Before you get overwhelmed and give up, or just start clicking randomly, take a minute. What, exactly, are you looking for? Do you want to post a funny picture to your Facebook account? Do you want to watch a video of a dog at a wedding? Do you want a tuxedo for your dog to wear? Whatever it is you’re searching for, Google has tools to make it easier.

When you search with Google, have you ever noticed the bar at the top left of the page? The one that starts out with Web highlighted? Got it? Okay, now here comes the fun part. The first tab after Web is Images. Click in Images if you want photos or drawings of the dog. Not what you want?

Try the next tab, Videos. Here you get YouTube, Hulu and other video sources from across the web. Not excited by the drooling bulldog? Okay, continue to the next tab. Maps will show the nearest dog clothing stores, News will give you info about the next dog show, and Shopping will scour the web, looking for that perfect doggie penguin suit.

Oh, wait a minute; your thesis is on human behavior as it relates to dogs? And you need some citations?

Try the pull-down menu. By hitting the More tab, you’ll get a plethora of other tools. There you are- Scholar! Here you’ll find out where dogs in tuxes have been discussed in science articles, cited by doctors, and studied by psychologists. You can also search for blogs devoted entirely to dogs with the Blog tab. Or find out how much the average person spends on a doggie suit with the Finance tab.

Any way you go about it, the simple tab bar at the top of Google’s page is a great way to refine your search. Knowing what you’re looking for is the hard part. Finding it with Google is easy.

This is a guest post from Laura Backes, she enjoys writing about all kinds of subjects and also topics related to internet providers in my area. You can reach her at: laurabackes8@gmail.com.

Unless you know what to look for you may be running an outdated version of Chrome that could expose your computer to newly patched threats.

In this guide I will show you how to determine when an update is available for Chrome and how to update the browser manually.

How to Update Google Chrome

As soon as Chrome is on the Internet it will automatically check update servers to ensure that the latest version is currently installed.

When an update is available you will notice that the small wrench icon (tool icon) will have a small update icon (green box with white arrow) which indicates that an update is available for Chrome.

You can always restart the browser to apply the update or follow the instructions below which will reopen the tabs you were working on.

1. Click the Tool icon and then click Update Google Chrome.

2. Chrome will prompt you to Relaunch the browser. Since we want this update now, click the Relaunch button to close, update and launch the browser.

When the browser relaunches it should be updated to the latest version of Chrome available. To verify you can always check the About section to verify the version number and that the latest version is running.

The nice thing about following these steps is that when Chrome relaunches, all the tabs you had open will reopen to the pages you were viewing.

Software/Hardware Used: Chrome 14 Beta running on Mac OS X Lion.

In order to play all you need is a Google+ account and some time to spare.

Once you are signed on to your Google+ account, simply click the new Games icon on the top bar and you will be greeted with a splash page featuring some of the games on the new platform.

You will quickly discover that the list of games is quite small (total of 16 games as of this writing), but like all things Google we should see more interest once Google+ moves out of beta.

Don’t worry Angry Birds lovers, your favorite is on here as well.

What do you think about Games on Google+?

Via Google’s Blog

The Help Snippets are similar to those found in Excel where you are provided with a snippet of information regarding a formula as you enter it into a cell.

This is a great step forward for users who come from Excel and are using Google Spreadsheets for the first time. You not only save time by not having to fish for the information elsewhere, but it also gives it a more familiar feel.

In the screenshot above you can see the new Help Snippets in action. To see the snippet simply enter the = sign followed by a supported function and the Help Snippet will automatically appear.

What do you think about this new feature? Do you think that Excel still reigns supreme?

Don’t worry, you’re not the first. In Chrome the default download location in Windows and Mac OS is the Downloads folder under the User’s profile.

However if you prefer to use another location like an external hard drive or another location on the computer you can modify this setting in Chrome by following the steps below.

How to Change the Download Location in Chrome

1. Click the Wrench icon on to the right of the address bar in Chrome and then click Preferences from the menu that appears.

2. When the Preferences tab opens click Under the Hood on the left pane.

When the Under the Hood page loads you will find a slew of options to help you customize how Chrome works.

In this guide we are only interested in changing the default location of the Downloads folder so scroll down the page until you locate a section titled Downloads.

In the Downloads section you will see a text box which contains the current Download location.

3. Click Change to modify the default download location.

4. A sheet will appear that allows you to navigate your computer to find the new location. Once you navigate to the location you wish to use as the default location, click Select and the new location will be set.

You can change the location at any time by following the steps above.

