Looking for a Locater?

Trying to find long-lost friends or loved ones over the holidays? There are a number of ways to search for people on the Internet.

One new locater service was launched last week by a Laguna Hills company. The site can be found at https://www.looking4u.com You type in your name, the name of the person you’re searching for, along with a message, all of which becomes part of a database.

If the person you’re searching for also visits the Web site and registers, he or she will find your message.

Robin Page, who developed the site, acknowledges that at least in the early going, the success rate isn’t likely to be very high. After all, the system depends on three unlikely contingencies: 1) that the person you are looking for is on the Internet, 2) that the person is also looking for you (or someone else), and 3) that the person knows about looking4u.com.

She said that as use of the Internet becomes more common, and the looking4u database grows, the odds improve.

In the meantime, it might be more effective to try other free locater services such as https://www.switchboard.com, an impressive listing of people and businesses nationwide.

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Greg Miller covers high technology for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and atgreg.miller@latimes.com