24 Sep 2021

Searching With Precision

A lot of people (maybe even most people) use a search engine several times a day, and Google is the search engine that has the highest usage. That doesn't mean Google is always the right search engine to use. DuckDuckGo has been growing, but is still small. And other search engines exist that might sometimes be better choices.

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Google has about 70% of the search engine market worldwide, obviously more than all of the other search engines combined, and there's no question that it works well — sometimes for users and always for Alphabet, the company that owns Google. The search engine continuously scours the internet for information, analyzes it, and disgorges huge amounts of information when people ask for it. But it also collects a lot of information about users. • Google

DuckDuckGo is all about privacy. The search results are sometimes on par with Google, and I use it as my default search engine. When DuckDuckGo doesn't return enough good information and frequently when I'm searching for images, I use Google. DuckDuckGo doesn’t store information about you and the ads it serves and clearly labeled. Users can even turn off the ads. I leave them on because when I'm looking for a product or service, they can be helpful. • DuckDuckGo

Startpage is similar to DuckDuckGo in that it promises not to collect, store, or share any information about you or your searches. Their tag line is The world's most private search engine. The landing page is as plain as possible — just a place to type a search term. Results include some clearly labeled ads and the results page looks much like what users see in Google when using incognito mode. • Startpage

Microsoft launched the Bing search engine a dozen years ago. Bing Places is a portal for local business. It's similar to Google's My Business services. Microsoft frequently (and annoyingly) attempts to convince users of Windows to choose Microsoft's browser, Edge, as their default browser and to specify Bing as their default search engine. • Bing

Yahoo still exists. It predated even AltaVista, but it followed primitive search functions such as Archie, Veronica, Jughead, and the World Wide Web Virtual Library. The name is short for "Yet Another Hierarchical Organized Oracle". Yahoo was first with a lot of things, but its email service was eclipsed by GMail, Quora beat Yahoo Answers, and Yahoo Flicker was smashed by Instagram. It's still a competent search engine, though, and its main page contains a lot of up-to-date news items. • Yahoo

Ask, which was previously called "Ask Jeeves", is about one one-hundredth the size of Google, and yet it fills a niche by specifically requesting a question ("Why is the sky blue?" for example) instead of a search term. The landing page also has a reasonable collection of news stories. • Ask

AOL has a market share that's as close to zero as possible without actually being zero. It's a place to try if no other search engine has been able to locate what you're looking for; but if that's the case, AOL probably won't find it, either. • AOL

Some search engines are primarily aimed at China, Russia, South Korea, the Czech Republic, and other areas. Baidu has a large user base, but most users are in China and anyone who is unable to read Chinese will find it impossible to use. Yandex is popular in Russia and surrounding nations, but is available in English. There's a story behind the Yandex name, too. It's short for "Yet ANother inDEXer". Clever, eh? Naver is used primarily in South Korea, where it has about three quarters of the search engine market. Seznam is directed at the Czech Republic, but even there nearly 85% of the users prefer Google. • Baidu • Yandex • Naver • Seznam

There are other search engines that are limited geographically or that specialize in particular kinds of information, but the primary choices for a lot of people will be Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo.

Google Tricks (That Sometimes Work With Competitors)

Google offers several ways to modify searches and some of the Google modifications work with other search engines. DuckDuckGo honors a few of Google's search tricks. Let's talk about some of Google's options and also check to see if the modification works with DuckDuckGo .

• A lot of people know that placing a search term in quotation marks will limit Google's returns to just articles that contain the exact term. That probably Google's best-known search modifier. So if I search for "Bengal tigers", Google will limit its suggestions to web pages that contain the term "Bengal tigers" and will omit links to pages about Siberian tigers or the Cincinnati Bengals football team. This is a handy trick that homes in on what you're looking for without including extraneous links. Unfortunately, this one doesn't work with DuckDuckGo.
• Adding a tilde in front of a search term will cause Google to include synonyms in search returns. A search for egg ~classifying will show articles about eggs being classified, egg sizing, egg grades, egg types, machines that grade eggs, and documents about egg grading procedures. This modification works reasonably well on DuckDuckGo.
• Using site: in front of a domain name will limit Google's reach to just the domain specified. If you'd like to see articles that I've written about the raw format for digital images, "raw format" site:techbyter.com will reveal more than a dozen TechByter pages and about the same number of images. In this example, two Google tricks are being combined: Limiting the search with quotation marks ("raw format") and limiting the search area to just TechByter (site:techbyter.com). This doesn't work perfectly with DuckDuckGo because that search engine doesn't support the use of quotation marks.
• Placing a minus sign in front of a search term ensures that Google will eliminate pages that contain the term you don't want. Searching for blinn -college will return pages about me and about other people named Blinn, but you won't see references to Blinn College, which (besides being located in Brenham, Texas) is not connected to me in any way. This trick fails entirely with DuckDuckGo.
• Using filetype: will force Google to return pages that contain references to a particular file type. If you're looking for the user manual for a Lenovo P50 computer, "thinkpad p50 manual" filetype:pdf will do the job. This is another case where two tricks are combined, quotation marks and the filetype option. The results are inaccurate for DuckDuckGo.
• Placing "or" or a vertical bar between terms limits Google's selections to pages that contain one word or the other. So a search for cats|chimpanzees or cats or chimpanzees will return pages with articles about cats, articles about chimpanzees, and articles about cats and chimpanzees. This is a Boolean "or" condition that shouldn't be confused with the Boolean "and" condition. The "and" condition is Google's default, so a search for cats & chimpanzees or cats and chimpanzees (or just cats chimpanzees) will return pages where both cats and chimpanzees are mentioned. DuckDuckGo doesn't support Boolean operators
• Use location: to limit the search to specific cities, states, or countries. A search for "Arnold Schwarzenegger" location:Columbus will show results such as the statue of Schwarzenegger in Columbus and the Arnold Classic, which is held in Columbus. This is another option that won't work with DuckDuckGo.
• Specify a sequence of numbers with two dots. This can be helpful if you're looking for a range of ages, prices, temperatures, or years. Searching for ohio population 2015..2021 will list pages that deal with the number of people who live in Ohio and include numbers between 2015 and 2021, inclusive. Also if you place a dollar sign in front of a number, the search will be limited to prices. Searching for digital camera $800..$900 will list articles that mention digital cameras and also include dollar values between $800 and $900. Don't try this with DuckDuckGo.
• Use related: in front of a domain name to return sites that have some relationship to a domain that you already know. Searching for related: techbyter.com lists sites where TechByter is mentioned. This won't work with DuckDuckGo.
• When you're seeking older information that may have been removed, cache: will search Google's stored data. So cache: techbyter.com might reveal some old pages from the site, but not with DuckDuckGo.
• Search social media by using the @ sign. Searching for @facebook "george custer" or @twitter "george custer" will list pages from Facebook or Twitter where George Custer has been mentioned.

So, when you're looking for information, keep in mind that there are search engines other than Google. When you're using Google, try some of the tricks to energize your searches and make them more accurate.

Short Circuits

Dealing With Threats From "Your" Email Address

Significant numbers of people have been separated from $1000 or more when they fell for what should have been a laughable scam. Crooks claim to have taken over your computer and for "proof" they send you an email from your own computer. Or so they say. It's a fraud, of course.

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The message asks "Have you recently noticed that I have e-mailed you from your account?" Well, I have noticed that the from and reply-to addresses are both mine, but I also know that its easy to fake this information. The simple mail transport protocol (SMTP) dates to near the beginning of ARPANET, the system that eventually led to the internet. Because ARPANET connected university research scientists and military operations an a closed system, fraud wasn't a concern. Today fraud is a concern, but SMTP has only minimal security functions.

