Time Keeps on Slipping … into the Past?
Pseudorant - March 31st 2008
Ok, here is the Pseudo Rant of the day.
A friend emailed me this and I got a good laugh. It comes back to my whole point of people having too much free time on their hands. Sure, I have too much free time on my hands too. I maintain a Blog for god sake! But really it all comes down to how we choose to waste our time.It’s funny because I have people tell me a lot of the time that they couldn’t do this or that because they were “Busy”. Yet somehow as a home owner, who works full time, does repairs around the house and spends time with the wife, I still find time to do the things that others chalk up as a “waste of time”.
This comes back to a theory I have about how every person wastes resources how they see fit. Yet if you were to ask these people, they would not consider it a waste. For example, I used to take my wife out to eat all the time before we owned our house. I commented about this to a friend whose response was “Yeah that must get expensive. What a waste…”
Yet this same person would go out and buy two $60 video games a week, play them for 4-5 hours and then forget about them. I understand the collector mentality but look at what has happened here. The person who burns $120 a week for 8 hours of electronic recreation passes judgment on the people who spend $80 a week for 8 hours of luxury recreation.
This works the same way with time. I have always enjoyed playing video games. I especially enjoy playing MMORPGs. There have been times in the past where family and friends have passed judgment on me for the amount of time I have devoted to this hobby. The same family that spends an average of 4-5 hours a night in front of the TV, and the same friends that spend their nights socializing at bars and parties.
This is another conflict of perspective. To them I am the one wasting my time. But to me they are the ones who accomplish nothing while rotting their brain in front of the TV, or by socializing all night with strangers. In the end, what do they have to show for it?
I have a substantial gain I can show. My “wasted” time has lead to another guide being written, or an accomplishment in an online game, or getting my MP3s organized, or numerous other things. Everyone has very different priorities.
The point of this rant is not to pass judgment on the people who judge me. It’s to paint a picture that “waste” is all in the eye of the beholder. There is not one person that is free from this cycle. Whether it’s wasting your money on video games, entertainment, socializing, drugs, traveling, dining, it’s all the same. We will all find our accepted way of wasting resources.
With that being said I do not retract my original comment about someone having too much free time on their hands for creating something like this. In fact more power to them. I can tell just from watching that this must have taken forever to create. While to me this seems like a waste of time, the by product of that waste of time did lead to some entertainment for me.
With that being said, sit back and watch. The only real point of this post was to link to this project. Take the post itself for what you will, but enjoy the information below.
Man you gotta check this out. Its pretty sweet.
01. Go to START, RUN, then type CMD
02. Then type TELNET, and press Enter
03. Then the letter “O”, and press Enter
04. then type towel.blinkenlights.nl enter
[Thanks to Netzer for sending me this interesting bit of info.]
Google Guide 04 - Web History, Bookmarks, Labs & Easter Eggs
Additional Features and Google Easter Eggs - PART 4
There are many amazing features in Google as I have outlined in my previous guides. A few other services worth mentioning are listed below, with a brief explanation of each.
If you have read this far I am sure it’s because you are looking for the “Easter Eggs” I have promised. As a reward for bearing through my long-winded rants I will outline several unique ways to use Google for fun and useful purposes.
The methods I am listing can be considered questionable in some cases so always use good judgment when you use them and remember to never do anything illegal.
First let’s cover the last of the lesser known [or used] features of Google.
Google API
An API [also known as an "Application Program Interface"] is an outline on how to design or implement software to utilize an existing service or standard. The Google API outlines web development standards for programmers writing software to take advantage of functions and services through Google.
The Google API website will be useful for those who are in the stages of planning software to utilize Google and it’s functions, or even those who were spurred with an idea while reading through these guides.
Proximity Search
A proximity search feature is not handled directly through Google at the moment. [As far as I know] Although this feature can currently be utilized by third party services.
A Proximity Search is the ability to search for two or more terms in a document that are within a specified distance of one another. You can usually specify additional criteria in these types of searches although this is not their main function.
For additional information on Proximity Searches check the following search results for third party links and resources.
Proximity Search Information [ADD LINK]
Google Browser Buttons
“Google Browser Buttons” are a great alternative to the Google Toolbar. “But why wouldn’t someone want to Google toolbar installed” you ask? I’m not sure. It’s very convenient.
In some cases it may be because they already have multiple toolbars installed. Some may be unneeded where others may be required for work.
At my work we have Voice over IP phones so I have a toolbar for phone services, I have access to directly from my PC. Unfortunately this takes up 2 toolbar slots so anything other than the telephony toolbars and the Google toolbar would be too much.
In any case the Google Browser Buttons are a great utility to have on your PC. To setup the Google Browser Buttons simply click on the link above and follow the directions on the page for setup and usage.
The “Google Search” button is very useful to have as it allows you to high light a word on a webpage and then click the Google Search button to automatically perform a search. Play around with it and you will realize how much easier searches have become once you are using this tool.
Ability to convert PDF to HTML
Did you know that Google has the ability to convert PDF files to HTML? Yes? Well you’re no fun…
For those who didn’t know that, you are now aware of a really interesting feature in Google. This is convenient for the same reasons and the Google Browser Buttons. You may be on a PC that you are not allowed to install programs on that does not have Adobe Acrobat installed.
When you do a search and results are available in PDF format from a site Google will display an option that says “View as HTML” directly below the search result heading.
If you click this link Google will try it’s best to convert the document to HTML so it can be displayed through a web browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox. It doesn’t always do the best job with the formatting but it is better than nothing.
Just another free service from the folks at Google.
