CommuniCrossings Software for Mobile Learning and Communication

Quotes

• "Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it." ~Samuel Johnson, 1775
  
  
• "Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant." ~Mitchell Kapor
  
  
• "[T]he index of a search engine can be thought of as analogous to the stars in [the] sky. What we see has never existed, as the light has traveled different distances to reach our eye. Similarly, Web pages referenced in an index were also explored at different dates and they may not exist any more." ~Ricardo Baeza-Yates and Berthier Ribeiro-Neto, 1999
  
  
• "We have compiled a list of nine proofs which definitively prove Google is the closest thing to a "god" human beings have ever directly experienced." ~The Church of Google: Omniscient; Omnipresent; Answers Prayers; Immortal; Infinite; Remembers All; Omnibenevolent; Prevalence; Evidence
  
  
• "Doing research on the Web is like using a library assembled piecemeal by pack rats and vandalized nightly." ~Roger Ebert
  
  
• "The Internet is the world's largest library. It's just that all the books are on the floor." ~John Allen Paulos
  
  
• "Most of us employ the Internet not to seek the best information, but rather to select information that confirms our prejudices." ~Nicholas D. Kristof, 2009
  
  
• "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." ~Pablo Picasso
  
  

Search Engines

search engines [HSW]: 1) web crawling (aka 'search bot'), 2) indexing, 3) search query
engine list: Altavista; Ask (Jeeves); Bing [HSW]; Excite; Google [HSW: intro, myths; 'god'?]; Lycos; Yahoo! [HSW: myths];
metasearch engine; Google Trends; web directory (list); location-based

book review: The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry) "We are not Google's customers. We are its product."
Blekko Blocks More “Spam” Domains: 1.1 Million Of Them
Yet Another Person Sues Google Because They Don't Like Pornographic Results When People Search On Their Name
Google Chases Computer Criminals to Search-Engine Competitors
China launches new state-run search engine (Panguso)
Google vs. Bing: The Fallacy Of The Superior Search Engine
Why Google Can’t Count Results Properly
A New Search Engine (Blekko), Where Less Is More
Jesus Does Not Know Why Your Moles Itch, But Google Does
Search is amazing compared to 10 years ago at AltaVista; Search Still Sucks
Ask.com to Return to Old Service
Just Because Google Exists Doesn’t Mean You Should Stop Asking People Things
Are Q&A startups a threat to Google?
Google: Bing Is Cheating, Copying Our Search Results
How Google Ambushed Microsoft and Changed the Subject
The Words We Searched in 2010, From Google
Bing, Now With Extra Facebook: See What Your Friends Like & People Search Results
Bing-Hoo Not Yet Gaining On Google, Hitwise Says
Bing and Google in a Race for Features
The human process behind Google's algorithm
Google Updates The Doodle Again; Points To Live-Updating Results
Google Speeds Queries With ‘Instant’ Results
Google search becomes psychic with dynamic results, predictions
As Google Gets Smarter, are We Getting Dumber?
Google's speed need: 'instantaneous Internet'
Digitizer in Chief: A Q&A with the White House Information Czar on Making the Government Transparent
The Future of Search is Mobile, Autonomous & Serendipitous, Says Google CEO
Radio talk-show host games Google Trends
When Google Wanted To Sell To Excite For Under $1 Million — And They Passed
HSW: Why is the Google algorithm so important?
HSW: Top 5 Google Killers -- That Didn't: Wikia Search, Cuil, Wolfram|Alpha, Bing, Twitter Search
LH: The Best Ways to Tweak Your Search When Google Doesn't Give You What You Want

Rankings, SEO

search engine optimization (SEO) [HSW]; META tags; link optimization
spamdexing (search engine spam); link farm; keyword stuffing article spinning; 'Google bomb'

