Answer: What Am I Doing? [Search Research]

Daniel Russell knows how to find the answers to questions you can't get to with a simple Google query. In his weekly Search Research column, Russell issues a search challenge, then follows up later in the week with his solution?using whatever search technology and methodology fits the bill. This week's challenge: What was Dan doing when he took this picture?

Quick answer: I'm in Amsterdam, standing in line for the Van Gogh Museum.

I'm impressed at how well everyone did on this search challenge!

Here's the way I'd solve this problem.

Looking at the image, I'd notice the big sign in the foreground and do this query with the text on it:

[ Hard Rock near Leidseplein ]

I'm trying to figure out generally where the photo was taken.

(Several people pointed out that they couldn't quite read the text. Luckily, Google helped with the spell-correction and get the corrected spelling for Leidseplein.)

From this, it's pretty easy to figure out that I'm in Amsterdam. From that information I'd go to Google Maps, get to Amsterdam, and then look for the Hard Rock Cafe.

Then...using Search Nearby for [randstad] using another visual clue.

Which gives a number of possible locations. These are the top two...

This gives a nice map:

You can then just check the two locations with StreetView, here's the first one (A):

You can use StreetView to look all around in the different directions. That's not it. Let's check out the other location (B) with StreetView. Voila! This looks exactly like the photo I took.

If you then pivot around and look behind you...this is what you see.

The Van Gogh Museum, which is across the street from the Randstad office. (If you look in the lower right corner of the map, you'll see that the museum appears down there next to the B location.)

Search Lessons: Sometimes search is really search! You might have to check out a number of different possibilites. In this case, we got lucky and only had to look at two places.

Working from the text available in the image ("Hard Rock...") we were able to zero in on the city name, then using "Search Nearby" with another clue, we could get close to the target.

So... knowing about "Search Nearby" is a handy tool to have in your personal search toolbox. Nothing quite like it anywhere nearby!

Search on!

Wednesday search challenge (8/22/12): What Am I Doing? | SearchReSearch

---

Daniel M. Russell studies the way people search and research?an anthropologist of search, if you will. You can read more from Russell on his SearchReSearch blog, and stay tuned for his weekly challenges (and answers) here on Lifehacker.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/h-tIRsu1fG4/answer-what-am-i-doing

kmart urban meyer ohio state traffic report traffic report opensky dia frampton