Google Web History
Another useful feature is the Google “Web History” option. Google Web History enables you to sign into you iGoogle account [Your Gmail login] and enable an option that will create a history list of all the pages you have visited.
While this may be useful for some, others may not want a history file of their web browsing. Keep in mind the following points.
01. You must be logged in to you iGoogle account to utilize this feature.
02. You can clear the web history with the click of a button.
03. You can turn this service “on” or “off” depending on whether you would like you use it or not.
Google Bookmarks
Google Bookmarks is similar to “Web History” in that it gives you browser based functions right through Google. I find “Google Bookmarks” very useful as it allows me to create a collection of bookmarks I can access wherever I can log into Google.
I have an iPhone so I find this very handy because I can access Google wherever I go. Right now I use it mainly for book marking Guitar Tablature [Sheet Music] so I can access that music if I am playing Guitar with friends and I am not at home.
This is another service you need to be logged into iGoogle [Gmail] to use. Go to:
http://www.google.com/bookmarks/
Once you are at the page it will ask you to login to your iGoogle account. Once you have logged in it will take you to a page where you can setup and add online bookmarks that you can save in your iGoogle account.
There will also be an option on this page to add Google Bookmarks to your iGoogle homepage. This is very useful for quick access to these bookmarks.
If you have book marks you do not want other people to see you can skip this option and just access them through the Google bookmarks service that will appear under “My Account” when you are logged into iGoogle.
[If you cannot locate the link under the "My Account" link just go to the address above to log in to your bookmarks.]
Google Labs
“Google Labs” is the testing ground for all the new ideas and services that Google is working on and creating. It is a great resource for finding out about new and interesting features before they are put into use.
You can see by the website that it is broken into two main categories. The ideas that have passed lab testing are listed on the right hand side of the page, while the ideas that are still in the works are featured on the left hand side of the page.
Google labs is a fun way to find out about services other people are not aware of and even possibly existing services you are not familiar with.
Google Easter Eggs!!
Ok, since I have made people wait so long for the Easter Eggs I am going to try and add as many cool ones as I can find. I will try to keep the list updated with anything new I come across, so it won’t hurt to check back once and awhile.
Because Google is so massive, it is hard to document every cool trick out there so if you have a good Easter Egg that I missed, post a comment. I will add these to the guide and give the original poster credit for the submission.
So without further delay lets look at some Google Easter Eggs!
Easter Egg #1 - Different Google Portals
Ever since Google was released the look of the home has remained the same. This has given Google the trademark feel we are all used to. Unknown to some, there are actually many variations of the Google portal on the web. These are not ones you are likely to come across in your daily web surfing so I have listed them below.
For any of the sites listed below, simply type the search terms I have listed and click the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button. You’ll be surprised by the interesting pages that come up!
Google L33T
Elgoog
Google Goth
Google BSD
Google Linux
Google Microsoft
Google Easter Egg
Ewmew Fudd
xx-klingon
xx-piglatin
Google Loco
For all of these search terms you need to use the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button to be taken directly to the page they reference.
Easter Egg #2 - Unsecured Webcams through Google
Awhile back you may have heard a big to do on the news about an exploit that allowed people to hack your webcam through Google. As with any news story that was not exactly true.
What was actually happening was users had discovered a specific search term criteria that allowed them to look for a common directory structure created by a specific brand of camera.
By searching for this directory term users were able to find tens of thousands of unsecured cameras. Some of the cameras could even be controlled through interactive software that could be accessed directly through the search. [ActiveX and Java based]
While this problem was made public and addressed there are still some cameras you can access on the web. There are no where near as many results as there used to be, but this is a fun thing to do when you are bored.
There are several variations of the search criteria that can be used for this trick. I has listed several below which should bring back a good amount of results for your searches.
inurl:view/index.shtml
inurl:view/indexframe.shtml
inurl:lvappl
inurl:viewerframe?mode=
[Thanks to MKD for bringing this cool trick to my attention.]
Easter Egg #3 - Searching the Robots.txt File
The Robots.txt is a file found on servers that is designed to point search engines in the right direction when they are spidering a site. The reason it is an interesting file is because in addition to telling the search engine where it “can” search on the website, it also tells it where it “CAN’T” search on the website.
This is significant because we all love to do things we are not supposed to do, and go places we are not supposed to go.
The syntax for this search phrase is listed below:
“robots.txt” “disallow:” filetype:txt
By using this search criteria you can see Google will return numerous search results. Search results are ordered based on “relevance” meaning which ever sites get the most hits rise to the top of the search results.
As you can see when you perform this search the first result on the list is whitehouse.gov.
The results descend in order of relevance so you can get a good idea of the sites people have tried this trick on the most.
Click on one of the search result headings so you can see the contents of the robot.txt file. The file contents are usually listed in slightly different fashions but they are all pretty uniform for the most part.
The section we are looking for is the “Disallow” column of the file. The disallow column lists all the directories on the web server that the admin is telling Google [and other search engines] not to search through.
On most servers you can simply copy and paste this URL path and amend the www.website.com address of the site you are on to check in these disallowed directories.
Example: http://www.website.com/add/url/here
You will usually get several different results when you do this.
01. You will get nothing when you paste in the URL.
02. You will get an access denied or forbidden message.
03. You will get bumped back to the main address.
04. You will get into the disallowed folder and can look at stuff that was not intended for public viewing.
The last of these options is the ideal situation because it makes this an interesting trick to use when you are bored at work. This is not any type of “hacking”, but simply a fun way to snoop around various websites.
Easter Egg #4 - The Answer to Life
If you didn’t believe Google was powerful before, this next Easter Egg should assure any doubts you have.
