Tag: search
September 16, 2009 by
Jason
Here are some search syntax basics and advanced tricks for Google.com. You might know most of these, but if you spot a new one, it may come in handy in future searches.
⢠A quote/ phrase search can be written with both quotations ["like this"] as well as a minus in-between words, [like-this].
⢠Google didnât always understand certain special characters like [#], but now they do; a search for [C#], for example, yields meaningful results (a few years ago, it didnât). This doesnât mean you can use just any character; e.g. entering [t.] and [t-] and [t^] will always return the same results.
⢠Google allows 32 words within the search query (some years ago, only up to 10 were used, and Google ignored subsequent words). You rarely will need so many words in a single query â [just thinking of such a long query is a hard thing to do, as this query with twenty words shows] â however, it can come in handy for advanced searching… especially as a developer using the Google API.
⢠You can find synonyms of words. E.g. when you search for [house] but you want to find âhomeâ too, search for [~house]. To get to know which synonyms the Google database stores for individual words, simply use the minus operator to exclude synonym after synonym (they will always show as bold in the SERPs, the search engine result pages). Like this: [~house -house -home -housing -floor].
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Posted in Internet | No Comments »
December 10, 2008 by
Jason
Now that you have enjoyed the speed of Google Chrome, itâs time to dig deeper and get more out of it. Here are 10 tips/tricks to supercharge your chroming experience.
1) Install flash player in Google Chrome
After you have installed Chrome, some of you will find that you are not able to view Youtube video. This is especially true if you are installing Chrome under Ubuntu (or other Linux distro).
Here is what you can do to fix the problem:
- Download the flash player for windows xpi file.
- Change the xpi extension to zip
- Extract the content of the zip file into a folder
- Copy the files flashplayer.xpt and NPSWF32.dll to the directory /home/USERNAME/.wine/drive_c/windows/profiles/USERNAME/Local Settings/Application Data/Google/Chrome/Application/Plugins.
- For Vista, copy to the directory: C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\Plugins
- For XP,copy to the directory C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\Application\Plugins
- Create the Plugins folder if it does not exist.
Restart your Chrome. Your flash player should be working now. Read More»
Posted in Internet | 2 Comments »
December 04, 2008 by
Jason
While Firefox 3âs location bar is perhaps my personal favorite new feature and the one I missed the most when I have to use Firefox 2 for some testing, there are a lot of people who find it weird, obtrusive and donât like it including bookmarks and history among its results.
An option to restore its old behavior was available for a few weeks during Firefox 3 development but it was pulled basically because it would need a lot of testing and it was thought it was not worth it. The option may come back for Firefox 3.1.
In the meantime, for those who prefer the old way and those who want even more power, here are 9 easy tweaks you can try.
1. Make the autocomplete menu show only typed addresses and not visited or bookmarked
- Enter about:config in the location bar to access the advanced preferences. Accept the âThis may void your warranty messageâ.
- Look for browser.urlbar.matchOnlyTyped and double click it to set it to TRUE.
Read More»
Posted in Firefox | 1 Comment »
September 28, 2008 by
Jason
Hereâs a nifty little trick for creating a text file listing of the contents of a folder, without using any extra software. Step one is to note down the path and name of the folder concerned; if itâs a long one, click on the folder icon in Windows Explorer so that itâs displayed in the address box, then right-click on it and select Copy. Now open a command window by going to Run (XP) or Search (Vista) on the Start menu and type âcmdâ
A DOS like window opens and at the flashing prompt type cd then a space and type in the path and name of the folder â in my example the folder is called âPixâ, so the first line looks like this:
cd C:\Pix
If you used the Copy trick simply right-click on the flashing prompt and select Paste.
Now press Enter and the cd (change directory) command changes the display to show the path and name of your folder, thus: Read More»
Posted in Computer | No Comments »
September 07, 2008 by
Jason
Metadata is actually data about data. It generally describes when, how and who created a piece of data. It also can include information such as when the file was last accessed or modified. A Metadata generating algorithm can be produced by the software maker to collect any specifics about the data.
