Auction anyone?

Who has not heard about the Google IPO? If you are one of them, I'm sure you must be a hermit and stumbled to this website on accident. July 30th the bidding begins! The dutch auction for one of the most anticipated, and widely covered IPO's has begun.

If you are a risk taker, and want to join in the fun, point your browser at Google's official auction website.

https://www.ipo.google.com/

For me, I'd love to get a piece of Google, however I think the price will be way overvalued to begin with all the "band wagon jumpers". Once I get a look at more of it's financials and the volume and price drop to more realistic numbers I may get some shares. Untill then, I'm a Starbucks fan. Starbucks is a treat and what a great buy.

What do you think?

Business and Blogs

Blogs appear here to stay, and some are finding them as useful business tools. Bill Gates has even commented on their use. Does this allow companies better internal communication amongst employees?

Business blogging moving mainstream 

The Best Search Engine Marketing Vendor in the World is...

apparently, Oneupweb.com. The site looks decent and it seems like they have a lot of free resources. Still, best in the world?

Consumers still falling for phish

Fake e-mails fool users 28 percent of the time, study finds

Confused by what's arriving in your inbox? You're not alone. Nearly one out of three Internet users was unable to tell the difference between fraudulent e-mails designed to steal their identities and legitimate corporate e-mail, a new study finds.
Anti-spam firm MailFrontier Inc. showed 1,000 consumers examples of so-called "phishing" e-mail as well as legitimate e-mail from companies such as eBay and PayPal. About 28 percent of the time, the consumers incorrectly identified the phishing messages as legitimate.
What's more, the legitimate e-mails were often dismissed as potential fraud. An e-mail message from the Federal Trade Commission was dismissed as a fraud by 50 percent of the consumers.
"We knew we'd fool a few people, but we're pretty surprised by 28 percent," said Anne Bonaparte, CEO of MailFrontier.  "A number of (the phishing e-mails used in the study) have been around for a while." 
'We are losing on both ends'One reason the look-alike e-mails continue to fool consumers: the people behind them are getting much better at their craft.
"We've definitely seen quite an improvement in grammar, for example," Bonaparte said.  "Early versions wouldn't have fooled too many people. Now, they fool a number of us. We did the test here at work and some people had embarrassing results."
One very well-distributed PayPal look-alike e-mail, which claimed credit card information needed to be updated, fooled 31 percent of users surveyed, she said.
"That one was written widely about. You would not have thought that would have fooled people," she said.
Meanwhile, a simple note from PayPal indicating that a payment had been made, which asked for no personal information, was described as a fraud by 20 percent of those studied.
"We are losing on both ends right now," said Dave Jevens, chairman of the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consortium of companies fighting the problem. He said he wasn't particularly surprised by the results of the study.
"I've seen professionals who work in the industry fall for these.  As we can see from this report, it's hard to tell bad mail from good mail. ... It's undermining the ability of people to communicate."
 
Read the whole story at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5519990/

Bloggers at the DNC

For the first time ever bloggers have been given press credentials to cover the Democratic National Convention in Boston!  In back to back NYT articles, one on July 26th and another on July 27th, the legitimacy of bloggers as "journalists" even though mainstream journalists are concerned about stretching the definition to include bloggers (not unlike other alternative media, i.e., Indymedia) is remarkable.  Three dozen bloggers were chosen from over 200 applicants and considered on criteria such as "readership, professionalism and originality."

The article on the 27th shows a picture with the blog journalists sitting in the nose-bleed section seats, laptops perched precariously, reporting the sights, sounds and energy of the convention.  Some bloggers say that they "will provide coverage on issues too narrow for mainstream news media, while offering an irreverent eye on the media-political complex ...."  Mainstream media has sat up and taken notice of this new, emerging form of media, with the Washington bureau chief for CNN stating, "I'm intrigued at the way that bloggers and blogs have forced their way into the political process on their own." 

Some of the blog addresses of those in attendance are:  Talk-Left.com, PressThink.com, Oxblog. com, Hyperorg.com, and DailyKos.com - a blog operated by 16-year old Stephen Yellin from Berkeley Heights, NJ, who also will be attending the Democratic National Convention as a blog journalist.

Just more interesting stuff ...

