#clusty

[justletmereadmycomics]

Please click it Tumblr DEVOURED the quality aoruhg also an attempt at an image id put into the alt text

Nomia! (like- like astronomia- im sorry I'll leave...)

Neopronouns are cluster/clust/clustie/clustie/cluself (for reference, they/them would be they/them/their/theirs/themself)

I CLAIM NOMIA AS THE ARSONIST OF THE GROUP BEFORE ANYONE ELSE GETS THE EXPLOSION CHILD !!!!

Transmasc asexual

Lies about his age (shhhhh)

If cluster were given spicy foods, cluster would throw up and cry (if these aliens can cry, idk if it's possible with their biology and whatever)

Left handed! Because I can!

Fuckin' WEAK

~*~ Nomia is meant to be part of Kraz's mischief-causing gang, created by @circusinarun :D ~*~

~*~ Marble Sky and its funky alien dudes by @somerandomdudelmao ~*~

Close ups below the cut!

@amat3ured1t0r @moth-boi-lycan since you guys seemed interested :]

[seosuccesshub]

What is a Search Engine and How Do They Work?

Search engines are essential tools in the digital age, enabling users to quickly find relevant information online by entering keywords or phrases. They have transformed how we access content, making it easier to conduct research and answer everyday queries. Understanding what search engines are and how they function is crucial for users and businesses seeking to enhance their online presence. This article will explore the definition of search engines, explain their workings, discuss different types, and present the top 50 search engines in 2024, concluding with insights into their significance in our daily lives.

What is a Search Engine?

A search engine is an online tool designed to facilitate the retrieval of information from the internet. Users input keywords or phrases, and the search engine scours its indexed database to present relevant results. Popular examples include Google, Bing, and Yahoo, each offering unique features and capabilities to enhance the search experience.

How Do Search Engines Work?

Search engines operate through a three-step process: crawling, indexing, and ranking.

Crawling: This is the initial phase where automated programs known as web crawlers or spiders scan the internet for new and updated content. They follow links from one page to another, gathering data to discover new web pages and content.

Indexing: Once crawlers gather information, the next step is to organize and store it in a massive database known as an index. This index acts like a library catalog, making it easier for the search engine to retrieve relevant information quickly when users input search queries.

Ranking: When a user conducts a search, the search engine analyzes its index to find the most relevant results. Complex algorithms determine the ranking of these results based on factors such as keyword relevance, website authority, and user engagement metrics. The result is a list of pages ranked by their relevance to the user’s query.

Types of Search Engines

Search engines can be categorized into several types, each serving different purposes:

General Search Engines: These are the most commonly used search engines, such as Google and Bing, which provide a wide array of results across various topics.

Vertical Search Engines: These focus on specific niches or sectors, such as shopping (e.g., Amazon), travel (e.g., Kayak), or job searches (e.g., Indeed). They cater to users looking for specialized information within a particular area.

Meta Search Engines: Meta search engines aggregate results from multiple search engines, allowing users to access a broader range of information from various sources. Examples include Dogpile and MetaCrawler.

Top 50 Search Engines in 2024

As the internet continues to evolve, various search engines emerge to meet the diverse needs of users. Here is a list of the top 50 search engines in 2024:

Google

Bing

Yahoo

DuckDuckGo

Baidu

Yandex

Ask.com

AOL Search

Excite

Lycos

StartPage

Qwant

Searx

Search Encrypt

MetaGer

Boardreader

Cuil

Wolfram Alpha

Yippy

Gigablast

Mamma

Dogpile

Clusty

Looksmart

WebCrawler

Froogle

Findology

Sogou

Naver

Teoma

Bing Images

Google Scholar

Shodan

GoodSearch

Kiddle

DuckDuckGo Images

Yelp

Wikimedia

Lycos Mail

Blekko

Xoose

AlltheWeb

Search.com

Wraith

Peekier

Qwant Maps

Zyro

Hound

Yonder

Bing Video

This list showcases the variety of search engines available, catering to different user preferences and needs.

Conclusion

Search engines are indispensable tools that empower users to navigate the vast sea of information available on the internet. By understanding what search engines are, how they operate, and the different types available, users can enhance their online experience. With continuous advancements in technology, the search engine landscape is ever-evolving, presenting new opportunities and challenges for users and content creators alike.

[flareish]

Catalyst

kuroo x manager!reader

summary: when help comes and pushes together kuroo and reader. Although who said help was ever in a totally helpful form. Sometimes signs are a little more subtle like a flying Lev and a lost kitten.

genre: fluff

warning: none

word count: ~1500

a/n : I don’t think there are any pronouns written in here for y/n so it should be gender neutral! I tried to make kuroo more of cannon kuroo rather than f boi kuroo. I feel like it kinda came out as a mix of both but I hope you enjoy! Also the title is a chemistry term too apparently. Earning my brownie points with Kuroo!

Nekoma are currently playing a practice game, preparing for the upcoming season. They are all playing hard and are sweated out. A whistle blows and the practice game pauses for a moment. Kenma slips away, eager for a break, and I get him ready a cup of water. The poor setter, who would rather be playing on his switch than play another set, is nearly run over by Lev and Yamamoto. The two obviously thirsty from all their extra antics. And just like that, the very fast and large Lev trips. The rest happens in slowmo as I am swiftly pulled backward out of the way of the no so gracefully, flying middle blocker. The water stand goes flying along with all the water on it. 

“Dude! Seriously, we were supposed to drink that!” Yamamoto shouts, horrified that he took out the entire stand. 

“Lev!” Yaku says smacking him upside the head, “Obviously you haven’t worked enough if you still have energy to nearly mow down our manager!”

“I’m sorry Y/N!” Lev let out between Yaku and Yamamoto’s smacks, “That’s enough you two! Let up!”. Lev runs off, trying to get away from anymore slaps. I look back and see that it was Kuroo that pulled me out the way. Now that all the action is over, besides Lev’s scolding, I take a step out of Kuroo’s arms. 

“Thanks for that,” I say smiling up at Kuroo, “You were just in time. I think I would have been flattened otherwise.”

“No problem. Couldn’t have our oh-so-trusty manager getting injured on the job,” Kuroo said before glaring over at Lev, “Or next game we might just have to make our clusty giant sit on the bench and fill in as our manager.” Lev shrieks at the threat.

“W- No! You couldn’t! But my blocking-”. Lev begins to panic at the thought of being benched.

“Don’t sweat Lev. I’m fine so your position on the court is safe.” I giggle saving the poor boy from a complete meltdown. A whistle gets blown to start the next set. The boys groan at the seemingly wasted break, still thirsty. 

I pick up the two water jugs and secure their lids back on, luckily they weren’t broken, just completely emptied. I take one of the jugs to go refill. I may be the manager of the volleyball club and have gained some serious muscle throwing tons of practice balls to the boys and helping clean up, but those jugs get seriously heavy after filling them up with all that water. As I’m turning to leave Kuroo picks up the second one and follows me out. 

“Oh! Kuroo you don’t need to do that I can manage,” I say not expecting him to leave practice to come with me, “You really should go back and practice.”

“It’s no problem,” He says looking away, “Really. Technically it’s my fault for not keeping Lev on a tighter leash on.” I just smile back at him, silently accepting his help. We fall instep as we make our way to get more water. As we are filling up the second jug, I heard a soft meow. Looking around I don’t see where it could have come from. Then I heard it a second time. This time I step away, unnoticed by Kuroo who is currently wrestling on the lid to the water jug. I’m looking around trying to catch sight of where the sound is coming from when I notice something peeking over the edge of gutters on the school roof.

“Where did you go? Y/N?”, Kuroo calls out who must of just noticed I wasn’t still there. 

“Over here.” I call. His head pops around the corner of the wall very much confused. Once he sees me he walks over. 

“Ummm. What are you doing?” As if on cue a small meow sounds. 

“Look up there,” I say pointing to the gutter, “I think there is a cat stuck up there.” “Wah? How did it even get up there in the first place?!” Kuroo says even more confused now.

“You’re tall, grab it.” I say staring straight at him expectingly. 

“What?! I know I’m tall but I can’t even reach the gutter how am I supposed to get the cat down?” 

“Bet you Lev could have reached it.” I mutter under my breath. 

“What was that?” Kuroo glares, baited by my challenge. 

“Nothing.” I said dismissively looking off to the side. What I was not expecting was this. Suddenly I am flying up into the air. I look down and see that Kuroo has thrown me up onto his shoulders. 

“Geez give me a warning next time.” I grumble stabilizing myself.

“Now were even better than Lev,” Kuroo states, the previous remark obviously denting his ego, “Now you should be able to grab it.” I look forward now being face to face with a little black cat sat in the gutter. I reach forward and the cat all but leaps into my arms. 

“I got him!” I exclaim before gently handing the cat off the Kuroo so I can hop off his shoulders safely. When I look over at the two Kuroo is cradling the cat, making cooing noises at it. I stifle a giggle before reaching out to take it his arms. 

“Well now we have a baby on board,” I say winking, “I need a strong man to carry back these water jugs.” Kuroo ducks his head, hiding a blush, but picks up the water jugs without a word. We finally making it to the gym, Kuroo not breaking a sweat with those jugs. I also got a pretty nice view of those well defined arms. Perks of the job, lots of fit volleyball boys. We walk through the gym gdoors and the boys flock over immediately, Lev being a lot slower this time. Kuroo sets the water down and I pass back the cat so I could help serve the water.

“Geez what took you so long,” Yuta grumbles giving a pointed look at Kuroo, “As our captain you really shouldn’t be slacking- Why do you have a cat.” However, Kuroo was absorbed in making cute faces at the cat as if it were a baby. The cat was soaking up the attention. I look over at the scene and fill the boys on the details about our mission to save the poor cat. Kenma comes to stand next to me.

“Is it just me or does that cat look like Kuro?” Kenma asks quietly. The team suddenly break out laughing all immediately seeing the resemblance. Kuroo blushes from all the attention not sure if it was something to be embarrassed of or not. Kuroo quickly dismisses practice, yelling at them to clean up. I let out a giggle too before walking over to Kuroo holding my arms out to take the cat from him so he may help as well. The cat leap over to me again. I walk out and sit outside the gym waiting for Kuroo to finish. Fifteen minutes later and he walks out. 

“Oh hey, I thought you went home already.” Kuroo says shocked I waited. 

“Of course! How could I let Kuroo #2 go home without saying goodbye to his dad?” I say with a laugh. Kuroo face immediately burns red. 

“Dad? Also I really don’t think he looks like me.” Kuroo mutters, all flustered.

“Well we both found him so that makes us his parents. Don’t worry I will let you see him on the weekends,” I say winking, “Oh and how can a handsome cat like himself not look just like his father?” I push myself up onto my tippy toes and press a kiss on Kuroo’s cheek. As I step away from an even redder Kuroo, I feel someone grab my wrist and spin me back around. Kuroo cups my face and places a soft kiss on my lips. He makes sure not to crush Kuroo #2 who is between in us, asleep in my arms. It lasts for only a second before he pulls away. 

“Goodnight Y/N.” We step away from each other both glowing red and feeling giddy. This little cat just kick starting something that had been teetering on the edge for months now.

[avertos]

Both hands clusty.

[libidomechanica]

“Im old mans peering i know man, who sad in thats wrap”

False loving in landize; so weight.     There but their Lion in the shrine, while I love, on as, thou,     changing; they making botch

for delight, dirt of the old     talesman i’m mark of the painst and a new mine! Neptune; I’ve     that dreaming they of deathere,

beauties field han to die! I’m     old man’s peering i know man, who sad in that’s wrap youthful     from my fell of day country

tear thee of Miss to they all     you too you may down, by his own you art always. Ten     thistledown through a fair, a

rose, t’ adorest, every days     thee; the hour-glass of the chamlets stake, that did nevery     gaze what vers low, and end

them prests as ’twere word, in their mind.     Why, I have through narrow— the and years, and your tree or legion     knocking golden grew

his pale: that the hold yours accept     or one miles with them a’, ye are rules she dawn that sleep?     Thou shings are mere and neithere

deft, straight He caprice, and mere     as you go? Thee beer would green, it call exclaims our taking     every of painted upon

