Hello, and welcome…
Rick’s Daily Tech Tips Update for Saturday, September 2, 2023
Topics covered in this issue…
• Use Google as an advanced ‘Site Search’ tool for any website
• How to delete a Facebook group
• Scam alert: Beware links to malicious apps in text messages
• Video: A Floridian’s (humorous) guide to living someplace very, very cold
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Batteries+ lets you buy your laptop battery online at a discount and then pick it up at your local Batteries+ store.
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Today’s featured tech tip….
Use Google as an advanced ‘Site Search’ tool for any website
Have you ever noticed how the ‘Site Search’ tools on many websites do a poor job at actually helping you find the info you’re looking for on those sites?
Most sites’ native Site Search tools won’t find any relevant results if there’s even one little typo in your search query. If the term isn’t spelled exactly the way it’s spelled on the website, good luck finding the page(s) that contain it.
Google on the other hand is quite flexible and forgiving when it comes to search terms. As long as your search query is in the proverbial ball park it will almost always come up with the info you’re looking for.
That’s why I usually just skip the Site Search tool and head straight to Google when I’m looking for something specific on a website.
It’s very easy to do simply by adding the search modifier site: to your search query.
Let’s use my blog as an example…
Suppose you’re looking for instructions for creating a System Image backup of your computer’s hard drive, so you type this into the Search box in the right-hand column of any page:
creatre system image backup
You’ll notice there’s a typo in the form of the misspelled word creatre. Since that query contains a misspelled word it would result in no matching pages being found for the query even though several pages on that very topic exist on the site.
If you didn’t happen to catch the typo you might naturally assume there are no posts on my blog dealing with the task of creating System Image backups and go looking elsewhere.
Now, let’s say you type the same exact term into Google (misspelling and all) but use the site: modifier to point to my blog. The contents of the Google search box would look like this:
creatre system image backup site:ricksdailytips.com
Even though there’s a typo Google will still easily find and list all the posts dealing with System Image backups that reside on RicksDailyTips.com. It’ll even list the posts dealing explicitly with creating those backups at (or near) the top of the list.
But Google goes even further than that. They also list other topics that are closely related to the search query, but a little different. That make it a great tool for expanding your knowledge about a topic of interest.
The latest from Rick’s Daily Tips Tech Blog…
• How to delete a Facebook group
It’s easy, but it could time consuming if your group has lots of members.
• Scam alert: Beware links to malicious apps in text messages
There could be danger lurking behind those links.
• Click here to see today’s ‘Picture of the Day’.
Every morning I post a new photo that I find inspiring, intriguing, or just plain beautiful to look at. Jumpstart your day by checking it out.
Rick’s Daily Pick…
AUTO-VOX CS-2 Wireless Backup Camera
Do you wish your vehicle had a backup camera? Well, you can easily add one with this handy kit.
Today’s post from ‘My Daily Smile’…
Video: A Floridian’s (humorous) guide to living someplace very, very cold
Great tips for surviving in brutally cold northern climates.
Tech news that caught my eye…
• The new X job search feature might threaten LinkedIn’s business
• Google pulls controversial live video chat app Chamet from the Play Store
• Windows 11’s Notepad is getting an auto save feature
• Callaway Golf data breach exposes info of 1.1 million customers
• Meta allegedly considering a no-ad, paid version of its EU apps
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Thanks so much, and have an amazing day.
Your tech buddy,
Rick Rouse
https://www.RicksDailyTips.com