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Steve Bass's Weekly Newsletter
TechBite's columnist Steve Bass writes weekly commentary on the technology products he loves, the strategies for getting the most out of them, and the gotchas that can cause computing misery. Plus a couple of weekly laughs.
Use the Web to Find Anyone in the World
In This Issue
Special Note to EarthLink Users
Find Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime (Almost)
Just the Facts, Please
Techniques, Clues, and Patterns
Honing in on Jan L. Shephard
What I'm Reading: Harry's Ugly PC Contest
Tech Tool: Quick Scanner Copies
Time Wasters
Image of the Week: Traffic Jam
Find Me If You Can
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Special Note to EarthLink Users
If you use EarthLink as an ISP, you may not be getting my newsletter. I use AWeber to send the newsletter. The company has lots of customers, and subscribers to one of the newsletters complained to EarthLink its spam. EarthLink decided to block AWeber's IP addresses, effectively blocking every newsletter sent from AWeber. (Even I didn't get my own newsletter last week!) I'm working on the problem. In the meantime, here's what you can do:
Write to AWeber's owner and ask him to fix the problem.
Subscribe to TechBite using a Gmail account and set the forwarding to your earthlink.net address. (E-mail me if you need help doing it.) [top]
Find Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime (Almost)
"You find my long-lost buddy and I'll paint any room in your house." I was talking to a couple of friends about how I had tracked down a wayward YahooGroup moderator.
It was a sweet deal (the kitchen has three colors, lots of cabinets, and needs painting) and I was up for the challenge. [top]
Just the Facts, Please
There were no rules: I could use any Internet resource or even social engineering, the art of extracting information from people by e-mail or phone. As in, "Hi, I'm calling to update your free white pages listing. Can you confirm that..."
I used only free sites to do the digging; I also used data I picked up from fee-based services -- without paying a thing.
My friend gave me all he knew. "His name is Jan Shepard. The last I heard he was in Corpus Christi, Texas, and he's a bankruptcy attorney."
"Are you sure of the spelling," I asked. The Shepard name does have variations, and the fact that the guy had an ambiguous first name added to the challenge.
He was adamant--and as it turned out, wrong. The last name was actually "Shephard."
"You have anything else?" I asked, wondering if we wanted to keep the kitchen white or go for another color.
"He was born in Binghamton, New York, but actually lived in Vestal, New York." I was also told his mother's maiden name, the name of his brother and sister, and that his birth year was 1944 or maybe 1946. [top]
Techniques, Clues, and Patterns
I hit pay dirt in about an hour. I didn't do it in one sitting and had to verify a few things from my friend along the way. (I could see my friend spending two days painting -- make sure you get the inside of the cabinets, too, please -- so I told him it took lots longer).
In the next few paragraphs, I'll take you on a tour of how I found the guy. Along the way you'll see the tools I used, and next week, I'll supply a list of sites you can use for searching.
I know you're itching to hear that I have a magical technique. Nope. It's a tedious process of stacking up and comparing individual clues, like a detective. And I had enough nuggets -- good ones, too -- to start searching. [top]
My first step was to get the area codes for Corpus Christi (361), Binghamton, and Vestal (607). That would help me quickly pinpoint anything I saw as a chance I had the right Shepard and eliminate others in other states.
I also created a Google Maps page for Corpus Christi. I might find multiple addresses for Shepard, and a map could help me see which might be in a business location or residential area, and how far they were from each other.
I started with a broad Google search for "Jan Shepard" Corpus Christi. I figured I'd start with what I thought was the most recent Texas location. If nothing turned up, I'd search the New York locations. (You can open a browser and follow along. Copy and paste everything in italics into Google's search field.)
Many of the Google results were false leads, but some were right on target.
I found "in memory of Jan Shephard by Joseph A Jr Cohn" at Caller, a clue that didn't catch my attention until later. 123people was a mixed bag of info. There was nothing useful in the "Phone Numbers" area. But clicking View all results for Jan Shepard in Premium Public Records, changing the state to Texas, and searching, gave me my first confirmation.
I ended up with an offer for a paid search, but on that spot I saw four possible Shepards: a 66-year-old in Corpus Christi, a 56-year-old in Big Spring and North Zulch Texas, and what I guessed was an old listing for a 39-year old in Binghamton, NY. My friend said he was born in 1944 or '46; even though the age was off a little, it'd still make any of these a possibility. Hoo-ha, I was on the right track! [top]
The Google search also brought up Public Background Checks, another fee-based service. I discovered a new chunk of info -- possible relatives -- that let me eliminate a Shepard in McCamey, Texas (she was married to a guy).
