Using Web Browsers
1a. What is the title and URL of the web page you are defaulted to?
The title of the website is "Google" and the URL is "https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl"
1b. Why did this appear? How can you change this default setting so that another web page automatically loads when you launch the web browser?
This site appears because I selected it as my homepage in my Safari browser preferences. To change my homepage, I would have to:
- Open the Safari browser,
- Look to the top menu bar and click "Safari,"
- In the opened window, select "Preferences...,"
- Click on the tab called "General,"
- In the text box to the left of the "Homepage," type in the new URL,
- And after closing the menu, my homepage will have been changed to the new URL.
2. Can you change the appearance of web pages within your browser (e.g., the font face and size)? If so, how? Why would you want to?
Versions of the Safari browser before #6 allowed one to change the appearance of websites. However, the newer version no longer has the "Appearance" tab in the "Preferences" menu. One might have changed font size and/or face to accomodate for a disability.
3. What's the default search engine associated with your web browser? How do you get to it?
The default search engine on my browser is Google and can be quickly accessed by typing the query into the address bar and pressing "return."
Searching the Web
4a. In the search box, type in learning to make web pages and click on the "Search" button. How many matches did you get? Visit a couple of the sites in the search results list. Can you estimate how many of the searches actually relate to learning to make web pages?
- Google.com: There were 169,000,000 results from the query. The majority of the sites listed on the first page of results were relevant to my search so I believe the first few pages of results would involve information on how one would go about creating a web page.
- Bing.com: There were 57,000,000 results for the query but only a few of them seemed relevant. I don't believe many of the subsequent pages would bring better results.
- Yahoo.com: 56,200,000 were found and this site's results were nearly identical to Bing.com's.
- Ask.com: Ask does not provide the number of results returned but the quality of them was much higher than that of Bing or Yahoo. I believe many of the returned results would be pertinent.
- Kartoo.com: 0 results returned.
4b. In the search box, type in "learning to make web pages" (with quotation marks) and click on the "Search" button. How many matches did you get? Link to a couple of the sites in the search results list. Can you estimate how many of the searches actually relate to learning to make web pages?
- Google.com: Putting the same search terms into quotation marks returned 9,570 Google results. In fact, our class's website was the 2nd result. Looking at the first page of results, I believe the majority of the results would help one to create a web page.
- Bing.com: 14,100 results returned from the query and still few of them seemed relevant. However, out class's web site was again within the first page, but towards the bottom.
- Yahoo.com: With 14,100 results returned from the query, Yahoo again is nearly identical to Bing.
- Ask.com: There was no number of results agin but there were only 5 pages of them this time. While our class's site was now the first web result, the others seemed mostly irrelevant now that the query was in quotation marks.
- Kartoo.com: 0 results returned
5. Are the number of hits consistent across search engines? If not, what do you think accounts for the differences? After looking at each of the above search engines, in what cases would you use a search engine that is not your current default (most likely Google)?
The number of hits is not consistent between the different search sites, possibly because their capabilities, features, and parameters placed within the code. It seems that there are many more search-related capabilities (e.g.; crawling, indexing, and and serving) built into Ask's and Google's code than the other search sites. While Ask.com returned very similar results to Google.com's, I am unlikely to switch to a different search engine unless Google somehow became unavailable.
6. Take a look at Wolfram Alpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/). Is this a search engine? If not, what would you call it? If you decide that it is, list the reasons that you would classify it as a search engine.
Wolfram Alpha is not a search engine. Rather it is a computation engine, a web site built to look at straight-forward facts (which can be found on the internet) that have been programmed into Wolfram Alpha and using them to perform a user's requested computations.
Using Metasearch Sites
7a. Head to Dogpile. What is the main difference between a metasite and a regular search site?
A metasite actually searches for results from multiple search engines and returns to the user what it believes are the most relevant.
7b. Do a search for learning to make web pages. How many matches did you get? How are the matches organized?
While Dogpile also does not give an exact number of results returned, there were over 10 pages of them. The matches are organized into the following categories:
- Ads related to: learning to make web pages
- Are you looking for?
- Web Results
- Ads
7c. Visit a couple of the sites in the search results list. Can you estimate how many of the searches actually relate to learning to make web pages?
Few of the sites were relevant to the query and had more to do with the purchasing of domain names and nontechnical methods of creating a website. I would say that few of Dogpile's results would be useful.
8a. Next, head to Mamma. Do a search for learning to make web pages. How many matches did you get? How are the matches organized?
Again, no exact number of results and the whole page consists of "Web Results."
8b. How do the matches on Mamma differ from the matches you found in search 7?
The results on Mamma seemed slightly more relevant and yet less organized than those of Dogpile.
Finding Multimedia Elements
9a. Either head to one of the search sites we've already used or head to one we haven't yet used and explore the front page of the site. Is there a way to search specifically for multimedia?
Google's home page no longer has the option to limit one's search to multimedia. However, after the initial query is given and the wide array of results is returned, the user can choose to limit their search then.
9b. If yes, what specific elements can you search for? What are your options? (If not, try another site!)
Since Google did not have the asked for set-up, I went to Bing where one can limit searches to:
- Images,
- Videos,
- Maps,
- Translator,
- And Weather.
9c. Do a search for a specific element (e.g., your favorite song, a picture of Britney Spears). How many matches do you get?
I searched for queen another one bites the dust and limited the search results to videos. However, when limited to this, Bing no longer gives the number of search results. The user can just continuously scroll down without ever really reaching the bottom of the web page as more results are added every time one comes close.
9d. Are there any warnings, disclaimers, or other information provided about using the results of your multimedia searches embedded in the search interface?
No such information was found by me.
Web Hosting Sites
10. Finally, do a search for web hosting sites. You'll want to explore cost, features, and the benefits of using a hosting service. Create a separate section in your module1.html web page and provide a bit of data that describes the web hosting site you would most likely choose if you needed to host a website.