20 Efficient Google Search Tips

by krishanna on October 12, 2009

I don’t know about you but for me,  Google is an indispensable search tool.  I use it every day, for all facets of my life. From work or personal research, to looking up movies and celebrities to news and gossip, Google is the go-to search engine.

And you know, there are a number of ways to make your searches more efficient and productive instead of just typing in a phrase and wading through page after page of results.

Many of these are obvious ones, that you probably know about. Some are lesser-known, and stillothers are known but not often used. Use this guide to learn more about, or be reminded of, some of the best ways to get exactly what you’re looking for, and quickly.

  1. Either/or
    Google normally searches for pages that contain all the words you type in the search box, but if you want pages that have one term or another (or both), use the OR operator — or use the “|” symbol (pipe symbol) to save you a keystroke. [dumb | little | man]

  2. Quotes
    If you want to search for an exact phrase, use quotes. ["dumb little man"] will only find that exact phrase. [dumb "

    little man"] will find pages that contain the word dumb and the exact phrase ”

    little man”.
  3. Not
    If you don’t want a term or phrase, use the “-” symbol. [-dumb

    little man]

    will return pages that contain “little” and “man” but that don’t contain “dumb”.
  4. Similar terms
    Use the “~” symbol to return similar terms. [~dumb

    little man -dumb] will get you pages that contain “funny

    little man” and “stupid

    little man” but not “dumb

    little man”.
  5. Wildcard
    The “*” symbol is a wildcard. This is useful if you’re trying to find the lyrics to a song, but can’t remember the exact lyrics. [can't * me love lyrics] will return the Beatles song you’re looking for. It’s also useful for finding stuff only in certain domains, such as
    educational information: ["dumb

    little man" research *.edu].
  6. Advanced search
    If you can’t remember any of these operators, you can always use Google’s advanced search.
  7. Definitions
    Use the “define:”

    operator to get a quick definition. [define:dumb] will give you a whole host of definitions from different sources, with links.
  8. Calculator
    One of the handiest uses of Google, type in a quick calculation in the search box and get an answer. It’s faster than calling up your computer’s calculator in most cases. Use the +, -, *, / symbols and parentheses to do a simple equation.

  9. Numrange
    This little-known feature searches for a range of numbers. For example, ["best books 2002..2007]

    will return lists of best books for each of the years from 2002 to 2007 (note the two periods between the two numbers).
  10. Site-specific
    Use the “site:”

    operator to search only within a certain website. [site:dumblittleman.com leo] will search for the term “leo” only within this blog.
  11. Backlinks
    The “link:”

    operator will find pages that link to a specific URL. You can use this not only for a main URL but even to a specific page. Not all links to an URL are listed, however.
  12. Vertical search
    Instead of searching for a term across all pages on the web, search within a specialized field. Google has a number of specific searches, allowing you to search within blogs, news, books, and much more:

  13. Movies
    Use the “movie:”

    operator to search for a movie title along with either a zip code or U.S. city and state to get a list of movie theaters in the area and show times.
  14. Music
    The “music:”

    operator returns content related to music only.
  15. Unit converter
    Use Google for a quick conversion, from yards to meters for example, or different currency: [12 meters in yards]
  16. Types of numbers
    Google algorithms can recognize patterns in numbers you enter, so you can search for:

    • Telephone area codes
    • Vehicle ID number (US only)
    • Federal Communications Commission (FCC) equipment numbers (US only)
    • UPC codes
    • Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airplane registration number (US only)
    • Patent numbers (US only)
    • Even stock
      quotes (using the stock symbol) or a weather forecast regarding the next five days
  17. File types
    If you just want to search for .PDF files, or Word documents, or Excel spreadsheets, for example, use the “filetype:”

    operator.
  18. Location of term
    By default, Google searches for your term throughout a web page. But if you just want it to search certain locations, you can use operators such as “inurl:”, “intitle:”, “intext:”, and “inanchor:”. Those search for a term only within the URL, the title,
    the body text, and the anchor text (the text used to describe a link).
  19. Cached pages
    Looking for a version of a page the Google stores on its own servers? This can help with outdated or update pages. Use the “cached:”

    operator.
  20. Answer to life, the universe, and everything
    Search for that phrase, in lower case, and Google will give you the answer.

For more on Google’s search syntax, see this guide, and this one.

5 Ways To Unstall Your Creativity

by krishanna on September 2, 2009

Most of our work happiness comes from our relationship with ourselves. For example, I recently started working on   a proposal for a non-profit human services organization. As I’m reading and putting all the research together, roughing out each section and making it all coherent, I hit walls that stalled my progress.

Last week I actually flopped into my recliner, let out a loud groan and sputtered out in frustration. Why did I do this?   I hadn’t written a proposal like this in several months. It was no good. I didn’t have the handle on it I wanted. It wasn’t flowing. Fortunately, my boyfriend was home and he listened to my self-deprecating rant and cajoled me back into life with a few hugs, a popsicle, and a couple of well-timed   jokes. My creativity was zapped by my own thoughts of inadequacy, fear, and anger. The person from whom I needed the most encouragement was myself, and I was being ugly.

