Google Search for Everyday Usage

I know there are other Search Engines besides Google Search. This is not an article to discuss which is better but rather to share a collection of the common as well as obscure Google Search tricks that one could use for everyday events.

Residential Phone Book

Google Search can be your online phonebook. You can search for phone number in the residential phonebook by putting rphonebook: in front of a name and city, state.
Eg. rphonebook:John Smith, Davis, CA will display all addresses and phone numbers of John Smiths in Davis, CA.

Typing a name, a city and the state in the Search box , eg John Smith Davis, CA, if found will display the phone number and address of John Smiths in Davis, CA. However if not found, Google will display local businesses with John Smith in the name, in that city or state.

If you start your query with phonebook:, Google shows all U.S. white page listings for the query terms you specify. Eg. [ phonebook: Krispy Kreme Mountain View ] will show the phonebook listing of Krispy Kreme donut shops in Mountain View.

Weather

Need to know the weather in your locality? That's easy. Just type weather: city, state. Eg. weather: Sacramento, CA. This will show you the current weather condition, and a summary for next few days.

Movies

Want to know what is currently playing in your neighborhood? Put query word movie: in front of the city and state. Eg. movie: Folsom, CA. You will get the following result displayed:

Word definition

Don't know the meaning of the word that you just came across? Use Google to tell you what it mean? Precede the word with the query define:. Eg. define: wiki will display the following result:

Foreign Currency Exchange Rate

Google makes it easy for you to find the current foreign exchange rates. For those who travel overseas, to quickly find what is the current exchange rates for the country you are going, Google in-built calculator can help. For example, you are traveling to Europe, to find how much US$10 is worth in Euro, just enter 10 USD in Euro. If you do not know the currency symbol, just enter the full description. Eg. 1 US Dollar in Australian Dollar works the same as 1 USD in AUD
Note: The rates are provided for information only. Important to note that different banks or exchange places may give better or poorer rates.

Metric conversion

Traveling to country using metrics system? To find how many kilometers in one mile, just enter kilometers per mile. Here are a few more examples:

• feet per meter - To convert meters to feet
• pound in kilograms
• gallon in liters

Airline Flight Status

To get the flight status of an airline, just enter the airline name and the flight number. Google Search will display the flight information for that flight. Eg. Southwest 777 will return the flight status for Southwest flight 777. or United 1151 will be for the United airline flight 123.

Local time of any city

You can use Google to tell the local time of any city in the world. Just type Time in 'city name' For example: Time in Sydney will display this result:

Stock information

Want to know how your stock is doing in today's trading? Start your query with stocks: followed by the ticker symbol. Eg. stock: yhoo will give you this:

There are more ways to do advanced searches. The ones listed above are the ones that are common for everyday usage.