Fire-fa-googling

Just a few minutes ago I sat down to do a Google search in the Firefox web browser, which has a search form in the top right corner of the default installation (at least on a Mac). It was dark in the room and I didn’t realize that my fingers were not on the right keys as I began hammering our the search terms. I was eight or nine letters into the search terms when I glanced over at the form and realized my mistake. What’s interesting is that my quick mis-typed entry had brought up a real topic in an accidental fit of steganographical pique. You see, Firefox’s search window somehow dynamically dips its toe into Google’s search engine (the mysteries of API hooks are beyond me) and delivers “suggestions” in Real Time (like Jack Bauer, without the bullets). In that first mistaken entry I dialed up an Iranian actress I’ve never heard of before…. but in subsequent entries I dialed up links to ringtones of alien sounding songs from other countries. Would you like to try this but still don’t understand? Okay, pay attention…

  1. Open Firefox.
  2. Put both of your hands onto your keyboard in their proper “home” positions.
  3. Slide your LEFT hand one key to the RIGHT –>
  4. Think of a search term/phrase and begin to type.
  5. See what begins showing up in the pop-up window of recent Google search terms that match what you’ve typed.
  6. If a list of interesting looking links shows up move your mouse down and click on one. If nothing much good shows up, hit the backspace key and try another set of search terms.

Try it, it’s FUN!!!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *