Give Us One Minute

Do you google? Of course you do. Who doesn’t? Of course I mean the verb google as in the non-sanctioned by Webster’s dictionary verb. But just what does it mean to google? Simply put we are talking about using the Google Search engine (http://www.google.com) to search for stuff, a highly technical term that should not be confused with the vernacular form of the word stuff. Huh?

The simple way to google is to visit the Google site, type in your search query, hit the return key and then proceed through the list of possible matches. That’s the process folks. No epiphany here. You’ve all done this umpteen million times yourselves. So what more can I offer to this already simple process? How about several ways to narrow the listing as well as how to google some other kewl features that you may not have know about. These are tips I’ve learned over the years and they always prove to be favorites when I show them to students, faculty, friends and family. These tips are sure to help you find the information you are looking for quickly. They may also decrease your dependence on actual software applications running on your computer. Shocking, but true.

I’m Feeling Lucky

This is the quickest and simplest of all search tips and one that I am continually amazed at how many folks don’t even know about. Heck, it’s a button right under the search text input area. See it? Right there. Not there…THERE! I suspect that most folks don’t know of the existence of this button because they type in their search string and hit enter. Doing so performs the normal search and presents a listing of sites that might contain information about the search string. To use the I’m Feeling Lucky option, input your search string, select the I’m Feeling Lucky button and Google will do it’s best to take you to the one site that has information you are looking for. Works well for popular and non-obscure searches, but is not a great tool if you are looking for a variety of answers. But hey, if you just need a recipe for clam chowder, type in Clam Chowder Recipe and hit the I’m Feeling Lucky button. You’ll be presented with a link to every style and flavor of Clam Chowder you might be looking for.

The Perfect Phrase
Most folks know that you can limit a search to specific phrases by enclosing the phrase in quotation marks. Then when the search is performed, Google searches for the exact phrase and not just pages that contain all the words in your search string. For instance, if I were to search for John Smith, I would get pages that contain both the names John and Smith, the names wouldn’t necessarily be next to each other. By placing this string within quotations like this:

“John Smith”

Google will only search for pages that contain the names John and Smith together separated by a single space. Alternatively you could simply type:

John-Smith

The hyphen between the words works the same as enclosing the string within quotation marks. Here’s a tip for academicians looking to verify plagiarism. Copy a suspicious sentence or phrase from a student’s paper and place it within quotation marks. Now use this selection as your search string. You will be surprised how many students lift sentences, paragraphs and whole papers from the web.

Rain or Shine?
Many of you probably have your favorite weather site. I really enjoy Weather Underground (http://www.wunderground.com). However, Weather Underground is great for tracking storms, listening to the online weather radio and getting detailed forecasts, but sometimes I just want the temperature and a quick forecast. Try a search string that begins with the word weather and is followed by a zip code:

weather 47710

Google will respond with a current temperature and a brief four-day forecast. Perfect for planning that day trip or picnic.

Wanna catch a movie this evening?
Continuing on a theme, make a guess what you would use as a search string to look for local movies and showtimes. Well, you’re probably close and thought to yourself:

movie 47710

Almost there. This search will give you a listing of the theaters in the local zip code area which could be useful in itself, however if you add a colon after movie you will get a listing of the actual movies playing and showtimes. So try this search string instead:

movie: 47710

Off to the movies you go. Be sure to enjoy that $12 soft drink and $20 popcorn.

Currency Conversion
We are not international travelers, although we would like to be. In the meantime, its just fun to see how much the dollar is worth in other countries, say Japan. We can do this at a whim with Google with the following search string.

22 USD in JPY

Google will respond with conversion of your currency.

2+2=5
We love this one. Need to quickly calculate a couple of numbers? Google to the rescue again. Similar to using Excel to calculate cells. Here are a couple of examples for you to try:

10+4*8
sqrt(144)
5!
sine(90 degrees)
teaspoons in a cup

That last one is kind of interesting in that the Google calculator will even do some basic this-to-that conversions. Very handy indeed. Check out http://www.google.com/help/calculator.html for a list other possible calculations.

When’s my new Mac Mini going to arrive?
Here’s an easy one. Have the tracking number for a UPS, FedEx or USPS package. Enter it as a search string and behold the magic of Google! No need to first visit the parcel service web site. Big timesaver here. Won’t get your package there any quicker, but now you can quickly locate it.

