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Google Image Labeler: Have Some Fun!
Have you ever wondered how Google is able to find certain images when you search for them online? There are actually two ways:
- Google finds related words that appear around the image, and using highly sophisticated algorithms, is able to determine some basic keywords for the image.
- However, since computers can often make mistakes, they have enlisted the help of hundreds of thousands of Googlers with a fun little tool called Google Image Labeler.
How Google Image Labeler Works
First of all, click on the link above to be taken to the page, or type http://images.google.com/imagelabeler/ into your web browser. You will see a screen similar to the one below:
Once there, you can admire the list of the top pairs for today and view the top all-time contributors. Assuming the top all-time contributor (Navel) scores a 2000 each time he or she plays, and seeing that her all-time score is 24,574,930, that means Navel has nearly 12,300 games under his or her belt. Don’t let that intimidate you though. To begin, just click on the button that says Start Labeling.
Google immediately begins waiting for someone else to click the “Start Labeling” button, and when they do, they will become your partner.
You’d better pay attention, because once Google finds you a partner, it’s show time! You need to look at the image and start typing in words that describe it. The more the merrier. Just be sure that you don’t use any of the “off-limits” words. Those are the ones that Google knows already describe the image.
As you can see, I typed in classic, shed, and then garage. My partner had also typed in garage. Since we matched a word, the green phrase flashed on the screen letting us know we matched, then we moved on to the next image.
After all was said and done, me and guest ended up not doing too bad. We were able to rack up 870 points. A good thing is that Google Image Labeler doesn’t leave you in suspense. I tried so hard on that first picture of the guy and girl on a date at the diner. Diner was off limits and so was date and napkins as I recall. I typed in restaurant, table, relationship and I couldn’t figure out what my partner was thinking. Then again, I have no idea why my partner labeled that one as movie, either. Oh well, we had a great time!
Keep in mind that the longer the word, the more points you get. We both saw a picture of a red race car. We matched the word “red” and only ended up getting 50 points for it since it is only a three-letter word.
So, if you’re ever looking for some time to kill, or if you’re just plain lonely, Google Image Labeler always has someone available to play a word game with you!
Please share your experiences below with Google Image Labeler. I’d love to hear how it’s worked out for you.
Using elgooG to Perform Searches
In the online world, a mirror is an exact replica of another website. Mirrors are good because if a primary site goes down, the mirror will more than likely still be running and users can access the website through the mirror.
One mirror of Google, entitled elgooG is taking the word mirror to another level! You can go to the website here. You’ll immediately notice that everything on the page is a mirror image of how it appears on the main Google page. Here’s how the page looks:
As you can see, Google becomes elgooG. Similarly, Google Search becomes a barely recognizable hcraeS elgooG and I’m Feeling Lucky appears to be a form of pig latin in its new form: ykcuL gnileeF m’I.
elgooG has a very interesting history. When the Chinese government blocked its citizens’ access to Google in 2002, elgooG was still very accessible and many Chinese started to use elgooG as a back door into the Google database.
If you’d like to challenge your eyes and mind, I’d recommend performing a search with elgooG. Just one though, or you might need to take some painkillers!
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