20 Great Google Secrets

20 Great Google Secrets 

But most people don't use it to its best advantage. Do you just plug in a keyword or two and hope for the best? That may be the quickest way to search, but with more than 3 billion pages in Google's index, it's still a struggle to pare results to a manageable number. But Google is an remarkably powerful tool that can ease and enhance your Internet exploration. Google's search options go beyond simple keywords, the Web, and even its own programmers. Let's look at some of Google's lesser-known options. Syntax Search Tricks Using a special syntax is a way to tell Google that you want to restrict your searches to certain elements or characteristics of Web pages. Google has a fairly complete list of its syntax elements at www.google.com/help/operators.html . Here are some advanced operators that can help narrow down your search results. Intitle: at the beginning of a query word or phrase (intitle:"Three Blind Mice") restricts your search results to just the titles of Web pages. Intext: does the opposite of intitle:, searching only the body text, ignoring titles, links, and so forth. Intext: is perfect when what you're searching for might commonly appear in URLs. If you're looking for the term HTML, for example, and you don't want to get results such as www.mysite.com/index.html , you can enter intext:html. Link: lets you see which pages are linking to your Web page or to another page you're interested in. For example, try typing in link:http://www.pcmag.com Try using site: (which restricts results to top-level domains) with intitle: to find certain types of pages. For example, get scholarly pages about Mark Twain by searching for intitle:"Mark Twain"site:edu. Experiment with mixing various elements; you'll develop several strategies for finding the stuff you want more effectively. The site: command is very helpful as an alternative to the mediocre search engines built into many sites. Swiss Army Google Google has a number of services that can help you accomplish tasks you may never have thought to use Google for. For example, the new calculator feature (www.google.com/help/features.html#calculator) lets you do both math and a variety of conversions from the search box. For extra fun, try the query "Answer to life the universe and everything." Let Google help you figure out whether you've got the right spelling—and the right word—for your search. Enter a misspelled word or phrase into the query box (try "thre blund mise") and Google may suggest a proper spelling. This doesn't always succeed; it works best when the word you're searching for can be found in a dictionary. Once you search for a properly spelled word, look at the results page, which repeats your query. (If you're searching for "three blind mice," underneath the search window will appear a statement such as Searched the web for "three blind mice.") You'll discover that you can click on each word in your search phrase and get a definition from a dictionary. Suppose you want to contact someone and don't have his phone number handy. Google can help you with that, too. Just enter a name, city, and state. (The city is optional, but you must enter a state.) If a phone number matches the listing, you'll see it at the top of the search results along with a map link to the address. If you'd rather restrict your results, use rphonebook: for residential listings or bphonebook: for business listings. If you'd rather use a search form for business phone listings, try Yellow Search (www.buzztoolbox.com/google/yellowsearch.shtml). Extended Googling Google offers several services that give you a head start in focusing your search. Google Groups (http://groups.google.com) indexes literally millions of messages from decades of discussion on Usenet. Google even helps you with your shopping via two tools: Froogle CODE (http://froogle.google.com), which indexes products from online stores, and Google Catalogs CODE (http://catalogs.google.com), which features products from more 6,000 paper catalogs in a searchable index. And this only scratches the surface. You can get a complete list of Google's tools and services at www.google.com/options/index.html You're probably used to using Google in your browser. But have you ever thought of using Google outside your browser? Google Alert (www.googlealert.com) monitors your search terms and e-mails you information about new additions to Google's Web index. (Google Alert is not affiliated with Google; it uses Google's Web services API to perform its searches.) If you're more interested in news stories than general Web content, check out the beta version of Google News Alerts (www.google.com/newsalerts). This service (which is affiliated with Google) will monitor up to 50 news queries per e-mail address and send you information about news stories that match your query. (Hint: Use the intitle: and source: syntax elements with Google News to limit the number of alerts you get.) Google on the telephone? Yup. This service is brought to you by the folks at Google Labs (http://labs.google.com), a place for experimental Google ideas and features (which may come and go, so what's there at this writing might not be there when you decide to check it out). With Google Voice Search (http://labs1.google.com/gvs.html), you dial the Voice Search phone number, speak your keywords, and then click on the indicated link. Every time you say a new search term, the results page will refresh with your new query (you must have JavaScript enabled for this to work). Remember, this service is still in an experimental phase, so don't expect 100 percent success. In 2002, Google released the Google API (application programming interface), a way for programmers to access Google's search engine results without violating the Google Terms of Service. A lot of people have created useful (and occasionally not-so-useful but interesting) applications not available from Google itself, such as Google Alert. For many applications, you'll need an API key, which is available free from CODE www.google.com/apis . See the figures for two more examples, and visit www.pcmag.com/solutions for more. Thanks to its many different search properties, Google goes far beyond a regular search engine. Give the tricks in this article a try. You'll be amazed at how many different ways Google can improve your Internet searching. Online Extra: More Google Tips Here are a few more clever ways to tweak your Google searches. Search Within a Timeframe Daterange: (start date–end date). You can restrict your searches to pages that were indexed within a certain time period. Daterange: searches by when Google indexed a page, not when the page itself was created. This operator can help you ensure that results will have fresh content (by using recent dates), or you can use it to avoid a topic's current-news blizzard and concentrate only on older results. Daterange: is actually more useful if you go elsewhere to take advantage of it, because daterange: requires Julian dates, not standard Gregorian dates. You can find converters on the Web (such as CODE http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/JulianDate.html excl.gif No Active Links, Read the Rules - Edit by Ninja excl.gif ), but an easier way is to do a Google daterange: search by filling in a form at www.researchbuzz.com/toolbox/goofresh.shtml or www.faganfinder.com/engines/google.shtml . If one special syntax element is good, two must be better, right? Sometimes. Though some operators can't be mixed (you can't use the link: operator with anything else) many can be, quickly narrowing your results to a less overwhelming number. More Google API Applications Staggernation.com offers three tools based on the Google API. The Google API Web Search by Host (GAWSH) lists the Web hosts of the results for a given query (www.staggernation.com/gawsh/). When you click on the triangle next to each host, you get a list of results for that host. The Google API Relation Browsing Outliner (GARBO) is a little more complicated: You enter a URL and choose whether you want pages that related to the URL or linked to the URL (www.staggernation.com/garbo/). Click on the triangle next to an URL to get a list of pages linked or related to that particular URL. CapeMail is an e-mail search application that allows you to send an e-mail to google@capeclear.com with the text of your query in the subject line and get the first ten results for that query back. Maybe it's not something you'd do every day, but if your cell phone does e-mail and doesn't do Web browsing, this is a very handy address to know.