Google brought to its knees

I don't know if anyone else is still perusing the class blog (class officially ended last Wednesday, 7/21), but I found Google's crash due to the MyDoom-O virus to be fascinating. Before today, I had never had a problem with Google's engine or servers, so I was completely taken by surprise when a morning search generated nothing but a server error. When the servers were not back up after several minutes, I figured they must have been hit by a virus; and ta-da! They were.

Apparently, this variant of the MyDoom virus targeted search engines as part of its distribution scheme. This Internet Storm Center article details the virus and means of infection (looks like Lycos was hit pretty hard, too).

Another interesting point: when my favorite search engine was unavailable, I felt quite disappointed and - almost - aimless. Seems I have become very accustomed to having immediate search results at my convenience.

Google Services

I found a site that summarize services that Google has offered. We learned most of it in class already. It includes: Google Answer, Froggle, Google Groups, Google Image Search, Google News, etc. For complete listing of Google services, click here

The Power of Google

Google's purchase of Picasa, a company that offers digital photography software, has caused a web traffic to the site to increase by a stunning 6000%. Shortly after the announcement of the purchase was made, Google began featuring a link that directed visitors to Picasa's download page. This shows the power of Google!

A Drop in Search Engine Ad Supply

Search engines like Yahoo and Google have spawned bidding wars among a growing number of marketers who want to place their ads next to search results. That is a great thing for Yahoo and Google, of course, but in the long term, some analysts think it could haunt them. The demand for search advertising is growing far more quickly than the supply of available advertising spots. For me on this topic..

WebCrawler.com

Webcrawler.com states that it displays the best results from top search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Look Smart, and others. When I conducted a search for “child and care,” next to the result page on the left side is a column “Refine Your Results” which shows related words for your search. In my case these words were: learning, daycare, and so on. I find it a useful feature.

Demand For Search Engine Ads Outgrowing The Supply

A report conducted by Nielsen//NetRatings determined that while the demand for search engine advertising is continuing to grow quickly, the supply of appropriate search inventory is not.   Click here to find out more...

Yahoo gains on Google...or does it?

Click here to find out if Yahoo is gaining on Google.

Search Startup moves beyond Keywords.

The future of search lies instead with bigger concepts.  Click here to find out more.

What's new at search engines?

Cool link about new features on search engines like Google, Yahoo etc.

Google Helps Children

Tara said...
To help patients, parents, visitors and staff, Children's Medical Center Dallas has added the Google Search function to www.childrens.com as well as the hospitals intranet to make quick, easy searches about medicine and diseases more simple. To see the article go to: http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040720/latu118_1.html
1:43 PM

Spyware

Tara said...
For anyone interested in removing spyware from your computer here is a link to the free download of Ad-Aware published by Lavasoft. It is simple to use and simple to download and comes highly recommended by experts.http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html?part=69274&subj=dlpage&tag=button
1:31 PM

Compare Google to Yahoo

If you want to compare search results between Google and Yahoo check out this link, enter a search term and see how results vary.

From Olga-

One of the sites that my family uses very often is cheaptickets.com. I highly recommend for students to use it and check it; they really have a great deals and tickets.

Another website, extremely helpful, that has had a great impact on my life, Mapquest.com. Websites address is http://www.mapquest.com. It provides maps, directions, even yellow pages.

AT&T Introduces 3G Wireless Internet Access on New Phone

AT&T Introduces 3G Wireless Internet Access on New Phone.  It seems we have reached a time when we need unlimited internet access, regaurdless of where we are.  AT&T is now offering a new phone ($300).  The services will cost 24.99 a month.  Read this article to find out more information.

Yahoo! BuzzIndex group blog

Our group has established a blog for further conversation/comments about our presentation and paper "What's All the Buzz About?  Britney, J-Lo, Beyonce and other stories from the Yahoo! Buzz Index."  This blog is open to public comment - no invitation necessary.

Email capacity is increasing

This is an interesting article about various email services including Gmail, Google and Yahoo. Ever wonder about the competition to keep increasing the size of inboxes this article gives some little facts.

Search Engine Optimization

Here is the article about the website organization in a way which attracts search engine and tips about how to choose a domain name.

Doodles on Google

Google is the only search engine that I know off who dresses up their logos for festive occasions, and it all started with the Burning Man Festival. You can read this article for more information on how this tradition came about and view some of the different logos that they've had.

