Use Google on Itself to Search Your Personal Gmail Account
December 16, 2016
The article titled 9 Secret Google Search Tricks on Field Guide includes a shortcut to checking on your current and recent deliveries, your flight plans, and your hotels. Google provides this information by pulling keywords from your Gmail account inbox. Perhaps the best one for convenience is searching “my bills” and being reminded of upcoming payments. Of course, this won’t work for bills that you receive via snail mail. The article explains,
Google is your portal to everything out there on the World Wide Web…but also your portal to more and more of your personal stuff, from the location of your phone to the location of your Amazon delivery. If you’re signed into the Google search page, and you use other Google services, here are nine search tricks worth knowing. It probably goes without saying but just in case: only you can see these results.
Yes, search is getting easier. Trust Mother Google. She will hold all your information in her hand and you just need to ask for it. Other tricks include searching “I’ve lost my phone.” Google might not be Find My Iphone, but it can tell you the last place you had your phone, given that you phone was linked to your Google account. Hotels, Events, Photos, Google will have your back.
Chelsea Kerwin, December 16, 2016
DuckDuckGo Makes Search Enhancements by Leveraging Yahoo Partnership
December 13, 2016
The article on Duck.co titled New Features from a Stronger Yahoo Partnership relates the continuation of the relationship between DuckDuckGo and Yahoo. DuckDuckGo has gained fame for its unique privacy policy of not tracking its users, which of course flies in the face of the Google Goliath, which is built on learning about its users by monitoring their habits and improving the search engine using that data. Instead, DuckDuckGo insists on forgetting its users and letting them search without fear of it being recorded somewhere. The article conveys some of the ways that Yahoo is mingled with the David of search engines,
In addition to the existing technology we’ve been using, DuckDuckGo now has access to features you’ve been requesting for years: Date filters let you filter results from the last day, week and month. Site links help you quickly get to subsections of sites. Of course our privacy policy remains the same: we don’t track you. In addition, we’re happy to announce that Yahoo has published a privacy statement to the same effect.
Paranoid internet users and people with weird secretive fetishes alike, rejoice! DuckDuckGo will soon be vastly improved. The article does not state an exact date for this new functionality to be revealed, but it is coming soon.
Chelsea Kerwin, December 13, 2016
Ten Search Engines That Are Not Google
December 13, 2016
Business-design firm Vandelay Design shares their 10 favorite alternatives to Google Search in their blog post titled, “Alternative Search Engines for Designers and Developers.” Naturally, writer Jake Rocheleau views these resources from a designer’s point of view, but don’t let that stop you from checking out the list. The article states:
New intriguing search engines frequently pop up as a replacement to the juggernaut that is Google. But it’s tough to find alternative search engines that actually work and provide real value to your workflow. I’d like to cover a handful of alternatives that work well for designers and developers. These aren’t all web crawler search engines because I did throw in a few obscure choices for design resources too. But the sites in this list may be better replacements for Google no matter what you’re searching for. …
All 10 of these search engines are viable choices to add into your workflow, or even replace existing sites you already use. Designers are always looking for new tools and I think these sites fit the bill.
Rocheleau describes his selections and gives tips for getting the most out of each. He leads with DuckDuckGo—come for the privacy, stay for the easter eggs. StartPage also promises privacy as it pulls results from other search engines. Designers will like Instant Logo Search, for locating SVG vector logos, and Vecteezy for free vector designs. Similarly, Iconfinder and DryIcons both offer collections of free icons.
For something a little different, try The WayBack Machine at the Internet Archive, where you can comb the archives for any previously existing domain. Rocheleau suggests designers use it to research competitors and gain inspiration, but surely anyone can find interesting artifacts here.
We are reminded that one can get a lot from WolframAlpha if one bothers learning to use it. Then there is Ecosia, which uses ad revenue to plant trees across the globe. (They have planted over four million trees since the site launched in December of 2009.) The final entry is Qwant, another engine that promises privacy, but also offers individual search features for categories like news, social-media channels, and shopping. For anyone tired of Google and Bing, even non-designers, this list points the way to several good alternatives.
Cynthia Murrell, December 13, 2016
Add Free Search to the Free Tibet Slogan
December 13, 2016
China is notorious for censoring its people’s access to the Internet. I have heard and made more than one pun about the Great Firewall of China. There is search engine in China, but it will not be in Chinese, says Quartz: “How Censored Is China;s First Tibetan Language Search Engine? It Omits The Dalai Lama’s Web Site.”
Yongzin is the first Tibetan language search engine. It is supposed to act as a unified portal for all the major Tibetan language Web sites in China. There are seven million Tibetan people in China, but the two big Chinese search engines: Baidu and Sogou do not include the Tibetan language. Google is banned in China.