Because of the vast amount of information and knowledge stored on the internet, Google’s powerful searching ability has been able to extract information that solves the age old riddle of the answer to life. Copy and paste the follow search below to find out the answer to life the universe and everything else.
answer to life, the universe and everything
Easter Egg #5 - Hidden Places on Google Earth
Google Earth is a powerful stand alone application that makes use of all the information available from Google to create the most comprehensive world map available.
I didn’t outline the details of Google Earth in my guide since it is a stand-alone application outside of the Google website. In the future I will write a guide on Google Earth so users have more information on why it is so useful.
For now check out some of the interesting images from around the world that make you wonder three things.
01. Are these natural or man made?
02. How did they compile all these images?
03. Why do some people have so much free time on their hands??
Secret and Hidden Places of Google Earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCg1SpEan5k
Out of Place - Google Earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3bn4Se-fbs
Easter Egg #6 - Remote Web Monitoring with Google
This is a cool Easter Egg because as far as I know I came up with this one. While someone else may have already done this I did not read about this on any other websites.
I actually discovered this as a fluke when I inadvertently left my Gmail account signed in on someone else’s computer. When I logged into my account the next day and checked my web history I noticed all these weird websites I had supposedly visited, even through I knew I had not been to one of them.
One of the websites was Microsoft Games, which immediately made me realize what happened. [The person whose computer this was on is addicted to Microsoft Games.]
I had logged into my Gmail on their computer, and forgot to log out. My Gmail account had web history enabled and as such when I logged in to my Gmail account from a different location I was able to see all the websites this user had visited.
This got me thinking. What an easy way to create a web monitoring tool that does not require any third party software be installed on someone’s computer. That way no spyware or viruses are picked up like when you install web monitoring software.
This trick will probably only work on novice users, and people who do not generally clear out their temporary internet files. You also need physical [access at least once] to the PC you would like to monitor, for setting this up. I will outline the basic steps below.
01. Create a secondary / junk Gmail account - You will want to create a secondary email account because doing this trick means you need to stay logged into your Gmail account. If this is your primary account it means the person you have done the trick to may inadvertently stumble across your email.
02. Once you have created the secondary email account you need to go into your account options and enable the “Web History” feature in Google that I discussed in previous guides.
03. Now that web history is enabled your web monitoring tool is setup and ready to go.
04. Go to the computer you would like to monitor. [This may be a friend, relavtive, school or work computer.]
05. Log into your iGoogle [Gmail] account. If you are setting this up on a friends PC just ask if it’s ok to check your email on their system. People will almost always say yes.
06. When you log into your iGoogle account put a check mark in the box that says “Remember me on this computer”. [This is usually checked by default but if it is not make sure this option is checked or this will not work.]
07. Now that you have logged in, check your secondary email account. Since this is junk account nothing will be there in which case “*sigh* no new messages”.
08. Close out of the web browser by clicking the “close” X in the upper right hand corner. [DO NOT LOG OUT OF YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT]
09. Make sure you do not log out of your Gmail account when you are closing the browser because you need to stay logged in for the trick to work.
10. Now because you checked the “Remember me on this Computer” option, whenever your friend logs into their computer any searches they do through Google, and pages they visit will be logged in the Web History part of your account.
11. You can then log into your junk account on your home PC or anywhere else and see what web sites they are going to.
12. As long as they do not sign you out of your account or clear out their temporary internet files [which a lot of users don't do.] you will be able to monitor the web sites they visit.
Yes, I know this is a dumb trick. Like I said I came across this as more of a fluke than anything else and just developed it in my head so it would work as mentioned in the steps above.
If the person discovers you are logged in on Google one of two things will happen. They will snoop your email, which doesn’t matter since this is a fake account. They will tell you that you were logged in and they logged you out.
Because people are not familiar with all the Google features they will not even assume anything is strange about this. [They probably do not even know about the Web History service.] In most cases it is more likely they will try to snoop around in your email. You could always have some fun with them and sign up for some strange mailing lists to get a good laugh.
I decided this qualifies as an Easter Egg since it is another way Google can be used to search that it was not originally intended for.
Easter Egg #7 - 56 Forgotten Pages of Google
This is a page maintained by SEOpedia that is in the same vein as the Google Easter Eggs section. It contains links to older pages that have been forgotten about and are very hard to find.
The author compiled this list when he was writing his own Google secrets guide so I figured this resource would be worth including because it is pretty interesting.
http://www.seopedia.org/seo-news/google/googles-56-forgotten-secret-pages-part-two/
Easter Egg #8 - To Be Continued…
I will continue to add more Easter Eggs as I find them. I only have a couple so far because I want to make sure they are all quality tips or secrets and I take time to confirm that each one works before posting them. This way I can ensure they are not a hoax, or an Easter Egg which does not work anymore.
Two Easter Eggs that I have found do not work anymore are:
01. Google Maps > Directions > New York, NY to Paris, France
02. Google Cheese
It’s too bad because those two were pretty funny. If there is still some way to make those work please let me know and I will update this guide.
Overview
Well, that’s it for this rant! If you read through the entire guide I give you two thumbs up because I know I can get a little long winded at times.
Keep checking back on my blog for various tech and game related articles. I am currently planning my next series of guides which will cover topics about online gaming, with MMORPGs being the main focus.
Thanks again for visiting my Blog! I hope you enjoyed the rant!
