PRELIMINARY SEARCHING HINTS

1. Choose a search engine, directory or library in accordance with
the kind of search you are doing and the kind of results you are seeking.

2. Consider: Are you looking for a Web site? Information that might
be contained within Usenet? Academic articles that may only be
retrievable with gopher? (If you don't know what Usenet or gopher are, you probably don't need them.)

3. Determine your aims: Do you want a specific hard-to-find document
on an esoteric subject, or general information on a broader topic? Do
you need to search the entire Web, or is what you are seeking likely
to be found on a number of sites, or only the most popular sites?

4. In making your choice, determine whether the information you are
looking for is likely to be in a page's title or first paragraph, or buried
deeper within the document or site.

5. Use a search engine's advanced features, if available, and read the
help files if you are unclear about its searching procedure.


CHOOSING SEARCH TERMS AND SYNTAX

1. Enter synonyms, alternate spellings and alternate forms (e.g. dance,
dancing, dances) for your search terms.

2. Enter all the singular or unique terms which are likely to be included
in the document or site you are seeking.

3. Avoid using very common terms (e.g. Internet, people) which
may lead to a preponderance of irrelevant search results.

4. Determine how your search engine uses capitals and plurals, and
enter capitalized or plural forms of your search words if appropriate.

5. Use a phrase or proper name if possible to narrow your search
and therefore retrieve more relevant results (unless you want a large
number of results)

6. Use multiple operators (e.g. AND, NOT) if a search engine
allows you to do so.

7. If you receive too many results, refine and improve your search.
(After perusing the results, you may become aware of how to use
NOT - e.g. Boston AND hockey AND NOT Bruins)

8. Pay attention to proper spacing and punctuation in your search
syntax (i.e. no space when using + means +term not + term)





WHICH SEARCH ENGINE OR DIRECTORY?
Do you want....

to browse a subject area?
USE Yahoo, LookSmart or the Open Directory

to search Newsgroups?
USE Yahoo, Google Newsgroups, AltaVista, HotBot

to include older gopher files in your search?
USE WebCrawler or AltaVista

to search as much as the Web as possible?
USE Google or AlltheWeb.com

to search every word on a site or in a document?
USE AltaVista, or HotBot

to locate an obscure or hard-to-find document?
USE AltaVista

to locate a fairly popular site or easy-to-find document?
USE WebCrawler or Yahoo

to retrieve a large number of results?
USE AltaVista or a metasearch engine such
as Savvy Search or Metacrawler

to retrieve few but relevant results?
USE WebCrawler

to search only titles, urls or keywords?
USE WebCrawler, Yahoo OR AltaVista
to specify in what part of a site your search terms will occur
(including titles, urls and summaries)?
USE AltaVista (adv) or InfoSeek

to search reviewed and evaluated sites?
USE LookSmart's select directory)

BBC against discovering aliens on-air?

07 Nov, 2012

Media networks relish the moments when they serve as the source for breaking news. And what network wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to broadcast the first detection of intelligent extraterrestrial life? The BBC, apparently.

Professor Brian Cox. (Credit: Paul Clarke/Wikimedia Commons)

On Wednesday, November 7, British physicist and professor Brian Cox appeared on the BBC 6 Music breakfast show. Professor Cox explained to the show’s host, Shaun Keaveny, that he and his colleagues on the BBC’s astronomy program Stargazing Live wanted to point the Jodrell Bank telescope at Threapleton Holmes B to listen for signs of life. The team discovered this planet in 2011, and it has reportedly never had a radio telescope pointed in its direction. But before the team got a chance to listen for alien life on this newly discovered planet, Cox claims the BBC nixed the idea.
He explained, “The BBC actually said ‘You can’t do that. We need to go through the regulations and health and safety and everything in case we discover a signal from an alien civilisation,’” according to excerpts by the Telegraph. Cox continued, explaining his response:
“[I said], you mean we would discover the first hint that there is other intelligent life in the universe beyond Earth, live on air, and you’re worried about the health and safety of it?”
So, it would seem that the BBC either has advanced knowledge of foul-mouthed extraterrestrials on Threapleton Holmes B, or they are involved in some sort of cover-up conspiracy! CONSPIRACY! OK, maybe not. Either way, the network appears to be unreasonably worried about the unlikely possibility of indecency coming from an intelligent extraterrestrial. Even if the team detected an extraterrestrial signal, and assuming the signal was intelligible, I have a feeling the world would forgive the BBC for broadcasting the message if it contained profanity. Extraterrestrial profanity.

