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Top 10 Obscure Google Search Tricks

lifehacker.com — When it comes to the Google search box, you already know the tricks: like searching for exact phrases in quotes like "so say we all" or searching a single site using site:lifehacker.com gmail. But there are many more oblique, clever, and lesser-known search recipes and operators that work from that unassuming little text box.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jan 2, 2008

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  • inactive, on 01/02/2008, -7/+103fleshbot

    sweet, now i know a new porn site, thx lifehacker
  • djm91, on 01/02/2008, -0/+69It seems like number 2 was added just so they could put top 10 list
  • jerrylin, on 01/02/2008, -1/+57First comment at bottom has a really good one: UPS/FedEx tracking numbers and it gives you the status
  • funkytaco, on 01/02/2008, -4/+52Whatever you do, DO NOT DO THIS TRICK
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fet0SCt7uGg
  • iPissExcellence, on 01/02/2008, -1/+43scarlett johansson &imgtype=boobs
  • Continuum, on 01/02/2008, -1/+28One of the most useful operators for me is a simple ~ (tilda) .
    It allows you to search for similar keywords so if you did something like:
    ~encyclopedia -britannica
    you would get results with the keywords like "history" or "information". It is especially useful when you dont quite know what the hell you are searching for.
  • houndeyex, on 01/02/2008, -0/+27Pretty good tips, but cache != proxy.
  • hbeierg, on 01/03/2008, -1/+28the only result links to your comment ihttp://www.google.com/search?q=scarlett+johansson+ ...
  • rq60, on 01/02/2008, -9/+34I wouldn't consider google cache a free proxy. not even close.
  • drcosquared, on 01/02/2008, -2/+27Google knows the answer to life!
    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=the+answer+to ...
  • Retuow, on 01/02/2008, -1/+24Wow, the little hands on the clock icon actually change to show the actual time.
  • paintpro, on 01/02/2008, -0/+21I use the define: function to look up words I don't know. The tracking number thing is also sweet.
  • digitalpencil, on 01/02/2008, -6/+24* "too". Sorry, I know it's annoying but if you don't correct then no-one ever learns!
  • mgross, on 01/03/2008, -0/+17Movie times and locations is a great one.. Search for a movie in a zip code like, "I am legend 10128" and it comes up with times and theaters.
  • ShooterMcGavin, on 01/02/2008, -1/+17I use google all the time from my cell phone... while on the go, you can google all types of queries, business addresses and phone numbers, movie times, weather, etc... just send your question to GOOGLE (466453).

    Full info here: http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/
  • BurnTees, on 01/02/2008, -0/+16care to give us 2 or 3?
  • gstep, on 01/03/2008, -0/+15Why's he getting dugg down? He's right. Someone try to watch a YouTube video with google cache and then tell us if its an effective proxy.
  • Angostura, on 01/02/2008, -0/+13tilde, not tilda
  • moletimer, on 01/02/2008, -2/+13Then click on 'extra large' on the size options :P
  • BurnTees, on 01/02/2008, -0/+11that's because you're a better person :( we all suck.
  • unicronband, on 01/02/2008, -2/+13I like how he blocked out the last 3 digits, which don't tell you *****. I can tell you that it was shipped UPS Ground and his account # is 14662R.
  • Thorpe, on 01/02/2008, -1/+11Hmm. This comment was on another story about Lifehacker. I hope the Digg tracks down these things.
  • lookbehindu, on 01/03/2008, -1/+11that was awesome!
  • tjfloyd24517, on 01/03/2008, -0/+8I bet that 75% of the people that watched this, did exactly what it told you not to do.
  • DickyT83, on 01/02/2008, -17/+25Doesn't seem to obscure to me.
  • Merb, on 01/02/2008, -1/+9Dugg for BSG reference.
  • jacobmp92, on 01/03/2008, -0/+7Put it in quotes: "autoexec.bat"
  • MauiMac, on 01/03/2008, -0/+7"define:" should be on the list...
  • skyfire1, on 01/03/2008, -1/+7That doesn't actually work.
  • DickyT83, on 01/03/2008, -0/+5yeah digital u realized as soon as i sent it that i was missing an "o", but sadly cannot edit..so I lose.
  • inactive, on 01/03/2008, -0/+5There's no hyphen, dude.
  • Trevahaha, on 01/02/2008, -1/+6Instead of typing "what time is {location}" you can just type "time {location}" e.g. "time Hong Kong" or "time Seattle" It's much shorter to type!
  • inactive, on 01/02/2008, -0/+5Hmm. Let me check that out::
    ~porn
  • po43292, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4They're having a lot of fun with those hot dogs. What was the article about?
  • halcyon626, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4Googlewhack!
  • Swarms, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4GMail provides a link to tracking numbers on the right side. Beats typing it in, or even copying/pasting.
  • TheKingInYellow, on 01/02/2008, -0/+4i prefer using this recipe...
    "query filetype:pdf"
    you can change the filetype to whatever you're looking for but pdf is most common for what i do. it's difficult to find eps and psd files so i go for the pdf. enjoy!
  • tito13kfm, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4actually.. I believe rimming is ~porn
  • digitalpencil, on 01/02/2008, -0/+4good tips but theres better out there.. filetype: & define: being my personal favs!
  • nshady, on 01/03/2008, -1/+5And seven. Seven's not even a special function.
  • santogold, on 01/02/2008, -0/+4Question: sort of on topic.

    How do you search for a period using google? It turns into a wild card whenever I try. Backslash does not seem to work to undo the wild card either like "autoexec.bat". There has got to be a way!
    Thanks in advance!

    Thanks in advance!
  • sonicjosh, on 01/02/2008, -0/+4What about something like...
    autoexec filetype:bat
  • hbeierg, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4there is a direct link to it on the lifehacker page along with Gizmodo and all other Gawker Media websites
  • stephen967, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4oh god, why.
  • mightycbu, on 01/02/2008, -0/+3English version: http://www.soople.com
    it is a google shell.
  • Frostman3D, on 01/03/2008, -0/+3That's great! We all care...
  • arbulus, on 01/03/2008, -0/+3i hate lifehacker because if you search for content on their site, you have to click links on about 6 different pages before you actually get to what you are looking for, even though it looks like you should already be there.
  • fcukthisgame, on 01/03/2008, -0/+2definr.com is a _WAY_ faster dictionary
  • fcukthisgame, on 01/03/2008, -0/+2Better than that is http://www.g2p.org. It does that fancy google search, plus it can search for more than just music.
  • lordkenyon, on 01/03/2008, -1/+3Yep. UPS ground and it's not my account, just one I'm receiving. Probably one of the most frequent Google tricks I use.
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