Since 1993, CIA has included its annual handbook in this publication, featuring 267 full-color maps and flags of all nations and geographical entities. Find out about any country's demographics (e.g., population, literacy rates) along with political, geographical, and economic data.
The file is huge, but the site offers smaller chunks for downloading, or you can view the book online in its entirety.
CIA - The World Factbook 2002
Off Topic As some of you know, I attended a military high school. Over the last year, the alumni group has become quite active.
If you are an alumni and not on the list, please contact Doug Halbert [you can get the email address on the front page of the site].
BTW There is going to be a reunion May 2-4, 2003. So, if you are not already in the database, zip over there and get listed and find out the details of the meeting!
Oh ya, if you have any information on alumni, staff, and/or faculty, it would be greatly appreciated.
I have used this site.. very handy for finding pictures, and comparing headlines. This bit is from Cal Pundit [scroll down to find this article].
ONLINE NEWSPAPERS....A DIFFERENT APPROACH....This is something very cool: the Newseum, an online museum of news. Click on "Today's Front Pages" and you get a display of front pages from around the world, updated daily. Click on a front page and you get a larger view that allows you to read the headlines, plus links to both the newspaper's website and a PDF of the front page if you want to read one of the articles. There's also an alphabetical list of newspapers by region if you don't want to wait for the thumbnails to load.
This is a great way to scan newspapers, and really useful if you want to see what the dead-tree layout looks like (story placement is often quite different from the website). Highly recommended.
WARNING: The site loads pretty slowly even on my cable modem connection. If you're on dial-up, you might want to skip it.
You can search all LIFE covers from 1936 to 1972, the years when LIFE was published as a weekly magazine.
LIFE's website has recently been relaunched with a new design to support new titles and give users access to many of the classic features of LIFE magazine.
All the great LIFE photographers, from Alfred Eisenstaedt to Margaret Bourke-White, are represented in this collection. Prints are available in open editions, limited editions, and rare master editions, which are signed by the photographers themselves.
The World News Network search engine aggregates news from hundreds of
sites around the world, organized by region and industry.
Powered by a proprietary news search engine, the World News Network
draws from several hundred online news sources in 20 languages. Stories are grouped into more than 500 subject and geographical categories.
This page features links to topic or region specific sites, including
verticals focusing on business and industry, sports, entertainment,
science, and other area of interest.
The new HotBot is aimed squarely at power searchers, who want the maximum degree of control over their search results. Remarkably, this control has been designed to be available even with a notably streamlined and even sparse user interface.
The most significant change is that HotBot is now effectively a unified front-end for the search catalogs of Google, FAST, Inktomi and Teoma.
You select which catalog you want to search with radio buttons above the search form. After entering your search terms and seeing results from your selected engine, you can easily view the results from the others just by clicking their respective radio buttons.
This isn't meta search -- HotBot is simply returning results from each selected engine in turn. However, it's a terrific way to quickly compare the results of these four search catalogs without having to go to their home pages.
HotBot's advanced features include:
47 languages
File type filters including images, pdf's java, MSOffice, Shockwave,
Flash and more
World region filters such as Europe, North America, Oceania, Africa,
etc.
- Date filtering
- Offensive content filtering
- Page region filtering
- Domain filtering
Usually I focus on finding sources for information, but today I want to draw your attention to the problem of missing or lost information.
There are reasonable arguments for and against the 'hidden' of government information. I don't intend on getting into that issue here. I want you to read this article so you will be aware that large amounts of information are being deleted from government databases. Check to see how this may impact projects you may have within your business.
This article outlines what has happened, and has links to other groups that are documenting the loss of documents...If you want to react to the issue, I am sure that one or all of the referenced sites have a means to do so.
Most of you are aware of my fondness for maps. Well here is the the, the, the place for all mapophilics. There are 100+ maps of the ancient world on line, with a large number of links to other sources! Oh Joy...be still my heart.
