How Search Engines Work

Posted on March 11, 2012 by mikeferrara

I always wondered how search engines such as Google and Bing acquired the websites that pop up when you search something. Something I realized very quickly is that some websites always have a top spot on the results.  I noticed that whenever i typed in an actors name, IMDB and Wikipedia were always in the top search results.  After reading this article I now know about these Web Crawlers that fetch data from the web.  I then started to think if this was the best idea.  In the article itself it says that “20 percent of searches have not been searched for in the past 90 days.” How does this effect our results? If I am searching for some obscure information, does it mean that the best available website will be on page 5 of the results and the Wiki page with incorrect information will be the top result? I guess it is something to think about when it comes to how reliable search engines really are.

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plagarisms

Posted on March 9, 2012 by ibn4course

I knew it could be a little sympathetic to want some other artist idea. The truth is, I wonder if people who chosen to patent their idea in numerous formats at several intervals in copyrighted time like George Lucas’s the “Star Wars”  remade in both DVD and Blu-ray familiarize their contributions as selfishness. I bet they ask their audience to recognize illegal  criticism, or copyrighted infringement when buying the new format. I say it is criticism because the reworked and new edition of Star Wars is criticized or downgraded and stunted like a bad response in a newspaper.  The newspaper that stops people who want to visit your art expo, but was told that it is a shapeless entertainment event that the bugs in your GARBAGE would through away.

I want to say that most ideas are original, not all aspects of the piece of art a genuine accomplishment, but readily do you know someone who has made it 200 different ways like the “Star Wars” movie.

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Keywords

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Guzman Kiara

Google should be known to be the most used search engine out there. You don’t always find what you are looking for when you search for a specific result you need information on. But it does help most if the time. Google uses keywords in order to break down your research information. As you know , when you search for something and someone else searches for the same thing, they will not get the same exact information as the other person. The information you receive on what you searched on is based on the area your in and what you things you usually search for on a daily bases.

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Notes from today, and reading and blogging assignments for Monday, March 12

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Anne Leonard

Blog tag cloud, before today's tagging

Today we talked about metadata – data about data, including folksonomies, taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and the Library of Congress Subject Headings. We ran out of time before we had a chance to thoroughly discuss issues around metadata for non-text media, but it’s something to consider the next time you’re looking for a specific image or video.

On Monday, March 12 we’ll discuss the mechanics of searching; what a database is; how a search engine works. Please read chapter 3 of Badke, Leibman, How search engines work: the mechanics behind the results, and Liddy, How a search engine works. Your blogging assignment is one reading response blog post.

The research topic proposal is due on March 21. If you have any questions about it or want to discuss your topic with me, please get in touch via email.

Slides for today are available here.

Don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead one hour on Sunday — daylight savings starts then. Enjoy the (one hour shorter than usual) weekend!

Blog tag cloud, after today's tagging

~Prof. Leonard

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Search Engine of choice…

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Michael.M

I will like to first say #Kony2012! Ok now back to the assigment. Though we may use all these different search engines, which one is it that we can really rely on all the time? I mean who knows how much the government actually pays attention to what we actually search for and how much they actually want us to find? Google and yahoo have to be the most used seaech engines used for years now and I have no problem narrowing my search down to what I find to be useful in what im actually looking for because us as the people searching for the info we want should be easy however what if what we want is not on the first result page? My thoughts on search engines is make the footprints even more accurate when it comes to us using their website to find what we want so it can be more accurate.

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The Better Mouse Trap?

Posted on March 7, 2012 by matty65

As far as I can tell Google is probably the most widely used search engine. It seems that Google uses a combination of both keyword and controlled vocabulary to find references to your search. Based on the keywords that you type, Google then suggest subjects (controlled vocabulary) that help to narrow your search. I would imagine that these subjects are derived from what other users are looking for when they typed in the same keywords as you. In my personal experience using this method, 90% of the time I find what i’m looking for very quickly. Bing and Yahoo search engines also use a combination of keywords and controlled vocabulary to find references. I conducted a simple experiment with the three search engines by typing in the “west” and observing the suggestion made by each engine. Google offered the least suggestions (5) but they all seemed pretty valid. Bing offered 8 suggestions two of which I thought were a little off the beaten path, west indies cricinfo and west indies cricket board. Yahoo offered 10 suggestions all of which seemed valid. In addition Yahoo was the only search engine that included a current event, “west liberty ky tornado”. So which one’s the better mouse trap? My crude, simply experiment certainly doesn’t provide enough data to answer this question. Whats more, why do we need an answer when they are all free to use?

