This week a geek friend of mine showed me a very interesting website.  It may not be of much interest to you but for me it’s a hoot and a help.

Let me set this up first.  Since I write a computer column published in newspapers and on the internet I get occasional questions from readers.  That is great with me because I like getting them, figuring out the problem (if I can which is sometimes hard without putting hands on their keyboard) and solving their problems.

But sometimes I get a question that could be easily answered by just using Google.  I also have to admit here that I do not know everything about computers; far from it as a matter of fact.  When I get the questions I know little about I also use Google (or GoodSearch.com – read a couple of columns back for info on that one) to research the issue.  I may not get the full answer from a search engine but it will usually lead me in the right direction.

Going back to the easily answered question like, “How do I copy text?”  I will gladly answer that question and that’s great, but sometimes I am busy and just want to advise someone to just Google for the solution.

The neat little site I want you to try is called, “Let Me Google That For You” at appropriately enough, letmegooglethatforyou.com. When you go there it looks very similar to Google.com.  Try it out and type in a search and it still looks similar.  However, once you click the “Google Search” button strange things start to happen.

First a text box below fills in with a link address.  Next, if you hover your mouse over the new link two small links appear, “tinyurl” and “go”.  Try “go” first and watch it go to an animation with instructions on how to use Google, simple but effective.

Now try “tinyurl” which will shorten the link.  For instance, I did the question above about copying text and got a link that was almost 60 characters long.  Once I used “tinyurl” is was shortened to http://tinyurl.com/5cy4xp.  By-the-way, try that link and see what you think.

So here is the deal.  This week, if possible, I will use “Let Me Google That For You” to find your answers and send you a tinyurl when you write with a question.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 16th, 2008 at 6:40 am and is filed under Columns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.