More Search Resources
- Ask.com Formerly “Ask Jeeves.” Strong search engine that claims fewer clicks to your answer.
- DTS-L Fast Web Search
Provided by DTS MVPs. Raging, Google, DogPile, DejaNews & more.
- Vivisimo Document Clustering Another search engine which nicely groups its results into
useful categories.
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Researching Web Sites & Domains
- SingTel IX Traceroute Server Sometimes you need to run a traceroute
from a location other than your own. Why not run it from Singapore?
- IP Address Locator Tool by GeoBytes. Find the geographical location of an IP address.
- Netcraft Web Site Finder Find out what OS base a web site is running on, its uptime history,
hosting information, etc.
- URL Check
by MS-MVP Bill James. Lets you confirm if a URL is currently live, then, optionally, view the page. (In IE6 it requires
security be set to Medium-Low, or Medium with Access Data Sources Across Domains set to Prompt or Enable.)
- DNS Stuff Another great site information tool, much more thorough than the others on exposing DNS records.
The companion site, DNS Report, gives perhaps the best one-page summation of domain status.
WhoIs & Additional Research Tools
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Sam Spade.org A wonderful collection of online web tools, including
whois, traceroute, DNS, and reverse DNS tools, an obfuscated URL search, IP block search, and a “safe web browser”
that shows site content without risking browser vulnerabilities. Click here to go directly to the tools and their descriptions.
- Domain White Pages Another great whois, traceroute, and DNS records.
Not as user friendly as Sam Spade, doesn’t have all the same features, but has a few tools that my favorite detective doesn’t have.
Traditional WhoIs
- Name.Space The old standard WhoIs (domain search) tool on the web.
- BetterWhoIs.com An alternate WhoIs site. (Unfortunately, it doesn’t take IP addresses.)
- Domain Surfer Search for domains using wildcards in the name — in case you forgot
exactly what it’s called.
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General Research Resources
- MapQuest You use this all the time already, right? Still has more detail than any of the others.
- Google Maps This is still in Beta... but already it threatens to make MapQuest obsolete. (And is there anyone who thinks
those satellite views are not cool?)
- Sun & Moon Rise/Set Calculator
A handy calculator from the US Naval Observatory.
- U.S. Gazatteer from the U.S. Census Bureau.
- Piple.com New and claiming to be “The most comprehensive people search on the web,” it is already pretty good and can be expected to get better!
- Spock Where are you on the web? Who is saying what about you? This is one of the most interesting people-finders around.
- WhoWhere? The Lycos people finder. (These days,
Google and other sites probably do it better! But this classic link is still worth keeping around.)
- WorldHistory.com A great history site, that also focusses on historic roots of
items currently in the news. I like This Day in History.
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Language Aids & Resources
- BabelFish Alta Vista’s language translation site.
- Dictionary.com This has... dictionaries! Easy English dictionary and thesaurus, plus specialty
dictionaries, non-English dictionaries (even Latin!), and more. A really exceptional site.
- iTranslator by Bowne Global Solutions.
A BabelFish alternative.
- Latin Dictionary & Grammar Aid by Kevin Cawley at Notre Dame.
- NetLingo
What do all those acronyms and buzzwords mean that people use on the Internet? And how ’bout those emoticons?
Does your WAG draw a WE? This site may be your salvation!
- Rhyme Zone
Generates rhymes, synonyms, antonyms, definitions, related words, homophones, similar spellings & more!
- Shakespearean Insulter
When you want to really give it to someone, give only the best, thou wimpled onion-eyed puttock!
- ’Strine Decoded
The definitive lexicon of ’Strine.
- Wordsmith.org Word-a-Day. Anagrams (try your name in this one!). Get dictionary
and thesaurus information delivered by email. If you love (or are at least fascinated by) “the music & magic of words,”
check this out.
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