Quote marks search for an exact phrase:

“audacity of hope”

Find the local time anywhere:

what time is it
time in moscow

Or what’s on at the movies:

movies in Hamilton

Use the wisdom of the internet with Better than, Sounds like, Sucks searches:

“better than microsoft word”
“sounds like pearl jam”
“firefox sucks”

Find related terms with a tilde (~):

“~butternut squash”

Exclude a word from your search:

paris malls -hilton

So synonyms are a combination:

~lobster -lobster

Google search can be a calculator too:

pi*(44.5^2)
speed of light/square root 3

Include a range of numbers in your search:

“john cage” 1940...1945
ipod 30...40 gb

Get a definition for anything:

define:tangent

Convert temperature, currency, mileage:

35 USD in NZD
250 F to C
35 mpg to km/l
half a cup in ml

Restrict your search to particular sites:

climate change site:ac.nz
mandolin site:www.tvnz.co.nz

Find pages that link to a page:

link:http://www.learningskills.canterbury.ac.nz

Looking for free stuff finds junk unless you restrict it to a reliable site:

site:stumbleupon.com free “word templates”
site:delicious.com free “map clip art”

Identify people’s genders, things, words with image searches:

image search > Priti
image search > pediment
image search > pilcrow

Restrict searches to people’s faces with the &imgtype=face parameter:

rose&imgtype=face

Find only particular file types:

“copyright clearance” filetype:pdf site:ac.nz

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Plenty more useful tips at Google.