BKGGLHCK.RVW   20061105

"Google Hacks, 3rd ed.", Rael Dornfest/Paul Bausch/Tara Calishain,
2006, 0-596-52706-3, U$24.99/C$32.99
%A   Rael Dornfest www.raelity.org rael@oreilly.com
%A   Paul Bausch www.onfocus.com
%A   Tara Calishain tara@researchbuzz.com www.researchbuzz.com
%C   103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA   95472
%D   2006
%G   0-596-52706-3
%I   O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
%O   U$24.99/C$32.99 800-998-9938 fax: 707-829-0104 info@ora.com
%O  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596527063/robsladesinterne
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596527063/robsladesinte-21
%O   http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596527063/robsladesin03-20
%O   Audience a- Tech 2 Writing 1 (see revfaq.htm for explanation)
%P   510 p.
%T   "Google Hacks, 3rd ed."

Of the various "... Hacks" books, most have at least some useful tips
at the user level.  This volume requires extensive programming on the
part of the reader in order to make use of the hacks.  In particular,
the more useful (as opposed to merely diverting) leads are not at the
user level: they must be coded.

Chapter one outlines the basic Web search interface at Google, plus a
few tips and sites that extend Google's results or functions. 
However, few of the tips are overwhelmingly valuable, and much of the
material simply involves basic searching, unrelated to Google as such. 
Most of chapter two is devoted to running these same searches in
programmatic fashion using the Google API (Application Programming
Interface).  Google's archive of news sources, Usenet newsgroups, and
Blogger blogs, and various scripts for searching them, is outlined in
chapter three.  Chapter four is rather a grab bag of miscellaneous
tips and scripts.

Google Maps is introduced in chapter five: for those who have used the
site a bit it is simplistic information.  (The tips on specifying
locations don't help with any of the annoying glitches I frequently
encounter, and I really wonder why major airports can't be added to
the database.)  The programs listed in this section seem to be rather
silly, if possibly amusing.  Chapter six does much the same for Google
Mail (Gmail), although the tips on importing and exporting mail from
Gmail could be useful.  (The Gmail Drive utility also shows up here.) 
Those running Websites are told, in chapter seven, how to improve
their ranking, use ads, and add Google search forms.  A more extensive
background on the Google API is in chapter eight, although using the
material (in your own programs) requires registration with Google.

Some, particularly Webmasters who are into programming, will find this
book extraordinarily useful.  Others may find that it is of limited
utility.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2006   BKGGLHCK.RVW   20061105