Basic Search Tips

QUICK TIPS

NOTE: These tips will work with most search engines in their basic search option.

• Use the plus (+) and minus (-) signs in front of words to force their inclusion and/or exclusion in searches.
  EXAMPLE: +meat -potatoes
  (NO space between the sign and the keyword)
  
• Use double quotation marks (" ") around phrases to ensure they are searched exactly as is, with the words side by side in the same order.
  EXAMPLE: "bye bye miss american pie"
  (Do NOT put quotation marks around a single word.)
  
• Put your most important keywords first in the string.
  EXAMPLE: dog breed family pet choose
  
• Type keywords and phrases in lower case to find both lower and upper case versions. Typing capital letters will usually return only an exact match.
  EXAMPLE: president retrieves both president and President
  
• Use truncation (or stemming) and wildcards (e.g., *) to look for variations in spelling and word form.
  EXAMPLE: librar* returns library, libraries, librarian, etc.
  EXAMPLE: colo*r returns color (American spelling) and colour (British spelling)
  
• Combine phrases with keywords, using the double quotes and the plus (+) and/or minus (-) signs.
  EXAMPLE: +cowboys +"wild west" -football -dallas
  (In this case, if you use a keyword with a +sign, you must put the +sign in front of the phrase as well. When searching for a phrase alone, the +sign is not necessary.)
  
• When searching within a document for the location of your keyword(s), use the "find" command on that page.
  
• Know the default (basic) settings your search engine uses (OR or AND). This will have an effect on how you configure your search statement because, if you don't use any signs (+, -, " "), the engine will default to its own settings.
  
• Know whether or not the search engine you are using maintains a stop word list (see "Stop Words" Lesson 6.) If it does, don't use known stop words in your search statement. Also, consider trying your search on another engine that does not recognize stop words.

Quick Tips for Boolean Searches

• In Boolean searches, always enclose OR statements in parentheses.
  EXAMPLE: Yosemite (campgrounds OR reservations)
  
• Always use CAPS when typing Boolean operators in your search statements. Most engines require that the operators (AND, OR, AND NOT/NOT) be capitalized. Other engines will accept either CAPS or lower case, so you're on safe ground if you stick to CAPS.
  EXAMPLE: "immune system" AND homeopathic (medicine OR remedy)
  

I believe I have given you the ins and outs of seraching the internet. What you want to search for, depends on you

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che.

Search Strategies

STARTING OUT

It's always a good idea to THINK about your search before you begin. Create a search strategy in your head by asking yourself this question:

What do I want to do?

1. Browse?
2. Locate a specific piece of information?
3. Retrieve everything I can on the subject?

Your answer will determine how you conduct your search and what tools you will use.

1. If you're browsing and trying to determine what's available in your subject area, start out by selecting a subject directory like Yahoo! Then, enter your search keyword(s) into one of the metasearch engines, such as Vivisimo, just to see what's out there.
   
2. If you're looking for a specific piece of information, go to a major search engine such as Google, or to a specialized database such as Bureau of the Census (for statistics).
   
3. If you want to retrieve everything you can on a subject, try the same search on several search engines. Also, don't forget to check resources off the Web, such as books, newspapers, journals and other print reference sources.

DEFAULTS, AND OTHER STUFF

In your search statement, if you enter more than one keyword without using any accompanying sign, mark or symbol (see Lesson 7 and Lesson 8 for explanations and examples), the search engine will automatically add either the AND or the OR conjunction to link your search terms together. This could radically alter your search in unexpected ways. Be sure you know the defaults (basic settings) of the search engine you are using, as this could explain why your search results may not be what you expected them to be.

Strange things can happen for other reasons as well. Sometimes the relevance ranking systems that search engines use (and which they are reluctant to reveal), can throw off your search by ignoring some of the words in your search statement. This might happen when the search engine recognizes your string of separate keywords as a phrase in its list of pre-determined phrases or when it is responding to its own internal list of "stop words" (see below). Whatever the case, you may never know the real reason why your search retrieves so many irrelevant responses.

STOP WORDS

Stop words are words that many search engines DON'T stop for when searching texts and titles on the web. In fact, in order to cut down on response time, these engines routinely ignore stop words, i.e., small and common words, such as parts of speech (adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, or forms of "to be"). Examples include: a, about, an, and, are, as, at, be, by, from, how, i, in, is, it, of, on, or, that, the, this, to, we, what, when, where, which, with, etc. Not all search engines recognize the same stop words. In addition, their lists can and do change frequently. If you initiate a search at a site that maintains a list of stop words and you type any of those words into your search statement (even in phrases surrounded by quotes), they may well continue to be ignored. An exception to this is Google, which has a stop word list but recognizes stop words within phrases surrounded by quotation marks, e.g., "to be or not to be" or "what you see is what you get".

CREATING A SEARCH STATEMENT

When structuring your query, keep the following tips in mind:
[NOTE: See Lesson 7 for an explanation of the signs and marks used below.]

