About.com Web Search

Web search news roundup Nov. 14-20: Twitter premium accounts, Google Swirl, BehindBing

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:01:29 +0000

A lot of fun stuff happened this week in the world of Web search, so let's get right to it:

Google Swirl offers fun ways to explore images: Google has opened up a new way to find images, and it's just swirl-y (sorry 'bout that).
Yahoo Brings 'Real Time' Updates To News Shortcut: Yahoo is coming to the table with integrated Twitter feeds; Bing, Google unveiled a Twitter search option about a month ago.
Survey uncovers the UK's favorite websites: Some very interesting choices here.
Twitter Premium Accounts Coming by Year's End: Premium accounts are best for those folks who need better analytics and advanced Twitter features.
Google Builds Out A National Real Estate Search Engine: Google already rolled out searchable real estate back in July (Google Maps: now with real estate listings), but now it's got even more great features (convenient for looky-loos).
Future Directions of Wolfram|Alpha: Fun stuff in store for the computational search engine, including the Wolfram|Alpha API, Wolfram|Alpha iPhone App, and enterprise and custom versions.
Discover Bing: Want to explore Bing and everything it has to offer? This is the place to do it.
Search engines are a source of learning: An intriguing new study suggests that we mostly use search engines to confirm what we already know.
Twitter Incorporates Retweeting (Beta Launch): Retweeting (basically passing along someone else's thoughts on Twitter) gets tweaked.

Did I miss something? If you've got a Web search news item you'd like to share, now is the time!

Web search news roundup Nov. 14-20: Twitter premium accounts, Google Swirl, BehindBing originally appeared on About.com Web Search on Saturday, November 21st, 2009 at 00:01:29.

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Do a HotFile search with FileLinkFind

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:33:08 +0000

File hosting sites, such as Gigasize, Ziddu, File Dropper, MediaFire, Megaupload, HotFile, or Rapidshare, typically do not offer you the opportunity to see what other people have uploaded to their servers. However, there are a lot of search engines that offer a way around that, and one of them is FileLinkFind.

FileLinkFind gives you the ability to search all the file hosting services listed above (along with a few more). Plus, you can subscribe to a topic you'd like to keep track of; for instance, say you want to see updates to your favorite public domain eBook....well, you can simply subscribe to that topic via RSS. Note: Please be aware that FileLinkFind (and similar file hosting search engines and sites) offer adult content and advertising, and that it is considered illegal in most countries to download copyrighted files.

More file hosting search engines

Rapidshare Search Engines: Rapidshare, one of the largest file hosting sites on the Web, does not offer a public search option to see what other people are uploading. However, you can get around that with Rapidshare search engines. Here are my picks for the top five Rapidshare search engines; they're all easy to use, offer advanced file hosting search capabilities, and best of all - they're free.

Do a HotFile search with FileLinkFind originally appeared on About.com Web Search on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 12:33:08.

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Search for videos with the Veoh Web Player

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:28:06 +0000

I ran across an interesting way to search and watch videos today; it's the Veoh Web Player. It's a free download that makes it possible for you to search and watch videos right in your browser, in addition to managing all videos that you download (a plugin for downloading videos is included in the download). For instance, here's what my browser looked like when I searched for "puppy":

As you can see, I've got around 65 puppy videos from a variety of sites that I can watch instantly. Here's what my browser looked like when I clicked on one of the videos:

Now, this isn't anything groundbreaking; any video site will let you watch videos in your browser. However, if you find yourself searching for videos a lot, and you like downloading them, this is a good way to manage those tasks.

More about videos on the Web

Thirty Ways to Watch Free Videos Online

Search for videos with the Veoh Web Player originally appeared on About.com Web Search on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 12:28:06.

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Mystery Google - what is it?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:36:48 +0000

If you'd like to add a little bit of spice to your search today, check out Mystery Google, a custom search engine designed to show you what the person in front of you just searched for.

Obviously, it's not a tool for when you need quick, accurate search results (you'll want to try this list of search engines for that). However, if you just want a little distraction, this is awesome.

For instance, I typed in "tabby cat" and got back results for how to beat homesickness. The query "baseball bat" got "Your boss is watching! Alt-Tab! Alt-Tab!". And the search for "potato soup" got "will you go out with me". Try it out, I promise you'll get a laugh or two!

More Web silliness

Mystery Google - what is it? originally appeared on About.com Web Search on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 12:36:48.

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The best Twitter backgrounds on the Web

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:42:48 +0000

If you've been using Twitter for any length of time, you've probably noticed that many people have spiffed up their personal Twitter backgrounds with all sorts of fun stuff: favorite photos, information about their business, images from their favorite TV show, etc. There are a lot of sites that offer Twitter backgrounds for free use or for a small fee, but not all of them are good. Here are the top five Twitter background sites that I like to visit:

TwitterPatterns: Most of these patterns are very retro, which I love. All are going for about $5.00.
Twitter Backgrounds: Great selection here of free, personalized, or custom backgrounds (the custom ones you'll have to pay for).
TwitPaper: HUGE assortment of free Twitter backgrounds with enough variety to satisfy even the pickiest Tweeter.
BGPatterns: Make your own tiled Twitter background from a great selection of patterns.
Noupe: Utterly gorgeous designs here that you can easily slip into your Twitter background settings.

