Google tricks & Other Tutorials

Sometimes when you search on Google you might not get the desired results or you might need to search a lot by changing the keywords you are searching for.

1. The “+” Sign : Google ignores some words like the, how and many other digits and words which actually slow down the search speed. Now if a common word is essential for you and you want google to look for it the just give a space, put the “+” sign and type in the word. By this google makes sure that, that word is actually included in the search as well. I came to knew of this as i was searching for a Book, but google was not showing the desired results, i used this technique and was able to get the details I was looking for.

2. Synonym Search with “~”(Tildy) Sign : If in case you want to search for the term as well it’s synonym, then in that case just add the “~” sign just in front of your term, you will then see the links for the same terms synonym. This can be really helpful in case you are searching for some specific results

3. Use of Keyword “OR” : In case you want the Search results to show two different categories then in that case you can use the Keyword “OR”. This will make sure that you will get the results accordingly. Similarly you can also use “AND”, but in this case google will show you pages where both the parameters are met, whereas in case of keyword “OR”, any parameter that matches up, those links will be displayed.

4. Getting links of Specific Site : Sometimes you might visit a site but not able to find the links or accurate pages in that site. What do you do? Just click on links to get the specific page? Well a simple answer is search through Google. Suppose you want to search for groups site in google.com, then simple type in “groups site:google.com”. You will see op tins coming for the google groups. This is a pretty old method is very useful to get to a specific page of a site. The code for this would be “site:”

5. Search within a Range : You can search in Google within a desired range be it be Money, Weight, Age or any thing else, you just need to define the range and you will get the results you require. You need to type in the range as separated by “..”. But make sure you specify the unit as well like for money, weight, length or any thing else. Like, for Example:- TV 21..32 inches

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Related Posts

• Google: Search for Public Online Cameras
• Google Extensions fore Firefox
• Finding Warez on Google
• Tips ands Tricks about Google Talk
• Tips and Tricks about Google
• Few things you might want to try with Google
• 7 Clever Google Tricks Worth Knowing

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Using google it is very easy to find open cameras and video feeds online. A voyeur's paradise!

Using some focused google searching, you can find online cameras and video feeds with ease. Here are some common examples.

Google - intitle:"WJ-NT104 Main"

Google - intitle:"snc-rz30 home"
Requires installation of activeX plug-in. Great video feeds.

Google - inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode=Motion"

High quality feeds with zoom and pan. Require an activeX plug-in
Google - inurl:LvAppl intitle:liveapplet

I love the zoom and pan on these. So freaking cool!
Google - intitle:"Live View / - AXIS"

Requires installation of a activeX plug-in to view
Google - "Powered by webcamXP"

Google - inurl:indexFrame.shtml "Axis Video Server"

Google - "MOBOTIX M1" and "open menu"

Will display some with feeds and others with refreshing pictures.
Google - intitle:flexwatch intext:"Copyright by Seyeon TECH Co"

Click on Live View for the video feed from java applet.

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Firefox is one of the most popular browsers on the Internet because it was the first application that provided tab browsing, being regarded as the most powerful rival for the classic Internet Explorer. As you probably know, Firefox is a well developed browser that provides support for themes and extensions, tiny tools able to increase the functionality of the application. Some time ago, Google released Toolbar for Firefox, an interesting add-on for Mozilla’s browser meant to add a popup blocker for the program as well as quick access to Google’s services.

If you didn’t know, Google owns a separate page to present the most interesting extensions selected by the company’s employees and able to enhance the performance of the products developed by the search giant. Although at this time there are only 4 Firefox extensions available, the search giant really wants to promote the add-ons to access the Google services faster.

“Google Browser Sync for Firefox is an extension that continuously synchronizes your browser settings – including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords – across your computers. It also allows you to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions,” Google says in the description of the Google Browser Sync extension. In the past, Google also tried to create an optimized version of the Microsoft browser and bundle it with the products developed by the company. At that time, the search giant designed a separate page for Internet Explorer optimized for Google that was very similar with the one published by Yahoo for its own version of the browser. The giant portal Yahoo criticized Google for its lack of inspiration, sustaining the website was built by the company’s employees so it’s not possible that Google used a template

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Qualified chefs can submit resumes and top candidates will be invited to Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., to prepare a meal for a "tasting committee." Four finalists will compete in a Google Chef Cookoff, the company said Thursday in a statement.