• Be specific
  EXAMPLE: Hurricane Hugo
  
• Whenever possible, use nouns and objects as keywords
  EXAMPLE: fiesta dinnerware plates cups saucers
  
• Put most important terms first in your keyword list; to ensure that they will be searched, put a +sign in front of each one
  EXAMPLE: +hybrid +electric +gas +vehicles
  
• Use at least three keywords in your query
  EXAMPLE: interaction vitamins drugs
  
• Combine keywords, whenever possible, into phrases
  EXAMPLE: "search engine tutorial"
  
• Avoid common words, e.g., water, unless they're part of a phrase
  EXAMPLE: "bottled water"
  
• Think about words you'd expect to find in the body of the page, and use them as keywords
  EXAMPLE: anorexia bulimia eating disorder
  
• Write down your search statement and revise it before you type it into a search engine query box
  EXAMPLE: +"south carolina" +"financial aid" +applications +grants

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ASSIGNMENT:

Assume you are about to start looking for work and need to write a cover letter. What search string would you use? Go to Google and select a few of the following strings to search:

1. "cover letter" "job search"
2. "cover letter" +resume
3. "cover letter" +template +form
4. "cover letter" +example
5. "cover letter" +sample "helpful tips"

Scan the results page for each search you conduct and see if you can tell which searches seem to be the most productive and why.

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che

Evaluating Websites

CHECKING THE SOURCE

You can expect to find everything on the web: silly sites, hoaxes, frivolous and serious personal pages, commercials, reviews, articles, full-text documents, academic courses, scholarly papers, reference sources, and scientific reports. How do you sort it all out?

READING WEB ADDRESSES

First, you need to know how to read a web address, or URL (Universal Resource Locator). Let's look at the URL for this tutorial:

http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/bones.shtml

Here's what it all means:

• "http" means hypertext transfer protocol and refers to the format used to transfer and deal with information
• "www" stands for World Wide Web and is the general name for the host server that supports text, graphics, sound files, etc. (It is not an essential part of the address, and some sites choose not to use it)
• "sc" is the second-level domain name and usually designates the server's location, in this case, the University of South Carolina
• "edu" is the top-level domain name (see below)
• "beaufort" is the directory name
• "library" is the sub-directory name
• "pages" and "bones" are folder and sub-folder names
• the second "bones" is the file name
• "shtml" is the file type extension and, in this case, stands for "scripted hypertext mark-up language" (that's the language the computer reads). The addition of the "s" indicates that the server will scan the page for commands that require additional insertion before the page is sent to the user.

Only a few top-level domains are currently recognized, but this is changing. Here is a list of the domains that have been in operation for the past several years and are generally accepted by all:

• .edu -- educational site (usually a university or college)
• .com -- commercial business site
• .gov -- U.S. governmental/non-military site
• .mil -- U.S. military sites and agencies
• .net -- networks, internet service providers, organizations
• .org -- U.S. non-profit organizations and others

In mid November 2000, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted to accept an additional seven new suffixes, which are already in operation or preparing to come into operation:

• .aero -- restricted use by air transportation industry
• .biz -- general use by businesses
• .coop -- restricted use by cooperatives
• .info -- general use by both commercial and non-commercial sites
• .museum -- restricted use by museums
• .name -- general use by individuals
• .pro -- restricted use by certified professionals and professional entities

NOTE: Because the Internet was created in this country, "US" was not originally assigned to U.S. domain names; however, it is used to designate state and local government hosts, including many public schools. Other countries have their own two letter codes as the final part of their domain names, e.g., .uk for United Kingdom; .ca for Canada; .fr for France, etc.

For a list of Internet Country Codes, go to: ISO's list of Country Codes

DETERMINING PAGE AUTHORSHIP

You can tell a lot about the authenticity of a page by finding out all you can about its author/publisher.

Ask yourself this: Who is responsible for the page you are accessing? Is it a governmental agency or other official source? A university? A business, corporation or other commercial interest? An individual? As a rule of thumb, you can generally rely on the GOV and EDU hostnames to present accurate information. The NET, ORG, MIL, and COM domains are more likely to host pages with their own personal or organizational agendas and might require additional verification.

CHECKING THE VITAL INFORMATION

A reputable Web page will usually provide you with the following information:

• Last date page updated
• Mail-to link for questions, comments
• Name, address, telephone number, and email address of page owner

Now ask yourself this: If the page owner is not readily recognizable, does he provide you with credentials or some information on his sources or authority?

CHECKING THE CONTENT

On the Web, each individual can be his/her own publisher, and many are. Don't accept everything you read just because it's printed on a web page. Unlike scholarly books and journal articles, web sites are seldom reviewed or refereed. It's up to you to check for bias and to determine objectivity. Who sponsors the page? The Flat Earth Society? Hmmm ...... Who is linking to the page, and what links to other pages does the page itself maintain?

Look to see if the page owner tells you when the page was last updated. Is the information current? Can it be verified at other, similar sites?

Try to distinguish between promotion, advertising, and serious content. This is getting to be more difficult, as an increasing number of pages must look to commercial support for their continuance.

Watch out for deliberate frauds and hoaxes. Some folks really enjoy playing games on the Web. Take a look at these two Web pages:

The White House http://www.whitehouse.gov

The White House http://www.whitehouse.org

ASSESSING WEB PAGE STABILITY

There is no way to freeze a web page in time. Unlike the print world with its publication dates, editions, ISBN numbers, etc., web pages are fluid. There's no bibliographic control on the Web. The page you cite today may be altered or revised tomorrow, or it might disappear completely. The page owner might or might not acknowledge the changes and, if he relocates the page, might or might not leave a forwarding address.

Try to assess the stability of the pages you reference. Again, one of the best ways to do this is to look closely at the page sponsor, last date updated, and the authority of the author(s).

When you are writing a paper and using web pages as source material, keep a backup of what you find on the Web, (either as a printout or saved to disk) so that you can verify your sources later on if need be.

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che

Subject Directories

WHAT ARE SUBJECT DIRECTORIES?