She blinded me with PowerPoint
Looking for specific information within a certain filetype? Say for instance you are looking for a PowerPoint file about Purdue University. Try this search string:

Purdue University .ppt

Google will present links to pages that contain PowerPoint files on either the Purdue University site or on sites that have PowerPoint files about Purdue University. Just out of curiosity, we tried a search for .mp3 files and just as suspected, direct link to files were never presented, only links to sites that offered these files as legitimate downloads. Guess Google wants keep our friendly neighborhood RIAA away. Curious, we explored a bit further and tried this search:

lost .avi

Google presented links to torrents to episodes of Lost. Need to play around a bit more with this feature as it might be an interesting way to find media for our courses.

We’ve always known the world was coming to an end
This is another colon feature. Not the physiological colon, the typographic colon. Try this search:

define: apocolypse

Google will present an error and ask:

Did you mean: define: apocalypse

Not only did it catch the incorrect spelling but it allowed us to continue to search for a definition of the word. Good thing Google is smarter than us plain folks.

Give me another word that means Apocalypse
Let’s carry the previous example a bit further and not only search for the term apocalypse, but also for terms and are synonymous with apocalypse. Try this search string:

~apocalypse

Google will present sites about the Apocalypse as well as the Armageddon. OK, sites say not to worry, this was supposed to happen in 2001. Whew!

Looking for a widget that costs between $20 and $30?
Alright, how many of you know about Froogle. Thought so, many of you are aware that you can use Google to search for the lowest cost on products sold online. Did you know that you can limit the amount you are willing to spend by specifying a range. Try this search string:

PowerBook G4 $500..$1000

Google will present links to various sites selling our beloved laptop computer for prices within this range. The two periods (..) specify the range. This can be used for any range you are looking for. Try this search string:

Richard Nixon 1960..1970

This search will yield results that cover a decade of information about one of the United States’ most controversial past presidents. Great tool for researchers looking to limit information to a specific range.

I need accurate information from reputable sources
Let’s face it, not all the information found on the web is reputable. Say it isn’t so! I know, I know, you can’t believe everything you read on the web. This article might be a prime example. Let’s say you want information about Medicaid. There are thousands of folks out there who think they know the Medicaid system or have opinions of the system. On top of that, the system varies per state. You just want information about the system and you want it from a reputable site. Who more reputable than the organization that manages it, the government. Give it a shot, do a search for Medicaid. Plenty of information, but does it really pertain to your situation in your state? Google can filter results to a specific domain, such as .gov, to return better results. Try these search strings.

site:gov Medicaid
site:.in.us Medicaid

The first string will yield U.S. Government documents about the Medicaid system and the second string will focus the search and localize on the Medicaid system in the State of Indiana. In each case only .gov or .in.us sites will be presented within the search results.

I know I read about chickens on roller skates on weirdfarmtales.com
Ever read something on a specific site, return later and can’t find it? Most sites nowadays have a search funtion, however, the purpose of this article is to provide tips to make your searching faster. Use the site: feature to search a specific site for information. Try this search string:

site:www.giveusoneminute.com lego

Google will display links to all the pages on the GUOM website that contain the word Lego. Dang…that’s handy!

You better be linking to my site.
Just who links to your site is an important question for any blogger or webmaster to ask. You want to know where on the web are links to your site. Try this search string to find out:

link:www.giveusoneminute.com

Huh? Really…none of you are linking to GUOM. That’s depressing. Let’s try one of our older sites:

link:www.bricksinmypocket.org

That’s better. Be sure to include the www before the URL or the search won’t yield any results. Now you know where to send nice thank you e-mails to the folks that are helping drive up your Google Adsense balance.

I don’t need no stinkin’ Google
Remember on most modern browsers you do not need to visit the Google web site to begin a search. On the right-hand site of the browser is a text area that usually contains a small magnifying glass. This is the browser search tool. Most of the times browser defaults to the Google search engine. If it doesn’t, information can be found online to change this by, you guessed it, performing a search on Google. If you use Safari or Firefox, no problem you are ready to go. Simply enter your search string and hit enter and you are on your way. The only tip mentioned that doesn’t work using the browser search function is the I’m Feeling Lucky option. All the other tips work well and make this small little browser area a very powerful information gathering tool.

So those are GUOM’s favorite tips. You now have some pretty powerful tools folks. Remember that with great power, comes great responsibility, do google those blind dates wisely! Have any of your own google tips or want to piggy-back on top of one of ours? Leave us a comment.

technorati tags:Google, Search, Tips, Productivity