Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose Google Fu skills were the stuff of legend…

…His training may have started here

Of course, there’s a fairly god chance it didn’t – but let’s continue with the fantasy…

Google-Fu: Skill in using search engines (especially Google) to quickly find useful information on the Internet – Wiktionary

Here’s some general tips to get you started:

 Tricks On Google Search

• Exclude Words:
  • Kerrison -Toys
• Exact Phrases:
  • “Paul Kerrison”
• Pages with specific terms in the page title:
  • allintitle:wealth tracking spreadsheet
• Pages with specific terms in the text (not links or page title):
  • allintext:graph of cumulative spend by person
• Dictionary definition of words:
  • Define: Google Fu
• Site Specific(handy for seeing how many pages Google has indexed!):
  • site: paulkerrison.co.uk
• Look for similar words or synonyms using “~”:
  • ~fortune site:paulkerrison.co.uk
• Calculator:
  • 5*9+(sqrt 10)^3=
• Currency Converter:
  • 50 GBP in USD
• One thing OR another:
  • tips OR tricks on google

Get Googling

A great deck of slides outlining some more examples – but in a more visual manner for those who like shiny things…

GoogleGuide Advanced Operators Reference

Alternatively, there’s a page provided by Google that covers Standard Search Features or you can use the Google Advanced Search Page to create queries using input boxes if you’re feeling a bit more exotic.

There’s also an Advanced Operators Reference which details many search options that you never knew you needed…and quite possibly never will!

Google Image Search

Google image search is almost magical in what it can do…You simply upload an image of what you’re interested in, for example, a nearby building, a painting or a monkey at the zoo and use that as your search  query…It’s not 100% reliable – but it’s more accurate than you’d initially think…

Watch the video below, and then try it out on the Google Images site.

 How to Solve Impossible Problems

Daniel Russell stood in front of a crowd of investigative journalists in Boston and showed a picture of a random skyscraper in an unknown city:

He then posed a riddle:

What’s the phone number of the office where this picture was snapped?

He wasn’t asking for a phone number for the skyscraper in the picture, which sounds hard enough. He wanted the phone number of the precise office where the photographer was standing when the picture was taken…

To find out how this was achieved, visit the site below (…the Google-Fu is strong with this one)

How to solve impossible problems: Daniel Russell’s awesome Google search techniquesIt’s not often you get to hear advice directly from someone at Google who offers you his favorite search tools, methods and perspectives to help you find the impossible.

via Johntedesco

Tips and Tricks for Students Conducting Online Research

Great infographic from the hack college:

Created by: HackCollege

Any more tips or tricks on Google?  Feel free to share in the comments