When "surfing" the web use (the annotations that look like algebra are memory prompts on how to use some of the search engines) the following sites can be useful:
Google with a New Zealand site and Blog Search "a b" ~a
Wayback Machine the Internet Archive
Bing from Microsoft
Excite +a +b "a b" a AND b
Lycos +a +b
Archway-style Collection search - unofficial search of Archives NZ
Dogpile a metasearch site
Alexa - coming soon with AI
You.com - AI based
WolframAlpha a computational knowledge engine
Social networking sites:
TweetDeck presorts arriving tweets into predefined groups.
TinyURL.com is useful for reducing the length of URLs when posting them in Twitter.
For internet news see:
Search Engine Watch - search engine developments
Aardvark - Bruce Simpson focusing on Australasia
For video see YouTube.
Relevant social media analytics are available on Social Blade while Not Common NEW lists most followed social media accounts.
For live radio from around the world try radio.net.
I am using Google Sites as the primary location for my Home Page:
I had been using Yahoo GeoCities as an alternative location (http://www.geocities.com/macilree/) but this closed in late 2009.
I have used Google Analytics to track visits to my home pages and my weblog.
My Internet Service Provider was IHUG (which was taken over by Vodafone) and is now Spark.
I now use Gmail, a free web-based email system which allows me greater flexibility in accessing email from other locations. Close up the gaps and contact me on macilree @ gmail.com
My office email address was j.macilree@transport.govt.nz. I no longer use macilree@ihug.co.nz.
For video conferencing I use Zoom
I did also download ICQ from Mirabilis. My ICQ# is 18135039 but I have ceased to use it.
Tor - secure communications
ChatGPT - AI that at this stage I would describe as experimental surrounded by considerable hype
Gemini - Google's AI
Perplexity AI - currently my favourite.
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Last updated on 9 September 2025