Mental Quick Search for Fast Web Scouring

Ohhhhh my goodness -- this is such a good hack. Simple, powerful and flashy. You will be so popular if you use this. I'm going to teach you how to download Quicksilver into your HEAD! Doesn't sound healthy does it? Wait and see...

For those unfamiliar with Quicksilver and others who don't understand my cryptic references yet, here's what you're going to be able to do by the time I'm finished here: search for things on the net faster than anyone. And we all know how much time is spent just searching.

You might be asking yourself: what could I do if I had Quicksilver in my head? Well, first of all, you wouldn't need to download it on to your computer. So, if you think it's a confusing RAM-eater, you can use your mind instead with this trick. But I also use this all the time because a lot of the computers I use don't have QS: at the office, at the library, in my pocket (iPhone)...

Basically, all you get to download is the "quick search" kind of function from Quicksilver. You get to skip right to the results page.

Ready to do it? Here we go. Commence download... memorize this:

wikipedia.org/wiki/
ask.com/web?q=
google.com/search?q=
dictionary.com/search?q=
imdb.com/find?q=

Maybe you're already catching on. Instead of searching for things by using the search bar on a site's homepage, you put that information right into the URL. So, if I was searching for the definition of "smarmy" I would type "dictionary.com/search?q=smarmy" right into the URL bar and it'd take me right to the results page. No mouse-clicking required.

A few notes:

General rules

There's a pattern there, somewhat. The only thing that isn't so intuitive is the part that comes right before the search terms: "?q=". But it's the same for them all, so it's not that difficult. In general, most websites use "search?q=" after their homepage URL -- so you can give that a try if you're going to make your own.

Also: usually, a space is a "+" instead. An example: "dictionary.com/search?q=smarmy+amry". If you're going to apply this to other websites, be aware that "%20" is sometimes substituted for a space as well.

Wikipedia

For the most part, I'm not "searching" wikipedia. Instead, I want to go right to the page. That's what "wikipedia.org/wiki/" does. In my opinion, this is the best one to know. But for times when you need to search, you could memorize this "wikipedia.org/wiki/?search=" which is the boiled-down deal for Wikipedia -- but I think it creates confusion since the question mark is in a weird place. You might as well load the page that tells you the article doesn't exist, then just type the query into the box right on the page. At that point, you've already wasted a bunch of time.

Note that in Wikipedia article URLs, the spaces are neither "+" nor "%20" -- they're an underscore.

Option 2: The Google Site Search

Another thing you can try, which might be faster for some people, is the Google "site" search. Google indexes a lot of pages, so many that their search might be just as comprehensive as a site's built-in search -- but not always. As long as you trust this logic, you can use Google's search and filter out everything that doesn't come from the site you're searching through.

Put in the search terms and follow them with "site:" then, the URL. So, an IMDB search for Christian Bale looks like so, "christian bale site: imdb.com," and the first hit in the results is precisely what I wanted.

The reason this is at all comparable is because some browsers have a Google search bar built right in. You can tab over from the URL bar to the search and you won't have to memorize anything but the websites -- which you already know.

Have a Search Party

That's it! Told you it was good. It takes some getting-used-to because we infrequently use the "=" and "+" keys. After you've tried it a bunch of times it'll become second-nature and ultimately save you a lot of time. The real time-saver comes from not waiting for a search query page to load first. It's also especially nice if you're using a slow mobile network or an otherwise slow connection. You can skip right to the search results.

Maybe We Should All Transfer to Stanford...

Stanford will announce today that tuition will be free for students whose families earn less than $100,000, plus a few other things. Damn, girl.

Stanford drops tuition for some students [via SFGate.com via digg]

"Is My Professor Avoiding Me?"

Dear HackCollege,

I've sent my professor three emails, and she hasn't gotten back to me. Is there any way I can find out if she's ignoring my emails?

Sincerely,
Wtf

Well, Wtf, some desktop email clients will give you the option of requesting a return receipt when the recipient has received the email. See Thunderbird's Options here. However, the recipient can select "No" when they get this pop-up. Here's another way: SpyPig.

Nevermind the cutesy pink and blue background colors. The service is legit, but you've only got a minute to set it up. For Gmail and Firefox users, continue reading. For all others, read the Limitations and Requirements listed at the site.

Step 1. Compose an email to your professor in Rich Formatting mode.
Or compose an email to yourself to simply try it out. If you don't see the Rich Formatting Toolbar, click the Rich Formatting link (Click the links for images). Compose your email with To, Subject, and Body.

Step 2. Copy the Subject of this email.
Highlight the entire Subject, right-click, and Copy.

Step 3. Open SpyPig in a New Window.
For Firefox users, hit Ctrl + n. This will give you a new Window, not a new Tab. Navigate to http://www.spypig.com.

