I'm a Hacker!

German Translation:
There is no "Right or Wrong",
There is only "Fun or Boredom!

I sometimes feel like a hacker. Over my lifetime I have acquired a particular set of skills. Web searching being one of them. I'm going to teach you two things to toss into your next google search that will allow you to narrow down your findings to some very interesting results. I really shouldn't give away my secrets like this. I have been the go to guy for information, and now I'm letting you in on my magic.


The first is "site:" for instance: go too google and type in this "site:facebook.com popcorn" without the quotes. What you will find is anytime the word popcorn shows up on only facebook. This isn't going to show you results from youtube or any other website. Super powerful if you are looking for mention of your favorite band on the NYtimes or something like that. There are some limitations to this. You may see a result, but if you do not have access to it, security still applies and you can't see the actual content.

The next is even more powerful. "filetype:". Try this type into google "card tricks filetype:ppt". POOF! You now have access to powerpoint presentations on card tricks. Magic! Now there are more restrictions. Google will not allow you to find music, so no looking for mp3 or m4a. Graphics don't seem to work that well either. If you want to do that try images.google.com.

Now combine these forces like the Power Ranger Zords and you get some amazing results. I recently did this search: "site:disneycareers.com/ wdw filetype:pdf". Pop quiz, what am I looking for and where? You got it. I found adobe acrobat files that contained the word WDW in them from the Disney Careers website.

You do not need to put a keyword for the filetype when doing site search. Sometimes you don't know what you want, just information. Plus sometimes what your looking for isn't using your specific keyword. For example: typing WDW will bring WDW not Walt Disney World. Sometimes being too specific won't help.

Some companies don't know you can do this and I'm sure that even Disney doesn't want everyone snooping around and getting this information, but it's there and free. This is what I was looking for. WDW Family Guide

Have fun with this and know you're not hurting anyone's website. But know that some information should not be given out to everyone. Pearls before swine my friends and please be ethical.

What are you going to look for with your new found skill?