Google (Missing Manual)

Google is the planet's most popular program for finding stuff on the Web. Millions of people a day use it to search for everything from apple pie recipes to high school sweethearts to Zimbabwean bus schedules--but it has no manual.

And who needs help for such an easy to use program? As it turns out, Google has many hidden tricks and tools that can turn your simple searching into powerful--and successful--discoveries. But you have to know where to look. Google: The Missing Manual is your guide, covering:

• Search techniques and tricks. If you know which search words to choose and how to ask for the special things Google lets you look for--like phone numbers, definitions, stock quotes, pictures, and other goodies--you'll get more of what you want, more often. This book helps you search more effectively.
• Must-have tools. Why head to Google's home page 80 times a day when toolbars, buttons and other widgets can help you search more efficiently? Use this book to find out how the pros achieve greater Google efficiency.
• Little-known corners of Google. From the "Similar pages" links in your Google results to the mysterious Groups and Directory tabs on the home page, down-to-earth discussions throughout this book explain what these odd items are and when you should use them.

Sarah Milstein writes, speaks and consults frequently on Twitter. A Web 2.0 strategist and co-founder of 20slides.com, a site for lively, work-related workshops, she is the author of "Twitter and the Micromessaging Revolution," an O'Reilly Media research report. Previously, she was on the senior editorial staff at O'Reilly, where she founded the Tools of Change for Publishing conference (TOC) and led the development of the Missing Manuals, a best-selling series of computer books for non-geeks. She's also written for the series, co-authoring "Google: The Missing Manual."

Before joining O'Reilly, Sarah was a freelance writer and editor, and a regular contributor to The New York Times. She was also a program founder for Just Food, a local-food-and-farms non-profit, and co-founder of Two Tomatoes Records, a label that distributes and promotes the work of children's musician Laurie Berkner.

Rael Dornfest is a Researcher at the O'Reilly & Associates focusing on technologies just beyond the pale. He assesses, experiments, programs, and writes for the O'Reilly network and O'Reilly publications. Dornfest is Program Chair of the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, Chair of the RSS-DEV Working Group, and developer of Meerkat: An Open Wire Service. In his copious free time, he develops bits and bobs of Open Source software and maintains his raelity bytes Weblog.