how do you deal with information overload?

[raverx3m]

so eryone seems to be noticing that theres alot more information available than before.
some people seem to be ok with that and dont suffer too much.
others are freaking out because the information giant is after them and will eat their brain cells out.

i belive that its not the information overload, its the MISINFORMATION overload.
the internet and recent communication advances gave ability for almost everyone to acess and release the info to the world(wide web) without any filtering.

so any backdoor genius with 6th grade education can post online,write a blog,(save a dog and go on oprah tv show) and even write a book and publish it in hopes of making quick money or whatever reason it is.

but for the rest of us that are looking for correct info it becomes a major problem because we have to dig thru piles of rubbish in order to find something what we looking for.



so i think this is the correct forum to ask since most of us deal with alot of information and developed some kind of SPAM FILTER that scans the BS out that way you dont waste too much time on it and go straignt for the gold.


i personally dont belive i have one and spend alot of time trying to find what i need , going thru tonns of useless data on the internet untill i finally find something.


please share your tricks and thoughts about how to spend your PC time wisely.

 

[Yami]

That's what search engines are for If you know how to use them properly, then anything you're looking for is ten clicks away, max.

 

[oldskool]

Several things I do:

1. Frequent Tech Forums, and pay special attention to what people give for advice, especially if their advice frequently helps others. It becomes obvious who those people are after a while.

2. Use either Google or Bing (your choice) for things you can't find by searching the threads here using the Search Tech-Forums feature. Google and/or Bing is your friend.

3. I have been diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder, not ADHD which is the hyperactive version) and take medication for it, but I just do my best to filter out what seems like obvious fluff and crap, and concentrate on what it is I want for information, whether it is online, or in the regular everyday life stuff.

 

[raverx3m]

ye man i havent been diagnosed but i suspect having it judging by my behavior.

and i end up with 4 explorer windows open with 6-8 tabs in each one after about 30 minutes of searching lol

dang i ve been here since 2005 OMFG im old

 

[bob442]

ye man i havent been diagnosed but i suspect having it judging by my behavior.

and i end up with 4 explorer windows open with 6-8 tabs in each one after about 30 minutes of searching lol

i know how ya feel, alot if it is how you/I search for it. Its a game almost, somttime you need to vary detailed, some time too much detail hurts.. I find that if i am having a hard time finding somthingit is usaly because somthing else is is distracting me from what i am triying to find. Sometimes i need pure isolation from everything besides the task at hand and that helps me greatly. Finding the correct info quickly is a skill that can be an art form.

 

[philbar71]

so eryone seems to be noticing that theres alot more information available than before.
some people seem to be ok with that and dont suffer too much.
others are freaking out because the information giant is after them and will eat their brain cells out.

i belive that its not the information overload, its the MISINFORMATION overload.
the internet and recent communication advances gave ability for almost everyone to acess and release the info to the world(wide web) without any filtering.

so any backdoor genius with 6th grade education can post online,write a blog,(save a dog and go on oprah tv show) and even write a book and publish it in hopes of making quick money or whatever reason it is.

but for the rest of us that are looking for correct info it becomes a major problem because we have to dig thru piles of rubbish in order to find something what we looking for.



so i think this is the correct forum to ask since most of us deal with alot of information and developed some kind of SPAM FILTER that scans the BS out that way you dont waste too much time on it and go straignt for the gold.


i personally dont belive i have one and spend alot of time trying to find what i need , going thru tonns of useless data on the internet untill i finally find something.


please share your tricks and thoughts about how to spend your PC time wisely.

most of the time i just ignore it, or take it with a mountan of salt

 

[KSoD]

The main thing is the search terms used. Using generic searches with common terms is going to net your tons of results. In which you have to filter out the junk yourself.

But if you have a more specific idea of what you are looking for, then use that as your search terms and it will help filter it for you.

So instead of searching for Windows 7, search for Windows 7 Upgrade FAQ. That will give you more definitive results. Try to use more terms that are not so common that they will show up uinder every search result performed. Try to use terms or descriptions of more specific things.

That is how i have been able to manage Google and Bing with great success finding information for people. The truth is there is no way to manage it. As you said everybody, their brother, mother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, grandparent, and so on have the ability to give out information that has the likelyhood to be incorrect. The trick comes in being able to identify which information is incorrect by comparing it to sources that you know are more likely to have correct information.

 

[Oreo]

Well, i tend to just look at the crap aswell - and after 10 minutes i find myself reading something totally irrelevent yet oddly interesting that is nothing to do what i originally searched for.

But if i really need to search for something, i do tend to use whole sentences as a search term. Especially when trying to diagnose errors on my PC*, if i have an error description 15 words long, i literally just copy it into google and get lots of helpfull links.

*I make the sacrifice of having no firewall, anti virus, anti spyware on my PC because they really bloody annoy me. I can cope with the occasional reformat

 

[Jorsoft]

I usually just start drinking and then I let the liquor do the thinking. Everything's easier that way.

 

[Trotter]

Unless the source is extremely reliable, don't take anything unless it comes from multiple sources. And that doesn't mean three sites that copied and pasted the same article. The same rules for college research work quite well for the net.