Module 1-2

1)
a. myMason https://mymasonportal.gmu.edu/webapps/portal/execute/tabs/tabAction?tab_tab_group_id=_66_1 b. It loaded because it's a preset option on a school computer. It can be changed by clicking on the "open"
menu on the top right, clicking the :General" tab, and typing a new URL into the H"Home Page" space

2)
No, you can't. From within the browser, you can only view the source text, but make no changes. If it was possible, you might want to in order to make quick fixes.

3)
The default search engine is Google, you can access it in a bar on the upper right hand corner, on the toolbar

4)
a. About 153,000,000 results. The first few are sites that either provide site building services or are "web builders," the rest of the pages are either paid or free tutorials. The farther away you go, though, the more general they are, so the first page is the most accurate.

b. 9,530 results. By doing this, you come up with results that are more focused on creating website coding, but some are tutorials posted by individuals, some are class pages, and some are tips pages. The majority of them probably have to do with making web pages.

b-1. Bing

• 14,100 results. In comparison to Google, the first couple pages seem to mainly have sites having to do with web site building. However, a good portion of them are results from sites such as Yahoo Answers and Angelfire, and a lot of them seem to be paid-for programs. Given the number of results, I’d say maybe a little over half have to do with directly making webpages.

b-2. Yahoo/AltaVista

• 14,100 results. The results here were very similar to the results from Bing. While being focused on web page creation, they pulled from a lot of “answer” websites, and generated a large number of results. I’d say it’s also a little over half.

b-3. Ask/Teoma

• From what I can see, Ask doesn’t show the number of results, so I can’t estimate. However, the first page of results seems to focus on either articles about web site building, or on recommended companies to build a site for you.

b-4. Kartoo

• Kartoo wouldn’t even load search results for the phrase

5)
No, the hits aren’t consistent. I think it would be the amount of filtering, judging from the ones that came up on the other search engines besides Google. I think Google does a better job filtering out content that’s based on offering a service (unless specifically mentioned in the search bar), as well as moving those websites with less reliable information farther back. My default engine is Google, and I’ve had to deviate at times when I’m looking for more information. Google seems to make the search much more specific, guessing what you’re looking for to give you a better chance of finding what you need. If I’m learning about something and want a broader range and a =mount of results to sift through, that’s when I would switch.

6)
Wolfram Alpha: Wolfram at first looks like a very specific search engine, but I don’t think it can be called that. A knowledge or answer engine would be more appropriate. Search engines scan the web for sites according to the keywords given. Wolfram gets its results from primary sources and limits itself to concrete facts, instead of opinions.

Using Metasearch Sites

Using:

• Dogpile
• Mamma

7)
a. Metasites perform searches through other search engine sites. Instead of being contained to just Google or Yahoo, through a metasite you can do one search through both and save time. b. This site also wouldn’t show me the number of results. However, the results are organized first by “ads related to” the search criteria, then by “are you looking for?” suggestions, then actual web results, followed by “ads.” c. I’d say maybe a quarter, especially judging by how the results are organized. There isn’t much room left for actual results relating directly to the search criteria.

8)
a. Again, the number of results wasn’t posted, but I did generate more than 16 pages of results. They’re organized under the “web results” header, you can also search for news, images, and other related topics and it’ll open a new tab for each one. There appears to be less advertisements than before.
b. It looks like it specifically looked for websites having to do with just learning how to build a websites, rather than on advertisement having to do with it. The web pages seem to focus on helping the user create a website, rather than offering a paid service to do so.

Finding Multimedia Elements

9)
a. Yes.
b. Google has options for images, maps, and videos.
c. I searched “dogs” under the “Images” option, and while a number of results came up, it wouldn’t list the number of results.
d. No, just links to Privacy and Terms of Use in the bottom right hand corner.

10)
After looking into various web hosting sites, it looks like iPage would be a good one to start with. It's listed as being the cheapest option, easy to use, reliable, and convenient. It includes web building tools that help with ease of use, as well as marketing features for sites like Yahoo. It also has options for apps, as well as Paypal usage and shopping carts if the site I wanted to build was product-based. My idea is something much simpler, a portfolio website, and I think iPage, in its simplicity, would be a good place to start with that goal. I also had a friend go through and do research himself, to see what site seemed to be the best, and he also came up with iPage. (I'm pretty sure the directions said to include this on the index page but I'll include it on both to be safe)

Index