asterisks may link to anything (!*) – hover/click on links for destinations
parenthetical DDG bang commands (!?) link to results of searches for phrases they follow
that’s all you need to know – read the rest of this post only if you’d like to know more
may all be well* … and do no harm*
Any DuckDuckGo bang command (!?)*
in this post is a link. That is, it has a link embedded in it.
There also may be a link embedded in an asterisk – as in the second, third, fourth, and last examples below.
An asterisk may take you anywhere. Hover on it to see where. If nowhere, look for a footnote.
When in parentheses, bang commands link to results of a search for what they follow. When not, they link to results of a search for what they precede. Here are some examples:
Each bang command above links to the results of a site search. Hover on the link to see what site.
An exclamation point and an asterisk together make up a faux bang command, one that links to the results of searching a site that may have no custom bang command.
Ellipsis characters used in a search term to signify omitted text may be replaced by that text, as in the last example in the list above. And also as in that example, an asterisk or bang command that could be expected in a search term may be omitted in the actual search.
May all be well.*
George
When in parentheses, bang commands link to results of a search for what they follow. When not, they link to results of a search for what they precede. Here are some examples:
!yt Vancouver Unitarians / a bang command for YouTube
!ucv location / a bang command for Vancouver Unitarians (!g) – !ucv bang command is now history*
Unitarians care less about belief, more about how to live.* / link is to an archived page
paradox: we need to know more than stories can tell, yet … (!?)* / ellipsis may mean a longer search term
“he taught a way of life” / Salzberg, Goenka, Buddha (!?)
power (!* !*) / two searches – each using a faux bang command – with results from each site
!* dismantling religion / UU losing freedom from dogma and hierarchy (!*)
logical fallacies prevalent in UU spaces: ad hominem* (!o) attacks, slippery slope … / Cycleback (!g)*
Each bang command above links to the results of a site search. Hover on the link to see what site.
An exclamation point and an asterisk together make up a faux bang command, one that links to the results of searching a site that may have no custom bang command.
Ellipsis characters used in a search term to signify omitted text may be replaced by that text, as in the last example in the list above. And also as in that example, an asterisk or bang command that could be expected in a search term may be omitted in the actual search.
May all be well.*
George
2020-04-29T09:55−08* / April 29, 2020 – see bit.ly/dateposted
*a link – bang and faux bang commands (!*) in parentheses link to results of searches, such as light a candle (!?)*
you may want to use the simpler line below as a footnote to any of your writing where it applies
*a link – see note
on 2025-01-15 added the line on paradox to the examples in the post
elsewhere the comment following the slash in that line is replaced with “all we know is stories“ (!g)*
on 2025-02-09 added need-to-know block quote as intro to the post
on 2025-02-22 added the line on logical fallacies to the examples in the post and further explained ellipses
on 2025-04-28 added to that line on logical fallacies a bang command to search OneLook and said why the Google search could ignore it
*a link – bang and faux bang commands (!*) in parentheses link to results of searches, such as light a candle (!?)*
you may want to use the simpler line below as a footnote to any of your writing where it applies
*a link – see note
on 2025-01-15 added the line on paradox to the examples in the post
elsewhere the comment following the slash in that line is replaced with “all we know is stories“ (!g)*
on 2025-02-09 added need-to-know block quote as intro to the post
on 2025-02-22 added the line on logical fallacies to the examples in the post and further explained ellipses
on 2025-04-28 added to that line on logical fallacies a bang command to search OneLook and said why the Google search could ignore it