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Bonus: Don’t try this at home kids
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
How to Find ANYTHING on the Internet
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Written by Jason Wire
Photo by Dullhunk
Tips, tricks and resources to help you find that digital needle in the huge cyber-haystack.
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Learning to navigate the World Wide Web effectively is an important skill, and there are lots of different ways for you to find the information you are looking for. Whilst the following list of tips and websites is by no means exhaustive – and we’ve missed out some massive topics such as travel, which deserve a post in their own right – they should be enough to get you started.
Using Google Operator Hacks
One of the things I love about Google is its clean layout – just type your query and hit enter. As well as the advanced search function, there are a load of operator hacks you can use to refine your search results. Check out the excellent Google Guide for a full list.
Here is a selection of some useful ones:
- salsa -dance will find pages containing “salsa” but not “dance”
- castle ~glossary will find pages containing glossaries and terminology related to “castle”
- define:matador will bring up definitions of the word “matador”
- ~crocodile will search for the word “crocodile” and similar words
- lon sfo to book flights from London to San Francisco
- delta flight 5778 to check the status of this flight
- what time is it in New York to find out the time in this city
- love site:www.matadornetwork.com/life to search only Matador Life for the word “love”
- love -site:www.matadornetwork.com/life to exclude Matador Life results from your search for “love”
And don’t forget if you want to visit a site that is down, or that your company’s server won’t let you access, you can view the Cached version to see a Google snapshot of that page from when it was last crawled.
Photo by author.
Finally, if you’re fed up with all the annoying affiliate links clogging up the Google search results, check out Give Me Back My Google.
Online Research
Conducting online research is about more than just typing a few words into Google, even if you do know the operator hacks! There are a lot of resources out there to help you. Here’s how to find:
Biblical text: Find specific text from the Bible at BibleGateway.
Bibliography formatting: I’ve been using Easybib since my ninth-grade English teacher suggested it. Even if you know your style formatting from memory, this makes citing sources much easier with its instant ISBN lookup feature.
Books Online: Google Books has a surprising number of free books available online, and includes search features which are great for research. It’s also worth checking out Project Gutenberg, which has freely available digital copies of over 33,000 previously published titles.
Court Cases: LexisNexis has quite a few cases available for free.
Etymology: Find the root of any word at Etymoline.
Photo by Shirone Koeuro
Human Sources: Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is a service that lets you connect with people around the world who can give you information or quotes on topics you are researching.
Newspapers: Newspapers dating back hundreds of years are available at the Google News Archives, but you can also use LexisNexis if you’ve got a subscription or can log on via a university network.
Primary Materials from Around the World: The UNESCO World Digital Library is a digital compendium of “significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world.”
Scholarly Sources: Google Scholar is a compendium of thousands of research articles. Other good resources include the JSTOR database, and the excellent paid service, Questia.
And if you want to tap into the ‘digital brain’ of the Internet, use the twitter search feature and check out the most popular Google Insight stats to see what the online population are thinking about.
Note: If you are interested in learning more about research techniques and resources, the MatdorU New Media School has a Pro Module on How to Do Desk Research.
Finding Multimedia
Pretty pictures and lovely sounds make the (cyber) world go round. Here are some resources for finding free photographs, video and music on the World Wide Web. Just, don’t breach any copyright laws, OK?
Photo by Yassef
Identifying Songs off the Radio: Use the iTunes Music Store’s Radio Charts, listed by city and station, to listen to song clips from tons of radio station playlists. Perfect for nabbing the details of that elusive radio song that’s been stuck in your head all day long.
Movie Scripts: Drew’s Script-O-Rama has film scripts, TV scripts, film transcripts, and even a fun section on movie-themed haiku!
Movie Subtitles: OpenSubtitles.org is the “biggest multi-language subtitle database.”
Music: Wanna turn Google into your own personal Napster? Copy and paste the following complex operator into the search box and replace “Beastie Boys” with whichever band or artist you’re looking for.
-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(wma|mp3) “Beastie Boys”
For a kick-ass music player, check out Grooveshark. And for an interesting pop music aggregator, The Hype Machine will often find awesome new songs before anyone else.
Music Based on Your Mood: Musicovery is an interesting little song aggregator for your mood, and AllMusic has just about every artist and band sorted by emotions too.
Photographs: As well as flickr.com, you can search the Creative Commons archive directly through Google: create an advanced image search and check the box for “Search only CC material.”
Torrents: Torrents are “map” files you download to your computer that let you see and download different pieces of the file you want from multiple users simultaneously, which makes download rates much faster. All types of file are available, from movies to audio to programs and more. Search directly at The Pirate Bay or at ISOhunt.
