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Please note that the Google Pack includes the preferred web browser, Firefox, as well as many other free programs which you can choose
If you are partially sighted, and use Firefox as your browser, take a look at http://www.firevox.clcworld.net/about.html, the developer of Fire Vox, the screen reader for Firefox. Mind you it wouldn't work for me.
Apple have developed a cool looking Browser (instead of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera etc) for Windows users called Safari.
Think it is all up to Google ? See a list of (almost) all the search engines at http://www.craigball.com/searchcentral.html
Mind you, if you look at www.simply-google.com you will se what an innovative bunch they are. No wonder Microsoft is worried
See a list of the top 500 sites accessed from the UK Here
www.mysite.gov.uk A very simple search site. Effective, too
The ubiquitous Google is introducing a Universal Search feature which integrates results from news, books, video, local searches and images. So, if you use it to search for a local restaurant it may also display a map and show what other people thought about the menu !
The Firefox (2) alternative to Internet Explorer is said to be less vulnerable and has not come in for the criticisms being levelled at Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). You can use either or both programs. The latest version is out now. Click on the above logo to download it. Computer Active gives the Firefox 2 five stars - (quote " It's hard to improve on a winning product") - Internet Explorer 7 only four. Firefox asks you if you want to make it your default Browser. I use it in preference to Internet Explorer with Vista.
What if you want to return to Internet Explorer ? Open Internet Explorer, Tools, Internet Options, Programs and check " Internet Explorer should check etc. Click Apply and restart Internet Explorer.
Both Firefox and Internet Explorer 7 have 'phishing' controls and will warn you if they think a site is a phishing site (e.g. a spoof bank asking you to fill in your account details. In the case of IE 7 it checks with Microsoft every time you go to a website. This could account for why people complain that their PC has suddenly become slow. Firefox downloads a list of Phishing sites to your computer now and again. Whilst this may cause a slight delay when you are on line it should be quicker than IE because it is retrieving the data locally. You can turn the facility off in either browser if you feel confident that you can spot the 'phishermen'. A third browser, Opera, also provides the facility but, in that case, it has to be turned on.
Tip : Press the space bar to scroll down this page. To Find a specific word on a web page (including this one) press Ctl + F and type in the word. To find the next occurrence on the page use Alt and F.
There are a number of new ways to search the net. Personally, I have Google (www.google.com) as my startup page (right click Internet Explorer, Properties and enter www.google.com as your home page). Google is the premier search engine with 8 billion internet pages indexed, including all of mine. I know that I can find anything through their search engine. If I want to search for more than one word together just put inverted commas round them. That is all there is to searching the web these days. If you think the answer is more likely to be in the UK just click the UK Only spot. Once you have done that you will find a list of sites with links (usually blue underlined words like the ones below), with a note as to how many sites contain what you searched for. If it is very many you may wish to narrow the search down in some way but it is likely that the most relevant sites will be at the top of the list, including some who may have paid for the privilege.
When searching there is no need to bother about capital letters or even
plurals. Keep it simple. You can search on your surname, or even the type
number of a special battery or computer. One of the most common problems
is with an Outlook Express error code
0x800ccc0d. Just put it in Google and see the answers you get.
Google can even be used as a dictionary by typing Define and then a word
e.g. Define megabyte. If it is a phrase then enclose it in inverted
commas e.g. Define "wildcat strike".
Bear in mind that the order of words you enter may give different results with the earlier words given greater importance
You can also use the word OR in a search. So you might enter a search which is say "Dylan Thomas"play OR plays OR Theatre. Note that, whilst the search words can be capitals or lower case the OR must be capitals. For people who remember the use of NOT to exclude specific words it may seem strange that the equivalent in Google is a minus sign. So it might be "Dylan Thomas"play OR plays -"Under Milk Wood".
It is possible in Google searches to restrict the search to a title of an article e.g. intitle:"Dylan Thomas".
Not many people know this but Google also provide specialist searches. Try http://froogle.google.com for price comparisons (mainly USA still); http://images.google.com for pictures; http://groups.google.com for Interest groups and even an additional Toolbar at http://toolbar.google.com. For a small fee they will even do your research for you. Try http://answers.google.com. You may even find a free answer there. And the latest is http://books.google.co.uk, which will search for the text you enter and tell you where it appears in a list of books
The definitive site for search methods is http://www.searchenginewatch.com/facts/powersearch.html. But if you want to take it further you can try MSN Search http://search.msn.com. The new MSN engine is claimed to be better than Google - and that is saying something.
Every page on the Internet has its own unique address, known as a URL. So if you know that address e.g. www.bbc.co.uk all you have to do is type that in the address space at the top of your Web Browser (whether it is Internet Explorer, Firefox or something like AOL) and press the Enter key to get to that address. You can even type something like Go holidays and it will find Holidays.com.
n.b. If you wish to return to a previous site that you have just visited you can always use the back arrow at the top (left) of your browser screen. This will take you back along the trail which you have followed. Sometimes you will get a screen which indicates that a page in not available. Do not take this at face value. Yes, it is possible that a badly constructed site can lead you to a blind alley but frequently it is a problem with the site. It may be overwhelmed with callers or some other reason. When your Browser has tried to find a site for a limited time without success you it is likely to show the Not Available page, which is actually a file on your own machine. Try again later or use the back arrow and go back to the page after a few seconds before you give up on it. In Internet Explorer click on the down arrow to the right of the address bar and use one of the address recorded in the 'history' list of previous entries.
If you can master searching the web it is a wonderful tool. Here are
some of the sites I have found which are really amazing.....
http://www.romereborn.virginia.edu/ Click on Still images and Video to see ancient Rome brought to life
http://www.TheTroubleTreeMovie.com
Lovely movie by the Gimundo folk
http://www.maylin.net/CyberGarden.html.
This is an old site but still very clever
http://gimundo.com/
A site which will send you a daily motivating email
and no spam or viruses !
http://www.natureofsuccessmovie.com/
http://www.scottmcleod.org/didyouknow.wmv
A lot of surprising facts about the world
A new Scott Stratten motivator at
http://www.TheImagineMovie.com
http://www.TheDolphinMovie.com.
Another nice one from Scott Stratten
Another Scott Stratten :
http://www.SevenWondersOfYourWorldMovie.com
Lunar landing panoramas. Move your mouse
http://moonpans.com/vr/index.htm
and
http://moonpans.co.uk/vr/apollo15_sta8.htm
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
Amazing astronomy picture archive
From outer space to the atoms in a leaf
http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index
Feel like a lift ? Go to
http://greatday.com and its amazing offshoots
or
http://www.thetimemovie.com/
and
www.spiritisup.com/colors1.swf
360 degree view of Paris from Notre Dame. Use the lower scroll
bar to see it all
http://framboise781.free.fr/Paris.htm
http://maps.google.com. Just
type in your postcode and see your house. e.g. XX8 0DQ, UK
http://pgoh13.free.fr for computer
tips, news, jokes, inspirational poems, brain teasers, dictionaries etc
See your house from satellite ? You need XP and a big download, but
stunning. Click
http://www.google.com/downloads/
Just put in your postcode + UK. The site also includes downloads for
Picasa (graphics), Google Talk, Firefox and Ad-aware
Google Pack software is free and all very useful
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