1. A system comprising: a portable device that optically captures an image; and transmits information regarding the image to a distal server; at least one of the device and the server deriving a search term from at least one of the image and the transmitted information; at least one of the device and the server causing the search term to be submitted to a search engine that indexes publicly accessible information; and the search engine using the search term to produce a results set, and causing at least a portion of the results set to be transmitted back to the portable device.