New Web Search Technology and Mashups

During Wednesday presentations I really got excited by two very new technologies emerging in the field of web search technology and web design capability. Being of rational minded engineering stock, I find that search capabilities of Vivisimo extremely organized and beneficial beyond any of the current search offerings. The clusting search results are extremely efficient and can eliminate needless review of unrelated web sites. Hopefully with larger corporate adoption the software will be readily available to cusumers such as the free offering of Opera.

Mashups appear to be the glue that will hold all of the latest and greatest web offerings together. Finally the ability to combine many of your favorite web sites feature into one package. The basic example of combining google maps with your favorite dive sites is extremely refreshing. Now how about combining the search capabilites of bizrate your favorite shopping site, for me Newegg.

Bring on these new technologies. I can't get wait to get my hands on them!

Implications of the Automated Walmart

Understandably and automated Walmart would truely miss its current masses, but what if it were applied to other companies or if Walmart opened up automated stores under a new name in high traffic markets? Obviously automation is about saving money and eliminating un-needed processes. How about eliminating those non-benefitial jobs? Well that's exactly what an automated store proposes. For me I have a hard time the facing reality of future shopping experiences at noname store 101 and interaction with lifelike Androids, but it's coming. Check out out the blog on MIT Advertising Lab about Korea unveiling Own Android.

Be it Walmart or Target, automated shopping is here. Just check out this site featuring some of the vending machines in Japan. Another cool thing being introduced into convenience stores in Japan is their ability to offer services and goods uncommon in normal stores. These stores offer customers the ability to pay utility bills, have automated tellers, and even mailboxes. For automation of consumer stores in the US, offering other services may prove to be the niche needed to aid in early adoption.

Google's Red Dilemma

Following our class discussion and exercise about how Google is faced with a major branding problem, I began to think about what other problems Google is facing or will face in the future. In one hand they are a search company and in the other they are an applications provider. In my search to find what ails this giant, I remembered the dilemma they faced in China.

Let's face it Google is in the business to make money and China's population supports their vision. As China progresses into the 21st Century their society has a desire for better information. Herein lies the problem: China's government is censoring the data. Should Google have gone into China? This is where the debate begins. In fact one of Google's philosophies is "Democracy works on the Web." This does not seem to be appropriate in a communist country. However, it should be noted that Google has struck a deal that would allow them to disclose if the information being retrieved was altered or omitted. Ultimately, by working with the Chinese government Google has positioned themselves to be a sole source provider of search services with Government backing. In the future users can acknowledge their commitment and continue to advertise with a reputable service provider.

For further reading check out:
Security Dilemmas: China,Google, and Censorship
Google and My Red Flag

I especially like the Google and My Red Flag article as it seems to be the model many companies should follow when trying to negotiate dealings in China.

History of the Search Engine

Following the discussion on Monday about recent trends on the internet and about how search engines work, I began to think fondly of my early years in undergrad using my first computer. At that time I was using word perfect, works, lotus 1-2-3, and a great little well know search engine called AltaVista. Check it out, it still works great! I couldn't quite remember its exact layout so I checked it out on the Wayback Machine. Amazingly, they were/are the pioneers of Google's success. They started out with a very simple design, not all that uncommon from Google, then progressed to a Yahoo/MSN clone, then back to thier current form, Google clone. However, it should be noted, they are more like they were originally and that's what Google had capitalized on.

I found a great site on the history of search engines and how it all began. Apparently, AltaVista was the first site to use natural language inquiries. Maybe that was why I like it so much, I'd just started using a computer besides playing SimCity :)

Side Topic: Check out the video used to recruit MBA's to work at Phillip Morris in 1995.

Quality of the Web

When doing research on the web it becomes apparent that the quality of web site information degrades exponentially with the emergence of an increased amount of traffic on the internet. Virtually everyone in the United States has access to post information on the web, via blogs, forums, newsgroups etc... and many have not followed standard conventions. Therefore, I began to search for ways that I could filter through pages to find quality information. In doing so, I was also able to find a few sites to help web designers qualify their own work, so that it follows a given set of standars. The following is a list of resources I found to help assure quality web sites and tools that can help to design more effectively (descriptions are from the web sites):

1. Web Standards Project
• Founded in 1998, The Web Standards Project (WaSP) fights for standards that reduce the cost and complexity of development while increasing the accessibility and long-term viability of any site published on the Web. We work with browser companies, authoring tool makers, and our peers to deliver the true power of standards to this medium.
2. Watchfire WebXACT
• WebXACT is a verification tool that scans your web page, checking for a variety of issues, including quality, privacy, and accessibility.
  
