Life Tenebrous, Stygian
posted by on October 26 at 10:58 AM
You know how if you text the name of a restaurant followed by “Seattle” to Google—just enter G-O-O-G-L as the phone number (that’s 46645)—Google will text you back the restaurant’s phone number and address? This has been covered on Slog before, months ago, though even Google can’t help me find the post now.
Well, anyway, I was getting dressed the other day and wanted to know what the weather was going to be like but I couldn’t go to yahoo.weather.com because my internet service had been shut off because I hadn’t paid my Comcast bill. Same with my TV. So I texted “weather Seattle” to 46645 to see if Google could predict the weather for me and, lo and behold, Google texted me back right away with the current temperature, the day’s cloud level, how fast the wind would be going and what direction it would be coming from, the humidity, and the forecast for the next three days.
Just now I texted “weather Seattle” to Google and got:
Weather: Seattle, WA
46F, Clear
Wind: N 4 mph
Hum: 73%
Fri: 39F-54 F, Clear
Sat: 43F-55F, Mostly Sunny
Sun: 41F-57F, Mostly Sunny
What else can Google do? (This isn’t a fancy phone like Anthony Hecht’s. You can do this with any phone that accepts text messages.) The other day I wanted to see if Google would look up words for me. Sure enough. I texted “define tenebrous” to Google—it’s impossible to remember what “tenebrous” means—and I got a text back:
tenebrous: dark and gloomy; “a tenebrous cave”
Logical to wonder what dictionary Google is using. But a dictionary isn’t cited in the text message; instead, this is what the text message cites:
Source: worldnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Must be some kind of database because my browser doesn’t recognize that as an address. After tenebrous, a friend said, “Try ‘stygian.’ I think ‘stygian’ means something similar.” I tried stygian and Google came back with: “another word meaning Hell or the Underworld,” and citing this website as the source. Huh. Doesn’t look too official, does it? (Why doesn’t Google just get its definitions from an online dictionary? Put “stygian” into www.m-w.com and you get a much better answer: the first definition is “of or relating to the river Styx”; the second definition is “extremely dark, gloomy, or forbidding,” e. g. “the stygian blackness of the cave.” Thanks, m-w!)
Anything else Google can do that I should know about?
(A sidenote: Google doesn’t know what the Broadway Grill is. I tried “Broadway Grill Seattle” and I tried “Broadway New American Grill Seattle” (that’s the full name) and neither worked the other night when all I wanted after the gym was to call in a chopped salad to go. If the Broadway Grill doesn’t exist to Google, does it exist? I walked down the street and was happy to see that the restaurant still exists. For there it was.)
Fuck yeah. If you keep a Google Calendar, which I urge you to do, you can get text message reminders of events. And you can text your calendar to give you your list of events for the day, or the next day. I think you can also add events to your calendar through text as well. With Google Calendars you can add and share Calendars with friends, businesses, etc. It's pretty sweet.
i know you can check airline flights and just about anyting else too... sports games, scores, movie times.
Google helps me find out where I left my boxers the other night, all - the - time.
"Sorry, 'who is Christopher Frizzelle?' did not return any results."
Sorry Christopher -- your existence is just as questionable as the Broadway Grill's.
Geez, no wonder you can't pay your Comcast bill - your cell phone bill must run into the three-figures with all those text messages.
Here's an actual page on actual Google with the actual things you can actually do.
I think you should hold a contest to see who can come up with the best use of Q&A.
I pay a little extra for unlimited texts, Comte.
Free information--no more 411 from land line or cell phone: 800-GOOG-411. Try it!
since you're not busy, why don't you come down to our office? i have some work that needs doing.
That URL should be wordnet.princeton.edu.
It's an aging database whose aim is to create a semantic network of word meanings by linking together synonymous words. Methodologically wobbly, but practically useful in a lot of different natural language applications.
Not that they need any promotion, but Text a ZIP code to MYSBUX (697289) and in a minute you'll receive three replies with a nearby Starbucks location, complete with address and phone number, and URL that links to a web-page showing a map. Obviously this won't do you much good if you're traveling and have no idea what ZIP you're in!
It also does math and unit conversions.
Hmmm, the Cop Salad from the Grill sounds good. Just get it with the dressing on the side...always on the side. They tend to put too much on it.
I usually like my "Cop Salad" with the Taser on the side...extra mace...YUM!
I've found that if you get a tracking number for a package, nine times out of ten, googling it will pull up a link to the tracking page. Works with UPS, FedEx and USPS, so far as I've found.
This doesn't work on all phones that accepts texts. Mine is admittedly less than state-of-the-art, but neither is it a dinosaur, and i have never been able to get anything back from googl via text. tried maybe 5 or 10 times. i just make my friends do it and pay for the txt.
If you text 'set location seattle, wa' to google, then your default location will be set to seattle. Then, you could type in just "weather" and it'll return weather in seattle, or search for "home depot" and it'll return just seattle-nearby home depots. Etc. and Etc.
You don't even have to type in the whole word for 'define tenebrous'
d tenebrous
same with weather!
w 98107
Yayness
Everything that Google can do that they're telling us about, here:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features.html
They have your FBI files already, but only cops can search those, at www.fbi.google.com ...Have a paranoid day!
I personally use the "site:" and "-" and "+" prefixes before URLs and words to search within a site, and exclude or force-include words. But that's on the web version, not the SMS/txt stylee.
Here is that post you were looking for. It's no longer on the Stranger's server, but there was a copy in my Google Reader.
Mar 9, 2006 8:00 PM
This Could Change Your Life
from Slog by AMY KATE HORN
Anthony (our IT deity) told me that if you send a Google query from your cell phone, you'll receive the results in a text message. Send a query to 46645 ("GOOGL," a "US shortcode") and Google will send the top result back. It seems useful for looking up word spellings and definitions, finding business addresses and driving directions, and acing pub quizzes.
More info here. Download a wallet-sized Google phone tip card here.
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