I am normally used to reading about the fabulous new updates on Google’s Blog and how they added this or made better that for searching. But lately I am so fed up with Google making my search life miserable. Actually, sad, hurt and frustrated. I mean its one thing to deal with my 6 year old twins saying no to everything (6.5 to be precise, lest they spot mommy saying this on the big WWW) but now even Google? What’s up? I am in no mood to be sorry or accept any Google apologies. It’s been my favorite engine of choice by choice (not default!)

I am talking about those annoying messages that pop up when you use too many asterisks in a Boolean string, develop a complex string with inurl: and more often than not when X-Raying Google for LinkedIn Profiles or any site using the site: command. You then have to prove to Google that you are indeed a part of the Homo sapiens species and decipher a CAPTCHA.   To quote one of my current most favorite writers in the search world, Glen Cathey, this has something to do with the issue of Google thinking everyone has suddenly become a malicious bot sending automated queries to their servers.
 
The nerve!! I mean don’t sit in the dark. The whole search community is up in arms over this. Folks who are the foremost authority on all things search and Boolean are talking, from Glen Cathey on Boolean Black Belt to technical wonder whiz Irina Shamaeva’s Technorati post, the blogosphere is abuzz.

Maybe all the attention is getting a bit too much for Google to handle – I think I’ll dash off a personal letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt on some non technical good ole fashioned rolled up parchment scroll so it will stand out in all the bits and bytes of code.
 
“Dear Google, I was a “Resident Alien” before I became a US Citizen but I assure you I am 100% HUMAN. No green blood, electronic nerves, mechanical motor hearts nor intent to harm. You are a premier search engine & a smart one too! What’s with the captchas? We ask for Search Engine Freedom!!!! Please release us from this bondage. You must find a way out.”

To prevent this issue you have to
(1)regularly clear your cookies (how painful is that, I’d rather loose my memory first!),
(2) switch browsers
(3) try Bing or Yahoo!
(4) or interestingly enough I just stumbled across this
(5) I am sure we will find other work arounds

This is putting a real crimp in my search style and it’s been going for a while now. Do me a favor – voice your opinions please!

Everyone hates receiving “those” emails. The emails that pull at your heart strings and put you on guard, for example: the emails about missing or very ill children, and the robbers in parking lots with ether-filled perfume bottles.  Cell phone users that must register their numbers with the national “Do Not Call” directory or their number is going to be released to telemarketers. Or get completely wound up that you may have a virus that will wipe your hard drive and melt the motherboard if you open the email. Forwarding “those” emails to family, friends, and co-workers just to find out it is Fiction, a Hoax, that you were Duped. Then there are “those” emails that provide half truths and include links to sites where they can check it out themselves, but the link doesn’t actually apply to the email being sent like the virus warning emails: Postcards, Invitation/Olympic Torch, Life is Beautiful, etc…

Of course there are the emails that are Fact, the Truth, and you would be Helping Out if you forwarded to your friends, family or co-workers. Like the newest email about Spokeo (Similar online services: pipl, ZoomInfo, ZabaSearch, Radaris, and Intelius. Spokeo compiles aggregates of information pertaining to individual names, email addresses, and phone numbers from public online sources such as phone books, real estate listings, and government records, plus profile entries from sites like Facebook, MySpace, Amazon.com, LinkedIn, Flickr, and multiple other sources.), or the UPS/FedEx/DHL Delivery Failure virus emails. But 9 times out of 10 it’s going to be one of “those” emails.

I am an IT specialist and part of my job is to check out “those” emails when a co-worker receives them so that I can alert everyone as to the validity of  the email, and whether or not  any action needs to be taken or the email just needs to be deleted. Nevertheless, when I have received “those” emails in my personal account I respond to the recipient with the facts and if it’s one I haven’t seen before, I check it out, and reply to the person letting them know if it is fact or fiction. In hopes that they will not spread the fiction and get anyone unnecessarily worked up about something that has most likely never happened or will ever happen.

There are SO many of our family, friends, co-workers that forward these emails on to everyone in their contacts or just to people they want to help protect because they would rather be safe then sorry. To what end! I recommend YOU debunk the latest urban legend or virus hoax by checking them out your self. It only takes a minute of your time, and not only will you be more informed, you will not spread the fiction and know the facts. Here are a couple of sites I use:

1.  Google- It’s easy, and you’re already online. Just type in the key words from the subject line of “those” emails. And viola Google will be provided with several sites that will prove or disprove the validity of the email. (I picked Google, but you can use your favorite search engine to investigate.)
2. Snopes- Their information is update and accurate. On occasion when proven wrong Snopes updates their site to reflect their findings. It’s become a little commercialized, but one of the more complete urban legend and virus hoax site.
3. TruthOrFiction.com- A different format than Snopes, but I really like it. Great up-to-date information on eRumors, viruses, and Internet hoaxes. And their “Here are the top 20 stories on TruthorFiction.com this hour:” can be entertaining reading.
4. About: Urban Legends- This about.com subsite is hosted by David Emery. He is ardent about finding and debunking rumors, myths, pranks and odd stories.  I like his format as it reads more like a newspaper.
5.  BreakTheChain.org- This site tries to educate you that e-mail is an unreliable medium for sharing information and the first step to reducing the amount of junk is to stop sending it yourself. This site if frequently cited by media sources when looking for authoritative resource on chain mails.
6. Sophos – This anti-virus company keeps a small list of hoaxes and urban legends.  Their focus is more on virus hoaxes.
7. Symantec- Their hoax list is pretty good but seems a little dated.  Maybe that’s because most hoaxes today are really recycled from earlier hoaxes. However it’s a great comprehensive site to check out the latest Threats, Risks, and Vulnerabilities.

I hope you have gotten something out of this and these are just few of the sites I use. I am very interested to know about your favorite urban legend, virus hoax sites.  Comment on this post, to share with me and our readers. AND hopefully I have helped a few people who were waiting for Bill Gates (or anyone else for that matter) to send them money, merchandise, or a free trip and they will stop forwarding “those” emails.