Google Page Rank Reappears
Published by Picturesque on Tuesday, May 31, 2005 at 6:56 PM.
For those of you who can't live without PageRank....it's back. According to GoogleGuy, it was just an upgrade of the infrastructure. Damn. So many of us were hoping it was gone for good.
Yahoo! Mindset. Sort the Way You Want
Published by Picturesque on Monday, May 30, 2005 at 10:56 AM.
A new Beta tool from Yahoo! let's you slide a lever to select an emphasis on commercial sites or informational sites. Visit Yahoo! Mindset and try a search that typically brings up too many products for sale. Now slide the lever to receive informational sites and watch the difference. This is a great tool for searches who have a difficult time phrasing searches to eliminate commercial sites. Concerned about people not being able to visit your site because of such a tool? Create an informational site with links to your product site. (Advice I've been giving for years.)
Google Page Rank Still Inactive
Published by Picturesque on at 10:52 AM.
It's been since May 27 that the Google toolbar PageRank feature has been grayed out. Is this the end of this wretched tool? One can only hope. If you have the Google toolbar installed, you'll notice the PageRank bar inactive. These numbers have been wrong for so long, it's about time they disabled it until it is fixed or gone.
Ask Jeeves Memorial Day Observance
Published by Picturesque on at 10:47 AM.
AskJeeves has a picture of Jeeves blowing a trumpet today (Memorial Day). Clicking on this picture takes you to their search for Memorial Day.
Meanwhile, Google has no such celebratory logo as they typically do for holidays. Is this a politial statement or are they just too busy with their PR campaigns? Rather disappointing that they don't celebrate a holiday remember those who have fought for principles such as free speech. Of course those who are familar with Google's filtering practices in China will remember that free speech is not a priority at Google.
Meanwhile, Google has no such celebratory logo as they typically do for holidays. Is this a politial statement or are they just too busy with their PR campaigns? Rather disappointing that they don't celebrate a holiday remember those who have fought for principles such as free speech. Of course those who are familar with Google's filtering practices in China will remember that free speech is not a priority at Google.
Google Factory Tour
Published by Picturesque on at 10:42 AM.
Ok, Google really doesn't have a factory like you commonly think of when you hear factory tour, but this presentation will allow you to see and hear all the hype that Google presents. Learn about new tools and what is planned for the future at Google Press Center: Factory Tour
Google Print is Live
Published by Picturesque on at 10:29 AM.
The Google Print service has been released into the wild. Full text of public domain books and exerpts from other books can be searched at Google Print. Naturally there are links to buy books online as well as visit the publisher's web site. However, for public domain books you can visit Project Gutenberg and download a scanned version of complete orginal books including illustrations as well as a standard typed text of the book for free.
Ask Jeeves Has New Search Tools
Published by Picturesque on Friday, May 27, 2005 at 9:09 AM.
Ask Jeeves has introduced two new features that help users narrow their search queries in order to provide more relevant results. Called Zoom and Web Answers, these tools can also be used to help determine key phrases for pay per click advertising and other word research.
The Zoom feature allows users to zoom in to more specific search phrases and zoom out for more general searches. Web Answers is a new face to the popular ask a question format that has kept Ask Jeeves a popular alternative search engine. Check out the new tools at http://www.ask.com.
For more information, visit Ask Jeeves Investor Relations
The Zoom feature allows users to zoom in to more specific search phrases and zoom out for more general searches. Web Answers is a new face to the popular ask a question format that has kept Ask Jeeves a popular alternative search engine. Check out the new tools at http://www.ask.com.
For more information, visit Ask Jeeves Investor Relations
New Netscape Browser - version 8
Published by Picturesque on Wednesday, May 25, 2005 at 7:41 AM.
Being touted as better than Firefox and incorporation features from IE and Mozilla, the new Netscape browser is causing quite a stir in the browser world. Some features are still clunky and need to be reworked and a security patch has already been released (making use worry about the quality of testing). Despite these shortcomings, people are downloading, installing and liking it so much, they are making it their default browser. Read more at Netscape Browser
Google Labs Introduces Personalize Your Homepage
Published by Picturesque on at 7:35 AM.
Very late to this technology, Google has introduced a beta tool in their lab where you can customize a Google page to your likings. Included are a number of other web services pulling together a number of information sources. Check it out at the Google Labs
Microsoft Introduces MSN Virtual Earth
Published by Picturesque on at 7:31 AM.
Areal maps is the new toy that Microsoft has announced it will be releasing as part of their MSN search services. True to the recent trend in localized searching by all the big search boys, MSN will include an overlay on the maps of nearby businesses, schools, attractions, etc. Touting the service as useful for potential movers to check traffic, weather and local, it could also be quite useful for travelers by showing hotels and area events. Google offers a similar service called Google Maps. To learn more about MSN Virtual Earth, click here ---> News from PC Magazine: Microsoft Intros MSN Virtual Earth
Google Web Accelerator considered overzealous
Published by Picturesque on Tuesday, May 10, 2005 at 3:53 PM.
Google has released a new tool that, on the surface, looks great. It makes your DSL connection faster. Yea, right. The only thing this tool does is scour the web in advance serving up old pages when you use it. Not a good thing for news and other sites that are constantly being updated. If you want to see old content, be my guest.
Other issues include ransacking a website by clicking on ALL links, storing password protected pages including sensitive data, and deleting files and data despite warnings from javascript. Definitely not ready to have been released, this tool needs to be fixed or pulled asap. Read more at O'Reilly Radar > Google Web Accelerator considered overzealous
Other issues include ransacking a website by clicking on ALL links, storing password protected pages including sensitive data, and deleting files and data despite warnings from javascript. Definitely not ready to have been released, this tool needs to be fixed or pulled asap. Read more at O'Reilly Radar > Google Web Accelerator considered overzealous
Yahoo! Video Search Out of Beta
Published by Picturesque on Monday, May 09, 2005 at 1:32 PM.
Yahoo! has done something uncommon to other search engines.... they actually release something from Beta! The video search allows to you locate short video clips of news events, informational material, and other clips made available from various sources. Try your search at Yahoo! Search - Video Search
