Scavenger Hunt

The task for this week includes finding the answers to various questions without using Google or Wikipedia. The questions and answers follow:

1. Who was the creator of the infamous "lovebug" computer virus?

Onel de Guzman, Spyder, null_spyder@hotmail.com

http://www.computerbytesman.com/lovebug/index.htm, http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/06/29/philippines.lovebug.02/index.html http://www.Yahoo.com

2. Who invented the paper clip?

The modern paper clip was patented on November 9, 1899 to William D. Middlebrook of Waterbury, Connecticut.

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/paperclip.htm

http://www.Ask.com

3. How did the Ebola virus get its name?

Ebola was first recognized in 1976, and since then it has appeared sporadically. The virus gets its name from a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it was first recognized.

http://ebola.emedtv.com/ebola-virus/from-what-place-did-the-ebola-virus-get-its-name.html

http://www.ask.com

4. What country had the largest recorded earthquake?

Chile, 1960

http://www.extremescience.com/GreatestEarthquake.htm

http://www.altavista.com

5. In computer memory/storage terms, how many kilobytes in a terabyte?

1073741824 KB in a TB.

http://www.sonoma.edu/users/c/carusor/web219/hardware_terms.htm

http://www.yahoo.com

6. Who is the creator of email?

Vinton Cerf in 1988 created commercial email, however Ray Tomlinson developed the first email application in late 1971.

http://www.livinginternet.com/e/ei.htm

http://www.Ask.com

7. What is the storm worm, and how many computers are infected by it?

Internet Virus/Trojan – Unknown how many are infected, was estimated at 1.7 million in 2007.

http://www.heise-online.co.uk/security/Storm-worm-botnet-with-over-1-7-million-drones--/news/94040

http://www.altavista.com

8. If you wanted to contact the prime minister of Australia directly,
what is the most efficient way?

Address:

The Hon Kevin Rudd MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

Also a web form at: http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm

http://www.pm.gov.au/contact/index.cfm

http://www.yahoo.com.au

9. Which Brisbane-based punk band is Stephen Stockwell (Head of the School
of Arts) a member of?

Stephen played keyboard for Brisbane punk band, the Black Assassins

http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/art/staff/stockwell.htm

http://www.yahoo.com.au

10. What does the term "Web 2.0" mean in your own words?

After reading a couple of different websites, “Web 2.0” means, in my understanding, the more recent trend of internet applications to be more user-oriented, that is, able to be changed, altered, and influenced not only by the host, but also by the people that utilise them. For example, Wikipedia, P2P transfer programmes (Napster, Limewire, etc).

http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/web2report/chapter/web20_report_excerpt.pdf

http://www.paulgraham.com/web20.html

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

http://www.yahoo.com

How do search engines rank the stuff they find on the internet?

• “One of the main rules in a ranking algorithm involves the location and frequency of keywords on a web page.
• Pages with the search terms appearing in the HTML title tag are often assumed to be more relevant than others to the topic.
• Search engines will also check to see if the search keywords appear near the top of a web page, such as in the headline or in the first few paragraphs of text. They assume that any page relevant to the topic will mention those words right from the beginning.
• Frequency is the other major factor in how search engines determine relevancy. A search engine will analyze how often keywords appear in relation to other words in a web page. Those with a higher frequency are often deemed more relevant than other web pages.”

http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=2167961

Who, or what, makes one page (that you might get in your search results) more useful than another one, so that it is put at the top of your search results?

• The general reason that the higher page will usually be more relevant is to do with the way websites like Google will find them, as listed above. Frequency of the search term, and where it appears in the page, will often be a key factor in how relevant the website is to your interests.

What are some of your favourite search engines? Why do you like one more than others?

• I generally prefer to use Google, because it tends to have the most accurate and in-depth answers to what I am looking for. I also use Yahoo at times for a similar reason. www.Ask.com is a good source of answers to specific questions.

Following the completion of these tasks, optional google-ish things were suggested; Googling one's own name, and playing 'Guess the Google'.

When googling my name, I found very few matches (3) but one was rather interesting. Apparently someone has written a short story using my name, in which I am a "gun-happy, no-nonsense guy who just happens to be extremely hot." I can live with that.

So far I have played "Guess the Google" twice, with the following stats:

First time:

Total time: 1.28

Average time: 0.08

Total guesses: 37

Average guesses: 3.7

Final Score: 252

Second:

Total time: 0.57

Average time: 0.05

Total Guesses: 26

Average guesses: 2.6

Final Score: 323

How I use New Communication Technologies

Firstly, one must differentiate between those friends who are known in person, also known as RL (real life), and those who are only known through the depths of the internet. I have been using the internet for over a decade, and as such have made a vast number of friends that I have never met. The key difference I have noticed between RL friends and those online is that you learn not to form too vested an interest in the online variety; ofttimes they will simply vanish without a trace; whether they forgot to pay the telephone bill, got bored, or simply blocked you because you're a prat. Real life friends are harder to escape for the simple fact that you know them in person - people notice if you just disappear (I'm not saying that I want to escape anyone, just an observation).

Initially I began using the internet simply for entertainment purposes, but now find it equally as useful for both research and staying in touch with friends. Staying in touch is also the sole reason for my acquiring a mobile phone. I first got a mobile at the age of about 10 so my mother could keep track of me, but since high school I have used it almost solely to contact and keep in touch with my mates. Text messaging has been key in this aspect as it is fast, cheap and quiet.

I generally don't have any worries about privacy online - spam is deletable and spyware is controllable with software. Anyone contacting you that you find to be irritating can always be blocked with a single click, and I really can't see anyone desperate enough to stalk me with so many better candidates available, so there really aren't any issues. With the mobile it's another story however, with far less control over it allowed to you by the networks. If one stray text-message finds its way to a conglomerate it's quite possibly time to find a new number, as the amount of text-spam is overwhelming. As such, only the trusted few have access to my mobile.

Week 2

My name is Kale Montgomery, though this was not always so, and am eleventh generation Australian, with bloodlines tracing to every corner of the globe. I reverted to Montgomery from my mother's chosen name of Mort mid-way through year 12, to continue the family legacy. I completed year 12 on Tamborine Mountain last year. The last six months I have been working as a bartender on the mountain where I lived for three years after moving up from Sydney. I moved to Gilston on Thursday, a mere three days after commencing university, which made for a rather stressful and hectic week. I am studying a double degree of Law/Arts, and discovered to my dismay that New Communication Technology required a weekly blog, hence this dismal, forced labour. Perhaps in future weeks as my interest in the subject grows, I will dispense with more interesting and in-depth posts, until that time though, this will serve as a suitable opening to what will hopefully be a well-graded assessment.