CAUTION - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

This will be my last blog.

My heart is not in it, I struggle to find topics and readership is half of what it used to be.  If I have a negative title, I get lots of "reads".  And lately the blog only gets one or two comments.

My Awkward Widow days are over and now I'm just a Grateful Gramma.

Thanks for stopping by and reading.  It was great fun for almost ten years.

P.S.  Please keep blogging as I am still reading!

LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY!

Wow.  Google can do just about ANYTHING!  So so many sites that will share tips and tricks about Google with you.  I will share a few that I found useful

Use a colon to search specific sites

There may be an instance where you need to Google search for articles or content on a certain website. The syntax is very simple:

• Sidney Crosby site:nhl.com

This will search for all content about famous hockey player Sidney Crosby, but only on NHL.com. All other search results will be removed. If you need to find specific content on a particular site, this is the shortcut you can use.

Use Google search to do math

Google search can actually do math for you. This is a rather complex one to describe because it can be used in so many ways. You can ask it basic questions or some more difficult ones.

It is important to note that it won’t solve all math problems, but it will solve a good number of them. For example

• 8 * 5 + 5

If you search, it’ll return 45. It will also show a calculator that you can use to find answers to more questions.

Use words that websites would use  This is a very important one. When people use Google search to hunt the web, they generally search for things using the same language that they would use for speaking.

Unfortunately, websites don’t say things the way people do; instead, they try to use language that sounds professional. Let’s look at some examples:

• “I have a flat tire” could be replaced by “repair a flat tire.”
• “My head hurts” could be replaced by “headache relief.”

The list goes on and on. 

Google search has shortcuts

A number of commands can be entered to give you instantaneous results.

Like the math example above, Google can immediately give you the information you need that is displayed right at the top of the search results. This can save time and effort so you don’t have to click a bunch of bothersome links.

Here are a few examples of some commands you can enter into Google:

• Weather *zip code* – This will show you the weather in the given zip code. You can also use town and city names instead of area codes, but it may not be as accurate if there are multiple area codes in the city.  I used to go to my phone and use the weather app!
• What is the definition of *word* or Define: *word* – This will display the definition of a word.  Although I just type in the *word* and it shows the definition (and synonyms and antonyms)  A mediocre tip in my book.
• Time *place* – This will display the time in whatever place you type in.  Again, I would use my iPhone when my sister was in Hong Kong.  
• You can check any stock by typing its ticker name into Google. Just type in GOOG, it will check the stock prices for Google.

These quick commands can take a web search that is usually multiple clicks and condense it into a single search. This is very helpful for information you need repeatedly.

Track your packages

This last trick (and my favorite so far) is to use Google search to find out where your packages are. You can enter any UPS, USPS, or Fedex tracking number directly into the Google search bar, and it’ll show you the tracking information about your package.

This is much easier than going to the specific sites, waiting for them to load, then searching for your packages there.  How many times have you done that???? Me?  Millions and going to the delivery site is usually very cumbersome for me.

I updated the operating system on my Mac and man it changed everything!  Currently I hate it but once I watch a few more videos, I'm sure I'll find everything somewhere and will be able to make Ventura do things my way.