Six Things You Never Knew Your Cell Phone Could Do

Here are useful tips and tricks that you can teach even an old cell phone to do.

Right before your eyes, your cell phone has morphed into a portable computer. Whether you're searching Google via text messages, using Short Message Service (SMS) to make international calls, or e-mailing a voice message, these tips will help jump-start your cell phone's inner PC--and make your life easier to boot.
Text Your Google Search

For the price of sending a text message, you can unleash the power of Google without having to open a Web browser. Just text GOOGL (46645) to get access to much of the search giant's most useful information, including addresses and phone numbers, word definitions, numeric and other conversions, weather, and even sports scores.

For example, if you want to look up the phone number of a pizza joint to place a take-out order, text-message the name of the business and its city and state to GOOGL, such as zachary's oakland, ca. A minute or so later, Google will send you a text message similar to this: 'Local Listings: Zachary's Chicago Pizza 5801 College Ave Oakland, 94618 510-655-6385'. To save time, enter the zip code instead of the city and state.

To look for more-general information, text something like pizza 94618 to receive the names, addresses, and phone numbers of all the pizzerias in that area. (This is especially handy when you're in a city or neighborhood you're unfamiliar with and you're jonesing for a double espresso.)


Google's ability to text you word definitions helps you compose just the right message to send with that bouquet of flowers you're ordering, and it also can adjudicate tense games of Scrabble. To get a definition, text GOOGL with the command define: followed by the word (with no space between), such as define:qindarka. How else will you ever find out that there are precisely 100 qindarkas in a single Albanian lek (which, oddly enough, is also the name of that country's national vegetable).

Search Google with your cell phone to retrieve information via text message.

You can text Google for all sorts of conversions, too. For example, if you want to convert pounds to kilograms, or liters to quarts, or even find out the number of miles in a light-year, text GOOGL and enter 2 liters in quarts. You'll receive a text back with the answer faster than you can say '2.1133764188651876'. To convert foreign currency at the current exchange rate, text: $100 in euros (the three-letter abbreviation for different currencies also works, such as 100 usd in eur).

Google has many other options for fast lookups from your phone. To find out the forecast for a region, text weather and the city name, such as weather Peoria, IL. During last summer's pennant races, I almost wore out my phone's dial pad using Google to check scores. To find out how your team is doing, simply text its name, such as Dodgers to see how things are going in Chavez Ravine.

Depending on your cell-phone plan, sending a lot of text messages to Google may launch your monthly bill into the stratosphere. Check to see if your service provider offers any special deals for high-volume texting before you start punching those buttons.

original of the article

Man plows snow by remote control

By Neil S. Cody
The Daily Item (Sunbury, Pa.)

MIDDLEBURG, Pa. —

Note to passers-by: Don't worrry; Bill Lauver’s Middleburg home has not been taken over by helpful robots. That’s just his remote-controlled snow plow.


Using a converted golf cart with video cameras and a plow attachment, Lauver has been keeping his driveway free of snow for the last three years from the comfort of his living room.

“I always tinkered around with electronics and computers,” he said recently while cleaning up after Tuesday night’s snowstorm. “I just wanted to invent some kind of robot or machine that could shovel snow for me.”

“Herdy-Gerdy,” a radio-controlled snow
plow built by Bill Lauver, of Middleburg,
makes short work of Wednesday’s snow.

Lauver said the remote-control snowplow is a an 4-horsepower electric golf cart that runs on six golf cart batteries and uses a hydraulic plow attachment.

“I geared it down to go slower than a normal golf cart, of course,” he added.

The plow is also equipped with two video cameras, one facing forward and one facing backward, so that he can see what the plow sees on his big-screen television.

Bill Lauver,Middleburg, demonstrates how he usually
operates "Herdy-Gerdy", the radio-controlled snowplow
that he constructed, from the comfort of his dining room.

The opportunity for human error when he was that far removed from the plows control, however, was a definite problem.

“It was really hard to judge distance without a 3-D view,” he said, “so I gave up on the camera for right now. Controlling it from the window is a lot easier.”

Lauvers’ wife, Sue, said that’s usually where he is when passers-by witness the invention at work.

“It’s funny, we’ll see people look at it really strange, and my husband will be standing in the window. It’s just a fun thing and certainly a topic of conversation,” she said.

Lauver said the plow can handle about 6 to 8 inches of snow, depending on its wetness.

“This snow is a bit hard on it because there was freezing rain last night. It’s a bit crusty,” he said Wednesday.

There’s no way to gauge how much the project cost, he said, because he put the plow together throughout a year and used many new and used parts. He estimated that he spent around $600 to $700.

Lauver has been tossing some ideas around lately for other projects as well, including a remote control lawn-mower and an automated snowblower.

His wife, however, joked about her mixed feelings on those plans.

“I want him to get some exercise. He’s always controlling everything by remote.”


Neil S. Cody writes for The Daily Itemin Sunbury, Pa.