I was stumbling and I found this interesting book search page – isbndb.com.
ISBNdb.com project is a database of books in different languages providing on-line and remote research tools for individuals, librarians, scientists, etc. Taking data from hundreds of libraries across the world ISBNdb is a unique tool you won’t find anywhere else.
It’s pretty handy. I did a search and it showed me libraries that had the book and where to buy the book.
Ego searching just got easier with egoSurf. Enter your name and blog address and egoSurf searches Google for links to your blog. I got 3641 Ego Points – what’s your score?
I just got my newest issue of PC Magazine {February 7, 2006 – Vol 25 – No. 2} and thought that John Dvorak’s column entitled Much Ado over Google Book Search {page 66} (which I can’t find an online link to – yet) was very interesting.
Let me start by saying that this man is on of those writers who can really get under my skin – which doesn’t mean I don’t like his writing style – it means he knows how to write to catch his reader’s attention – my husband uses the term “button pusher”.
That said – Dvorak thinks that all of the fuss over Google Book Search is “idiotic and naíve”. Which I can agree with in part – although I’d never use those words. As I’ve said before I see why publishers may be upset about this initiative and I see how there can be pitfalls due to the fact that there may be newer – more accurate – versions of some research titles out there that aren’t being scanned due to copyright – but I love the idea of Google Book Search and wish it had been around when I was in college.
Dvorak points out that using this new database you can find great quotations – which was something I had never thought of before. He also thinks this new search is not a threat to publishers or writers and that it is, in fact, going to “enlarge the fortunes of the publishing industry and writers alike”.
Overall a very interesting read – if I find a link in the near future I’ll be sure to share it with you all.
Back in October I subscribed to the Google Librarian Newsletter and the first issue has just arrived.
This first issue is one article from a software engineer at Google, but Google promises that it won’t always be that way:
But this newsletter wouldn’t be much of a conversation if it were written solely by folks at Google. Future issues will feature articles contributed by librarians and library supporters, links to library-related web sites, and updates on Google products and services that can help you in your work.
This article – while useful for those who are unfamiliar with the web – wasn’t much help to me. It talked about how Google decides which results are the most relevant.
There are some fun exercises for teachers to give their students – which is who this article seems to be geared – students and teachers – not librarians.
Opinmind is a blog search engine with an interesting twist … it lets you compare opinions. So if you search Microsoft vs. Linux you can see negative & positive blog posts on opposite sides of the screen. Sounds interesting – but for me I’ll stick to Technorati.
Strategic Board is a search engine I just learned about. It’s tagline reads “Search the IT Blogosphere” .. sounds interesting, I think I’ll keep an eye on it.
I posted a few days about about Google wanting to rule the world … apparently my joke was not unfounded.
Wired Magazine had an article titled Who's Afraid of Google? Everyone that addresses some of the areas in which Google is expanding, such as video, classifieds, telecoms, operating systems, print, productivity programs and ecommerce. What catches your eye in that list? “Operating systms” is what interested me … especially when the article says
If anyone can fulfill the dream of turning the Internet into the operating system, it's Google
Turning the Internet into an operating system? How would that work? Does this mean that we'd have to depend on our connection to the Internet to be strong enough for us to compose documents & spreadsheets? Doesn't sound promising, but I'd love to hear more about it.
A blind study is being run by WebmasterBrain to see which search engine provides the most relevant results … I ended up picking MSN for my search, but apparently Google is in the lead. Read about the study & participate here.
Sometimes it seems that way. I love Google, and I love the services they're providing, but sometimes it seems like they're trying to take over everything.
Today I read an excerpt from “The Google Story” which details a project between Craig Venter (who's working on the human genome project) and Google. Do you see where this going?
Excert from the Washington Post [note: you may have to register]:
Sergey Brin and Larry Page have ambitious long-term plans for Google's expansion into the fields of biology and genetics through the fusion of science, medicine, and technology. . . .One of the most exciting Google projects involves biological and genetic research that could foster important medical and scientific breakthroughs. Through this effort, Google may help accelerate the era of personalized medicine, in which understanding an individual's precise genetic makeup can contribute to the ability of physicians and counselors to tailor health care treatment, rather than dispensing medications or recommending treatments based on statistics or averages.
“We need to use the largest computers in the world,” Venter said. “Larry and Sergey have been excited about our work and about giving us access to their computers and their algorithm guys and scientists to improve the process of analyzing data. It shows the broadness of their thinking. Genetic information is going to be the leading edge of information that is going to change the world. Working with Google, we are trying to generate a gene catalogue to characterize all the genes on the planet and understand their evolutionary development. Geneticists have wanted to do this for generations.”
Over time, Venter said, Google will build up a genetic database, analyze it, and find meaningful correlations for individuals and populations. . . . Google's data-mining techniques appear well-suited to the formidable challenges posed by analyzing the genetic sequence. It has begun work on this project, but has not been required to disclose any information about it publicly since the work has no impact on its current revenue and profits.
“People will be able to log on to a Google site using search capacities and have the ability to understand things about themselves as they change in real time,” Venter said. “What does it mean to have this variation in genes? What else is known? And instead of having a few elitist scientists doing this and dictating to the world what it means, with Google it would be creating several million scientists.
“Google has empowered individuals to do searches and get information and have things in seconds at their fingertips,” he went on. “Where is that more important than understanding our own biology and its connection to disease and behavior? With Google, you will be able to get an understanding of your own genes. Google has the capacity to do all of this, and it is one of the discussions I have had with Larry and Sergey.”
Wow!
I have only one word on my mind … WOW!
I think I've seen this name around, Riya, but I can't remember where … today I found more information out by reading my TechCrunch feed. Riya is a facial recognition search engine … wait stay here … don't run out to test it (like I did mid article) … it's still in Alpha. I did however find some screenshots on TechCruch … this is way too cool.
Michael Arrington at TechCrunch writes:
I was presented with a view of facial thumbnails of everyone in my photos. Riya asks that you begin to educate it by telling it who the people are™it then very quickly starts to auto-tag pictures with a surprising level of accuracy.Riya also recognizes text in photos, and lets you select any area of a photo and tag that as well. For instance, you could select just the Eiffel Tower in a photo and tag it as such. Within moments, everything of importance in all of my photos was tagged. And more importantly, it was searchable.
On a side note, there are rumors floating around that Riya was just bought out by Google for something like $40 million!! Google's out to rule the world – but that's another post.