Standards are high, according to the job description. Candidates should preferably have spent a minimum of five years as a sous chef and three years as an executive chef, and should have experience preparing ethnic and vegetarian cuisine using organic ingredients. The chefs will be required to cook an "eclectic menu capable of suiting every Googler palate, from vegan entrees to pad thai, grilled burgers and wood-fired pizza," the company said.

"These two chefs will play an important role in managing the company's growing appetites," President Sergey Brin said in the statement.

Google, the leader among search engines and so popular its name has become a verb, has been on a hiring spree lately . It is reportedly looking to expand its office space, which means more mouths to feed.

According to a company blog posting, the kitchen at Google goes through 55 gallons of olive oil a week, and breakfast chefs make two fresh smoothies or one custom omelet every minute.

A sample menu on the blog includes Ahi Tuna & Avocado Poke, Calypso Rice Salad, Roasted Pork Loin and Hazelnut Shortcakes with Plum Compote.

Google's cuisine has been legendary since the company's early days, when it hired the former chef for the Grateful Dead.

Tasty victuals--free breakfast, lunch and dinner--are only one of the many perks the company offers its burgeoning number of employees. Others include a staff doctor, dry cleaning pickup and delivery, onsite car wash and oil change, gym, personal trainers, tuition reimbursement, proximity parking for pregnant employees and nursing rooms for mothers.

And then there are the stock options, which shot up past $300 a share in June and have continued to trade at close to that price, making Google the world's biggest media group by stock market value.

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With Google Talk being all the craze right now, some people hating it, and others loving it, I figured that I would post a list of tips and tricks for those curious about the extra "features" Google implemented and has not said much about.

Registry Tweaks

You can edit most settings by opening regedit (start -> regedit),
and navigating to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk.

The "Google/Google talk" key has several sub-keys that hold different option values:

Accounts: This one has subkeys for each different account that has logged in on the client. These keys have different values that store the username, password and connection options.

Autoupdate: Stores the current version information. When the client checks for updates it compares Google's response with these values. If an update is needed, it will download and update the new version.

Options: This is the most interesting part, where most of the current hacks should be used (keep reading).

Process: Stores the process ID. Probably used by Google Talk to detect if it's already running or not.

1.) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\show_pin
If 1, shows a "pin" next to the minimize button that keeps the windows on top of all the other open windows when clicked.

2.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\view_show_taskbutton

If 0, hides the taskbar button, and leaves the tray icon only, when the window is shown

3.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\away_inactive

If 1, status will be set as Away after the specified number of minutes.

4.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\away_screensaver

If 1, status will be set as Away after the specified number of minutes.

5.)HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Google\Google Talk\Options\inactive_minutes
Number of inactive minutes to become away if auto-away is on.

Tips & Tricks

• Wumpus Game : - First noted by a GoogleRumors commentor, if you add the buddy wumpus.game@gmail.com you can play the classic text-based game. Wumpus is an easter egg game that came with Google Talk (unfortunately, he didn't’t accept my invitation, so I can’t play).
• Change the font size - While holding the control key, move the scroll wheel on your mouse either up or down. This trick works while being focused in either the read or write area.
• Insert line breaks - If you want to have a message that spans multiple paragraphs, just hold shift and hit enter. You can add as many new lines as you want to create.
• Bold Text - To write something bold, you can use an asterisk before and after the word, like *this* .
• Italic Text - To use italics, use an underscore before an after the word, like _this_ .
• Switch windows - Hitting tab will cycle through open windows. It will select minimized conversations, to expand them just hit enter. If you just want to cycle through IM's and don't care about the buddy list, control-tab will do that and will automatically expand a minimized conversation if you settle on one.
• Invitation Tips- You don’t need to say Yes or No when someone wants to add you as a friend; you can simply ignore it, the request will go away. (On the other hand, someone with whom you chat often will automatically turn to be your friend, unless you disable this in the options).
• Show Hyperlinks - You can show your homepage or blog URL simply by entering the it in your away message (at the top of the main window). It will automatically turn to a link visible to others.
• Google Talk Game - “Google Talk” also was the name of a word game uses Google.
• A message can be 32767 characters long.

How To

Conference Calls :

What you need to do to have conference calls: Open up a copy of Google Talk on all computers with which you wish to conference. After one copy is opened make a new shortcut for Google Talk but at the end of it add /nomutex. If you installed it to the default folder then your shortcut should read "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe" /nomutex. Open 2nd instances of the software on every user's computer. After this start a chain: User 1 should connect on one instance to user 2. User 2 will connect on his second instance to user 3. User 3 will connect using his second instance back to user 1. With this chain everyone is connected to everyone.

Nickname & Status Message :

You can't change your nickname in a way that other people will see it change. Every nickname in the Google Talk contactlist is the part that is before @gmail.com (only the alphabetical characters are used) or the name you chosen for your GMail account. To change the nickname need to go to your Gmail account and change the name there. Choose Settings, Accounts, and then Edit info. Click on the second radio button, and enter your custom name. As a result all of your emails will have that nick as well, there is no way to seperate the two. You can add a website in your custom message, it will be clickable when someone opens a conversation window with you.

Contacts :

You don't need to say Yes or No when someone wants to add you as a friend; you can simply ignore it, the request will go away. (On the other hand, someone with whom you chat often will automatically turn to be your friend, unless you disable this).
The Gmail account 'user@gmail.com' can't be invited as your friend.

Sound & Video :

It's possible to broadcast music, MP3, etc.. through Google Talk.
Unplug your microphone. Double click on the speaker icon in the lower right corner. This will open up "Volume Control". Select "Options" and then "Properties". Then check the button next to "Recording" then click OK. You may also have to change your setting under Mixer Device. Now the Recording Control screen should be up. On my computer I selected "Wave Out Mix". Click on the green phone in Google Talk and call your friend.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl + E - It centralizes the selected text, or the current line.
• Ctrl + R - It justifies to the right the selected text, or the current line.
• Ctrl + L - It justifies to the left the selected text, or the current line.
• Ctrl + I - The same thing does that Tab.
• Tab - It is giving the area to each of the windows opened by Google Talk.
• Ctrl + Tab - The same thing does that Shift + Tab .
• Shift + Tab - The same thing does that Tab but in reverse.
• Ctrl + Shift + L -Switch between points, numbers, letters, capital letters, roman numbers and capital roman numbers
• Ctrl + 1 (KeyPad) - It does a simple space between the lines.
• Ctrl + 2 (KeyPad) - It does a double space between the lines.
• Ctrl + 5 (KeyPad) - A space does 1.5 between the lines.
• Ctrl + 1 (NumPad) - It goes at the end of the last line.
• Ctrl + 7 (NumPad) - It goes at the begin of the last line.
• Ctrl + F4 - It closes the current window.
• Alt + F4 - It closes the current window.
• Alt + Esc - It Minimize all the windows.
• Windows + ESC - Open Google Talk (if it's minimized, or in the tray)
• F9 - Open gmail to send an email to the current contact.
• F11 - It initiates a telephonic call with your friend.
• F12 - It cancels a telephonic call.
• Esc - It closes the current window.

[HOWTO] Use multiple identities on Google Talk

Want to run Google Talk with multiple Gmail identities? If you have several Google gmail you also may want to run multiple instances of Google Talk This is especially important for families that share a single PC. Nothing worse than a family member signing you out so they can sign in under their own account!

Basically, to have "Google Polygamy" you need to run Google Talk with the following switch: /nomutex

Step 1: Right-click on the desktop
Step 2: Select New
Step 3: Select Shortcut
Step 4: Paste this into the text box:

Step 5: Click Next and choose a shortcut name such as Google Talk1, Google Talk2, or something related to your Gmail account for easy remembering which account is which.
Step 6: Click OK a few times.

[HOWTO] Use Google Talk via a Web Browser

You want to use Google Talk anywhere ? Follow these guidelines :)

Step 1: Opens your favorite web browser at the following address :

Step 2: Follow the instructions of the Page.

Step 3: You can talk with your friends

Google's Secret Command-Line Parameters

There are a few secret parameters you can add to Google Talk and make it function differently.

The most important, I think, is /nomutex, which allows you to run more than one instance of GT. Here are the others:

To add these, open up your GT shortcut, and where it says "Target:" add one or more of these inside the quotations, but after the .exe part.

Emotions :

All these emotions appears in color in a conversation : (but having them in an image would be better, like iChat or MSN)

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I have been quite fascinated by Google ever since they started out as a search engine. Over the time Google has become an indispensable tool for any serious geek. I will describe a few techniques that I use. They have been collected from various help pages, chat rooms and books. If you find any error please point it out.

1.) Common queries:

So how will you effectively use Google. Take this example. A friend of mine was asking me over yahoo messenger what is a blog. I told him to search on Google and find out. He tried this.
blog

Alas the answer was there but lost in thousands of links. He alerted me that he can't find an answer. I told " Ok , Let me see What is wrong? ". I tried this

What is blog
The answer was right there.

