Alas, since last month there is no more personal search assistant on the web, in the form of the charming Ms Dewey. She disappeared quite abruptly, without an goodbyes or even a notice or obituary. A banal, sluggy and rather ugly videoblock has taken her place and name on msdewey.com. I somehow feel violated…

Searching the internet is as much about the search as it is about the find. How many times have you not started to search for something online, only to end up finding something you did not set out to find. Or even to not find anything at all, but rather to keep on searching. For what, you may not even know.

Ms Dewey knew this. Searching is not about finding. It’s about the process of finding. She commented on your queries and results, encouraged you onwards, and mostly looked at you in a bemused manner. She knew that nobody was taking the search seriously.

Of course, Ms Dewey was a viral campaign, for Microsoft’s Live Search. Developed by McCann-Erickson. And now she’s been sacked; after 2 years of outstanding service. I can’t help to think the internet has lost some of its personality. It’s all about the finding again… or so they want us to believe.

Ms Dewey in better days.

The semester is finished, and it’s been an interesting one! Here’s the final Friday Post for 2008.  Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

And watch out for those snowstorms:

• 17 Google Mash-Ups to Waste Away Your Day.  Nuff Said.  Useful for when you’re sitting in the dentists’ waiting room.

• Ms Dewey -  She’s pouty and pretty but not a real avatar… created by Microsoft:  http://www.msdewey.com

• Kiss Off is a video game which requires you to go to the mall and avoid kissing any smokers – how do I even find these things?! It’s sort of a public service announcement against smoking…  it’s weird.

_____________________

Finally… here’s a video entitled “Angry Librarian” and a shocking! example of poor public service from an academic librarian:

El motor de búsqueda más usado de Internet ha llenado nuestras vidas y ha hecho imprescindibles sus fondos blancos, sus vínculos azules y la batería de posibilidades secundarias como el correo o el lector rss. Pero el matrimonio dura ya más de diez años -7 de Septiembre de 1998- y como suele pasar en asuntos de vida en común, entrar en la página de Google es cada vez menos divertido a pesar de sus “delirantes” cambios de logo.  Aún conserva el encanto de sus grandes búsquedas, de la gloria de sus resultados cuando buscábamos aquello que tanto ansiábamos pero definitivamente Google cansa. Basta ya de direcciones verdosas y peregrinas visitas al buscador de imágenes.

Es verdad que en este mar de hipervínculos no sobran los competidores, ahí están MSN, Yahoo, Altavista... con los que muchos habrán pasado alguna que otra tarde; pero quizás lo que muchos necesiten sea ese buscador novedoso y original con el que “echar una canita al aire” de vez en cuando. Por ello, traemos hoy unos cuantos buscadores más con los que el usuario golferas pueda pasar un ratito alejado de la saturación de los Page y Brin.

Quizás el que más destaque de todos sea Ms. Dewey, un buscador que destaca por su dinamismo y por la graciosa pose de su trabajadora más conocida, la señorita Dewey. La podemos ver gesticulando, mirándose las uñas, llamándote la atención por tenerla ahí aburrida sin buscar nada, porque no olvidemos que ese es su trabajo, buscar. Quizás en principio no sea tan rápido y no ofrezca tantos resultados como Google, pero su base de datos es lo suficientemente amplia. Lo que es indudable es que la originalidad de ser el primer buscador con interfaz humana te aportará muchas risas y los enlaces necesarios para satisfacerte.

En otro ámbito, desde hace poco tiempo estamos asistiendo al nacimiento de buscadores que utilizan múltiples motores para nuestras búsquedas. Quintura, Dogpile y Zuula permiten que el usuario encuentre aquello que busca -ya sea imágenes, textos, música, blogs, vídeos, noticias e incluso trabajo- desde una única plataforma, sin necesidad de trasladarte a otra página. En definitiva, ventanas distintas desde las que llegar al mismo paisaje lunático y cambiante de Internet.

Se você quer um buscador diferente, longe daquela tela branca, então tente a Ms. Dewey.  Um buscador bastante interativo e diferente, controlado por uma moça muito linda, que conversa com você, faz comentários sobre suas pesquisas e até reclama se você fica muito tempo sem buscar nada. Site em inglês.

Link Add: Ms. Dewey

Outro buscador interessante e legal é o Cuil (nome de origem irlandesa que quer dizer “conhecimento”, pronuncia-se kul, igual a palavra inglesa “cool” que significa legal) é um sistema de busca que foi lançado em 28 de julho de 2008. Os desenvolvedores do Cuil planejam que seu sistema supere os já existentes com resultados mais compreensíveis e relevantes. Para se diferenciar de seus concorrentes, Cuil organiza as páginas web pelo seu conteúdo e exibe os resultados das buscas através de pequenas imagens. Ela diz ter em cache um index de página muito maior que qualquer outro sistemas de busca da internet, como o Google, com cerca de 120 bilhões de páginas web. Cuil foi criado e é administrado por antigos empregados da Google. A compania arrecadou cerca de 33 milhões de dólares de capital de risco através da Greylock e outros. Os fundadores do Cuil são Anna Patterson, Russel Power e Louis Monier antigos empregados da Google e Tos Castello, que trabalhou para IBM e outros. Clique na imagem para ampliá-la.