New technology for unlimited Internet addresses

The article, "New Technology Heralds Unlimited Web Sites - ICANN," in NY Times today says that "rapid growth in the use of the World Wide Web has in recent times prompted concerns about future scarcity of domain addresses, with demand threatening to overload the existing system - the IPv4. About two-thirds of the 4.3 billion Internet addresses currently available have been used up." However, the new system IPv6 could magnify capacity by 25,000 trillion trillion times! Wow....

Google to add audio and video search

 Speculation has that Google will go beyond radio and TV clips, by entering the online music business of selling downloads of music. Joining Yahoo's AltaVista and America Online's Singingfish.com
 
For more information on this article

Meta Search Engines

The idea behind a meta search engine is that an Internet user should be able to visit one site, conduct a search, and view the results from multiple search engines on a single results page......Click here for more information on this article.

Something so simple but so helpfull: Protecting your Privacy online.

Nice article for new internet users that provides information about few software programs that can help you protect your privacy online.  Click here!

Something so simple but so helpfull: Protecting your Privacy online.

Few softwares that the new internet users might not be aware of that can help protect your privacy online.  Check this article out.

Geolocation Technology

What is it? How does it work and how it impact our search results? Each computer on the Internet has a unique numeric address akin to a phone number. It's generally assigned to the user's Internet service provider, a university or a company, and a database matches such assignments to the location the network has registered.   Click on this article to find more.

How Search has evolved

A really nice article about how search has evolved through out the years.

Microsoft Has a Would-Be "Google Killer"?

Check this article http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2004/tc20040716_2408_tc120.htm out to BusinessWeek Online regarding Microsoft's latest attempt at addressing the information-overload situation.
 
I was also in the oral surgeon's office today (don't ask!) and read the May 3, 2004 edition of BusinessWeek about Google and its upcoming IPO and what other companies such as Microsoft and Yahoo! are doing to compete in the search world.  An interesting concept that Microsoft is working on relates to what we were discussing in class on Monday:  Microsoft is working on search technology that would allow a user to perform both a Web and desktop (hard drive) search from within a Word document or Excel file without having to open a browser window ... I didn't get a chance to finish the article, but it sounds interesting!

Google Adds Features to Gmail

Google added three new features to Gmail. A user can now Import contracts use Signature options or use the "Safari" browser support.
 
 
 

Switch E-mail Service to Google

Google has added a service to it's free email that will allow users to transfer the contents of their address book from rival email services to encourage Google email use.

Google to Disclose Financials

Google is expected to give an indication of how much it expects bidders to pay for its shares in an updated initial public offering as soon as this week.  Google has estimated its expected per share value at $88.13, although some potential bidders are worrying whether overzealous investors might bid up the stock's value to a point where the share price no longer provides a meaningful reflection of the company's value.
 
Read the whole story here.

a software that scans a user's screen and offers them related information from personal files, e-mails and the web

Graduate's search engine makes Google ''Blinkx''!
 
In a new breakthrough, two employees of a tiny company based in London and San Francisco with a workforce of 10, have created Blinkx, a software that scans a user's screen and offers them related information from personal files, e-mails and the web. This  launched the ground-breaking way to retrieve information from computers.
 
The program could dethrone Google from its position as the world's leading Internet search tool. It combines the ability to track down relevant information stored locally on a computer with Internet searching in an easy-to-use format.
 
Microsoft is creating a similar tool likely to be included in the next version of its operating system codenamed Longhorn and expected to be available in 2006 while Yahoo and Google are supposedly working urgently on their versions.
 
More information

Yahoo to surpass Google?

Google and Yahoo are tied in the most recent Forrester sponsored Consumer Technographics survey. The study shows each search engine claims around 40 percent of web surfers who use a portal or search site at least once a week, according to pc world. George Colony, Forrester chair and CEO, believes that the use of Yahoo search will surge ahead of Google in the first quarter of 2005. This newest study indicates that the battle for top search engine wages on, with both Google and Yahoo looking for other ways to lure searchers and make more money. For more on this article

Cost of clicks could go up

The demand advertizers are placing on search engines such as Google and Yahoo for exposure could drive up the cost per click.

