Project #15- Search Engines

As a student, I use search engines nearly every day of my life. They can help you find answer to questions on homework, tutoring services, or the best pizza shop. The internet holds an answer to virtually any question you can ask, and the best way to find it is through a search engine. I have always used Google, as do most people. In fact, the first thing I did when preparing to do this project was google "Top search engines." There are far more than I expected, and I tried several of them out.

Ask.com
The first search engine I tried was Ask.com. This website is best for asking simple question. Searching things like "Where did Sriracha hot sauce get it's name?," will bring you to hundreds of links to websites answering your question. You can also go to their Question and Answer community and post your question. Along with posting questions for others to answer, you can answer other peoples questions. It reminded me of social media since you can communicate with other people. Overall, this website could be useful, but I find it much easier to just google what you're looking for. When people answer your questions, you never know if they are correct or not, so this could be dangerous.

Wolframalpha.com
This is by far my favorite search engine that I have found today. I started by searching, "Who was the first president?," just to see how it worked. I love how it gave me not only his name, but basic information, facts about him, images, a timeline, and other various pieces of information all on one clean, easy to read page. I then put in the math problem 22-16. Not only did I get the answer, but it also spelled out the number, showed me a number line, and explained the problem using mats, tiles, and units. This website would be absolutely perfect to use in the classroom. Its easy enough for students to use, and it shows them so much more than something like Google would. I love it!

Bing.com 
Bing is very similar to Google. Their homepage is busier though. It has suggestions along the bottom of the page of things you may want to search, but I have no interest in that. While they are incredibly similar, I still prefer good ole' Google. Bing is gaining popularity though, and you can use it to search anything and you will most likely find what you need. For instance, I used it to search "More search engines."

Kayak.com
Bing brought me to Kayak.com, a website used for searching travel sites. This website is strictly for finding things related to travel. You can find hotels, flights, cars, and other things from all over the internet. It would be incredibly useful if you were planning a trip. It compares many travel sights at once, allowing you to find the best deals.

ISEEK: Education
ISEEK is a search engine that educators may use to find teaching resources, such as lesson plans. It is a little bit harder to use, so once again, I would probably stick with Google. However, all of the material on ISEEK has been reviewed by professionals, so I would guess that it is all reliable, good information.

Zillow.com
Zillow is a search engine used to find homes. It can be houses for sale or rent, or apartments. You can see homes that are already on the market, as well as homes that have not yet been listed. This search engine would be perfect for anyone looking into moving to a new home. I have no use for it currently, but if I were moving I would use Zillow.

Yahoo.com
Yahoo is a very popular search engine. It is similar to Google because you can search anything and find a link to a website containing answers. Yahoo has many things that Google does not however. You can do things such as shop, view news stories, or see the weather directly on Yahoo's website rather than using it to go to another website. I like Yahoo, but I prefer simpler search engines with less clutter. I only use it for news, and that isn't very often.


Foodily.com
The final search engine I found was Foodily. It can be used to look us recipes for anything. I looked up "brownies," and found the most delicious looking brownies ever. It gives you hundreds of results, and you can even specify that you don't want recipes with certain ingredients. For example, if you were allergic to nuts, you could look up brownies and select without nuts. This website is ideal for someone who wants to try cooking something new. I will be using this search engine again.