Yongzin rips off Google in colors and function. The Chinese government has dealt with tense issues related to the country of Tibet for decades:
The Chinese government wants the service to act as a propaganda tool too. In the future, Yongzin will provide data for the government to guide public opinion across Tibet, and monitor information in Tibetan online for “information security” purposes, Tselo, who’s in charge of Yongzin’s development, told state media (link in Chinese) at Monday’s (Aug. 22) launch event.
When people search Yongzin with Tibet related keywords, such as Dalai Lama and Tibetan tea, China’s censorship shows itself at work. Nothing related to the Dalai Lama is shown, not even his Web site, and an article about illegal publications.
China wants to position itself as guardian of the Tibetan culture, but instead they proffer a Chinese-washed version of Tibet rather than the true thing. It is another reason why the Free Tibet campaign is still important.
Whitney Grace, December 13, 2016
At Last an Academic Search, but How Much Does It Cost?
December 9, 2016
I love Google. You love Google. Everyone loves Google so much that it has become a verb in practically every language. Google does present many problems, however, especially in the inclusion of paid ads in search results and Google searches are not academically credible. Researchers love the ease of use with Google, but there a search engine does not exist that returns results that answer a simple question based on a few keywords, NLP, and citations (those are extremely important).
It is possible that a search engine designed for academia could exist, especially if it can be subject specific and allows full-text access to all results. The biggest problem and barrier in the way of a complete academic search engine is that scholarly research is protected by copyright and most research is behind pay walls belonging to academic publishers, like Elsevier.
Elsevier is a notorious academic publisher because it provides great publication and it is also expensive to subscribe to it digitally. The Mendeley Blog shares that Elsevier has answered the academic search engine cry: “Introducing Elsevier DataSearch.” The Elsevier DataSearch promises to search through reputable information repositories and help researchers accelerate their work.
DataSearch is still in the infant stage and there is an open call for beta testers:
DataSearch offers a new and innovative approach. Most search engines don’t actively involve their users in making them better; we invite you, the user, to join our User Panel and advise how we can improve the results. We are looking for users in a variety of fields, no technical expertise is required (though welcomed). In order to join us, visit https://datasearch.elsevier.com and click on the button marked ‘Join Our User Panel’.”
This is the right step forward for any academic publisher! There is one thing I am worried about and that is: how much is the DataSearch engine going to cost users? I respect copyright and the need to make a profit, but I wish there was one all-encompassing academic database that was free or had a low-cost subscription plan.
Whitney Grace, December 9, 2016
The Information Not Accuracy Age
December 7, 2016
The impact of Google on our lives is clear through the company’s name being used colloquially as a verb. However, Quantum Run reminds us of their impact, quantifiable, in their piece called All hail Google. Google owns 80% of the smartphone market with over a billion android devices. Gmail’s users tally at 420 million users and Chrome has 800 million users. Also, YouTube, which Google owns, has one billion users. An interesting factoid the article pairs with these stats is that 94% of students equate Google with research. The article notes:
The American Medical association voices their concerns over relying on search engines, saying, “Our concern is the accuracy and trustworthiness of content that ranks well in Google and other search engines. Only 40 percent of teachers say their students are good at assessing the quality and accuracy of information they find via online research. And as for the teachers themselves, only five percent say ‘all/almost all’ of the information they find via search engines is trustworthy — far less than the 28 percent of all adults who say the same.
Apparently, cybercondria is a thing. The article correctly points to the content housed on the deep web and the Dark Web as untouched by Google. The major question sparked by this article is that we now have to question the validity of all the fancy numbers Quantum Run has reported.
Megan Feil, December 7, 2016
Google Search Results Are Politically Biased
December 7, 2016
Google search results are supposed to be objective and accurate. The key phrase in the last sentence was objective, but studies have proven that algorithms can be just as biased as the humans who design them. One would think that Google, one of the most popular search engines in the world, who have discovered how to program objective algorithms, but according to the International Business Times, “Google Search Results Tend To Have Liberal Bias That Could Influence Public Opinion.”
Did you ever hear Uncle Ben’s advice to Spider-Man, “With great power comes great responsibility.” This advice rings true for big corporations, such as Google, that influence the public opinion. CanIRank.com conducted a study the discovered searches using political terms displayed more pages with a liberal than a conservative view. What does Google have to say about it?
The Alphabet-owned company has denied any bias and told the Wall Street Journal: ‘From the beginning, our approach to search has been to provide the most relevant answers and results to our users, and it would undermine people’s trust in our results, and our company, if we were to change course.’ The company maintains that its search results are based on algorithms using hundreds of factors which reflect the content and information available on the Internet. Google has never made its algorithm for determining search results completely public even though over the years researchers have tried to put their reasoning to it.