Also, if you want to set a different location each time you download something make sure to check Ask where to save each file before downloading in the Downloads section (see screenshot for Step 3 above).

Software/Hardware used: Chrome 14 Beta running on Mac OS X.

Preview pane is a new feature that when enabled allows you to view Gmail in a split-screen view that is common with most email clients that run on your desktop like Outlook, Mail, and others.

This split-screen view dubbed the Preview Pane makes going through piles of email an effortless task.

In this guide I will show you how to enable this new feature to help you tame that inbox.

How to Enable the Preview Pane in Gmail

Open Gmail in your favorite browser before proceeding.

1. Click the Gear icon on the top-right corner of the Gmail page and click Mail Settings from the menu that appears.

2. When the Settings page loads click the Labs tab.

3. Since there are a ton of Labs features it will be easier to just search for the Preview Pane feature using the search box in the Labs page.

Enter preview pane in the search box and the results will appear on the list below.

4. Click Enable to turn on the Preview Pane feature.

5. Click Save Changes and return to the Inbox.

6. When you return to the Inbox you will find that there’s a new button on the left side of screen above the message list.

Click the new Preview Pane icon and select one of the options from the list. The options determine how the screen is split between the message list and the preview pane. Options available are as follows:

• No Split (original layout)
• Vertical Split (Message list on left pane and Preview pane on the right)
• Horizontal Split (Message list above the Preview pane).

Once the screen is split you can adjust the size of the panes by dragging the line dividing them.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Google makes this a permanent feature in the near future. What do you think about this new Labs feature?

Software/Hardware used: Gmail running in Chrome browser for Mac OS X Lion.

The expected launch of Google Wallet and other competing services by Visa, American Express and others this year will bring mobile payments to NFC-enabled (Near Field Communications) phones.

This means you can literally leave your wallet at home and only carry your ID, an NFC-equipped phone and a set of keys.

What is NFC and How Does it Work?

NFC allows for simple data exchange (account information) between two devices (your phone and payment gateway) by way of physical touch.

For NFC to function, it requires an initiator (your phone) and a target (the payment gateway at a retailer).

Step 1 - The initiator (in this case your phone’s NFC chip) generates a radio frequency (RF) field with a range of about 4 centimeters.

Step 2 – The target (payment gateway) picks up the RF field and receives the data contained.

The data here are your credentials for the payment method or service you are using. This will enable the transaction to be processed much like it would with a traditional terminal except you wouldn’t use a physical credit card.

What are the options?

Even though the mobile payments space is still in its infancy there are some big players setting up camp to use this new technology. Among them you will find Google, Visa, MasterCard and even mobile carriers (Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile).

• Isis - AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile
• Google Wallet – Google
• Visa Wallet – Visa

As of this writing the services listed above are still unavailable, but you should see them launch later this year (Google) and the beginning of 2012 (Isis and Visa Wallet).

What about phones?

There are currently 20 NFC-enabled phones on the market (see list below adapted from NFC page on Wikipedia).

• Nokia N9
• Nokia C7-00
• Nokia 6212
• Nokia 6131
• Nokia 3220
• Nokia 5140(i)
• Samsung S5230
• Samsung SGH-X700 NFC
• Samsung D500E
• SAGEM my700X Contactless
• LG 600V contactless
• Motorola L7 (SLVR)
• Benq T80
• Sagem Cosyphone
• Google Nexus S
• Google Nexus S 4G
• Samsung Galaxy S II (some versions)
• Samsung Wave 578
• BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930
• Turkcell T20

What do you think about mobile payments in general? Any concerns?

Images via GPlus.com

The Citrix Receiver should be available soon on the Chrome Web Store and is free of charge. However, to use the Receiver you must use Citrix XenDesktop or Citrix XenApp. It’s supported on more than 1,000 different Mac and PC models, 149 smartphones, 37 tables, and 10 different thing clients covering iOS, Android, webOS and Google ChromeOS.

Wallet will first support both Google Prepaid Cards and Citi MasterCard’s and will be able to pay anywhere where MasterCard PayPass is accepted.  So far, it’s only going to be available on the Nexus S 4G on the Sprint network, but Google plans to expand the selection to more phones over time. Google also hopes to expand this into boarding passes, IDs, tickets and even your keys.

PayPass and Google Wallet both use NFC or Near Field Communication, which allows for transactions within 4cm. Right now there are only a few phones that even support NFC, but expect that to change in the future if Google Wallet catches on.

Google doesn’t get anything for offering these services, unlike a lot of other sites. This information is updated regularly, so you’ll know that you have the most up to date offers and information.  Check out this short video to learn more information: