There would hardly be any internet user who does not use Google for searching across the world wide web. Google is the search engine giant and has grown to gargantuan proportions leaving almost every other search engine biting dust in its wake. But very few people know how to harness the immense abilities of this behemoth for getting more accurate and more speedier results. Google is not a search engine anymore. It is more of a massive living encyclopedia which can churn out relevant information in a fraction of seconds. Since there is so much more to Google, let me share with you some of the shortcuts I commonly use which are sure to be useful to you.
Calculations and Conversions: If you want to calculate something quickly while on the web, it is easier to use Google rather than your calculator. Simply put the equation, basic or advanced, in the search box and hit enter. Google would get you the results. You can even use this to convert in between various units of measurements as well as currency exchange rates. Example search terms: 150 GBP to USD, 78 kgs to lbs, 3 quarters of a cup in teaspoons, 40 c to f, 2967+5243, 30% of 4500.
Weather: If you are going out for a picnic and want to know the weather, there is nothing simpler than just googling it. You may simply type the word "weather" followed by the city, zip, state, country and Google would give you the current weather with 4 day forecast. You may even get results by city name or zipcode only.
Dictionary: You can easily get definition of a word by simply typing "definition" or "define" followed by a space and then the word you need defined. Google also works great as a spell checker. Google’s spell checking software automatically checks whether your query uses the most common spelling of a given word. If it thinks you’re likely to generate better results with an alternative spelling, it will ask “Did you mean: (more common spelling)?”. You can also get the synonyms for any words by placing the tilde sign (~) immediately in front of your search term.
Time: If you have friends living across the world, then you would like to know their local time before putting in a call lest you wake them up in the wee hours of night. You can simply type "time" followed by name of the city or country. e.g. time Las Vegas. You can even get the sunrise and sunset times easily by adding them to city name. e.g. sunrise Jamnagar.
Flight Tracking: Going on a holiday and want to checkup upon your flight? Piece of cake. Just type the airline name or code followed by flight number. Google would show you the exact schedule along with delays (if any) as well as the terminal numbers. e.g. aa 292 or american airlines 292. You may even get the flight schedule beween two cities. e.g. Delhi to Chicago
Movie Listings: Google allows you to quickly find show times for movies playing in your city. You can do this by simply typing in the word “movies” or the film title followed by your zip code or city name in the Google search box. You will then get a list of up to two theaters; if there are more than two theaters listed, you can click the “More movies to see the rest. In India, this seems to work only for the major cities.
Package Tracking: You can easily track your packages by simply entering the tracking no. in the Google search field instead of going to the courier company's site. At present Google tracks for Fedex, UPS and USPS only.
Local Search: If you’re looking for a store, restaurant, or other local business you can search for the category of business and the location and Google will return results right on the page, along with a map, reviews, and contact information. e.g. Indian food 94110, indian food San Francisco, pizza 94110
Stock Quotes: To see current market data for a given company or fund, type the ticker symbol into the search box. On the results page, you can click the link to see more data from Google Finance. e.g. AAPL
The above shortcuts are just a primer of many more functionalities built in the Google Search. But if you just learn to use the above shortcuts in your daily use, your life is going to get simpler. If you have some more interesting shortcuts which you are using , please do share them in comments.
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