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Habitatnews 2001-24: Monday, 15th October 2001
The Habitat Group's Nature Information List
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Current nature-related news busy Singaporeans might otherwise miss
More information and archives at: <http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg>
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1. Chek Jawa guide-assisted visit on Fri 19th & Sat 20th October
2. "This old tree" - Tree Garlanding Day @ Pulau Ubin
3. Search the internet with Google

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---> [1] Chek Jawa visits on Fri 19th & Sat 20th October
<http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/news/chekjawa/public.htm>
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The Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR) and friends are
conducting two days of guide-assisted educational visits to Chek Jawa.
All are welcome on these walks which are suitable for children.

Guides in bright orange caps will help the public in their discovery of
marine life at Chek Jawa on Fri 19th and Sat 20th Oct: 5pm - 7pm.

A note of those who have been asking: you will get back the same way
you came. The van operators will be waiting for you.

For details, please see:
<http://habitatnews.nus.edu.sg/news/chekjawa/public.htm>


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---> [2] "This old tree" - Tree Garlanding Day @ Pulau Ubin
<http://homex.coolconnect.com/member2/bengo99/>
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Tan Beng Chiak <chiak99@...>, who maintains the "Chek Jawa,
our thrteatened heritage" webpage has sent out an invitation to all,
to join her friends in a celebration of our natural heritage on
Sunday, 21 October 2001, at Pulau Ubin.

This event centres around a huge Pulai tree (_Alstonia angustiloba_)
that can be seen from bumboats approaching Ubin (see picture in
webpage). The tree has a girth of 5.7m and is is estimated to be
about 100 years old. Two unmarked tombstones are found at the base
of this giant.

Happily, a reliable source has revealed that the tree will be saved
during the development!

They are organising a picnic on Sunday 21st October during which
they will garland the tree amidst song, dance and poetry to express
the hope that other old trees and nature areas be preserved and
conserved for future generations.

For more information, please see details in the webpage at:
<http://homex.coolconnect.com/member2/bengo99/>

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---> [3] Inter Hint: Searching the internet with Google
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There is no way to search the ENTIRE web, not yet anyway. And finding
information still depends on the efficiency of the user. But a good
tool can help considerably.

In Habitatnews 2000-11 (31st March 2000), I recommended Copernic2000,
a free desktop metasearch engine for Macintosh and Windows. I have
since abandoned this in favour of Google <http://www.google./com>

In several tests using uncommon scientific names, Google has
consistently performed better. While it caught the eyes of some
as early as 1998, it has been a chart-topper since 2000.

See:
Searchengine Reviews Chart, by searchenginewatch.com
<http://www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/reviewchart.html>

"Yes, there is a better search engine -
While the portal sites fiddle, Google catches fire."
by Scott Rosenberg, Salon.com, 21st December 1998
<http://www.salon.com/21st/rose/1998/12/21straight2.html>

Some useful features make Google even more attractive:
1. Cached versions - a copy of the webpage is kept, so if the page
is offline or expired, Google may still have version you can read!

2. Text version of pdf files - if you want to review a link before
downloading it, Google provides text versions that you can view,
before deciding to download. Particularly useful with large pdf files.

3. Integrating Google - you can download the Sherlock Plug-ins for
a Macintosh, the Toolbar for browsers in Windows, or add a search
box to your webpage (see Habitatnews webpage) or add a university
institution-specific button (see the Raffles Museum webpage).

See <http://www.google.com/about.html>
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