Keeping the Internet from overwhelming you: Part 2

Written by Larry Schneider
Wednesday, 29 June 2011 23:00

Dear Larry,

The Internet overwhelms me, and I haven’t a clue how to use it or even what it is exactly. Can you help? —R.G.

Dear R.G.,

Although cable and satellite TV and its hundreds of channels are making it more difficult to keep track of “what’s on tonight,” searching through TV channels is no comparison to sifting through millions of Internet Web sites. How does one make sense of all this information and locate useful data?

Via an Internet search engine, of course — a specialized Web site that crawls through and indexes the content of Internet Web pages night and day. What a Web surfer must keep in mind is that a search engine can’t differentiate between the toast you eat and the one you drink so it’s up to you to be as specific as you can to prevent your Internet exploration from becoming Internet exasperation.

Crank up your Internet browser, and navigate to google.com, one of my favorite methods of searching the Internet. Once you arrive, take note of the smaller white box, just above the Google Search button.

Say we were interested in finding a review of the DVD release of The Sound of Music. Try typing in the words The Sound of Music and clicking the Google Search button. In my case, Google reported 124,000,000 matches. It presents what it thinks are its best matches in the form of underlined links, which when clicked, lead to corresponding Web pages. In my example, however, Google’s best matches ranged from a site reviewing the film to a site selling new and used musical instruments to a site offering up recording space.

Let’s try again. Click your browser’s BACK button (top left corner) to return to the Google search page. This time, let’s aim to be more accurate. Ask Google to search for the words “the sound of music dvd review” (without the quotes) and the results will be significantly more appealing. Clicking one of the underlined links transports me to a page that shows me the review I was looking for (well, at least one person’s review). Thus, be as specific as you can when searching for information on the Internet. If a series of words doesn’t call up quite the matches you were hoping for, try changing or adding to your search words.

And now for some other Internet tips and tricks.

Does it seem like you’re waiting an interminably long time for a Web page to be displayed? Click your browser’s STOP button and try accessing the page again. It’s possible your browser simply got stuck trying to open it the first time.

In a hurry and a link that interests you is already on the screen before the rest of the page is constructed? No need to wait — click the link anytime you’re ready to move on.

Print too large or small? Hold down the Ctrl key with your left hand, and roll the wheel on your mouse up or down.

This is Larry Schneider, logging off.

Larry Schneider is the owner of Accent on Computers, a Greenwich-based consulting firm catering to individuals, businesses and professional offices. PC and Mac services include computer setup, training, troubleshooting, virus resolution, networking, Internet, database and programming. Call 203-625-7575, visit Accentoncomputers.com, or send e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .