There are so many different ways to find information on the internet, the most popular being search engines. But how do these search engines rank the information they find on the Internet? An explanation of this would be that they rank websites according to the location and frequency of the keywords in the website, particulary focusing on whether the keywords appear at the top of the webpage, e.g. the headline. Webpages with the keywords appearing more so, near the top of the page and in greater proportion to other words will be assumed by the search engine as more relevant than webpages with the keywords appearing less frequently. These webpages will therefore be placed at the top of the search.
There are a great amount of search engines on the Internet, however only a few are well-known and frequently used. Google is the only search engine I use, simply because I was introduced to it at such a young age and have never had any problems with it. Also, because it is used by so many other people, I feel that I can trust the information it provides. Google is also a very simple search engine, requiring not much energy or thought to use, whereas I believe other search engines have information and advertisements cluttering their pages, making the site less user-friendly.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Scavenger Hunt
1. Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus?
Onel de Guzman (CNN.com)
2. Who invented the paper clip?
William D. Middlebrook (Ideafinder.com)
3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?
From the Ebola river in Zaire, Africa. (HotBot.com)
4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
Chile (Yahoo.com)
5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
1073741824 kilobytes (Altavista.com)
6. Who is the creator of email?
Ray Tomlinson (Yahoo.com)
7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
The Storm worm is a Trojan Horse that opens a backdoor in the computer which then allows it to be remotely controlled, while also installing a rootkit that hides the malicious program. This particular worm also has the ability to update itself, so that updated infections can be fed into the compromised computer.The number of infected computers is uncertain, but it is estimated that between 1,000,000 and 50,000,000 computers have been infected worldwide. (About.com)
8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of australia directly, what is the most efficient way?
You can email the Prime Minister via a form on the Prime Minister's site. (australia.gov.au)
9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School of Arts) a member of?
Black Assassins (Yahoo.com)
10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
Web 2.0 defines the newer version of the Web and the Internet. In Web 2.0, commonly used sites in the past are now replaced with newer versions of these sites, example from Netscape to Google. Web 2.0 is an attempt to increase user-friendliness and expand the possibilities between users and information on the Internet. (About.com)
Onel de Guzman (CNN.com)
2. Who invented the paper clip?
William D. Middlebrook (Ideafinder.com)
3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?
From the Ebola river in Zaire, Africa. (HotBot.com)
4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?
Chile (Yahoo.com)
5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?
1073741824 kilobytes (Altavista.com)
6. Who is the creator of email?
Ray Tomlinson (Yahoo.com)
7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?
The Storm worm is a Trojan Horse that opens a backdoor in the computer which then allows it to be remotely controlled, while also installing a rootkit that hides the malicious program. This particular worm also has the ability to update itself, so that updated infections can be fed into the compromised computer.The number of infected computers is uncertain, but it is estimated that between 1,000,000 and 50,000,000 computers have been infected worldwide. (About.com)
8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of australia directly, what is the most efficient way?
You can email the Prime Minister via a form on the Prime Minister's site. (australia.gov.au)
9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School of Arts) a member of?
Black Assassins (Yahoo.com)
10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?
Web 2.0 defines the newer version of the Web and the Internet. In Web 2.0, commonly used sites in the past are now replaced with newer versions of these sites, example from Netscape to Google. Web 2.0 is an attempt to increase user-friendliness and expand the possibilities between users and information on the Internet. (About.com)
Monday, March 17, 2008
New Communication Technologies
I use new communication technologies every day to communicate with my friends and family. My mobile phone, MySpace, Facebook, and email.
Although websites such as MySpace and Facebook were created so others could find and meet NEW people, I only ever use these websites to communicate with people I'm already friends with. Because most of my friends and family live in Brisbane, the internet is an easy and cheap way to catch up with them. I don't feel the need to meet new people via the internet, mainly because I don't trust people I can't see or don't know.
I've been using the internet since I was about 13 to chat with other people. Back then I used msn, but now I find it boring. It was just the thing to do in grade 8, considering the entire grade used it every night to gossip about everybody. Now I use MySpace, because all my friends had it and were raving about it. Then when I moved on-campus, there were people living there from all over the world, and the majority used Facebook. So I had to get it. With these kinds of websites, privacy is a pretty big issue, because I know people tend to creep around MySpace and go through others photos, read their relationship status, make assumptions from comments, and worst of all; people get cut if you don't have them in your top friends. Also, there are some pretty creepy people adding you on those sites that you've never seen before, and once you add them, they can see all your photos, your details, and read all about you. So I like my profiles on private.
