BERT VERDONCK, lifehacker & life coach » Google

The Other 97 Percent

bertverdonck — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:36:11 +0000

It’s official now! “The Other 97 Percent” is the approved title of my newest book. Together with Mr. Search, aka Nathaniel Stott, I am writing this book about how to search and find stuff on the Internet. As I am talking about this exciting book, more and more people confess that they are only using Google to search for stuff on the Internet.

As soon as I tell them that Google only accounts for about 3% of the Internet, they go in “shock”. I also reassure them that I truly understand. Moreover, most people never got a formal training or education on how to find stuff on the Internet. Nobody ever told them how easy it is to find stuff. Anywhere. And where all the goodies and secrets are kept

We are still creating the sub-title and I’ll be updating you soon…

In the meantime, let us know your first feedback on the title, ok?

The Other 97 Percent

Do you like it? Does it arouse your curiosity? Does it appeal to you? Why?

Nathan Flutebox Lee

bertverdonck — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:15:08 +0000

Sometimes I receive these great videos! After all it’s Friday, right?

Nathan “Flutebox” Lee is giving a performance at Google in London and hear this genius create unbelievable sounds! Oh, and let’s not forget Beardyman is in this movieclip too!

I know I’ve posted about the VocaPeople and Bauchklang before, but this is something completely different again! Enjoy it like I did

Thanks Sheri for sharing this video!

Have a great weekend,

Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker & Life Coach

Write a book

bertverdonck — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:46:19 +0000

My latest challenge is to write a book in 3 months! Can it be done? Sure! Would you be interested in how to write a book in 3 months for yourself? I think so. That’s why I decided to openly communicate about this exciting project. My goal is to share with you this lifehack on writing and publishing a book, but not in the traditional way (1, 2, 3 years?), but by using several genius shortcuts to get it done in less time and with more results. Of course, if you wish, you can create an e-book as well

Why? If I can do it, so can you. Too many people think too low of themselves. Everyone has a set of talents. Unfortunately, not everyone is using this set in the same way. Most people are not even using 10% of their potential. So was I. Knowing what I now know, I can easily achieve anything I want. And that is to learn and to share how to write a book in 3 months. I already wrote a blog on how to publish a book in 1 month, including a case study (in Dutch) last year on Lifehacking.nl. So, now its time to do the whole process from an initial idea to a published book.

What subject? There are so many interesting subjects to write about. Nevertheless, a choice has been made, but let me tell you the story behind it first. At our last mastermind I could not believe how narrow people are searching on the Internet. Guess what? Everyone is using Google. Guess what? 90% of the people I talk to ONLY use Google. Then I told them Google is ONLY about 3% of the Internet! They all freaked out! It was really funny to learn that there is a significant difference : Most people search for stuff on the Internet and sometimes are disappointed that they don’t find it. Others are overwhelmed by the amount of results, but it feels more like an avalanche where the real treasures are buried somewhere deep in the Google basement. It can take a while to find what you are looking for. Of course, most people indeed find most of their stuff most of the time, but I am talking about those precious treasures. Where and how to find them? Most people even search in all the wrong places…so how can you expect them to find it then?

Out of that brilliant conversation a natural question arouse: “Why don’t you write a book about it?” Everyone present at the meeting agreed they could use some help on finding stuff on the Internet and that they would buy such a book. So, it got me thinking… Intrigued by the reactions of the others and I decided to digg a little deaper.

Actually, most people never got a formal training or education on how to find stuff on the Internet. I realised that during that mastermind meeting. Nobody ever told them how easy it is to find stuff. Anywhere. And where all the goodies and secrets are kept. Really impressed by the amazing feedback from that meeting I started to ask around in my network too. And it seems that indeed about 90% agree they actually want (need?) extra insights in searching (and finding!) on the Internet.

Now, my question to you is: Would you be interested in saving time to find everything you need? Or even find it on the Internet after all? Be it text, pictures, audio, video, pdf, ebooks,…whatever? Would you be interested in learning the shorcuts to impress your friends you could digg up amazing stuff no one else can find? Would you like to learn the best kept secret strategies that I use to find the hidden treasures on the Internet?

Let me know what topics you would like to see covered in this book? Or do you have specific tools you are using that might serve others? Or do you have amazing search-find stories to share? You might have a chance to be mentioned in my book

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck

Lifehacker & Life Coach
Genius Shortcuts

Google Efficiency

bertverdonck — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:16:27 +0000

Ok, I admit it! I am using Google a lot. Not only the search engine, but also other great stuff like GMail, Google Reader, Google Maps, Google Desktop, etc.

As a lifehacker I learned a couple of extra shortcuts to make my life easier and more efficient.

Here is a (first) cheatsheet of interesting shortcuts:

Sample queries   Google responses pages with…
bert lifehack     both words: bert and lifehack
Hawaii OR Bali     1 word: Hawaii or Bali
+I love    both words: I & love (force Google not to ignore I)
lifehack -computer    the word lifehack but NOT the word computer
“Enjoy every day”    the exact phrase: Enjoy every day
iPod €100..€500    iPods between €100 and €500
part-time    the words part-time, part time, or parttime
life ~coach    the words Life & both coach & its synonyms
Indian food site:about.com    Indian food from the website about.com
whales filetype:ppt    finds whales in Powerpoint files

Have fun,

Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker

PS : did I mention that yesterday Google Chrome (Google’s Browser) is officially out of the Beta phase. Download it now!

Common Craft

bertverdonck — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 08:29:25 +0000

Do you also get a lot of people asking you the same questions over and over again? Can you explain me that “techie thingie” once more? How does this stuff work? It all seems so simple, but I don’t have a clue on how to get started. Please explain! Can you give me some examples too?

Do you recognize this? Of course, we all want to help people anytime and everytime, but it sometimes takes a lot of time to suit everybody! So, why do it all yourself? Sure, you can setup your own FAQ, site or blog, but chances are that you attract more people asking similar questions and more work…

I don’t mind helping them out, so I came up with a little lifehack to help all those people out: Redirect them to other people’s website where they explain things. Several websites have exquisite content I could only dream of. They are specializing in explaining things to people. A great website is How Stuff works, where they learn you how everything works! Also Wikipedia, if you are looking for an encyclopedia, is a great source to start. And did you know that by using Google, you can just type “define: ” followed by the term you want a definition of? (e.g. define: rss).

Now, I am taking it a step further, because some people still want more explanation. Ever heard of Common Craft? They make complex ideas easy to understand using short and simple videos. Here is an example where they explain RSS in plain English:

Enjoy every day,

Bert Verdonck
Lifehacker