For some of us, it's a way of life. A couple of weeks ago, my husband complained that his chest hurt. He had fallen and bruised his chest, but he said it wasn't that he felt. We both pondered this . . . and then he said the pain seemed to be going up his arm and shoulder. AI YI YI!

     I thought of calling 911 to ask if they thought he was having a heart attack. But, since they don't want a million-dollar lawsuit, those people would say, "We can't make that judgment. He must get to an emergency room immediately!" And I would have spent the night in a gray plastic chair while Bill underwent thousands of dollars worth of tests.

     So, before we decided to undergo all that, I hurriedly went online to Google.com, put "heart attack symptoms" into the search box, and hit "search." Got back many responses, the first one an article by a cardiologist writing on a medical website. The doctor clearly explained what a heart attack is and what are the symptoms. I printed this out, took it to my husband, and said, "Is this what you are feeling?" He studied it carefully, then said, "no."

     We were both greatly relieved. We spent a comfortable night in our own bed, and he later decided some activity had strained his chest and shoulder muscles.

     Though it's true Google has misinformation as well as sound information in its memory, it can help you with a host of problems. Make sure the information you use is from a reliable source . . . and enjoy that feeling of omniscience.

     Click below to reach Google, or just type "google.com" into your computer search box.

http://www.google.com/

     And here are some basic tips on what to put in the Google search box, illustrated by what I did recently to locate a friend I'd lost touch with.

     1. QUOTATION MARKS. I put the friend's name, we'll say it's Jane Malcolm, into the Google search box and hit "search." Got back paragraphs in which one person was named Jane and another person was named Malcolm. Not good. So I put quotes around the name in the search box, which meant those exact words had to appear together. "Jane Malcolm" got hundreds rather than thousands of responses, but I was surprised at how many Jane Malcolms there still were in Google's memory, and none sounded quite like my friend.

     2. PLUS SIGN. Then I remembered Jane Malcolm was an attorney. I put in the search box "Jane Malcolm" +attorney. The plus sign meant the word "attorney" had to be included in the results. And the results were much better! I got paragraphs in which one person was named Jane Malcolm and another was an attorney, but about four paragraphs down I found her! My missing friend, referred to as "Jane Malcolm, attorney for. . . ."

     When you're using this search aid, it's important to leave a space between the name and the + sign.

     I could also have searched for, say,

"spaghetti sauce" recipe +sausage

and gotten a list of spaghetti sauce recipes with sausage in them. (Google is great for finding recipes.) Notice that I didn't put quotation marks around the word "recipe." If I had, I would have gotten only recipes which had the exact phrase "spaghetti sauce recipe" in them.

     3. MINUS SIGN. Let's say you're hunting for a spaghetti sauce recipe that does NOT contain basil. Search for "spaghetti sauce" recipe -basil. Leaving a space before the minus sign. And I hope you like spaghetti sauce without basil, because you'll have a pile of recipes for it.

     4. PREFERENCES. Click on that Google option, and you can choose whether you want ADULT MATERIAL filtered out and, if so, at what level. You can also choose which LANGUAGE you would like to use for your search. For more information on filtering out adult material, come here:

http://www.google.com/help/customize.html

     5. CALCULATOR. Google will help you with your math! For example, I've forgotten how to multiply and divide fractions. Never mind. Google will instantly tell me the answer to

2/3 divided by 1/8

with an offer to explain its calculator, which does much more.

     6. I'M FEELING LUCKY. Nothing to do with gambling casinos. It means you'd like Google to take you directly to the site it considers best for your search purposes.

     7. CAPITAL LETTERS. Google doesn't care about capital letters. I could have gotten the same results from jane malcolm as from Jane Malcolm.

HOW TO BECOME ADVANCED

     Google has many more possibilities. To find summaries of what I've just discussed, plus more advanced techniques, click below on the Google Cheatsheet, print out that page, and you're an instant expert:

http://www.google.com/help/cheatsheet.html

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Janette Blackwell enjoys helping people uncover the "hidden treasures" of the Internet with her Tastebud Tango newsletter. It will lead you to family-safe sites with bargains and freebies, delicious food and humor, and free expert help of many kinds. Find it all at http://delightfulfood.com/Archives/index.html

© Copyright 2005 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited.