Week 3: Clear

Howdy,

This week I’m going to be talking to you about the importance of the Internet and the way it has literally turned the business world upside down. Prior to the Internet, if you were an entrepreneur trying to start a small business you would have to compete with industry giants who had all the money and resources necessary to sell their products cheaper and move them from warehouses quicker than a single person, or small team of people, running a mom-and-pop style business could ever do. Well once the internet emerged, this all changed.

The emergence of the Internet brought a World Wide audience of customers to a single marketspace. Now anyone with a computer and items to sell or services to be offered could be a World Wide contender from the comfort of their own home.

In order to surf the web, however, you need a web browser. A web browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome) is an application software that allows users to access and view web pages. Each web page is unique and is contained within its own web site, a collection of web pages related to a specific topic.

These web sites can be used for any subject, can be accessed at anytime, and can be viewed anywhere in the world. This is what Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, saw and knew that his business could flourish in this digital environment. By making his store accessible through online access only, he skipped running a traditional brick-and-mortar store and made his rent $0 a month… Not a bad amount to pay each month, huh? This left him thousands of dollars more to spend on advertising, web site design, customer service and shipping costs leapfrogging his company to the forefront of the book selling industry.

Now-a-days the Internet can be used for literally everything imaginable, from finding movie times, lawn mowing companies, a wife or husband, to digitally designing a $1 million+ yacht and having it delivered and waiting a year later in your preferred harbor.

Without the Internet there is no telling where we’d be in the world today, but one thing is for sure, the opportunities the Internet has offered us has made life easier, more customer driven, and made reaching the other side of the world as easy as clicking open an Internet Browser.

http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/internet/the-emergence-of-internet.html

Until next week,

-Nicolas Wolfson

Week 1: Clear

Hello,

My name is Nicolas Wolfson and this is will be my first blog. Today I will be discussing the topic of “Information Searching” and how you can more accurately, effectively and efficiently search for the topic at hand while avoiding all the clutter and irrelevant search results normally involved.

To begin, I’d like to directly illustrate the dire importance of knowing how to search and how to conduct that search successfully and swiftly. For example, if you are working for a boss who needs you to find information on your product (let’s say its computer parts) do you know where to look? Do you even know how to correctly type what you’re searching for? Well there are many ways to improve your searching skills and many reasons you would need to do so.

If you have a limited time, lets say 2 hours, you’re going to need to know how to get the information and where to get it from. If you just type computer parts and hit search you are going to get A LOT of information that is most likely irrelevant to your company or the situation you're dealing with. Things that may help you out could be as follows:

Computer ~parts	Computer info for both the word parts and its synonyms: chip, component, piece, etc…
Computer +parts	Only the word parts, and not the plural or any tenses or synonyms will be shown
define:computer parts	Definitions of the word computer parts from around the web will be displayed
[#]…[#] [150]...[300]	This technique will search for Computer Parts between $150 and $300
“Computer Parts”	The search engine will ONLY search for the words “computer parts”

The more familiar you get with searching and the more you “practice” your searching techniques, the quicker and more efficient things will go. Being an effective researcher begins with being a proactive gatherer. You must use all the tools available to you; whether that be learning the basics of how to search more quickly or perfecting the techniques you already have.

Furthermore, it’s not just about getting the information; it’s about getting the information that is CORRECT. There are plenty of websites out there offering all sorts of “facts” and “information” but how do you tell what is accurate/correct and what is erroneous. The following web site offers good tips on things you should look for, including: accuracy, appropriateness, scope, navigation and presentation.

http://www.evalutech.sreb.org/criteria/web.asp

Well hopefully this has helped you if you have been struggling with search engines and getting the results you need. I’ll leave you with what I personally think are the four most important search components you can utilize for correct and successful search results:

1. Searching with the correct tools (+ , ~, “ ”, etc..).
2. Checking to see that your results you retrieve match with the objective(s) at hand.
3. Finding info that backs up those results.
4. Use the experience you gain while searching to your advantage so that future searches are more fluid and carried out expeditiously.

-Nicolas Wolfson