Internet Scavenger Hunt

Much of the searching done on the Internet is to answer specific questions.  While a handful of sites permit a search for answers based on written-English questions, most require carefully selected keywords and ideas.  Selecting keywords, constructing questions, and structuring Boolean operators take practice.  (Reading about Internet searching techniques is much easier than actually using them!)

For this project you will use what you have learned about searching to locate some difficult to find information on the Internet.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information requested is in fact available.  But as you know websites change and even go away over time, and some of the information requested may no longer be available anywhere.  Should some information no longer be available at the time of grading this assignment, those questions will not be counted.

Prior to attempting an Application Assignment submission, please practice with the Practice Assignment.  You have only ONE submission attempt allowed.  You cannot submit a second attempt so be careful and follow the directions.

1. Using the same submission steps as with the practice assignment, save this file to your computer as “scavenger.htm”.  Be sure to save as “Web page, HTML only”, and not “Web page, Complete” or any other type.
2. Enter the following information here:

   Student Name:  replace these seven words with your name

3. For each of the questions below, search the Internet using what you have learned, until you find the correct answers.  Since not all published information is accurate, you should try to check any questionable answers from a second source.
4. Answer the question.  (As usual, put your answer right after the question.)  If there are multiple parts to a question, for full credit you must answer all parts; and all answers MUST come from the same website.  (They may come from different pages on that one site.)
5. Include as a clickable link (or hyperlink) the URL where you found the answer.  You will not receive full credit unless you can show from where you obtained your answers!
6. Using the same file saving steps as with the practice assignment, save the edited file as “scavenger.htm”.
7. Return to Canvas, and follow the directions to select, upload and submit the completed file to the correct drop-box.
8. Note that improperly completed and/or improperly identified mail WILL NOT be graded.

Grading:  For full credit, you must locate and answer correctly at least 20 of the items below, including the required links.

