Chris Pirillo » metasearch

Is This the World’s Best Metasearch Site?

Chris — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 07:36:56 +0000

Is This the World’s Best Metasearch Site? is a post from Chris Pirillo

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Back in April, I shared a private invite to those of you who were following me on Twitter. Anytime I stumble across new websites, or get invites to pass out for something new, I try to pass them along right away. Even though you may think you have enough websites already, you really need to check this one out.

Viewzi is a new way to search. I know, I know… you are a faithful Google user. But just take a moment to pay attention to this with an open mind. You may just find yourself using Viewzi often.

Viewzi is Metasearch. It will change the way you think about search engines. Viewzi will then ask you how you want to view the data that is found. What types of views are there?

Celebrity Photo View
Web Screenshot View
Simple Text View
Viewzi News View
Video x3 View
Basic Photo View
3D Photo Cloud View
Site Information View
4 Sources View
The Weather View
Album View
MP3 Search View
Everyday Shopping View
Amazon Book View
TechCrunch
Recipe View

Choosing one of the above views will give you different results, culled from different places. For instance, the Video x3 View will give you three strips of videos that match the words you searched for. It pulls in results from places like Veoh and YouTube. The really cool thing is that in those strips, the thumbnails are animated.

Viewzi is amazing when shopping, because it will do the work FOR you. It searches places like eBay and Amazon and brings you only results that really work for you. It will fit your needs better than what Google does.

Viewzi will change the way you view your search results.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

TagJag in Firefox

Chris — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 04:25:32 +0000

TagJag in Firefox is a post from Chris Pirillo

From Rickie Dickie, a passionate OPMLer - pointing out that grazr makes TagJag OPML much more usable on-demand:

Here's a TagJag / grazr mashup smart bookmarklet for Firefox (right-click and add this link to your Bookmarks). Written as a smartlet - but JUST in case you don't know what that is, you name the bookmark keyword to something like "tags" and then in the address bar type "tags gnomedex" to browse TagJag's OPML for that keyword in grazr. I posted HTML embedding script; check out grazr's site for particulars.

The equiv favelet (bookmarklet) for either IE or Firefox would be something like this:

javascript:d=document;wgS=window.getSelection;dgS=d.getSelection();dS=d.Selection;q=(encodeURIComponent('%s')=='%2525s'?'':'%s')+(wgS?wgS():dgS?dgS():dS?dS.createRange().text:'');if (!q)q=prompt('Enter tag','');open('http://grazr.com/gzpanel?font=Tahoma,sans-serif&fontsize=8pt&file=http%3A//tagjag.com/all/' + q + '/opml');void('rickdog')

This favelet is written to work like this:

If nothing is selected and there is no smartlet argument on the address line, you're prompted for a keyword
If text is selected and there is no smartlet argument, the selected text is the keyword
If no text is selected but there is a smartlet argument, the argument is the keyword
If both text is selected and there's a smartlet argument, they are combined to make a single keyword (smartlet + selected text)

I must also note the new Maxthon TagJag sidebar plugin - which is still getting tweaked. Oh, and Rickie Dickie also YubNub.org">grazjag'ed a YubNub!

Happy TagJag’ed Publishers

Chris — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 02:22:09 +0000

Happy TagJag’ed Publishers is a post from Chris Pirillo

Until a few more legal loopholes get closed, I won't be able to expand much further upon the whole "I'm offering you a stake in TagJag" concept; I'd rather underpromise and overdeliver on this idea. I'm on the lookout for some kind of hip lawyer who can help us get it wrapped up. It's a community-building effort, so I'm hoping to find someone who understands what that means. I should probably talk to Buzz and/or Denise, eh? No matter, I have to show you a couple of emails before I explain why I did what I did with Brad, Jeff, and Rick (the VCs) at Gnomedex.

Today I launched the second version of Omgili, an innovative, advanced search engine for discussions. The new release presents many new features and technology innovations that make Omgili the leading search engine for information rich discussion forums. I have been using Gada.be (now TagJag) for a while (mainly for research) and really enjoyed it. It's simple, smart, effective and does the job! That's why I think Omgili's results will be a great addition to TagJag. Omgili covers tens of thousands forums and millions of discussions (including Google and Yahoo Answers), adding it to TagJag will contribute to the richness of the fantastic TagJag service.