Google Guide 01 - Introduction & Search Operators
Google Guide 02 - Definitions, Maps, Driving Directions
Google Guide 03 - Services, Features, Advanced Operators
Google Guide 04 - Web History, Bookmarks, Labs & Easter Eggs
Google Guide 03 - Services, Features, Advanced Operators
Google Services and Features - PART 3
Ok. Here is Part 3 of the “Google Rules, Secrets and Easter Eggs” guide. This is long over due so I have finally gotten around to posting it. For the third part of the guide we are going to focus on additional features that Google provides to users.
First let’s take a look at the additional search categories within Google and give a brief explanation of what each one is.
You will notice when you are on the Google search page that there are a couple links at the top of the page. Traditionally these categories are WEB, IMAGES, MAPS, NEWS, SHOPPING, GMAIL and MORE.
Web
Images
Maps
News
Shopping
Gmail
More
These categories can be just as useful as the search operators we discussed earlier as they allow you to refine your searches to specific criteria. Using search operators along with these categories can allow you to find very specific information much quicker than with most search engines.
Let’s take a look at each of these seven categories and see what they are all about.
The first category on the menu is “Web“. By default this is where the page will start. Any searches you perform while you are on the Web tab are obviously going to bring back web pages for search results. This is the service you will use most often when searching through Google. The results are general, but the power of Google’s web crawling will usually bring back very accurate results.
The next category is “Images“. The Images tab allows you to search for pictures on web pages. This is a very specific category as all the search results that are displayed are pictures of your search term. Let’s do an example search for the word “Coffee”. This will give you a better idea of how Google image search works. As you can see all the results that are displayed are specific to your search term. From here you can click on an image and it will take you to the webpage that the image is displayed on. You’ll notice when the webpage loads that Google has a white menu bar at the top of the page. You can click on the thumbnail in this menu bar to get a full size version of the image or browse the page that has loaded to see the image in context. Using Google image search is a good way to find specific images quickly.
The following section is Google “Maps“. Google maps is a very powerful location, and direction search utility. It can be used to find a location, get directions, view satellite images of earth, and view elevations. New features include Google Street View and Traffic. You really need to use Google maps to understand why it is such a powerful and useful utility. There are so many useful features in maps that I have covered it in detail in the “Google Rules, Secrets and Easter Eggs - PART 2″. Please refer to this blog post for additional information on all the features available in Google maps.
Another useful service in Google is the “News” feature. Google news provides up to date information on current happenings around the world. Utilizing news sources from around the country Google has compiled a very thorough news source to bring you your daily news. It is laid out in a very organized manner, sorted by category to make headlines easy to find. Each article listed has a standard news headline, a thumbnail image for the article, the news source it was used from, and a time stamp so you can tell how current the article is. You can then click on the head line to be taken to the original source to read the entire article if you would like more information.
The nicest feature in the news section is the ability to search through articles using the power of the Google search engine. For an example let’s search for “Britney Spears”. [Ah Britney... are you ever not in the news you crazy psycho.] As you can see from the results the main page contains articles that are the most current along with a left hand navigation panel. The navigation panel allows you to sort articles by date to ensure relevant results. A new feature in the left panel is “blogs” which will allow you to search for terms in people’s blogs which can be useful for word of mouth news or other perspectives than those offered by the mainstream media.
You will also notice a feature below blogs called “News Alerts“. [Or "Blog Alerts" depending on the page you are on.] Alerts are basically a way to have Google send you updates on news articles you are potentially interested in. The Alerts will allow you to specify the keywords, the type of results [News. Blogs, Web, Video, Group] and how often you receive alerts. I will go into alerts in a little more detail below.
The next interesting service offered by Google is the “Shopping” link. Google shopping or “Froogle” [Which is now apparently "Google Product Search"] is a search utility that allows sellers to list items in a manner similar to eBay. Unlike eBay there is no auction process involved. You simply list your items so that potential buyers can browse through results using the search power of Google. Unlike a standard web search all the results that come back give users the option to go to a page where they can purchase the item.
One thing you will notice here is how the results are laid out very similar to that of the Google News results. Google uses a standard format for most of it’s search results that enables users to browse topics quickly once they have become familiar with it.
Let’s do an example search for “Nintendo Wii”. As you can see there are almost 90,000 results returned. Keep in mind that unlike the standard web search all of these are potential things to buy. You can see that each result has a thumbnail picture of the item, an item heading or title, the price it is being sold for, the vendor that is selling the item, a review rating on the item, and the option to add the item to your shopping cart. Some search results will give you the option to purchase the item directly through Google while others require that you go through the website of the seller that listed the item.
[As with any purchases on the internet be careful and always double check the source of your purchase. Always make smart decisions to protect you credit cards and your identity from theft.]
The next valuable service offered through Google is “Gmail“. If you are not already a member you have probably at least heard of Gmail. Gmail is Google’s free email offering similar to Microsoft’s Hotmail service. Unlike Hotmail Google provides users with seemingly unlimited storage space in their account. As of this guide the current storage capacity of a Gmail account is 6.5gb! That’s incredible! As someone that frequently uses and send email I can guarantee that you will never run out of space in a Gmail account.
Another great feature about this service is that it is free to sign up and there are no limitations on the number of accounts you can have. [Just availability of names.] The service offers POP services free of charge allowing you to setup your Gmail account on mobile devices like the Black Berry or iPhone.
It also gives you access to another great feature in Google called Google Documents. Google Documents allows you to create and store files online. The current version has the ability to create Microsoft Word and Excel compatible documents, along with Google’s version of Power Point. This is a great free web based alternative to Microsoft Office. It is similar to other free office projects like Open Office. [OpenOffice.org]
In addition to creating these files you can store them online so you have access to them on any computer that has internet access. Another nice feature of these stored documents is the ability to share them with anyone else that has a Gmail account. I have found that this is very useful for planning things with my fiancée like our house budget, monthly budget, bills, vacation plans, party plans, etc. The more you use these features the more uses you will find for them in your daily routine.