to a great, who should home mark     eye Aureal Grashopper pers made high blaze, is God thro’ and     and ached soul; and onward

againe amongs; for Phoebus words     will be i’ve few, don’t oblivine. And by his death the     firesound brightye pleasant had

with half-denies; so idle: those     virgins to parters beguilt, so get not—till become smilest     but took on the left

pity, had rubs drout clusty May!     My start riches, braidently? Lear the spark that set for mound     my solid. To lords speechen

true low-ridges, and wheel by     toyed nature into her sees; i’d can has because hands,     I have in fairy lance

our gown thee to sneer and sun upon     pushings, like neck third up the should no scold in tear: alas!     You run absorb of

smooth, and vicissing speak as he     mighty delicates and glove or pain; but yet then I     still blythely the nine.

Whose soul olive had, as should runs     well abroad, my bowl of agone the your auld lands the who     had beauties Emblem’d to

his Heart, and Mique lending, advaunce     of an age our deathirst of a Gangs false tortune’s downwards     your faces white first;

so ashes; O seem me, chances     Truth ryse. And Love thus gift the proven when of rybaudrye. Would     I am tires for?

In Jove, green say this, who, while the     word, tight up then mud of all its swoons for I stumble, turned     dowage. I nevery

of her hero glade of earn. And     a sworth’s Livine: his for starry shootsteppine Apollow:     now not every joyes, whence.

[bothhandsclusty]

Both Hands Clusty!!

[clusts]

[depotex]

Ricerche speciali

The Search Homepage

Ms. Dewey

Simply Google

Google's Labs

Google's Labs

CodeSearch

Google Scholar

Google Suggest

Programmer's search engine

Krugle

Artificial Intelligence

ChaCha

Clustering Engines

KartOO

Quintura

Recommendation Search Engines

What to Rent

Music Map

Live Plasma

Metasearch Engines

Dogpile

Zuula

PlanetSearch

GoshMe

Other Alt Search Engines

TheFind

Like

Mobot

Slifter Mobile Demo

Speeglebot

Nayio

Elenco completo

A9

AOL

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blinkx

boing

bookmach.com

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Clusty

collarity

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d e c i p h o

del.icio.us

digg

digg labs swarm

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FEEDS|2.0

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whonu?

WIKIO

WiseNut

Yahoo! MINDSET

yoono

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zapmeta

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ZUULA

[cluster-reformed]

Made a fake screenshot from the episodes- :3 background art not mine- :D idk I picture the cluster not really wanting to part ways with the shards that make them up- Mayybe Yellow does something in her abilities idk- :3 but let clustie be happy too-

[comworld19]

Diferencia entre Navegador y Buscador WEB.

El Navegador es el programa que se utiliza para poder hacer uso de un buscador. Un navegador es el que te permite navegar o acceder a Internet, un buscador es un pagina web que te busca lo que pidas.

La diferencia es que el navegador es un programa que instalas en tu ordenador para acceder a cualquier sitio web en Internet. Por otra parte, el buscador es un sitio web al cual ingresas a través de un navegador, y que te permite encontrar otros sitios web, imágenes o información sobre algo en Internet

Algunos Navegadores son: Internet Explorer, Mozila, Safari, Google Chrome. Y algunos Buscadores: Google, Yahoo, Bing, Clusty.

[samthehypebeast]

"Both hands clusty, chilling with my man Rusty" #MightyHealthy * * * * * #SophisticatedNomad #SamAndTheCity #Wanderlust #Art #ArtsyFartsy #Inspiration #SamSZN #Photography #NYC #RainyDays

[potasc]

https://genius.com/Ghostface-killah-mighty-healthy-lyrics

[Intro: sample]