I know it's still too geeky, but that's one publisher who understands that we're helping him get his set of unique results out there. The filtering and sorting are coming - and after Shayne read Matt's post on the matter, he believes he knows how to make "it" work better. The audience feedback wasn't challenging, it was enlightening and reassuring (as I had been thinking along the very same lines, but lacked more than a single developer to execute upon them). Here's the second email, from Brian Dear:

I'm sitting here watching your TagJag presentation at Gnomedex... I noticed that there are "EVDB" results under "Entertainment" - cool! Could you rename the "EVDB" to be "Eventful"? That's the name we're using these days as the main brand (EVDB is the underlying business-to-business brand).

They're not the only "smaller" publishers who understand the concept of leveling the search playing field while still retaining their original identity, results, and feed link. Again, sorting and filtering are coming - but it all starts with the growing list of publishers. A few weeks ago, Brian Carrozzi emailed me asking... "With whom can I speak in regards to getting our videos indexed from videos.gabcity.com ?" They know they're not a "YouTube," so they have to use every means necessary to spread their brand.

Ponzi has some fantastic ideas for the next iteration, and I've gotta get a few more things organized before impending efforts can roll forward. What you see is not what you're going to get - and the question asked at Gnomedex was clearly answered. Should TagJag get funded? As I learned by sticking my neck out: NO. Does it need more resources? I already knew the answer to that question: YES.

Over 300 Tag Searches in One Spot

Chris — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 23:16:55 +0000

Over 300 Tag Searches in One Spot is a post from Chris Pirillo

Don't expect every one of these searches to yeild results, though. The output was generated by a single OPML file and the Optimal OPML WordPress Plugin. Looking for other easy ways to display the OPML from Gada.be right now. Hell, entirely new sites could be built on top of the OPML we produce - much like RSS, it's a poor man's API.

Ask.com RSS Search – NOT!

Chris — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:09:47 +0000

Ask.com RSS Search – NOT! is a post from Chris Pirillo

Okay, I'm not making this up, folks: Ask.com's RSS Search isn't outputting RSS properly. Actually, it is and was - according to the RSS 2.0 spec, the link element is completely optional - though I must admit this was the first time we had encountered an RSS 2.0 feed that lacked the link element altogether. I completely stand corrected As with any Web service that outputs RSS for search queries, I immediately integrated it into Gada.be results. You'll certainly find Ask.com listed on Gada.be today, but the links to results aren't working properly (a discovery pointed out by a few of our regular users). I looked at the source, and it seemed normal to me. When Shayne went to troubleshoot it this morning, he came up with an amazingly ironic discovery: "This may sound stupid, but when I tried to filter Ask.com to work using my methods... I came to find out, they're not putting a node in their RSS!!!" Okay, now that's just too funny. ROTFLMAO funny. No, what's funny is that I didn't realize the link element was optional - because to me, it would seem to be obligatory, and I can't help but wonder if other news aggregators had issues with Ask.com RSS feeds. I'll be sending a note to my friends at Ask.com immediately, as I can't imagine this being a difficult fix. Wasn't really a fix, but they did update it to include the link element rather quickly - speaking to the dedication and understanding that's happening behind the scenes over there. There ya go - Gada.be makes for an excellent troubleshooting tool sometimes (as it also discovered feed discrepancies in MSN's feeds a few months ago). Boo-ya! Here's a screen shot for posterity. Just to show I'm not completely nuts - only partially. If it's possible to be right and wrong at the same time, I did it.

Is Gada.be for You?

Chris — Tue, 30 May 2006 07:53:47 +0000

Is Gada.be for You? is a post from Chris Pirillo

I needed to do this sooner or later, so I've revamped our About page with the following sections, outlining Gada.be cases for eight types of users: Enthusiast, Mobile, Developer, Business, Casual, Researcher, Jobseeker, and Shopper. I'd consider this a comprehensive list, but I'm sure there are a few usage points and user types I missed. The About page also now includes an extensive list of Gada.be's resounding credibility in the blogosphere. The reasons for pointing out our supportive features will become evident to you in the Gnomedex timeframe. Do you have a usage case for Gada.be?

