Internet Tips and Tricks

1
Internet Tips and Tricks

• May 4, 2006

2
Search Engines

• Google www.google.com biggest, best
• AlltheWeb alltheWeb.com also a very large
  database
• Alta Vista www.av.com wildcards (ie.
  Small)
• Vivisimo www.vivisimo.com categorized results
• Ask Jeeves www.ask.com ask questions, natural
  language
• Yahoo www.yahoo.com.au human compiled, well
  respected
• HotBot www.hotbot.com finds most popular
  sites
• Dogpile www.dogpile.com aggregates smaller SE
  results

3
3. How do they work?

• Search engines for the Web do not really search
  the World Wide Web directly. Instead, what they
  do is
• search a database of the full text of Web
  pages
• selected and built by computer robot programs
  called spiders.
• Spiders find the pages to include in their
  databases by following the links on pages that
  already are there
• If a Web page is new and never linked to by any
  other pages, a spider cannot find it

4
Use to add things together

• pandas endangered animals
• IBM ThinkPad
• chocolate chip cookies recipes
• Seattle hotels reservations

5
Use - symbol to subtract

• Mao Tse Tung Jiang Qing
• In other words, youre telling the search
  engine to find Web pages on Mao Tse Tung but to
  exclude any pages where his fourth wife Jiang
  Qing is mentioned.

6
Use to denote searched-for phrase

• If you use pandas endangered animals it is
  possible the words could appear anywhere on the
  page instead of in a phrase!
• Doing a phrase search avoids this problem.
• This helps you to multiply the words!

7
Getting clever

• If you want to get really clever, you can combine
  all the symbols!
• You could use chocolate cake cookie
  recipes

8
News

• New York Times on the Web http//www.nytimes.com/
  all the news daily from the New York Times
• CNN Webspace Search Engine http//www.cnn.com/SEA
  RCH/index.html 
• The Age http//www.theage.com.au
• The ABC http//www.abc.net.au
• The BBC http//www.bbc.net.uk

9
staugustineschool.org/homework.shtml

• Homework help page
• Typing Tutor
• Math Drills
• Dictionary
• Searchable
• Shakespeare
• Bible
• Brick Testament
• Add things, request things, just click the
  comments link at the bottom of any page.

Also, http//www.staugustineschool.org/teacherpage
.shtml
10
Wikipedia

• Open Source encyclopedia
• Built, edited and monitored by volunteers
• Anyone who views it can edit it
• Disagreements get taken into an open discussion
  which anyone can read
• Contributors strive to keep content scholarly,
  but not always as dependable as, say
• Britannica.com.
• Content is NOT filtered for children
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

11
Babel Fish

• Programmatic Translation site
• Words or phrases it does pretty well
• Enter a Web page url and this application will
  attempt to render it with the text translated.
  This is usually pretty entertaining.
• http//babelfish.altavista.com/

12
Google Tips n Tricks 101

• This is intended to help you use Google more
  productively and to be able to show off for your
  friends.
• It will highlight key tips and tricks, as well as
  introduce you to some of the newer features of
  Google.
• It is by no means comprehensive. Google is
  everywhere. We are Google. Kumbayah.
• Ohmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

13
Google Advanced Search Operators -- define

• define
• Query provides basic definition of the query
• Example insanity

14
Google Advanced Search Operators -- related

• related
• Query lists Web pages similar to a specified
  Web page
• Which one of these pages is just like the other?

15
Google Advanced Search Operators allintitle

• allintitle
• Query will restrict results to those with all of
  the query words in the title of the page
• Example allintitle lotus support will
  identify any pages with Lotus AND support in
  the title
• Very useful for narrowing down a search

16
Google Advanced Search Operators -- link

• link
• Lists Web pages that have links to a specified
  Web page (very useful for link analysis)
• Note No space between the link and the URL
• In this example, there were 73,400 estimated
  pages linking to www.ibm.com

17
Google Advanced Search Operators -- cache

• cache
• Type cachewww.staugustineschool.org Shows
  version of site that Google has in its cache
• Type cachewww.staugustineschool.org staff
• Shows cached content with the word staff in
  that page

18
Google Advanced Search Operators -- site

• site
• Query will restrict results to those Websites in
  the given domain
• Example support sitewww.ibm.com will identify
  support-related Websites on the IBM domain

19
Google Advanced Search

• that contain ALL the search terms you type in
• that contain the exact phrase you type in
• that contain at least one of the words you type
  in
• that do NOT contain any of the words you type in
• written in a certain language
• created in a certain file format
• that have been updated within a certain period of
  time
• that contain numbers within a certain range
• within a certain domain, or website
• that don't contain "adult" material

20
Google Advanced Search Domain

• Domain searching allows you to only or dont
  return results from a specific domain
• Ex. Search ThinkPad and only return results
  from domain www.lenovo.com

http//www.google.com/advanced_search?hlen
21
Google Advanced Search Find results

• Find results option allows you to delimit the
  search to include the following
• With all of the words
• With the exact phrase
• With at least one of the words
• Without the words

http//www.google.com/advanced_search?hlen
22
Google Advanced Search Language and File Format

• Language allows you to return pages against a
  query in 36 languages
• File Format allows you to
• Only or dont
• Return results of the file format
• PDF
• .PS
• .DOC
• .XLS
• .PPT
• .RTF
• Particularly helpful using Googles Desktop
  Search (for finding files you know part of the
  name of, but not sure where it is)

http//www.google.com/advanced_search?hlen
23
Google Advanced Search Date/Numeric Range and
Occurrences