Subject directories, unlike search engines, are created and maintained by human editors, not electronic spiders or robots. The editors review and select sites for inclusion in their directories on the basis of previously determined selection criteria. The resources they list are usually annotated. Directories tend to be smaller than search engine databases, typically indexing only the home page or top level pages of a site. They may include a search engine for searching their own directory (or the web, if a directory search yields unsatisfactory or no results.)

HOW DO SUBJECT DIRECTORIES WORK?

When you initiate a keyword search of a directory's contents, the directory attempts to match your keywords and phrases with those in its written descriptions. Subject directories come in assorted flavors. There are general directories, academic directories, commercial directories, portals and now, vortals. Portals are directories that have been created or taken over by commercial interests and then reconfigured to act as gateways to the web. These portal sites not only link to popular subject categories, they also offer additional services such as email, current news, stock quotes, travel information and maps. Vortals, or vertical portals, (See Lesson 4 for examples) are subject-specific directories, as opposed to the broader, more generalized smorgasbord of subjects and other links commonly found in portals.

NOTE: Today, the line between subject directories and search engines is blurring. Most subject directories have partnered with search engines to query their databases and search the web for additional sources, while search engines are acquiring subject directories or creating their own.

Two subject directories have partnered with and developed their own search engines that are very powerful. You will see them listed in both the search engine and the subject directory categories. Check out the different engine and directory "looks" below:

MSN Subject Directory
MSN Search Engine

Yahoo! Subject Directory
Yahoo! Search Engine

WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF SUBJECT DIRECTORIES?

PROS:
Directory editors typically organize directories hierarchically into browsable subject categories and sub-categories. When you're clicking through several subject layers to get to an actual Web page, this kind of organization may appear cumbersome, but it is also the directory's strength. Because of the human oversight maintained in subject directories, they have the capability of delivering a higher quality of content.

They may also provide fewer results out of context than search engines.

CONS:
Unlike search engines, most directories do not compile databases of their own. Instead of storing pages, they point to them. This situation sometimes creates problems because, once accepted for inclusion in a directory, the Web page could change content and the editors might not realize it. The directory might continue to point to a page that has been moved or that no longer exists.

Dead links are a real problem for subject directories, as is a perceived bias toward e-commerce sites.

WHEN DO YOU USE SUBJECT DIRECTORIES?

Like the yellow pages of a telephone book, subject directories are best for browsing and for searches of a more general nature. They are good sources for information on popular topics, organizations, commercial sites and products. When you'd like to see what kind of information is available on the Web in a particular field or area of interest, go to a directory and browse through the subject categories.

---

EXAMPLES OF SUBJECT DIRECTORIES AND PORTALS :

Subject Directories

• Beaucoup
• LookSmart
• Open Directory Project

Portals (subject directories serving as home pages)

• Excite
• MSN directory
• Netscape
• Yahoo! directory

I bet you should be driving towards a masters in internet search by now, why not?

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che.

Metasearch Engines

WHAT ARE METASEARCH ENGINES?

Metasearch engines do not crawl the web compiling their own searchable databases. Instead, they search the databases of multiple sets of individual search engines simultaneously, from a single site and using the same interface. Metasearchers provide a quick way of finding out which engines are retrieving the best results for you in your search.

HOW DO METASEARCHERS DISPLAY THEIR RESULTS?

Metasearch engines present the results of their searches in one of two ways:

1. Single List. Most metasearchers display multiple-engine search results in a single merged list, from which duplicate entries have been removed.
   
2. Multiple Lists. Some metasearchers do not collate multiple-engine search results but display them instead in separate lists as they are received from each engine. Duplicate entries may appear.

WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF METASEARCHERS?

PROS:
Metasearch engines can give you a fair picture of what's available across the Web and where it can be found.

Metasearchers are very fast.

CONS:
More and more, metasearch engines seem to be casting smaller nets by relying on subject directories and pay-per-click engines for their Web results.

Metasearch engines don't offer the "salad bar" of search options that individual search engines do. When you initiate a keyword or phrase search on a metasearch engine, you are usually at its mercy as far as how the search is configured and conducted.

Although metasearch engines query a number of individual search engines, not enough query Google, one of the largest and most popular search engines on the Web. (Note: Dogpile and Mamma both search Google)

WHEN DO YOU USE METASEARCH ENGINES?

Use metasearchers when you are in a hurry. Metasearch engines are useful in obtaining a quick overview on a subject and/or unique term.

Use metasearchers when you are conducting a relatively simple search and also when you are not having any luck pulling up documents in your search.

EXAMPLES OF METASEARCH ENGINES:

• Dogpile
• Mamma
• Vivisimo

Do you know what subject directories are? Visit this blog agsin.

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che

About Search Engines

WHAT ARE SEARCH ENGINES?

Search engines are huge databases of web page files that have been assembled automatically by machine.

There are two types of search engines:

1. Individual. Individual search engines compile their own searchable databases on the web.
2. Meta. Metasearchers do not compile databases. Instead, they search the databases of multiple sets of individual engines simultaneously (see Lesson 2).

HOW DO SEARCH ENGINES WORK?

Search engines compile their databases by employing "spiders" or "robots" ("bots") to crawl through web space from link to link, identifying and perusing pages. Sites with no links to other pages may be missed by spiders altogether. Once the spiders get to a web site, they typically index most of the words on the publicly available pages at the site. Web page owners may submit their URLs to search engines for "crawling" and eventual inclusion in their databases.

Whenever you search the web using a search engine, you're asking the engine to scan its index of sites and match your keywords and phrases with those in the texts of documents within the engine's database.

It is important to remember that when you are using a search engine, you are NOT searching the entire web as it exists at this moment. You are actually searching a portion of the web, captured in a fixed index created at an earlier date.

