The great thing about Google is that you can find any information you need. The hard thing about Google is that if you don't know how to search well, you get too much information to sort through. Smart searchers know how to get relevant answers fast.
Here is a basic search technique that a lot of people still don't know:
Use Quotes and +/- Symbols to Narrow Results
When looking up a person's name or a topic that has two or more words, you'll get better results by putting quotes around the phrase. Then Google will show results for the phrase, instead of the words individually. Also, by adding a "+" symbol before any word or quoted phrase, you are telling Google that the results must include what is attached to the "+" symbol. Similarly, if you add a "-" symbol before any word or quoted phrase, you are telling Google to not include results with those words.
The following example is where I want to find results specific to me (Jaya) about the work I do to raise awareness for elephant conservation, but not about my work as a business coach: 
The quotes and +/- symbol search system helps so much that I rarely search Google without using that trick! But there are so many more cool things you can do. I was reading a great article on Lifehacker that gave me several new ones. I'm sharing my favorite ones below, but you might also like to read the article in it's entirety at: Top 10 Obscure Google Search Tricks
Get the Local Time Anywhere
Enter the word "time" and the city or country and Google tells you the time (and time zone) at the top of the search results.
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Track Flight Status
Enter the airline and flight number and Google tells you whether your flight is running on schedule or not.
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Visually Identify People, Objects, & Foreign Words
Want to know what someone or something looks like? Do a Google image search to get visuals instead of text.
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Get Tracking Status on Packages/Deliveries
Instead of going through the carrier's sometimes-cumbersome website, simply type your tracking or confirmation number into Google and get a direct link to the page you need.
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Weather Reports
You don't need to bookmark special weather sites when you have Google. Simply type in "weather" and the city (or zip code) that you want a for cast for.
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Get Movie Times
If you already know the name of the film you want to see, type in the name of the film and your zip code to see available times and theaters. There's even a small link to watch a trailer!
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Determine Someone's Location by Area Code
Sometimes you want to know what time zone someone is in so you can call them back at a reasonable time of day. Type in "area code" and the 3-digit prefix of their phone number to get their location. [Note: sometimes people have a cell phone from a different area than where they reside.]
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Learn About New Updates at Google Blog
The team at Google is always adding nifty new features. The trick here is finding out about them. If you're a Googleholic, stay updated by reading the Google blog at http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
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HOT TIP: GOOGLE on the GO!
You can also use these tips on your mobile phone, and now it's even easier with Google's new suite of downloads. Click to find out what's available for your phone: Google Mobile.
Happy Googling! And by all means, please share your favorite Google tricks with the rest of us, too!
You can down load Google Maps on your "smartphone"... it's much cheaper then a tomtom type device. It works GREAT.
Posted by: JoEllen | July 28, 2008 at 05:35 PM