Gada.be for the Internet Enthusiast

A multitude of new searches come online every day, either general or specialized. There's no way to keep track of every single useful search engine out there. Gada.be continually adds new search engines to its mix - currently standing at 250+ separate data providers, each one providing an individual RSS feed for your query against their database.
It's challenging not to look beyond Technorati, Google, Flickr, and del.icio.us. There is a vast world of information past this quadumvirate - but not easily accessible in one place. Gada.be allows you to look past the resources you already know, easily finding new information you had previously no idea existed.
RSS is a great way to keep track of your favorite keywords. The problem is in (a) finding all the RSS searches out there and (b) managing all of them without overloading your news aggregator. Gada.be makes it easier to locate the Web resources with valid results through a single, simple query.
With the amount of RSS search subscriptions for keywords, some items are duplicated across several subscriptions. There's no simple filter taking what's out there in RSS and stripping out the duplicates in a single search subscription. Gada.be hopes to funnel your search subscriptions into a single feed - eliminating as many duplicates as possible along the way.
There's no quick way to find the feeds for your favorite search term en masse. With Gada.be, every search renders results inline - with the RSS feed for each provider clearly visible next to its title. Imagine having to visit ten separate sites and searching ten different times to get those ten feeds - or searching Gada.be once and getting all ten subscriptions up front and center.
"Web 2.0" is about user-generated content, but what happened to user-generated revenue from their own user-generated content? Gada.be accounts will solve this gross oversight.
OPML is the next "RSS," but few resources are taking advantage of its power today. Gada.be will help you quickly create an OPML file (on-the-fly) which contains your keyword(s) already infused into those search subscriptions. There's no quicker, easier, or more compatible way to track and organize your favorite terms.
There's currently no simple way to syndicate your "user-generated content" from other sites through a single feed or OPML reading list. Gada.be user accounts will help you organize and monetize your own content.
There are no indexes of search sites. If so, none of them provide direct links to the search subscriptions inline. Gada.be is creating an open index of search feeds - which nobody else is doing, including A9 (which hides some of its OpenSearch resources). We are constantly updating our list.
Search indexes can be dichotomized, or the query can be rolled into a single set of results - why use separate sites for either reason? You might remember to use a vertical search engine now and again, but are you going to remember where to go when it comes time to look? Gada.be has comprehensive general categories for you to scour at a moment's notice.
As more social bookmarking and tagging sites come online, it will become increasingly important to unveil results from every one of them on a single page. Gada.be has been doing this from day one, and more search providers are added on a regular basis with ease. Steve Rubel (in 'Search the Universe, Not Just the Galaxies') says "There's gold to be had for the provider that can scale to include every major social network. I would bank on folks like Gada.be."

Gada.be for the Mobile User

When you're on the go and in need of search results, you need to maximize time and minimize bandwidth. It typically takes a minimum two page loads before you can get to your results on a mobile device. Gada.be enables you to use your query as the subdomain (dog.gada.be), and specify the search category with a single letter (dog.gada.be/p).
When you search from a mobile phone, you typically use one search provider - which has a limited set of results (its own). Gada.be incorporates a few hundred search providers and funnels them into a clean interface.
Most of the Web's search engines aren't easily accessible from a mobile device, and certainly not through the a memorable and simple URL. Gada.be sounds strange at first, but it can be quite memorable (with a slight play on words). The more you use it, the more you see it, the more you remember it.
When you perform a search and the results aren't what you anticipated, it takes even longer to visit other search engines from a mobile device. When you can't find it the first time, you might give up because of this hassle. Having results from a variety of popular engines on the same page is terribly convenient. Gada.be really shines in the mobile space.
Many search services are not optimized for mobile platforms. Gada.be strips out excess markup and provides you with a quick-loading page that's chock-full of results.
Most search URLs are long, complicated, and difficult to key-in on a moment's notice. You can get to G-A-D-A-.-B-E by punching in 4-2-3-2-.-2-2-3-3 in a traditional cell phone keypad.
Providers would rather invest in a third-party service for results rather than roll their own for their own network of users. As such, we're making our service supremely simple to use from any mobile device - with the same, simple URLs that work just as easily from a desktop browser.
Why use a different search engine on your mobile device than you do on your desktop? Bring the power and breadth of search results into the small screen to alleviate frustration and time wasted. Gada.be works as well on the desktop as it does on a mobile device - no separate URLs to remember!