How much earlier? It's hard to say. Spiders regularly return to the web pages they index to look for changes. When changes occur, the index is updated to reflect the new information. However, the process of updating can take a while, depending upon how often the spiders make their rounds and then, how promptly the information they gather is added to the index. Until a page has been both "spidered" AND "indexed," you won't be able to access the new information.
NOTE: While most search engine indexes are not "up to the minute" current, they have partnered with specialized news databases that are. For late breaking news, look for a "news" tab somewhere on the search engine or directory page. Examples include:

* Google Breaking News
* Yahoo! News

WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS OF SEARCH ENGINES?

PROS:
Search engines provide access to a fairly large portion of the publicly available pages on the Web, which itself is growing exponentially (see "How Big Is the Internet?")

Search engines are the best means devised yet for searching the web. Stranded in the middle of this global electronic library of information without either a card catalog or any recognizable structure, how else are you going to find what you're looking for?

CONS:
On the down side, the sheer number of words indexed by search engines increases the likelihood that they will return hundreds of thousands of responses to simple search requests. Remember, they will return lengthy documents in which your keyword appears only once.

Additionally, many of these responses will be irrelevant to your search.

ARE SEARCH ENGINES ALL THE SAME?

Search engines use selected software programs to search their indexes for matching keywords and phrases, presenting their findings to you in some kind of relevance ranking. Although software programs may be similar, no two search engines are exactly the same in terms of size, speed and content; no two search engines use exactly the same ranking schemes, and not every search engine offers you exactly the same search options. Therefore, your search is going to be different on every engine you use. The difference may not be a lot, but it could be significant. Recent estimates put search engine overlap at approximately 60 percent and unique content at around 40 percent.

HOW DO SEARCH ENGINES RANK WEB PAGES?

In ranking web pages, search engines follow a certain set of rules. These may vary from one engine to another. Their goal, of course, is to return the most relevant pages at the top of their lists. To do this, they look for the location and frequency of keywords and phrases in the web page document and, sometimes, in the HTML META tags. They check out the title field and scan the headers and text near the top of the document. Some of them assess popularity by the number of links that are pointing to sites; the more links, the greater the popularity, i.e., value of the page.

WHEN DO YOU USE SEARCH ENGINES?

Search engines are best at finding unique keywords, phrases, quotes, and information buried in the full-text of web pages. Because they index word by word, search engines are also useful in retrieving tons of documents. If you want a wide range of responses to specific queries, use a search engine.
NOTE: Today, the line between search engines and subject directories (see Lesson 3) is blurring. Search engines no longer limit themselves to a search mechanism alone. Across the Web, they are partnering with subject directories, or creating their own directories, and returning results gathered from a variety of other guides and services as well.

EXAMPLES OF INDIVIDUAL SEARCH ENGINES:

* Google
* Ask

EXAMPLES OF SEARCH ENGINES THAT HAVE PARTNERED WITH SUBJECT DIRECTORIES:

* Gigablast
* Yahoo! Search

On the next post, i will be talking to you about Metasearch Engines

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che

Great Search Engines

Need information? There are hundreds of search engines out there on the web. . .

Five major "search engines" do stand out, however, for their massive catalogs of information: Google.com and its Amazon.com variant, A9.com, AllTheWeb.com, AskJeeves.com, Vivisimo.com and Dogpile.com.

These five database engines use "spiders" (automated programs) to read thousands of pages per day, and index them for easy finding later.

Three major "search directories" also stand out for their voluminous catalogs: Yahoo's Directory, DMOZ.org, and About.com. Different from search engines, these three search directories use human editors and reader submissions to hand-pick their cataloged content. With human reading being much slower than robot spiders, you can expect search directories to be much smaller than search engines. The human editor element, however, does add the filter of human judgment, which can help cut down the drivel you have to sift through when searching.

So, when it comes to the question, "which search tool is the best?", the real question should perhaps be: "which search tool do you personally prefer?"

Google.com has the least advertising on its screen, and the most indexed content of all the search engines.

DMOZ is slower to load, but it has excellent depth of content.

Vivisimo uses "clustering" to present results in categorized format. About.com has lots of advertising, but has amazing subject matter expertise.

Ask Jeeves, Dogpile, and AllTheWeb have their pros and cons, too.

There are almost 300 other search tool choices not even listed here. Whichever you personally prefer, every one of these search tools contains more content than you or I could ever read in a lifetime! The smart choice, accordingly, would be to test and compare these major search tools for yourself.

Don't settle for one search tool! Use different search engines and directories in combination! Not only do search tools change their appearance every few months, you are also more likely to locate higher-quality web pages when you combine the high volume of spidered content, and the hand-picked reviewing of human editors. Rotate your search tools, avoid the rut of relying on only one search engine, show some perseverance and patience, and you will get good results.

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che

Mozilla Firefox vs Internet Explorer

Good: Firefox has a super-small installation (4.9MB), tabbed browsing, multiple shortcut features, integrating pop-up ad blocking, integrated Google search, large viewing area, compatibility with IE shortcuts/ favorites/cookies, clean interface, very user friendly design, and no glaring security holes.

Bad: images load 30% slower than IE; Firefox does not integrate well with Outlook email or Pocket PC Synching; browser plug-ins like Flash and Shockwave require extra user effort to install; some Javascripts will not run in Firefox. Some online banks and other password-protected websites are not designed to allow Firefox users.

Overall: Despite its small flaws, Firefox is an excellent browser that is within a two years of unseating Microsoft IE from its throne.

