Category: Random, But Interesting

Search Index Grammars

During the conversation yesterday I mentioned something that I've been meaning to talk to you all about – the idea of different "grammars" for search indexes. Last week I changed my default engine from Google to Yahoo for a while. Now, Yahoo has a very good engine, and I…

Choices

During the conversation yesterday I mentioned something that I’ve been meaning to talk to you all about – the idea of different “grammars” for search indexes. Last week I changed my default engine from Google to Yahoo for a while. Now, Yahoo has a very good engine, and I know its results are, by some objective measures, as good if not better than Google’s results. But what I did not realize, given how long I’ve defaulted to Google, how significant an “accent” Yahoo has compared to the idiom I was used to by using Google. In short, I’m very fluent in navigating through the mass of unstructured results that Google offers me after I enter my two or three word keyword phrase. But with Yahoo, I often find myself conversing in a foreign tongue. Not that the language is better or worse, just….different. Interesting….

8 Comments on Search Index Grammars

SIGN UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER

Stay up to date on the latest from BattelleMedia.com

Paul, I Agree

I know I give Google it's (fair) ration of crap from day to day, regardless of those of you who feel I'm a Google apologist. Well, you can't win both sides of that argument, all you can do is be honest to what comes to mind. Right? And when…

I know I give Google it’s (fair) ration of crap from day to day, regardless of those of you who feel I’m a Google apologist. Well, you can’t win both sides of that argument, all you can do is be honest to what comes to mind. Right?

And when I read this from Paul, I have to say, I quite agree.

2 Comments on Paul, I Agree

Updated: Goodness.

Sometimes, sounding arrogant isn't intentional. It's just in the bloodstream, or it's casually tossed off without thinking how it might sound. Read this excerpt from a very interesting Merc story on Google's internal communications regarding stock options: Google is proud of the innovative products it regularly releases to the…

Sometimes, sounding arrogant isn’t intentional. It’s just in the bloodstream, or it’s casually tossed off without thinking how it might sound. Read this excerpt from a very interesting Merc story on Google’s internal communications regarding stock options:

Google is proud of the innovative products it regularly releases to the public, from the ever-more-targeted Internet search results to an automatic Web-based airport-ride finder.

But the coolest stuff is often reserved for Google employees. And they’re about to get access to a killer tool, otherwise known as the “supersecret Google is about to buy Yahoo” alert.

Read More
4 Comments on Updated: Goodness.

Next Up for Big G: Web Conferencing

Matt has the news on the acquisition of Marratech's software, from the Google Blog: As a company, we thrive on casual interactions and spontaneous collaboration. So we're excited about acquiring Marratech's video conferencing software, which will enable from-the-desktop participation for Googlers in videoconference meetings wherever there's an Internet connection….

Marratech-1

Matt has the news on the acquisition of Marratech‘s software, from the Google Blog:

As a company, we thrive on casual interactions and spontaneous collaboration. So we’re excited about acquiring Marratech’s video conferencing software, which will enable from-the-desktop participation for Googlers in videoconference meetings wherever there’s an Internet connection.

We look forward to learning from the extraordinary ingenuity of Marratech’s engineers as they focus on desktop conferencing research and development in Sweden, where they will continue to be located.

Read More
3 Comments on Next Up for Big G: Web Conferencing

WHOPPER ACQUISITION CORP

I love it. Companies often create cute names for corporations they create to facilitate transactions. The one Google came up with for DoubleClick? "WHOPPER ACQUISITION CORP" Reviewing the merger agreement now……

Whopper

I love it. Companies often create cute names for corporations they create to facilitate transactions. The one Google came up with for DoubleClick?

“WHOPPER ACQUISITION CORP”

Reviewing the merger agreement now…

Leave a comment on WHOPPER ACQUISITION CORP

Query? Who Needs A Query?

Not us. Not with Google. SEL has a good overview of Google's news (referenced in the last post): Google is rolling out two features today that subtly but meaningfully enhance the level of personalization offered to anyone with a Google account. And while they're tied to your search behavior,…

Not us. Not with Google. SEL has a good overview of Google’s news (referenced in the last post):

Google is rolling out two features today that subtly but meaningfully enhance the level of personalization offered to anyone with a Google account. And while they’re tied to your search behavior, they don’t directly alter the standard search results you see, even if you’ve enabled personalization by searching while signed in to Google account.

The first feature allows you to add a “recommendations” tab to a Google personalized home page….The second feature is a new button for the Google Toolbar called “picks for you.” Clicking this button displays one of 50 new sites every day, chosen for you based on your search history and what others have searched for. Clicking the button successively displays each new pick in turn.

Read More
Leave a comment on Query? Who Needs A Query?

See, This Is the Strategy

Have something in the wings, in case you don't win the acquisition game. This case is small – StumbleUpon. But from sources I've talked to, Google had built an entire Doubleclick killer, in case it did not win there. Huh….

Have something in the wings, in case you don’t win the acquisition game. This case is small – StumbleUpon. But from sources I’ve talked to, Google had built an entire Doubleclick killer, in case it did not win there. Huh.

Leave a comment on See, This Is the Strategy

Well, That’s No Secret

Google phones by year's end. Wait, Eric, aren't you on Apple's board?!…

Google phones by year’s end. Wait, Eric, aren’t you on Apple’s board?!

Leave a comment on Well, That’s No Secret

Oh, Goody!

Today two books came in from Amazon. Both are written by Douglas Hofstadter. One is, of course, Godel, Escher, Bach, the classic which I read while a pup at Wired. I clearly read it stoned – it's time to read it sober. The other is his new book -…

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=johnbattelles-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0465030785&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr
Today two books came in from Amazon. Both are written by Douglas Hofstadter. One is, of course, Godel, Escher, Bach, the classic which I read while a pup at Wired. I clearly read it stoned – it’s time to read it sober. The other is his new book – I Am A Strange Loop. To get them, click on the image. I’m stoked. My posts might get a bit…stranger over the next few weeks…

1 Comment on Oh, Goody!