Gada.be for the Software Developer

The amount of server-side applications built to consume and subsequently render Web data is growing at a staggering number. XML is a fantastic format, but the fetching of said documents isn't always scalable - or readily available to be developed upon. Gada.be is built upon a memory and CPU efficient "fetch" client, running independently of the Gada.be service itself. This software can and will be licensed to partners.
How many search feeds are out there today, what can be done with the information each feed provides, and (most importantly) how can a company easily collect and organize that data? A single OPML file can do the trick, or at least provide a structure upon which an application can be built quickly. We generate search subscriptions in OPML on-demand. Upon these open XML outlines, other commercial, open source, and free Web applications may be built.
Who is linking back to your pages, and what's the relative value of those links? We have already developed an early-stage Web service that sits on top of the same "fetch" program that Gada.be relies on. The possibilities for development are limited by imagination, not resources or inefficient data retrieval mechanisms.
Enterprise-class data retrieval systems are not readily available for the startup developer. Each information collection effort has to be started from scratch. There are no easy, efficient platforms upon which information-remixing services may be built. Gada.be intends on delivering our "fetch" software to programmers eager to see their own Web services project come to life.
Two heads are usually better than one. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our own product to the benefit of its supporters. Collaborative efforts are welcomed, especially as we continue to move forward with the integration of more Web services and APIs.

Gada.be for the Business Professional

Brand-tracking online is still a complicated process. The bevy of search services doesn't make it any easier with the lack of filtering and consumption options. For some, the learning curve of a "news aggregator" is simply too much. Gada.be user accounts will make it simple for the average user to find and track their brands online through RSS or email digests. We're looking through hundreds of databases for them.
Many companies are looking for a business case for producing RSS feeds, possibly delaying the adoption of OpenSearch (or similar) feeds for their database of information. Who will list them and promote their results? Gada.be will include any search subscriptions provider, so long as we aren't already collecting the same data through another provider.
Established Internet brands are fighting for the user's attention, and new search providers need an extra edge on getting their name and set of results in front of more eyeballs. Gada.be levels the playing field in amazing ways. One search provider is now equal to another, judged not on their interface - but by the quality and relevance of their results. Now anybody can start their own social bookmarking service or blog search index - we'll include them alongside everybody else.
Many corporations provide their employees with some type of Internet-connected PDA, or these same employees may use such a device on their own. Gada.be was designed to return results swiftly from a mobile Web browser, including on the ever-popular Treo and Blackberry platforms.
This is the information economy. The information you uncover is valuable, especially if you found it where others could not (or knew not where to) seek it. Gada.be cross-references several hundred resources and pares those data sets down to a simple list of top results. Your co-workers, and competition, might wonder how you did it. Gada.be is your secret weapon.

Gada.be for the Casual Surfer

When you need to share a set of related links with a friend, there's no easy way to put them all together. Then, too, the URL may be too lengthy to transmit via mailing lists and other text-based media. Gada.be gives you search results short URLs that won't break in email.
How do you know who's really talking about you on the Internet? Who's linking to your blog? Relying on one or two services for that information will never give you the full picture. For a comprehensive set of results, you just can't beat Gada.be.
Most metasearch services aren't open. They collect results from a few search engines, but don't give you an easy way to subscribe to those results through the original provider. What you might need is a gateway to find information or RSS search subscriptions easily - what you might need is Gada.be.
Metasearch services pick one or two vendors and stay that way indefinitely. New information providers are seldom added, minimizing the continual link discovery possibilities. The Gada.be index is constantly being updated and upgraded so that you're always working with the freshest information.
You might use one social bookmarking service, but your friend might use another. Where can you view both sets of results for a tag in the same place - mixed in with other potentially relevant information? Gada.be splashes indexes together so you only have to visit one page to see results from more than a single provider.
Are you looking for a certain image, but can't seem to find the one you need? There are dozens of photo-based indexes out there, but no easy way to get all of the results with the other navigational clutter stripped away. Our Photos category is one of the most direct ways to browse the images that match your search term.
It can be difficult to navigate different sub-categories of a search term. Without a clean interface, you can often get lost amid a myriad of options. Gada.be is clean and uncluttered for your sanity.
The user never wants to upgrade or remember where to go to find something - that should be the responsibility of the search provider. You shouldn't have to keep up with the hundreds of search providers on your own; Gada.be brings new providers to users without intervention.