That covers the major sections on the Google search page. The last section is “More” which gives you access to additional services and features through Google. I have outlined the sections listed under More and will give a brief explanation of each.
Video
Groups
Books Scholar
Finance
Blogs
YouTube
Calendar
Reader
Video - Video specific search offered through Google. Gives users the ability to search Google Video and YouTube for keyword specific results.
Groups - Searches through online news groups for information pertaining to your keywords. I have found Groups searches to be useful in finding information that is specifically in a forum format. For example “computer troubleshooting” will return results specific to how to fix computers.
Books Scholar - Book information search through Google. Will bring up information specific to almost any book you search for. This does not allow users to read these books but will give them titles, print dates, authors, publishers, summary, number of pages, links to buy, ISBN numbers, web references, etc. This is a great resource for citing sources on papers for projects.
Finance - The Charles Schwab of the Google’s free online services. While it does not give you the option to invest the main page of Google’s finance page gives users a general summary everything going on with the market and stocks. Information is laid out in six main categories.
Recent Quotes
Top Movers
Related News
Today’s News
Market Summary
Sector Summary.
Another useful feature of finance is that it allows you to search for financial information by company. For an example let’s do a search for “Samsung”.
This brings up a list with all the companies that match this name. Each company displays a Name, the Exchange it is listed on, the stock Symbol, the Last Trade price, any Change, and Market Cap [Mkt Cap].
You can see how this can be a valuable to market analysts, potential traders and anyone keeping an eye on the market.
Blogs - The Google Blogs search feature allows you to search online Blogs for topic specific content. As with other Google search features this utilizes the power of the Google web crawler to create an extensive pool of topics. For an example let’s search for “Pseudo Rant”. You can see how many results come up in your search. Unfortunately none of them are my blog yet because I have not received any hits.
YouTube - The Google search feature for YouTube allows users to browses all video offered on the YouTube website. While owned by Google, YouTube still maintains it’s own identity separate from “Google Videos”. The YouTube feature is very similar to the Google Videos feature in that it lets you search for videos by specific keyword. Google Videos seems to be a little more powerful in my opinion as it searches Google Videos and YouTube and will return results from both. This may be a good option if you are looking for a video that you saw specifically on YouTube.
Calander - The Google Calendar is yet another free MS Office type feature available in Google. This feature is similar to Google documents in that it is accessible via your Gmail account. You can add events to your Calendar and use it for scheduling. You can even synchronize it with the Microsoft Outlook calendar and Share events.
Like Google Documents the sharing feature lets you to share information with other Gmail users which allows you to collaborate and work on projects together. The Google Calendar takes this one step further by allowing users to collaborate on scheduling.
Alerts - Google alerts is a service through Google that gives you updates about news, current events, blogs, video and keywords as you see fit. As mentioned above you can setup the alerts to meet specific criteria and times so you do not get inundated with notices in your email. The first page is “Google Alert.com” which is a third party service that is not maintained by Google. I put this on the list because many users feel this alert service is more powerful than the Google news alerts.
The second page is “Google News Alerts” which you can setup for updates on Google News. Another useful alert service that users feel could be expanded upon in the future.
As mentioned before the information I have listed on these services is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to everything you can do with Google. You will remember there “More” function that allows you to view other services within Google. There is also an “Even More” link under the “More” section which gives you access to even more great services. [No Pun intended].
As with everything in Google you will get the most out of it by exploring and getting used to it yourself. Although it never hurts to have a good reference guide to help get your feet wet in the process. Please feel free to link to my guides and share them with your family and friends.
I think a lot of people out there don’t realize how many features they are missing out when they use Google. Just writing this guide has taught me numerous things about the search engine that I didn’t even realize were there.
Below is an extended reference of operators and functions that are also available through Google. These were not listed in previous tables and are another good example of power operators that can be used in your daily routine.
OPERATORS - EXTENDED REFERENCE
OPERATOR & DESCRIPTION
Example: “time in Mexico”
Time In - The “time in” designation allows you to search for the current time in any city in the world based on location. Simply type “time in” followed by the City name you would like to know the current time for.
Example: “$9.99 USD in GBP”
Currency Converter - The currency converter function will allow you to convert one common currency to another. Simply type in the amount to convert [Example $9.99] the currency symbol [USD = US Dollars] then “in” and the currency symbol you would like to convert to “GBP” [Great Brittan Pounds].
Example: “Weather in Madison”
Weather in - The “Weather in” designation allows you to get the current weather forecast for any region in the world. In the example “Weather in Madison” it will sure you that we are currently experiencing a warm 39 degree day!
Intext:
Will only search the text in a webpage. The operator will ignore titles and links found in the page. Useful for ruling out information on a page that is not context specific. [Example: You are looking for the word “Link” as a Zelda reference and want to search to exclude any occurrence of an HTTP “link”.
daterange:
The daterange operator will search for pages that were modified within a specific time frame to help bring back current news and results.
Google Guide 01 - Introduction & Search Operators
Google Guide 02 - Definitions, Maps, Driving Directions
Google Guide 03 - Services, Features, Advanced Operators
Google Guide 04 - Web History, Bookmarks, Labs & Easter Eggs
Google Guide 02 - Definitions, Maps, Driving Directions
Google Features and Tools - PART 2
Hey! Welcome back to the rant. In the second part of this guide we will be going over useful features and tools in Google.