This is not the first time Google has been accused of a liberal bias in its search results. The consensus is that the liberal leanings are unintentional and is an actual reflection of the amount of liberal content on the Web.
What is the truth? Only the Google gods know.
Whitney Grace, December 7, 2016
The Noble Quest Behind Semantic Search
November 25, 2016
A brief write-up at the ontotext blog, “The Knowledge Discovery Quest,” presents a noble vision of the search field. Philologist and blogger Teodora Petkova observed that semantic search is the key to bringing together data from different sources and exploring connections. She elaborates:
On a more practical note, semantic search is about efficient enterprise content usage. As one of the biggest losses of knowledge happens due to inefficient management and retrieval of information. The ability to search for meaning not for keywords brings us a step closer to efficient information management.
If semantic search had a separate icon from the one traditional search has it would have been a microscope. Why? Because semantic search is looking at content as if through the magnifying lens of a microscope. The technology helps us explore large amounts of systems and the connections between them. Sharpening our ability to join the dots, semantic search enhances the way we look for clues and compare correlations on our knowledge discovery quest.
At the bottom of the post is a slideshow on this “knowledge discovery quest.” Sure, it also serves to illustrate how ontotext could help, but we can’t blame them for drumming up business through their own blog. We actually appreciate the company’s approach to semantic search, and we’d be curious to see how they manage the intricacies of content conversion and normalization. Founded in 2000, ontotext is based in Bulgaria.
Cynthia Murrell, November 25, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Shining a Flashlight in Space
November 9, 2016
A tired, yet thorough metaphor of explaining the dark web is shining a flashlight in space. If you shine a flashlight in space, your puny battery-powered beacon will not shed any light on the trillions of celestial objects that exist in the vacuum. While you wave the flashlight around trying to see something in the cosmos, you are too blind to see the grand galactic show hidden by the beam. The University of Michigan shared the article, “Shadow Of The Dark Web” about Computer Science and Engineering Professor Mike Cafarella and his work with DARPA.
Cafarella is working on Memex, a project that goes beyond the regular text-based search engine. Using more powerful search tools, Memex concentrates on discovering information related to human trafficking. Older dark web search tools skimmed over information and were imprecise. Cafarella’s work improved dark web search tools, supplying data sets with more accurate information on traffickers, their contact information, and their location.
Humans are still needed to interpret the data as the algorithms do not know how to interpret the black market economic worth of trafficked people. His dark web search tools can be used for more than just sex trafficking:
His work can help identify systems of terrorist recruitment; bust money-laundering operations; build fossil databases from a century’s worth of paleontology publications; identify the genetic basis of diseases by drawing from thousands of biomedical studies; and generally find hidden connections among people, places, and things.
I would never have thought a few years ago that database and data-mining research could have such an impact, and it’s really exciting,’ says Cafarella. ‘Our data has been shipped to law enforcement, and we hear that it’s been used to make real arrests. That feels great.
In order to see the dark web, you need more than a flashlight. To continue the space metaphor, you need a powerful telescope that scans the heavens and can search the darkness where no light ever passes.
Whitney Grace, November 9, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Job Hunting in Secret Is Not So Secret
November 3, 2016
While the American economy has recovered from the recession, finding a job is still difficult. Finding a new job can be even harder has you try to be discreet while handling emails, phone calls, and Web traffic under the radar. A bit of advice is to not search for jobs while at your current position, but that is easier said than done in many respects. Social media is a useful job seeking tool and LinkedIn now offers a job search incognito mode. SlashGear discusses the new mode in the article, “LinkedIn’s Open Candidates Feature Helps You Find A Job In Secret.”
The Open Candidates feature allows LinkedIn users to search for a new job while hiding their job search activity from their current employer. It will try to hide your job search activity, while at the same time it will add a new search feature for recruiters that displays profiles of people who have listed themselves under the Open Candidates feature. The hope is that it will bring more opportunity to these people.
However, nothing is ever secret on the Internet and LinkedIn can only do its best to help you:
While the new feature will probably be welcome by people who would prefer to carry out a job search while ruffling as few feathers as possible, LinkedIn does warn that even it will try to prevent your current employer from seeing that you’ve listed yourself as an Open Candidate, it can’t guarantee that it will be able to identify all of the recruiters associated with your company. In other words, use at your own risk.
If you work in a company that tracks your online social life or for a tech organization, you will have difficulty using this feature. LinkedIn and Microsoft employees will definitely need to use the first piece of advice, search for a new job on your personal computer/device using your own Internet.
Whitney Grace, November 3, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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