adamjonfuller [ Insider ]

This is the last post I will be making from this blog. adamjonfuller [ Insider ] has a new home at http://blog.fullerdesignco.com/. Please update you bookmarks and come visit me there where I will continue to write for as long as my finger allow!

Yet again, another ridicules app was been released on the iPhone. This time it was pulled as fast as it appeared. “Armin Heinrich – I Am Rich” which dose nothing other then display a red gemstone on your screen. The only purpose is to remind you and others that you have enough money to waste on this senseless app. Apple has to approve the apps that show up in the store, and I figure they were thinking, ‘we will get a nice percent of profit of this app’. The best part about this app is that is costs ONLY $999.99! If it were still in the app store, I would buy it in a heartbeat…NOT!

It seems like these days competitors to Google are coming out of the woodwork. Awhile back, I introduced PowerSet, who is now a property of Microsoft. PowerSet is bringing back the concept of synaptic search, while a new search engine, Viewzi is focusing on a new concept. Viewzi brings search to a new light with different views.

While PowerSet and Viewzi are good search alternatives to Google, so is Ask, Live search, Yahoo! and AltaVista… The one who I think may ultimately pose a threat to the Google giant is a new search called Cuil (pronounced cool). Cuil boasts a page index in the billions while Google is in the millions. This may just be hot air; however, Cuil searches by page contextual relevance. While PowerSet is a synaptic search, Cuil is searching the page content. What makes this so different from Google is page rank. Think of those days back in gym class, it was a popularity contest when it came to choosing teams. This is similar to how Google ranks its pages, the more links, the more popular, the higher in the search results.

Cuil has it easer than PowerSet. Synaptic search is a complicated task, while searching the contents of the page are much easer. The other Thing that makes Cuil a viable alternative to Google is who developed it, Tom Costello, a Stanford professor and Anna Patterson, Google’s search developer. The one think that I wonder about all of this, is why hasn’t anyone come up with this alternative sooner?

With the failure of the Yahoo acquisition, Microsoft is at it again. This time they managed to by the search engine Powerset for $100 million. I introduced Powerset several weeks ago as a possible future competitor to Google (Is Google in trouble?). With the power of Microsoft backing them, Google may very well have a run for there money. Google on the other hand scuffed the idea of semantic search, saying that there was no future for it. I still believe that a natural language semantic search is the way of the future. Only the suture will tell.

Back in March, Google completed its acquisition of DoubleClick. What dose this mean for us? I do not think this is good for consumers. The holy grail of the internet age is user-targeted ads, so why would this be bad you may ask? Simple, our privacy is out the window, not only will Google see what we are searching for, and what our interests are; they will also see pages we go to outside of Google. Many web sites have advertising that is provided by DoubleClick (Banner Ad’s). Google can see what users all over the world are going to on the web, even if you do not use them to search. If you ask me this is scary and dangerous behavior for one company to be doing! Monopoly!

In a world of mergers and acquisitions, one has to ask, have we gone to far? Recently Microsoft tired to buy Yahoo! but was unsuccessfully. What would a company like this be called? I have an idea for them if it ever comes back to the tables (witch I think it will). Presenting Microhoo!

There was another big possible acquisition that I have to ask, “why?” about. I present to you CBS|net. I know that this one is not as bad as Microhoo, but still… CBS Corporation wants to by Cnet.com.

And last but not least we have my personal favorite of the night, Circuit Buster. It has a nice ring to it (I think) and the marketing department would be fools not to use it! I mean, really, a dyeing company like Blockbuster buying a dead company like Circuit City. What are they thinking? I hope that this one doesn’t go through!

Well there you have it, an all in one deal, we have the future of computer software, television and retail. There isn’t much else out there. What is this world coming to?

There is a new search engine out there, which if it gets big could spell trouble for Google. Powerset is a “natural language” search engine, which means it knows the meaning of a page, so you can search in the form of a question. While search engines such as Ask clime to do this, they actually index pages by key words. If you were to ask the question, “What is Henry the 8^th’s birthday?” Google would search for the key words Henry and birthday. Powerset on the other hand, knows that you want to know the birthday of Henry the 8^th and displays a quick answer. Another great feature of Powerset is that it displays the indexed page from there search engine. What this dose is give them control of more feature such as an outline of the contents of the page. In side-by-side comparisons of Powerset and Google, Powerset has a slight lead. There is a down side to Powerset, it is in testing, and only searches Wikipedia. Therefore, if you are doing a research project and are using the internet Powerset may be the way to go. I hope this “natural language” idea catches on and Google adapts it. It could only make surfing the internet that much easier! For more check out http://powerset.com

There is a new, fast growing network of there, but it twitter getting to big? With thousands of followers, radio hosts and pollutions are reaching vast audiences. My question is if there are thousands, is it getting too much like a cult? Twitter is a tool that could be used for good, as well as bad and that concerns me. There is a website out there that gives a glimpse at what twitter is all about. http://twistori.com is a good resource to grudge the content of twitter. It is something you will just have to check it out for your self!

Update: I am now on Twitter, adamjonfuller!