I have broken these down into three sections. The first section will cover what I consider more like services that Google provides you. This includes Definitions, Driving Directions, and Translations. I also use these all the time so I feel they are a good place to start.
The other two sections are broken into two parts. They are features Google offers which are useful but not as much as the services we will cover. I have split these features into two parts which will cover the most useful features first, followed by a section that covers less common features that are worth mentioning.
Section 1 - Services offered by Google
The first three services or features of Google that I would like to cover are Definitions, Google Maps, and Driving Directions. These are major functions that Google provides to users which I use on a daily basis.
DEFINITIONS
Definitions are Google’s ability to explain the meaning of a word for users. This can be useful for many different reasons. I use it the most when I am writing a letter or document and want to confirm that I understand the correct usage of a word.
There are two main ways to get a definition for a word through Google. You can use the define: operator which I talked about in part one of this guide. To use this operator all you need to do is type [ define:word ]. Notice the colon after the define tag and the lack of a space between the operator and the word I want a definition for. It is very important that you use the correct syntax when manually specifying operators. If you usedd the define:word example you would see a heading that says “Definitions of word on the Web:” Below this you will see various definitions that are associated with the word, “word”. This technique can be used for any word you would like a definition for.
The second method for getting a definition for a word is a little easier since you do not need to remember the define operator. All you need to do is type the word you would like a definition for into the Google Search bar. Once you have completed your search you will notice a “definition” link in the blue bar above your search results. [This is located on the right side of the blue bar labeled "Web" that appears above your search results.] When you click on this link it will provide you with definitions for the word you typed into your search. You will notice that this is provided through a different website than if you were to use the define: operator manually. Being a definition for a word, it doesn’t change much from site to site so this is another useful way to find definitions.
As I mentioned before there are many uses for this feature. You can verify the usage of a word, double check your spelling, see alternate usages for a word, and clarify confusion surrounding words you are unfamiliar with. The next major function that Google provides users with is the Google Maps feature.
GOOGLE MAPS
Google Maps is a VERY powerful search function that allows users to access maps and geographical data from around the world.
You can access Google maps in two different ways. You can start by typing in a location. For our example we are going to use New York City. When you type this into your search box you will notice a small map icon at the top of the search result. If you click on this map icon it will take you directly to a map of New York City.
The other way to access Google maps is from the links located at the top of the Google search window. Since maps is a very common and very popular feature it is located right near the “web” and “images” links. When you click on the “Maps” link the screen will change to a map of the United States. You can now enter a location in the “Search Maps” field and it will bring up the location you are looking for.
Regardless of how you got to Google maps, let’s perform our search for New York City. Once you have typed this in, click on the “Get Directions” button and you will notice the screen change to a map of New York City. The first thing you will see is the text bubble on the middle of the map which gives you access to other options through Google maps. You can get directions to and from this location and also from nearby locations. The other thing you will notice is the “Popular searches near this location” located to left side of the window. Clicking on any of these options will refine your search and give you a more detailed view of specific areas located near your location. Click on any of the nearby locations to get a more detailed view of the map. From this perspective you should now be able to read street names, river names, parks and other labeled areas on the map.
You can get an even more detailed view by using the + / - slider located on the upper left side of the map. This will cause your view to zoom closer to or farther away from the map. The same thing can be done by scrolling the wheel on your mouse while your cursor is over the map. You will also notice a direction pad above the slider in the left corner of the map. This allows you to pan your view across the map to look at different locations without needing to zoom in or out. This can also be done using the mouse, by clicking on any area of the map. You will see the little hand cursor turn into a fist as though you grabbed the map. Once you have grabbed the map you can move you mouse in any direction to change the visible area being displayed on the map.
One other thing to note on the left side of the map is the scale unit located at the bottom corner of the map. This scale unit will change as you scroll in or out from the map to give you an idea of relative scale for distance compared to what you are looking at. This is useful because of how dramatically distances change when you are constantly scrolling in or out of a map. For our next example let’s use this scale unit and scroll in until we are at 200 feet. From this distance you should be able to see a very detailed view of things on the map.
Another really cool feature to be aware of is the three paneled button in the upper right hand corner of the map. It is labeled Map, Satellite, and Terrain. By default the “Map” option is always selected when you open Google maps. For our example and a very cool demonstration of how powerful the Google maps features are let’s click on the “Satellite” button.
When you do this you will see the map change from your standard map view of roads and streets to an actual satellite image of the area you are looking at. Go ahead and use the scroll button on your mouse to move the scale unit to 20 feet. From this height you will realize that not only can you see cars and trucks in some cases you can see people walking down the street. Talk about a powerful search utility.
One thing to keep in mind is that the satellite shots are comprised of information this is gathered from satellite surveys of areas. This means that the picture you are seeing is not a “real-time” image. Instead you are seeing pictures that are a couple weeks or months old. Since geographical locations do not change much over night this really isn’t that big an issue, since most places you are looking at will look the same if you were to visit them a year or two from now.
The other button to make note of at the top is the Terrain button. While in my opinion it is not as interesting as the Satellite view, it is still a very useful feature. Now if you click this when you are looking at New York City you are probably not going to see much of a change. Let’s click on the Terrain button and do a search for a new location.
After you have click on Terrain type in a new search location. For this example let’s use Colorado. When the new map comes up immediately you will notice the affect the Terrain button has on the map. You should now be able to get a better idea of the landscape of a certain region of the country. This can be useful if you are traveling through areas you are unfamiliar with and you want to plan the easiest driving route, or if you just want to see some cool sights.
There have recently been two new buttons added to Google maps. They are ones you will definitely want to become familiar with. They are the “Street View” and “Traffic” options on the map. Let’s type in a new location one more time.