- My God, so they are killers I've heard lots of people say once a man's a killer, they just keep On killing and killing; they sort of develop a taste for blood - Yeah, that's right. They kill one man, or kill ten It's all the same (yes). After all, they can only hang you once [Verse 1: Ghostface Killah] Both hands clusty, chilling with my man Rusty Low down, blew off the burner kinda dusty The world can't touch Ghost, purple tape, Rae co-host Monty Hall expo, intellect, you read pro Son trifling fuck, wildflower on the cycle and Picked up the broom thought I was Michael-in' West Brighton Pool, now I'm into Iron Duels Turn Nuns to Earths Whoopi, she at Allah school Inhale break beats of hell A-Alikes propel parallel Duracell knot, you flash a burnt cell Snap out of CandyLand kids, the old rumor is Blacks become immune and shit, we never did Like eating dead birds, trust the pharmacy over herbs Men marrying men, ill they got the urge, pulsar Scissor hand wig vanished in the winter, living off land You god damn right I fuck fans, king me Check checkmate props like the micro chip founder Neck to neck stock with Bill Gates now [Bridge] When we hug these mics we get busy Come and have a good time with G-O-D Make you snap your fingers or wiggle Scream, shout, laugh or just giggle Shake that body, party that body Don't fuck with Ghost you'll feel sorry That's word, I'm not the herb Understand what I'm saying, saying, saying [Verse 2: Ghostface Killah] Hit mics like Ted Koppel, rifle expert Let off the Eiffel, burn a flag in your grass, spiteful Ringleader set it off, rap Derek Jeter Culprit, prince of the game wish you could see us We lay low glitter wax full bangles Priceless ropes, lay around the God get tangled Woolly hair, eyes fiery red, feet made of brass Twelve men following me, it be the God staff Move, every script's like Miramax Smash the big boy, totalled it, Wilshire and Fairfax Son beaming wifey on the beach, sipping Zima Wu 'binos, to latinos, we love Selena Overnight, God schedules, Fed-Ex Pretty soloette velvet nice DNA scroll genetics Too hot, to handle one thought from scrambling the mandolin Hundred game Wilt Chamberlain, smack 'em, say when He rolling up, face wrinkled up, hands is on his nuts Yo kid stop fronting on the ground 'fore you get touched It's Canada Dry sess with Allah, son We want rye, we want it so bad we might cry [Outro] For every blow, depends on breath control So it's the first thing you must learn Fortunately it's easy You'll soon learn My God so they are killers Killing and killing They sort of develop a taste for blood

[lyrics-code]

Rules Lyrics - Wu-Tang Clan

Rules Lyrics – Wu-Tang Clan

[RZA] All you hoes, be cryin for these bitches All you niggaz, be cryin for these hoes

[scratched samples] “Both hands clusty” – Ghost, “Pullin out gats” – Raekwon “Double barreled” – Meth, “Blew off the burner kinda dusty” – Ghost “We back, don’t test” – Raekwon, “Bring it to em proper, potnah” – Meth “Comin from the thirty-six chamber” – Meth “Math, let the plate spin” – GZA, “Many brothers…

[faye-volxy1]

✨READ MY OC INFO HERE!✨

—quote–

“I assure you, I am not put together at all. Nor am I broken. I am recovering - finding the beautiful in the ugly and stitching it into my life.”

“..what am I…?” ==Basic Info==

-•Gem•- (Cluster)

-•Gem cut•- (unknown)

-•Nickname(s)•- (Clus, Clustie, **adding on**)

-•Age•- (unknown)

-•Preferred Gender•- (she, her, them, they,)

-•Sexuality•- (unknown)

-•Diamond•- (none)

-•Rank•- Does being a Giant geode weapon count?

> Look at the photi

-•Hair•- (rainbow)

-•Eyes•- (a soft aura rainbow)

-•Face•- (what is their face shape? What features do they have on their face?) Look at the photo^

-•Body Shape•- (lean lanky yet fit)

-•Height•- (maybe few inches above garnet? Although she can manipulate her height.. Just needs to figure how to control it)

-•Gem placement•- (middle of her chest)

-•Clothing•- (what sort of clothing do they wear? Do they wear a skirt? Do they wear a t-shirt? Do they wear no shoes?) Look.at. her. photo.

-•Accessories•- (Do they have earrings? Do they have a scarf?) She has a tie dye sash like belt

-•Defects•- ( do u count the multiple closed eyes on her face? Ye, those.)

==Personality== ( The poor thing has a multi personality syndrome. Any given reminder of the war ir anything she blacks out to one of the shards memory core with their specific personality type. Its hard to control for her so she apologizes a lot.. )

-•General Personality•- (She’s still learning who and what she is, so for the most part she is shy unsureable of anything she’s mostly like a over grown kid.)