I took a look at the internal problems I was having and how they were affecting my work. By addressing a few weaknesses, I discovered how I can use them to work for me instead of against me.

1. One Project at a Time

Almost always, I have several things that I am trying to do at once. I could be writing an email, in discussion with someone in an instant message client while I am thinking about an upcoming task or project.   The distraction puts a strain on my attention and ultimately affects the quality of my work no matter how good I think I might be at multitasking.

From a long line of procrastinators, if I’m not forced to produce I don’t. Often my attention darts from thought to thought and thing to thing because there’s no deadline looming over my head like a black cloud of angst. So when I need to focus, I’ve started setting a timer. A little tension can be good when it brings focus to a person’s life.

Depending on the task, I may set the timer for 30 minutes and try to finish the task within that time frame. If the timer dings and I need more time, I reset it for the appropriate amount of time and go back to work. This allows me to focus on this one task without letting all the other “musts” distract me.

2. Break the Project Down

The length of my list on any given day would give even Gina Tranpani pause. I expect too much and never feel like I’ve gotten anything done.

Instead of getting lots done, there are times when my brain just shuts down in response to my overwhelming list. I needed to figure out a way to reduce those negative thoughts. I have tried bullying and forcing myself   but it never works. I only feel worse and do even less.

I’ve created a routine that allows me to handle my work load. When I realize that I have overextended my task list, I stand up, breathe deep, and let the air out with a slow breath. Then, I get comfortable at my desk and whittle my first big task into 20 minute spurts. As the project becomes less unwieldy, I find I’ve let go of the negative thoughts and boosted my confidence. I’m in the moment and enjoying the process. I’m not feeling overwhelmed by a mountain of work and I’m feeling good about my progress and the quality of work I am putting out.

3. Split Your Tasks List

I usually feel overwhelmed as a result of my own expectations. I expect to get too much work done. I’ve never been able to accomplish a massive task in one day. So when my task list gets too big I often split it into two lists.

I create a main list that’s simple to complete. If I have four hours for work, I make the list equal to about two hours. Typically these are the tasks and projects that need my attention first during the day. The second list is the extras list. This list contains the less time sensitive issues and tasks that require my attention that day.

Whenever I get to my extras list, I feel really good about what I’ve been able to complete. Anything on the extras list that doesn’t get done today, is prioritized and put on tomorrow’s main list. Guidance and sense of accomplishment is the main reason for a list, so make your list achievable. And don’t forget to roll those unfinished extras items over to your main tasks list for the following day!

4. Take a Break

I can get stalled because I get tired and can’t focus on what is right before me. There are too many options. If I have to write an email, create a blog post, and work on a newsletter then I start to feel over-anxious and foggy. My overwhelmed brain simply wants to shut down. So I   usually get up and take a break to clear my head and let things simmer.

Since I work from home, there always some mindless household task that needs to be done. If negative thoughts are mucking up my progress, I take out the trash. If worry is hounding me, I do the dishes and think about those worries running down the drain with the soapy water. Maybe I’ll pop over to some favorite blogs that have nothing to do with work for some laughter and gratitude. If the weather is okay, I might sit out on the backs steps and listen to the birds and watch my dog snore in the grass for awhile.   Almost always after one of these breaks, I come back renewed and refreshed; my creativity is moving again.

There are so many ways we can pull ourselves out of a stressful state if we just take a break and let go of what’s bugging us.

5. Check Out the Positive

Like many of us, I get preoccupied in how the present moment makes me feel. I create mountains out of molehills. I can create a torturous thought process by magnifying the bad things that are happening to me instead of focusing on all the good things that are there if I just take the time to see them.

If I’m feeling particularly ugly about a project, I write down of all the things that I’m learning from the project in my Good Things journal. I keep this by my desk and whenever I am gloomy about work, I haul it out and take a peek.

Big projects and unexpected demands on my time almost always push me outside of my comfort zone. By meeting these challenges as they come, with as positive an attitude as I can muster, I can manage stress properly, compose clearer, better emails, and continue to develop more meaningful working relationships with my clients and bosses.

The bonus is I am getting paid to learn these lessons. That’s s a gift.

By working at shifting my perspective to the positive, I’m better able to let go of my negative thinking more quickly and realign myself with the good things in and around me.

What do you do to stay happy during a stressful project or day?

Ctrl+Alt+Del

by krishanna on August 11, 2009

via cad-comic.com

LMAO!

Posted via web from Krishanna’s posterous

Symphonic Kitty Orchestra

by krishanna on August 4, 2009

Via BitchPhD, via Eric Whitacre’s blog, via Chris Clarke on twitter.

Posted via web from Krishanna’s posterous

Lessons in Love and Cultural Competency | Creating the Future!

by krishanna on July 29, 2009

My beautiful tabbyMy sweet cat is slowly fading. Her kidneys are failing, and she has almost entirely stopped eating. She’s been part of my being for 16 years and now I am watching as she slowly fades away.