1. When is the next U.S. unmanned rocket launch scheduled?
   September 25, 2014
   Found at either www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html
   www.space.com/missionlaunches/
2. What names will be used this year for Atlantic hurricanes starting with R and T?
   For 2014, Rene and Teddy.
   Found at either www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml
   geography.about.com/od/physicalgeography/
   (Search for “Hurricane Names”)
3. Where is the telephone number 202-456-1414 and to whom is it listed (DO NOT CALL THIS NUMBER TO ANSWER THE QUESTION)?
   This number is in Washington D.C and it is listed to the White House switch board.
   www.whitepages.com/1001/reverse_phone
   www.google.com/search?q=202-456-1414 (shows www.whitehouse.gov/contact/)
4. Who pitched a no-hitter in the 1956 World Series?
   Don Larsen.
   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1956_World_Series
   findarticles.com/p/search?qt=1956+no-hitter (shows Don Larsen: the game I'll never forget: former Yankee hurler recalls the World Series in 1956 when he tossed a perfect game, the only no-hitter in post-season)
5. What company developed “SQL”? What was the name of the original query language, developed in 1974?
   IBM, SEQUEL (part of "System R").
   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SQL
   www.faqs.org/docs/ppbook/c1164.htm.
   (Found from a Google search for: sql history)
6. What movie is ranked fifth in gross box office sales worldwide for all time, not just for one week (as of the past month)?
   As of 2020, “Avengers: Infinity War”
   www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/
   www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross?region=world-wide  (Note other sites show lists adjusted for inflation, but the answer is still the same.)
7. Who played Sara in the movie "Sweet November" (Hint: there is more than one)?
   1968 version: Sandy Dennis; 2001 version: Charlize Theron.
   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_November
   imdb.com/find?s=tt&q=Sweet+November
8. What resort sits at the extreme north-east corner of Grand Cayman Island?
   The Wyndham Reef Resort.
   Looking at maps seems the best way to answer this.  maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=en&q=Resort&near=Cayman+Islands&ie=UTF8&mrt=kmlkmz&start=10&om=1&ll=19.346132,-81.092491&spn=0.015083,0.023131&t=h&z=16
   www.resortsandlodges.com/lodging/caribbean/cayman-islands.html
9. Name one of the original main hosts of "The Screen Savers" television show.
   Kate Botello.
   (Look at the years of the episodes each person was in, to find original cast members.)  www.imdb.com/title/tt0240295/fullcredits#cast
   en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Screen_Savers
10. At what university is the “Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center” (CERT/CC) located?  What government agency hosts the website for the “United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team” (US-CERT), and what is the URL of that website?  Locate the US-CERT “National Cyber Awareness System” Current Activity Archive” website; What is the date of the most recent “Current Activity”?  Now find the most recent “Weekly Summary of new Vulnerabilities” bulletin on that site.  What is the date of the most recent bulletin?  Examine the most recent weekly summary bulletin.  How many of the items reported are related to Microsoft, to Linux, to Apple, or to others?
    Carnegie Mellon University (SEI).  Most recent alert (at the time I checked) was July 31, 2015 (“IC3 Issues Alert on DDoS Extortion Campaigns”) is at www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity/.
    The weekly vulnerability summery bulletins are at www.us-cert.gov/cas/bulletins/.  Of approx. 29 items in the July 27, 2015 bulletin, 0 relate to Microsoft, 0 to Apple, and 1 to Linux and FreeBSD; most relate to Mozilla,Cisco, IBM, and other applications.  (The previous week, right after "patch Tuesday", included nearly 2 dozen for Microsoft.  Vulnerabilities aren't generally publicized until they are patched.)
    www.cert.org/meet_cert/
    www.us-cert.gov
11. How many people named John Doe (really!) - and with a Social Security Number - have died in the United States since records were computerized? How many of them lived in Arizona when they died?
    41 total, 1 in Arizona.
    search.ancestry.com (the social security death index)
    www.familysearch.org (they say 1365 total, 42 in Arizona, but that includes many with no social security number, and some duplicates.)
    (Found by Google search for: Social Security Death.  A search for “death records” turned up www.death-record.com, which (like many sites) gets their data from ancestry.com, and www.DOBsearch.com.)
12. What is the average number of "albums" recording artist Eithne Ní Bhraonáin (her real name) currently sells each day?  (Hint: Not 10,000)
    About 6.8 thousand a day.  (For a long time, it was 10 thousand per day, and many websites have that older data still.)
    Found with a search for: Enya total (sales OR sold)
    enya.sk/enya-faq.htm
    www.enya.com
    www.repriserec.com/enya/bio.html
    www.statisticbrain.com/top-selling-music-artists-of-all-time/
    You can find this information directly by using a search of “artist profile enya”, however that information may be several years old. You can also calculate this if you can't find an current answer directly; divide the number of albums sold to date, by number of days since her first album sold:
    about 80 million albums sold from 1988 to 2020 equals 80,000,000 / ((2020-1988) * 365) = about 6,850 a day.
13. How many current arrest warrants exist in Hillsborough County for white females named Smith? Who is the last on the list?
    21 warrants. "SMITH, YVONNE CARLENE" is last “Smith” on the list. ("SMITHES , AMANDA" is the last name on the list.)
    (There are multiple warrants for some people; 21 actual persons were on list when I checked. I counted these by opening the saved web page in a spreadsheet, sorting rows by name, removing duplicates, and counting the remaining rows.)
    http://www.hcso.tampa.fl.us/PublicInquiry/Warrants/Inquiry
14. How many sexual predators live within the zip code 33614?
    In 2013, 54 according to
    offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/offenderSearchNav.do.  (The FDLE doesn't report by zip code, by default; depending on the radius of the search, you get 10 to 400. You can make it search by zip code, if you look closely, or use another site such as www.city-data.com, which uses their data but reports by zip code.)
15. Who is the founder of the World Wide Web? Where does he/she work today? What is his/her e-mail address?
    Tim Berners-Lee works at the Comp. Sci. and A.I. Lab at MIT. Email: timbl@w3.org
    www.w3.org/WWW
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_wide_web_history
    Info about Tim Berners-Lee from www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/
16. How many Shriner's Children's Hospitals are there in the United States? Where is the closest one to the HCC Dale Mabry campus?
    20 of 22 are in the U.S.  The closest is at 12502 Pine Drive, Tampa, FL 33612 (at USF).
    www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org/Hospitals/Locations.aspx
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shriners_Hospitals_for_Children
17. Where is the show "Phantom of the Opera" appearing on Broadway (a street in New York City where many theaters are located)? How much are orchestra tickets for the next available evening show there, that isn't sold out?
    The Majestic Theater. $142.00 + $51.12 fees for the next available evening show, via Broadway.com.
    www.broadway.com
    www.telecharge.com/BehindTheCurtain.aspx?prodid=263 lets you pick your seat; the worst seats only cost $29.00.
18. How many "active" world-wide web domain names are estimated to exist in the world today?
    About 296 million (depends on which web site you trust; Verisign reports 296 million).
    www.verisigninc.com Domain Name Industry Brief 2015 (PDF)
    www.domaintools.com/internet-statistics reports about 169 million
    http://registrarstats.com/TLDDomainCounts.aspx (also about 170 million, but harder to count)
19. In the traditional song Greensleeves, what two-word phrase is repeated in each of the last four verses (be careful not to count the chorus)?
    “Love me”.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensleeves#Lyrics
    www.uidaho.edu/student_orgs/arthurian_legend/game/music/GreensleevesLyrics.htm
20. What company operated by the Central Intelligence Agency provides cash to new technology companies? Name at least one company they have funded.
    In-Q-Tel,   which funded:  ArcSight (Security and compliance management software),   SkyBuilt Power Inc. (Green Energy)
    www.in-q-tel.org/invest/index.htm
    (also http://www.iqt.org/portfolio/alphabetical.html)
    www.arcSight.com
    www.skybuilt.com/
    (Found from Google search for: "CIA Technology Investments".)
21. What cruise line sails to "Castaway Cay" in the Bahamas? What is the minimum cost of an “outside” (has an ocean view) stateroom for a three-night cruise, for two adults, for the next available cruise?
    Disney Cruise lines. $2,665.
    disneycruise.disney.go.com/dcl/en_US/ports/landing?name=CastawayCayLandingPage&bhcp=1
    www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr7-port-castawaycay.cfm
22. What are the names of the U.S. senators (not state senators) who serve the people living in Florida? Who is the U.S. congressman representing the people living in the zip code 33614-7810? How did that congressman vote on the most recent vote that passed, and what was that vote for?
    www.senate.gov lists Rubio, Marco (R - FL) and Scott, Rick (R - FL).  www.congress.gov/members shows Kathy Castor (D).  On H.Res. 938: Providing for the adoption of the resolution (H.Res. 935) establishing a Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis as a select investigative subcommittee of the Committee on Oversight and Reform., Caster voted YES.
    
    Using a search of "us senators" finds www.senate.gov, and click on "contact" link to find the names of senators by state.
    Using a Google search of “us congressman florida 33614”, gets the name, say from www.house.gov, or https://www.congress.gov/members.  Click on "filter by zip code" to find Kathy Castor (D).
    A search of “us congress votes on bills” or “official congress voting records” finds govtrack.us.  You can filter for the current session, votes that passed, and click on the most recent one shown to see the individual representatives' votes.
23. What is a "GoogleWhack"? Provide one example.
    A Google query of two words (no quotes) that returns a single result. Example: Francophile Namesakes.
    www.googleWhack.com
    siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/3531_963541
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googlewhack
24. Where on-line can you find a recording of “The Alligator Song” from the Green Corn Dance? (The Green Corn Dance is a spiritual ritual of purification and thanksgiving held each spring by the Seminole Indians of Florida.)
    memory.loc.gov
    YouTube.com
    Although you can find links about the song by searching for "The Alligator Song" AND Seminole (without “Seminole” you get the wrong songs), I couldn't find the recording until I searched the library of congress for “The Alligator Song”. YouTube has added a video of corn, shown while the song is sung.