While formulating search queries you must be specific as far as possible. A query like Linux vpn howto can yield a different result than vpn howto. Google seems to be intelligent enough to understand some human thought chain. So while making queries be a bit descriptive and formulate a properly worded query. Google ignores some of the common words such as 'the' 'and' 'a' etc while performing a search.

2.) How to formulate a good search string :

Google uses AND logic for the queries by default. If you search linux vpn howto google searches for pages containing linux AND vpn AND howto. You can put OR logic in the search box like this

linux OR vpn OR howto

You can exclude some terms using "-"

linux vpn -installation

Try ( linux vpn - installation ) and see how it is different from the above query. You can group a set of terms by enclosing them in brackets. It is also possible to combine AND and OR operators.

It may be noted that Google is not case sensitive regarding search strings. Linux, LINUX and linux produces the same results. However the operators such as AND and OR are case sensitive.

3.) Searching for a file :

Suppose you want to search for pdf documents only. You can do this by attaching a filetype modifier to your query. A typical query can look like this

vpn filetype:pdf
Google can recognize most common filetyes.

4.) Searching only at a site :

This is similar to file type modifier. Try this VPN site:ibm.com
Then try vpn site:edu filetype:pdf You can get some interesting result by trying this query
linux site:microsoft.com

5.) Searching in URLs and Page titles :

You can search in urls using inurl modifier. Try inurl:smb.conf

Similarly you can use intitle modifier.

6.) Searching in Google cache :

If you are looking for some old web site you can directly search in Google cache.
Try cache:slashdot.org and see the cached pages.

7.) Looking for definitions :

This can be handy if your school going kid pesters you for his home work.
Try

define:watt
It bring out definitions from around the web.

8.) Looking at Google advanced search :

I think it is one link that most people try to ignore. It is designed for commoners. Almost all the options I mentioned above are available through advanced search.

The preferences page is also worth a visit. It uses cookies to set preferences such as number of search results to be displayed, language preferences etc.

9.) Finding the price of some geek gadget :

Google has a companion site called froogle.com. Its interface is exactly similar. But it returns prices across various stores in the US. This feature can be very useful if you plan to buy some strange hardware. Let us hope that froogle.co.in will appear soon.

10.) Google Calculator :

In the google search :
Type in an equation: (100+4567*10-200=)
What is the square root of 267? (sqrt(267))

11.) Google labs :

Google is very innovative and always tries to introduce new features. You can see some of the upcoming features at labs.google.com . Also Google conducts a puzzle champion ships annually.

12.) Google Sets :

Google sets is an interesting feature currently available at http://labs.google.com/sets.

Have a look at the page. You will see a number of text boxes. Enter some words which belongs to a set of items and search. Google will complete the set.

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Below I have compiled a list of 7 clever Google tricks that I believe everyone should be aware of. Together I think they represent the apex of the grand possibilities associated with Google search manipulation tricks and hacks. Although there are many others out there, these 7 tricks are my all-time favorite. Enjoy yourself.

1. Find the Face Behind the Result – This is a neat trick you can use on a Google Image search to filter the search results so that they include only images of people. How is this useful? Well, it could come in handy if you are looking for images of the prominent people behind popular products, companies, or geographic locations. You can perform this search by appending the code &imgtype=face to the end of the URL address after you perform a standard Google Image search.

• Examples (notice the differences in each URL):
  • Image Search for Google vs. Faces Behind Google Image Search
  • Image Search for Digg vs. Faces Behind Digg Image Search
  • Image Search for California vs. Faces Behind California Image Search

2. Google + Social Media Sites = Quality Free Stuff – If you are on the hunt for free desktop wallpaper, stock images, Wordpress templates or the like, using Google to search your favorite social media sites is your best bet. The word “free” in any standard search query immediately attracts spam. Why wade through potential spam in standard search results when numerous social media sites have an active community of users who have already ranked and reviewed the specific free items that interest you. All you have to do is direct Google to search through each of these individual social media sites, and bingo… you find quality content ranked by hundreds of other people.

• Examples:
  • site:digg.com free “desktop wallpaper”
  • site:reddit.com free “wordpress templates”
  • site:del.icio.us free “stock images”
  • site:netscape.com free “ringtones”
  • site:stumbleupon.com free icons
  • More info.

