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19 handy Google tricks that you were not aware of | Katonah NY Realtor

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After covering everything that Google Search has to offer, you can easily forge that search only forms one small part of the Google behemoth. With so many different features and clients available, it’s very easy to use the basic features for each and leave it at that.

However, if you delve a little deeper, there are many tricks hidden away that will help improve your experience. To help you out, here are a number of tips and tricks that you can use for four of Google’s more popular features: Gmail, Maps, Google Drive and Google News.

Gmail

Use Filtered Search

Gmail’s search bar is very handy for finding that message you got months ago, but most people don’t realise how easy it is to access advanced search. Just click the downward facing arrow on the right-hand side of the search bar and you will be presented with a number of different search options. You can narrow your search down to the person who sent it, the subject, words used, and the dates it would have been sent.SearchingforMail 765x449 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Activate Starring Feature

Sometimes you will come across important messages, but the only way you can mark them is with the yellow tab or star icon. Thankfully, there is a feature in settings which lets you mark your inbox with different symbols to help you. Start by clicking the gear icon in the upper right hand corner and scroll halfway down the general settings page to find the “Stars” setting. Here you can drag different stars and icons into the “In Use” section to activate them. The next time you’re starring an email, you can cycle through the different colours by clicking on the icon repetitively.Stars 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Cut Down Text In Email Replies

The annoying thing about email threads is that if the messages are long and numerous, it’s very easy for the context to get lost among the many paragraphs of text. There’s a handy way to get around this as blogger John Graham-Cunning recently discovered. Before you hit reply, highlight the block of text you want quoted and then hit reply. This ensures that only that text you highlighted will be quoted in the email below your message.HighlightingTextReply 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Keyboard Shortcuts

Like all Google features, there are keyboard shortcuts that you can take advantage of. Simply go into the gear icon on the upper right general settings and activate the shortcut. You can find a list of the different keyboard shortcuts by visiting this link.

Sign Out Remotely

If you’ve signed into Gmail on different computers and forgot to sign out, you can sign out remotely through the details section. If you scroll down to the bottom of Gmail, you will see your last activity at the bottom right hand corner. Click on “Details” underneath this and you can sign out of all other sessions.RemoteSignOut 765x449 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Emphasise Important Words In Gchat

If you want to add extra emphasis to your comments on Gchat, you can add some basic formatting as you type. To make text bold, surround your text with asterisks (*bold*), use underscore to add italics (_italics_) and hyphens to add strikethrough (-strikethrough-).BoldText 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

See Which Emails Were Sent To You Directly

If you want to keep track of what emails are sent to you directly and which ones were sent to a group, you should activate the “Personal Message Indicators” setting. Found near the end of general settings, activating it will place arrow icons within the important tab. One arrow signifies emails sent to you and others, while double arrows indicate emails sent just to you.personallevelindicators 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Activate Gmail Remotely

If you’re a Chrome user, you can download a handy app which will allow you to work on Gmail without an internet connection. It allows you to read, respond to, search and archive mail without network access. For those interested, you can download it through the link here.gmailoffline 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Google Maps

Remove Side Column

Not really a tip per se, but handy to know when you’re viewing a map. If you want more space to work around with, simply click the small arrow on the right of the printer and URL icon (the chain). This will minimise the column so that you have more space to view the map.hidepanel 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Adjust Your Route

When you’re searching for directions and you want to avoid a particular road or street, you can adjust your route by dragging it to a different path. This will create a new white marker which Google will use to calculate a new route and timeframe. You can create as many of these markers as you wish.dragtochangeroute 765x430 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Add/Remove Layers

Depending on your location, you can add or remove layers to your map. Depending on your location, you can see terrain, traffic, weather reports, Wikipedia entries, bike trails and when you zoom in close enough in satellite mode, 45 degree mode. You can access these modes by hovering on the box located on the top right-hand corner and expand it by clicking the arrow button at the bottom.layers 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Drag and Zoom

Google Labs has some incredibly handy tools, but it can be very easy to miss it considering its location. When you open up maps, you will find Maps Labs at the bottom left hand corner of the screen. One of the options you can choose is ‘Drag ‘n’ Zoom’ which lets you zoom in by drawing a box on the map. Click the magnifying box underneath the original zoom to activate it. The smaller the box, the further you zoom in.dragandzoomtool 765x450 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Measure Distances

Another Google Labs tool that you can activate. Clicking the ruler tool at the bottom right hand corner of your map will let you measure the distance between two points in metres or feet. The fun part behind this option is you can choose the geeky option and measure the distance based on the size of American football fields, Olympic swimming pools and light years among other more useful measurements. This feature will only let you measure in straight lines, however.DistanceMeasurement 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Google Drive

Keyboard Shortcuts

It’s probably no surprise that Google Drive has its own set of keyboard shortcuts which you can find through the cog icon. Scroll down the menu and you will see an option for keyboard shortcuts. Clicking this will bring up all the different key combinations available to you.DriveShortcuts 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Access Revision History

