Using Web Browsers
1a. What is the title and URL of the web page you are defaulted to?
A. The web page is Conduit Search, http://search.conduit.com/
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?
A. "Conduit Search is a browser hijacker that is bundled with other free software that you download off of the Internet. Once installed it will set the homepage and search engine for any installed browsers to http://search.conduit.com without your permission." To change this, click the three dots next to the url field and select settings from the dropdown. In the "Appearance" section, change the url under "Show Home Button" to the desired web page.
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?
A. To change the appearance of web pages within your browser, click on the three dots next to the url field and select Settings form the dropdown list. The "Appearance" field provided options for changing Font size and typeface. I might change the size if I wanted to capture more or less content in a single frame, or to ease strain on my eyes.
3. What's the default search engine associated with your web browser? How do you get to it?
A. The default search engine is Google, which I get to by opening a new tab.
Searching the Web
4a. How many matches did you get? Can you estimate how many of the searches actually relate to learning to make web pages?
A. I got 8,620,000 results.
4b. How many matches did you get? Link to a couple of the sites in the search results list.
A. The results became increasingly unrelated around page 8 out of 26, and many did not relate even in those first 8, so I would say around 25% of the results. Examples of related websites include Building Your First Web Page and How to Make a Web Site: The Complete Beginner's Guide
5. How many matches did you get [after using quotation marks]? 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? 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)?
A. 15,300 results (but only showing 6 pages). Closer to 50% of results were relevant, such as Learning to Make Webpages Using Html and Learning to Make Web Pages the Easy Way. Doing the same search on other search engines yielded the following number of results: Bing - 3,840,000, Yahoo - 3,840,000, DuckDuckGo - ~100, Kartoo - 0. Google likely gets fewer results because it has a more sophisticated algorithm for filtering/serve through results, while Bing and Yahoo may rely on keywords foremost.
6. Take a look at Wolfram Alpha. 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.
A. Wolfram Alpha is an encyclopedic database with search capability. I don't think I would classify it as a search engine since it does not scour information across the Internet but rather collects and provides in-house (for lack of a better term) data.
Using Metasearch Sites
7a. What is the main difference between a metasite and a regular search site?
A. A metasearch site filters though and combines the results from leading search engines, theoretically finding the most relevant and eliminating duplicates.
7b. Do a search for learning to make web pages. How many matches did you get? How are the matches organized?
A. Over 30 pages of results. The matches appear to be organized like a typical search engine, but I noticed that a lot of sites I've already visited came up first, so my own activity affects the organization of the matches.
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?
A. A very small percentage. Results quickly started to become irrelevant by page 2
8a. Do a search for learning to make web pages. How many matches did you get? How are the matches organized?
A. No matches. If you do search for something successfully, matches are organized based on retailer.
8b. How do the matches on Mamma differ from the matches you found in search 7?
A. While Dogpile operates similarly to search engines (but scours leading search engine results instead of the Internet), Mamma Mia matches your search with relevant retailers and identifies coupons.
Finding Multimedia Elements
9a., b. Is there a way to search specifically for multimedia? If yes, what specific elements can you search for? What are your options?
A. Google allows you to search specifically for images and videos.
9c. Do a search for a specific element (e.g., your favorite song, a picture of Britney Spears). How many matches do you get?
A. A search for Fleetwood Mac yielded 8,900,000 results.
9d. Are there any warnings, disclaimers, or other information provided about using the results of your multimedia searches embedded in the search interface?
A. None that I could see.
Web Hosting Sites
10. 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.
A. The popular consensus for best web hosting site seems to be HostGator. HostGator costs about $3 a month (an average to low price), is an leader in uptime (99.99%), and has an average-high load time of 565ms. Overall HostGator appears to offer the best service and value.