BACKGROUND

In the mid 1990’s, a heated courtroom battle of Microsoft IE versus Netscape Navigator was waged. After years of legal wrestling, Microsoft triumphed with the permission to bundle its IE browser into its Windows software and distribute it freely. By the sheer inertia of this distribution, 90% of the world now uses Microsoft IE to surf the web.

Netscape, while losing the market share battle, did preserve a spot in the universe by starting the Mozilla Project in 1998, where they published the Netscape source code for open developer use. Within six years, “Firebird” was designed, which has now become “Firefox”, a very respectable browser that will give Microsoft a run for its money.

Now, Firefox is available as free software at www.mozilla.org and at www.getfirefox.com

FIREFOX PROS

1. The Mozilla Firefox browser is amazingly lean. At just over 4.9MB to download and install, Firefox does not suffer from being overweight (unlike Microsoft IE6 at 80MB). The 4.9MB Firefox install does not include plug-ins like Java Virtual Machine, Flash Player, Quicktime and Shockwave, but those features can be added through 30 minutes of user effort.

2. Firefox supports plenty of user shortcuts and keystrokes. Both novices and power users will like the helpful little perks like “Type Ahead”, CTRL-enter to complete URLs, and CTRL-T to launch new tabs. In many ways, it feels like Microsoft IE, and IE users will find it easy to switch to Firefox.

3. Integrated pop-up blocking! Yes, Firefox will shut down those pesky advertisements for you. No need to install 3rd party software…just set your Firefox options in your Tools menu to prevent pop-ups.

4. Power User Feature: Firefox can prevent annoying Javascript code from hiding your status bar, resizing or moving your window.

5. Larger viewing area than IE. With smaller toolbars, Firefox can fit nearly 10% more surface area onto your monitor.

6. Nifty bookmarking features for researchers! It is possible to bookmark and folder-organize multiple tabs at once.

THE BEST FEATURE OF FIREFOX

Tabbed browsing. This is the most elegant and efficient way to run multiple windows at once. Instead of loading another 40MB of code into your computer's memory, each new "tab" window in Firefox adds less than 1MB of overhead load. With a simple press of keystroke CTRL-T, you can have a Google window, a Hotmail window, a news window, an Icebergradio.com window, and multiple other browsing screens. This is particularly useful for people on dial-up who want to multi-task while waiting for slow pages. Microsoft IE should take a lesson from this extremely useful tabbed design.

FIREFOX DOWNSIDES

As much as Firefox is a great tool, there are some small deficiencies in this application. Gratefully, these deficiencies will be quite minor for most users, and with impending improvements, these glitches will likely be repaired within the next 12 to 18 months.

1. Images inconsistently load slower than IE. While Internet Explorer will render most web pages quickly on DSL or cable bandwidth, Firefox seems to intermittently take 30% to 100% longer to render the same graphics. This is not a consistent flaw; it seems unique to whichever website you are visiting.

2. Firefox does not integrate well with Outlook or Outlook express email. With little annoying things like viewing HTML email, or launching links from a message, Firefox does not respond quickly, and often fails to respond at all.

3. Firefox also fails to integrate with Pocket PC Windows and USB cradle synching. Although only a small percentage of users actually download web calendars and web mail into their Pocket PC’s, that small percentage will be frustrated until Firefox fixes this.

4. Firefox will not render the same web page format and styles that IE will. For example: where you would normally see a page's black table outline in IE, you will see a blurred grey outline in Firefox. Not a show-stopper, but annoying, especially to web developers.

5. Plug-Ins do not auto-install as easily as IE. To add Flash player, Shockwave, Quicktime, and Java Virtual Machine, Firefox users need to manually search and download/install these tools. Sometimes, you will even need to tweak the installs using Firefox Tools menu.

6. Power User Complaint: intermittently, HTML form buttons fail to respond to the keyboard enter button in Firefox. For example: to log into one of my online bank accounts, I normally enter my account number and PIN, and press enter to submit. In Firefox, I need to switch to my mouse to press submit. This is a small peeve for those of us who love our keyboards.

PERSONAL COMMENTS

I must confess, despite my devout loyalty to Microsoft's IE browser, I absolutely adore Firefox! It's clean, fast, similar enough to IE for immediate transition, and better in many little aspects. I am particularly fond of the tabbed pages, group bookmarking, and personal skin options. For repetitive browsing, searching, and viewing 90% of web pages, Mozilla’s Firefox is now my preferred choice.

Most significantly: I prefer to do online financial transactions in Firefox instead of IE. Firefox is much more reliable for encrypting my passwords and protecting my online PINS.

Granted, there are times I need to switch back to IE: viewing my web calendars, synching my Pocket PC, and viewing a select few web pages that render better in IE. But outside of these few exceptions, I am now a Firefox convert.

SUMMARY

Whether you are loyal to IE, Opera, Safari, Mozilla, or Netscape, the imperfect-but-lean Firefox is a highly recommended alternative. With so many helpful little features like pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, horizontal bookmarks, and integrated Google, Mozilla's Firefox is working hard to win its users affection. By focusing on the most-appreciated browsing features, the Mozilla developers are giving users a slick and lean alternative to the bloated-and-insecure Microsoft IE browser.

Is this the end of Microsoft IE? No, not by a long shot, but this is the first really serious threat to IE's market share, and perhaps the beginning of Browser War II. As of this writing, an estimated 35 million users have switched from IE to Firefox, or roughly 15% of the Internet public. Accordingly Microsoft's market share has dropped from 90% to less than 80% since Firefox was released.

Try Firefox out for yourself. Maybe you'll see why so many users are switching over.

