Nick Miller talks to Rob Gabriel, who claims his search engine gives better results than Google.
GOOGLE is keeping a close eye on a small, suburban Melbourne start-up that claims to be developing a search engine that improves on the world leader.
MyLiveSearch, which plans to go live as a public beta in a few weeks, is the brainchild of self-taught software developer Rob Gabriel.
Mr Gabriel, 35, says his search engine gives better, more relevant results than the search king because it is a truly "live" search.
Google's search engine works by building a vast index of web pages, via automated "spiders" that crawl through billions of web pages a year. However this represents only a fraction of the enormous, sprawling internet, and the index can never be entirely up to date.
Yahoo! search and (despite its name) Microsoft's Live search work the same way.
MyLiveSearch is fundamentally different. It works through a small browser plug-in. The search terms are put through Google, or other indexed search databases, but those results are treated as "starting points" alongside the user's bookmarks and other popular web hubs.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Mylivesearch aims for beta to better
Windows Live FolderShare Beta - there is still hope
Looks like there is a ray of hope for those FolderShare users who've been out in the cold since Microsoft's acquisiton of ByteTaxi back at the end of the 2005. Apart from a partial rebrand to Windows Live, there hasn't been much to get exicted about, but that may be about to change.
A new FolderShare page on feedback.live.com and a public foldershare newsgroup with some activity shows that FolderShare is getting some attention internally, suggesting that it may be a questions of when, not if, there is a new beta build.
To recap:
"FolderShare is a Windows Live Service that allows people to share their files with their friends, family & co-workers, and synchronize files across multiple devices. People can also access their files from anywhere on the web."
So how does this compare to Microsoft's other known storage products?
- Windows Live FolderShare provides remote access to files via a web browser and also synching capabilities similar to that of Messenger's Shared Folders.
- Windows Live Folders is a cloud storage service, allowing you to store your files at a Microsoft datacenter thereby providing access to your files even if your home PC is turned off.
- Windows Home Server provides remote access to files via a web browser and mapped drive access if you are on the same network
You can try out FolderShare at www.foldershare.com.
'Mythos' Closed Beta Test Coming Soon
Mythos is an online, action RPG that is free to download and free to play, much like the NCSoft's recent Dungeon Runners. Flagship announced that they are preparing to launch a closed beta test, and dates will be announced soon. The beta test will include new character options, overland areas, lots of new quests, new monsters, new items, new town, all new interface screens and plenty more ...
Read More......
Google's latest rival, Megaglobe, goes live in beta
A new search engine, Megaglobe, that promises advertisers protection against click fraud has gone live in beta mode, with another novel feature: advertisers get credits every time they use Megaglobe to make a search.
Megaglobe was announced in January 2007 , with few details and a full year after the company announced its intentions with a much fuller press release which said: "Megaglobe will be Google's hottest competition in a long time, protecting its advertisers from fraudulent click-throughs on their sponsored spots."
Megaglobe claimed that "experts have estimated that click fraud accounts for as much as 30 percent of an online advertiser's expense," and that it would offer "a revolutionary zero percent click fraud rate for sponsored ads" enabling advertisers to verify clicks by comparing Megaglobe's online reporting with their own server logs. Megaglobe's sponsored listings will also be cheaper than those available on Google, Overture and Miva," it promised.
The January 2007 announcement offered journalists the opportunity to sign up as a beta tester and "get a sneak preview of the revolution that will overwhelm the Internet." Emails have now been sent to those people with a password enabling them to sign on at beta.megaglobe.com. Also, anyone can access www.megaglobe.com and add their web site to Megaglobe's index.
Beta testers get a very simple search screen which appears to use the standard convention that enclosing two search terms in "..." creates an AND search and simply typing the words does an OR search, but no information is available. And the only other options are to select country and language, but what exactly the country option means is not clear.
The site also provides information on a feature called 'Megaglobe Search Rewards' which gives searchers credits they can use towards the cost of advertising on Megaglobe. "Simply log on to your Megaglobe account and use Megaglobe as your preferred search engine...Sign up now and start earning credits on your account. Just be sure to log in to your account before searching to maximize the number of credits applied to your account."However there is no information on the valued of searches or the cost of advertising.
Megaglobe announced in March that it had "a unique e-commerce partnership with PayPal" enabling advertisers to either pay with credit cards in 50 different currencies, or with a PayPal multicurrency option.
Football SuperStars beta registration begins
Those who can't play, teach. Er, that isn't always true. You can still play your favorite sport even if you don't have the body and... enough talent to succeed in it. And for those who still can't grasp the idea of MMO sports, this is your chance to see how interesting an MMO sport might be.
