Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 05:33:26 +0000
Reply-To: TOURBUS-Request@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Sender: The Internet TourBus - A virtual tour of cyberspace
From: Bob Rankin
Subject: TOURBUS - 15 Feb 2000 - People Finders
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TOURBUS Volume 5, Number 67 -- 15 February 2000
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TODAY'S TOURBUS TOPIC: InfoSpace - People Finders
I'm often asked where to look for "people finder" sites that offer
search tools for telephone, email and address listings. My first
answer is always Infospace. In today's issue, we'll explore this
nifty site and a few others that'll help you find folks in Fresno or
France.
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FINDING PEOPLE
--------------
When you reach the InfoSpace home page at this address:
http://www.infospace.com
... you can key in the last name, first name, city and state to start
your White Pages search for someone in the USA. Here's are some
helpful tips to speed up your InfoSpace searching:
- Don't enter a first name, or try using just a first initial. The
person may be listed under a nickname or a spouse's name.
- All four input fields are OPTIONAL. If a very specific search
fails, try leaving one of more of these fields blank. (Yes, you
can even leave the last name field blank!)
If you're after someone outside the USA, Infospace also has listings
for Canada, United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France,
Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and a page with links to other phone
directories around the world. Click on "International Search" at the
Infospace home page to get there.
FINDING BUSINESSES
------------------
To do a search for a Business, click on the Yellow Pages tab at the
InfoSpace home page. You can enter a business name and/or category,
and the city, state to search in. The same tips apply here -
sometimes being vague is better.
WHAT'S A REVERSE LOOKUP?
------------------------
In addition to white (individual) and yellow (business) page listings
for the USA and many other countries, InfoSpace offers reverse lookups
on Phone Numbers, Street Addresses, Email Addresses, and Area Codes.
This means you can find a person's name and address if all you know is
the phone number. Or you could find someone's name and phone number
if you know just the street address. From the InfoSpace home page,
click on White Pages Index, then Reverse Lookup to try it out.
This can come in handy if you're browsing the classifieds. Imagine
this scenario... You see a car advertised in your local newspaper,
and you'd like to know more about it. Just do a reverse phone number
search at Infospace and you now know the name and address of the
person selling the car. You could even drive by and have a look at
the car, since Infospace also provides a map and driving directions.
OOOH, THAT'S TRICKY!
--------------------
And here's a little undocumented trick I stumbled into: Infospace can
tell you the names of everyone on your street. Just omit the street
number on the reverse address screen.
When you find a person through Infospace, whether it's via a regular
name search or reverse lookup, Infospace also provides handy links to
business, government offices, and a city guide for the city where the
person lives.
JANE... GET ME OFF THIS CRAZY THING!
------------------------------------
That's handy. But some people find it scary. So if you DON'T want to
be found in an online directory, use the Remove feature. At
Infospace, just find yourself with a search, then click the
"Update/Remove" link to change or remove your own listing. You should
also visit the other popular people directories listed below and take
similar action.
Switchboard - http://www.switchboard.com
Yahoo People - http://people.yahoo.com/
It's good to know about these alternate people finders for another
reason. Even though the Infospace directory is quite extensive, and
is updated four times a year, you may not find the person you're
looking for. If that's the case, try the other sites since they all
use different databases.
Hint: Don't bother trying other phone search sites if you don't find
it at one of these. You'll be wasting your time, since these sites
get the latest info from the databases available from the three major
vendors of telephone directory information in the USA.
I SPY?
------
Infospace also has links to some paid services that can help you
locate missing persons, do background checks, social security number
checks, and help with adoption reunions by accessing the same US
public record databases used by the FBI, Law Enforcement Agencies and
Private Investigators to locate people. If you want to check out
these services click on "Public Records" at the Infospace home page.
Happy hunting, see you next time! -- Bob Rankin
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