This section is from the "55 Ways to Have Fun With Google" book, by Philipp Lenssen. Also available from Amazon: 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google
Have you ever searched for your own name on Google, curious what the world has to say about you? Almost everyone of us did, one time or another. In fact, you should – maybe others search for you all the same, and you want to know what they will find.
The act of searching for yourself is also known as "egogoogling." Here's a variant of it which can be a fun game. Enter your first name followed by the word "is" into Google, and put the search in quotes. For example, if your name is Susan, the search would look like this:
"susan is"
Now in the search result snippets, you will learn a lot of things about you that you didn't even know! For the name "Susan," we get the following:
Susan is an amazing person to work with!
Susan is an ethical woman and is refusing to cooperate
Susan is a very attractive young lady (with a boyfriend) who for some reason is always late.
Susan is a top Florida residential real estate agent.
Susan is a top producer specializing in the ski resort town of Breckenridge, as well as the surrounding area.
Not only can you apply this approach to find out more about yourself (or just have a good laugh, actually, as the results are likely to be about another person), you can also use this to find out about celebrities. To do so, enter the full celebrity name followed by the word "is" into Google, and put it in quotes again:
"arnold schwarzenegger is"
For action movie star Arnie, we get these results:
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a very talented man who would make an excellent governor.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is falling into a similar spiral.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking out for voters' best interests.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a man more familiar with the red carpets of a movie premiere than a white collar business seminar.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is terrifying as the "killer cyborg" who "looks like Death rendered in steel."
Arnold Schwarzenegger is The Terminator (T-800).
Arnold Schwarzenegger is quickly discovering that life in politics doesn't always produce the happy endings so common in many of his Hollywood blockbusters.
Note that you can use "stars in," "was born in" and similar glue words instead of "is" to find out almost anything about a celebrity. You can even expand the idea to include things, not people… try searching for "Nikon cameras are" and similar queries.
If you don't have Google near you, here are some popular male and female names with their "egogoogled" results.
Aaron is a monotonic anchor.
Adam is a deeply disturbing and
depressing film.
Alan is AI's pattern-matching
chatbot.
Albert is so cute!
Andrew is the Patron Saint of
Scotland.
Anthony is probably the best male vocal out
there.
Arthur is kind of in a category by itself.
Brandon is
for the birds.
Brian is embarrassed that he needs the extra help
in school.
Carl is just sitting there in Nashville!
Charles is
also a coach of AYSO youth soccer, an officer in the PTA of the local
elementary school.
Christopher is of mixed heritage
(Asian-American).
Daniel is a natural talent .
David is not
allowed computer access.
Dennis is one of Britain's best
known entrepreneurs.
Donald is rarely easy to understand, and
people have supposedly heard him say all sorts of risque
things. Donald is a Professor in the Department of
Psychology.
Douglas is "King of California."
Edward is a biological human (not a robot).
Edward is coming
BACK to television.
Eric is featured on guitar and mandolin on the
songs Viargra and Gypsy woman.
Frank is hilariously funny on what
makes us red-staters different from blue-staters (not).
Fred is
leading the Franklin Templeton Shootout after 2 rounds!
Gary is
the editor and compiler of ResourceShelf.
George is, quite simply,
the worst helpdesk technician ever.
Gerald is frightened and
doesn't understand why the woman wants to assist him.
Gregory is recognized as one of the very foremost orators.
Harold is an original.
Henry is currently in jail.
Jack is
looking for a house with about half an acre of land to buy in
California.
James is as forthright as an Old Testament prophet.
Jason is who the JASON Project is named after.
Jeffrey is
helping to clear up this cosmic murkiness.
Jeremy is a
conscientious worker who can usually be relied upon.
Jerry is a
master at understanding your goals for the photograph and then
creating the perfect lighting.
Joe is "LIVE" daily.
John is succeeding marvelously in journalism's highest
calling: to encourage people .
Jonathan is writing a magical fable
of his grandfather's village in Ukraine.
Joseph is the
Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director.
Joshua is
home now.
Juan is similar to the one at the top of this page.
Justin is practicing walking on his hands.
Keith is a true
character who comes across as being very sincere.
Kenneth is a
strong advocate for community building and social change.
Kevin is
creative director and co-founder at Lightroom.
Larry is also a
political planner.
Lawrence is a New York Real Estate Broker
specializing in Putnam.
Mark is coauthor of Inside Windows 2000,
Third Edition (Microsoft Press).
Matthew is believed to have used
Mark and the theoretical source.
Michael is abandoning the music
business to release his songs online for free instead.