Want to create your own Twitter background? You can do that, and pretty easily. Here are a few great tutorials:

TwitBacks: In less time than it takes for you to watch a commercial break, you can make your own personalized Twitter background - and for free.
How to Create a Custom Twitter Background: Little bit more advanced instruction here for those folks who want to make their Twitter page really stand out.

Oh, and if you want to get some serious inspiration, check out these amazing Twitter background galleries:

Effective Twitter Backgrounds: Examples and Current Practices: I just oohed and ahhed over these ones; people are so talented!
Twitter Backgrounds Gallery: People send in their Twitter backgrounds to share; there are some nice ones here.
100 Creative Twitter Backgrounds Featuring Illustration: Even more wonderfully designed Twitter backgrounds to inspire you.

Do you have a special Twitter background? Check mine out at @wboswell; I'd love to hear from you!

More about Twitter

The best Twitter backgrounds on the Web originally appeared on About.com Web Search on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 12:42:48.

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International MapQuest: maps and driving directions

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:18:11 +0000

If you're a fan of MapQuest driving directions, you'll be glad to know that you can also access International MapQuest, a nice list of maps and driving directions from all over the globe. For example:

These are all available in a variety of languages, depending which country/region you select. Pretty cool!

More about Mapquest: MapQuest Driving Directions Search Shortcuts gives you even more power over making your MapQuest driving directions and maps as customized as possible to your needs.

International MapQuest: maps and driving directions originally appeared on About.com Web Search on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 12:18:11.

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Web search news roundup Nov.8-13: Google movie search, Firefox market share, Digg Trends

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:42:09 +0000

It's Saturday, and you know what that means: a chore list as long as your arm and the weekly Web Search news roundup (not necessarily in that order). Let's get right to it:

Google's movie showtimes, digitally remastered: Google's added a few improvements to your movie searching experience, including detailed background information, maps, and genre filters.
Bing partners with Wolfram Alpha: Bing and Wolfram Alpha will be collaborating to make Bing search results even better.
One in four now use Firefox to surf the Web: Firefox has snagged up 25% of total browser market share.
Yahoo adds more to video search: Yahoo has tweaked their already excellent video search service with deeper search suggestions/relevance.
Experimenting with Digg Trends: Want to see what's popular on Digg? Check out Digg Trends, a new(ish) innovation that places trending stories on the front page.
Facebook and Wikipedia execs to brief the Vatican on the Web: Executives from Wikipedia and Facebook are at the Vatican until Sunday to talk about the World Wide Web.
Clicker.com aims to become the Internet usher: Want to see what's showing in the world of Web multimedia? Clicker might be a good answer.
Interview with founder of Isohunt: Excellent in-depth interview with the founder of Isohunt, one of the most popular torrent search engines on the Web.

Did I miss something? Let us know about a Web search news item that happened this week in the comments below, or comment on what's been posted.

Web search news roundup Nov.8-13: Google movie search, Firefox market share, Digg Trends originally appeared on About.com Web Search on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 00:42:09.

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Wolfram Alpha named one of Popular Science's "Best of What's New" for 2009

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:43:08 +0000

Wolfram Alpha, the incredibly useful (if oddly named) computational search engine, has won a coveted place in Popular Science's yearly top innovations selection: it's one of the "Best of What's New" in 2009.

A detailed profile of Wolfram Alpha, along with a background piece on Stephen Wolfram, the search engine's founder, will appear in the December 2009 issue of Popular Science, which came out yesterday (November 12). Congratulations to the W/A team - it's a well-deserved honor!

More about Wolfram Alpha: Not your average search engine. Wolfram Alpha is a computational, question and answer engine (it is NOT a search engine, it does NOT scour the Web for information) that will give you statistical-type answers for whatever query you might come up with.

Wolfram Alpha named one of Popular Science's "Best of What's New" for 2009 originally appeared on About.com Web Search on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 13:43:08.

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Reverse image search with TinEye

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:32:28 +0000

Ever wonder where an image you see on the Web actually came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or to find higher resolution versions? You can use TinEye as a reverse image search engine to answer all of these questions. Here's how it works:

Upload an image from your computer, or copy and paste a URL that has the image you're investigating.
TinEye comes back with a list of possible sources for that image.

TinEye has all sorts of interesting possibilities. For example:

See how the Mona Lisa has been used all over the globe
The Google logo has a ton of variations
The official Obama Biden campaign logo shows up in a lot of different places

Definitely an interesting tool. Need to find more images? Try Image Search Engines, or if you're looking for free images for use on your site, check out Thirty Free Image Resources on the Web.

Reverse image search with TinEye originally appeared on About.com Web Search on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 08:32:28.

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WebAnywhere, a screen reader for visually challenged searchers

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:15:05 +0000

If you've been looking for an easier way to access the Web on ANY computer, whether it's home, work, a coffee shop, school, etc., then you'll want to check out WebAnywhere, an open source free screen reader project from the University of Washington.

The beauty of WebAnywhere is that it is entirely web-based, meaning you don't have to download any special software, so you can use it on any machine your heart desires. It's also available on any operating system and via any browser, which makes it even more useful. You can see a demo of WebAnywhere in action here (make sure your sound is turned on), as well as some pretty handy keyboard shortcuts.

WebAnywhere is not intended to replace more sophisticated screen readers, however, it's great for when you're out and about and just need something that will work quickly and easily, without the need for any special software or hardware. Very useful!

More Web usability tools

WebAnywhere, a screen reader for visually challenged searchers originally appeared on About.com Web Search on Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 at 12:15:05.

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