Cuil – A new search engine

A new search engine was launched yesterday - Cuil. Though I don’t think it can threaten Google at present, I think it may just have the potential to topple Google’s monopoly.

Its USPs:

1. It claims to search 3 times as many webpages as Goggle and 10 times as many as MSN.
2. Suggests search words (Google already has this)
3. Categorizes searches and displays these categories on the right side of the screen – pretty helpful if you’re searching for a very general term.
4. Tabbed searches – you’ll figure this out when you use it
5. Search results are displayed in columns (apparently this makes it easier to read)
6. And lastly, its developers are the ones who’ve built/helped build Google. This lends some credibility to the processes it uses.
7. Stronger filtering capabilities (i.e. it’s better at removing adult content and streamlining results)

However, the functionality and impressive developers don’t overshadow some downfalls:

1. No options to search for only images or videos.
2. Few search results per page as compared to other search engines. This is quite annoying because I don’t really want to move more than a couple of pages to find the result I’m looking for.

Probably the biggest reason why Cuil can’t think of breaking Google, is because unlike the latter, it does not resort to online advertising (yet). However, Google commands a $150 billion market cap, with 99% of its revenue coming from online advertising.

Next. Cuil’s searches are not exactly great, and they are pale in front of Google. If you type a phrase and search on both engines, you’ll see far more results on Google while Cuil may just not find a single match!

Overall, I don’t really think Cuil is a threat to Google. But it would be interesting to see the market players react. Microsoft has been bidding for Yahoo only to compete against Google. Now with Cuil in the picture, a new allegiance could form. Lets watch.

And most importantly – unlike Google, Cuil did not find my blog. (Urghh!)

Science Made Easy – Videos

I came across an informative and simply explained series on Youtube today. It covers a set of topics dealing with the universe and evolution in a logical order. Finding good videos on Youtube is not difficult, but getting such a set is!

The videos do not ramble about scientific hypotheses but instead sum up a string of complicated scientific discoveries that form the basis of our understanding of the universe and ourselves. Though I do not know much about the narrator/producer of these videos, I did find that the videos aim to counter outrageous, if not hilarious, religious beliefs and thereby add a bit of humour.

Each video is about 9 to 10 minutes long. Have fun!

List of Videos:

1. History of the Universe Made Easy (Part 1)
2. History of the Universe Made Easy (Part 2)
3. The Origin of Life made easy
4. The Story of the Earth Made Easy
5. The Age of Our World Made Easy
6. Natural Selection Made Easy
7. The Theory of Evolution Made Easy
8. Human Evolution Made Easy
9. Human Ancestry Made Easy
10. The Scientific Method Made Easy
11. Creation ‘Science’ Made Easy
12. God and DNA made easy

Interesting Signboards

   See here!

   Its great that Bin Laden is courteous!

 

 

 

Bloody F#$@! I’m never going to Sydney!

A teenager was stabbed… Well not once, not twice, not even 10 times.. but a 133 times !!! (I still can’t comprehend this)

And just for fun, the psychotic killer decided to go bowling after the kill. But guess what? Since he didn’t have a bowling ball, he made do with the corpse’s sawed head!! (WTF!!!)

Read here.

Eerie eh?

Obama the Anti-Dumb

“Most of the things Obama’s taken heat for saying this summer fall into these two familiar patterns — attempts to find a rational common ground on controversial issues and dumb-avoidance.”

Read here.

Cruelty.. even here

For those who think that ‘advanced’ economies are home to the intelligentsia, read this and think again.

Understanding Gen Y

Its difficult to sum up the characteristics and behavioural patterns of Generation Y, but this article makes a terrific attempt.

Or at least I could relate to what it said!

The Politics of Rage: Why Do They Hate US? by Fareed Zakaria

A fabulous article with a different perspective to understanding the reasons behind the Mid-East’s hatred to the US and Americanism.

This article propelled Fareed Zakaria into the forefront of politico-economic debates and analyses. He is considered as one of the more influential and original voices on American foreign policy and politics. Zakaria is an Indian-born, Yale- and Harvard-educated Muslim who moves easily between Condoleezza Rice and Pervez Musharraf, Tony Blair and Prince Turki Al-Faisal. He’s a conservative who is willing to question one of the most cherished principles of the West -democracy – but also a naturalized citizen who believes in America’s world-historical mission.

Today, Zakaria is regarded as one of the Top 20 Public Intellectuals in the world – in league with influential people such as Gulen, Gore and Kasparov.

If life wasn’t tough enough..

Then along come a few aircrafts to blast your peace away. Read here.

Thats what happened in Mumbai. Roofs of a restaurant and butcher’s shop in a slum beside the city’s airport were blown off by jet blasts from an aircraft preparing for take off !!

I wonder what ‘explanation’ the authorities will give this time..