Photojournalist from Denver’s Fox affiliate captures UFOs on camera

09 Nov, 2012

An anonymous man gave KDVR Fox 31 in Denver, Colorado a video showing what he claims are UFOs over the city. He claims these objects appear “a couple of times a week,” but the objects fly “too fast to see with the naked eye.” The video has to be slowed down to make out the UFOs.

UFO over Denver. (Credit: KDVR)

A photojournalist from the station went to the same location as the anonymous man, set up his camera, and managed to capture a UFO video for himself. The station showed the video to aviation expert Steve Cowell who opined, “That is not an airplane, that is not a helicopter, those are not birds, I can’t identify it.”
KDVR Fox 31 reportedly checked with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), but neither organization detected any air activity during the time the video was recorded. And although the objects in the videos appear to be insects flying close to the camera, Cowell told the station that “the objects are not insects.”


What do you think the objects in these videos are? Share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment below, or by posting your opinions on our Facebook page.

http://www.openminds.tv/photojournalist-from-denvers-fox-affiliate-captures-ufos-on-camera/

Curiosity’s detection of methane on Mars could suggest extraterrestrial life

24 Oct, 2012

Curiosity, NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory, has been busy exploring the red planet. The recent discovery of shiny particles in the Martian soil excited researchers, but another discovery by Curiosity could steal the spotlight.

Curiosity’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM). (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Curiosity’s on-board Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument recently detected the presence of methane gas on Mars. As Space.com explains, “On one hand, methane can be geological in origin. But then there’s the prospect that the gas is biotic, or caused by living organisms — meaning it could be the gaseous residue of long-extinct microbes or even the output of Martian organisms alive and well today.”
Researchers are understandably enthusiastic about Curiosity’s methane detection, but scientists discovered methane in the planet’s atmosphere back in 2003. In that case, a research team opted for the geological explanation. According to an article published by ScienceDaily in May 2012, researchers were able to show that methane escapes from a meteorite “if it is irradiated with ultraviolet light under Martian conditions.” Therefore, the team concluded that the methane detected in the Martian atmosphere is a result of high-energy UV radiation triggering the release of methane from meteorites.

A Mars dust devil. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA)

Nancy Atkinson of Universe Today reported another possible explanation for methane on Mars in September 2012–dust devils. A team of researchers, led by Arturo Robledo-Martinez from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Azcapotzalco, Mexico, published a paper in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, detailing their proposal that “the discharges, caused by electrification of dust devils and sand storms, ionize gaseous CO2 and water molecules and their byproducts recombine to produce methane.”
With methane having already been detected in the Martian atmosphere, Curiosity was expected to detect the gas on the planet’s surface. But the variability of the methane Curiosity detected wasn’t expected. The next step is to monitor the methane levels over time to track variation. Chris McKay, space scientist and Mars specialist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, explains that, if the methane levels remain constant, “then this can be reconciled with normal processes and a meteoritic source of organics,” but “if it’s highly variable, then all bets are off.”

http://www.openminds.tv/curiositys-detection-of-methane-on-mars-could-suggest-extraterrestrial-life-865/

Another super-Earth discovered, potentially habitable

08 Nov, 2012

Researchers discovered what appears to be another “super-Earth” planet–a potentially Earth-like planet that is much larger than Earth, but smaller than a gas giant like Jupiter. Although other “super-Earth” planets have been discovered recently, they are pretty rare, so the discovery of another “super-Earth” planet is pretty exciting.

(Credit: Karl Tate/Space.com)

This new planet, HD 40307g, is the sixth planet in a six-planet system approximately forty-four light years from Earth. As Space.com explains, this planet orbits at a distance of 55.8 million miles from its star, HD 40307. And this distance “puts it into HD 40307’s habitable zone, the region in a planetary system where liquid water can exist on a planet’s surface,” meaning this planet could potentially support life as we know it.
An international team of astronomers made the discovery using the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) at the European Southern Observatory. But as astronomer Phil Plait of Discover Magazine points out, HD 40307g is still considered a planet candidate; it has not yet been confirmed.

resource:
http://www.openminds.tv/another-super-earth-discovered-potentially-habitable-873/

How to read your data used from your Interne provider

This is a good example from Comcast, You will need the primary email address from your internet provider:

The usage meter shows the current calendar month's data usage for your account starting on the 1st of the month. Over time, you will be able to see the previous three months' data usage as shown in the sample image below.