This is a test I am trying out Blogger. A program I can use to post stuff from my own computer!!
As some of you know, I am a real advocate of blogging in the work place. Lots of uses and positive outcomes. This is especially true of small businesses that have networks and web servers.
This tool will make the whole process available to any one.
Go to Blogger to see all the benefits of the program... Try it out.
As a special request, I am posting this site. Beware, it is for the 'engine info' addict. Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent site. My reservations are along the lines of OTT. Most of you just need a bit of information. This site has it all [or most]. So Beware, Beware. ...enough with the cautions..
Our search engines directory provides a searchable database of thousands of specialty search tools. In addition to all of the major search engines, you'll also find search engines, directories, and databases dedicated to almost any topic. Our search engines page also lists resources and tools for exploring the deep web, performing advanced research, and for keeping current on the latest search engine tools and technology news.
Search Services [advanced] This is a great article on advanced [and fee based] information services. If you are in need of 'deep information' check out these services. It appears that they are not as expensive as I thought!
Don't let the "high cost" of value-added information services such as LexisNexis, Dialog and Factiva scare you away -- all three offer reasonable pay-as-you-go options appealing even to searchers on a limited budget.
You can't always find everything on the Internet. Though this may sound like heresy coming from a SearchEngineWatch.com editor, it's an important truth that many people either don't understand or believe.
Serious information professionals know that value-added information services such as LexisNexis, Dialog and Factiva offer tons of information not available on the web. This information is also vetted for accuracy and completeness, making these services invaluable for those with critical information needs....
Dialog is the supermarket of online research, with the broadest range of content, from architecture to zoology.
LexisNexis LexisNexis offers some unique pay-as-you-go options, including a daily or weekly pass in which you pay a set rate for all you can download from a selected subset of the Nexis database
Factiva Right now, Factiva.com is only available to subscribers who are willing to pony up at least $1000/month for a flat-fee contract. Fortunately, they're going to roll out a pay-as-you-go option in March or April of 2003.
If you are into law and the news, then it is well worth your time to check out this site.
On this Web site, you can keep track of major criminal and civil trials happening in the United States, or you can check out the resources section and read important documents, such as The Constitution.
1] current newsworthy events,
2] search for a specific news event,
3] issues section where articles are broken down and summarized into specific topics.
4] Mirror Law section. Read how the legal system works by looking at how movies and TV try to address the law.
5] FootnoteTV section. See if your favorite TV shows are quoting factual legal principles..... [Brian of locker Gnome]
'For those of you who don't know, an idiom is a phrase that is natural only to native speakers of a given language. Some examples of idioms that American English speakers use are "absence makes the heart grow fonder," The idioms on this Web site are separated into alphabetical order, and if you find an idiom you don't know then just click on it to learn more. The great thing about idiomsite.com is that sometimes we know what an idiom means, but this Web site takes that knowledge one step higher by giving us the origin of the idiom, too. Whether you need to look up the meaning of a phrase or just need a fun way to pass the time, then idiomsite.com is a good place to start. ..'[Brian]
It has been a while since I added to this Blog..seems the 'search engine wars' have abated some. Thus I will begin to update search news.
To start out, a little on the lite side. I really like this guys sense of humor. I would recommend visiting periodically. [he doesn't discuss searching..but has an ongoing experiment with Japanese snack foods!!]
When Google searches go terribly wrong!
When I woke up this morning, my mind was a blank. That's right... I'm a walking zombie. No amount of coffee can start my brain working. I have no opinions on anything this morning, which means there's nothing much to blog about. Which means it's time for the secret weapon: When Google Searches Go Terribly Wrong.
Here are only a few of the searches people have used to find Cubicle Dweller:
significance of 7 eleven
I don't know, maybe it signifies overpriced snack foods and aging sandwiches. Hardly a deep philosophical question.
penguin recipe
At last, a search request I help someone with! See my blog on the Cubicle Dweller Sandwich.....