3. Find Free Anonymous Web Proxies – A free anonymous web proxy site allows any web browser to access other third-party websites by channeling the browser’s connection through the proxy. The web proxy basically acts as a middleman between your web browser and the third-party website you are visiting. Why would you want to do this? There are two common reasons:

• You’re connecting to a public network at a coffee shop or internet café and you want privacy while you browse the web. You don’t want the admin to know every site you visit.
• You want to bypass a web content filter or perhaps a server-side ban on your IP address. Content filtering is common practice on college campus networks. This trick will usually bypass those restrictions.

There are subscription services and applications available such as TOR and paid VPN servers that do the same thing. However, this trick is free and easy to access from anywhere via Google. All you have to do is look through the search results returned by the queries below, find a proxy that works, and enter in the URL of the site you want to browse anonymously.

• Examples:
  • inurl:”nph-proxy.cgi” “start using cgiproxy”
  • inurl:”nph-proxy.cgi” “Start browsing through this CGI-based proxy”
  • More info.

4. Google for Music, Videos, and Ebooks - Google can be used to conduct a search for almost any file type, including Mp3s, PDFs, and videos. Open web directories are one of the easiest places to quickly find an endless quantity of freely downloadable files. This is an oldie, but it’s a goodie! Why thousands of webmasters incessantly fail to secure their web severs will continue to boggle our minds.

• Examples:
  • Find Music: -inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(wma|mp3) “Counting Crows”
  • Find Videos: -inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(mpg|wmv) “chapelle”
  • Find Ebooks: -inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(pdf|doc) “george orwell 1984″

5. Browse Open Webcams Worldwide – Take a randomized streaming video tour of the world by searching Google for live open access video webcams. This may not be the most productive Google trick ever, but it sure is fun! (Note: you may be prompted to install an ActiveX control or the Java runtime environment which allows your browser to view certain video stream formats.)

• Examples:
  • Axis Webcams: inurl:/view.shtml or inurl:view/index.shtml
  • Cannon Webcams: sample/LvAppl/
  • MOBOTIX Webcams: control/userimage.html
  • FlexWatch Webcams: /app/idxas.html
  • JVC Webcams: intitle: intitle:”V.Networks [Motion Picture(Java)]”

6. Judge a Site by its Image – Find out what a site is all about by looking at a random selection of the images hosted on its web pages. Even if you are somewhat familiar with the target site’s content, this can be an entertaining little exercise. You will almost surely find something you didn’t expect to see. All you have to do is use Google’s site: operator to target a domain in an image search.

• Examples:
  • Digg in Images
  • Wired in Images
  • Reddit in Images
  • More info.

7. Results Based on Third-Party Opinion - Sometimes you can get a better idea of the content located within a website by reading how other websites refer to that site’s content. The allinanchor: Google search operator can save you large quantities of time when a normal textual based search query fails to fetch the information you desire. It conducts a search based on keywords used strictly in the anchor text, or linking text, of third party sites that link to the web pages returned by the search query. In other words, this operator filters your search results in a way such that Google ignores the title and content of the returned web pages, but instead bases the search relevance on the keywords that other sites use to reference the results. It can add a whole new dimension of variety to your search results.

• Examples (notice the added variety between search results):
• allinanchor:”google hacks” vs. basic search for Google hacks
• allinanchor:”wordpress exploits” vs. basic search for Wordpress exploits

Bonus Material:

Here is a list of my favorite Google advanced search operators, operator combinations, and related uses:

• link:URL = lists other pages that link to the URL.
• related:URL = lists other pages that are related to the URL.
• site:domain.com “search term = restricts search results to the given domain.
• allinurl:WORDS = shows only pages with all search terms in the url.
• inurl:WORD = like allinurl: but filters the URL based on the first term only.
• allintitle:WORD = shows only results with terms in title.
• intitle:WORD = similar to allintitle, but only for the next word.
• cache:URL = will show the Google cached version of the URL.
• info:URL = will show a page containing links to related searches, backlinks, and pages containing the url. This is the same as typing the url into the search box.
• filetype:SOMEFILETYPE = will restrict searches to that filetype
• -filetype:SOMEFILETYPE = will remove that file type from the search.
• site:www.somesite.net “+www.somesite.net” = shows you how many pages of your site are indexed by google
• allintext: = searches only within text of pages, but not in the links or page title
• allinlinks: = searches only within links, not text or title
• WordA OR WordB = search for either the word A or B
• “Word” OR “Phrase” = search exact word or phrase
• WordA -WordB = find word A but filter results that include word B
• WordA +WordB = results much contain both Word A and Word B
• ~WORD = looks up the word and its synonyms
• ~WORD -WORD = looks up only the synonyms to the word
• More info.

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