CyberSports and Monumental Games' Football SuperStars is finally in its beta testing stage. The developers are calling out for willing beta testers to sign up and experience this new football sim. Football SuperStars is a sports MMO that allows gamers to control the career of a single football player. They have to oversee the development and career of the footballer starting from his days in a football academy all the way to his success as a member of a premier club.
So what's in it for the beta testers? Those who register for the beta will be the first ones to see the game and participate in its development. They will get a free, exclusive in-game item once they start playing. Participants will also be getting a regular newsletter where stories, feature breakdowns, and other details and views about the growth of Football SuperStars are included.
If you're interested in playing (and not just teaching) the game, and you have the micromanagement skills to make your football player skyrocket to stardom, follow the Read link below and sign up.
http://www.footballsuperstars.com/register.html
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
'Launch Wave' of Microsoft Products Coming in 2008
February 27, 2008 promises to be one of the most important dates in Microsoft's 33-year history, as the company will release a host of major new products, including Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008.
The announcement of what Microsoft calls the "2008 Global Launch Wave" was made today by COO Kevin Turner at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Denver.
Currently, Windows 2008 is in beta 3 testing, with an expected release-to-manufacturing (RTM) date of this November, according to Redmond magazine columnist Mary Jo Foley, who blogs about Microsoft for ZDNet. Windows 2008, formerly code-named "Longhorn," is Microsoft's first new server operating system since Windows Server 2003.
Visual Studio 2008, formerly code-named "Orcas," is at the beta 1 stage, with beta 2 expected this summer, and an RTM of late this year or early next year.
SQL Server 2008, code-named "Katmai," is at the Community Technology Preview stage.
Turner made the launch announcement at the keynote address opening the conference. After recapping the massive wave of launches in Microsoft's fiscal year 2007, which ended on July 1, Turner told the audience: "We're going to announce more big dogs today."
The products will launch together on Feb. 27, 2008 at an event in Los Angeles, followed by hundreds of other launch events worldwide.
As a result, Turner told the sold-out conference: "I see one thing in FY '08. I see money. I see monetization." And, he added, that vision extends to the partner ecosystem, predicting that "hundreds of billions of dollars will be available to you through monetization of these products."
Windows Server 2008 has been in development significantly longer than the other two products. Its forerunner, Windows Server 2003, was unveiled in April 2003. Longhorn's first publicly stated schedule was for RTM in 2005. Since then, it's been plagued by delays, and, to meet the 2008 ship date, it's had numerous major features stripped out.
Visual Studio and SQL Server development have fared better. VS 2005 was released in October 2005, while SQL 2005 shipped a month later.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
InovaWave Adds Seasoned Software Executive and Announces Beta Release for Optimizing 64-Bit Virtual Environments
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--InovaWave, Inc., a leading provider of optimization and management software for virtual environments, today announced it has appointed Mike Ames as Vice President of Finance and Administration. A high-tech industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience, Ames will be responsible for implementing the infrastructure and administrative functions of the company, supporting development and execution of the corporate strategic plan, and handling relationships with the financial community.
“InovaWave is at an exciting stage as it continues to deliver significant new technology and products to the server virtualization market. InovaWave’s ability to substantially improve the performance and density of virtualization projects makes this a strategic growth opportunity in the virtualization space,” explained Ames. “Joining InovaWave enables me to play a significant role with a rapidly growing company as we bring this technology to market.”
Prior to joining InovaWave, Ames served as CFO at Neogent (purchased by Sun Microsystems) and has held a number of financial leadership positions at Vignette, Tivoli, Lotus, and IBM. He holds a MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance from the University of Texas at El Paso.
“I am delighted to have Mike on the InovaWave team,” said Terry Ferose, Founder and CEO of InovaWave. “His proven track record in finance and administration will provide InovaWave with excellent leadership for aggressive growth in the virtualization market.”
Beta Program for DXtreme64 for Windows
InovaWave also announced today the early access beta program for DXtreme64 for Windows, the industry’s first software solution proven to more than double the number of virtual machines possible per server. The beta program is designed for organizations utilizing virtualization platforms on 64-bit architectures, and looking to improve performance of their virtual machines and increase their server consolidation ratios.
Registration for the beta program is open to the public. Online registration can be accessed at http://www.inovawave.com/dxtreme64. DXtreme64 for Windows will make its debut at Microsoft TechEd in Orlando, where InovaWave will be conducting live demonstrations at their booth (No. 1028).
About InovaWave
Founded by virtualization software pioneers, InovaWave develops software for optimizing and managing virtual environments. Based in Austin, Texas, InovaWave is a privately held company backed by Silverton Partners, an early stage investor in leading enterprise software companies, including Tivoli Systems, Motive, Smart Technologies (acquired by I2) and Waveset (acquired by Sun). For more information on InovaWave, visit www.inovawave.com.
InovaWave and DXtreme are trademarks of InovaWave, Inc. All other names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.