Using Google

OK. I totally admit that I am boggled at the number of people that don’t really use Google search. Yes, I am on the web for a living, but I was using Google search at least 10 years before I became a web developer. When my son was in high school having trouble getting a Calculus concept, I suggested he Google it, just to see what came up. There were all kinds of tutorials on the Calculus concept he was studying- with step by step explanations. Heck, I could have learned it without a teacher!

“I don’t need to know everything, I just need to know where to find it when I need it.”
– Albert Einstein

You can learn just about anything in the world on the internet. With a little practice, you will get insanely proficient at finding anything you need. Since LifeSkill Secrets is about empowering you, learning to Google for information is probably the easiest way to do it.

Basic Tips for Using Google

Here are some tips for putting a search into the Google search bar:

1. Don’t worry about capitalization or spelling

   For example: Chocolate Cake Recipe is the same as chocolate cake recipe
   Google will check most common spelling s so will give you what you typed, but also what it thinks you may have meant to type.

2. Type what you want to know about

   For example: Chocolate cake recipe

3. Just type a question

   For example: How to fix a broken toilet

4. Use quotes to search for an exact phrase

   This is the oldest and best known trick if you want exact information as it is in the quotes.
   For example: “Calculus differential equation tutorials”

5. Use an asterisk within quotes if you are unsure of a word or there may be several variations

   Can’t remember the name of the equation that you are looking for? Replace the unknown word with an *. If it’s a quote, this is great if you can’t recall an exact word.
   For example: “Calculus * equations”

   Put the asterisk first to get all the variations of a phrase.
   For example: “*Love is” gives the results: Love is blind, love is a bitch, love is quotes, love is kind, love is mighty, etc.

6. Use the minus sign to eliminate results containing certain words

   For example: “Calculus * equations -quadratic”
   This will give you all the results for Calculus equations EXCEPT for quadratic equations

7. Looking for pictures?

   Just add images before or after whatever you want to see images of. Keep in mind though that most images on the web are copyrighted and cannot be used without permission.
   For example: tiger images Result shows many images and a “more images for tiger” link

Googling is fun. look up people, look up yourself, look up things you want to know or things you want to buy. Google an address to get a map and directions. Isn’t Googling fun? The more you do it, the better you will get at wording your search to get close to what you want the first time out. Sometimes you don’t. Add a more specific term if you get too many hits, or remove some if you get too few. Searching for someone from your childhood is good practice. Have fun!