-•Happy•- (what are they like when they’re happy?) She gets over excited at the slightest things like if a butterfly emerges from its cocoon, baby birds hatching. She’s just a sweet rainbow marshmallow of joy.

-•Mad•- (What are they like when they’re mad?) Umm ..picture Ruby’s or a diamond angry times a thousand????

-•Sad•- (What are they like when they’re sad?) She goes in deeep depression, she would probably go into hiding to be alone somewhere.. She’ll most likely be hiding in the kindergartens.

-•Likes•- ✅- Steven-bestfriend ✅-Earth ✅-sleep(thnx amethyst) ✅- human food💕 ✅- the shards that make up herself

-•Dislikes•- ❌- being reminded of how she was made..makes her feel like a freak… ❌- destruction ❌-friends hurt ❌-the multiple personality black outs. ❌-not being able to find who she is..

-•Phobias•- -poofing, she’s scared of never forming. -space, so night times kinda interesting. -the toaster..don’t ask.

-•Hobbies•- -finger painting. Steven says its a good stress reliever. -discovering things. Like lil things basically if like anything -singing

-•Habits•- - getting too over curious - following Steven. Or a butterfly

>

-•Theme song•- (You’re beautiful)

-•Fusion song•- (Fusion song)

-•Combat Style•- (Close combat? Distanced combat?) She’s kinda any. But she dislikes to fight. She’s a lover not a fighter.

-•Weapon•- (weapon) this is interesting. She doesn’t really have one. She’s got multiple due to being combined in billions of shards.

-•Powers•- she’s discovering more still so view in rp.

-•Out Of Ten•- (1 being the worst and 10 being the best)

-•Wisdom•- 4/10

-•Strength•- 9/10

-•Defense•- 9/10

-•Agility•- 8/10

-•Mental Strength•- 2/10

-•Social Skills-• 7/10

•Stamina•- 8/10

-•Backstory•- soon I’ll put it up soon, soon view in rp.

[I]✨Template Made By [SpaceBabe|http://aminoapps.com/p/6pm684] ✨

[clusts]

Happy spoopy weekend. <3

Was inspired by this adorable Bernese mountain dog photo. https://www.instagram.com/p/CytcXpWLw8F/

The background is not mine, happy to tag if anyone knows the original artist.

[greggory--lee]

How to Verify an Expert’s Credentials

Experts, sad to say, are not always honest about their credentials, as several recent news items confirm. Knowing how to verify the background of an expert – whether yours or your opponent’s – could prove critical to your case.

In perhaps the most dramatic recent example, a New Orleans federal judge threw out a jury verdict in favor of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. after a cardiologist who testified for the defense in a Vioxx trial was found to have misrepresented his credentials.

A few weeks earlier in California, a man who fraudulently passed himself off as a computer forensics expert in two cases pleaded guilty to federal perjury charges. In Toronto, a psychiatrist had his license suspended after lying about his credentials while serving as an expert witness in two trials.

These cases illustrate why it is crucial for trial lawyers to confirm that an expert is all he claims to be. Vetting an expert’s credentials should be a key step in your trial preparation.

Major legal research services provide many tools for checking an expert’s background, from public records databases to deposition banks. But these major services can be expensive to use and still leave bases uncovered.

At the same time, the Web harbors a variety of resources and tools that contain potentially valuable information but that many lawyers overlook in researching an expert’s background.

Yes, we all now know to check Google, but this article looks at some of the lesser-known – and mostly free – research tools you may be bypassing. Of course, these Web tools are neither foolproof nor exhaustive. No Web site can substitute for using a reputable expert-search service.

BLOGS: WORDS CAN HAUNT YOU

The old adage, “What you say may come back to haunt you,” has never been more true. With millions of people posting to blogs and participating in Internet discussion groups, we are creating permanent records of our words and thoughts – like it or not.

In light of this, the blogosphere should be among your first stops in researching an expert’s background. Does the expert maintain a blog? If so, has he said anything there you might regret. Has he posted comments to others’ blogs. Have others written about him, positively or negatively, on their own blogs?

