Google owns and operates an AJAX-like experimental search engine called SearchMash.

There is no mention of Google accept in the Terms of Service. It would seem that this is an experimental playpan for current development, one similar to AllTheWeb (an experimental site for Yahoo). Visiting the site at random intervals allows you to experience Google’s experimental features.

SearchMash lets you search the internet in new ways. It is constantly evolving as we come up with ideas and figure out what works and what doesn’t. Check back here from time to time to see what has changed, and also to tell us which ones are useful to you. Please bear with us when the site is unavailable as we are limiting its use.

There are some neat features in it:

- There is a menu of options by each result allowing you to open the result in another browser window

- You can reorder search results by grabbing and dragging the number next to them

- There is the ability to hide and expand details of a of each search results

- The introduction of sub menus that allows you to see other types of results, such as images and blogs.

- The introduction of instant videos related to the search results
You can watch a video by clicking on its thumbnail. Click on the video that’s playing to pause it.

- Clicking for more results loads them in the current page and scrolls it down (in an Ajax-like fashion).

Here is a response from Google to why SearchMash was created:

* SearchMash is an experimental search site operated by Google. The goal of SearchMash is to test innovative user interfaces in order to continually improve the overall search experience for our users.

* The site does not include Google branding to help us gather more objective data about user response to new interfaces.

* There is no guarantee that the features tested on SearchMash will be seen on Google search. As with all of our experiments, one of the main factors we will consider is user response to the feature and how well it addresses their needs.

* This site is only a test and has traffic limitations so may be unavailable at times.

The Domain registration details state that it was registered by MarkMonitor back in September of 2006. MarkMonitor is a security company that specializes in making end to end solutions safer and creating/protecting corporate identities on the Internet. It would be a fair assumption to say that Google is also experimenting on new security and anti-fraud technologies for search users and new ways to deal with it.

I love the simplicity of Searchmash and it seems promising with its AJAX demeanor. One example of its simplicity is the lack of a “Search” button when you are typing in your search words, you will need to hit the “Enter” button on your keyboard instead. It would be interesting to see whether some of its features makes it to Google’s real search engine.

Seems like there are more and more click to call companies offering cheap national/ international calls. I read about it months ago but didn’t really pay attention until USA Today and Techcrunch reported on it today.

Here’s how it works:

1. You go their website, create an account
2. Using their dialup interface, you put in your telephone number
2. You then put in the telephone number of who you want to call
3. Both phones will then ring at the same time
4. Pick your phone up and talk like normal

If and when you are register, the companies will also give you a local number that will be linked to that national/ international number. This will give you a unique local toll number for repeated calling to that person.

So who offers it? Think triple J and a T - Jangl, Jaxtr, Jajah and Talkplus. (What’s with the J names?)

International and national rates are significantly cheaper than landline rates as it leverages the VoIP (Voice Over IP) technology. It’s a great alternative to individuals and small businesses than using the traditional VoIP providers and the popular peer to peer provider Skype. With VoIP providers like Vonage in trouble and SunRocket shutting down unexpectedly, this might be a good route to go without the monthly contract and still being able to keep your phone number.

Another useful feature provided by these companies is a button or widget to put on your website. Your friend or customer can use that widget to initiate the two way calling facility easily. Calling can be initiated from any landline or cell phone. You just have to remember that when using your cell phone, you will be eating up your cell phone minutes.

In comparing the 4 providers, Jajah seems to offer the best features for businesses like conference calling as well as useful desktop plugins for Outlook and Firefox. Talkplus offers the best call pricing e.g. a US to United Kingdom call costs about 1.1 cents per minute to a landline and 1.8 cents per minute to cell phones. Jangl and Jaxtr looks like it’s tailored towards personal users and offers voicemail capability. Jangl is currently offering free calling while they are in their beta stage. I may have to seriously consider using this to call my family internationally.

Read more about what everyone has to say about the companies below:

jaxtrjajahjangltalkplus

Bullseye on Google: Hackers expose holes in GMail, Blogspot, Search Appliance by ZDNet’s Ryan Naraine — In the past few days, there have been multiple disclosures of security vulnerabilies in a wide range of Google products, including a persistent e-mail theft issue affecting the widely used GMail service.

Prime Thursday is here.

8 pm Ugly Betty (ABC) vs. Survivor: China (CBS) vs. Are you Smart than a 5th Grader (FOX) vs. My name is Earl & 30 Rock (NBC) vs. Smallville (CW)

9 pm Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) vs. CSI (CBS) vs. Don’t Forget the Lyrics (Fox) vs. Office & Scrubs (NBC) vs. Supernatural (CW)

10 pm Big Shots (ABC) vs. Without a Trace (CBS) vs. ER (NBC)

Not sure who I’ll go with at 8pm… don’t like any of them — I’ll go with Ugly Betty as J likes that show.

I’ll have to go with CSI at 9pm, without a doubt. At 10 pm, it’s ER. Fox and CW at that time slot — it’s not worth even talking about.

It is probably going to go down to ABC and CBS dominating this years fall prime time Thursdays, with NBC close behind. CW is not too bad. Fox… come on, you can do better than that.

A normal work day …

We all need a little release sometime …

(Courtesy of Bob my Cubeman)

wordless wednesday

A McDonald’s restaurant looking like a Starbucks. Yes, that’s how it looked like when we stopped to grab a bite at a McDonald’s in Woodmere, Ohio on the weekend.