The usage meter is only available to Primary user accounts and Unrestricted Secondary user accounts with billing access.

If you would like to learn more about the usage meter and how it works, please visit http://networkmanagement.comcast.net/datausagemeter.htm for more information. Please visit our customer support forums at http://forums.comcast.net if you would like to ask us more questions or post comments. You can also click here to chat with a customer service representative, or call 1-800-COMCAST for assistance.

Thank you for choosing Comcast!

This is a service-related email. Comcast will occasionally send you service-related emails to inform you of service upgrades or new benefits to your Comcast High-Speed Internet service. Copyright 2010. Comcast. All trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Comcast respects your privacy. For a complete description of our privacy policy, click here. Comcast One Comcast Center, 10th Floor 1701 JFK Boulevard Philadelphia, PA 19103-2838 Attn: CHSI

How to Commit Internet Suicide and Disappear from the Web Forever

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How to Commit Internet Suicide and Disappear from the Web Forever

Thorin Klosowski

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Sick of horribly embarrassing things showing up when potential employers Google your name? Tired of everyone knowing you live in a garden level dungeon apartment? Perhaps you just don't like the fact the internet makes you easy to find. Thankfully, it's not that hard to delete yourself entirely. Here's how to do it.

For mildly famous (or infamous) individuals, disappearing is essentially impossible, but for the average person it's surprisingly easy. It just depends on much info is already out there.

Step 1: Delete Your Social Network Accounts

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Chances are the first results that pop up on a Google search of your name are your social network profiles. This likely includes things like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and anywhere else you're using your real name. So, the first step to commit internet suicide is to remove these profiles. If you just want to remove search results, you can set your profiles to private, skip this step, and move on to step two. This isn't a perfect solution, but if you want to keep your social networks it will at least pull the results off the search engines. Here's how to delete your accounts on the big social networks:

• Facebook: To delete your Facebook profile, head to this link while you're logged in, click the "Delete My Account" button, and you're done. The process might take up to 14 days before your profile is completely gone. Doing it this way deletes all of your data, and it cannot be reactivated. Some messages might still show up, but anything you've been tagged in will have your name removed (although the pictures themselves will remain). If you want those pictures removed completely, report that you didn't give permission for that photo under the intellectual property tag on Facebook, or contact your friend directly and ask them to remove it.
• Twitter: To delete your Twitter account, head to your account settings page, and click "Deactivate my account" at the bottom. Your account gets deleted completely, but it will take a few weeks before results stop showing up in searches.
• LinkedIn: To delete your LinkedIn account, head to your settings page, click the "Account" icon, then the "close your account" link.
• Google+: Google+ is a bit tricky because it's tied to your entire Google account. If you want to go ahead and close everything including email, calendars, and whatever else, sign into your primary Google Account homepage, and chose "Close account and delete all services and info associated with it." This will get rid of everything from Gmail to Google Checkout. If you only need to ditch the Google+ account, follow this link and select "Delete Google+ content." This will remove your profile from Google+, but retain any other Google services you have.

You'll want to follow the above steps for any other social networks you use, forum accounts you have, or other sites you registered under your real name (this might include Yelp, Amazon, Quora, etc). If you have trouble remembering all your accounts, Account Killer has a huge list that includes direct links to deleting your profile from over 500 different sites. Your Google search for your name in the first step should also provide a guide to places you used your real name to create an account.

Step 2: Remove Unwanted Search Results

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Once you get rid of your social profiles, content is likely still floating around the web that you need to get rid of. They might be images, articles, or even employer websites. The first thing to do is figure out where you're showing up online in search results. Search Google and make a note (or bookmark) where you name shows up on web sites.

You essentially have one course of action to remove this content: contact the source directly. Email the web site hosting the content and politely ask them to remove it (or at least remove your name). A quick email works well for places like former employers who still haven't removed you from the employees list, family members who post pictures of you on their personal blogs, or even on donation pages for causes you've supported. In due time it will drop from search results.

