Gorkee

If you’re reading this article, I’m guessing that you’ve used a search engine before. Search engines (SEs) are a beautiful thing, don’t you think? Of course, you do. Before their wondrous creation, if we wanted to learn something we had to actually open up a book or, heaven forbid, speak to a person.

SEs help us discover all sorts of useful information, like how to train your dog to rumba or instructions on how to build good booger balls (always a challenge). My personal favorite search engine is Google (they’re not paying me to say this, BTW, but they might have told me they will smile when they hear my name). You may have your own personal favorite, which is not Google, and that’s okay. I’ll no longer be able to acknowledge your existence, but again, that’s okay.

The point of this article (yes, there is one), is to help you jazz up that searching process. By the end of this article, you’ll be thinking outside the box, you’ll be better informed, you’ll be doing the funky chicken.

First of all, let me say that I’m only listing what I typically use and think is cool. If you have additional tips that you’d like to share, please submit them in the comment section, where I shall then take them and pass them off as my own at a later date. There’s always some smart-butt out there who thinks he knows more than me (you know who you are CodeStud5000!), so I’m always looking to learn. Really, I’m okay with being a parasite, feeding off the knowledge of others.

Okay, so here are my top 10 favorite things that I like to do when using Google (and which do not involve chickens):

Drum roll, please…

10. The Calculator
Did you know that there is a calculator built into Google? In the search bar, just type in the math calculation you would like to perform and press the Enter key. For example, if I would like to calculate (5*17)+((8-2) / 2), it would look like this. You can also do other cool things like find out what 31 in hex is. Type this: 31 in hex. Isn’t that fun? Aren’t you just laughing with joy? Personally, I’m nearly peeing my pants. Well, actually I just did. I’ll be right back.

9. The Spell Checker
The spell checker in Google works really well. Type in any word and press Enter. I find myself using this little beauty on a daily basis because I’ll let you in on a little secret…English is not my first language (C++ is). Typically, Google will ask you "Did you mean:" and list the correct spelling for you. I’ll admit that when Google asks me that, it can feel rather patronizing (yes, Google, I really did mean it when I typed in spel cheker). However, I can put up with that. One bonus about the Google Spell Checker is that it’s able to suggest common spellings for proper nouns (names and places), which might not appear in a standard spell checker program or dictionary. Now that’s service!

8. The Dictionary
If you are looking for a dictionary definition of a word, type the word "define" followed by the word or phrase you are looking up. For example, if I want to get the definition for String Theory, I would type this: define:String Theory. Here is the result of that query. You can also leave out the colon for a quick definition (though I prefer to use my colon - less messy for everyone).

7. The Weather
Living in New England, I’m always checking to see what the weather’s going to be. Sure, I could always just wait a minute and it will change, but that’s not any fun! If you don’t want to go to a weather website, you can just type in this: weather boston, ma. Here is the result of that query. Oh, guess what NE? You’re going to get dumped on…again!

6. Cached Links
Here’s a fun one. Google actually takes a snapshot of each page that you examine and then caches it as a back-up, just in case the original page is unavailable or has blown up. Check it out by typing this: cache:www.gorkee.com. Here is the result. You can really cache in on this.

5. Currency Converter
There are times when you have to leave the country fast and you may want to see what you’re going to get for your money. For example, if you’d like to know how the US dollar compares to the British pound, type this: 1 USD in GBP. Here is your answer. Now you can get the best exchange rate out there before you flee! Isn’t technology grand?

4. Specific Site Searching
Let’s say you want to search for a keyword or phrase, but only on a specific site. Use this formula: keyword site:www.site.com. For example, if you’d like to search for the keyword "linux" on my site, you would type this: linux site:www.gorkee.com. Here is the result of that query. It’s eye opening, I can tell you that.

3. Book Search
I didn’t get this tremendous brain power of mine just by looking good. I read books. And Google helps me find all the good ones I might need, like "Life and Laughter ‘Midst the Cannibals." Google is like having my own personal librarian living with me, but without the glasses, argyle sweater, fuzzy socks and attitude (it’s not a crime to want to renew "Beaches" six times in a row, is it?).

But I digress. If you’d like to look for all books that have the word "anaedor" in them, you would type this: books anaedor. Here is the result of that query. You’re going to be amazed at what you’ll find. It’s revolutionizing. Trust me on this one.

2. Stock Symbol
Checking your stocks is pretty easy with Google. Just type in the word "stocks:" and the appropriate stock symbols. For example, if you would like to see how Apple is doing, you would type: stocks:aapl. Here is the result of that query. When I last looked, they were smokin’! Um, not the cigarette. What I meant to say is that they’re on fire! Not really on fire. Just, you know, doing well. Man, this is getting stupid.

1. Who Links to you
If you are looking for all the sites that link to you or your site type the word "link:" followed by the name of your site. For example, if you want to know all the sites that are linked to google’s site, you would type: link:www.google.com. Here is the result of that query.

Wasn’t that fun, boys and girls? And you didn’t have to talk to one person to learn any of this. That’s what Gorkee is all about…

Chickens.

Remember: "We know stuff."