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che

Using Internet Explorer

Part A - Internet Explorer Window Control

Tip A.1) Switch to Full Screen for better web page viewing. This feature will hide the menu bar, toolbars, and address bar at the top of your screen, and will hide the status bar and taskbar at the bottom of your screen.
Purpose: To make better use of a small screen by hiding items temporarily.
How: Press F11 key to turn Full Screen view on and off.

Tip A.2) Hide and show the toolbars you prefer. This feature will allow you to choose which of three common button rows you can display across the top of your screen: standard buttons, address bar, and links.
Purpose: For personal preference, you can hide/show navigation controls at the top of your screen.
How: Right-click on any toolbutton or menu command at top of screen.
A shortcut menu will appear. Simply left click on what you wish to hide or show.

Tip A.3) Customize your toolbuttons to be large or small, with or without text.
Purpose: Personal preference for experienced users... they can hide explanations of buttons that they already understand.
How: Right-click on any toolbutton or menu command at top of screen. In the shortcut menu, choose customize. Then try small icons and no text labels.

Tip A.4) Choose your default font size for easier reading. Yes, you can control about 75% of the font sizes you see on the Web. If your vision prefers it, you can crank up the font size for easier reading.
Purpose: Good for people who need eyeglasses, or for people with small monitor settings.
How: click View menu, Text Size. Choose the Larger or Smaller font sizes until you can easily read the web page. Medium is common.
Note: web pages that use "style" formats or Flash or graphic fonts will not be affected by this command. Only those web pages that use regular HTML body text.

Tip A.5) Customize the IE Explorer Bar on the side of your screen to show your favorite search tools.
Purpose: Personal preference technique for navigating and searching.
How: first display the Explorer Bar by clicking View menu, Explorer Bar, Search. Once the bar is displayed at the side of the screen, click Customize, and then choose your favorite search tools to display in the bar. Use the X button to close the Explorer Bar.


Part B - Power User Tips for Opening web pages in IE5/6

Tip B.1) You never have to type the http:// or https:// prefix!
Purpose: Save yourself typing those obnoxious http letters! This peculiar acronym is really just an annotation... it displays that Hypertext Transfer Protocol language is being used to transmit your web pages. Since IE web browser already assumes this protocol by default, there is no need for you to actually type those prefix letters to open a page.
How: This technique is actually more easy than it sounds.

Let's break it down into three small steps...

The example is to visit Queen Elizabeth at http://www.royal.gov.uk/
Step 1: click or drag select (highlight) the entire URL address in the address bar, including the http:// prefix. The entire text string should turn reversed blue-white color.
Step 2: Without pressing delete or backspace, and without typing the protocol prefix, just type your URL directly over top of the blue-white block. This is called "typing replaces selection". In this case, you would type: www.royal.gov.uk
Step 3: Press enter to send your URL command to the browser. At this time, IE will type in the http:// prefix for you, and you have erased an old URL and typed a new URL all in a single motion!

Tip B.2) This is an even better tip: if you are going to an http://www.something.com address, IE will type the http://www. and the .com for you!For example. If you type about and press CTRL-Enter, the IE browser will type http://www.about.com for you! If you type darwinawards and press CTRL-Enter, then IE browser will type http://www.darwinawards.com for you!
Purpose: Save yourself even more typing by using the CTRL-Enter keystroke to open a .com web page.
How: In your URL address bar, click or drag-select (highlight) all the URL text until it turns reversed blue-white. Type the middle portion of your desired www.middleportion.com URL. Press CTRL-Enter (hold one of the two CTRL keys, then poke the Enter key.) Voila!
Warning 1: this CTRL-Enter trick only works for www.something.com commercial addresses. If you want to go a .ca or .net or .au or .uk address, you will have to manually type that.
Warning 2: The Autocomplete setting must be enabled in your browser options. Check this by clicking Tools menu, Internet Options, Content tab, Autocomplete..., Web Addresses.

Tip B.3)You can use a quick keystroke to select-highlight your IE address bar!
Purpose: save yourself having to reach for the mouse to type a new URL.
How: Press ALT-D on your keyboard. (Hold one of the ALT keys, and poke the letter D). This should instantly block the whole address bar in reversed blue-white color for you! A kind of awkward keystroke motion, but a very helpful habit once you learn it!

This was just quick, short and simple. I hope you enjoyed it.

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che

Plugins for Internet Users

What are Internet Plug-ins?

While a plain web browser allows you to view static HTML pages, Plug-ins are optional software additions that enhance and/or add functionality to a web browser. This means that above and beyond reading a basic web page, plug-ins let you watch Internet movies and animation, hear sound and music, read special Adobe documents, play online games, and do 3-D interaction.

What Plug-ins I should have?

Although new plug-in software is released every week, there are about 12 key plug-ins and add-on software that will serve you 99% of the time:

1. Adobe Acrobat Reader (for .pdf files)
2. Java Virtual Machine (JVM to run Java applets)
3. Macromedia Flash Player (to run .swf movies)
4. Macromedia Shockwave Player (to run heavy-duty .swf movies)
5. Real Audio Player (to listen to .ram files)
6. Apple Quicktime (to see 3d Virtual Reality schematics)
7. Windows Media Player (to run a variety of movies and music formats)
8. Windows WinAmp (to play downloaded .mp3 and .wav files)
9. "Pop-Up Killer" software (to reduce the annoying advertisements)
10. Anti Virus software
11. Optional browser toolbars, like Google toolbar, Yahoo toolbar, or StumleUpon toolbar
12. WinZip (to compress/decompress downloaded files)
(although technically not plug-ins, WinZip and AV software work as silent partners to help you download web files, and to prevent nasty programs from infecting your computer)

What do these Plug-Ins Do For Me?

