Needle in a Haystack (Current Event 1)

Throughout the past week I've been pretty impressed and overwhelmed with the amount of social media and information that is flooding the web - did you know that every second, 24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube? That's a century's worth of video every day! Though most of that can't really be qualified as information (though I'm sure that John Doe's five minute video doing a review of the new hit movie might be considered information to a specific crowd), there is still nearly limitless information available at our fingertips. We're often looking for a needle in a very, very large haystack.

So what do we do with that? If I'm trying to find what the name is of the man who was arrested by the Inquisition in 1633 and then pardoned by the Catholic Church in 1992, where do I look? 100 years ago, I would have to go to a library, search through encyclopedias, ask the librarian what books might be useful - maybe a book about 17th century philosophers. But today? Today googling the phrase "Philosopher arrested by the Inquisition in 1633" tells me almost instantly that the man I'm looking for is Galileo. But what if I'm looking for something a little more... vague? 

Say you wanted to find New York Times articles about college test scores (but not including the SATs) from the past few years? What search terms do you use? Googling the phrase "new york times articles school test scores" gives me 115,000,000 results. Not the most promising search. Here's the problem: there's so much information out there, that it's becoming too hard to categorize it for easy searching. Andrew Kantor from USAToday wrote an interesting piece on this subject. So what can we do?

I for one have had my own share of frustrating searches, positive that what I'm looking for is on a web page hidden away in a distant server but unable to find it. While rolling around in the metaphorical haystack that is the internet, I came across a helpful list of tips that detail some of the lesser-known search mechanisms implemented by Google. Using these methods, finding that article about college test scores becomes far easier, and that elusive web page in that distant server springs more readily to hand (or browser).

http://www.gridsix.com/getting-more-out-of-google-tips-and-tricks

Using these detailed searches, finding that needle won't be as easy as it might have been 10 years ago, but knowing how to use search engines at least gives you a fairly large magnet to sort through all that hay.

Is there another solution out there? Maybe Google is becoming antiquated - yes, I said it. Perhaps the Google approach is no longer the best one. But if there is a better method out there, it has yet to be found. For now it looks as though we'll all have to touch up our Google skills.

If you want some practice, Google has a "Google-a-Day Puzzle" designed to test and hone your search skills. So what are you waiting for? Get searching!

Exactly What Happens on the Internet?

It has been said that getting information off the internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant - sometimes you get so much, you wonder if you really got anything at all. With so much information online and more sites launching every day, we have more knowledge at our fingertips in this century than at any other time in the history of the world - maybe put together.

So with so many people online, what exactly is going on? How does it affect me? Here's what happens on the internet every sixty seconds:

(Infographic by- Shanghai Web Designers)

Kind of overwhelming, isn't it? And guess what? If you've done any of the 25 or so activities above, your information is on the internet. It's out there. Whether you like it or not.

I have an uncle that says he refuses to put any of his information online, whether it's through Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogger, etc. Have you ever bought anything online I ask? He answers in the affirmative. Well I hate to break it to you Uncle, but your information is on the interwebs! It's out there! So how can we protect ourselves? Here are a few tips on how to keep your information private and secure:

1 - Don't accept friend requests from anybody you don't know.

2 - Don't chat or pass personal information to anybody you don't know. 

3 - Have an active and updated virus scanner on your machine that can catch spy/malware.

4 - Whenever you're doing anything with sensitive information, check the beginning of the web URL for a green mark (highlight, checkmark, lock, etc.) showing the page is secure.

5 - Change settings to private on any site where personal information can be shown.

These five tips are a good beginning to staying safe online, are they comprehensive. Being aware of what information we are giving out and who can see it is always a must, but there are countless ways that others can find out about us without our knowledge. Being knowledgeable about our actions online is the greatest measure of protection we can have.

For more information on how to stay safe online, refer to the Internet Safety Project, a website dedicated to helping families and individuals protect themselves so that they can freely browse the internet without fear of exposing sensitive information.