave the page you are on to go to the Google page. That feature alone (which was available on the previous versions) makes this completely free tool absolutely indispensible. But now the Google Toolbar also has an autofill feature for websites that require you to enter personal information. It will store your credit card information in a secure form, along with your other personal information that you have to enter when you do online shopping. This makes it really easy to complete your order, without having to worry about your poor typing skills.
And, finally, the Google Toolbar has a pop-up blocker that will let you block annoying ads. If you are visiting a site and want to click on a link that is a pop-up that you want to see, you can temporarily disable the feature by holding down the CTRL key as you click on the link. The toolbar also has a little icon that informs you of how many pop up ads you've blocked since you installed it. That will be interesting to monitor.
Trust me, if you use Internet Explorer as your browser you need this plug-in. Just click on this link and follow all the instructions. It's quick and easy and painless. And it will make your life a lot easier.
