Search the Internet the Smart Way
Google, beyond Google, sick hard drive defragging.Steve Bass
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I get a real charge out of finding answers to the obscure, albeit humdrum, problems I often face at Bass International. Like why the oranges on my tree are splitting (no doubt the trauma from all the squirrels picking the fruit) or whether my chimney really needs cleaning (it does, darn it, and I'm not doing it myself, thanks).
Sharing some of the search tricks I use--and others I recently learned about in a few PC World articles--is what I'm tackling this week.
Gosh, It's Google
Of course it is. Lest you be surprised, I continue to be enamored with Google. That's because Google is willing to go out on a limb and experiment to make it easy for me to search for unique things. And some just tickle me. For instance, I use Google's news alerts to read about any mention of my book, PC Annoyances, on the Internet.
What's more, Google will plow through 30 gazillion pages to find numbers--tracking numbers (UPS, FedEx, and the U.S. Postal Service's delivery confirmation system), patents, UPC codes, or vehicle IDs. I can check flight delays and weather conditions at JFK, (type jfk airport) or the status of a flight (type united 670). Very cool--and convenient.
Okay, so I'm exaggerating: It's only about 6 billion. Get the details in "Google Archive Exceeds 6 Billion Items."
You can read all about Google's latest tricks at the Google Web Search Features page. But for a better spot, one that makes many of Google's features readily accessible (and much easier to use), try Soople. The main page brings together 14 Google searches, including some of the popular ones such as searching by number and searching multiple sites. Don't miss the other tabs (I almost did): Phone and Location, Translate, and the incredible Calculator.
If you're as obsessed with Google as I am, you may want to follow everything that's new. For that, zip over to ResearchBuzz, a site run by the preeminent Google authority, Tara Calishain, coauthor of Google Hacks (O'Reilly & Associates, 2003, 800/998-9938). I swing by every few days to find something new. For instance, that's where I learned about Soople. Spend a few minutes there and my guess is you'll pick up something cool.
OTOH, you may just be starting on the Internet and Google is brand-new to you. In that case, go to the Google Guide and click the Novice button. Intermediate users might benefit from a few of the syntax examples.
Dig This: Years ago, in the '286 days, I wrote a parody suggesting that spraying WD-40 could speed up floppy drive access. Here's something fresh: a site with handy instructions for defragging your hard drive. (If you're a novice, keep in mind that this is satire.) [Thanks, David B.]
Above and Beyond Google
Nearly everyone's heard of Google, so much so that people have made it a verb ("go to the Internet and Google it"). Yet our Laurianne McLaughlin believes--no, she's convinced--that there's room for other search engines.
You could read through her entire story, "Beyond Google." But first I want to point out a few pages I found most valuable:
Dig This: Think of a musician you like, say, Bill Evans or Gerry Mulligan. Pop the name into the search field at MusicPlasma. Now watch as the site shows you similar artists and, depending on the size of the sphere, their popularity. Right-click to zoom in or out, click a sphere to bring it to center, and click Last Maps (in the box) for a history of who you checked out.