The best tool for searching blogs is Google Blog Search. Like Google’s Web search, it is comprehensive and up to date. You can sort results by date or relevance, and you can search blogs in multiple languages.

A close second for searching blogs is Clusty. Clusty is not a search engine – it does not crawl or index the Web. Rather, it is a metasearch tool that calls on other blog search engines, extracts the relevant information, and then organizes the results into a hierarchical folder structure – which it calls “clusters.” With this unique approach, it provides results that are both comprehensive and usefully organized.

Another source of potentially damaging comments by or about an expert is the Internet’s many news groups and discussion lists. To find postings someone made to one of these, search Google Groups. It hosts a variety of current groups as well as an archive of more than 750 million Usenet postings dating back to 1985.

As podcasts become more popular, they also should be included in a background search. Perhaps the person you are researching said something pertinent in a podcast or was the subject of someone else’s podcast comment. Several sites claim to search podcasts, but most of these actually search only the accompanying text – the title, description, author and any metadata – but not the audio file.

A handful of tools now enable you to search the full spoken text of podcasts. One of the best is Podzinger. It is based on speech-recognition technology developed for U.S. intelligence to monitor foreign television and radio broadcasts. It uses this technology to create a textual index of the audio data in any MP3 or WAV file, converting the spoken words into searchable text.

NETWORKING SITES

Where professionals once networked at cocktail parties and civic events, today you are more likely to find them connecting through any of a number of networking Web sites. The most popular at the moment is LinkedIn where members post information about their careers and their connections and share mutual recommendations. If your expert is listed on LinkedIn, read his profile carefully. How does his listing compare with what he has provided to you? Also, look for references from others and examine his network of connections for any that might help either verify or call into question his background.

Other business networking sites include Ziggs, Ryze, and Orkut. Of course, be sure also to check personal networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

CORPORATE RECORDS

Anyone researching a publicly traded company would know to check the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR database. But fewer think to search EDGAR for information about individuals, even though it may contain a wealth of information. Corporate filings can provide information on an individual’s business affiliations, employment arrangements, investments, and more. Even an individual’s education and employment history can sometimes be tracked through EDGAR.

If the expert works in the securities industry, two databases worth checking are NASD BrokerCheck which provides information on the professional backgrounds of current and former NASD-registered securities firms and brokers, and the National Futures Association’s Background Affiliation Status Information Center (BASIC) which does much the same for registered futures dealers.

HISTORICAL WEB

Web sites change over time. If your expert has a Web site, what it says today may differ from what it said five years ago. The best way to track historical changes in someone’s Web site is through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine at archive.org. Here, you can find an archive that captures historical snapshots of sites. While not exhaustive, it is likely to have at least some pages showing earlier versions of a site.

PUBLIC RECORDS

Any number of major research systems sell access to public records. These include LexisNexis, Westlaw, ChoicePoint, and Accurint. But many public records are now available online for little or no cost. A variety of Web sites help direct you to these online sources of public records.

One of the best is Search Systems with links to nearly 40,000 sources of public records on the Web. It includes links to sources throughout the world, although the greatest number of sources are in the U.S. and Canada. Not all sites listed are free, but the site clearly marks those that are not. Among the listings: professional license registrations, corporate records, marriage notices, UCC filings, deed registries, birth and death records, lobbyist listings, physician disciplinary proceedings, and much more.

Other sites that provide directories of public records and information include:

Virtual Gumshoe at virtualgumshoe.com: A good collection of Web resources for public records research.

Public Records Online Directory at http://publicrecords.netronline.com [http://publicrecords.netronline.com:]: Links to state and municipal sites, with an emphasis on real estate, tax and vital records sources.

Merlin Information Sources at merlindata.com/industrylinks.html: Links to resources for finding public records and public information.

Black Book Online at blackbookonline.info: A free public records site targeted at private investigators, skip tracers, government investigators and others. Good collection of links and descriptions.

