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Lessons for improving search on Google

1. Use the ~ symbol in front of a word to let google include similar words in the search. ~cheap will also look for affordable, budget, etc.

2. Use the - to exclude a word from the search. fun music -kei$ha will exclude Kei$ha from the findings.

3. Use an elipsis (...) to indicate a range. $100...$300 will yield a price range for a given item.

4. Use 'site:' to search a particular website. 'Glee site:nytimes.com' will yield all articles on Glee (or glee) from the Times.

5. Use 'filetype:' to find a particular kind of document. I often want to save myself some work for class by using other people's pdfs of book chapters. So I can type in: 'McChesney US Media filetype:pdf' to find someone else's scan.

6. Use 'define' before a term to let Google generate a definition for you, rather than having to click through various dictionary sites.

7. Enter tracking numbers for FedEx, USPS, and UPS and other delivery services directly into Google to track the package. You don't even have to name the service.

8. Use 'weather' to find the local conditions. 'weather montreal' will yield the current conditions in Montreal.

9. Use 'time' to find the current time of any location. 'time paris' will give you the current time in Paris.

10. Type your airline and flight number into Google for the flight status.

11. Text your searches to google. Send the text to 466453 (put this in your phone) with the search terms and you get a reply pretty quickly. A text of 'vetri philadelphia' yielded the address and phone number of the restaurant in a text that came within 30 seconds.

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