Index

Module 1 Answers

Using Web Browsers

  • Home Page:
    1. Google: http://www.google.com
    2. I made Google.com my default page because I use Google Chrome as my primary browser and it makes it easy to quickly connect to other Google applications. Google Chrome allows the user to have both a startup page and a home page. It’s easy to change this setting. If you want to change your home page, go to the top right hand corner of the Google Chrome browser to the Chrome Menu >Settings >Appearance > select Show Home > select Change. A box should appear allowing you type in any desired URL to set as your home page or you can use the new tab page.
  • Yes, you can change the web page’s appearance and it’s easy to do so. In Google Chrome, go the Chrome Menu > Settings >Scroll down to Web Content> Change the Page Zoom, Font size, or Customize Fonts. You would change for example, the font size or font face, to make the web page easier for the user to read in cases of small font size. Other ways include increasing the font size by pressing the Windows shortcut > Control + until you reach your desired font size.
  • The default search engine for my browser is Google.com. I open a new tab or window or just type into the URL bar to prompt a search.

    • Searching the Web

  • Google.com:
    1. Google returned with 224,000,000 results. Around 80% of the results I received seem to relate to how construct a web page or at least came back with tutorials, courses or tips about how to make a web page.
    2. Google returned 8,280 results. I received fewer helpful results for learning how to make a web page. I estimate around 25% of them actually relate to my search query. Many of them seem to link to blogs or biographies detailing how the writer learned to write HTML, make their web page, etc.
    3. Yahoo, Duck Duck Go, Bing.com returned fewer results than Google but they appeared to return around 80% of the same websites. Kartoo wouldn’t open.
  • Google and Bing returned the most results whereas Yahoo and Duck Duck Go returned the least. The hits appear to remain consistent for the first five to seven pages but after that Duck Duck Go and Yahoo fall off because they don’t have any more results. The Internet is vast and just because you’ve listed a website doesn’t mean it will be noticed in an ocean of results. Search engines like Google, and Bing have created algorithms that crawl the Internet to looking for pages to add to its’ index. Search engine optimization (SEO) is an algorithm designed to return results considered most directly related to what you’ve queried. The companies have different algorithms and some people pay to have their pages listed first whereas some don’t. I would use either Bing or Duck Duck Go because the two search engines return more, relevant results.
  • I wouldn’t classify Wolfram Alpha as a search engine. I would call it more of a dictionary or online encyclopedia because it returns results like biographical data but not current events, current news articles or something like a requests for lyrics.

    • Using Metasearch Sites

  • Dogpile.com:
    1. Metasites differ from a regular search site because they aggregate results from other search engines to provide more accurate, efficient results.
    2. Dogpile doesn’t list how many results are returned like Google or Bing does. There are multiple pages with relevant content as well as tabs for images, news or videos.
    3. I would say a solid 80-85% relate to the search query.
  • Mamma.com:
    1. Mamma.com doesn’t list the results either. The results display the same way that Dogpile presents theirs with the website name, URL, and small description and the tab options. There are two differences between Dogpile and Mamma.com. Dogpile has sponsored ad content and some of the content returned in the search result on Mamma.com is less relevant to my request.

    Finding Multimedia Elements

  • Google or Bing:
    1. Yes.
    2. Both these site and every other site we’ve visited except for Wolfram Alpha has tabs allowing the user to search specifically for multimedia content like images or videos.
    3. I’m obsessed with Marvel comics and movies. Deadpool is the newest Marvel movie set to premiere in theaters on February 12. I did a video search for Deadpool and received 13,700,000 results.
    4. There were no warnings or disclaimers but there are options for filtering your results.

    Web Hosting Sites

  • I would most likely choose WordPress or Tumblr for a web hosting service. I’m familiar enough with both to use it competently. GoDaddy or SiteGround seems like it offers nice perks such as lower fees, good customer service support, and nice available features and settings. 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.