Last night on Twitter, my friend Christine Egger wondered aloud, “If you hadn’t been taught you had dominion, how would you treat other species? If we hadn’t been taught that, would we be less likely to think we had dominion over other people? Their lives, their choices? What does “dominion over others” mean to you? How do you play it out? I think there’d be a huge part of me that would relax and celebrate more, if I could let that dominion stuff go…”

via hildygottlieb.com

Posted via web from Krishanna’s posterous

Lessons in Love and Cultural Competency | Creating the Future!

by krishanna on July 29, 2009

via hildygottlieb.com

Posted via web from Krishanna’s posterous

Are You Going?

by krishanna on July 10, 2009

Laidoffcamp LaidOffCampRVA is an unconference for unemployed, non-traditionally employed, employees and employers (including freelancers, entrepreneurs and startups) in the Richmond area who want to share ideas and learn from each other.Attendee/Sponsor-driven sessions will include: Using Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook as Lead Generation Devices, Expanding Your Professional Network, Living on an Extreme Budget, Building Your Personal Brand, Freelance Consulting 101, Starting Your Own Business and more! Other sessions will be conducted by HR and resource professionals. We’ll have companies onsite who can provide resources for the unemployed as well as some hiring. Losing your job is a unique opportunity to gain new perspective and reinvent your career. By attending Pathways to Success Richmond, you’ll be able to network, promote your marketable skills and exchange resources and expertise with others.

This event exists to provide an environment for community members to help steer each other in the right direction during these trying times — whether that direction is looking for a new job, starting a company, finding freelance work or becoming an independent consultant.”

NOTE: General admission is $12. You do not need to be unemployed to attend + all ticket types Alcohol and Non Alcoholic Beverages, hors d’ouevres, coffee, etc. between 5PM – 8PM

Host: The Dominion Club, 6000 Dominion Club Drive, Glen Allen, VA 23059

To find out more go to

http://wiki.laidoffcamp.com/RichmondVA

Follow us on Twitter @LaidOffCampRVA

or visit our website at http://www.laidoffcamprva.com

Beauty and Desecration by Roger Scruton, City Journal Spring 2009

by krishanna on July 1, 2009

One response is to look for beauty in its other and more everyday forms—the beauty of settled streets and cheerful faces, of natural objects and genial landscapes. It is possible to throw dirt on these things, too, and it is the mark of a second-rate artist to take such a path to our attention—the via negativa of desecration. But it is also possible to return to ordinary things in the spirit of Wallace Stevens and Samuel Barber—to show that we are at home with them and that they magnify and vindicate our life. Such is the overgrown path that the early modernists once cleared for us—the via positiva of beauty. There is no reason yet to think that we must abandon it.

via city-journal.org

Posted via web from Krishanna’s posterous

19 Presence Management Chores You COULD Do Every Day | chrisbrogan.com

by krishanna on June 30, 2009

If you’re looking to establish your online presence, and build relationships, it’s not the kind of project where you show up, build your profiles, friend a few people, and call it good. It’s a lot like tending the farm.

via chrisbrogan.com

Posted via web from Krishanna’s posterous

Five Basic Tech Tips For Bloggers

by krishanna on June 23, 2009

Source: The Blog Herald

By Jonathan Bailey

Where 15 years ago, having a Web site was something of a badge of nerdiness, today having a site doesn’t require much technical knowledge at all. Someone with almost no technical expertise can set up an account on WordPress.com or Blogger and be blogging within minutes.

However, this doesn’t mean that a blogger can get away with being a technical dunce. Though getting words on the Internet is pretty simple, building and growing a blog does require one to know a bit more than how to flip on a PC. Social networking sites make it easy to get online, but blogging, especially over the long haul, takes something more.

So what are those things that every blogger should know? There are many, definitely more than what is on this list, but here are five things every would-be blogger should know before, or at least shortly after, getting started.

1. The Basics of the Web

The Internet is a pretty amazing thing. Data travels all across the world on the back of a system that, when explained correctly, seems like it should never work. It’s both breathtakingly complicated and brilliantly simple at the same time.

Though a blogger doesn’t need to understand every technical detail about how the Web does its thing, a basic understanding of how a browser goes from a “.com” and then loads a site is probably a good idea. This should include at least a basic understanding of how domains are registered, how DNS works and how data gets from A to B on the Web.

One doesn’t need to know how the TCP handshake works, but a fundamental understanding of the “big picture” when it comes to Web infrastructure is pretty useful.

Why it is Important

Even a basic understanding of the workings of the Web can help you be a better blogger. First, if you go to set up your own hosting, you’re going to need some of that understanding to make everything work and understand the process of setting up your own domain.

However, even if you host with a free site, it can help you understand site outages, how to speed up your blog and why visitors often have very different experiences based upon their location.

Where to Learn It

How Stuff Works has a very thorough article about the basics of the Web, including DNS, IP addresses and more.

Read the rest…

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