Need atool for finding people online? It's okay to admit it. You know what they say, the first step is admitting there's a problem. LOL.

If you are serious about wanting to use a piece of software to find people on the web, then I implore you not to stop at the first people finding search engine you see advertised. I beg of you not to fall for the come-on ads that promise you the glossy moon and then don't deliver. Or worse, deliver faulty results.

If you want not a but "the"tool for finding people onlinethen you'd better be prepared for some jaw-dropping results.

Case in point: I knew that this article was coming up so I wanted to give this piece of software a real test. My very first job was in New York City in the late 1980s and I remember one of the girls that I was very friendly with. Her name was Francesca.

I also knew that Francesca and her husband moved to Italy for a few years for his job and that they had intended on returning to New Jersey when his contract was up overseas.

So that was all I knew. I had her name and the state of New Jersey. That was it.

I wanted desperately to take this software beast out and give it a real test and that's exactly what I did. I went to the very simple almost unfinished looking site and typed in her full name and the state of NJ. I then entered a series of four letter and numbers and that was it.

Thistool for finding people onlinewas off. On the next screen I read something I was entirely not expecting...IT SAID: "Retrieving the same results other companies charge for...your free results will appear shortly!"

I had been told that this tool was fast and smart and accurate, but I had not been told that it was free.

In the interest of fairness, the only other thing I needed was to give my own first name and email so that the engine could continue to keep in touch when more and more results for Francesca came in.

Seemed perfectly reasonable.

I have officially found not a but "the"tool for finding people online. And if asked nicely I will certainly let anyone borrow it from my toolbox!