Co-founders and siblings Vineet, Monica, and Anuj Agarwal has released his real-time image search engine to the public: NachoFoto. It was released yesterday and provides search results of images in real-time, similar to Google News articles and Twitter results. NachoFoto is a great resource, especially when it comes to image searches related to living persons or current events. NachoFoto searches for the terms “Masters” or “Paris Hilton” bring up images that have been uploaded online as little as a few hours previously.
Category: Search Engines
Mar 25
How to Add Plugin-Free Twitter, Sphinn, and Facebook Buttons to Your WordPress Blog
After coming across Jaspal’s brilliant blog post, How To Add Digg, Stumble, Twitter Share Buttons On Your WordPress Blog, I tried to add the buttons using the method he explained to The Social Robot. However, I decided that I didn’t really know how to host the javascript images that Jaspal suggests and I wanted to have Twitter, Sphinn, and Facebook buttons instead of Digg and StumbleUpon because my blog is mostly about social media and search engine marketing.
So, after several tries, I modified the code using javascript that is already hosted as sites like TweetMeme and Sphinn. That way you can just pop in the code and you’re ready to go!
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Mar 24
How to get your social media profiles crawled by search bots
Social media profiles like those found on Twitter and Facebook are crawled by search engines and are indexed. In addition, user contributions on social media sites- notes that are posted, statuses, tweets, are also indexed, sometimes at an alarming rate.
Be sure to use clear, plain language cut to the chase. No one wants to read a tweet about what the intern is wearing or the color of the new carpet being laid in the office.
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Feb 17
What is Aardvark?
After reading the news headlines last week about the acquisition of Aardvark by Google, I went straight to Vark.com to find out exactly what Aardvark is and why Google would want to purchase it for millions of dollars.
Turns out, Aardvark is a pretty cool way to find answers to almost any question that needs a better answer than what Google or Yahoo can give. Think of it as a “real-person search engine” where your questions are answered by another Aardvark user instead of a search engine result based on algorithms and keywords. When you set up a profile to ask a question, you also put in your interests and areas of expertise so you can answer questions from other users. Whenever someone asks a question about books, marketing, or social media, Aardvark IMs me via AIM and checks to see if I am busy and can answer a question. Most of the time I say yes, and most of the time, I can answer the question without having to do any research. However, if you can’t, no pressure. Simply say ‘pass’ and Aardvark will ask someone else. You can also answer questions on the website instead of instant messenger; but being on my computer all day I find it a fun distraction to be asked questions (I usually get 2-3 questions a day).
Besides a fun, unique way to ask questions, Aardvark has seems to have a tight-knit community of users and has a fun ‘About Us’ page that includes photos of happy hours and comfy couches, definitely making me want to work there. And I’m sure with their new parent company paying their bills, many more people will be looking for a job at Aardvark.
If you want to try it, visit Vark.com
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Jan 31
Comparing the Usability of Google’s Chrome OS Versus Apple’s iPad
I don’t know about you, but after the apparent let-down at the introduction of the iPad yesterday, I’m more than ever eagerly awaiting the debut of the Google Chrome Operating System. Do I want an iPad? Sure I do. But do I need an iPad? Absolutely not. Am I saying I’ll never buy an iPad, ever? No. But will I be waiting in line to buy it. Nope.
Here are a few reasons why I believe that purchasing a netbook with the Chrome OS install may be a better bet for me instead of the iPad:
Google Apps
I store my life on Google Docs, Gmail, and Google Calendar. I even have Google Wave and Voice. In fact, I’m typing this blog post in Google Docs right now. With the easy mobility of Google Docs– sharing with others, working on the same document from work and home without having to use a USB drive or emailing it to myself– is definitely a perfect fit for my mobile lifestyle. I love to travel and using a mobile document and storage system just makes my life work better. With the ease of Google Docs, it makes sense that Google would want to graduate towards creating a mobile operating system. Our lives are becoming more and more independent on the internet everyday, and the Google Chrome OS simply builds on this dependency.
More Affordable
Sure, $500 for a 16gb iPad is affordable– for an Apple product. But with the Chrome OS coming to a netbook near you for around $300-$500– it seems that iPad customers are paying for the name Apple rather than its real usability.
More Options Style-Wise
For now, the iPad only comes in one color. Netbooks come in all different colors, sizes, models, and brands. And with the Chrome OS being open-source, I wouldn’t have to pay for OS updates like Apple and Microsoft force me to do.
Missing Features
Does iPad have bluetooth? Nope. How about a webcam? Nope. The ability to view Flash files? Nope. What about the ability to open and edit Microsoft Word files? Nope.
Here’s a video Google released about Chrome OS. Seems logical to me. This is probably the video that got me on the Chrome OS boat. What do you think? Comment below!
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Blogging, Social Media, and Content Writing by Kelsey Jones and Bethaney Wallace
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