Not even Harvard puts its best foot forward all the time

Safe search engines for children are imperative.  Harvard's criticism of Google's adult content filter may be flawed, but their intent is right on the money. 
 
Here are some kid-friendly search engines.  Technology does not yet permit 100% reliability in search engine filters, but they are improving everyday.

What do you do for fun?

After attacking our studies all week, it is always a good idea to burn off some energy.  Here is a great new directory of local events in your area. 
 

Consumers respond to brands placed high in paid search listings, study says

I found this to be quite useful information if a person is wondering how effective those paid advertisements are you see while surfing on the web.

Anti-Gmail Bill

I found some other interesting article so I think I will post again. It is about Anti-Gmail Bill passed by the CA senate that limits Google on scanning their user's email. This is related to my final paper topic on privacy. So here is the link

Google API Website

I found a list of website that is created with Google API, some of them are very entertaining. Please take a loot at it here

Are You Feeling Lucky!

What happens when you type in weapons of mass destruction into Google's search box and then click on I'm feeling Lucky. Well, READ what it has to say! It's Quite Entertaining :)

Google's online photo publisher

If you look on Google's home page, a new feature has been installed which you can download for free. It's Google's Picasa Software. So if you have a digital camera, get CLICKING! Read more about this in the New York Times.

Seattle Public Library

For those of you who might be interested in reading about the new Seattle Public Library, here is a link to their website. You may not be aware of how technologically advanced the new library is. Read here about their Tech Logic System of book handling. It's fascinating!
 
http://www.spl.org
 
Nina Bayer

Goodle-Google Good News

Goodle is the Good News page. Goodle News functions like Google News but unlike Google, Goodle calls attention only to good news. It is fun to compare Google and Goodle News pages. However, when I tried to go to www.goodle.com I received a message that I  am FORBIDDEN to go to this website. Does anybody know if it is still a functioning website?  

FROM LISA FORD- I have enjoyed taking the Search and The World Wide Web. It has been crazy because my blogger has been bogged down! It wouldn't let me blog! Then the stars and moon lined up and I am in! It has been interesting taking a business class that has been focused on teaching the classmates about terminology for the web.Not having to do the same old thing...RESEARCH!! I have learned about the supply and the demand of cyberspace, about google drills, the invisible web, search and mobile enviroments, and how to imagine what our search engines may look like for the future. As an IAS student I was a little bit scared of taking a web based class. But, Sandeep has made the class room enivorment warm, fun, collaborative, about team work, and my stress and learning has been enjoyable.(and no he didn't pay me to say this!) As a result, I have created a website (thanks Khambee for your help) and I am now doing a blog! For me as a non-business student, this is a major accomplishment! So for anyone wanting to learn more about innovative search engines and the terminology that encapsulates the world weide web, then this is the course to be in! MY HATS OFF TO SEARCH AND THE WORLD WIDE WEB!!

Solutions to the DEEPWEB!!!!!

Hello Everyone,
 
While researching for my paper on Australian search engines, I came accross an interesting company who is developing aplications that help search engines index the deep web. It talks specifically about internet retailers being able to have more of thier catalog of products indexed. This could prove very profitable for internet retailing and search engines such as google. Take a look at the info at this link (it is rather short): 
http://www.youramigo.com/downloads/documents/atc-press-release.pdf
 
This company recently opened an office in Silicon Valley... See them at youramigo.com
 
Joel Ennis

Small sites Challenge big search engines

Check this great article on how small sites are trying different features to make their searches competitive to the big players such as Google and yahoo.

Search engines on fire

Check out this interesting article describing the new australian competition for Google.

How to choose a search engine or directory

This web site can give you some ideas about which web sites you can browse on and search like google web site.  It classifies into many catogories, so it is easy to find any subject that you are looking for.

Search Engine Bookmarklets

Here is an article about simple tools, bookmarklets, which will enhance the way we search and organize information.  Bookmarklets allow individuals to:

-Modify the way you see someone else's webpage.
-Extract data from a webpage.
-Search more quickly, and in ways not possible with a search engine.
-Navigate in new ways.

Go to Bookmarklets.com for more information.

