Call me Recluse.
[Note: I've always admired Melville's opening line, "Call me Ishmael", so I'll blatantly begin with faux plagiarism. After all, H. IS long deceased!]
First, [well..... almost first] as an avid fan I am compelled to:
(a) congratulate and thank Brian Rock for his consistently fascinating and well written monthly article, "Brain Candy", and
(b) publicly thank Brian for this generous offer allowing me, the humble recluse, to use his well established article as launch pad for my personal opinions!
OK, enough kudos. Now let's get to the meaty part of this exercise, the tale itself! Whoops, but before I do so, it's important to introduce just a tiny bit of historical perspective. For those readers still with me, if you've already read Brian's "Brain Candy" article on MEGAsearch engines here in Braegen a few month's back, you will connect instantly to the thrust of this offering as well.
However, for those readers who through no fault of their own missed this article, I strongly suggest you search out your back issues of Braegen right now and read Brian's article! [Or else link directly to the article at: <http://home.neo.rr.com./catbar/brain_candy/brncdy07.htm>] ... Go on, hurry up, I'll wait.......
Welcome back! Hey, no need to apologize. We recluses are REALLY laid back; i.e., there's not a whole lot going on here at the moment. However, if you indeed still do feel the need to apologize, I suggest you direct your apologies to the balance of my readership for keeping them waiting on the edge of their chairs for the meaty tale promised earlier.
Now, as promised, the meaty tale:
Once upon a time I was seated before my mighty nondescript computer keyboard, and as I recollect [i.e., recollect, a word originally used during the Nixon years to disguise (or project the illusion of) a faulty memory.] I was searching 'aj' [that's short for <http://www.aj.com>, commonly called "Ask Jeeves"] for some information that a coworker had requested I discover for her. Suddenly, I had an idea!
Unhesitating and with recluse abandon [That's right, recluse abandon, my kind of abandon, not reckless abandon as commonly practiced by non-Mensans....and even SOME Mensans as well.] I entered the question, "What are the best available MEGAsearch engines?"
Since I was already in "aj", I'm certain that humility prevented the inclusion of "Ask Jeeves" in the resulting list. Nonetheless, WOW!!! What a list!!! In addition to the already familiar MetaCrawler and Profusion, the following also appeared before my wondering eyes!
[!!!WARNING!!! If you are a reader suffering from a weak heart, high blood pressure, or psoriasis I strongly recommend that you sit down before continuing this article. I don't want to lose any readership now, especially if I decide to ever write again.]
This metasearch engine utilizes / offers Boolean search capability, a real plus for certain selected search projects.
This is one of my newfound favorites. In addition to using almost every search engine I've ever heard of, DogPile also covers UseNet, weather, stock quotes, business news and other wire news. Don't miss the links at the bottom of home page, either. You will find auctions, toys, furniture, insurance, flowers, mortgages, travel, gifts, autos, and even 'library', an online research center. Try it, you'll like it. I'm not only a user, I'm president! [President of my own company that is, not DogPile you silly person!]
If you own your own business, or are considering starting a business, then C4 is especially for you. Again, try it, you'll like it!
With 19 active search engines, and with another 10 available engines or targeted links for various disciplines, this is perhaps the MOST powerful of my finds. SavvySearch offers a plethora of disparate power sources to rapidly find that for which you seek.
It is my earnest hope and suggestion that any readers who've endured my babble this long experience the power at their fingertips ASAP. Use it or lose it! Seriously, your only limits in gaining knowledge with these powerful search engines are time, imagination, and the condition of your available computer connections to the net. To ignore these tools in my opinion is to abandon the source of seemingly limitless knowledge.
Most of all.....ENJOY! A gift from your friend in Mensa...
Live Long & Prosper!
Brent Dix
CATBAR - Brain Candy #17 / Brent Dix / December 8 1999