Monday, May 19, 2008

The Great Google: Tips & Tricks

Today I am going to list a few tips here, about using Google search more efficiently. This is not something very new. Many geeks have written loads of books about Google hacks n all. But what I am going to list here today has got nothing to do with hacking Google. These are simple search helps which Google itself has provided to us but remain hidden. I have focused on only those tips which you will find most useful in your day to day life. If you know about any more of such tips, please let me know and I will add those to this list.

Here are a few of those tips & I m going to put them into increasing level of interest. ;) So, as you go on reading, I hope, you grow curious about the nex
t one. Other than these tips, I am going to provide you with some interesting links which you will find useful for sure.

Here we go…

  • Finding a Definition
You are again thinking, “Mannn, what’s the meaning of this?” say “ezine”. Let it be an acronym OR a linguistic term, Google can tell you all about it. In that little search textbox of Google, just type, “define: ezine”.

A term, the definition of which you are looking for, may have different meanings depending on the context. Please select the relevant one from the search result.
  • Finding related stuff
Sometimes, it happens that you are searching with a particular term but would like to know about the stuff related to it. Yes, you can do that with the help of Google. Type you search term with a preceding “tilde”, the approx sign. For example “~Fitness”. Here are the results…

  • Google as a calculator
You can use Google simply as a calculator. One can do a calculation as difficult as one can think of. Try this one, “2^10 + 7*98 + 500%13”. Here is the result…

Don’t you want to crosscheck if the result is correct?! ;)
  • Knowing the Time
We have really grown Global and you always need to know global times. You have a Football match to watch in a foreign country OR need to send a conference invitation which will be held across countries. So here is a simple way to know local time anywhere in the world. Just type “time Tokyo”.

Now try “time Australia”
Bingo! and you find that we can look for time in any city or country with existing Time Zones!

  • Searching with a specific File Type
Suppose you are looking for a free e-Book but need it in PDF format only. But when you search Google for that e-Book, it is available in all formats (HTML, doc etc.) and you need to look for the PDF format yourself. You can save your precious time by firing following search. Just type “The Mathematics of Sudoku filetype:pdf”

Similarly look for doc, xls, ppt or whatever format you are looking for.
  • Searching a website
You want to search a specific website for a particular content/page. You need not go to that website and look for it manually. Simply fire following type of search in Google & you are there. Just type “admission site:www.stanford.edu”

  • Converting currency
Currency conversion rates keep on changing every day. If you deal with multiple currencies regularly, you always need to know, the conversion rate between two currencies. Google is at help again. Follow this format. “100 Euro in INR”

If you don’t know the acronym for a currency, that’s not an issue. Try this “100 USD in Australian dollars”
  • Looking for sets
Suppose you are looking for a set of items but know only a handful of them & would like to find more belonging to that particular set. There is an easy way to do this. Go to http://labs.google.com/sets and type the items you know of. Google will present you with the rest, belonging to the set you are looking for.

  • Looking for products
You are thinking of buying a product & Google search seems to be the easiest way to look for vendors & prices. Google has made it even more simpler for you. Just visit http://www.google.com/products and type what you are looking for…

  • Movie Time
This is the last tip and I know, you are going to love this. :D You decide to go for a movie right away and need to know which movie is playing where in the City. Go to http://www.google.com/movies and type the name of your city. Wowww! Here is the list of Theatres & Movies being played there… :D

  • Interesting Links I promised:
Loved the above tips but interested in more such tips?! Here you will find a detailed list of more such stuff. Look for things helpful to you.
This site offers nothing but the power of Google in an easy way. Read “ABOUT SOOPLE” over the website & you are ready to go.
You are writing a document and thinking: is it “at the restaurant” OR “in the restaurant”? Simply visit GoogleFight & know which phrase, people all over the world are using more. It’s not limited to only this but you can compare anything you would like to compare.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow!!!...this is really amazing...specially when Google has become a part of our life.....What an irony, it has become a part of our life and we don't even know how to use it to the fullest extent.....Thanks Ambarish.....Hats off to you!!!

Priti said...

Good one Ambarish.
Keep it up