Search it the right way: choose the timeline

There are so many tips around on the web on how to make your searches efficient. Here is one I would like to share (may be a reiteration) 

I was looking for a software. So I put this string in my favorite Google, 'mount iso virtual CD'. As usual I got many results. Google always boasts about its efficiency 'About 1,870,000 results (0.13 seconds) ' :) But while going through the results I observed the links to be old 2008, 2007, .. I was wondering if no one wrote a new tool for this after that time??? Then it strike to my mind that probably the old pages are ranked more than the new pages and later with more usages the new pages will come up in the result. Remember search engines primarily do it by ranking and not by creation. So I clicked on Advanced Search and I was happy to locate what I was looking for 'Date, usage rights, numeric range, and more'. Out of the options available for 'Date' I selected 'past year' and weehoo!!!! I got the latest results :)


So the takeaway is, Advance to Advanced Search! The content on the web is huge and you should get wiser.


I know many of you would know this but it is always good to share for others!

Go Google: Also include

You might miss to include a friend in a mail but GMail is going to suggest you whom all you could include based on what you have in the To/CC list. The suggestions appear in a hyperlink and you can click to add. The logic is recent and common. So if you add a@abc.com then it would suggest you b.xyz.com, c@abc.com and other. Now if you select b@xyz.com now it would suggest the names common to a@abc.com and b@xyz.com which might not include c@abc.com.

Go Google - The wiser Google

Google is growing wiser with its age. It is becoming more intuitive so more helpful.

Say you want to search for "Cinema". No need to add your location to the search string. It gets your location from you IP and then displays results for that  location (location based search). In case you want to search for a different location you can either update the location to on the left panel or may add it to the search string.

At the very top it will display the show timings for various movies and various theaters near you. In case you enter a movie name it will display the show timing of that movie running in theaters near you. It will also display video clips or song links. It will also display a map results for theaters near you. Simple isn't it!
Earlier at the top it would have displayed a wiki link describing what is "Cinema"! Only few needed that.

Now if you want to try the same with the word "fruit" you have to wait for some more time. One hypothetical situation could be. A "street hawker" tweets/buzz that he is selling Bananas in 17 street, NYC and someone from 17 street googles for fruit and gets an answer, Bananas: "Go out from your apartment. 3 steps to your left" :)

Go Google - Up-Down arrow key navigation of the search results

This feature is a Keyboard lovers delight. Now you can navigate the Google's search results using Up-Down arrow keys. You might have observed a cute little blue colored arrow marking a search result. If not yet! then please find it now. If you see this arrow you can use Up and Down arrow keys to navigate through the search result and press enter to open a particular selection. Cool isn't it! and also better than the usual tab thingy.


If you do not see this arrow then you might need to press tab one or two times and then the up arrow get it back.

Happy Googling :)

They ask me, what if Google was NOT there? I say, there should have been something else from the "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" :)

Go Google - Instant Search

Google has introduced this nice feature of 'Instant Search'. So apart from the search keywords suggestions, they now perform 'Instant Search' as you key in! If you are not able to see this feature in your country specific Google Search site. e.g. google.co.in then on the bottom of the search page click on 'Go to Google.com' and enjoy this feature.

They have also taken care for inappropriate content. So if you type in 'porn' they do not perform this auto search. Nice, eh! You can turn off this feature from the down arrow to the right of the search box.

Here is a food for thought. How does it help to see results while keying in? To me it is fancy but of less use. But as always I appreciate Google for their work towards making search faster, easier and fun.

Another feature that I have noticed is the 'Something Different' section on the left panel (if you have not hidden the left panel). It provides similar suggestions. e.g. if you search for 'american airlines' you will get

Something different
united airlines
northwest airlines
continental airlines
alaska airlines
delta air lines

Happy Googling!