In Windows Vista, metadata is used to describe files for faster keyword searching. However, using certain private metadata to describe employees or customers can result in embarrassing and harmful situations. For instance, let’s say you use a metadata keyword phrase to describe “Slow Paying” customers. When searching a particular company using this keyword phrase and you then print and send the document, this keyword search tag could still be (unknowingly) attached to the printed document and could result in a damaged business relationship.
Since there is no current way of incorporating some sort of metadata management for who can see this private information, it is at least possible to remove such information from any file. Here’s how: Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
When you have more than one user account on a Windows Vista PC, every time you restart your PC you’ll see a welcome screen listing all the accounts on the machine. You’ll have to click one and then type in your log-on information in order to start using Windows Vista.
But what if, like many people, you use one primary account nearly all the time and use others only on occasion? You’d like to bypass the welcome screen listing all the user accounts and automatically log in whenever you start Windows Vista but Vista can’t seem to accomplish this simple task.
Actually, you can do it, as you’ll see in this hack. Follow it, and you’ll automatically log in on your primary account and then be able to switch to any other account when you wish:
1. At the Search box or a command prompt, type control userpasswords2 and press Enter. The User Accounts screen appears. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
Microsoft plans to debut serving Windows Search 4.0 automatically to Windows Vista Service Pack 1 by the end of July. With the final version up for grabs through the Download Center since the beginning of June 2008, the Redmond company is now wrapping up Windows Search 4.0 for delivery through Windows Update. However, only users with Windows Vista with Automatic Update enabled will receive the update by default; Windows XP users running either Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3 will have to perform a manual upgrade.
“Windows XP users will see Windows Search 4.0 available as an Optional update, which means you must visit the Windows Update Web site to install it. Windows Vista users with SP1 installed will see the update as a Recommended update. This means that, if a Windows Vista user has set their machine to automatically install updates, Windows Search 4.0 will automatically install on PCs running Windows Vista SP1. The release of Windows Search 4.0 to Windows Update will be gradual for these users,” revealed a member of the Microsoft Update team. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
If you have ever downloaded any of the google products like picasa ,google screen saver etc, you may have googleupdater.exe running as a process in your system right now.
You can check by pressing “alt+ctrl+del” to open task manager and click the process tab.
What is googleupdater.exe?
GoogleUpdater.exe is a process which belongs to the Google.comâs range of Internet search facilities provided. This program is a non-essential , can be terminated unless suspected to be causing problems.
Why its running?
This process informs the user about the new version and updates for the all the google products installed. Read More»
Posted in Internet | 10 Comments »
Firefox may be my browser of choice but there are times when it is REALLY slow, so slow in fact that I am sorely tempted to defect to Opera or even gasp Safari!
Itâs sometimes even worse when youâre opening up Firefox. You click on that little Fox icon and it sits there thinking âhmmmâŚ.he wants me to start upâŚwill I or wonât I? Letâs think about it for a few minutesâ. Meanwhile youâre sitting there gnashing your teeth and flirting with the idea of walking on the wild side with Flock.
But you donât have to wail and despair any more! During a little stroll through SourceForge, I found an interesting program called Firefox Preloader which was short on technical details but long on prospects. It claims to be able to âimprove Firefoxâs start-up timeâ. Read More»
Posted in Firefox | 1 Comment »
February 25, 2008 by
Jason
If you have been following my Boot Camp series in The Daily Telegraph you may have see the recent three-parter on making XP look and behave like Vista (Poor Manâs Vista, archive on Bootlog and the DT Website) Hereâs another utility to add to the mix, called Vista Start Menu Emulator. It does what it says, giving XP a Vista-like Start menu, complete with transparent borders and a Live Search facility. Itâs looks and works well, though my only complaint is that I canât seem to shift it from the default bottom right hand corner of the screen, which looks a bit odd if, like me you prefer to have your Taskbar down the right side of the screen. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Windows XP | No Comments »