Step 4. Give your email address, Paste Subject, Select image, and Activate.
Upon activation, you'll see a red number ticking from 59 to 0. This is that minute I was talking about. Click, hold, and Drag the Tracking Image that appears down to your Windows Taskbar and on top of your previous Firefox Window (the window that has your Gmail). This window will Restore. Continue dragging the image onto your email Body and then let go. You should now see an image of a pig (or the white, invisible image) in the Body of your email. Click Send.

If your professor's email client is set to automatically download images (which may very well be the case), this image will automatically load once they open this email, and SpyPig will notify your email address each time the image has been loaded (up to 5 times). Like any Hit Counter would.

If your professor opens the email a couple of times, you'll be notified each time. Or if you re-read your Sent email, it will load, and you'll also be notified.

And... I couldn't resist: Spider Pig, Spider Pig does whatever a Spider Pig does...

Oink, oink: SpyPig

Seeq and You Shall Find

We've kind of decided to stop posting random links. This is the most worthy exception there's ever been. It's even a worthy reason for me to stop doing all of my very important work right now and share this with you:
SeeqPod Playable Search

This is an extremely powerful search engine that limits its searches to only playable results. That's: movies, music, presentations, podcasts, interviews, games. It streamlines the results into one flashy player... and streams them. One player.

Here's what this means, for most people. Go to any computer that has an internet browser and immediately compile a playlist of any music you can possibly imagine. I'm serious. Give it a try. Forget sharing. Forget torrenting.

I'm tempted to delete iTunes. What about my MP3 player? No problem. This thing is iPhone/iTouch optimized.

Here's the Basics

I've seen people struggle to work this thing. No more.

1. Go to: seeqpod.com. Search for something.


2. Upon mousing over the results, a "play" button will appear. Click it for the one you trust the most. That song will start playing.


3. I know this is counter-intuitive, but that's the only time that "play" button will actually play anything. Search for your next song. Pressing the play button this time will cause it to jump into the queue behind the first song.

Keep doing that until you're satisfied with the playlist. To skips songs, delete songs, pause songs -- use all the natural buttons in the right column.

Spread the word.

Facebook Phonebook

If your phone is ever stolen or lost or wet or broken or misplaced, please don't create a Facebook Group about it. Get with Zyb, article here, or visit Facebook's own Phonebook.

You'll get a list of all your Friends, complete with their Landline and/or Mobile numbers (should they list them on their Profile). Awesome and easy.

Facebook Phonebook: http://www.facebook.com/mobile/?phonebook

Or if you are interested in syncing your contacts with Facebook, please see our post Twelve Friends on Facebook (Keeping Contacts in-Sync)

ShellEnhancer Puts any Window Always on Top [Win]

Nuonsoft's ShellEnhancer gives Windows several features found pre-installed in several versions of Linux and Mac: Always On Top, Transparency, Rollup, Minimize to Tray, Mouse Gestures, and more.

Always On Top is a feature that allows you to click through the Internet while keeping, for example, a Word .doc window always on top --helpful if you're browsing Wikipedia and taking notes. No longer will you have to mouse down to your Taskbar to Restore a Minimized Window over and over and over and over again. No more!

After install, simply right-click on the Menu Bar of any window.

Download ShellEnhancer.

Podcast Episode 16 is Fixed

Everyone should have had a problem with the video version of the podcast. It's fixed now, so download it again.

Our Hearts are with NIU

In a weird twist of fate just a week after LMU's emergency system failed, a shooting occurred yesterday at Northern Illinois University. Six people died, including the shooter.

A HackCollege reader from NIU Kellie wrote in a comment yesterday:

That is my school. I had just gotten off the bus to go to my apartment when it happened. My boyfriend called me saying there were shots fired and people were crying, panicking, and confused. Cops showed up to the scene in matter of minutes but the gunman was already dead by then. I have a math class in that exact same room on M/W/F and its surreal to think I was sitting there in that room yesterday learning about useless math. This world has turned into a sad sad place and I never thought something like this would happen to my campus…but I guess no one does. Please pray for the Huskies and the Huskies that were lost. Valentine’s Day will now be a somber day in NIU history. We are all Huskies!

It's a weird time to be a student. Two major school shootings in less than a one year period. Tragedy is inevitable, but why does it have to happen at schools? Why does if have to be so senseless?

We've been covering the failure of emergency notification systems, but the New York Times reports that the NIU's system worked well and was used quickly: "At 3:20 p.m. [about 15 minutes after the shooting], he said, the university posted an alert on its Web site, through its e-mail system and through another campus alarm system: 'There has been a report of a possible gunman on campus. Get to a safe area and take precautions until given the all clear. Avoid the King Commons and all buildings in that vicinity.'" Within an hour after the shooting, school officials posted a message that there was no longer a threat. We're glad that at least everyone at NIU was kept informed.

Our hearts are again with NIU during this week and into the future. As Kellie said, we're all Huskies.