Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google. Show all posts

14 June 2009

Compare and Contrast: Bing v Google



Today is Flag Day, above, Bing.com, Microsoft's rebranding of their "decision engine", and below Google.com. If you hover over key areas on Bing, you get little factoids related to the photo and Flag Day. As a reminder as to how Google treats Old Glory, let me point you back to May 7th's Daily Photo.



I'm liking Bing more and more (also, it does actually work much better for certain kinds of searches, and certainly no worse on all the others, so turns out MSFT is actually LESS evil than the company that professes to "Do No Evil")

Maybe Sergey is right to worry (via Drudge).

And sorry Yahoo, Ask, Cuil, and the others, you just don't matter enough to even bother checking.

07 June 2009

It's Still a Good Idea, No Matter Who Thought of It First . . .

That idea, splitting up California, who thought of it first, not me, though when I first brought it up I was unaware that The Cranky Geek himself, John C. Dvorak, had posted his thoughts well in advance of my own immodest attempt to divvy up California's people, geography, and wondrous bounty.

It came to my attention cause I was checking out the effects of the recent Trollcats related Althouse-aided Instalanche (over 4000 new visits in one day), and notice a smaller wave of search hits to my old proposal on dividing California. When I googled "dividing California", my post was still tops, but Dvorak's recent repost of his old post was driving people to google, and I guess a few hundred folks decided to check out my proposal as well.

Thanks for the hits Mr. Dvorak, even if it hadn't been intentional, still appreciate it. I enjoy your wit and wisdom whenever you do your thing on This Week in Tech.

Now, I have some meat to baste...

28 May 2009

Are They Going to Get Matthew Perry For Their Commercials, Or Will They Go the Ghoulish Route and Create Mash-Ups Using Old Bing Crosby Clips?

Bing, from Microsoft, something new, something getting talked about at the moment, they're calling it a 'decision engine' rather than a 'search engine'.

Don't think Microsoft expects Bing to replace Google, but could augment their Live brand and make LiveSearch more attractive to advertisers. In Scoble's friendfeed I see mentioned that the name might be a recursive acronym (in this case, "Bing Is Not Google").

Don't know what they'll have to offer to get most people to break their Google habit, competition is almost always good, though, so might be worth checking out.

And count me in the use Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing (even though I hate Friends) over Zombie Bing Crosby if they go the celebrity route for ads. Stuff like that Audrey Hepburn Gap campaign really piss me off.

16 April 2007

Cable Channel, and or DTV Secondary Channel That I'd Love to See

Inspired by this Althouse post (which was in turn inspired by my comment at a different post, blogging is so incestuous)

Cable providers and DTV Public Broadcasting System stations should be required to carry one channel that has every moment of CSpan coverage involving their local Congressfolk (both Senate and Congressional variety). Every speech in front of an empty chamber, every rambling moment in front of a committee. Chop it up, so it's just the local Congressfolk (or Congresscritter if you prefer) windbagging away.

It would be the best anti-incumbent measure ever devised.

For example, there's Sen. Byrd, as punishment for electing him once again, all citizens of West Virginia should be forced to view at least 2 hours of his 'greatest hits' each week. It would be their pennance for electing and re-electing their potentate of pork.

I bet if folks watched my local critter, Rep. Henry Waxman might face a real primary challenger for a change. CSpan could facilitate this adopting a YouTube like interface where each hearing has 'tags' coupled with bloggingheads style dings so you can specify exact moments, that way creating these compilations would be a snap, or even automated through an RSS feed.

Of course, the incumbents don't want to make it too easy to watch them make their saussage, it might make them ex-incumbents sooner than they'd like.

If Google is so committed to being mostly not-evil as they claim, they should donate the engineers, time, server capacity, and expertise to CSpan and make this happen as soon as possible.

They've got billions, they can afford to waste a few million on helping us become better watchdogs on our government.

31 January 2007

"Fidel Castro, Strength to Win Battles"

That's the lead top story on Google's news feed. The report is taken directly from a Prensa Latina, a fully controlled by the state organ of the Cuban dictatorship.

Given the tone of the piece, I suspect that the "Maximum Leader" will expire before the Ides of March (though lacking any stab wounds like a previous dictator who died on the Ides, unfortunately).

The more the Cuban propaganda machine reminds their people of how glorious their revolution has been, the more you can be sure that things are falling apart even more rapidly than before.

My prediction and suspicion for this mess is that Hugo Chavez is negotiating a deal that would put him in charge of Cuba as well as Venezuela, thus legitimizing in his own sick twisted mind his belief in himself that he's a neo-Bolivar.

Raul Castro is weak, Venezuela has oil wealth (even though they mismanage it terribly, Chavez still has access to cash, which the various generalisimos and would be Castro, Jrs. in Cuba don't), and Cuba needs a patron to survive given their half century destruction at the hands of their dictator.

Of course, all they have to do is overthrow this dictator, and any dictator that might want to replace them, and embrace the United States, the Cuban exile community and corporate development and they'll be the most prosperous country in the region.

But that would make too much sense.

And I seriously doubt that Google would ever foist a press release from the Bush Administration as a 'news story', I am beyond disgusted that they think nothing of doing such a service for a vile, murderous and evil dictator like Fidel.

06 October 2006

YouTube Blowout

In honor of the possible sale of YouTube to Google (news via Instapundit), I thought I'd post some YouTube goodness.



First up, Cheap Trick, just because (I Want You to Want Me).



Second, some randomness from Japan (with English Subtitles), Hard Gay in a Ramen Shop style (requires age verification, nothing explicit though)



Thirdly, Stride piano at its best, Fats Walller was a great one. Some clowning, verging on minstrelsy in this clip, but entertaining nevertheless.



Finally, Kat Dennings posted a new video this week! Woohoo! Almost ten minutes of Kat and Friend (and the friend isn't a Gumby doll this time). Good times, good times.