Link Add: Cuil

Long gone are the days when searching for a favorite book at the local public library consisted of thumbing through row after row of author, subject and title cards. Many a die-hard reader was said to suffer from thumb and finger tip burn as a result of this perusing activity. Most Americans under the age of 30, particularly those that took their first keyboarding class in the second grade and grew up playing video games, would scarcely know what a “card catalog” is. Now fast forward to the mid to late 1980s, when online library catalogs became a little more prominent, and the Commodore and Apple computer were seen as futuristic tools used in Issac Aisimov or Arthur C. Clarke science fiction works. For some, in today’s technology saturated world text based anything, lacking inter-active capability or a plethora of video is seen as archaic and useless. But for those that have a slight disdain for the old paper based library catalog why not give Ms. Dewey a test run.

The Ms. Dewey character played by actress Janina Gavankar taps on the computer screen and shouts “hello are you there?” when a user idles too long. Ironically Ms. Dewey was not set up or designed by any librarian, library advocate seeking to win back the latte guzzling reading public from Borders Books or Barnes & Noble. Ms. Dewey was in fact rolled out by Microsoft as a part of it’s 2006 viral marketing campaign to hype the Live Search interface.

Whether card catalog purists or librarian traditionalists think Ms. Dewey has any real merit is not really important. The Ms. Dewey program is whimsical and fun! Love it or hate it, library search interfaces like Ms. Dewey could be the new paradigm of online catalog searching. One thing however is assured: progressive public library systems can not go back to Melvil Dewey’s original paper classification list that was posted in early 20th century libraries.

You’ve gotta see this … Ms. Dewey search … A visual search engine … I’m sure this has been out for a while but I just recently saw it and thought it was truly entertaining.

ms dewey an entertaining search engine

At msdewey.com there is a lovely and funny young lady who stands fidgeting and making faces waiting for you to enter a search term … if you wait too long she’ll tap on your monitor .. and say “Hellooooo … type something here”. All the while she is making impatient funny faces and remarks … once you make a search she’ll have some comments about it too that are often funny.

Make sure to click on best of Ms. Dewey … to see some of her crazier antics.

Of course the results ain’t google … but they are often what you’re looking for and getting it in a visual manner from a funny lady sure spices it up a bit. I think I might keep visiting her.

Hjärtat i en chatbot är en så kallad ”parser” – ett språkanalysprogram vars syfte är att skapligt kunna efterhärma en någorlunda naturlig och logisk konversation. Ämnet har alltid facinerat mig ända sedan jag som barn mötte världens första och mest berömda chatbot – psykologen Eliza – på Tekniska museet. Barnsligt kul är att utmana chatbots och testa gränserna för deras förmåga. Eftersom jag själv programmerat en del chatbots (bl.a. en i pascal för ett tiotal år sedan som jag döpte till Helga) så har jag ganska bra koll på hur de funkar.

En grymt snygg och innovativ chatbot i kombination med sökmotor hittar vi i flash-applikationen Ms. Dewey:

Want a little sarcasm with your search results?  Check out msdewey.com.  Make sure you are using a high speed internet connection and a computer with speakers for the full effect.

Enjoy!

J.L. Munn

Das Argument, das Internet wäre zu unpersönlich und überhaupt der Computer wäre ja als Interaktionspartner gähnend langweilig wurde auf dieser Seite witzig in Frage gestellt. Eine junge Dame bietet dem User jedenfalls Antworten zu so mancher Frage des Lebens. Wirklich amüsant gemacht! Jede Frage, die von mir gestellt wurde, wurde zumindest annähernd passend beantwortet. Sachen gibt’s…

Ms. Dewey (Houston, are you there?), originally uploaded by quik boy.

One of my library classmates recently discussed www.msdewey.com , an interactive search engine that started just over one year ago. Ms. Dewey’s body language changes and she speaks to you. Check it out!

I haven’t really posted much of late as I’ve hit a really busy patch at work and haven’t really had time.  Evenings have been spent recovering from a hard day in front of the computer.

However, I couldn’t let the day pass without a quick mention of  this story about a Japanese gentleman who has dropped everything to listen to his social conscience.  Initially he planned to try to persuade Japanese libraries to stock certain books on the environment and social issues, but because he received a negative response from many of them he took on the mantle himself.  He now distributes these books himself from… wait for it… his customized bicycle, complete with waterwheel-shaped bookshelf!

I’m sure his stock must get soggy quite quickly!  Still, it’s nice to see someone making the effort to promote a cause they feel passionately about – and the eccentric manner in which it’s done only makes it more interesting for the rest of us!

P.S.  I’ve been playing around with MS Dewey today.  It’s quite interesting, and seems to present me with some very relevant results to my searches, but bl**** h*** can that woman nag!!   I’m glad she’s got a mute button!

Someone a while back posted a link to Ms. Dewey, which is an online search engine with a woman named Ms. Dewey who reacts to what you type in, played by actress Janina Gavankar.  It’s kind of weird and obectifying and totally all about the male gaze.  Well, after surfing the internet for a bit, I came upon something even worse: Virtual Bartender 1 and Virtual Bartender 2.  You can place random orders to these ’beer girls’ and they will act really suggestive (pre-filmed) in front of the camera.

What I kind find of odd about Ms. Dewey and Virtual Bartender is that although they’re all about the male gaze, they’re also about interaction, of sorts, with these virtual women.  But I guess since we’re so separated from them, they’re still just performing, not actually responding and interacting with us.

You must have seen it by now. It has gone around the Internet like a steam-train on steroids. Ms. Dewey is a new kind of search engine that uses a talking video avatar to serve you the results.

Think AskJeeves, but… HOTTTT!

Fun, but it’s not more than a gimmick to me. The search results are simply not usable at all. My guess is that our cute Ms. Dewey will only be the next Subservient Chicken. Good for a couple of chuckles, but even that wore out quite quick, didn’t it?