I've had a mobile phone since I was 11, but it wasn't too exciting considering none of my friends had a mobile phone. The only reason I got a mobile phone was because I thought it was cool - not because I needed one. However, nowadays it's a totally different story. I use my mobile phone for basically everything when it comes to organising events or seeing a friend. It's just so convenient.
Email is a technology that I haven't really used at all until my sister moved overseas a couple of years ago. It's definitely the easiest way to communicate with them, considering there's so much to talk about. Email also came pretty handy when uni started, as everything was via email.
So as you can see, I use new communication technologies all the time, without really realising how much of a difference it would make if I didn’t use them. I honestly wouldn't be able to keep in touch with any of my friends, without having to drive an hour to see them. And even so, how would they know I was going to come and visit them? What if they're not home? How will I know where they are? I couldn't survive without my mobile phone.
Although websites such as MySpace and Facebook were created so others could find and meet NEW people, I only ever use these websites to communicate with people I'm already friends with. Because most of my friends and family live in Brisbane, the internet is an easy and cheap way to catch up with them. I don't feel the need to meet new people via the internet, mainly because I don't trust people I can't see or don't know.
I've been using the internet since I was about 13 to chat with other people. Back then I used msn, but now I find it boring. It was just the thing to do in grade 8, considering the entire grade used it every night to gossip about everybody. Now I use MySpace, because all my friends had it and were raving about it. Then when I moved on-campus, there were people living there from all over the world, and the majority used Facebook. So I had to get it. With these kinds of websites, privacy is a pretty big issue, because I know people tend to creep around MySpace and go through others photos, read their relationship status, make assumptions from comments, and worst of all; people get cut if you don't have them in your top friends. Also, there are some pretty creepy people adding you on those sites that you've never seen before, and once you add them, they can see all your photos, your details, and read all about you. So I like my profiles on private.
I've had a mobile phone since I was 11, but it wasn't too exciting considering none of my friends had a mobile phone. The only reason I got a mobile phone was because I thought it was cool - not because I needed one. However, nowadays it's a totally different story. I use my mobile phone for basically everything when it comes to organising events or seeing a friend. It's just so convenient.
Email is a technology that I haven't really used at all until my sister moved overseas a couple of years ago. It's definitely the easiest way to communicate with them, considering there's so much to talk about. Email also came pretty handy when uni started, as everything was via email.
So as you can see, I use new communication technologies all the time, without really realising how much of a difference it would make if I didn’t use them. I honestly wouldn't be able to keep in touch with any of my friends, without having to drive an hour to see them. And even so, how would they know I was going to come and visit them? What if they're not home? How will I know where they are? I couldn't survive without my mobile phone.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Introducing Carly
Hi there.
My name is Carly. I'm 18 years old, I live at the Gold Coast and am currently attending university studying a Bachelor of Communications - first year.
In relation to appearance, I have brown hair and brown eyes. Nothing too exciting.
My favourite thing to do, ever, is sleep. But eating comes a close second. However I'm not entirely boring. I do like to dance, drink, laugh, and sing (badly). And I like music. Listening, playing or dancing to music - all of it. And I don't particularly care if I'm bad at it, it's fun.
I know I'm a uni student, but no, I'm not a big drinker. Well, I wasn't until I moved on-campus last year. I don't exactly care for the taste of alcohol, but somehow I always seem to have a glass in my hand after I promise myself that I would NEVER drink again (following a messy night and a 3 day hang-over). Oh the joys of peer-pressure.
Well I'm pretty much running out of things to say... So I guess I'll wrap it up. Welcome to Carly's blog. I will be posting on a weekly basis, so I guess I'll see you next week.
My name is Carly. I'm 18 years old, I live at the Gold Coast and am currently attending university studying a Bachelor of Communications - first year.
In relation to appearance, I have brown hair and brown eyes. Nothing too exciting.
My favourite thing to do, ever, is sleep. But eating comes a close second. However I'm not entirely boring. I do like to dance, drink, laugh, and sing (badly). And I like music. Listening, playing or dancing to music - all of it. And I don't particularly care if I'm bad at it, it's fun.
I know I'm a uni student, but no, I'm not a big drinker. Well, I wasn't until I moved on-campus last year. I don't exactly care for the taste of alcohol, but somehow I always seem to have a glass in my hand after I promise myself that I would NEVER drink again (following a messy night and a 3 day hang-over). Oh the joys of peer-pressure.
Well I'm pretty much running out of things to say... So I guess I'll wrap it up. Welcome to Carly's blog. I will be posting on a weekly basis, so I guess I'll see you next week.
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