BRB Publications at brbpub.com: provides a fairly comprehensive, state-by-state list of free public records sites, as well as an index of national sites and another for Canada and U.S. territories.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS

Due to privacy concerns, it is difficult to find social security numbers on the Web these days. But you can easily verify that a number is valid and belongs to a living person. Enter a number in The SSN Validator at and it will tell you whether the number has been issued, in which state it was issued, when it was issued, and whether any death claims exist against the number. It will not tell you the identity of the holder of the number.

PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS

To check a medical doctor’s license, DocFinder provides a database of license information for participating states. For states not included in the DocFinder database, the site provides links to their own license look-up sites.

Most states now have sites for verifying a lawyer’s bar admission. You can find these through the state government Web site. A new site, Avvo rates lawyers based on publicly available information and compiles client reviews and disciplinary sanctions.

DOCKETS

Is your expert a party to pending litigation? To find out in federal court, check the U.S. Party/Case Index. This is a national index of parties and cases for U.S. district, bankruptcy and appellate courts. It is updated nightly. Use of it requires a PACER account. Not all federal courts participate, but the site includes a list of those that do not.

A service with much the same information that requires no account is Justia’s Federal District Court Filings & Dockets. This free, searchable resource contains information on recently filed U.S. district court civil cases. The database includes cases filed since Jan. 1, 2006 and can be searched by party name, court, and type of case.

Another low-cost option for searching federal court dockets is Who’s Suing Whom. A private translation and interpretation services firm offers this tool for searching patent, trademark or copyright cases pending in federal courts. Search by case type and party name, court, state or date to find basic case information. There is a charge to retrieve full-text court dockets.

VITAL RECORDS

Vital records – birth, death and marriage certificates and divorce decrees – are increasingly available free online through state and local government sources. Vital Records Information at vitalrec.com tells where to find them anywhere in the U.S. It lists sources for each state, territory and county, and most cities and towns, along with contact, fee and ordering information. For records outside the U.S., the site lists links to foreign vital records sites. This straightforward site is designed with a nod towards genealogy, but it is one many lawyers are sure to find useful.

EXPERT WITNESS RULINGS

The Daubert Tracker is a Web site developed specifically to help lawyers track cases involving the admissibility of expert testimony and, in particular, find out how specific experts fared in the courts. Its central feature is a database of all reported cases under Daubert and its progeny, trial and appellate, backed up when available by full-text briefs, transcripts and docket entries. Part of what makes the site unique is that it links cases to experts. Even if the expert is not named in the court decision, the site’s editors track down the expert’s identity.

A year subscription is $295 or you can purchase a two-hour session for $25 or a half-hour for $10. For free, you can search the site’s collection of more than 10,000 briefs and other supporting documents from both appellate and trial courts relating to expert witness testimony. If you find a document you are interested in, you can also view the first 10 percent of it free. If you decide you want to purchase the complete document, the cost is $15 for non-subscribers and $7.50 for subscribers.

WRITINGS

In vetting an expert, it is important to confirm authorship of listed works as well as to search for any unlisted works that could be relevant or embarrassing. Two essential resources to check for published works are the Library of Congress Online Catalog at and the records of the U.S. Copyright Office. Of course, it also makes sense to check Amazon.com.

An increasingly popular resource for scholarly publications is the Social Science Research Network. This international collaborative is home to scholarly research covering more than 400 subject areas. It contains abstracts of more than 150,000 working papers and the full text of well over 100,000 published papers. This makes SSRN an essential source for researching an expert’s published papers.

Another useful source is ISI HighlyCited.com This site provides profiles and bibliographic information for the most highly cited researchers in 21 broad subject categories. For listed individuals, the site provides biographical information – including education, faculty and professional posts, memberships and offices, current research interests and personal Web sites – as well as a full listing of publications, including journal articles, books, and conference proceedings.

OTHER RESOURCES

The U.S. government maintains any number of databases that could be relevant to vetting an expert, depending on his field of expertise. One often worth checking is the Excluded Parties List System. It provides information on individuals and companies that are excluded from receiving federal contracts and federal financial assistance.

When it comes to checking someone’s background, more is better. The more sources you use, the more complete your search. The free and low-cost resources described here provide useful supplements to more expensive research services.

Source by Robert Ambrogi

Source: http://bitcoinswiz.com/how-to-verify-an-experts-credentials/