The World’s Shortest (and Probably Most Controversial) Guide to SEO ("Create something that people will want to link to. Repeat")
Someday, the sun will set on SEO — and the business of news will be better for it
Seeking to Weed Out Drivel, Google Adjusts Search Engine (content farms (eHow; Answerbag); 'Personal Blocklist')
Testing Google's New Algorithm: It Really Is Better
6 Dirty SEO Tricks You Must Avoid: Cloaking Your Content; Acquiring Links from Brokers, Sellers or Exchanges; Duplicating Content; Keyword Stuffing; Banking on Negative Reviews; Automatic Queries
Google Penalizes Overstock for Search Tactics
Web Words That Lure the Readers (Huffington Post & SEO)
Google search and search engine spam
Rivals Say Google Plays Favorites: Displays Its Own Health, Shopping, Local Content Ahead of Links to Competing Sites
DecorMyEyes Merchant Vitaly Borker Arrested After NYT Piece On Google Rankings
A Bully (DecorMyEyes.com) Finds a Pulpit on the Web
Google Acts to Demote Distasteful Web Sellers
Search engine optimization 'poisoning' way up this year: report
The Dirty Little Secrets of Search ('black hat' optimization: JC Penney, BMW)
Dropbox CEO: Why search advertising failed us
Google Spam Fighter Weighs In On The “Death” Of SEO (Or Lack Thereof)
SEO Is Here To Stay, It Will Never Die

George W. Bush: A Failure Once Again, According To Google ('miserable failure')
Presidential Hopeful Rick Santorum Stymied By Search Problem ('anal sex')
Scientologists Google Bombed Or Not? ('dangerous cult')
Obama: Tops For “Who Is Failure” In Google ('who is failure')
Vatican Google-bombed over weekend ('pedofilo')

Taxonomies, Social, Natural Language, Question&Answer

folksonomy; collective intelligence; Metaweb; Semantic Web [HSW];
natural language search; question answering

5 assumptions about social searchNew ways to search the Web
Google face search to use social network photos
Using Human Effort to Make Semantic Search Useful
Google’s Putting Social Links on Your First Page of Search Results
Facebook, Google to Battle Over Smarter Web?
Google Images Reimagined
Search Takes a Social Turn
Tools To Find Relevant Web Information (My6Sense: 'digital intuition')
[Pew] The Future of Internet Search
The Future of Internet Search (Dyson); Google’s Earth (Gibson)
The Internet Needs a Dewey Decimal System
Asking and answering questions is the Web's next big thing (Quora; Formspring; Facebook Questions; Yahoo Answers; Metafilter)
The Answers Are Out There, and New Q. and A. Sites Dig Them Up

Watson, the Computer Jeopardy Champion, and the Future of Artificial Intelligence
Watson and the future of machine learning (conversations, not just answers)
N.J. Congressman (Rep. Rush Holt): 'I beat Watson'
MailTribune: Artificial intelligence: All it lacks is common sense, says AI expert and author Nils Nilsson; Natural Language and Question-Answering in The Quest for Artificial Intelligence: A History of Ideas and Achievements by Nils Nilsson
A Fight to Win the Future: Computers vs. Humans [Artificial Intelligence(AI) & Intelligence Augmentation(IA)]
If Search Engines Played Jeopardy, Which One Would Win?
Jeopardy, IBM, and Wolfram|Alpha
Wolfram Alpha [HSW]
A Computational Knowledge Engine on Your Site: Wolfram Alpha Launches Widget Builder
Aiming to Learn as We Do, a Machine Teaches Itself (semantics)

Qwiki Just May Be The Future Of Information Consumption
Web Search That Talks: Qwiki generates a slick video for any topic you search for

Google Shows off Voice Search in New Series of Videos
LH: Five Best Question and Answer Tools (Stack Exchange; Quora; Google; Wolfram Alpha; Aardvark)
LH: Top 10 Ways to Find Better Answers Online (that Aren't Google)

Misc. Issues: Filtering, Neutrality

link rot [HSW]; search neutrality
China to Build State-Run Search Engine
Search, but You May Not Find
Texas Probes Google on Ranking of Search Results
Texas Attorney General 'Investigating' Google, With Little Basis In Reality
Google suggests Texas search concerns originate with Microsoft
Most of us employ the Internet not to seek the best information, but rather to select information that confirms our prejudices.
The Business Of Burying Internet Search Results
Seventh Circuit: Plaintiff Unhappy With Search Results Can't Sue Yahoo!
Religious Search Engines Yield Tailored Results: Christian: seekfind, Jewish: jewogle, Muslim: imhalal
Usability Study Shows Kids Don’t Search bookmarks
Google Lets You Dumb Down Your Search Results With 'Reading Level' Filter
The Search For God Is Tough With Google Instant
The Definitive List of Words Google Thinks Are Naughty
French Courts Once Again Confused About Google Suggest; Blame Google For Suggested Searches

[updated: 10-Mar-2011] [.pdf]