If you’re creating or viewing a document on Google Drive and you want to see what changes were made, go into file and select “Revision History.” This will bring up a list of previous versions of said document that you can restore or use to view differences between that version and the latest. If the document is shared by more than one person, all changes are colour coded to show which person was behind each change.RevisionHistory 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Attach Drive Files To Your Email

When you’re writing up an email, you can insert a file directly from Drive through your Gmail account by clicking the Drive icon at the bottom of the new compose email format. It will appear when you scroll over the attachment icon at the bottom. This option isn’t available if you’re using the old compose format, in which case you’ll have to add in your files manually.GoogleDriveAttachment 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Google News

Personalise Your News

Google News is a handy way to find articles when normal search isn’t enough, but you mightn’t be aware that it can also be used as a news portal. Going to the News homepage will present you with all the major news stories, local and national, for you to read. However, if you’re not happy with the articles you’re presented with, the customise section is what you’re looking for.

By clicking on the cog icon at the top right-hand corner, you can adjust the sliders for a number of topics to determine how often they appear. Also, you can add specific news sources to the list and adjust how often they appear on your feed, allowing you a more personalised experience.

personalisegooglenews 765x430 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Adjust Appearance Of Blogs & Press Releases

In its search function, Google News also incorporates blog posts and press releases to give you a more comprehensive view of the news and what’s happening. If you only want major media outlets and sites to appear on your feed, you have the option to lessen or get rid of blog posts and press releases from your feed. When in the customise section, go into settings (found underneath adjust sources) and you can adjust the frequency they appear.personalisetaste 765x450 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

Add Specific Topics

If you want to have a stream that related to specific search terms, then create your own section. In the customise section, go into advanced (found underneath the Personalize Google News section), and select “Create A Custom Section.” Here you can add in any search term and you will be presented with a feed correlating to that. Remember if you want to add more than one term, separate them with a comma.customsection 765x429 19 handy Google tricks that you weren’t aware of

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This article is published in association with SimplyZesty, a digital marketing agency.

Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images

via thenextweb.com

Mortgages – Upshot of the Foreclosure Backlog | Katonah Homes

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About half of the 50 states have judicial foreclosure systems. The housing market crash so bogged down the systems in New York and New Jersey that foreclosures there have routinely dragged on for two or three years; their timelines are among the longest in the country. The national average, which factors in nonjudicial states, is about one year, according to RealtyTrac, which monitors foreclosures nationwide.

The sluggish process has caused a backlog of loans in foreclosure and is slowing the housing market recovery in judicial states, says Michael Fratantoni, the vice president for research and economics at the Mortgage Bankers Association. As of the end of the third quarter, according to the association, 6.6 percent of all loans were in foreclosure in judicial states, compared with 2.4 percent in nonjudicial states.

A study released last summer by researchers at the Federal Reserve Banks in Boston and Atlanta found that the longer properties languish in delinquency or under a bank’s ownership, the greater the negative effect on the value of surrounding properties.

“The best outcome is to prevent the foreclosure,” said Paul S. Willen, an economist and policy adviser at the Boston Fed. “But if it’s clear that can’t be done, it’s in society’s interest to get the foreclosure done as soon as possible.”

In a separate study last year, Mr. Willen and his colleagues question the basis for giving borrowers more time to try to fix mortgage problems. The study found that avoiding foreclosure was no more likely for borrowers subject to either judicial foreclosure, or laws forcing lenders to wait 90 days before beginning foreclosure proceedings, than it was for other borrowers.

Consumer advocates agree that foreclosures are taking too long in some states. High concentrations of vacant properties have taken a heavy toll on certain neighborhoods, said Michael D. Calhoun, the president of the Center for Responsible Lending in Washington. “We agree that borrowers should be considered quickly for loan modifications,” he said. “They’re more successful if they’re done early on.”

But in his estimation, the delays aren’t a result of the protections provided to consumers under the judicial process, because the court process has worked fine in “normal times.” The problem now, he said, lies with the mortgage servicers. “We had a servicing system that was totally overwhelmed by the housing boom and even more so by the housing crash,” Mr. Calhoun said. “The backlog is due to servicer errors and lack of capacity.”

Communication gaps are also a factor, says Mark S. Cherry, a lawyer who represents borrowers in the state-sponsored foreclosure mediation program in New Jersey. His clients must sometimes return to mediation sessions five or six times before finally getting a loan modification. “Persistence breaks resistance,” he said.

Courts, too, have been overwhelmed. In New Jersey, a typical year brings about 24,000 residential foreclosure filings; in 2009 and 2010, annual filings surpassed 60,000.

The courts have since had time to adjust, especially because lenders have halted the processing of thousands of old cases while they work with federal regulators on improving their practices, said Kevin M. Wolfe, the assistant director of the Civil Practice Division of New Jersey’s Administrative Office of the Courts.

New foreclosure cases are moving much more quickly, and there is no backlog, Mr. Wolfe said. The average time for foreclosures filed this year is 6.4 months.

By the time lenders begin processing those old cases, the court should be far better prepared, he said, adding, “We’re not going to be caught up short this time.”

via nytimes.com