Anytime you visit a web page that includes more than simple HTML content, you are likely to need at least one plug-in.

For example, on a daily basis, Flash Player is perhaps the most needed plug-in. 75% of the animated advertisements you see online are Flash .swf “movies” (Shockwave format). Here is one Flash movie example: Any Given Sunday.

The second most common plug-in need is for Adobe Acrobat Reader .pdf (Portable Document Format) viewing. Most government forms, online application forms, and a multitude of other documents use .pdf format on the Web.

The third most common plug-in would be a movie/audio player to run .mov, .mp3, .wav, .au, and .avi files. Windows Media Player is perhaps the most popular for this purpose, but you can use a multitude of other movie/audio choices.

The fourth most common enhancement to get is WinZip, which allows you to download large files in “compressed” (shrunken file size) .zip format, and then expand the compressed files for full use on your computer. This is the smartest tool for sending either large files, or batches of many smaller files. Technically, WinZip is not a "plug-in", but it certainly is recommended as a web browsing partner tool.

Depending on your browser habits, the likely fifth-most-common plug-in need would be for Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The JVM allows you to run online games and online program “applets” that are written in the Java programming language. Here are some sample Java game applets.

How do I find these Internet plug-ins?

80% of the time, the plug-ins will find you! This means that most web pages requiring plug-in software will alert you if the particular plug-in is missing from your computer. The browser will then either present you with a link to, or take you directly to the webpage where the needed plug-in can be found and installed from.

If you have the most current version of the browser, some plug-ins will be already built-in.

The “hard way” of finding the plug-ins is to manually search for them via the search engines such as Google, MSN, Yahoo, etc. In most cases you will not need to do that. Do be careful when downloading plug-ins though. Some contain so-called “Spyware” (which will be covered in a separate article) and can be detrimental to your computer’s health.

How do I install plug-ins?

When you visit a website that has some “extras” to present to you, you will be informed that the browser needs you to install something.

You will then be given directions on what to do to complete the installation. In most cases, these installations are very easy and consist of you clicking on a button, or two. Typically, you might be asked to accept the “license agreement”, or click a “Next” or an “OK” button once or twice, and the installation will be underway.

Sometimes, however, you might be asked if you want to proceed with the immediate installation, or save the installer file somewhere on your computer, for installation at a later time. The recommended course of action would be to save the file, especially if it is rather large, and your connection is via 56K (or less) modem. The most common place to save the installer file is on your Desktop; it will be easy to find, you will only need it once, and you can delete it afterwards. It is also a good idea to reboot the computer after installing anything.

Where do I go to manually get plug-ins?

Yahoo Toolbar – recommended for killing popup ads and for enhanced web browsing:
http://toolbar.yahoo.com/

Acrobat – for viewing of PDF files:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Shockwave - for animation, games and multimedia files:
http://sdc.shockwave.com/shockwave/download/frameset.fhtml?

Flash - for animation, games and navigation:
http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

Java VM – for running Java applets such as an ICQ:
http://www.virtualmachine.tk/
or here:
http://java-virtual-machine.net/download.html

Quicktime – for watching files such as movie trailers:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Real Player – also used to watch video on the Net:
http://www.real.com/player/

Media Player - yet another format used for video on the net:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/default.asp

Pop-up Window Killers - to reduce annoying advertising:
http://download.com.com/sort/3120-2001-0-1-3.html?qt=pop+up+killer&ca=2001

Not technically plug-ins but nice-to-have utilities:

WinZip - to uncompress .zip files (the Evaluation copy is free for 30 days, then is $29 USD after that): http://www.winzip.com/download.htm

Winamp - to play .mp3 and .wav files you may download:
http://www.winamp.com/player/

Anti-Virus - to help prevent nasty programs infecting your computer:
http://download.com.com/sort/3120-2001-0-1-4.html?qt=anti-virus&ca=2001

I assure you these plug-ins and utilities will enhance your brwosing experience.

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che

Are You Ready for the Internet?

What you need before you dive the Internet!

There's much more to this than just having a computer.

"Surfing the Internet" is a misleading metaphor. It is really more like "Scuba Diving the Internet", with all the complexities of equipment, navigation theory, and understanding the wildlife and the terrain.

Here, we will focus on equipment needed to "successfully dive the Net"! Note that both mandatory and optional equipment is listed below. Please also note that if you browse the Internet from work, many of these items will be provided for you, provided you adhere to professional ethics when using the Internet at the office.


Internet User's Equipment Checklist

1. Computer with Internet connection. PC or MacIntosh is fine.
You can also browse the Net with a Pocket PC, a WebTV, or even a Citrix or Sparc workstation, if it is setup correctly. As you might know, there are coffee shop "Internet Cafes" that will rent usage of connected computers to you.

2. Internet account with a connection provider. Often called "ISP" (Internet Service Provider), these are usually phone or cable companies that charge you $20 to $80 USD a month for Internet access. Note: if you browse the Net from work, your company eats this cost as part of their operations. They also will have rules for you to follow. If you browse from an Internet Cafe, you will need to pay perhaps $6 USD per hour.

3. Internet browser software. The most popular is called Internet Explorer version 6 ("IE"). The the second most common browser is Mozilla Firefox. Other browser choices include: AOL, Opera, and Netscape.

4. Anti-virus software. Symantec/Norton or McAffee are the two most common. These will help defend you against nasty programs that will erase parts of your hard drive.

5. Email software. You can choose from the very popular Outlook or Outlook Express, less-common email softwares like Eudora or Groupwise, or the free "web-mail" offered by Yahoo or Hotmail or Canada.com.