Photo by Robert S. Donovan
Video: These have always given me the best results: Frontline – Google Video – Journeyman – MatadorTV – The Hub – Tripfilms – VBS.tv – Vimeo – YouTube
Technological Know-How
For when you’re bored, or Facebook is down, or your printer is blinking at you in a strange code, here’s how to find:
Blogs You Might Like: Google Blog Search is Google, but for blogs. Cool, huh?
Deleted Files: It’s not easy, but the instructions at this site helped me recover three years of documents.
Down Websites: If you want to know whether Gmail – or a number of other popular sites – are broken or just not working for you, visit DownRightNow to find out.
How Much Energy Something Uses: You can use the nifty app at GE’s website or check out the list at Michael Bluejay.
Instruction Manuals For Anything: These two websites mean you’ll never need to worry about throwing away an instruction manual again: Manuals Online, and Safemanuals.
IP Address: WhatIsMyIPAddress.com will let you know your IP address just by visiting the site, which could be useful for those interminable calls with technical support.
Stars in the Sky: You can’t always find the North Star, but PBS’s Your Sky Tonight makes pointing out the constellations easy.
Your Own House: The Google Maps Street View covers nearly the whole inhabited world, and Bing’s Bird’s Eye View is a seriously awesome companion. I use these both religiously when searching for an apartment.
Just For Fun
Photo by Manuel Bartual
The Internet wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t use it to waste time that we could be using productively. With that in mind, here’s a few lighthearted sites where you can find:
Anagrams: WordSmith will give you anagrams of whatever text you type in. Names are particularly good. Did you know an anagram of Jason Wire is I jaw snore?
Chuck Norris: You’d think you could just Google him, but….
Connections Between Random Things: Omnipelagos knows how Lady Gaga, Ebeneezer Scrooge, and rocking chairs are connected. Do you?
How Much Money You’re Worth: Answer a bunch of questions on Human For Sale, and you’ll finally know the answer!
P.S: Help this guy to find the people
Click here for More information
The missing Snowmass Village resident George Aldrich
Why You Should Use Google Apps with a Personal Domain Instead of Your Gmail Account
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Written by Kevin Purdy
When it launched, millions of us grabbed free Gmail addresses, and associated Calendar, Docs, Voice, and other apps followed. But personal domains are cheap, and claiming an @yourname.com address to use with Google Apps is easier than ever. Here’s why you should.
Future-Proof Email Address that You Control
It’s scary, but it’s true: There’s a possibility that Gmail might not always be the coolest email service in the world. For all we know of the future, there might be two hackers in a garage right now re-inventing the inbox. There might be some desktop software that merges the convenience of the cloud with killer OS integration. Or you might just decide some day that, heck, Yahoo has more of what you need, or that Google’s reach across your data is too deep.
You should have an email address that’s as portable as your cellphone number—meaning you can switch email providers without losing your current address. With your default @gmail.com address, that’s not really an option. With your personal domain, it is.
Sure, if you’re using a Gmail address, you can technically access your account from other clients through IMAP, auto-forward email, and otherwise stream your messages out. But if you ever decide on a new line of work, a different kind of username (sayonara, SpookyPrince15@gmail.com), or a new email service, you’re better off having your own domain. Your options for forwarding and import are more robust when you control your own domain, and you never have to send one of those click-and-pray “Hey everyone I’ve ever emailed throughout time—my address has changed!” messages.
With Google Apps installed on your own domain, your data is still running through Google’s own servers. But Google’s pretty good about portability, and if it starts looking like they won’t be down the road, you’ve got side door where you can step on out and maintain your identity elsewhere. The great part about using your own domain is that you’re not tied to any one email service provider. You can pick up and move your domain to another email provider any time you want.
Professional Polish, Family Friendly
Maybe your Gmail address is a bit better than PookieLuv4Life@gmail.com. Gmail, too, holds a more proper imprimatur than AOL, Hotmail, or other eyebrow-raising domains. It still holds true that having an email account on your own server, with a name you can change at any time, makes good sense.
If you do freelance work on the side, it’s easy to create another account (design@smith.com), one that pipes into your main personal account (john@smith.com). If you decide to help organize a fundraiser, it’s a few minutes to create another account for that (fundraise@smith.com), one that doesn’t give away your personal address to folks you’ll only message once or twice. When your kids get to the age where they get web-savvy, you can set them up with an email address (tina@smith.com and johnjr@smith.com) that you have ultimate control over. And for relatives with occasional tech troubles, you can throw them a lifeline and set them up on your server, too.
It’s Not That Painful to Switch
The hardest part about getting your own domain name these days is finding a URL that isn’t taken—and that’s only hard if someone has already registered your exact name. Get a little creative, use a reliable but cheap name registrar, buy a little hosted space and set up the free Google Apps on that domain—some hosts do that automatically for you. And nearly every mobile platform where Google offers some kind of syncing, an Apps address works just fine.
Note: For a full walkthrough of switching from a Gmail account to Google Apps, read Whitson’s detailed take on migrating your entire Google account to a new one.
When you’ve got a domain name and space, you’ll find that nearly all of Google’s services are available to Apps users. Not every single app, as commenter mawcs points out, but if you can live without History, Buzz, Google Storage, Health, Powermeter, and Profiles, or at least live without for the time being, you’re on your way. Even if you have other Google-assisted domains to log into or control, there is an early version of multi-account sign-in available that covers the Apps basics.
In other words, it’s possible to live out the entire Google experience—Mail, Calendars, Sync, Docs, even Voice—with your own domain name, rather than Google’s Gmail.
That’s just one editor’s thoughts on Gmail, email, and data portability—and after writing it, he’s pretty set on practicing what he’s preaching himself. Share your own thoughts and decisions on migrating from Gmail to Apps—or why you won’t—in the comments.
Bonus: I have completely turned my life around since 11/29/09.
Facebook Profile Picture Hack Tutorial
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Written by Alexia Tsotsis
Since French artist Alexandre Oudin took advantage of the new Facebook design to express himself, we’ve been seeing some creative ways to mess with your (and your friends’) profile pictures. As we predicted, Oudin’s hack has inspired other users to play around with their profile to pretty interesting effect. And for those of you that don’t want to trial and error around with the 532 px by 180 px and 97 by 68 px image limitations, photographer Florian Stravock has made the above Photoshop tutorial to help you perfectly execute on your super profile pic. Abridged steps, below:
1) Take a screenshot of your current Facebook page.
2) Create a new Photoshop doc.
3) Grab the Slice tool (same family as the Crop tool) and select around the pictures.
4) With the Marquee tool, select around the sliced areas.
5) Bring the image that you want on Facebook into Photoshop and position it roughly the way you want it.
6) Drag the image layer under the Facebook layer and refine your positioning.
7) Go to “File,” select “Save for web and devices,” select all your document area, click “Jpeg, set the quality to 100% and save. Under slices select “All user slices.”
8) Upload your pictures to Facebook and tag them from last to first. When you get to the first picture click “Make this my profile picture.”
You can download Stravock’s Photoshop document here. Don’t have Photoshop or too lazy to sit through a tutorial? TechCrunch reader Trevor Farbo has created a profile picture generator that allows you to get the same effect in half the time.
Check out more reader customizations here and upload your own works of Internet art in the comments.
Bonus:10 Creative Uses of the New Facebook Profile
How to Know when Car Tires Need Replacing
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Steps
- Understand that the primary function of tread on a tire is to divert water from beneath the tire to improve traction and avoid hydroplaning on wet roads.[2] Tires become unsafe when they're worn, and once the tread is down to 1/16th of an inch (1.6mm), the tire is no longer safe.
- Look at the tread pattern. All tires sold in the United States and other countries have what are called 'tread wear bars'. These are small bridges that form between your treads. Look at the tread pattern and you'll see the beginnings of these bars start to form between the treads, or running across the tires. As the tires wear, these bars will become flush (level or even) with the tire's tread. At this point, it's time to replace the tires.
- Check the tread by using the 'penny test.' Take a penny, and place it upside down with Lincoln facing you in the center of the tread (at the thickest part of the tire).
- If you can see the very top of Lincoln's head or the copper above it, replace the tires immediately.
- If Lincoln's hair on the top of his head is partially visible, it is time to go shopping for tires.
- If you cannot see the hair on the top of his head (if the coin is inserted enough that the tire tread is at least as deep as Lincoln's forehead), your tires do not need replacing yet.
- If you can see the very top of Lincoln's head or the copper above it, replace the tires immediately.
- Use a tread depth indicator or gauge. Obviously, not everyone can get hold of an Abraham Lincoln penny. Either use the tread pattern test, or resort to using a special tread depth indicator or gauge tool to measure your tire's tread. If you don't already own one, the gauge is cheap to purchase from an auto parts dealer and it's easy to use.
- Alternatively, it might be easier to pop in to your regular tire place and ask them to check it for you; likely they'll do this for free if you're regular customer.
- Alternatively, it might be easier to pop in to your regular tire place and ask them to check it for you; likely they'll do this for free if you're regular customer.
- Know the legal requirements. Worn tires should be replaced as a matter of common sense to assure safety, but in some jurisdictions, there are also legal requirements to replace worn tires. In many US States, tires are considered to be legally worn out when they have worn down to 1/16' (1.6mm) of their remaining tread depth.[3] In the UK, the minimum depth of the tread on tires (tyres) is 1.6 millimeters, across the central ¾ of the tread around the whole tire (tyre).[4]
- Make note of any irregular tread wear. This could indicate a wheel misalignment, the need for a tire rotation, or both. Uneven tread wear is a sign that you need to take your car in for servicing.
- If uneven tire wear is extreme or if tires wear out much faster than expected, have a competent tire workshop check your suspension and correct as necessary before replacing tires. Improper alignment or worn suspension parts can dramatically shorten a tire's life.
- It is a good idea to rotate your tires from front to rear in pairs. Take both front tires and move them to the rear and vice versa.
- If uneven tire wear is extreme or if tires wear out much faster than expected, have a competent tire workshop check your suspension and correct as necessary before replacing tires. Improper alignment or worn suspension parts can dramatically shorten a tire's life.
- Replace the tires at least every 6 years. If you're not sure, the minimum replacement time that is recommended by the NHTSA is six years regardless of use, with 10 years being the maximum service life for tires. Check your owner's manual for specific recommendations related to your car. And always err on the side of caution if you suspect your vehicle has tires that are over six years of age.[5]
Video
Tips
- On 4-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive cars you should replace all four tires if it is recommended in your service manual. Differences in tire diameter, even due to different states of tread wear, can permanently damage differentials.
- If you see uneven wear on a front tire, chances are that the front end is out of alignment. You should have this checked and rotate the tires to the rear if possible (some vehicles have different sizes on front than the rear). The tires from the back should be fine and the uneven tires moved to the rear will start to correct themselves.
- Tires do not wear perfectly evenly, so be sure to insert the coin at several points from the outside to the inside of your tires. Tires generally wear more on the inside but over-inflated tires will wear more in the middle.
- Test all of your tires and if possible, replace them all at the same time. Mismatched tires will not provide the same safety, performance and efficiency as a matched pair will.
- Keep your tires properly inflated.
- Treadwear grades are an indication of a tire's relative wear rate. The higher the treadwear number is, the longer it should take for the tread to wear down.
- Tire age is dated from the date of manufacture, not sale, as tires deteriorate even in storage.
- Tires age faster in warmer climates.[6]
- A quarter can be substituted for a penny; just use Washington's head as the point instead of Lincoln's.
Warnings
- Be careful to buy tires that are the right size and type for your vehicle and rims (wheels). Changing to low-profile tires may require you to buy larger rims so that the outer circumference of the tire remains unchanged. Incorrect tire size or mismatched tread can also cause a low tire pressure warning to come on if the vehicle is equipped with a Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS).
- Tires should never rub against your fenders or any other part of your car. If your new tires rub during turns or when going over bumps, they don't fit, no matter how cool they look. Fix this before you suffer a blowout and crash.
- Be careful when rotating tires, and especially when moving tires to different rims. Many modern tires have a specific rotational direction and corresponding rotation method. Refer to your tire manufacturer or dealer for details.
- If you happen to see wires on your tread or notice wear on the sidewalls of the tire, don't even bother with the penny – just get the tire replaced. The wire thing is rare, and even if Abe says the tread is still good, the wires indicate an immediate need for replacement. It happens and it's better to replace the tire than get the blowout as you're speeding along the road.
- Hydroplaning is an increased possibility with bare tires. The risk of hydroplaning increases as the tire wears. This is true even if the tire is not fully worn out. A tire with 50% tread life may hydroplane in conditions where a tire with 90% tread life may not.
Things You'll Need
- Penny
- Tread depth indicator
Related wikiHows
- How to Get a Good Deal on Tires
- How to Change a Tire
- How to Fill Air in a Car's Tires
- How to Understand the Basics of Car Maintenance
- How to Change the Oil in Your Car
Sources and Citations
- Safer Car.gov, Tire tread, http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Shoppers/Tires/Tires+Rating/Tire+Tread – US government public domain information
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5 Ways to Protect Your Teeth from Acid Wear
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Steps
- Be aware of the causes. Instigators of acid wear on teeth include:
- Regular and prolonged consumption of wine, fruit juices, soft/pop drinks and vinegar-based salad dressings[3]
- Frequent grazing through the day on veggies and fruit
- Imbalanced eating patterns, for example, not eating something that counterbalances the acidity of fruit, such as nuts, at the time of eating the fruit
- Snack foods – many of them are acidic.
- Regular and prolonged consumption of wine, fruit juices, soft/pop drinks and vinegar-based salad dressings[3]
- Cut down on acidic beverages. Reduce or eliminate your consumption of soda pops and soft drinks, fruit juices and wine. Large amounts of these beverages are not healthy for you for many reasons, so not only your teeth will benefit from reduced consumption, but also your nutrition status and your body's overall health. So-called 'sports drinks' in particular contain large amounts of citric acid.
- Avoid grazing through the day. If you enjoy nibbling on food all day long, you may be endangering your teeth. The best solution is to ensure that the foods that you consume are either low in acidity or are combined with foods able to counteract the acidity and reduce your need for the acidic food. For example, consuming nuts with fruit or cheese with carrots may be one way to reduce the effects of acid wear. Nuts and dairy foods are considered helpful balancers to acidic foods.[4]
- Avoid brushing your teeth for one hour after consuming acidic food and drink. While this may seem counter-intuitive, acidic foods and drink soften the tooth enamel and leave it prone to damage from brushing. Wait an hour before brushing.[5] It is also very important not to over brush your teeth any time; too much brushing is abrasive and wears down your teeth.[6] Rely on dental floss and toothpicks in between morning and evening brushing.
- Rinse your mouth with baking soda. To reduce the acidity in your mouth, rinse thoroughly and gargle with a spoonful of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) in water.
- Use a straw. Reduce the contact of juice and soda drinks with your teeth by drinking through a straw. This is only a minor help, so don't rely on it as a major solution! The best approach is to reduce your overall consumption of fruit juice and soda drinks.
Video
Tips
- Most of us know the feeling of fuzziness on our teeth after consuming cola. Why is this? It is because the phosphoric acid in cola has started to lightly etch your teeth. This is compounded by the carbonic acid caused by the carbonation of soft drinks.[7]
- Orange juice and other citrus juices contain natural acids - citric acid and ascorbic acid. It is recommended that you swallow and not chew vitamin C tablets.[8]
- Other sources of tooth erosion include those suffering from bulimia; constant vomiting or reflux causes acidic contents to be in frequent contact with the teeth.[9]
- Baby teeth are very vulnerable to acid erosion because the teeth have softer enamel than adult teeth.[10]
- Flavored waters should also be treated with care; those containing sugar or other additives may be as acidic as a soft drink.
Warnings
- Do not ignore the signs of acid wear on teeth - increased sensitivity, roughness, discoloration etc. The sooner that you can have this seen to, the better.
Things You'll Need
- Dental floss
- More water in your diet and the diets of your children
- Neutral foods
Related wikiHows
- How to Help Your Kids Care for Their Teeth
- How to Whiten Teeth With Baking Soda
- How to Brush Teeth Without Toothpaste
- How to Take Care of Your Teeth
- How to Keep Your Children Brushing Their Teeth
- How to Brush Your Teeth
Sources and Citations
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Now your status replies show up on your Facebook profile. Here's how to hide them
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Steps
Removing Individual Posts
- Click on 'Profile' on the upper right hand corner of any Facebook page, or click on your name in the Facebook homepage.
- Look for the Recent Activity comment you want to delete. If you hover your cursor over it, you should see a little 'x' pop on on the right. Click on it.
- Click on 'Remove Post' in the dialog that pops up. The post in question will disappear. The actual comment you left will still remain, but now people won't see it on your Wall.
Video
Hiding Your Wall
- Click on 'Account' from the upper right hand corner and choose 'Privacy Settings'.
- If there are parts of your profile you don't want some of your Facebook friends to see (such as if you can't reject a friends request from your nosy Aunt Bertha, but you really don't want her seeing what your real friends see), choose 'Custom' and click on 'Customize Settings'.
- For 'Status Updates' click on the dropdown menu and choose 'Customize'.
- For 'Make this visible to' choose 'Specific People' from the dropdown menu and type in the name of the friends who you want to be able to see your Wall. Alternatively, choose who you want to make your Wall invisible to by typing their names into 'Hide this from'.
Warnings
- If you hide your wall from someone, they won't be able to see it at all, and they'll probably know you've deliberately hidden it from them.
Related wikiHows
- How to Manage Facebook Privacy Options
- How to Make Friends Lists on Facebook
- How to Unfriend Someone on Facebook Without Actually Unfriending Them
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