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Doing Things For Intrinsic Motivations

Posted on March 7, 2012 by ragoo8111

As Flickr earns it’s award as the greatest social document of the 21st Century . We can’t help but wonder what else this very informal company can do to better its own accomplishments. Touting well in excess of three billion images, and a very simple and effective sorting system of tagging now known as folksonomy . This obvious solution drove  Bradley Horowitz an MIT graduate devoted to developing an image recognition program to want to take it off the wall and rip it to shreds. Upset with himself for overlooking this simple solution.

Folksonomy as it is dubbed by Thomas Vander Wal is a collaborative taxonomy. Effective enough to get the nod from the ” Library Of Congress”, and “The Smithsonian” to contract Flickr staff to sort and index material for them. Flickr also like Face Book is plagued with  myriad of species ( users). Some of whom are  victims of their own individualism.

Like all communities this one is not absent of vanity and class warfare . There is an ever changing battle between professional photographers and the novices who make up the majority of Flickrdom. The putrid reaction to the unconventional style by novices to arrive at critically acceptable photographs . Is an insult to their years of schooling in their craft. Then again some more conventional companies whose model follows protocol probably feel the same about Flikr…..

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Notes from today, and reading & blogging assignments for Wednesday, March 7

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Anne Leonard

Today we wrapped up the section on issues and ethics of information and media. Next we’ll move into discussions on how media and information are organized. We start on Wednesday with metadata — information about information, taxonomies, folksonomies; metadata for non-text media, and metadata challenges.

Please read Badke Ch. 4; Dye, Folksonomy: A game of high-tech (and high-stakes) tag; and Harrod, It’s the playground of narcissistic teenagers and amateur photographers…

Your blogging assignment is to comment on at least one of your classmates’ blog posts.

Slides from today are available here.

~Prof. L.

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Fair Use for Media

Posted on March 5, 2012 by David R

Having read the article,  I find that fair use of copyright material is a long overdue issue. This has always been a gray area and it seems it finally is getting the attention it deserves. With more copyright laws than ever, fair use of materials in schools needed some laws or guidelines. The article gave a brief description of the guide that has resulted from numerous meetings around the country and what this whole fair use is about. With an official guide finally being established, it should help clear the gray areas and address any copyright infringements that may have been in question. It’s crazy to see that every little thing needs to be analyzed and dissected thoroughly today with emerging technology and a maturing society. I guess this simple reflects how important publishing various medias is in today’s society. I agree that a guide was needed to  have some kind of leg to stand on and in justifying the use of school material that wasn’t necessarily the teachers. If someone other than a teacher presents a topic that was being addressed in class, than its important that educators can utilize it to help them in class. As long as the instructor doesn’t claim the material as their own, I would think that utilizing an author’s work would actually promote it to future generations.

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Copyright a good idea gone bad?

Posted on March 5, 2012 by darren732

A copyright is a simple rule giving authors the exclusive rights to their work for 28 years. Like a patent but simpler.
This was a great idea that has been copied by our founding fathers. Yet as the years have gone by this simple rule has morphed and become a monster for profiting. Now that companies are involved authors and companies can both profit excessively. Case in point Star Wars series of movies, how many releases, re-releases, and theatrical re-releases, can the world stand. Not to mention the current 3D release which will turn into part of the ultimate box set of 3D movies. It goes to show how an idea can be rehashed, regurgitated and revised with bells and whistles over and over again because of the current copyright laws. As long as it makes money companies and the authors be they dead or alive will gain from it.

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