Week 4

This week we were given some tasks in tutorial.. this is one i have to do ..a search without using Google to find the answers to the following questions.. lets see how i go haha

1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin?

The largest pumpkin ever grown is 1,502 pounds. It was weighed in on October 7, 2006 at the Rhode Island Weigh-off. (worldsbiggestpumpkin.com)

2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Grant Hackett?

Try the White Pages..for either him or his new swimming coach Mr Ian Pope.

3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?

The giraffe's tongue can measure up to 22inches in length. (www.bellsouthmspioneers.org/ZooGiraffes)

4. How would you define the word 'ontology'? In your own words, what does it really mean ?

A study on the nature of existence.

5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film?

Shivers in 1975

6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?

January 8 1986

7. Why do all phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?

It began 30 years ago or more when the use of exchange names as part of the telephone number was still popular in the USA. Dials had letters as well as numbers and the first 3 letters of the exchange name were dialled followed by numbers. Due to the "low fill" of the 555 code, Hollywood was encouraged to quote 555 numbers in their productions to prevent real subscribers being harassed by members of the public trying out the numbers quoted on the screen. Generic and satirical advertisements and commercials often used 555 numbers

8. What is the cheapest form of travel from Crete to Rhodes?

AU$260 inclusive of all taxes and fees
06:45 Depart Chania (CHQ)Arrive Rhodes (RHO) 10:50 (http://www.expedia.com.au/pub/agent.dll?tovr=-1294687291&ps3u=)

9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?

I'll Never Find Another You by the Seekers (http://www.onmc.iinet.net.au/topspot/1965.htm)

10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?

The Black Assassins (http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/art/staff/stockwell.htm)

Search Engines

What is a search engine?

A program that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found. (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/search_engine.html) A good example of this Google or Yahoo. It however doesnt neccessary only happen through the internet. Assuming you are using Windows, in the start menu there is a search option where you can search your computer and network similarly.

How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?

Search engines rank web pages by determining relevancy though analyzing keyword location, frequency and through other methods.(http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2167961)

Who, or what, makes one page (that you might get in your search results) more useful than another one, so that it is put at the top of your search results?

Frequency is a factor in how search engines determine relevancy. A search engine will analyze how often keywords appear in relation to other words in a web page. Those with a higher frequency are often deemed more relevant than other web pages.(http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2167961)

What are some of your favourite search engines? why do you like one more than others?

I would say that Google is my favourite search engine..ok a bit cliche but i think it is the most precise and easy to use and read out of the ones i know. For this tutorial tast i used Ask.com and it was extremely slow and was hard to read, and i didnt just take that stance because i was out of my comfort zone..i just didnt enjoy the search engine experience. So yeh..google..woot!

Can you find some current news stories about search engines? (for example, Google has been in the technology news a bit lately).

1. Beating The Unbeatable Google (http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/2007/03/27/beating-the-unbeatable-google)

2. Getting Link Love from Google Custom Search Engines (http://searchengineland.com/070326-154515.php)