March 2, 2010
INFORMATION LITERACY
Technology has left everyone feeling a bit adrift. Everyone fears that they don’t have basic skills that other people seem to have mastered – whether it’s finding files on a computer or locating information online, running programs or using handheld devices. Some people are ahead of the curve, some are behind, but almost no one feels confident. It’s hard to step back and realize how much you’ve learned about computers and the Internet in the last ten years.
Here’s an anecdote about a mistake. I don’t mention it to make fun of the people involved. We’re all fighting […] continued
January 21, 2010
SEARCHING FOR GODMODE IN WINDOWS 7
There have been countless blog posts about the GodMode Windows 7 trick. If you create a new folder – on your desktop, say – named GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}, you will get access to a hidden list of hundreds of Windows settings, many of which are not listed in Control Panel. Whoa Nellie! That’s some powerful stuff!
Here’s an article with screen shots of all the settings displayed in the GodMode folder.
It didn’t take long for the buzz to die down a bit. The first letdown was the discovery that the name “GodMode” (a tip of the […] continued
December 8, 2009
ENABLING WINDOWS SEARCH ON SERVER 2008
Windows Search 4 is one of the most valuable services on your computer. It’s highly recommended for everyone using a Windows PC, as well as for servers in small businesses, but it is remarkably difficult to find out if it’s installed and working. I’ll give you some background, then show network administrators a trick for Windows Server 2008.
Briefly, Windows Search 4 efficiently indexes all of the data on your computer – the file names plus the full contents of every file, plus everything in your Outlook mailbox – and allows you to do searches that return results […] continued
November 20, 2009
GOOGLE TESTS SEARCH OPTIONS
Google built its reputation on its streamlined, minimalist home page and search results, but it may change that design to add more information soon. A small number of people will randomly begin to see “Google Search Options” displayed on the left of the search results as Google runs tests to expose useful features and make results more predictable. Here’s an article with details about the tests and comments by Google’s design diva Marissa Mayer.
If you do a search today on Google, the search results are laid out this way.
Across the top are links that […] continued
October 21, 2009
MORE ABOUT WINDOWS 7 SEARCH
Windows 7 brings two subtle improvements to searches.
As always, search results in Windows Explorer can be displayed as thumbnail images (useful for photos), as a list with or without file details, or as icons.
The new part is the default presentation of search results in a new view called “Content” – panes that are rich with detail, including a preview of a few lines from each document, with search terms highlighted. The order that files are listed can be changed from a dropdown list in the upper right corner.
The other new Windows 7 […] continued
October 20, 2009
WINDOWS 7 SEARCH
Many of you will buy Windows 7 computers to replace aging Windows XP systems. There will be many things to get used to, big and small, but the best change is easy to miss – Windows Search can be used everywhere to speed through almost everything you do on the computer. Windows 7 brings a couple of improvements over the Search features in Vista that I’ll tell you about tomorrow. Most of what I describe here is equally true in Vista and Windows 7.
The idea is that everything is indexed within an inch of its life. The programs are […] continued
October 16, 2009
GOOGLE’S ABANDONED LIBRARY
The Google Book initiative is a huge undertaking. Google is digitizing tens of millions of books and promising to make them available to the world forever. Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, wrote an impassioned editorial for the New York Times a few days ago, citing the destruction of the library at Alexandria as evidence of how important it is to preserve books for the ages, which Google promises to do.
Google gives away enough of its services that it takes an effort to remember that Google makes fourteen kajillion dollars every day and there are […] continued
October 15, 2009
VIEW PDFS IN GOOGLE SEARCH RESULTS
Google has been introducing new features and services at a rapid pace for the last couple of months, presumably to stave off any defections to Microsoft’s search site Bing. There’s a new link in some Google search results that might save you some time!
If your search results include PDF files, look for a “Quick View” link that will open the PDF in a viewing pane, courtesy of Google Docs, with a full page view, thumbnails, and links for downloading and printing. It’s faster than downloading the document for Acrobat or Adobe Reader to display.
You won’t see […] continued
October 14, 2009
DANGEROUS SEARCHES
McAfee released a study a few months ago that illustrates the importance of being careful online.
Most malware is installed now when you visit a rigged web site that takes advantage of a weakness in your system. Perhaps it is able to install a virus or root kit because your computer does not have the latest updates for Windows or Flash. Far more often, the weakness is a lapse in your common sense, when you are fooled into clicking unwisely on an OK button.
You may think that it’s unlikely that you will be led to a […] continued
July 9, 2009
BING AND SEARCH RESULTS
Bing is Microsoft’s new service for Internet searches. As I wrote last month, its search results are more or less comparable to Google and it has some nice design touches that can make it easier to use than Google. You may want to give it a look, especially if you’re doing searches in the categories of travel, shopping, health, or local business information – Bing has particular strengths for those searches to help you narrow in on useful information.
New York Times columnist David Pogue just wrote a column about the comparison between Bing and Google and the […] continued
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