Another "did you know" about Google

[emw]

So tonight I'm having a discussion with my wife as to how old Bruce Springsteen is, so I decided to check with my old friend Google.

I type in "how old is Bruce Springsteen" and get back:

Bruce Springsteen
Date of Birth: 23 September 1949
According to http://www.who2.com/brucespringsteen.html
Pretty sweet. There are just so many cool things about Google that I find out all the time. Any other good ones?

[PlaceofDis]

thats awesome, im sure that there are tons of little things like this out there too

[~Shard~]

You can always do "define: " then a word and it'll give you dictionary definitions. I also like "x in y", where x and y are different units of measurement (i.e. 10 feet in meters")

Patent is a cool one as well - type in "patent" followed by a number, and it'll tell you what has that patent. ;)

Stock quotes are handy too - just type in the ticker symbol and the info comes right back for you to view. :cool:

And don't forget Froogle!

[killuminati]

If you type in:

The answer to life the universe and everything =

You will get the answer 42.

[katie ta achoo]

If you put in a Zip Code and a search, it'll keep the results relevant to the location...

Like.. 11234 Pizza.
All pizza places in Brooklyn. :D

[jeffy.dee-lux]

"who is....?" also works.

... is a British actor who went from being "the tall one" on Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-74) to ...
According to http://www.who2.com/johncleese.html

[~Shard~]

If you type in:

The answer to life the universe and everything =

You will get the answer 42.

What's the syntax for that one? I cut and pasted your exact line into Google but it returned standard Arthur C. Clarke reuslts, etc.

[iSaint]

Go to google.com and select preferences to the right of the search bar. On the dropdown bar for Interface Language, select Hacker. Pretty cool!

[goodwill]

and of course dont forget booble :)

[Ugg]

the population density of Singapore is

I was surprised that it came back with the actual answer, that's cool, no more hunting for the answer

[PlaceofDis]

i really like the zipcode search, sweet

now only if someone would come up with a FAQ or Guide about all these little google tricks so we have them all in one place and organized :D ;)

[strider42]

What's the syntax for that one? I cut and pasted your exact line into Google but it returned standard Arthur C. Clarke reuslts, etc.

I put in" what is the answer to life, the universe and everything?" Worked great. That's really funny.

[Hemingray]

I put in" what is the answer to life, the universe and everything?" Worked great. That's really funny.

Sure didn't work for me.

[PlaceofDis]

Sure didn't work for me.

ditto, and im dying to know that answer!!! ;)

[jsw]

Go to google.com and select preferences to the right of the search bar. On the dropdown bar for Interface Language, select Hacker. Pretty cool!
I prefer "Bork bork bork". Cracks me up every time I visit!

[Mr. Anderson]

type in "evil" and hit "I'm feeling lucky" and you get a quiz on how evil you are...


I'm neutral

D

[emw]

type in "evil" and hit "I'm feeling lucky" and you get a quiz on how evil you are...


I'm neutral

D
Ha! I'm "Good."

I like the question about which European country do you most "indentify" with - and the answers include Canada.

[rikers_mailbox]

Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts) are pretty cool.

[Doctor Q]

Type in a phone number and you may find out who it belongs to. A good example: 44 0870 8791007.

If I type my own phone number, I find my name.

[~Shard~]

Sure didn't work for me.

Yep, still doesn't work for me. Ah well...

[emw]

Yep, still doesn't work for me. Ah well...
Works (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=what+is+the+answer+to+life%2C+the+universe+and+everything%3F&btnG=Search) for me.

[Jaffa Cake]

Yep, still doesn't work for me. Ah well...Have you tried typing it without the quotation marks at each end?

[edesignuk]

Google tip!

-inurl:html intitle:"index of" redhat (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=-inurl%3Ahtml+intitle%3A%22index+of%22+redhat&btnG=Search&meta=)

Change redhat for anything you like, use your imagination ;)

[Applespider]

Yep, still doesn't work for me. Ah well...

Here

[siliconjones]

Type in "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and hit I'm feeling lucky.

doesn't work anymore. you used to get this.

weapons of mass destruction (http://www.coxar.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/)

[rendezvouscp]

Go to google.com and select preferences to the right of the search bar. On the dropdown bar for Interface Language, select Hacker. Pretty cool!

Or Klingon, or even Elmer Fudd, or... just look at them yourself.

Google labs has some pretty cool stuff, I just wish they would get their products out of the beta label.
-Chase

[dotdotdot]

I put in" what is the answer to life, the universe and everything?" Worked great. That's really funny.

Ahh, douglas adams...

(I.E., hitchhikers guide...)

[Plymouthbreezer]

How cool!

I use the "define:_____" almost everyday.

[Doctor Q]

I use the "define:_____" almost everyday.I wonder how it compares to using Tiger's dictionary for everyday word lookups. With Dashboard it's certainly just as easy.

[homerjward]

How cool!

I use the "define:_____" almost everyday.
curiously i use firefox's dict _____ a lot but never google's. strange

[Santaduck]

Strider, that's sweet, I didn't know that one!

I didn't know about the bios either.

For more pedestrian expansions (like site: definition:, etc.) you can see their advanced operations page:
http://www.google.com/help/operators.html

I also have started to use scholar.google.com on and off.

[Abstract]

Works (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=what+is+the+answer+to+life%2C+the+universe+and+everything%3F&btnG=Search) for me.

Strange how the wording must be so accurate. I tried "What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?" and got nothing cool. :o

[~Shard~]

Strange how the wording must be so accurate. I tried "What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?" and got nothing cool. :o

Yeah, that was the same for me. You think Google would make it easier to find out the answer, it's not a tough question.... ;)

[tech4all]

I like the "define:______" feature a lot. But my only complaint is that if you misspell a word it brings up the "Did you mean______?" instead of no results. Just like the way it corrects you if you misspell a word in the search function.

Other than that, I love the "define" feature. When looking for a definition of a word, instead of saying "I'll check the dictionary", I just say, "I'll check Google". :D

[greatm31]

Heard of google SMS? It's the best cell phone service ever. You just send a message to GOOGL (466-45) and type in any query and it will return some top results. It's in beta (of course) so it's limited to things like definition lookups "define ___" or local searches, but it's friggen awesome. I can look up pizza restaurants in chicago by just typing "pizza chicago" or "pizza 60615." Who knows what else it can do.

[emw]

Heard of google SMS? It's the best cell phone service ever. You just send a message to GOOGL (466-45) and type in any query and it will return some top results. It's in beta (of course) so it's limited to things like definition lookups "define ___" or local searches, but it's friggen awesome. I can look up pizza restaurants in chicago by just typing "pizza chicago" or "pizza 60615." Who knows what else it can do.I'm gonna have to try that one. Very cool!

[Panoctopi]

Ha! I'm "Good."

I like the question about which European country do you most "indentify" with - and the answers include Canada.

me too! i should print it out and use it as a get out of trouble card. :D

[~Shard~]

The Google satellite map feature is very cool - decided to check in on Area 51 the other night just to see how things were going. ;)