Now I needed to match up my results with anything I could find for a bankruptcy attorney in Corpus Christi. There were no positive results for "Jan Shepard" Corpus Christi bankruptcy, "Jan Shepard" Corpus Christi bankruptcy attorney, or Corpus Christi "bankruptcy attorney," so I switched to YellowPages with the same search string. There I hit what I thought was the jackpot: a business address, phone number, middle initial -- and the correct spelling of his last name.
Besides a number and address,
the right spelling and a middle initial
More sleuthing was needed: I Googled the phone number, but all I saw were more generic yellow-page-like listings. The address showed a business district, but the other Shephard addresses I found were too far away to be his residence.
I called the number; it was Sunday, so I got a recording. It was for a Whittle Law Firm and it listed all the attorneys; Jan Shephard wasn't mentioned.
Oh, dear. Things weren't looking so good. [top]
Honing in on Jan L. Shephard
I wasted time being fixated on finding Shephard's e-mail and home address, instead of doing what's becoming obvious to some of you about now: I should have headed to the Texas State Bar Web site right away. When I did, I found out Jan L. Shephard had died. The listing told me he received his law degree in 1969 from Willamette University and the time frame was right for his age. It also listed New York as the first state where he practiced law.
I tried confirming this on Texas death certificates, but came up with nothing.
Back to Google for a larger-scale search: Googling "Jan L. Shephard" obit sent me to Ancestry, (the link goes to results for Wilhemina Dougherty, but if you scroll down, you'll find Shephard) where I got my first confirmation it was the same person.
Ancestry showed me his year of death,
the same as the date listed on the State Bar site.
For closure, I Googled "Jan L Shephard" death Texas and that nailed it. On page 32 of a PDF from Willamette University, I read this:
Jan L. Shephard BA'66, JD'69 of Corpus Christi, Texas, passed away on Dec. 11, 2006, at the age of 63. He is survived by wife T***, son J***, daughter J***, step-children E*** and J***, mother W*** and three grandchildren.
I confirmed his mother's first name with my friend, and while saddened, he was able to get some closure on what happened to his friend Jan L. Shephard.
Next week: The 20 top tools to search for your long-lost buddy. [top]
What I'm Reading: Harry's Ugly PC Contest
My buddy Harry McCracken's Worst PC in America contest is just a hoot. You'll see some submissions, including an e-mail I sent to Harry in 1995. And if your PC's really the ugliest, you might win a new HP notebook.
Tech Tool: Quick Scanner Copies
That scanner sitting on your desk -- you know, the one you rarely use?-- it can double as a copy machine. Just scan something and send the results to your printer. The problem is, your scanner may not have the software to do it. And if it does, like mine, the scanner software is a pain to fire up. My solution is iCarbon, a freebie you can configure for grayscale, black-and-white, grayscale, or color printouts. The neat part is it loads fast and sends a scanned document to the printer in seconds. [top]
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Time Wasters
Trained dogs, a deer and a dog, a silly game, and a nifty card trick. Read on...
I don't know who's having more fun -- the deer or the pooch! You decide by watching Bambi and Scruffy Have a Romp.
You ever try doing shadows? You know, hold your hands in front of a light and try to make the shadows look like a duck? Watch a pro in action.
I love card tricks, especially if they're well done. Take a look at this Pick a Card -- Any Card trick and see if you can figure it out...
You're talking to your sister-in-law and she's going on and on -- and on and on. You need something to pass the time, a distraction that's not too tough and lets you pay just enough attention to her blabbering that you don't miss a question. ("So whaddya think of that, honey?" she asks in New York nasal.) Try Dot's Impossible. [Thanks to Tom and Marty.]
Hover over a circle and watch what happens.
Here's a great game for the NASA geek in all of us. You'll lose an hour fiddling with Spaced Penguin until you get it just right, I promise.
How about some doggie training. You'll like this video of The Niftiest 5 Doggie Minutes You'll Spend This Week. [top]
Image of the Week: Traffic Jam
It's mid-day, you're sitting on the freeway, and all you can
see is five miles
of brake lights. What's up?, you may think.
It appears the citizens of Oregon found out.
Find Me If You Can
I'm right here, the same place I usually pitch you on forwarding my newsletter to your old army buddies, that old sailor you used to date, or even your boss, who I know doesn't have a computing clue. The process is easier than using Google to find an old buddy: Forward the newsletter or send 'em this link: http://www.techbite.com By the way, if you're enjoying this newsletter and getting something out of it, become a TechBite member by sending us some financial support using PayPal. I promise, good things will eventually come your way... [top]
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Steve Bass is the publisher and self-appointed Chief Content Officer at TechBite; he continues to experience the cool feeling of having his own newsletter. Send him your feedback at TechBite. To sign up for TechBite's free Steve Bass Technology newsletter, head for our signup page.
Steve's also the author of "PC Annoyances, 2nd Edition: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things About Your Personal Computer," available on Amazon. It covers XP, but not Vista. If you haven't purchased your copy today, don't wait, supplies are limited...
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