To Google or not to Google...

            If history is any indication this will most likely be my final post for a while. My previous attempts at blog writing have shown me that I typically only make entries when it is part of a class that I am taking. Every time I say I’m going to do better, but it never happens. So, maybe if I don’t say it I might actually follow through for a change.

            There were basically 2 topics we discussed this week: WolframAlpha and Google Search. They are both search engines, but they operate in very different ways.

            Nearly everyone is familiar with the phrase “just Google it”. However, I doubt that many are familiar with WolframAlpha. WolframAlpha is a very intuitive search engine. It is self-described as a “computational knowledge engine”. This particular engine returns the most likely answer that you are searching. For example, if you searched “Orlando” then it would only return information about the city in Florida. As opposed to information on Orlando Bloom, the actor. Here is a short video explaining more about WolframAlpha.

            The Google Search omnibox is one of the most powerful, but underestimated tools in all of Google Chrome. Just as an example you can type an algebraic expression into the omnibox and it will solve it for you. Here is a list of just some of the things that you can accomplish with the Google Search omnibox:

1. You can start a timer by typing – timer 5 minutes. You can change the number or the unit to whatever you want.

2. You can type in a mathematical expression. For example, 2(8^3) + 7 and it will give you the answer of 1,031. It is absolutely amazing to me all the math functions that the Google Search omnibox can perform. You can perform unit conversions, you can graph functions,

3. You can check the weather in your area by typing – weather (your zip code).

4. Say you are vacationing somewhere and you are looking for some Mexican Food. All you have to do is search just like you did the weather, just type – Mexican Food (your zip code). This tip works for just about type of business. For example, you can search for an auto mechanic using this same technique.

For techniques 3 and 4 you really don’t even have to type in your zip code. You can just type in the city that you are searching for. So as you can see the Google Search omnibox is a very powerful tool that many people are not aware of its power. Here is a video that shows some more of the amazing things that the Google Search omnibox can do.

            Both of these search engines have their advantages. I am already fairly familiar with Google. I am going to really try using WolframAlpha more often now. I really want to see how much I can really do with it. Here is a video that compares the 2 search engines to each other.