 

Microsoft targeting Google

Microsoft has just purchased Lookout Software LLC, in efforts to bolster it's internet search services. This deal is targeting Google, who is garnering roughly seven of 10 searches on the Web, Microsoft has a ways to go to become more of a factor in the search market. But they are making efforts to become more of a player in search engines. They are currently testing a so-called MSNBot for algorithmic search. The search function indexes Web sites across the Internet to provide users with relevant links based on their search terms along with links from paying advertisers.  This article discusses this in further detail

New Google Feature

Google has added a new feature to its search engine.  It is a "Browse by name" feature that allows users of Google's Toolbar to type in a name (Grand Canyon) instead of a URL and will be directed to the home page.  If the name is not recognized Google automatically performs its regular search for the subject.  Read this article for more info.

Blinkx...a threat to Google's dominance?

Here's an interesting article on Blinkx, a new search technology that is context oriented. How many times in class have we commented on the fact that keyword searches are context-insensitive...that is, the search engine algorithms are unable to link semantic, relational information based on keywords. Well, it looks like Blinkx is well on its way to being the first to enter the market of the unified, smart search agent (ahead of Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, etc.). To quote from another article in the Guardian:

"...unlike Google, [Blinkx] uses artificial intelligence to rate stories, not page rankings. 'What it is trying to say,' [co-founder Kathy Rittweger] explains, 'is that all words are not equal in a sentence... Quite critically, if you are looking at a document and trying to figure out what it means, Blinkx reads everything you are reading and sorts out what are the key ideas.'"

Although there are concerns about privacy (which must be overcome for anyone's next generation search agent to be successful), the underlying technology and concept is exciting and sound. Definitely one to keep an eye on!

Search and Library

This article talks about a student at Columbia University that she had an assignment from her literature professor that she had to research two articles from a magazine, and she explains how easy was to find information through Google for one and how she trek down the library stacks for the other one.
She says how everybody in class got the articles online and some people didn’t even bother to go through the stacks in the library.
Even proffessors use the internet for their research mostly instead of the libraries.
So ideally the libraries of the world and the search engines need to work together to create the ultimate easy access to people to find and get information that they need.
[Source: Original New York Times article here.]

A Visual Search Engine for Music

Here is another way of searching for your favorite music.
Musicplasma is similar to the Kartoo meta search engine. Enter the name of a musician, and you'll see a collection of colored balls featuring musician names or bands as search results. The musician you searched on is at the center of the map, and closely related artists are positioned nearby. The size of the circle around a musician's name indicates popularity.

Have fun!

Efficiently scan results from 10 different engines

I came across this site, Queryster, during my paper research.

Queryster is a tool for simultaneously searching multiple engines from a single web page.
The main page contains icons to represent the 10 different search engines, from Google to WiseNut, which Queryster utilizes in each search; selecting the default engine is as quick and simple as clicking the appropriate icon. But the “cool” factor really comes into play once you initiate a search. The first results page shows the actual results from whichever default engine is selected. Then, to see the different search results from other engines, simply click the search engine icons along the top of the page; immediately the new search engine results are displayed.

You can also customize which search engines you’d like to use from a list of 25. Additionally, Queryster has the usual search suspects: Directory, Shopping, Reference (this one’s very helpful), News, Images, etc. For quick search scans from multiple engines, I've not found a better meta search engine.

"Think Before You Click Send"

I read an article today in the Seattle Times with some interesting statistics about e-mails violations that we talked about a little bit in our last class. According to the American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute, which polled 840 of their U.S.-based member firms, "25% of companies terminated a worker for violating e-mail policies and 20% of employers polled had e-mail records subpoenaed for lawsuits or regulatory investigations, and 13 percent of companies have faced lawsuits based on employee e-mail messages."
You can check out the whole article here.

Microsoft Internet Explorer Multiple Vulnerabilities

A list of four vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Internet Explorer came out today. All four issues have been confirmed on a fully patched system with Internet Explorer 6 and Microsoft Windows XP SP1 and obviously previous versions of internet explorer can be affected. I personally have begun using Foxfire in place of Internet Explorer just in case.

Email Privacy

After our roundtable discussion I thought many of you might be interested to read this interesting report Survey: Four in 10 large companies read employees' outbound e-mail Not meant to alarm people, but yet inform you while on the job.

Google Acquires Picasa

Today it was announced that Google has acquired Picasa, a digital photo-management company. I think that this is an interesting step for google to take.

