20 Tips For Better Google Searches : Translations
By David Bénard, published on May 7, 2008 at 9:40 AM
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Translations For those who are not fluent in every language known to man, Google sometimes offers the translation of pages, which are accessible by clicking the link directly next to the result. The software-generated translations are far from being 100% accurate, but they still usually convey the general idea of what the page is about. This feature should be used to try to understand the general idea of a text you are reading, but is not a substitute for a translation of the fine print of a business contract, for example. Google also offers a stand-alone translator tool. |
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Google calculator, which can convert units, is also very handy. For example, type in "100 m to ft" and Google returns "100 meters = 328.08399 feet". It can also handle calculations involving units: for example typing in "(9.81 m/s^2)*(10kg)" will yield "(9.81 (m / (s^2))) * (10 kg) = 98.1 newtons."
From the Article:
For example, "NFL football ?doping" will generate results related to "NFL football" while excluding those that mention "doping" and subjects related to the word.
The correct syntax should be "NFL football" -doping
It is exactly this kind of zealous biasy that drives me to question my faith in Tom's Hardware reviews and statistics: something I've trusted for many years. I've been putting up with this growing problem for a rather long time, but now it's reaching new lows.
First of all, I feel Google is a wonderful resource, and though I have some anti-trust issues with them, I happily feed my Google habit daily. That said, I don't feel a guide on Google tips needs to depict an employee at the end with so much out of place... from political agenda to product placement, there could be very few ways to make it more offensive to the idea that Tom's Hardware should be trusted as a non-biased source of information.
Nevermind that this article is riddled with typographical errors -- I liked the common interest it was headed until this final page. Some of you may roll your eyes at this post, too (trust me when I say it's out of my normal practice to be vocal about my complaints of a website), but this has been a problem that's grown progressively worse.
Tom's Hardware needs to wake up and get back on the right path...
Honestly, speaking as a long time reader, the overall quality of the site (especially the spell checking) does seem to have dropped significantly since the last big overhaul. I too hope that they will get back to publishing more solid reviews and less of this poorly edited fluff.