Do you ever wonder what happened to your old grade school, high school or college friends? Maybe you'd like to get in touch and see how they're doing? It's not as hard as you may think, thanks to the Internet. Here are some tips for using the Internet to find old friends:
First, the most obvious places to check are the big classmate and reunion sites. Check out Classmates.com and Reunion.com first. You'll find a decent portion of the people from your high school class listed on these sites, especially Classmates.com, since they've been around the longest and advertise the most. Unfortunately, if you find someone on one of these sites, you'll have to pay for membership to contact them. The sites have to pay the bills somehow and that's the catch. However, if you don't want to pay, there are other options. Quite often, if the person you are looking for is a female and has gotten married, you will be able to see what their new last name is, which will make finding them a whole lot easier for you. You'll also be able to see the city where the person lives *now*, again, another valuable detail.
Searching
Now, let's search the Internet for the person. I recommend trying Google first, then MSN, as MSN technically has the largest database of indexed pages and the freshest index as well.
Search Tips
Search for the person's name first, with quotations:
"Alexandra Jones"
If the person has a unique name, your results will be smaller, but if they have a common name, you'll need to narrow the search greatly. Try searching with a middle initial or full middle name. You can also add a state or the initials of a state, like this:
"Alexandra Alicia Jones"
"Alexandra A Jones"
"Alexandra Jones", FL
"Alexandra Jones", florida
Perhaps the person was an artist or a writer? Add the words, "art" or "author" to the search. You'll be surprised at how greatly this narrows your search. Same if the person is a mechanic, engineer or interior designer. Add these words or variations of these words to the search to refine the results. Many professions and businesses have websites where they may list the names of employees. If you know the person is a dentist, try searching the dental directories online, it's likely they are listed so that new patients can find them.
Be sure to take advantage of the Advanced Search features of every search engine, these features are usually very easy to use and extremely powerful. You'll see Google's Advanced Search link right on their front page.
There are also specialty search engines available which come in handy for finding certain people online. There are specialty search engines for books, blogs, news, images, media, and practically any topic you can think of.
Don't forget to search the local newspaper website for the town from which you graduated, maybe they were mentioned in a story? Also, your high school website may even have an alumni section where you can register and search for alumnus. Don't forget to search the big yellow and white pages directories online, they may just be listed! Also try the AOL, Yahoo, Myspace, Facebook, LiveJournal, Friendster and other community member directories. Some people may even be involved in researching their family trees online, so try checking the major genealogy sites for their last name, they may be posting!
Maybe you remember that this person loved cross stitch sewing, Billy Joel or deep sea fishing? You can check some message boards with these niche topics, you might find that an "AlexandraJ" has 1000 posts on Billy Joel's official message board. That might be her!
If All Else Fails
There are specific people search engines available. These usually search public records. For the most powerful ones, you'll have to pay for real contact information. You can also have Yahoo or Google alert you anytime the person's name pops up in a news story or on the web, by using Yahoo or Google Alerts. Go to google.com/alerts to set one up. If you came up empty, this is a great way to use a search engine to let you know about any new search results, blog postings or other news items with a specific name mentioned.
If after exhausting every online avenue, you still can't find any mention of this person, it's possible this person moved, changed names, moved out of the country or just doesn't want to be found.
You'll also want to be prepared for any delicate information you find, often public records will show up in searches, so you may see records for a bankruptcy, foreclosures, divorce records, criminal records, legal trouble, disturbing blog postings or even an obituary.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Social Skills and Friendship What Are the Signs of a True Friend
The best kinds of people to have around you are the caring kind. They are what we think of as 'true' friends. Getting to know who’s who can be most interesting and sometimes most challenging.
This advice is universal. It fits for anyone of any age when making decisions about who to bring into your life and heart as a friend. However, these tips are stated in a way that will be especially helpful for tweens and teens as well as for kids and adults with ADHD, Autism or Asperger Syndrome. These tips will be useful for those who have a difficult time picking up the cues and clues that give them the ‘Go!’ or the ‘No!’ when it comes to friendship.
Here are eight tips to guide you to recognize a true friend:
1. Do you feel your friend cares about what you have to say? A real friend pays attention while you are talking and asks questions if he or she does not fully understand your situations or feeling before giving advice about it.
2.True friends are interested in what is good for you not for what you can give to them or do for them. A true friend would advise you to do only what is safe, smart and helpful to you. It helps sometimes to see if other people you like and respect also like your new friend.
3. Do you ever feel pressure to do something you don’t want to do? If you feel this way, it is your true friends who can help you sort out how to be yourself, do the right thing and still be a part of the crowd.
4. If you make a mistake, a true friend helps you feel better. A true friend does not make you feel dumb, gossip to others or criticize you.
5. A true friend gives you space and privacy if you want it. You don’t have to explain or wonder if your friend will be upset if you prefer to do something your own way, on your own time.
6. When you have problem, a true friend encourages you to find people you trust to help you take the right steps to solve it. to tell you to talk to an adult or with the right experience.
7. True friends understand how much you can do. If your parents don’t permit you to go out on school nights, a true friend will stick by you when you can be together.
8. A true friend lets you have other friends. You don’t have to worry about a true friend getting upset if you spend time with someone else. There are so many different ways youcan spend time with people. You might have a certain friend who loves to play basketball with you and other friends who are your movie or concert friends. This does not mean dropping your friend for something else. Real friends have mutual respect and make room for each other to do what they want.
This guide is also a good way to evaluate how good a friend you are to others!