Want GMail? Check your blogger dashboard.

I know many of you are really interested in GMail. Unfortunately, I am out of invites. If you want to get a GMail account, monitor your blogger dashboard. Google is letting in active Blogger users. You may see a link inviting you to open a GMail account on your Blogger dashboard. Use it.

Matthew's page shows up for "Google Course".

Matthew's page ranks higher than my page for a Google search on Google Course.

The Wisdom of Crowds.

This is the web site for the book- "Wisdom of Crowds". I recommend it.

The New Yorker on Google Bombs!

I told you we were working on cutting-edge stuff. :-)

Computer Virus Hoaxes

Does anyone else get those forwarded emails waring of computer gloom and doom from computer viruses? I just got another today. I decided to do a little research to find out if this newest warning was a hoax or not. I found a good website that has a lot of information about past viruses as well as some general information.

"New and Improved" Microsoft Search

I found an article in the July 8th issue of the New York Times that discusses Microsoft's continuing struggle to move it's way up the search engine ladder. In an effort to make its MSN Search more user-friendly (or, as the author puts it, more Google-like), Microsoft has adopted a two-phase restructuring that may be of interest to our class. The first is a "cosmetic makeover" and can be viewed at www.search.msn.com; the other is the way in which the search is conducted on the Web, stating its new search technology will be a "next generation search experience." A very early version of MSN's search algorithm can be reviewed at techpreview.search.msn.com.

Since I'm a bit on the weak side when it comes to search algorithms, I would entertain any feedback from those more knowledgeable than me!

Research Unveiled Continuing Shift of Consumer Purchase Process and Resurgence of Online Advertising

According to a study conducted by doubleclick.net, online marketing and websites play an important role in influencing the further learning and purchase decision phases of consumer purchasing process. Read on for more details in the continuing shift.

Googles.com filing a trademark lawsuit against Google, Inc.

A children's website called Googles.com launched proceedings against Google, Inc. arguing that they were in the market first and thus want the existing registration for the mark "Google" for e-mail and search engine services to be cancelled. More on this in this article.

Class web site updated.

Take a look.

Behind the Scenes at Yahoo Labs

The article Behind the Scenes at Yahoo Labs,provides an interview with Dr. Gary Flake, Principal Scientist & Head of Yahoo!Research Labs. Read it and find out the answer on the question:"What's wrong with web search today?"

Name Change

Everyone,
If you copy and past the student link from Sandeep's website, it shows my name as Chung, Jong Hye. Could you change it to Chung, Joanie?

More on Google's IPO

For those of you keeping track of Google's IPO here is a website with up to date articles relating to the anticipated event. This shows possitive and negative views of the offering to give readers both sides. I found some of the articles helpful in determining if I will purchase the stock.

Potential research paper sources from Google

Google employs upwards of 100 employees or more with Ph.D.s in various specialties. To maximize the return on their investment in this level of knowledge and creative talent, Google requires employees to spend a small percentage of their time (~10%) on individual research. From these endeavors come not only interesting technologies and tools, but wonderful research papers, as well.

Depending on your subject for the paper/presentation, you may find some material that is useful/applicable to your research.

New Search Engine

Ujiko is an interesting new search engine. It has a very nice interface and uses the Yahoo search results. The particularity of this search engine is that is customizes the results. When you click on one of the results, the page is stored on Ujiko servers and will then appear in the first results next time you search. Try it!

Invest in Google !

I was browsing the Newsweek Magazine this week and found an article that has made me want to start investing in search engines...and in one in particular (take a guess). It talked about Google's potential IPO (Initial Public Offerings) and that investing in Google could give you a 450% turnover overnight…if you're lucky enough to be a shareholder! There's another interesting article on CNN where it compares the stocks of other search engines like Yahoo and Ask Jeeves to Google. You can also take an IPO Google Quiz.

Lawsuit: Google Stole Orkut Code

A small social-networking software company, Affinity Engines, has filed suit against Google seeking royalties. But Affinity Engines isn't the only company suing Google. Among others, the company faces a patent-infringement suit from Overture regarding auctioning placement in search-engine results. How will this affect Google’s current process of an initial public offering?