We were really oohing and aahing at how nice and luxurious looking it was. The building had a modern architecture with strategically placed plants, the floors were marble like replicas and it felt like we were in an expensive restaurant. The whole restaurant had a music theme and the walls had paintings and photos of musical instruments and jazz greats. There was even wireless internet (Wifi) available for all customers. Gone were the cheap looking white/ tan fast food tables normally expected in a McDonald’s restaurant and in place of it were comfortable teak looking tables and chairs. It was also sparklingly clean unlike some restaurants I’ve been to.

I’ve yet to come across a McDonald’s of this nature but there’s always a first for everything. I am just wondering whether McDonald’s is revamping their business strategy to compete with the likes of ritzy and trendy looking cafes like Starbucks or is it the fact that it’s located in an upmarket area, with an upper class clientèle (especially with the Eton mall being just down the road from it). Whatever it was, we were loving it! Hope to see more of these McDonald’s restaurants in the future.

Trendio is a stock exchange of a different kind. It lists current events, news and popular word (tags) as stocks where the value is calculated according to their presence in the media.

Therefore, the more talked about it is, the higher it the “price” would be on the stock exchange. It is a fun way to visualize trends in the media, predict its price and learn about how real stocks are traded. For example, all the talk about Mike Tyson and his potential 4 year jail sentence raised his stock price 103.7% to T15.62 (T being the general currency being traded). Stocks are grouped into 6 sections to include news, politics, business, technology, entertainment and sport.

Designed by a 21 year old of Swedish and French nationality, it originally started as a side project but word got around and popularity rose. It has been around for almost a year but it has come along way since then, with upgraded features and playability like community contests, portfolio ranking and more. The developer states it simply … “I wanted to design Trendio as a funny and addictive game, but also as a futuristic news site concept and as a (cynical and provocative, but also significant) metaphor of the media.”

Since it is free and no real money currencies are exchanged, the risk factor is taken out of the equation and you can participate without fear of losing anything (except your pride). Believe me, it’s addictive! It has already gained quite a following and has been reported in Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

GameAlmighty.com is a new online community for the video gaming world. Think of it as a game-centric version of your favorite social networking site and your favorite online video source all wrapped in a Web 2.0-driven package. Its objective is to offer gaming reviews, previews, latest industry news, videos, podcasts and other creative content within a comic book like entertaining format.

“Our goal is to completely change how digital entertainment is covered,” said Christian Allebest, senior editor of GameAlmighty.com. “For the first time ever, publishers and developers can write rebuttals to game reviews they feel are unjust, giving them a second chance to defend their products. We also invite gamers and members of the industry to publish their own articles, reviews and opinions alongside our professional journalists.”

I must say that without even reading it, my first impressions of the site was a definite “Wow!”. It certainly shows that they have put a lot of work into bringing the user experience to the next level with a graphic novel and comic book feel. Navigating around the site immerses you in another world with uneven bold fonts, bright colors and even those dialog balloons that makes comics unique and appealing. In fact, I was just waiting for something to pop up on my monitor with the words “Kapow!” or “Kaboosh!” (like in the Batman & Robins cartoons of old) showing me innovative pop up advertisements.

This site places gamers, developers and publishers on an even level playing field i.e. anyone can submit content to it and comment on reviews, features and editorials. Each article comes with a unique rating system that helps gamers evaluate specific game elements like design, graphics, sound and value. Thus, giving more value to the next reader that comes around.

Gamers can create their own virtual social networking hub to share and communicate with others of the same interests with handy video upload functions. The forums also allow readers, publishers and developers to gain that valuable piece of insider information about current and future games.

GameAlmighty caters to gamers of all product genres from PC to mobile handhelds. It also reviews and previews the new/next generation gaming peripherals. In short, it is a fair assumption to say that you would probably find anything and everything about the gaming world from this one site.

What differentiates this site from others is not only the enticing visual experience. The site caters not only to hardcore gamers but to gamers of all levels. Its goal is to do reach out and relate to today’s video gaming and movie going audiences in a knowledgeable, humorous yet sophisticated way — without the communication barriers and pedestals. That is something they have been able to do very well so far. In terms of demographics, this site definitely appeals to a wide range of male, females that are young and old.

To top it off, they are wholly owned and run by Super Heroes. Real crime-fighting, super-human super heroes. Watch out, GameAlmighty is here to save the world from all the other gaming site pretenders and it looks like they’ll be around for a long time to come.

For the TV addicts, AOL came up with a great site for all the dates and times for the new and returning TV series. Good time to set the Season Pass recordings on those TIVOs. Can’t wait to watch the new shows Bionic Woman and Caveman and the returning ones… CSI, CSI: Miami, Numb3rs and Shark.

Water - Use it Wisely shows you 100 ways to conserve water depending on your geographical location in the country.

I am definitely guilty of wasting water. From the list of 100 ways to conserve water for my location, here are ten things I should watch:

- When washing dishes by hand, don’t let the water run while rinsing. Fill one sink with wash water and the other with rinse water.

- Wash your produce in the sink or a pan that is partially filled with water instead of running water from the tap.

- Time your shower to keep it under 5 minutes. You’ll save up to 1000 gallons a month.

-Soak your pots and pans instead of letting the water run while you scrape them clean.

-Turn off the water while you brush your teeth and save 4 gallons a minute. That’s 200 gallons a week for a family of four.

-Wash clothes only when you have a full load and save up to 600 gallons each month.

-Cook food in as little water as possible. This will also retain more of the nutrients.

-Turn off the water while you shave and you can save more than 100 gallons a week.

-To save water and time, consider washing your face or brushing your teeth while in the shower.

-When you are washing your hands, don’t let the water run while you lather.

You should also browse the rest of the site as it has some good sections to include education links/ tools, monthly water conserving activities, home water audits etc. I found the water technology section the most interesting, it had the latest technological equipment commercially available for water conservation at home and at your business.