A forum member asked me to post how to get ninja google search skillz so here is a quick post to get the beginners started doing Google tricks and Hacks. Please feel free the add tips and tricks.

Trick #1 that I frequently use is the "filetype" command if I want a PDF of something I type Example: ' how to plant a tree filetype:pdf '

Trick #2 don't give up on your search because you are not getting a hit, the information is out there so redefine your search and often you get the results that you need. Instead of searching for a generic item enter the exact model number and nothing else.

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=170880

My personal favorite is http://johnny.ihackstuff.com/ , you may not need the "hacking" but the skills acquired relate to real world searches. The website is not nearly as robust as it used to be and I am looking for a new one, I think Google gagged Johnny.

Basic Search Techniques

Since the Google web interface is so easy to use, I won't describe the basic functionality of the http://www.google.com web page. Instead, I'll focus on the various operators available:

• Use the plus sign (+) to force a search for an overly common word. Use the minus sign (-) to exclude a term from a search. No space follows these signs.
• To search for a phrase, supply the phrase surrounded by double quotes (" ").
• A period (.) serves as a single-character wildcard.
• An asterisk (*) represents any word—not the completion of a word, as is traditionally used.

Google advanced operators help refine searches. Advanced operators use a syntax such as the following:
operator:search_term Notice that there's no space between the operator, the colon, and the search term.

• The site: operatorinstructs Google to restrict a search to a specific web site or domain. The web site to search must be supplied after the colon.
• The filetypeperator instructs Google to search only within the text of a particular type of file. The file type to search must be supplied after the colon. Don't include a period before the file extension.
• The link: operatorinstructs Google to search within hyperlinks for a search term.
• The cache: operatordisplays the version of a web page as it appeared when Google crawled the site. The URL of the site must be supplied after the colon.
• The intitle: operator instructs Google to search for a term within the title of a document.
• The inurl: operatorinstructs Google to search only within the URL (web address) of a document. The search term must follow the colon.