Searching for answers

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Have you noticed lately that it’s getting a little bit harder to find the right answer? Technology has always been fun to get answers for, from unusua
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Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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abbodi86, TechTango

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To answer your question, “Yes”, I’ve found what I’m searching for the majority of the time. Sometimes generic type questions for easy answers, and doesn’t mean I take what I see. It has to sound logical and straightforward, no complex solutions and even then, I might trash the find and search again. Eventually I get the answer that fits, and if I don’t, I’ll look for another source to get the answer.

MacOS, iOS, iPadOS, and SOS at times.

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Me too. I normally find what I am search for.

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Myst

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How apropros!! Thanks for the advice on limiting the search to the past few months or so. Just a few days ago, a “Removable Storage Devices” folder suddenly appeared on my Desktop. I think it happened because I dragged a shortcut from a folder to the Desktop instead of using the context drop-down menu to select “Send to” to create a shortcut on the Desktop.

The folder was empty and I couldn’t delete it. I did a web search on the problem and the solution was in many posts, going all the way back to 2017. It looks like it’s an age-old problem when you don’t do things the right way. But, the latest was June 23, 2023 and I could have saved myself some time by limiting the search for deciding what to do – viz. refresh the Desktop or restart.

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Yes, I have been having problems using search operators with duckduckgo’s search engine. For example quoting a phrase does not consistently yield expected results. According to the duckduckgo’s site https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/syntax/ They are aware of problems and actively working on a solution.

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I’ve used Google’s advanced search engine for many years and, when I first started using it, I purchased a book which explains how to use it that I found to be helpful.  I almost never use the non-advanced version of Google search any more;  I just bookmark the advanced version and go straight to that.  Also, when using Google search, if it doesn’t yield expected results, I will often try clicking on “Tools” in the upper right of the results page, then click on the drop-down arrow next to “All results”, and then click on “Verbatim”.  That way Google takes what you’ve typed in as verbatim.  I tried duckduckgo about a year or two ago, but it didn’t seem like it had as many options as Google so I stuck with Google.  But maybe duckduckgo has added more features since that time.

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WSraysig, SueW, oldfry

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https://www.google.com/advanced_search

Windows 10 22H2 desktops & laptops on Dell, HP, ASUS; No servers, no domain.

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SueW

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And this one for advanced image searches:

https://www.google.com/advanced_image_search

Which, unlike their “default” image search (even when using the Tools menu), allows you to specify a bunch more image options — including sizes other than “any, large, medium or icon“.

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SueW, oldfry

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Google search has definitely gone down the toilet.
Instead of showing the indexed results for your search, as they previously had since their inception, now you get to see the Ad/promoted results and a handful for results that Google/their AI wants you to see.  Garbage.

DuckDuckGo is better than Google search these days, but even their search results are limited compared to what we’ve previously had.

As the saying goes: “If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backwards.”

The world is moving backwards.

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Try turning off any browser adblockers when using google search, then compare the results on the same search with an adblocker on…you’ll be surprised at the variation in search hits.

No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created IT- AE

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The key to a search finding exactly what you want lies in using the right terms (words specific to an item) so a little knowledge of what you are looking for goes a long way in finding the correct answer.
Example: Looking for the Unicode of a special character that you don’t know the name of. Advanced search option don’t help much when you don’t know what to search for. First search to find the correct name of what you are searching for by using common user terms that describes the item you want to name of. For example: Search for an “upside down or inverted caret character” and find that such a character is called a caron. A search for “Caron code” yields the exact answer you wanted.

Your accuracy of your search results depends upon the terms you use to search as well as how the search is performed with advanced search refinements.

HTH, Dana:))

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