Calcu-google? Google-ator?

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in something’s main function that we forget it can do other things. So I’m going out on a limb here and get all excited about something that everyone might already know about, but did you know Google is a calculator as well?

Accidents can be good things sometimes. I was typing up a review for my magazine and made a mistake with a spec and accidentally typed an asterisk within a long number. Then I highlighted the number to erase it and accidentally copied it instead and forgot all about it. A little later, intending to search for something, I accidentally pasted in the number in the search field for Google on the upper right of the Safari window and hit Enter.

Guess what? It returned the correct answer to what Google thought I was looking for.

Curious, I made out other equations and entered them, and it returned the correct answer each time, even if the equations were complicated ones. Well, whaddaya know?

People I told didn’t know this little calculator function either, and a quick search for documentation about this didn’t return anything, so I assume not too many people know about it.

This is great for math morons like me, and is a hoot to use, even if you can just hit F12 and use the Dashboard Calculator widget.

If you didn’t know about it, well now you do. And if you did all along, why the heck didn’t you tell us?