Sharing and Searching

Sharing files

In the lesson, we have talked about different ways of storing data and information. I think the ways we use depend very much on what kinds of file we are going to store. And I think the ways we mentioned in the lesson, like gmail, portable hard disk are good for storing personal files. How about files that we want to share with others? I would like to share one more way of storing data or information with you. It is Google Docs.

When we are doing group assignments, most of us share files by attaching them in e-mails. Some of us may exchange the files in our flash disks when we meet each others.Two years ago, I was introduced to Google Docs which allows users to upload or create documents online. We can read, edit and download the files. Google Docs supports different formats.

Technology is so advanced that I could finish the final year group projects of my associate degree without any face-to-face discussions. All discussions are done through Skype. We could edit the same file at the same time through Google docs when we were having online discussions. Every process was like we were looking at the same computer, but we were actually sitting at home at midnight.

Here is a video demonstrating some functions of presentations of Google Docs:

Of course, you can just save your files there without sharing with others. Does it like a portable hard disk?

Searching data

Two major search engines I use are Yahoo and Google. I determine which one I use according to the kinds of information I want. I think the searching results of Yahoo are more local while those of Google are more international. The search engines introduced in the lesson are new to me. And I am surprised that there are search engines focusing on certain taype of web pages.

The power of search engines just sometimes scare me that they can find me some files are not supposed to be found. I often look for exercise for my tutorial students. Sometimes I find worksheets and examination paper from schools. I do not think they are open to public because there is no direct links in the schools' homepages.

I think keeping secret has become both more difficult and easier at the same time.  In the past, people made observation to know others emotions and thoughts. Nowadays, my friends open facebook to check how others feel and what others think. There is nearly no secrets throughout the internet. People can find almost all they want through the search engines. On the other hand, people are so used to gather data they want through internet. If the piece of data is not uploaded, people can seldom find another way to get that data. So, I think the best way of keeping a secret is keep it away from the internet.