Today, Affinity Engines and other social-networking services like Friendster, Tribe, LinkedIn and orkut attract millions of users by giving them a way to easily connect to friends and friends' networks of friends. Read on for more details.

Google culture.

Excerpt from an interesting article- The creative culture at Google exhibits all of the hallmarks of a "Great Group"— playfulness, obsessiveness and a sense of mission. But the upcoming IPO will shake up the organization. Can Google retain what made it great in the first place?

Visual preview of your search results

Girafa is a great free add-on to Internet Explorer that can be used to enhance your regular search engine.

Girafa shows you thumbnail images of your search results displayed together with the text search results provided by the search engine. I found that it helps to identify relevant links and eliminate entries that are the same, unwanted web sites and dead links. This can save you time and make your web searching more efficient and more fun!

You can download it on the Girafa Website.

Spybot: Removes some spyware

Search and Destroy by Spybot is a free service for removing many pesky spyware programs and cookies. I've found that I get a performance boost by keeping my computer clean.


Curtis

A great set of articles about search engines.

Visit ClickZ's articles.

Thumbshots ranking

Google vs. Yahoo vs. Wisenut vs. Alltheweb vs. msn vs. teoma rankings- a visual display.

Google Bans Gmail Account Profiteering

I read an interesting article about Google’s Gmail that I would like to share:
It seems that the large demand for Gmail accounts has inspired many “entrepreneurs.” Online auction site eBay has as many as 2,000 listings for Gmail invitations for sale, asking as much as $40 for 10 accounts.

Therefore, Google has changed its Gmail membership policy and bans selling, trading or transferring Gmail free email accounts "for any unauthorized commercial purpose." It also bars people from setting up multiple accounts in violation of the policy.

You can read more here

Origin of Google name!!!

We all talk about google and I will explain where it came from.

"In case you aren't familiar with the concept, a googol is a mathematical unit equal to a one followed by 100 zeroes--not an easy number to grasp. The American mathematician Edward Kasner invented the googol in 1938. According to Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the phrase "googol" was coined when Kasner asked his nephew Milton Sirotta, who was then 8 years old, what name he would give to a really large number, and "googol" was Milton's response. Google's name, which is derived from the term googol, reflects the immense amount of information available on the web." -- Forbes.com article

Our library has a search engine page.

Here it is.

Computers and Education

It seems that a classroom without a computer is a classroom neglecting an important part of education. This article brings up the issue of computer use in classrooms. Because computers have become such an important part of our life and our education they seem a logical thing to use and teach in school. It seems that computers have made some tasks so easy children are neglecting some basic steps in education.

Tired of Pop Ups?

I know everyone is sick and tired of pop-ups. As we all know that their are a myriad of places togo on the web to download.
Here is a place to consider:
http://www.webroot.com/wb/products/popupwasher/index.php
Webroot, a privately held company based in Boulder, Colorado, that creates innovative privacy, protection and performance solutions for Internet users. Founded in 1997, the company provides a suite of high-quality, easy-to-use software that guides and empowers customers as they surf the Web, giving them peace of mind that their personal information is private and protected.

Technology Preview at the Revamped MSN Search

Along with the surprisingly similiar new search page like Google, MSN today also quietly released a preview of it's new search engine technology.

http://techpreview.search.msn.com/

Check it out!

Microsoft revamps search site at MSN

Microsoft's MSN division released a new Web-search page yesterday. The new page is simple and free of advertisements (looks a lot like Google). "MSN said the move is the first step in a new Web-search effort at the company, which is designed to culminate next year when Microsoft releases its own search engine." There was an interesting article in the Seattle times if you would like to find out more information.

The Semantic Web

In the article “Semantic Web” published in Scientific American, Tim Berners-Lee describes a new form of web content that will revolutionize the internet. It fact, the web could become an online course for all the knowledge humanity has created in science, art and more. Computers can skillfully render webpages for layout or regular processing but they usually cannot process the semantics. What the semantic web will do, is create a structure to the meaningful web content. The article describes the future use of software agents. For example, someone would be able to send an agent to a clinic website in order to set an appointment. Searches on the web will also be modified. It will be possible to perform searches on the net using ordinary languages. The semantic web names every concept by a URI, allowing anyone to express news concepts easily. By unifying logical language, these concepts can be linked to a universal web.