This is an old one, but very important: Put quotes around phrases that must be searched together. If you put quotes around “electric curtains,” Google won’t waste your time finding one set of Web pages containing the word “electric” and another set containing the word “curtains.”

Similarly, put a hyphen right before any word you want screened out. If you’re looking up dolphins, for example, you’ll have to wade through a million Miami Dolphins pages unless you search for “dolphins – Miami.”

Google is a global White Pages and Yellow Pages. Search for “phonebook:home depot Norwalk , CT,” Google instantly produces the address and phone number of the Norwalk Home Depot. This works with names (“phonebook: Robert Jones Las Vegas, NV”) as well as businesses.

Don’t put any space after “phonebook.” And in all of the following examples, don’t type the quotes I’m showing you here.

Google is a package tracker. Type a FedEx or UPS package number (just the digits); when you click Search, Google offers a link to its tracking information.

Google is a calculator. Type in an equation (“32+2345*3- 234=”).

Google is a units-of-measuremen t converter. Type “teaspoons in a gallon,” for example, or “centimeters in a foot.”

Google is a stock ticker. Type in AAPL or MSFT, for example, to see a link to the current Apple or Microsoft stock price, graphs, financial news and so on.

Google is an atlas. Type in an area code, like 212, to see a Mapquest map of the area.

Google is Wal-Mart’s computer. Type in a UPC bar code number, such as “036000250015, ” to see the description of the product you’ve just “scanned in.” (Thanks to the Google Blog, http://google. Blogspace. Com , for this tip and the next couple.)

G oogle is an aviation buff. Type in a flight number like “United 22″ for a link to a map of that flight’s progress in the air. Or type in the tail number you see on an airplane for the full registration form for that plane.

Google is the Department of Motor Vehicles. Type in a VIN (vehicle identification number, which is etched onto a plate, usually on the door frame, of every car), like “JH4NA1157MT001832, ” to find out the car’s year, make and model.

For hours of rainy-day entertainment, visit http://labs. Google.com . Here, you’ll find links to new, half-finished Google experiments- like Google Voice, in which you call (650) 623-6706, speak the words you want to search for and then open your browser to view the results. Disclaimer: It wasn’t working when I tried it. (Ditto a lot of these experiments.

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Vodafone launched a Web service meshing social networks, contacts and entertainment in a bid to fend off stiff competition from Apple, Google and Nokia.

Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile phone operator by revenue, said on Thursday its Vodafone 360 service would launch on two tailor-made Samsung phones and four Nokia phones in eight European countries by Christmas. Vodafone 360 will allow users to store contacts from social networks such as Facebook and other Internet accounts in one place and will automatically synchronise to users’ computers. The carrier is aiming to boost customer loyalty and data revenues in the face of fierce competition from Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s Blackberry and Google’s Android platform, which all offer applications such as games and music. Analysts at CCS Insight described it as a radical move. “Vodafone is hoping that it can seize the initiative back from Google, Nokia and others in the land-grab for the mobile Internet services space,” Shaun Collins said. “Its challenge will be to offer consumers something compelling enough to stand out in such a crowded market.”

A catalogue of over 1,000 applications will be available at launch and non-Vodafone customers will be able to access some of the services. The two new Samsung phones will use LiMo’s operating system, in a boost for the platform based on open-source Linux software that can be used and modified for free, unlike proprietary systems such as Microsoft’s Windows Mobile. The focus of the cellphone market has been shifting to software development since Google and Apple entered the mobile market, with phone vendors and operators increasingly looking for open-source alternatives such as LiMo to cut costs. The backing of Vodafone and Samsung, the world’s second-largest phone maker, is seen as crucial for LiMo, which has so far been used by smaller handset vendors. “Battle lines are being drawn — operator-friendly LiMo versus handset vendor-friendly Android,” said Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics. “Expanding into Western Europe with Samsung and Vodafone will help LiMo to grow scale and spread risk. LiMo hopes to benefit from its focus on giving greater say over software development to telecoms operators. Also, it does not compete with operators by offering services. “LiMo allows Vodafone and other major operators to change the basis of their dialogue with Google,” Morgan Gillis, the head of LiMo, said in an interview. The Nokia phones will be based on Symbian, the world’s most popular smartphone platform, and Vodafone said it planned eventually to roll out 360 to as many platforms and handset models as possible.

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When it comes to the “information superhighway”, we’ve been in the fast lane for years.

But while we take our fast Internet speed for granted, there are many situations in which a slow connection is a problem. You might be using a computer in another part of the world, or trying to connect wirelessly while travelling. Your computer’s health can contribute to a slow connection too: spyware and viruses, add-on programs, and the amount of memory and hard disk space the computer has can all affect your connection speed.
With all of these potential scenarios, it’s good to know a few tricks to keep you productive when your connection is slow:

1. Compress your e-mail
Reducing your e-mail file sizes can help you send them more quickly. When sending large or multiple files, use a compression tool like WinZip. And if you’re sending an e-mail to multiple people, try creating a distribution list instead of listing each recipient separately – this is faster and more efficient. Finally, you can reduce your e-mail file size by ensuring your e-mail signature doesn’t contain any graphics, videos, stylised fonts or other content.

2. Work offline if you can
Working offline can help spare you the pain and frustration of a slow connection. And there are lots of tasks you can do without being online; for example, you can use an RSS reader to download articles for offline reading. For offline webmail, install an e-mail client such as Mozilla Thunderbird to download your messages for offline reading and responding (it actually has a built-in RSS reader as well). Outlook users can work offline using Cached Exchange Mode, which stores a copy of your mailbox on your computer.

If there is a web page you frequently reference for information, you can save it to your computer rather than load it over and over again. Here’s how to save a web page in Internet Explorer:

• 1. Go to the Web page you want to save.
• 2. On the File menu, click Save As.
• 3. In the Save As type drop-down menu, select Web page, complete.
• 4.  Click Save.

3. Block or disable unnecessary content
Web pages that contain heavy graphics or videos take longer to load, so turning them offcan speed your Internet browsing. Here’s how to disable these elements in Internet Explorer:

1. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
2. In the Internet Options dialogue box, click the Advanced tab.
3. In the Settings box, scroll down to the Multimedia section. Clear the following boxes:

• a. Play animations in Web pages
• b. Play sounds in Web pages
• c. Play videos in Web pages

You might also want to install an application that blocks annoying, bandwidth-consuming ads that make pages load more slowly.

4. Use tabbed browsing
Tabbed browsing doesn’t just reduce clutter on your desktop, it also helps you work more efficiently with a slow connection. When browsing through multiple pages, click your mouse scroll wheel or Control/Command click to open up each page in a new tab. This allows you to read one page while waiting for others to load, saving you time. You can also open a number of pages in multiple tabs, then disconnect and read offline.

While a slow connection can be annoying, you can help reduce frustration – and boost productivity – by knowing how to make your online activities more efficient. These tips should help you get more done, even when the Internet doesn’t move as fast as you do!

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