Look For You - The Global Chinese People Finder

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    • We've assembled a collection of the most frequently asked questions about LOOK4U. Click on the question to read the answer. If you still have a question about LOOK4U after you read this, please send us e-mail and we'll try to answer you directly or maybe even put your question in the next update of this FAQ.

    1. Isn't LOOK4U only useful for searching for Taiwanese and Hong Kong people?
    2. How is LOOK4U different than Four11, WhoWhere, or Bigfoot?
    3. Who can join LOOK4U?
    4. How big is your database of names?
    5. Is my personal information really secure?
    6. What is a v-Card?
    7. Why doesn't everybody I search for have a v-Card?
    8. How do I create my own v-Card?
    9. What if I don't want to be found?
    10. I can't find someone even though I typed his name correctly. What's wrong?
    11. Why don't you show the entire e-mail address in your listings?
    12. After I made a search I got 50 names, but I can't get the rest. What can I do?
    13. Do I have to fill in all that information about myself?
    14. I use a (GB/BIG5) system, how can I search for someone who uses the other encoding (BIG5/GB)?
    15. I only have an English system, how can I search for someone with a Chinese name?
    16. I have a Chinese font, but I don't have a chinese input method. How can I search for someone with a Chinese name?
    17. How do I enter pinyin?
    18. How can I keep a list of the people I found on LOOK4U?
    19. How come I am in your database even though I haven't registered yet?
    20. Hey! I didn't register and I don't ever want to, how can I delete my name and e-mail address from your system?
    21. Can I link to LOOK4U from my homepage?
    22. The name I am searching for has some special character that can not be typed on any computer? What can I do?
    23. Where are the "Advanced search options" you mention?
    1. Isn't LOOK4U only useful for searching for Taiwanese and Hong Kong people?
      Absolutely not. Although many of the people in the LOOK4U database are from Taiwan and Hong Kong, LOOK4U also lists tens of thousands of people from Singapore, Malaysia, China, America, and dozens of other countries around the world. LOOK4U is a global directory, not a national or Asia-only directory.

    2. How is LOOK4U different than Four11, WhoWhere, or Bigfoot?
      LOOK4U may appear, on the surface, to be very similar to these popular directories. But searching for Chinese names on these other directories is virtually impossible. LOOK4U has many unique features not found on any other directory that make it ideal for searching for Chinese names: (1) Our custom designed search engine software is optimised for finding Chinese names quickly and accurately. (2) All names in our database can be searched using either BIG5 or GB encoding, and (3) all information is auto-converted on the fly if necessary and presented to the end user in the encoding he or she desires. (4) Many data fields in our database are really only of use to Chinese people. (5) A Chinese interface makes the searching method more convenient for non-English speaking Chinese people.

    3. Who can join LOOK4U?
      In a word, anyone. You don't have to be living in Asia, nor do you have to be Chinese for that matter. If you just have an interest in things Chinese, or if you have Chinese friends, or if you just want to put your name in yet another database, you can join. We put no restrictions on who can and cannot join.

    4. How big is your database of names?
      LOOK4U opened in August 1997 with a database of over 1,000,000 people's names and e-mail addresses. Approximately 95% of the people listed in this initial database are Chinese people living in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, America, Canada, Australia, and other parts of the globe. The other 5% or so are non-Chinese people who have expressed an interest in China or Chinese language. As of this writing the LOOK4U database is growing rapidly at a rate of 2,000 to 4,000 new entries per day.

    5. Is my personal information really secure?
      These days, a lot of very personal information is freely available from many places on the Internet. When you enter your personal data in the LOOK4U database, you agree that your information will be made freely available to anyone who uses the LOOK4U service. However, we promise not to allow anyone to gain access to your data by any other means, nor will we sell or lease your name or personal information to anyone else.

    6. What is a v-Card?
      When you search for a person who has registered with LOOK4U, you will have the option to download their v-Card. A v-Card is very similar to a traditional name card, but it exists only in a computer. v-Cards are supported by both Netscape Communicator 4.0 and Microsoft's Explorer 4.0 browsers, and Windows98. For example, if you are using one of those browsers, when you click on someone's v-Card you can instantly add them to your e-mail address book -- and not just their name and e-mail address, but any other information they may have entered about themselves, such as their personal homepage, job information, telephone and fax numbers, alternate e-mail addresses, etc. We believe v-Cards are the most efficient means for exchanging personal contact information.

    7. Why doesn't everybody I search for have a v-Card?
      At this time, v-Cards are only available for people who have personally registered their information in LOOK4U.

    8. How do I create my own v-Card?
      Once you have registered with LOOK4U and entered your personal information your v-Card is automatically created. Search for yourself and try it out.