Gada.be for the Research Community

Knowing where to search is a common frustration; Google doesn't have everything. Even so, having to query multiple sites with the same query is tiresome and repetitive. Gada.be gives you everything in one shot - and lets you access the RSS search URLs from anywhere via OPML.
Serendipity can be more interesting than planned direction. With information, it's not always easy to see past a specific provider. By providing an open space through which more search providers may share the limelight, we're offering a wealth of destinations that otherwise may have never been discovered.
If users typically only view the first ten results for a query, then why not present them with sets of 10 results per engine at the same time? The description is still there, placed inside the link's title tag (and viewable by hovering over a headline link). This way, a quick scan down a page will give you what you need - further opportunity to dig deeper.
Tabbed browsing has been utilized by academia for several years. Being able to manage Web pages from within the same program makes it easier to save multiple bookmarks for presentations and posterity. Gada.be was built with tabbed browsing in mind. You can scroll down the list of headlines, click the more revealing ones for perusal, and save out that set of pages for later reading.
Sometimes, knowing where to find something is the most challenging part of the greater search problem. No single search engine has it all, but one metasearch service may be able to show you many of them. If you have a general category idea, Gada.be gives you a better chance of finding the relevant information than trying any one single search provider online.

Gada.be for the Job Seeker

When you're looking for a new career path, there are likely a few online "job finder" brands that spring to mind. We've put all of them together under the "Jobs" category - so that with a single query, you can find and subscribe to all of the feeds that are relevant to your job search.
It's likely that your current employer knows about all the major job search engines out there. But do they know about Gada.be yet? Probably not, so searching for a new position through our service is a way to hide your intentions in plain sight. Plus, the "boss key" is merely a category click away.
Which job search services have the most relevant results for your position? There's no easier way of finding out than to perform a quick and simple query through Gada.be. What's more, you can take the OPML file and import it into your news aggregator for future tracking across all the job search engines we list in our index.
Looking for a job takes time. The more results you have to choose from, the better your chances of landing a position will be. You can limit yourself to one or two job search services, or you can keep an eye on as many as possible through Gada.be.
How many job search providers have a mobile browser optimized experience? If so, can you get to any two of them with relative ease, perform the same query, and get results back before your 30 minute lunch break is over? Gada.be can do it for you quicker - we promise.

Gada.be for the Web Shopper

With Gada.be's dedicated "Shopping" category, it's easy to key in a product name and discover detailed information and pricing for what you're looking for. We're collecting ecommerce data from multiple sources and collecting those direct links for you.
Comparison shopping engines work well on their own, but why not get results from both comparison engines and your traditional e-tailers at the same time? The more you know, the more you'll potentially save.
Making a decision to buy something online is easy to do, but what happens after you've made that decision should be dedicated research. You should know what people are saying about the product you intend to purchase - you should know who carries that product, too. The big brands are listed in our Shopping category, so you're never more than a click away from familiarity - while branching out and discovering who else might fit the bill (so to speak).
Search product names, brands, prices, stores - you name it. If you're not ready to buy, quickly flip over to the "Blog" category to see if anybody's been writing about it (with good or bad reviews). Then, try the "News" category to see if it's received any positive or negative press coverage recently. Gada.be is a powerful online shopping tool!
The obstacles of using a traditional (generalized) search engine is that you can't drill down easily to what you need: a tool to help you hone your shopping choices. We've even created a separate Amazon category that works better (and is more comprehensive) than Amazon.com's search form itself!

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

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VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.