Subject: SEARCH ENGINES On 5/7/97 Arun-Kumar Tripathiwrote: > [Dogpile] is amazing.....simultaneously searches multiple > search engines at once, and will check Usenet and then go on automatically > to search the Web...... I'll admit that Dogpile is pretty cool. It does have one fatal flaw, though: it is not idiot-proof. A "bad" search query (like searching for the word "submarine") will still result in a bunch of irrelevant hits. The best search engine I have seen recently is AltaVista's LiveTopics <http://www.altavista.digital.comb/index.htmlmlaq&what=web&fmt=.&q=%28+%22Testatika%22+and+watts+%29%0D%0Aor+%28+%22Methernitha%22+and+%2210KW%22++%29>. Even if you do a bad search that results in 100,000 hits, LiveTopics gives you a list of the most used keywords in those 100,000 hits. For example, a search for the word "submarine" will result in a list of keywords including "dive," "torpedo," "nuclear," and "Beatles" (hint: "we all live in a ..."). By selecting and deselecting keywords, you can limit your next search to only those hits that are relevant. You can see my reviews of LiveTopics and Dogpile in the TOURBUS archives at <http://www.tourbus.com/gital.comb/index.htmlmlaq&what=web&fmt=.&q=%28+%22Testatika%22+and+watts+%29%0D%0Aor+%28+%22Methernitha%22+and+%2210KW%22++%29>. .~~~. )) (\__/) .' ) )) Patrick Douglas Crispen /o o \/ .~ The University of Alabama {o_, \ { crispen@campus.mci.net / , , ) \ http://ua1ix.ua.edu/~crispen/comb/index.htmlmlaq&what=web&fmt=.&q=%28+%22Testatika%22+and+watts+%29%0D%0Aor+%28+%22Methernitha%22+and+%2210KW%22++%29 `~ '-' \ } )) _( ( )_.' Warning: squirrels. '---..{____}