Because much of the header information can be modified by the sender, it's important to look for one bit of information that is virtually impossible to change: The sending server's IP address. Every email program makes is possible to view the routing headers, so you want to find the first IP address, which will be the one directly above the Message-ID line. I see this:
Received: from [91.106.58.222] (port=10806 helo=[91.106.58.220])
  by box2274.bluehost.com with esmtp (Exim 4.94.2)
  (envelope-from <techbyter.editor@techbyter.com>)
  id 1mMqnU-000QLs-In
  for techbyter.editor@techbyter.com; Sun, 05 Sep 2021 05:58:53 -0600

The email was transmitted from IP address 91.106.58.222, which I know is not the IP address of my email server. The research could stop right there, of course, but I was curious. When I looked up the IP address, I found that it's registered to an internet service provider in Iraq. That doesn't mean the crook is in Iraq, though, only that the crook has gained access to an account in Iraq. The scammer could be in Russia, China, North Korea, or Texas.

However, the sender's time stamp is listed as 2 hours ahead of GMT. That would place the sender in France, Hungary, Spain, Germany, Italy, Denmark. Switzerland, Libya, Sudan, Serbia, South Africa, Austria, Norway, or one of several other countries.

The full text of the scammer's message is below, and I have a few thoughts on it.

1. The message is well written in reasonably good English.
2. Good luck with turning on the camera and microphone on my computer. My computer has a microphone, but the camera is a standalone device that is connected to the computer only when I need to use it.
3. Yes, if you have this video (which you cannot have) and you had full access to my computer (which you don't have), you could send the video to all of my email contacts. But you won't because you can't.
4. The email contained no tracking pixel, so you will not receive notification that I opened the message and no timer will start ticking.
5. This is true. You are an anonymous fool.
6. Sorry, buddy. I'm sharing your message with the world.

So, if you receive a message such as this, just ignore it.

Fixing Microsoft's Dumbest Word Annoyance

Over the years, Microsoft has built a lot of annoyances into Word. It's not all Microsoft's fault because uses ask for features that no word processor should have and Microsoft adds them.

Take Web Layout view. Nobody should be using Word to design websites, yet some people apparently misuse Word for this task, just as some folks misuse Word to create brochures and books. There are purpose-built applications for those jobs. But OK, Microsoft has made it possible for Word to be used to create a web page, but why does that have to be the default view when users create new documents?

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It's a word processor, and word processors were once intended to create letters or other documents on standard size paper. I suspect that this is the task most people still use Word for, and yet when users create a new document, they get the Web Layout view, with no headers, footers, or margins. To get those features, the user must open the View tab and click the Print Layout button.

This should be an easy fix, right? Just open one of Word's many configuration panels and choose the default view. But there is a problem with that: No such configuration setting exists. Instead, the user must write a macro and install it in the normal template. Never mind that the macro is dead simple to write and that inserting it into the template takes only a few seconds. What's important here is that most Word users don't write macros, and therefore few of them understand what Visual Basic for Applications is or how to put the macro in the normal template.

An automobile designed this way would have reverse as the default gear and shifting into forward would require adjusting something under the hood.

So if this Word feature annoys you, here's how to fix it:

• Open or create a new Word document and select the Developer tab. The developer tab is activated now by default; if you don't see it, see this article by Microsoft.
• With the Developer tab open, click the Macros button.
• This will open a Macros tab.
  1. Type AutoOpen in the macro name field. Spell it exactly as shown.
  2. Type a description in the description field. This can be anything and, if you want, include profanity about why Microsoft makes you do this to make a simple change. I wrote just "Fix view".
  3. Click the Create button.
• This will open a nearly full screen dialog. The macro name, AutoOpen(), will already be there, as will two additional lines that include the name and your description. You will also see EndSub.
4. Insert the following line of code above EndSub:
   ActiveWindow.View.Type = wdPrintView
• Click the X in the upper right corner to close the Macro dialog.

Now when you create a new document, it will always display the Print Layout view. Given the amount of time it takes to switch views, you might consider creating a macro to fix the problem to be silly. Maybe so, but without this macro, I would be mildly annoyed every time I created a new document. Eliminating that bit of annoyance was worth the effort for me.