3. Web Quality Assurance Tutorial
• In this tutorial you will learn how to build your web site to the highest quality.
• Learn to use the latest web standards.
• Learn how to make your web site more accessible and more readable.
4. W3C QA - How to achieve Web Standards and quality on your Web site?
• Here you will find easy, painless techniques and ideas to improve your Web site quality and make your Web site valid. This document is intended for HTML users, developers working on Web applications, and Web masters.
• Most of the Web sites on the Web are not valid. We may assume that this is the case for 99% of the Web pages, but there are no statistics to support this. It would be interesting to run a survey to prove that this case is indeed true.
5. Judging Quality on the Web (article from UCLA)
• Even after refining a query in a search engine, a researcher often retrieves a huge number of Web sites. It is essential to know how to evaluate Web sites for the same reasons you would evaluate a periodical article or a book: to ascertain whether you can rely on the information, to identify its inherent biases or limitations, and to see how or whether it fits into your overall research strategy.
6. eValid-Web Quality News

Now that I have presented some of the resources I found, will I actually use them? Time will tell, but if anyone has used any of these sites, drop me a line with your take. Good luck in your ventures!

Side note:
Check out this cool site on Leonardo da Vinci's Machine Collection

Importance of Archived Web Sites

After my exploration of Arhcive.org I took a ride on the Wayback Machine to look at a few sites. The following is a list of the sites I looked at or attempted to:

1. IsoNews
• For anyone that doesn't know what isonews was; It was essentially a news, discussion forum, and ranking site for the release of pirated software, games, and console CD's and DVD's. The site was intended to be a one stop source to see what groups had released for distribution via. p2p, etc... and to discuss the releases.
• Unlike many of the warez sites that provided links or direct access to pirated files, this site was solely informative and kept a pulse on the underground scene.
• It was interesting to look at the first archived page, shortly after it launched in Dec. '98 then to the demise of the site on March 19, 2003 when the Department of Justice took over the site and domain to push cybercrime laws and information following the prosecution of the founder Krazy8 for selling console "mod" chips.
  
2. Wall Street Journal
• Interestingly the news paper requested archive.org to not collect the web pages using a robots.txt file.
  
3. Washington Post
• Interestingly the news paper requested archive.org to not collect the web pages using a robots.txt file.
  
4. Seattle PI
• I looked at their first archived web site and on the top of the headlines was the Enron debacle and how politicians who had received money before the scandal and bankruptcy were trying to figure out what to do with the money.
5. Google
• Started off with their first site archived on Dec. 2, 1998 and saw that they actually had columns on their page with links to other searches: Stanford Search and Linux Search.
• Then I looked at their Dec. 4, 2001 site, which progressed to a rough form of their current format. Essentially, they only real change they made from that time is they changed it from looking like a tabbed browser at the top to links and changed directory to more.

After reviewing these sites, I have identified several benefits to having access to archived sites. I will use IsoNews, Seattle PI, and Google as my talking points.

1. Having access to Archived site versions allows individuals, agencies, etc... to research the past, review trends, and data mine.
   
• In the case of IsoNews, the Department of Justice cybercrimes division was able to review the activities of active members of the website. Essentially, this allowed them to target specific individuals and dig up a much unscrupulous information they could obtain.
• In doing so, the DOJ was able to target Krazy8 and find out what else he was up to. Although not directly sold on the website, Krazy8 was involved in selling mod chips for consoles and by his affiliation with IsoNews he targeted himself.
• On the flipside, I could argue that having access to archived websites, the DOJ could have targeted individuals unwarranted. Many of these individuals are just enthusiasts and like to see what is coming out soon. Most of the time, these individuals are more interested in what has gone gold and when they can pick it up at ebgames, compusa, etc...
2. Having access to archived web sites allows you to see what happened during a particular day or period of time without the need to do extensive research in library stacks and the such.
• For example by looking at the Seattle PI, I was able to see what was going on in Washington at a specific point in time. Moreso, it allows me to review what they were reporting versus other local and national publications.
• For a publication such as the Seattle PI, access to their archived websites also provides readers with the ability to find past columnists that may have moved on and access to their archived writings.
3. Having access to archived web sites allows a company to benchmark their own performance versus their competitors performance.
• In the case of Google and thier competition, they can study the web site design transitions over time and make inferrences about the overall impact of the design changes.
• Furthermore, having access to these websites allows newcomers to understand this progression and revisit the benefits and detriments of each design impass.
• Obviously Google was able to determine in 2001 a format that has appeared to work well for their business model. By having access to the archived sites, other companies can view Google's traffic history and study the impact of such changes in the design and layout of their sites.
  

As a side note, I found a few interesting sites on the archive.org being sued article and how the DMCA needs to define legalities of archive sites:

• The Patry Copyright Blog
• Wayback DMCA Violations. The Importance of...
  

Archive.org Rox!

First off I’d have to say that archive.org is incredible. I’ve never used the site, but I can see myself loosing countless hours of my life exploring the movies, live music archive, audio, and numerous texts. There are limitless possibilities for the usefulness of the data on the site.

If you get a chance check out George A. Romero's cult classic Night of the Living Dead (circa. 1968).

-or-

Check out Louis J. Gasnier's unforgettable propaganda movie made to curb marijauna usage, Reefer Madness (circa. 1938).

Both Films are available in various formats that can be played on your portable video device, pc, or home dvd player.