Internet helps people find information

A few weeks ago, an Indonesian weekly magazine reported that IBM had a low-cost alternative to the pricey, but immensely popular, Microsoft Office.

It was, according to the magazine, called "SmartSweet."

We all know that Big Blue has never marketed any product called by that name. One can readily guess that what the reporter really meant was "SmartSuite," a set of applications from Lotus Development, which is owned by IBM.

Today, such an error could have been avoided easily, had the reporter -- or his editor, for that matter -- taken some time to double-check the accurate spelling of the product's name.

Certainly, he or she could have called up the source that had given the reporter the information, or sent an e-mail. They could also have simply gone to the world's largest repository of information: the Internet.

The Internet has revolutionized the way we do everything -- especially the way we get, and verify, information.

In fact, there is so much information on the Internet that getting the right equipment to navigate it has quickly become a challenge in itself.

Still, that you do not even have to leave your desk and go to the public library to get the information you need means that there has been a fundamental change in your life.

Search engines are the right tools with which to find the needed information.

According to 101Register.com, there are over 600,000 search engines currently available on the Web; the major ones are Yahoo, AOL, Lycos, Hotbot, Excite, Altavista, MSN, Ask Jeeves, Netscape Search and Northern Light. If you would like to read a review of each of them, just go to http://www.101register.com/topengines.htm.

You will need to learn effective search techniques at each of the most widely used search engines on the Internet, so that you can locate the information you need in the shortest time possible. Learn an advanced search, too -- and learn it now, before the time comes when you will urgently need to find a piece of key information for your work.

Each search engine has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Northern Light, for example, is popular among researchers. Some search engines are free to use, others charge a fee -- particularly, if you want to access their special collection. Therefore, it is a good idea to try each of the major search engines and make a short list of the ones you find the most helpful, and convenient, to use.

Today, information is pulled not only from the Internet as we access it through search engines, but also via the search robots that comb the Web for the information that you seek.

Information is also pushed into your computers, from PDAs and cellphones to late breaking news, stock prices and corporate press releases. You name it, it is being shoved at you.

If you really want to stay on top of things -- from the war in Afghanistan to the condition of Jakarta's traffic and so on -- you can register and request regular downloads from the source.

For example, you can go to www.cnn.com and click on the "E- mail Services" menu item. From there, you can request several news updates -- say, health news and weather reports, to be e- mailed to you daily.

A growing number of Web sites, such as the New York Times, meanwhile, offer customized contents, with the right format, to a mobile device of your choice.

One thing you do need to keep in mind, however, is that you will have to download the messages regularly to avoid exceeding the storage quota in your ISP's storage server. The news sources will automatically close your account if the news updates they send you bounce several times in a row.

The Internet is a mammoth warehouse of information. You could spend your entire life learning new things just by browsing the Web, and you would still be exploring but a fraction of what it fully has to offer.

It has become increasingly easy to use, too, and can be accessed through any number of types of device-personal computers -- PDAs, cellphones, pagers, wireless computers as well as fixed telephones, Internet appliances, and so forth.

The Internet really makes information available at your fingertips, and you have no reason not to be better informed.

-- Zatni Arbi