Google Search bar Tips/Tools

I just became aware of some "hidden" features you can do using the Google search field.

ADDED 11/15/07: Definitions
I just discovered that if you type "define: word" where word is the item you want a definition for, it will display a page with definitions from the web and links to those definitions. Makes for a faster dictionary than even going to m-w.com online.

Sample:
define: guru
define: ardent

Time
If you want to check the current time in a city, type "current time city" or "time in city" where 'city' is, naturally, the name of the city. For example, if it is 1:08 pm in California and you type "current time saint john" and press Search, the first entry displayed will show you that it is 5:08 pm AST in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

Sample:
current time in Tokyo
time Wichita
time in Atlanta

Weather
Similarly, if you want to check the weather in a given city, type "weather city" or "weather in city". The first entry it will display will be its known weather for right now and a brief 5-day for that city.

Sample:
weather London
weather in Moscow

Math
You can enter math functions and calculations into the field and get the results. For example, you could type "3*4(1+5)/6" and it will show you the calculation and the result (in this case, 12).

Sample:
3*4(1+5)/6
214/3

Conversions
You can enter conversion criteria to see what an actual amount is or what the current exchange rate is for a type of currency. For example, type "1 usd in Canadian dollars" yields the current exchange rate (about .944). Or, you could type an actual amount you need to know (say, for a purchase) and get the exact conversion, minus any fees that might be charged.

You can enter height, weight and other conversions as well. For example, type "1ft in meters" will show you the conversion amount.

Sample:
1 usd in gbp
1 usd in Canadian dollars
10.49 in yen
1 lbs in kilos
8.5 ft in meters

File Type Search
Let's say you are looking for a PDF on presidents of the 20th century. You can enter your search (presidents of the 20th century either inside or without quotes) and then follow it with "filetype:pdf" and Google will limit its search to only PDF files that fit the search criteria. You can use other searches, like DOC, XLS, and other doc types.

Sample:
presidents of the 20th century filetype:pdf
"presidents of the 20th century" filetype:doc

Site-specific Search
Let's say you are looking for information on presidents of the 20th century. You remember reading something on a blogspot/blogger page about it that you hope to find again. You can enter your search (presidents of the 20th century either inside or without quotes) and then finish it with "site: blogspot.com". Google will limit its search to only the criteria entered and only sites on blogspot.com. You can also just enter the extension you want, say ".gov", to limit the search to only sites that include ".gov" in the address.

Sample:
presidents of the 20th century site:*.gov
"presidents of the 20th century" site:blogspot.com

Quotes
I've actually known about this one for some time, but I am often surprised at the number of people who do not use this feature or do not know about it. You can use quotes to specify exact keyword matches. For example, let's say you are looking for the brand "air" in hockey sticks. If you were to enter "air hockey sticks" you would achieve a lot of results for "air hockey" as well as "hockey sticks" but may have trouble narrowing down to Air-brand hockey sticks. If, however, you enter 'air "hockey sticks" ', the search engine looks for any occurrence of the word "air" with the phrase "hockey sticks" and you very quickly have narrowed down the search and can find what you need.

Sample:
air "hockey sticks"
"air hockey" sticks

Combining Features
A few of these features can be combined. For example, you can use the quotes with any search feature listed here or just in general on Google (and some other search engines). You can combine the filetype and site-specific searches.

Sample:
"presidents of the 20th century" filetype:doc site:.gov
air "hockey sticks" filetype"PDF site:.org