After that, you can appeal to the search engines directly to remove the edited pages right away. You can do so through Google, Google Images, or Bing by filling out a simple form and requesting the URL to be indexed again. This doesn't always work, but it's worth a shot. You'll have a better chance if someone is publishing libelous content about you, breaking a copyright of any kind, or if a page is displaying confidential information about you.

If you cannot get everything off of your Google search results, you might also consider burying personal data as far as possible. To do this while maintaining your vow to delete yourself from the internet forever, create profiles on popular social sites like Twitter, Google+, or Facebook as well as landing pages like About.Me with just your name and no other details. You can also set up your own website filled with lots of keywords about your name but no actual information (or just create a 410 error page and leave it at that). It's not as good as deleting content completely, but at least internet sleuths will only be lead to a blank page with no information on you.

Step 3: Get Rid of Background Check, Criminal, and Public Record Results

 

By now we've destroyed the bulk of your search results and social networks. But people can still run background checks and people searches on you very easily. It's time to destroy that personal data as best we can, and dig into various people databases. Here are a few worth checking:

• Zabasearch: Zabasearch is mostly about finding addresses and phone numbers. Make a quick search of yourself and see what it knows.
• Intelius: Intelius can perform background checks, hunt down criminal records, email addresses, social networks, and more. You have to pay to get your results, but you'll get a general idea of what's out there by simply searching your name.
• Spokeo: Spokeo is essentially an address book and it can track you down suprisingly well to reveal your gender, age, phone number, address, relatives, marital status, and a whole lot more. Again, it costs a bit of money to get your full results, but you can get a general idea of what you need to snuff out.
• Pipl: Pipl aggregates all of the above searches, but it's worth looking at to make sure no others have slipped through the cracks.

If you're anything like me (or my neighbor who I also tested this on), then you're probably a little surprised by the amount of information these databases have. Now it's time to get rid of as many of those as possible.
You have a couple different options for this. You can pay a service like DeleteMe $99 to go through and delete all these results. Or you can follow DeleteMe's own guide to do it yourself.
The DIY method requires you contact around 25 different sites individually to remove the listings that include your address, phone number, income, marital status, current job, and everything else. Some sites are as simple as opting out through a link (Reddit has a great collection of the easy ones), while others require that you send in proof of identification and a letter.
Going through this step will help get rid of everything that comes in search results, but it will not remove your data completely. As long as information like your address and phone number are registered somewhere, people will be able to find you. Going through the process of opting out of background checks, public records, and people search engines just makes that personal data harder to find.

Step 4: Remove Any Usernames Attached to an Email Address with Your Name

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Any good internet sleuth will be able to link together your usernames on forums, web sites, and elsewhere with your email address. Subsequently, they'll eventually trace that back to your name.
The process to remove this data is dependent on the forums and sites you use. If you can, unlink your primary email address with your username whenever possible. If you're dealing with forums, ask the moderators to delete any posts that identify you personally. Essentially, cut any ties between your email address or name with your username. If you use the same username for every site, consider coming up with new names for every site.

Step 5: Stay Off Search Engines Without Going Offline by Remaining Anonymous

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From here on out you'll have to remain vigilant in not releasing your information publicly. That means no social networks with your real name, and a yearly audit of the background check websites to ensure they don't have any new information on you.
Chances are you still want to use the internet, right? In that case, you'll need to set up a few things to ensure your data stays locked down. That means creating a fake identity.
To do so, you can create an email address on a service like Gmail or Outlook with a pseudonym. Fake Name Generator is a great way to come up with a new identity complete with birthdate, and everything else.
You can also use a temporary email address for all your communications, and then use your new pseudonym and fake email address to sign up for any services you need. To keep your cell phone records private, you might also consider using Google Voice instead of going through a carrier since you can make up your Google Account name.
As for the rest of your browsing, we've shown you plenty of ways to keep your browsing anonymous before. This won't have an effect on any online searches for your name, but it will at least keep advertisers off your back.

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When it boils down to it, the internet is forever and truly resourceful people will always be able to find you. But if you take the steps outlined above, you'll at least thwart amateur internet sleuths and regain a touch of privacy.
Title image remixed from Greg Epperson (Shutterstock).

 

 

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