• Date range allows you to search for Web pages
  updated within a specified time range
• Anytime
• Past 3 months
• Part 6 months
• Past year
• Occurrences returns results where terms occur
• Anywhere in the page
• In the title of the page
• In the text of the page
• In the URL
• In links to that page

http//www.google.com/advanced_search?hlen
24
Google Advanced Search Searching for Numbers

• Search By Number
• Parcel tracking IDs, patents and other
  specialized numbers can be entered into Google's
  search box for quick access to information about
  them.
• For example, typing a FedEx tracking number will
  return the latest information on your package.
  Other special search by number types include
• UPS tracking numbers
• Example search "1Z9999W99999999999
• FedEx tracking numbers
• Example search "999999999999
• USPS tracking numbers
• Example search "9999 9999 9999 9999 9999 99"
• Vehicle ID (VIN) numbers
• Example search "AAAAA999A9AA99999
• UPC codes example search "073333531084
• Telephone area codes
• Example search "650
• Patent numbers
• Example search "patent 5123123 (Remember to put
  the word "patent" before your patent number)
• FAA airplane registration numbers
• Example search "n199ua (An airplane's FAA
  registration number is typically printed on its
  tail)
• FCC equipment

http//www.google.com/advanced_search?hlen
25
Google Advanced Search Searching for Phone
Numbers

• Search By
• first name (or first initial), last name, city
  (state is optional)
• first name (or first initial), last name, state
• first name (or first initial), last name, area
  code
• first name (or first initial), last name, zip
  code
• last name, city, state
• last name, zip code
• phone number, including area code !

Query Todd Watson, Austin, TX
26
Google Advanced Search Searching for Books,
Movies, and Music

• Books
• Ex. books about space
• Then click book results for books about space
  at top of pageor whatever your query is
• Movies
• To find reviews and showtimes for movies playing
  near you, type movie or showtimes or the name
  of a current film into Google
• If youve saved your location previously with
  Google Local, the top searches will display
  showtimes for nearby theatres for the movie
  youve chosen
• Cant remember the title of a movie. Search
  movie name of movie or actor or director or
  subject
• movie mafia don Guess what it presented as
  the top result?
• Music
• Type in music name of artist to get links
  about the artist, discography, artist websites,
  latest news, photos, discussion groups

27
How to Do Your Shopping via Google in 10 Minutes
or Less

• Catalogs.google.com features products from more
  than 6,000 paper catalogs in a searchable index.
• Froogle.com indexes products from online stores
• Froogle allows you to
• Search prices between X and Y
• Find products near a certain location
• Find products with occurrences of a word in the
  product name or description
• Look at products within a certain category
• Provide a list or grid view for easy viewing and
  comparison shopping

http//catalogs.google.com http//www.froogle.com
28
Google Advanced News Search

• Google Advanced News Search allows you to easily
  search past news stories and specify by
• News source
• Location
• Occurrences where appeared (anywhere, headline,
  body, or URL)
• When published
• Anytime
• Date Range

http//news.google.com/advanced_news_search
29
Google Alerts

• Google Alerts enable you to monitor keyword
  activity on the Internet and proactively notify
  you via email of mentions of those terms
• Type News, Web, Groups, Blogs, Comprehensive
• Frequency once a day, as-it-happens, once a week
• Other search operators apply
• Ex. allintitle IBM Software

http//www.google.com/alerts
30
Google Reader

• Google Reader is a Web-based RSS reader that
  enables you to subscribe, read, and filter RSS
  feeds
• You can import existing OPML files so you dont
  have to start over
• Advantage over client-based RSS feed readers
• You can get to your feeds on any machine into
  which you can sign on to the Web via a browser!
• Google continues to evolve and add new features
• Easy text-based key commands for navigating the
  feeds
• Sharing feeds
• Starring feeds
• Emailing feeds

http//www.google.com/reader
31
Google Trends

• Compare any two search terms
• Limit by time period
• Limit by location
• Kids love this
• Google.com/trends

http//www.google.com/reader
32
Google Home Page

• Google Personalized home page allows you to drag
  and drop RSS widgets and customized content
• Provides a single view into many resources, and
  is highly customizable
• Tab-based nav allows you to set up multiple
  desktops (one for work, personal, etc.)

33
Google Mobile

• Google Mobile allows you to access numerous
  Google resources via your mobile device
• You can also SMS basic commands to Google at
  46645
• Ex. weather NYC
• sushi 78704
• dallas cowboys
• Go to second URL below and play with
  browser-based SMS before running up your phone
  bills

http//mobile.google.com
http//www.google.com/mobile/sms/index.html
34
Google Reference Google Cheat Sheet

• Google Cheat Sheet provides quick view into key
  operators and commands to help you with your
  searches, and includes useful examples.

http//www.google.com/help/cheatsheet.html
35
Google Reference Google Guide

• Google Cheat Sheet provides quick view into key
  operators and commands to help you with your
  searches, and includes useful examples.

http//www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_refe
rence.html
36
Google Reference Simply Google

• Everything you wanted to know about Google but
  were afraid to search for.
• The Professional Googlers Google Index
  (Googledex?)

http//www.usabilityviews.com/simply_google.htm
37
Google Moon

• Google can even take you to the moon and to Mars
• No rockets or spacesuits required.

http//moon.google.com http//mars.google.com