    9. What if I don't want to be found?
      LOOK4U provides two options:
      1. You can select the option to hide your primary e-mail address from all listings on this page. This gives other users the ability to find you on LOOK4U, but they won't be able to see your e-mail address. Users may click on the link marked [PRIVATE] and send you a personal e-mail without ever knowing your address. The e-mail you receive from the user will be clearly marked as coming from LOOK4U.
      2. You can completely remove yourself and make your name and e-mail address 'unlisted' in the LOOK4U database. All you need to do is initially add yourself to the database, which verifies that you are who you say you are, then you can select the option to 'unlist' yourself here. At that point all your personal information will be permanantly deleted from our database, and your e-mail address will be regularly checked to ensure your data has not been re-listed again in LOOK4U.

    10. I can't find someone even though I typed his name correctly. What's wrong?
      First the short answer: he's probably not listed. Now the longer answer: He may be listed, but he may have chosen a different name than the one you tried. Try searching for their Chinese character instead of their English name. Or search for just part of their name. If you still can't find him, he's probably not listed yet.

    11. Why don't you show the entire e-mail address in your listings?
      We try to protect everyone listed in LOOK4U from unsolicited e-mail by listing only their partial e-mail address. We don't want to make it too easy for spammers to search our database with the intent of collecting many e-mail addresses. Although you can't see the entire e-mail address, you can still click on the partial e-mail address to send that person e-mail.

    12. After I made a search I got 50 names, but I can't get the rest. What can I do?
      The query you made was too general. You will need to refine your query a little bit. Try selecting the country, or use our advanced search options to search with more detail and get twice as many search results.

    13. Do I have to fill in all that information about myself?
      No. All that is required is your primary e-mail address and your name. Everything else may be left blank. But keep in mind that the more information you provide the more likely it is that someone who is looking for you can find you.

    14. I use a (GB/BIG5) system, how can I search for someone who uses the other encoding (BIG5/GB)?
      One of LOOK4U's unique functions is its ability to search for Chinese names regardless of the encoding method used by the user. This effectively overcomes one of the biggest hurdles in Chinese communications on the Internet. After you make a search, if you see an asterisk "*" next to a person's name, that is an indication that that person's data was originally encoded using a different method than yours and has been converted for you to correctly read on your system.

    15. I only have an English system, how can I search for someone with a Chinese name?
      Numerous utilities are available which allow you to read and type Chinese on an English system. You might want to read       this huge listing of Chinese software for reading Chinese on the Internet, or if you use a Windows95 PC, you can download some trial software from NJStar, RichWin, UnionWay, or TwinBridge.
      NEW ---> If you are using IE4, we highly recommend you download Microsoft's free Chinese fonts and input method which will allow you to read and enter Chinese in your browser and e-mail. You can download them from here: http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/iebuild/ime5_win32/en/ime5_win32.htm

    16. I have a Chinese font, but I don't have a chinese input method. How can I search for someone with a Chinese name?
      Just check the box next to the name field and then you can enter the pinyin pronunciation of the name you want to search for. LOOK4U will return the matching names in Chinese characters, or if you are using English LOOK4U, the results will be listed in pinyin.

    17. How do I enter pinyin?
      It's best to put a space between each word. If you don't know the tone you can leave off the tone number and LOOK4U will try to find the most appropriate matches. The following are all valid examples of pinyin names:
      • chen2 wei1 hao2
      • lin2 xiao3 bing1
      • shun4 zi3
      • ma yu ting
      • wang ren min

    18. How can I keep a list of the people I found on LOOK4U?
      LOOK4U provides registered users with their own personal @ddress book. Each user can store up to 50 people in their address book simply by clicking on the "@" symbol next to the person's listing. Every time you return to LOOK4U, you will be able to open up and review your @ddress book and if any of the users listed in your @ddress book have changed their information it will be updated automatically. Remember, you will only be able to access you personal address book after you have logged in.

    19. How come I am in your database even though I haven't registered yet?
      Your name is listed probably because your name appeared elsewhere on the Internet such as in a publicly available newsgroup, or your ISP may have supplied it to us directly.

    20. Hey! I didn't register and I don't ever want to, how can I delete my name and e-mail address from your system?
      You can do it yourself. First you need to prove you are who you say your are by clicking on       Add Me and enter that e-mail address and make up a password. You will immediately receive a PIN number by e-mail. Complete the registration process by entering the PIN number, then you can select Edit Me from the menu, and then select Unlist Me and enter your password to confirm. Your name and address will then be permanantly deleted from our system.

    21. Can I link to LOOK4U from my homepage?
      Yes! In fact if you want to put the LOOK4U search function right on your homepage we encourage you to use the sample source code       we've supplied here.

    22. The name I am searching for has some special character that can not be typed on any computer? What can I do?
      This is a real tough question. Some Chinese people have names that are not represented by either the BIG5 or GB character sets. For numerous technical reasons, it seems that there may not be a solution any time soon. However, you might try typing a "sound-alike" or a "look-alike" character and see if you get results. You might also try searching using pinyin or try their English name if you know it.

    23. Where are the "Advanced search options" you mention?
      You will see the "Advanced search options" on the LOOK4U Search page only after you have logged in as a fully registered user of LOOK4U. The advanced search options allow you to search for a company name, find an old friend from school, or find someone's new e-mail address, and you also get twice as many search results.




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