1. Home
  2. Computing & Technology
  3. Web Search

Five Ways to Send a Free Fax on the Web

Don't have a fax machine handy? No problem. You can use the Web to send a free fax - and no, you don't have to have a fax machine or even find some spare change. Here are five sites that give you the ability to send a free fax online.

More Web office alternatives

Wendy's Web Search Blog

Use Google Maps to find a Christmas tree farm near you

Wednesday December 2, 2009
christmas tree farms'Tis the season for holiday decorations, and many people are picking up their Christmas trees this week. Not sure where the nearest Christmas tree farm is? No problem - you can use Google Maps to find out. Here's how you do it:
  • Navigate to Google Maps.
  • Type in "christmas tree farms", then your city or zip code.
  • Voila! You should see a tidy map of the closest Christmas tree farms in your area. If you need directions, click on the map marker; you should see a link that says "Directions" for each one.

More online Christmas tips

Want to listen to some great Christmas music? Try an online radio station!

Tuesday December 1, 2009

Can't find anything good to listen to on your local radio stations? No problem - go to the Web and you'll be able to find no end to the great free online radio stations that you can listen to for free. Here are just a few of the Online Radio Stations that you can find.

More free music

  • Free Music Downloads: Free music downloads on the Web really does exist; as long as you're willing to listen to music other than what's on the radio and top 40 (for the most part). Here are a few places on the Web where you can find free music downloads.
  • Last.FM: Last.fm is a unique way to listen to free music on the Web. In the words of Last.fm itself: "Last.fm taps the wisdom of the crowds, leveraging each user's musical profile to make personalised recommendations, connect users who share similar tastes, provide custom radio streams, and much more." Put simply, it's a social music platform.
  • Pandora: Last Christmas I was able to listen to non-stop holiday music courtesy of Pandora. Just type in your favorite holiday song and Pandora will find similar tunes. Or, you could just type in the name of the artist followed by the word "holiday"; for instance, "bing crosby holiday".

Offensive search results: the Michelle Obama ape mishap

Monday November 30, 2009
Offensive search results are by no means anything new; we've probably all come across some pretty awful stuff in our searches, right? This week a particularly odious offensive search result, that of First Lady Michelle Obama characterized as an ape-like creature, came up first (first!) in Google's image search.

Many people reported this offensive image, and Google investigated (they're usually pretty good about doing that) the originating site and found that it did not meet Google's guidelines, so the image was kicked out. However, other sites that DID meet Google's guidelines had already picked up the image and hosted it. At that point, it was kind of like putting the toothpaste back into the tube.

If you search for Michelle Obama today, you might see the image, depending on where you're searching from. You'll definitely see an ad that Google is running about offensive search results:

offensive search results

The ad directs straight to Google's explanation of why search results are sometimes not very nice.

You'll also see a few interesting Related Search suggestions when you search for Michelle Obama in images: "michelle obama ape", "michelle obama monkey", "michelle obama gorilla"....you get the picture - pun intended.

Google offers up this same offensive search results ad for potential searches that will trigger offensive search results: just think of any controversial, racist, bigoted, prejudiced kind of word or topic and you'll most likely see that same ad.

What do you think of how Google is handling the Michelle Obama ape mishap? I'm conflicted, because I hate to see this kind of shameful stuff in the search results, but on the other hand, free speech is free speech, and I'm not sure if Google is the entity we want deciding how that will be handled. Vote in the poll below or leave your comment:

Related:

Web Search news roundup for Nov. 23-27: Black Friday, News Corp, and the future of search

Saturday November 28, 2009
Not much happened search-wise this week since it was a half-week/holiday weekend in the States, but there's always something going on on the Web. Let's get right to it:

Did I miss something? Do you have a hot news item related to the Web or to search in general that you'd like to share? Let us know about it in the comments below.

Explore Web Search
About.com Special Features

Holiday Central

What to eat, where to go, fun things to do and how to save money on the perfect gifts. More >

Family Tech Center

Stay connected and entertained with reviews on tips on the latest HDTVs, cellphones and more. More >

  1. Home
  2. Computing & Technology
  3. Web Search

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.