Patrick is
one of the nation's best young auto racers.
Paul is
backwards in line and taller than everyone else, again.
Peter is a
consultant with a distinguished academic track record.
Ralph is
not beyond fishing around for a philosophical explanation.
Raymond
is an observer-participant anthropologist in the Internet
Richard
is often accused of being overly concerned with himself.
Robert is
an elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Roger is approached by a
gangling, spotty computer scientist.
Ronald is known in more than
100 countries wherever you find McDonald's restaurants.
Ryan is clearly good at her job.
Samuel is irresistible.
Scott is arguably the most well-known and influential unknown
composer.
Shawn is now 26 years old, lives in San Diego, enjoys
snowboarding, taking trips to Lake.
Stephen is working with Marvel
to produce a series of comic books.
Steve is a DJ in Boston.
Steven is writing the same song over and over.
Terry is back
with his new group, The Society for Truth and Justice.
Thomas is
still searching
Timothy is an accomplished juggler.
Walter is
now 79 years of age and in excellent health.
William is truly
"fit for a king."
Alice is an AIML engine written in C++.
Amanda is most known
for her role in FOX's hit TV show "The OC."
Amy
is... sniff... sniff... sad about our recent barking on her
"Re-name RSS contest."
Angela is absolutely swamped
this week!
Ann is only a writer – and NOT a private
detective.
Anna is helping out with the hurricane relief
effort.
Anne is a storyteller.
Barbara is to go to Paddle
Sports of Santa Barbara.
Betty is distinctively heard singing
alongside Michael.
Brenda is the mother of 14 children, 12 of whom
are adopted.
Carolyn is currently training for the next WNBA
season.
Catherine is a star.
Christina is also busy promoting
the line of footwear "Skechers."
Christine is red and
white.
Cindy is in "love with the attention."
Cynthia is still on the border.
Debbie is an International
Magician.
Deborah is pleased to announce two brand-new paintings!
Debra is a nationally recognized expert on communication
skills.
Denise is funny, bright and bubbly.
Diana is currently
in London, England where she is working on the artwork. ...
Diane
is steadfast in her mission of marketing and negotiating the terms of
the sale.
Donna is recording her 2nd CD, "Feels Like
Home", which will be released in 2001.
Doris is such a great
zine.
Dorothy is 5 Dinosaur years old, and is very wise for her
age.
Edith is only meaningful.
Elizabeth is just south of the
expanding Addo Elephant National Park.
Ellen is Africa's
first lady president.
Emily is nation's young poet of the
year.
Heather is the one with the muscles.
Helen is Coming To
Town!.
Irene: Irene is a wedding and portrait photographer serving
parts of New England and New York State. Jane is one of Victorian
literature's rebellious heroines.
Janet is
fantastic.
Janice is right there on that edge.
Jennifer is a
genius.
Jessica is a joy and a delight that brings happiness to
all of us.
Josephine is Under Construction!
Judith is no
mythical personage.
Judy is going to still have to answer to a
higher authority.
Julie is no longer a loner; she, too, learns
about being a part of a community.
Karen is an experienced tutor
in both fiddle and step dance.
Katherine is one of two large towns
you will come across on the route between Darwin and
Alice.
Kathleen is foremost a musician.
Kathy is married to
Rick Hilton, who is the wealthy grandson.
Kimberly is married to
Johnny.
Laura is not a psychologist nor a psychiatrist.
Linda
is now going to move to the south of Sweden.
Lisa is furious with
Debbie.
Louise is a first-class song, there is no
doubting.
Margaret is not the enemy.
Marie is an accomplished
author with an important story to tell.
Martha is
"free."
Melissa is very open about her past.
Michelle is as Michelle does.
Nancy is also an award-winning
video producer.
Nicole is now working hard on a NEW collection of
tunes.
Pamela is coming into her glory today.
Rachel is well
on her way to achieving her goals.
Rebecca is never seen, and yet
she is the main character.
Ruth is a member of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association.
Sandra is the fourth woman to win
it all, compared to only three men.
Sara is right. Yes, it is
true.
Sarah is still in the studio working.
Sharon is expected
to decide this weekend.
Sherry is a type of wine originally
produced in and around the town of Jerez.
Stephanie is so afraid of
germs, she can't stop washing her hands.
Susan is creative,
perceptive, intuitive, and timely.
Suzanne is not Sue.
Tina is
no acronym.
Virginia is a five-day bike tour.
Wendy is now
the only comic featured on the website.
( Original cartoon by the US government.)
 
Continue to: