Symbaloo...

 

I have just begun to sort out my web links!

TWITTER me now!

I have my own Twitter account! I wonder why it took so long? I am sure the advantages will be clear once I get used to this platform. It is something that some have used to express their opinions on the important subjects matter to us. From politics to personal issues, you can speak your mind on Twitter, but do you dare? It takes courage to say what you feel and what you think. I suppose that the best policy is to be honest and admit that I’m not sure about speaking too much on any subject, but I suppose I could talk most extensively on subjects that I am familiar with. Some of my reservations are the backlash that one can experience on such social media sites. I have been on Facebook several times and I have managed to anger most of my family in some way or another. It is not the same as sitting across the table from someone and the message can be misunderstood quite easily. We can learn just how important, genuine human personal contact can be by having a bad experience on FB or Twitter. I have seen the headlines and seen the reactions of celebrity Tweets gone bad! No one is perfect, but the medium can be quite unforgiving and traumatic in the end. I can honestly say, yes I do have reservations, but I will not fear the cost of the truth when it comes down to it! With that being said, it is quite an interesting concept that the whole world can hear what you say from behind the cover of the internet. So I wonder if I have anything to say and anything really important to say. Well maybe, but if I think about that, it seems way to intimidating, so I will just take a chance and not take it all too seriously!

@EddieOnTheMoon

Google vs. Bing and Yahoo and...

 

There are different kinds of search tools available to us or the internet, including directories such as Yahoo!

 These are arranged in a particular hierarchical form of categories. Navigating through directories requires “drilling down” to a website of the internet. Search engines use web crawlers or spider bots to process a search. Each search engine has a unique algorithm that is key to the results presented. The information collected varies from site to site but may include the page title and URL. Searches like Google use what is called a “Natural Language Search” and there is no question as to why this is so popular. It more closely resembles the language we use. It uses Boolean techniques to allow for an infinite combination of variables to define the search criteria. The “and” operation can narrow the returns with only the inclusion of “A and B” results. While the “or” operation would allow a wider range for “A and B” and the “not” will limit the results to just “A” and not “B”.

            With a basic knowledge of set theory, one can comprehend the scope of these variables in a search operation. The full explanation can be found at the link below.

http://library.duke.edu/services/instruction/libraryguide/advsearch.html

 

            The competition between the search engine giants is fierce! It’s not surprising, considering the value of the player’s stock and reputation. Google stock is hovering near $1000 and the story about Bing copying Google was all over the news a few years ago.
 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/18/us-google-results-idUSBRE99G17Z20131018

 

 

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/02/02/google.bing.sting/

 

Bing is running behind the Google giant and that’s not so easy for a dominant force such as the Microsoft corporation, the wheels behind the Bing search engine.

Internet Search…an insight

 

Searching the internet is something that everyone does. Everyone who uses the internet anyway! Most of us have never pondered the finer points of this necessary process and indeed there are finer points. Has anyone ever asked you if you know how to formulate a “search query”? Sounds like a requirement for a coastguard captain’s job! This is simply a more defined search that contains certain “keywords,” that can narrow the results. It’s like asking for a specific flavor of ice cream as opposed to just “ice cream.” If you need parts for your car for example: you would not enter “car” into a search text box, you would enter “Chevy Impala” so as to get parts specific to your particular model. The search results list would give you some result that should contain a “hit”, or positive results.

If you need a fender that is a certain color and year then you might try a targeted search. That will give you more specific results based on keyword combinations. To evaluate the credibility of your search results you must judge the objectivity. The easiest route to this end is to discover the “primary source”, which is the origin or the information. The scope and quality of the information can be found in the details and the currency is an indication of relevance. The overall design and functionality of a website can indicate the quality of work offered and can be a clue as to the validity of the information found within.

 

My Personal Learning Network!

A personal learning network. I am almost sure that it's as complicated as it sounds! I have looked at the video twice and it's really not such a simple concept. Maybe it will look more simple after it all comes together. I have Twitter and Classroom 2.0 and Google+ and Pinterest and the list goes on. I really want to narrow it down to be functional! I really see the potential in creating a powerful network that can give me the knowledge that I need to go to where I want to go with my Web developement and career. The challenge is not insurmountable but it's somewhat daunting to me.

 I have found some useful information on Pinterest and I can use several of the ideas already.I have had a Twitter account but have not been very active, but now I maybe have a need for it and I'm starting to understand the usefulness of it.The truth is, I may have heard in the media such casual use of Twitter and had sort of written it off. I'm pretty good at thinking "outside of the box" and I will use that mentality here to make my plan work! I'll keep you all posted and hope we can learn together!
Cheers,
ED

IP addresses, clients and servers, uniform resource locators? Who knew? It just goes to show that you can see and use something everyday without having the very slightest clue or idea just exactly what it is! All the particular features and functions of an Internet web browser that I took for granted and never noticed have now become clearly visible to me! It reminds me of the reaction I get from my wife when I try to explain to her how I fixed her car. I can literally explain to her every function and device that makes a car go, but when it comes to the Internet is a different story altogether. She doesn't really need all that but rather that it will get her to and from college or the mall safely. The same is true of Firefox or Safari and most of these facts may not be relevant to most people who are just surfing the web. I don't think my wife would need to know what an IP address is, nor would she even care in the slightest as this is the sort of a technical fact. Some of the things that we do with regard to a web browser are second nature and are done without even thinking about the steps and the technical background underneath the operation. We all know what happens when we are driving a car and we step on the gas pedal and go, but very few of us "technical" types indeed know exactly why. I'm sure that most of us do things like create a favorite, or check our history and print a web page without even thinking about it but there's quite a lot going on behind the visible that makes it all happen and that is definitely worth knowing!

 

Websites are composed of pages, much like a book or magazine. These pages are written with HTTP code and are arranged so as to have a logical flow to facilitate easy navigation. Web sites may contain video and audio content as well as graphics of many sorts to enhance the experience for the visitor. Rich media can act to grab your attention and lead you to maybe to make a purchase or join a social media site. To get to any web page, you must first know the address or domain name. A domain name is displayed as text, while an IP address (internet protocol address) is it’s numerical equivalent in the form of binary numbers and can be difficult to remember unless you are very good with numbers. A DNS name server is what takes a domain name and translates it to an IP so that you don’t have to type the IP numbers. A URL or Uninform Resource Locator contains a protocol and a domain name. It is what is displayed in the address window of your browser. It may also contain a path and file name (for example a PDF if you are reading a document). There are many options to consider when using a web browser, for example: you can use the history feature or a favorites list to go to a website that you have been to before or you can have “auto complete” configured to remember the sites that you have typed in before.When you do get to a web page you may be tracked by something called a "cookie" for the purposes of providing you the convenience of remembering your personal information such as your address. The file is stored on you hard drive and is accessed when you visit a site that it is associated with. This can be convenient for your preferences on a particular website. If you should decide to make a purchase on a website, it would be best to have the Secure Sockets Layer protocol in place (HTTPS://) on the URL so as not to put your account information (Personally Identifiable information or PII) at risk of being "hacked!" Hackers are those who would use malicious code or spyware to obtain PII for the purpose of monetary gain, compromise or otherwise malicious intents.Malicious websites may try to fool you into divulging your PII for similar reasons. Often they are duplicate sites posing as a legitimate site designed to fool you into delivering your credit card number or your bank username and password and of course this could be devastating to your finances. The homepage or primary page is usually identical to a familiar site and can be very convincing and is of course on an alternate server location than the legitimate one. The "Smart screen filter" feature of Internet Explorer can defend against such websites.Other concerns for risk are "Spyware" that can try to obtain PII and "Adware" which can provide unwanted solictations for shopping websites. Also of concern are viruses, which can lead to problems from program crashes to Operating system crashes requiring a complete system re-image and total loss of data.A good antivirus program can protect against a virus.Web filters can be configured to restrict content to protect children from unwanted access to inapropriate materials.