This time let’s use San Francisco. Once you have typed in the new location click “Search Map” and you will now see a map of San Francisco, California. From this location I can demonstrate another very cool feature of Google maps know as “Street View”. When you click on the Street View button you will notice a series of roads on the map get high-lighted in blue. You will also notice a small camera appear at the center of your new location. Click on this camera and it will give you the option to “Zoom in to select a street view location”. Click on the “Zoom In” link and the map will take you into a scale unit of 2000 feet on the map.
You will also notice a small yellow person in the middle of the map. You can drag this person around the map like a playing piece in a game. The thing you will notice when you do this is a new window that opens over the map with a picture of the exact spot you are standing on the map. Amazing!!
The other incredible thing you will notice is the ability to click on the picture and move your mouse while holding the left button down to pan your view inside the picture. Years ago this would have seemed like black magic to people but now this is just another handy feature located in Google. You will also notice a slider bar in the picture along with a left and right arrow. Same as with Google maps you can use the slider to zoom in or out of the picture. This will allow you to get more detail and read names on street signs, buildings, addresses and even see people walking by here and there.
Same as the Satellite function these pictures are not in real-time. They were taken by Google maps cars that drove around certain cities with 360 degree cameras on the top of the vehicle. The 360 degree camera allowed them to create these images that you can pan, as they surveyed major roads in a city.
Another feature to note is the left and right arrows located above the zoom slider which allow you to pan a preset distance within the image if you do not want to pan manually with the mouse. The last interesting feature to note is the directional arrows that run up and down the street. This shows the path the Google cars took when surveying the city. It also allows you to click on an arrow and move down the street as if you were taking a walk. This is such a cool feature if you are trying to get a more detailed view of certain sections of the area.
From here you can either click on the X in the corner to close the image window. The “Full Screen” link to get a better view of things. Or the “Street View Help” link for more information on Google Street View. As with anything on the internet you will learn about more useful features and tricks as you experiment. I have tried to cover most of the major functions and uses of these features but feel free to play with them on your own to become even more familiar with their use.
The last big Google function we are going to cover is the “Driving Directions” feature.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS
Driving Directions are useful for so many reasons. Whether you are planning a trip or trying to find your way to the store knowing the fastest way can save you time and money.
Most people are familiar with Google maps and driving directions but for those who are not Google offers you the ability to find step by step directions to almost any location on Earth. To make use of this feature you need to type in the name of the location you are trying to find.
For our example lets use Ron Jon’s Surf Shop, located in Cocoa Beach, Florida. [Which I happen to know form a recent vacation] When you type in your search terms you will want to phrase them as LOCATION, CITY, STATE ABBREVIATION. For this example you would type out your query as follows:
Ron Jon’s Surf Shop, Cocoa Beach, FL
You will notice that in your search results there is now a map at the top of the page. Google will sometimes also offer corrections by asking “Did you mean…?” In my example you will notice Google offers a correction which removes the apostrophe from “Jon’s”. In either case they both bring up a map which shows the correct location.
There are two ways to get driving directions to this location. You will notice that next to the map on the right it shows you the name of the business, the website, and the address and phone number. Underneath this information you will see a blue link that says “Get Directions”. When you click on the “Get Directions” link it takes you to a new page that shows you a close up of the map and location.
You will notice that at the top of the page there is a field label “Start Address”. You will want to put in the address of where you are driving from in the start address box. For this example we will use “Nashville, TN”. Type in Nashville, TN and click the “Get Directions” button. As you see the map changes and now shows you a route from your location to the location you had originally searched for. What’s even better is that on the left hand side of the screen you will notice a numbered listing that provides you with step by step directions on how to get to your that location.
Another interesting feature is the “Get reverse directions” link which is listed at the top of the directions window on the left side of the page. This is useful for finding your way back from a location if you are traveling far like on vacation or you just don’t remember your way home. This is the easiest way to get directions through Google.
As I mentioned the alternate way to do this is when you search for a location to just click on the map instead of the “Get Directions” link. This will take you right to the larger map. This is very similar to what you did last time except now you can click right on the “Get Directions” tab below the “Search Maps” field. You will notice that when you do this the box will split into two boxes. This should look just like how you did it the first time. This is just one slight variation you can use if you are looking through several maps and then realize you need directions.
Since this guide turned out to be WAY bigger than I originally planned I am going to break this into its own section. I will continue to add more to each guide as I think of it and continue writing additional guides as I find time. Please feel free to comment on this guide and tell me what you think. As of yet my Blog really doesn’t have anyone reading it but I figured I should try and add a couple posts before I try to let people know it’s here. I hope you enjoyed this rant!
Google Guide 01 - Introduction & Search Operators
Google Guide 02 - Definitions, Maps, Driving Directions
Google Guide 03 - Services, Features, Advanced Operators
Google Guide 04 - Web History, Bookmarks, Labs & Easter Eggs
Google Guide 01 - Introduction & Search Operators
Welcome to PseudoRant!
Hey there! Welcome to Pseudo Rant. My name is Paul and I will be hosting this erratic collection of thoughts and ideas. I am actually pretty new to the world of blogging but I have been working with computers ever since I was a kid.
I was wondering about, how people will actually find my blog which gave me a good idea for my first random topic.
“Google Rules, Secrets and Easter Eggs”
Over the years I have come to realize just how powerful Google is as a search utility and wanted to share some of the tricks I have learned with others to help them get the most out of using it.