This advice is universal. It fits for anyone of any age when making decisions about who to bring into your life and heart as a friend. However, these tips are stated in a way that will be especially helpful for tweens and teens as well as for kids and adults with ADHD, Autism or Asperger Syndrome. These tips will be useful for those who have a difficult time picking up the cues and clues that give them the ‘Go!’ or the ‘No!’ when it comes to friendship.
Here are eight tips to guide you to recognize a true friend:
1. Do you feel your friend cares about what you have to say? A real friend pays attention while you are talking and asks questions if he or she does not fully understand your situations or feeling before giving advice about it.
2.True friends are interested in what is good for you not for what you can give to them or do for them. A true friend would advise you to do only what is safe, smart and helpful to you. It helps sometimes to see if other people you like and respect also like your new friend.
3. Do you ever feel pressure to do something you don’t want to do? If you feel this way, it is your true friends who can help you sort out how to be yourself, do the right thing and still be a part of the crowd.
4. If you make a mistake, a true friend helps you feel better. A true friend does not make you feel dumb, gossip to others or criticize you.
5. A true friend gives you space and privacy if you want it. You don’t have to explain or wonder if your friend will be upset if you prefer to do something your own way, on your own time.
6. When you have problem, a true friend encourages you to find people you trust to help you take the right steps to solve it. to tell you to talk to an adult or with the right experience.
7. True friends understand how much you can do. If your parents don’t permit you to go out on school nights, a true friend will stick by you when you can be together.
8. A true friend lets you have other friends. You don’t have to worry about a true friend getting upset if you spend time with someone else. There are so many different ways youcan spend time with people. You might have a certain friend who loves to play basketball with you and other friends who are your movie or concert friends. This does not mean dropping your friend for something else. Real friends have mutual respect and make room for each other to do what they want.
This guide is also a good way to evaluate how good a friend you are to others!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Six Tips For How to Be the Right Person to Establish Intimate Relationships
Relationships...they would be much easier if not for the people.
You say, "Yes."
She says, "No."
He says, "Left."
You say, "Right."
It all seems like a crazy dance with an unlimited number of steps to learn, memorize and negotiate.
Still, in the end, if you really make an effort, the result will be well worth momentary levels of frustration. There is nothing like an intimate friendship or two. This article discusses six tips for how to establish and be the right person for intimate relationships.
• Be humble - Humility is having a right view of yourself. It is not groveling in the dirt with a woe-is-me attitude. It means that you understand your value and then also the value of others. You recognize that you have strengths and weaknesses and are not overly proud in any way.
• Be a good listener - When you take the time to actively listen to other people, they feel valued and treasured. They feel like you truly care about them and feel that what they have to say is important.
• Be trustworthy - To be trustworthy means that you are true to your word. It means that others can rely on you. Trust is built through respect and consistency in character.
• Be loyal - Establishing close friendships is often difficult. This is because people can be fickle. Hot today, cold tomorrow; whatever the prevailing winds of the day. Being loyal means you do not gossip about someone when they are not present in the room. It also means that when someone begins to disrespect your friend, you pipe in with what you like about them. If you choose to gossip about others, your friends will eventually begin to wonder whether you are slandering them when they are not around, too.
• Be generous - The Bible says a generous man has many friends. When you are liberal with praise as well as buying special gifts, others will want to be around you.
• Be forgiving - Obviously, conflict is the greatest challenge to an intimate relationship. Learning how to manage conflict and how to restore a friendship is one of the most complicated aspects of any companionship. The one who masters how to work through conflict is sure to have the strongest bonds of camaraderie in this life. Forgiveness is one important point in the complex world of managing conflict. When we choose to forgive, our hearts will be free and we will have the capacity to love and build solid, long-term friendships.
In this life, there is nothing more warming and, yet at the same time, more frustrating than establishing close friendships. People are fickle and difficult to pin down. This article has discussed six tips on how to establish and be the right person for intimate relationships.
You say, "Yes."
She says, "No."
He says, "Left."
You say, "Right."
It all seems like a crazy dance with an unlimited number of steps to learn, memorize and negotiate.
Still, in the end, if you really make an effort, the result will be well worth momentary levels of frustration. There is nothing like an intimate friendship or two. This article discusses six tips for how to establish and be the right person for intimate relationships.
• Be humble - Humility is having a right view of yourself. It is not groveling in the dirt with a woe-is-me attitude. It means that you understand your value and then also the value of others. You recognize that you have strengths and weaknesses and are not overly proud in any way.
• Be a good listener - When you take the time to actively listen to other people, they feel valued and treasured. They feel like you truly care about them and feel that what they have to say is important.
• Be trustworthy - To be trustworthy means that you are true to your word. It means that others can rely on you. Trust is built through respect and consistency in character.
• Be loyal - Establishing close friendships is often difficult. This is because people can be fickle. Hot today, cold tomorrow; whatever the prevailing winds of the day. Being loyal means you do not gossip about someone when they are not present in the room. It also means that when someone begins to disrespect your friend, you pipe in with what you like about them. If you choose to gossip about others, your friends will eventually begin to wonder whether you are slandering them when they are not around, too.
• Be generous - The Bible says a generous man has many friends. When you are liberal with praise as well as buying special gifts, others will want to be around you.
• Be forgiving - Obviously, conflict is the greatest challenge to an intimate relationship. Learning how to manage conflict and how to restore a friendship is one of the most complicated aspects of any companionship. The one who masters how to work through conflict is sure to have the strongest bonds of camaraderie in this life. Forgiveness is one important point in the complex world of managing conflict. When we choose to forgive, our hearts will be free and we will have the capacity to love and build solid, long-term friendships.
In this life, there is nothing more warming and, yet at the same time, more frustrating than establishing close friendships. People are fickle and difficult to pin down. This article has discussed six tips on how to establish and be the right person for intimate relationships.
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