6. Plug-In software. This is a big topic in its own right, but here are the most-common you will need: Java Virtual Machine, Macromedia Flash Player, Windows Media Player, Real Audio music player, Apple Quick Time.

7. Optional: stereo speakers, microphone, and webcam. These hardware devices will allow you to hear game sounds, do Internet telephoning, and send images to your friends and family.

8. Optional: Anti-Spam software.

9. Optional: Censorware, to help police what your kids can see.

10. Optional: graphic software, so you can edit pictures you like.

11. Optional: printer.

12. Optional: wheel mouse, to quickly scroll pages up and down.

As you can see, some are optional. You can still do without some of the necesary one, but i am quite sure you want the best for yourself.

Yours Truly,
Ferdinand Che

An Overview of the Internet

The Frustrations of Not Understanding the Internet

80% of the cyber world uses the Internet without formal training. By using the trial-and-error technique of "fumbling successfully", so many people fumble their way through searching, emailing, downloading, blogging, chatting, and posting.

Granted, many self-taught users manage to fumble through email and Web page searching using trial-and-error, but they are destined to have five negative experiences every time they go online:

1. Self-taught users spend their online time without a feeling of true confidence or clear direction. Like watching television without a TV guide, people will find Internet destinations that interest them, but more through random chance than through directed choice.

2. Self-taught users cultivate bad Internet user habits. Unnecessary URL typing, cluttered bookmarks, confining oneself to a single search tool, using only one browser window, failing to install the latest plug- ins, mistakenly trusting spam email... all of these lead to inefficient browsing and wasted hours of searching and fumbling.

3. Self-taught users will unwittingly misrepresent themselves in email and online conversations. Obscure cultural points like "Netiquette", "emoticons", "flaming", use of abbreviations like "RTFM", lack of non-verbal cues, and blind carbon copy are some of the important nuances that elude most self-taught users.

4. Self-taught users experience frustration when the unknown overwhelms them. They don't understand things like pop-ups, unsubscribing, acronyms, Zip, peer-sharing, and URLs. As a result, a feeling of "being left out" festers, and confidence evaporates.

5. Worst of all: self-taught users miss out on so many Internet experiences because they do not know the full scope of available choices. Often called "unknown-unknowns", these are the great discoveries that are sitting at your fingertips, but are hidden from you because of ignorance. Things like dynamic data-driven news pages, Push- and Pull-Technology, mailing lists, special interest forums, online financial trading, trip planning, FTP, freeware, consumer reviews, peer sharing, academic archives, and online communities... these are tremendous opportunities that are hidden beneath a thin veil of obscurity.

Sadly, these five experiences are daily for 80% of the Internet public.

Your Guide to Internet for Beginners

"But no one has taken the time to explain the Internet to me."

"I don't have the time or money to take a formal training course on the Internet."

"I don't have the patience to study the Internet. Just tell me how to get around."

These are some of the common reasons why people choose to surf and email with 1% knowledge and 99% ignorance. Sure enough, it is possible to get by this way. But with a simple investment of a couple hours of guided study, you don't have to settle for 1% knowledge of the Internet. Even one day of formal training is enough to quadruple a beginner's knowledge of the Internet. With a few invested weekends and evenings, a person can easily become a confident intermediate user.

Formally learning the Internet is about small steps, good guidance, and practice.

Consider the analogy of learning to scuba dive. A novice diver could rent equipment and try learning to dive on his own, without professional guidance. Beyond the obvious physical hazards involved, the self-taught scuba diver is destined for incomplete knowledge, bad habits, and moderate confidence at best. His experience of the ocean will be confined to those random techniques and places he has been lucky enough to stumble upon. He will be unable to fully explain scuba diving to other beginners, and if he tries, he will pass his bad habits onto them.

The same learning model can be applied to becoming a lifelong Internet user. Do you want to save a few hours right now by diving in and figuring it for yourself? Do you want to trust the flawed guidance of another self-taught user? Or is this important enough to find a certified divemaster and invest in some formal training?

Here at About Internet For Beginners, we are your divemasters in the ocean of the Internet. We know the equipment, the challenges, the choices, the techniques that work, and the traps to avoid. We know how to defend against predators, how to find the beautiful destinations, and how to enjoy the company of other Internet divers.

Like a good diving school, About Internet For Beginners is dedicated to every beginning and intermediate user who wants to confidently navigate the Internet and its thousands of details. Whether you are a successful self-taught user, a frustrated parent who has learned a few web tricks from the kids, or a brand new beginner who wants fundamental guidance, then this site is for you.

Moreover, it doesn't cost anything to become a student at this web site. Internet knowledge that would normally cost hundreds of dollars at your local college or bookstore is absolutely free here. Because we get our advertisers to pay for this knowledge web site, it is absolutely free for you to use.

Yes, learning to "dive the Internet" is not only much safer than scuba diving, it will cost you nothing more than time and a little personal effort.
Patient versus Impatient Learning Paths for Beginners


OK. So you've decided you want to invest some time in formal Internet training. Instead of taking a course at your local college, you've chosen to stay online and read About Internet tutorials. The price is definitely right, and you can learn at home while sitting in your bathrobe.

So, where does a new Internet user start? What order of events is the best tutorial way to get started on a lifelong Internet career?

Well, the best learning technique is unique to you. Some learners are impatient and want to get quick guiding advice only, combined with lots of hands-on practice. Other people prefer long detailed explanations before doing hands-on. Most people are somewhere in between, with a vague idea of what they want to learn…to be continued