So without further delay let’s jump right into it…
Introduction - PART 1
Google is a VERY powerful search utility. You can use it to find almost anything. The key to getting the most out of Google is using all of the extended features and advanced functions it offers to users.
A good starting point for more information on using Google is the “Google Guide” website.
It is a site that is structured to walk users through basic features all the way up to some of the more advanced functions of Google.
I am guessing that a lot of users are already familiar with the basics and are looking for tricks that will help them improve the search functions they already know. If this is the case you may want to skip on to the different Parts of the Google Guide.
I recommend reading at least chapters 6 - 16 in Part I if you are not familiar with these topics already.
Another good source of basic information is provided through Google’s “Web Search Help Center”.
To save you time I am creating a table of all the major operators used by Google with a description of what they do. If you do not feel like exploring the resources listed above you can always experiment with the operators in the table to see what they do.
The examples listed in the description are setup so you can copy and paste them into Google if you are not clear on the syntax of the operator from the description.
GENERAL SEARCH OPERATORS
OPERATOR & DESCRIPTION
OR
Used to search for two terms in a page. Google will search for the first term and the second term in results. Results will contain at least one of the terms, or both. The OR operator must be capitalized when used or Google will think it is a search term.
| (Pipe Character)
Another designation for the OR operator. Can be used in place of the OR search operator. (See above for description on usage.)
” ”
Quotations are used to specify searches for exact wordings. One good example of this is to search for a lyric from a song. (Example: “You used to laugh about” )
-
Used to flag terms you do not want to appear in your results. The minus sign needs to be used without a space for the term/s you would like to exclude. (Example: Presidents -Bush )
+
Used to specify words you NEED included in your search. Google by default will drop common words like “the” “and” “of” etc. To specify that a term that is commonly dropped needs to be included in the search, you need to precede the term with a + sign. Just like the - there should be no space between the + and the search term.
~
The ~ or (Tilde) is used when you want to search for your term and variations of that term. (Synonyms) It is used in the same way the + and - is used with no space between the ~ and your search term. (Example: PC ~game )
ADVANCED OPERATORS
OPERATOR & DESCRIPTION
cache:
Used to go directly to the cached version of a website. This is the same as selecting the “cache” option within search results expect you can specify Google take you there directly.(example: cache:stage6.divx.com )
link:
The link operator lets you search all sites that contain the instance of the website you are searching for. (Example: link:www.cpusolutions.com )
related:
The related operator will find a list of sites that are similar to the address you specified. This can be good if you are looking for information, media or a program that can be found on multiple sites. (Example: related:www.youtube.com )
info: The info operator can save you some time as it brings up options for 5 common operators below the site name. (cache, related, linkto, linkfrom, link) It is a good operator to use if you cannot remember the syntax for a specific sire related search. (Example: info:www.gamespot.com )
site:
The site operator is used to specify search results only from a given site. This can be useful if the site you are trying to get information from does not have a useful search feature. You would use the site operator followed by the address of the website you are exploring along with a term to search for within that site. (Example site:www.imdb.com Wanted )
allintitle:
The allintitle operator searches for all the search terms you specify in the title bar on the top of a webpage. In most browsers this will be the blue bar the top of the screen. (Example: allintitle:Custom Performance Gaming PCs )
intitle:
The intitle perator is similar to the allintitle command but can be used in a different way to narrow down search results. It can be used with standard query searches to refine results(Example: Video Games intitle:top 100 )
allinurl:
The all inurl operator will search for terms within the address of a website. This is useful if you are looking for something very specific on a website. (Example: allinurl:Techcenter HTML Guides )
inurl:
The standard inurl operator is similar to the intitle command in that it lets you narrow down your search. It can be used in conjunction with a general query to return very specific results. (Example: Crysis Demo inurl:www.cnet.com )
SPECIALIZED SEARCH OPERATORS
OPERATOR & DESCRIPTION
define:
Used to have Google define what a words means. Similar to a dictionary function in other websites or programs. This can be done right from the Google search page. Great alternative if you do not have access to spell check.
stocks:
The stocks operator can be used to bring up stock information for specific companies right through Google. If you already know the stock symbol for the company you can use this operator to bring up stock information directly through Google. (Example: stocks:NDAQ )
movie:
The movie operator can be used to bring up movie information and reviews directly through Google. This is useful to get lots of information about a movie at a glance. It is also useful for bringing up multiple movies with a common word in the name. (Example: movie:Jumper )
book:
The book operator can be used to bring up book information and reviews directly through Google. This is useful to get lots of information about a book/s at a glance. It can be very useful for getting information on a book series. (Example: book:Harry Potter )
weather:
The weather operator is very useful for finding out information about local weather conditions and weather around the world. All you need to do is type in a city name after the weather: tag and Google will directly display a four day forecast for the query. (Example: weather:Madison )
time:
Similar to the weather operator the time operator will bring up what time it is anywhere in the world directly through Google. This is very useful if you have friends in other parts of the world, or just want to know time without having to mess with a time zone map. (Example: time:New York City )
I hope that someone finds this information useful. I am going to wait and see if I get any comments before writing PARTS 2, and 3.
If people find this guide helpful I will continue to add on to the tables, and write additional information which will eventually get into the Easter Eggs and Secrets hidden in Google.
I hope you enjoyed the first addition to my Blog. Please feel free to comment or email me with any feedback you may have on the article or anything you would like to see added. I will add the next part of this guide in the next few days as time permits.
Google Guide 01 - Introduction & Search Operators
Google Guide 02 - Definitions, Maps, Driving Directions
Google Guide 03 - Services, Features, Advanced Operators
Google Guide 04 - Web History, Bookmarks, Labs & Easter Eggs
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