Hack 3. Make a Desktop Icon to Create a New Document

You launch desktop programs from the desktop. Why not launch Google programs from the desktop, too?

If you want to open up Google Spreadsheets to create a new file, you can point your browser to http://www.google.com and choose "Documents" from the "more" menu on top, then click NewSpreadsheet. A quicker way to do this is to use a bookmark, but Motti Strom, Mobile Software Engineer at Google UK, suggests an even better way: create a desktop icon to launch Google documents, spreadsheets, or presentations.

Windows

Start by right-clicking any free spot on your Windows desktop and selecting NewShortcut from the context menu, as shown in Figure 1-12. Type the following address for the shortcut:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?new

Save your shortcut, and name it "New Google Spreadsheet."

Hack 2. Collaborate with Others Through Google Docs

With Google Docs, you can collaborate with others on the same document at the same time, and make documents accessible to the world within seconds by publishing them on the Web.

Online applications are born to be collaborative—the program and the data it works on are already potentially accessible from all over the world. Plus, every user will see the same version of that program without having to worry about whether they've installed all the latest patches, because the software runs on Google's servers, which automatically pick up the latest bug fixes and new features.

This collaborative approach requires you to do a bit of rethinking if you're used to desktop office tools. Instead of sending someone an attachment, invite them to a Google document. Instead of discussing a spreadsheet via the phone, email, or instant messenger, use the chat function that's built into Google Spreadsheets (see "Sharing a Spreadsheet," later in this hack). Instead of setting up third-party screen sharing software, you can invite others to your presentation URL and flip the slides for them.

Ironically, by being centralized, the data acts more as if it's decentralized; as the files are stored on Google's servers, which are already accessible to others who provide the needed credentials (their Google Account), Google ensures that you don't need to create a copy of a file to have someone else see it. So instead of dozens of Microsoft Word files scattered around your team's PCs (or in different folders on your intranet), the Google document exists only in that virtual "computing cloud." And Google Docs tracks who edits it, can alert you of changes, and allows you to compare document revisions.

Get Feedback on a Document You're Working On

One common use of collaboration is to ask for feedback on a document you're editing. Your friend, colleague, editor, or boss can add comments to your document, which you can work with in turn. All your collaborator needs for this is a Google Account, as discussed in the beginning of this chapter. (Without a Google Account, others can only view your documents—they cannot modify them.)

Let's start by creating a Google Docs document at http://docs.google.com. Name it "Thai Chicken Recipe." To get the initial recipe, you can go to Google Base at http://base.google.com and click the Recipes link; next, select the cuisine, main ingredient, and more from the drop-down menus, as pictured in Figure 1-6, and choose your preferred dish. You can highlight, copy, then paste the full page content directly into your empty Docs document as shown in Figure 1-7.

If you like to eat but you're no master cook, you can now invite your master cook friend to the document to proofread it. (None of your friends can cook Thai? Visit Google's social network at http://orkut.com and join the 6,500+ member-strong "Thai food lovers" community.) To invite your friend, click Share"Share with others" on top of the editor. Enter your friend's email address—preferably their Gmail address—into the invitation box. (And uncheck the "Invitations may be used by anyone" box, just in case someone else manages to get their hands on the invitation.) When you click the "Invite collaborators" button, your friend gets an email message, shown in Figure 1-8, and can start to edit along.

Google Apps Hacks

Google Docs (http://docs.google.com) is the title of Google's text, spreadsheet, and presentation editor, similar in style to Microsoft's Word, Excel, and PowerPoint programs, but with fewer features, and a stronger focus on collaboration. With Google Docs, you can write letters, recipes, tutorials, a diary, book chapters—I'm using it to write this book—or anything else.

You can also create web pages, thanks to the export options that Google Docs provides. Google Spreadsheets, on the other hand, allows you to perform spreadsheet calculations; you can keep any numeric or textual data organized—from the prices of items in your antique collection to the age and address of your employees, and so on. Google Spreadsheets provides you with a variety of formulas to perform calculations within a spreadsheet. You can also create neat visualizations using the chart tool. Google Presentations, the last of the trio, is useful for creating presentation slides for online or offline use.

To sign up for this service, as is the case with most other Google services described throughout the book, you need a Google Account.

 

Hack 1. How to Get Your Google Account

You can create a Google Account through many of Google's services. The easiest way is to go to http://www.gmail.com and click the "Sign up for Gmail" link. (Note that if you already have Gmail, you also already have a Google Account.) During the sign-up process, you provide your first and last name and your preferred username, along with other information, as shown in Figure 1-1. Once you agree to the Terms of Service and complete the sign-up by clicking the "I accept" button, you'll see a Congratulations page. Now you can log in to most Google services using your email + password.

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