Google must have a pretty awesome viral marketing strategy. Or at the very least they must be sending some subliminal message through their tools that is turning us all into Google zombies who send around "here is another cool Google beta tool" emails ever so often.

So, from the Google zombie land, here is another cool Google beta tool: Google SMS (Short Message Service).

You can text message the number 46645 (GOOGL) with your search term and a Google-bot (I presume) responds back with the results as one or more text messages. You can search for local business listings, driving directions, movie show times, and more (Full list is here: http://www.google.com/sms/).

Once you have mastered the typing intricacies of your phone, this is a really cool and useful text messaging service with an almost immediate response. Lynn and I text messaged our search for “Beaconfire Arlington VA” and were pretty thrilled by Google sending us our own office address (I agree – we do need a life!). As an added bonus, we also discovered from the result that Google had not updated our office address after our move. Of course, that meant we had to sign up for the free Google business service to request a correction.

The only issue I have is that if there are multiple results for a search term, each will be sent as a separate message. Imagine searching for “Pizza Arlington VA” as Google suggests on its SMS page. Google SMS itself is free, but most phone providers charge by the number of text messages you send/receive. So, unless you have unlimited text message option from your phone provider, this approach can add costs over time. But, despite that, this is pretty cool service or did I say that already? ;-)

Google Zombie Signing Off.

I don’t know about you, but I’m appalled at the military’s increasingly agressive campaigning to recruit school-age children.  I’m encouraged to learn that parents have a mechanism to shield their children from these campaigns — an opt-out similar to the "Do not call" register created by the FTC.  Working Assets, in partnership with The Mainstreet Moms and ACORN, has set up a Web site to guide parents through the process of opting their children out of the Pentagon’s recruitment efforts.  Learn more at www.leavemychildalone.org.

A number of useful sites are now available to help people donate, volunteer, research charities, find housing, connect with loved ones and even shelter pets.

Washington Post columnist Leslie Walker has collected a bunch of sites. Another useful roundup was published by TidBITS this week.

The Wikipedia Hurricane Katrina page contains a jaw-dropping amount of information on the storm and its aftermath.

Interestingly, despite all of the efforts over the years to create high-concept, high-profit city portal sites over the years, the stripped-down largely non-commercial Craig’s List does seems to be among the most cited and most trafficked community sites during this crisis. Since the first day of the flooding last week, I’ve seen it regularly cited on the cable news channels and elsewhere.

Our thoughts are with all of the folks affected by Hurricane Katrina. We urge everyone to do what they can to help. There seems to be a general urging for cash donations, in lieu of volunteer or donated goods. In line with this, Beaconfire has made cash donations to help relief organizations purchase exactly what is needed in each location.

Do what you can. Every little bit helps.

Here are a couple of places you can make an online contribution:

Christian Children’s Fund provides a range of services to 2551 children in Mississippi, including childcare, afterschool violence prevention, health education, and more.  http://www.christianchildrensfund.org/

United Ways throughout the area are helping with the response and recovery efforts.
https://volunteer.united-e-way.org/hurricane-katrina/donate/

The American Red Cross is on the ground doing its usual great work at providing emergency shelter, food, water and other critical assistance.  www.redcross.org

Network for Good has a comprehensive listing of charities helping with the rescue and recovery efforts:  www.networkforgood.com