Google Hacks 2Nd Edition [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

1.8. Quick Links

If you're a Google regular, you've
no doubt noticed those snippets of linked information proliferating
near the top-left of the first results page (see Figure 1-2). Where once there was only a sponsored link
or two between you and your results, now there are spelling
suggestions, news headlines, stock quotes, and all other manner of
bits and bobs of rather useful information.

Google is going beyond Web search results to include relevant finds
from its other properties and those of third parties. Here, briefly,
is the current catalog of quick links:

Spelling
One nice side effect
of
Google's listening to the Web is that it picks up a
lot of words along the way. Some appear in the dictionary, while
others haven't quite made their way into common
parlance. Some are made up, while others are simply misspelled. Query
Google for something that is commonly spelled another way, and
it'll proffer some suggestions. [Hack #9] delves
further into the wonders of Google's spell checker.

Definitions
TLAs (that's "three-letter
acronyms") and geek speak
abound.

Rather than smiling knowingly when you've not a clue
what someone just said, ask Google if it knows what your friend,
boss, or medical professional is talking about. Prepend just about
any word, obscure or garden-variety, with define
(e.g., define happy) and the first item on your
results page will in all probability be a definition pulled from one
of any number of Web dictionaries. Use define:
(note the colone.g., define:osteichthyes)
and you'll pull up a whole page full of definitions
[Hack #10] .

News Headlines
Google News (Chapter 4) scrapes stories from (at present count)
4,500 news sources. Don't be surprised if
there's something new and noteworthy related to your
Google search.
Travel Information
Before you hop on that plane, Google your destination using the
airport name (e.g., Los Angeles) or code (e.g.,
LAX) and the word airport.
Click the "View conditions at [in this case] Los
Angeles International (LAX), Los Angeles,
California" link to visit the Federal Aviation
Administration's (FAA) real-time airport status
information. At the moment of this writing, LAX has no
destination-specific delays, and both departures and arrivals are
experiencing fewer than 15-minute gate hold and airborne delays,
respectively.

Street Maps
If Google gleans something looking like a

geographic
location in your search query, it'll provide a link
to Yahoo! and MapQuest maps of the area.

Google Local
Include the name of a city, state, or Zip Code
anywhere in the U.S. or Canada in your search and Google Local
(http://local.google.com) [Hack #7] just
might suggest a local find. Google for indian food portland
oregon and you'll find yourself tempted by
the flavors of India House on SW Morrison Street or Wazwan on SW
Fourth Street.

Google by Numbers, 1-2-3
You may remember a few important numbers from math class: pi or E or
C, for instance. But numbers hold a very special place in
Google's collective heartafter all, the name
Google comes from
googol ,
or 1.0 10¹⁰⁰. So it
shouldn't come as a surprise that the geeks at
Google have taught the search engine to pay attention to particular
patterns of numbers, including anything that looks like a calculation
(http://www.google.com/help/featuresl#calculator)
[Hack #47] or fits a special pattern usually found in particular reference
numbers, including:

UPS, FedEx, and U.S. Postal Service

tracking numbers (e.g.,
1Z9999W99999999999), linking to the package
service's tracking page and filling in the number to
get you going.

Vehicle ID (VIN) numbers (e.g.,
AAAAA999A9AA99999).

UPC codes (e.g.,
073333531084) at http://www.upcdatabase.com.

Telephone area
codes (e.g., 510) at http://www.whitepages.com.

Patent
numbers (e.g., patent 4920273) in the U.S. Patent
Database Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airplane registration
numbers (e.g., n199ua), particularly entertaining
when you're waiting to board your plane, smartphone
in hand [Hack #67] ;
look for it on the plane's tail.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) equipment ID numbers (e.g.,
fcc B4Z-34009-PIR).

Stock Quotes
Search for a stock symbol [Hack #8] and
you'll be quick-linked to Yahoo! Finance.

Froogle Products
If Froogle (http://froogle.google.com) finds a

product that seems to be
what you're after, it'll link to
"Product search results" and two or
three offerings at sites like eBay, Golfsmith, Buy.com, and many
more.

There are sure to be more quick links by the time you read this. To
keep apprised of what's new, periodically visit the
Google Web Search Features (http://www.google.com/help/featuresl), or
just keep Googling and see what appears.