16 killed in military C-130 plane crash in Mississippi

16 killed in military C-130 plane crash in Mississippi

At least 16 people have died after a military flight crashed along Mississippi’s Sunflower-LeFlore County line. Details of the cause of the C-130 plane crash are being investigated.

The US Marine Corps tweeted Monday that “a USMC KC-130 mishap occurred the evening of July 10. Further information will be released as available.”

LeFlore County Sheriff Ricky Banks previously confirmed that five people died. There were supposedly nine people on the plane, accordingto the Clarion-Ledger.

The LeFlore County deputy, Will Gnemi, told reporters that the coroner’s office was at the scene searching a field of tall vegetation for victims. At the time, he didn’t know how many casualties there would be.

The fire chief of Greenwood, Marcus Banks, said that the radius of the debris is 5 miles, according to the Greenwood Commonwealth.

Banks said that the call came in at around 4:00pm and an aircraft crash truck was traveling to the scene. He also mentioned that 4,000 gallons of foam were used to put the fire out.

Banks described several “high-intensity explosions” that drove away firefighters, the Commonwealth reported.

Governor Phil Bryant (R) asked for prayers in a Facebook post, and said that “our men and women in uniform risk themselves every day to secure our freedom.”

The C-130, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is a four-engine turboprop aircraft mostly used for military transportation, according to the company’s website.

Terrifying’ wildfires force nearly 8,000 to evacuate in California

Terrifying’ wildfires force nearly 8,000 to evacuate in California

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Nearly 8,000 Californians have evacuated their houses as thousands of firefighters battling 14 large wildfires throughout the state from grassy foothills near Sacramento to Santa Barbara, destroying homes and structures, according to Cal Fire.

Southern California is in the grip of a blistering heat wave with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 Celsius).

Chuck Wilsey and his family were among 4,000 evacuated in the Sierra Nevada range, 60 miles north of Sacramento, when sheriff’s deputies drove through neighborhoods announcing evacuations over loudspeakers.

“Fire and flood so close together,” Wilsey toldAP at the Red Cross shelter. “We just try to stay prepared.”

The blaze, southeast of Oroville in Butte County, burned nearly 9 square miles (23 square kilometers) of grass, injured four firefighters and destroyed at least 17 structures. It was 35 percent contained on Monday.

The Wall fire blaze, which has injured four people, was threatening an additional 5,400 structures, and it was 17 percent contained by Sunday.

California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency and allotted additional resources for firefighting efforts there.

The crumbling of Oroville Dam spillway caused people to be briefly evacuated in February due to the threat of flooding.

In Southern California, at least 3,500 people remained out of their homes as a pair of fires raged at different ends of Santa Barbara County.

The larger of the two, the Alamo fire, charred more than 45 square miles (116 square kilometers) of dry bush and threatened more than 130 rural homes in San Luis Obispo County and spreading to Santa Barbara County along the state’s central coast. It was 15 percent contained on Monday, thanks to water-dropping helicopters, according to Cal Fire.

On Sunday, fire containment efforts were particularly aimed at guarding mountain peaks holding vital infrastructure, such as a high-voltage line that powers neighboring cities, according to the Los Angeles Times.

About 30 miles south of the Alamo fire, the second, the Whittier fire near Lake Cachuma, started Saturday afternoon. That fire engulfed some 12 square miles and destroyed 20 structures and threatened 150 more, according to Cal Fire.

A third blaze on the Central Coast, the Stone fire, ignited Sunday about 30 miles north of Morro Bay. The fire grew to 340 acres and was 10 percent contained on Sunday.

One resident, Sarah Gustafson, was having her tires fixed when she saw a pillar of smoke rise on the other side of Santa Ynez Mountains and knew she had to rescue her cats. As she made her way over the mountain range the fire was exploding from 300 to more than 3,000 acres of forest, she told the Los Angeles Times.

“It was terrifying,” Gustafson said. “The sky was orange and black. You could see flames up on the ride. When I got home it was smoke with ash.”

She rescued her cats and spent the night in her car in the parking lot of a shelter set up at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara.

The fires broke out during a blistering weekend when a heat wave toppled temperature records at 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius), officials said.

Fire crews are battling dozens of other blazes in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.