Gagan Kaul Blog

A9 from Amazon.com

Amazon.com launched its own search engine called A9, thus becoming the latest entrant in the domain dominated by Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Some salient features which might score it on other search engines are:

URL Short Cuts: At A9.com you can search directly from the browser URL box by typing:

a9.com/query

History: Keep track of the last sites visited (on any computer) and your most recent searches. It will keep track of the Web pages you recently visited–even if you switch computers.

Diary: This is the newest and coolest feature. You can take notes on any web page, and reference them whenever you visit that page, on any computer that you use. Your entries are automatically saved whenever you stop typing or when you go to another page.

3 - Dimensional Searching - The Next Stage in the Internet Search Domain

Wired.com discusses the new paradigms dealing with the next stage of evolution in the internet search domain. The mind-boggling speed and reach of Internet search engines mask a severe limitation: They are powered by words alone. But the world is full of objects and patterns. Now computing researchers have developed search engines that can mine catalogs of three-dimensional objects, like airplane parts or architectural features.

All the users have to do is sketch what they’re thinking of, and the search engines can produce comparable objects.

“The idea of information and knowledge, and retrieval of knowledge, has been something I’ve been intrigued with for a long time. This gives it a more solidified meaning,” said Karthik Ramani, a Purdue University professor who created a system that can find computer-designed industrial parts. Ramani expects his search engine will serve huge industrial companies whose engineers often waste time and energy designing a specialized part when someone else has already created, used or rejected something similar.

With the Purdue search engine, designers could sketch the part they need and instantly see dozens in inventory that might fit the bill. If an item seems close, but not quite right, designers can see a “skeleton” of the part and manipulate it on their computer screens — make it longer or shorter or curved, for example — and then query the database again.

So how can computer programs look for objects? The breakthrough is the voxel. Digital camera owners are familiar with pixels — the basic element of a digital image. Each pixel is a tiny grain of color. Similarly, a voxel is the basic element of a three-dimensional object that is represented in a computer. Each voxel represents the volume of the object at any given point.

In Ramani’s program, for example, stored CAD designs and entries sketched by users are converted into voxels. Then voxel patterns are compared for similarities. Because the voxels represent volume rather than just shape, the program can sniff out, say, a coffee cup, which is mostly hollow but might have a solid handle.

9/11 Controversy Deepens

LetsRoll911.org deepens further, the 9/11 controversy that shook USA. The on-going study attempts to present a tangential picture, from the one reported by media, of the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon.

The stuff makes an interesting reading, with various anomalies and potential conspiracy theories being discussed. The very idea of coming up with such a daughty line of thinking puts into limelight the possible obduracy of the US administration. Anyways, the site is still being updated, as and when, further investigation reports keep coming. Do check it out.