Googling Smarter

I use Google constantly because I frequently do research on various IT related topics (anyone out there remember having to ring companies up and wait for snail mail to come with the wrong and or not-helpful content?).  Recently I read an article in Wired Magazine with some Goggling tips.  Very helpful, especially if you’re looking for fairly specific content like PowerPoint presentations, or analyst reports in .pdf format.

So here a few tips for Googling better.  Hopefully I’m not the only one on the planet that did not already know all this stuff.  Additional tips can be found at: https://www.google.com/help/operators.html.

To search specific sources. Add “site:edu” or “site:gov” to limit your search to school or government domains.  For example, to search the Microsoft site for information on SharePoint type “sharepoint site:microsoft.com.”

Narrow by file type. To find PowerPoints, Excel spreadsheets, or books scanned into PDFs, add “filetype:ppt” (or any other extension) to your query.

To convert currency and units just type in your request: “57 inches in meters,” for example.

If you are brave enough, and preferably sitting down, and possibly have a drink in hand, check your stocks.   Just enter the ticker symbol and you will be accosted by a real time quote.

To get flight information, type in the airline, then your flight number.

You have to love Google – they make it so easy.

I welcome your comments,
Mike Brannan