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Virus Warning!!!

Symantec AntiVirus Research Center

This is one of those viruses, even though rare in occurrence, that should be taken seriously and you should protect your system from it. While we're on the subject of viruses, there is a great new tool on the NET. It is hosted by TREND Micro and features online virus scanning of your system. When you access Housecall home page, a Java applet loads and gives you the option of scanning a whole drive or just certain folders. This is a wonderful virus scanning service that will clean viruses from your system as well. You can access HouseCall at:

http://housecall.antivirus.com

Just what is a search engine? Even though the term is generally applied to search engines AND web directories, there is a definite difference between the two. The difference is in the way their listings are compiled.

True Search Engines

True search engines do the work of finding pages all over the Net. They are also called "spiders" or "crawlers." They run automatically and constantly visit web pages creating catalogs and indexes. Because they collect such a volume of data, you might find the information you need in a search engine that you may not find in a web directory.

Web Directories

Web directories are organized collections of web sites that are cataloged by subject. The directories are created by humans. That is the distinguishing difference between them and search engines, the human intervention. Sites included must be submitted and then they are assigned an appropriate category. Because of the human intervention, web directories can sometimes provide better results than search engines if you're looking for a mainstream subject.

How do search engines do what they do?

All search engines have three basic parts:

1. Spider or crawler
2. Index
3. Search engine software

Spider

As we mentioned before, the spider goes out and visits millions of web pages daily. It also follows links to other pages within the site. The spider will return to sites on a regular basis to look for changes.

Index

Everything the spider finds is put into what is called a catalog or index. This is just like a huge book that contains a copy of every web page that the spider has visited. When the spider re-visits a site, it comes back and makes the necessary changes in the index.

Search engine software

When you request a search, the software is the program that sifts through the millions of pages to find what you are looking for. It will also normally rank the results in order of relevance.

Some of the more popular web directories are:

• Yahoo
• AOL NetFind
• Magellan Internet Search
• Search.Com
• Snap Online
• Northern Light

Popular search engines on the NET include:

• Alta Vista
• Excite
• Infoseek
• HotBot
• Lycos
• WebCrawler

Another type of search tool we haven't talk about is the metasearch site. It is sort of a hybrid of a search engine and a web directory. When you access a metasearch site, you can submit a single search and apply it to multiple search sites all at one time. Some of the more popular metasearch sites on the NET include:

• All-in-One Search Page
• EZ Find at the River
• Dogpile
• MetaCrwaler
• Savvy Search

When you are choosing a search tool on the NET, you need to look for three main attributes; accuracy, ease of use, and advanced searching capabilities.

Accuracy

Any search tool on the NET that delivers useless information is worthless. The search tool must deliver the information you need or it is no good to you. You need to look for listings with a low number of duplications and the fewest pages with broken links.

Ease of use

The search tool must be capable of easy-to-construct simple searches. Simple searches are the "bread and butter" of Internet searching. All of the search tools employ the same mechanism for simple searches, a field for keywords and a button to initiate the search. But a first-rate search engine will allow you to search other parts of the NET other than the WWW.

Advanced searching

As I have previously mentioned, simple searches are what most users do. Eventually you're going to run into a dead-end and you're going to need a search tool that contains a capable advanced search tool. The best of the advanced searches use a graphical interface with pull down menus with choices and check boxes. Advanced searches will also let you use Boolean syntax (and, or, not).

I hope this little overview of search tools on the NET has been helpful. In coming issues, we'll be talking about advanced searching.

Humor Time

A Little Kiss

Four strangers travelled together in the same compartment of a European train. Two men and two women faced each other.

One woman was a very wealthy and sophisticated 70 year old lady who was decked out in the finest of furs and jewelry. Next to her sat a beautiful young woman, nineteen years old - who looked like something right off the cover of a fashion magazine. Across from the older lady was a very mature looking man in his mid-forties who was a highly decorated Sergeant Major in the Army. And next to the Sergeant Major sat a young private fresh out of boot camp.

As these four strangers travelled, they talked and chatted about trivial things until they entered an unlighted tunnel, and there they sat in complete darkness and total silence, until the sound of a distinct kiss broke the silence; following the kiss a loud slap could be heard throughout the cabin.

In the ensuing period of silence the four strangers sat quietly with their own thoughts. The older lady was thinking, "Isn't it wonderful that even in this permissive day and age there are still young women who have a little self-respect and dignity?"

The young woman, shaking her head and greatly puzzled, asked herself, "Why in the world would any man in his right mind want to kiss an old fossil like that when I'm sitting here?"

The Sergeant Major, rubbing his sore face, was outraged that any woman could ever think that a man in his position would try to sneak a kiss in the dark.

And the private, grinning from ear to ear, was thinking, "What a crazy and mixed up world this is when a private can kiss the back of his hand and then smack a Sergeant Major in the face and get away with it!"

Remember when.........

A computer was something on TV from a science fiction show..
A window was something you hated to clean...and Ram was the cousin of a goat..
A byte was something you took when you ate..
Meg was the name of my honey..
Hardware was used to lock a door..
Gig was a musician's job for money..
An application was for employment..
A program was a TV show..
A cursor used profanity..
A keyboard was a piano..
Compress was something you did to garbage...Not something you did to a file..
And if you unzipped anything in public you'd be in jail for a while..
Log on was adding wood to a fire..
Hard drive was a long trip on the road..
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived..
A backup happened to your commode..
Cut is what you did with a pocket knife..
Paste is what you did with glue..
A web was a spider's home..
And a virus was the flu..
I guess I'll stick to my pad and paper and the memory in my head..
I hear nobody's been killed in a computer crash..
But when it happens they'll wish they were dead..
-author unknown - (he died while trying to send this by E-mail)

Here are a few consequences of the spread of English all over the world:

In a Tokyo Hotel:
It is forbidden to steal towels please. If you are not a person to do such things please do not read this notice.

In another Japanese hotel room:
Please bath inside the tub.

In a Bucharest lobby:
The lift is being fixed for the next day. During that time we regret that you will be unbearable.

In a Leipzig elevator:
Do not enter the lift backwards, and only when it lit up.

In a Belgrade hotel elevator:
To move the cabin, push button for wishing floor. If the cabin should enter more persons, each one should press a number of wishing floor. Driving is then going alphabetically by national order.

In a Paris hotel elevator:
Please leave your values at the front desk.

In a hotel in Athens:
Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 am.

In a hotel in former Yugoslavia:
The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of a chambermaid.

In a Japanese hotel:
You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery:
You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists and writers are buried daily except Thursday.

In an Austrian hotel catering to skiers:
Not to perambulate the corridors in the hours of respose in the boots of ascension.

In a Vienna Hotel:
In case of fire, do your utmost to alarm the hotel porter.

In a Zurich hotel:
Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.

On the door of a Moscow hotel room:
If this is your first visit to Russia, you are welcome to it.

In an Acapulco hotel:
The manager has personally passed all the water served here.