I came across an interesting search engine the other day which appears to be heading in a completely different direction to practically anything else available at present.As you probably know, search engines function by using crawlers that search the Internet endlessly picking up new and revised content and then cataloguing the whole lot neatly in a central database.When a user types in a phrase, the search engine refers to this database and, by using a number of algorithms, returns the sites that it feels most appropriate.

The relatively new search engine Mahalo (Hawaiian for ‘Thank-You’) puts a spin on proceedings by pitching itself as a human powered search engine.Of course this doesn’t mean that whenever you perform a search that humans immediately start searching the net for relevant material, but rather that contributors create their own results pages which are then returned when a specific search is performed.The idea verges … Read the rest

I do like innovative new ideas, especially if they come from an unlikely source such as Microsoft; despite being one of the largest and most successful companies on the planet, they do have a reputation for sticking to a tried and tested formula rather than risking money on groundbreaking new ideas.

It is especially pleasing therefore when Microsoft create something a little fresh and exciting so this week we will be looking at Microsoft Photosynth; although currently in its infancy I believe the technology could become quite special if it is allowed to mature.

To get started you should download a small file from http://www.bing.com/photosynth/ which will install both the environment creation software as well as a browser plug in that will allow you to view both your work and that of others online.The idea is that if you provide the application with a number of photos taken from different … Read the rest

I’m considering giving up my reviews of Internet browsers in the future; things are changing far too quickly to keep abreast of developments and it seems once I’ve got on top of things the entire playing field changes dramatically and I have to start again from scratch.Some might argue that I spend too much time on the subject of web browsers but due to the huge differences between them, along with the large amount of time the average user spends using one, I would have to disagree.

It was always surprising that given Googles’ prominence in the Search Engine market, they hadn’t created a browser of their own but rather chosen to focus their software on themes un-associated with their core business activity; Earth, Picasa and Sketchup to name just a few.At the beginning of last week however, completely out of the blue, they announced Google Chrome (www.google.com/chrome) … Read the rest