Google Queries
Often overlooked Google query language. There are tons of easily remembered shortcuts to making your Google search more fit for your needs. Details are explained here, but I'd like to share a few I find useful.
- Words v.s. Phrases - You can double-quote around a phrase in your Google search to force the phrase search instead of executing on each word separately. The same feature can be accessed by connecting your words using "-" (minus sign) with no spaces inbetween. (e.g. Searching for "Ryo Sode" can be accomplished by typing "ryo-sode" into your search field)
- Definition of a word - A lot of people use wikipedia/dictionary.com to search for the definition of a word. There's a much easier way. Just type "define:" in front of the word you'd like defined, then type the word/phrase and execute your search. For instance, you can find the answer to life, the universe and everything like this.
- Eliminating unwanted searches - you can add "-" in front of a word (leave no space between the minus sign and the word) to make sure the search result does NOT include URL that are associated with the word. For example, you'd like to find an information on Wii component cables, but do not want to get information on DIY (do it yourself) sites, the search query should be this: wii-component -diy . Ok, this one's a bit tricky. There are two parts to this search. The first part is "wii-component", which is the application of bullet point 1 = search on the PHRASE "wii component". The second part is "-diy" meaning do not return results associated with the word "diy".
- Currency Conversion - Since I'm from Japan and the exchange rate between the US and JPY is something I am interested in, here's the currency conversion query I use to find the latest: 1 USD in JPY . This simple query returns the latest exchange rate between US dollars and Japanese YEN. Here, you can see it yourself.
I've always been a big fan of Google and its tools. I hope I'm doing the community a service with this post.