Spare Parts

Microsoft Adds A Function To Block Bad Apps

Sometimes when you download and install an application, something else comes along. A PUP (potentially unwanted program) may hijack your browser or install software that uses your computer to create cryptocurrencies for somebody else.

Microsoft now attempts to identify these applications and warn you about them. The feature has been added to Windows 10 and will be present in Windows 11. These unwanted programs may be bundled by the software developer or by the site you've downloaded an app from.

The May 2020 Windows update could filter PUPs, the function wasn't activated by default. The August update turns the feature on automatically.

You'll have two options: "Block apps" and "Block downloads". Blocking downloads works at the browser level, but only Microsoft Edge is supported. Block apps is the right choice if you're using another browser so that Windows Defender will examine downloaded apps.

These functions don't block everything, just the ones that Microsoft considers to be something most people won't want. Blocked downloads are quarantined, and users can decide whether to overrule the warning and install the download.

Read more about it on Microsoft's website.

Command Line Functions Can Still Help

The command line has been around from the beginning. In fact, with DOS or CP/M computers, that's all there was. Whether you were using computers (or even alive) back then, it's still a good idea to keep at least a few of these relics in mind.

There are dozens of command line functions, many of which accept additional words, called switches or arguments, to modify what they do. You don't have to memorize dozens of commands, though. Many of them are much slower and harder to use than the graphical user interface. Moving files from one directory to another takes just a few seconds with a file browser, but would require typing long and complex instructions on the command line.

But a few are still quite useful.

• SFC is a command I run every month using the syntax sfc /scannow. SFC stands for "system file checker" and running it examines system files for corruption and, when problems are found, it attempt to fix them. The process takes only a few minutes. Be sure to open the Command prompt (or PowerShell) as Administrator to run the command.
• DISM is another command I run monthly. This is another command that needs to be run as Administrator. The Deployment Image Servicing and Management module examines the backup system files on your computer and updates or corrects when you you launch the command with several switches: dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth.
• CHKDSK is a good command to run if the computer shuts down abruptly to look for physical problems. CHKDSK also looks for bad sectors and can repair errors. The command without switches (chkdsk) performs the test in read-only mode. Adding the /f switch (chkdsk /f) tells the application to attempt repairs if it finds problems. Running CHKDSK on the boot drive will tell you that the process will need to run when the system is booted the next time.
• IPCONFIG is the command you want if you think there's a network problem. The basic command will provide a brief list of all network devices. When there's a problem with network connections, obtaining a new IP address can help. You don't need to run this one as Administrator. Just open the Command line or PowerShell and type ipconfig /release and, when the command completes, ipconfig /renew.
• PING and TRACERT help when you want to know if there's a way to connect your computer to a remote domain or IP address — ping techbyter.com will reveal whether you can reach the TechByter website. If the connection is slow tracert techbyter.com will reveal where the problem is.

Just because most of these commands are thirty or forty years old doesn't mean they're no longer useful. To see a full list of command line commands, check out this article from Lifewire.

Twenty Years Ago: Upgrading To A "Big" Monitor

These days I have two 27-inch monitors coupled with a 15-inch monitor on the computer. Notebook computers with 17-inch screens are common. But in 2001 I was excited about a new 18-inch monitor. "A couple of months ago, my 17-inch CRT started showing signs of failure," I wrote. "The image on the screen would change size abruptly, so I knew it was time to replace it. I also knew that I wanted something larger than 17 inches (which translates to about 16 inches for a CRT). I've been wanting a flat-panel monitor for the past several years, but the price ($3500) has kept me out of that market."

In 2001, 15-inch flat panel monitor that offered about the same viewable area as a 17-inch CRT for $500 or less. The 19-inch models were still prohibitively expensive, but 18-inch flat-panel monitors were selling for about $1000. "That's still higher that what you'd pay for a 19-inch CRT, but a flat-panel monitor takes less space, runs cooler, and consumes less power. Over the life of the monitor, the lower energy costs might offset the higher cost."

So today I could buy two new 27-inch monitors for $300 to $500 dollars. I won't be doing that anytime soon because the two 27-inch monitors I have are working just fine.