Ever find a web page on one of the major search engines that references a person or topic that you are searching for, only to find out that the page is too long or cluttered for speedy reading or scanning? Use ctrl+F ( hold down the “ctrl” key and “F” key at the same time ) to get a search box on your web browser, type in the name or search phrase that you are looking for to search on any open page or document.

If the original phrase or person that you searched for on the engine isn’t found on the web page, it is possible that the page has been updated since the last time it was indexed by your search engine. If you use the Google or Yahoo search engines, you can hit your back button to return to the search results and choose the “cached” link to see a copy of the old web page that was indexed by the search engine.

Here are some interesting statistics from a December 12, 2005 Business Week cover story on the “MySpace Generation” –

The percentage share of 24 million U.S. teens ( age 12 - 17 ) who do the following:

Use the internet: 87%
Instant message ( IM ) : 65%
Go online everday: 44%
Keep several IM conversations going at once: 29%
Have more than 50 “buddies” on their regular IM list: 29%
IM people in the same room: 25%

With the growth and advance of networked people; search engine technology; blogs; online people searches; online public record locators and social networks like Friendster, MySpace and FaceBook, people will become easier and easier to locate, even as existing public record laws become stricter.

Mix a little vanity along with the ease of publishing online biographies, resumes, pictures and other personal information and you now have more options than ever for finding a person on the web without the use of paid professionals and fee-based databases.

You can read more about the “MySpace Generation” in Business Week @ The MySpace Generation

Riya is a maker of facial recognition software that allows users to tag and search for people by name in digital images and pictures on a personal computer or on the web. The software is still in its testing phase, but rumors are the search engine giant Google is already interested in buying the company.

Imagine the future of people searching if the world’s largest search engine, Google, buys an advanced facial recognition software company. Now combine that with the popularity of digital cameras; online picture posting sites, like flickr.com; web page and image tagging with peoples’ names and mapping mixes that map photos to geographic areas. All of these things exist separately on the web right now. Just wait until they combine to produce a large and very powerful people image search and locator. It will happen, it’s only a matter of time.

You can learn more about the Riya facial recognition software at Riya.com.

Looking for a new job?  Simply Hired is a new meta job search site that searches thousands of job boards, classified ads and company sites at once.  At the time of this posting, the Simply Hired search had indexed over 4.5 million jobs from thousands of sites.  Simply Hired allows you to job search by keyword and location or browse the directory of jobs by area and job specialty.  You can access the job search site at Simply Hired .

Rollyo.com - Roll Your Own Search Engine - allows users to create their own search engine from searchrolls of their favorite sites.  View other users’ search rolls or ‘roll your own’. 

You can visit the Rollyo web site at Rollyo.com - Roll Your Own Search Engine .

RateMyProfessors.com, a professor rating / review site started 6 years ago by a student at San Jose State University, now has over 4 million student reviews of college and university professors from over 5,000 academic institutions.  While the site is wildly popular with students, it is starting to upset university professors and administrators, with some threatening legal action.

You can visit the site at RateMyProfessors.com or read the article Prof Ratings Site Irks Academics by Joanna Glasner @ wired.com.

Knowing how to use search engines correctly will help you with your online skip tracing, people searches and public records searching. 

The web site Search Engine Watch has an excellent web searching tips guide.  They cover everything from basic search engine tutorials to power and advanced search engine use.   You can access the Search Engine Watch tips at web searching tips .

Good luck with your people searches and public records research!

Do you want to work for your Uncle Sam?  USA JOBS is the official job site of the US Federal Government.   The site contains over 19,000 Federal jobs in its database as well as a downloadable copy of a study that shows what employment areas in the Federal Government are growing the fastest.  You can search the job database or create your own account and post your resume online. 

Visit USA JOBS at http://www.usajobs.opm.gov/ .

The LexisNexis Accurint system is entering the corporate and business records search arena with a site called AccurintBusiness.com.  Business record searches will run from $1.99 - $4.00, depending on the information requested.   The site contains millions of records on both public and private companies.

You can read the full details at LexisNexis Accurint Business Broadens Access to Company Information by Barbara Quint @ infotoday.com .

The free speech group Reporters Without Borders is offering a free downloadable guide ( in Adobe Acrobat’s pdf format ) for dissident bloggers located in countries that restrict criticism of the ruling government and policies.  The guide shows dissident bloggers how to get around censorship issues; protect their anonymity; practice journalistic ethics as well as how to publish and promote their blogs.  You can read more in an article Handbook Offers Tips For Cyberdissidents by Alorie Gilbert @ CNET News.com.

You can also download a free copy of the guide at
Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents at rsf.org.