Off to School…

This summer has been great, and blogging has made it all the better. But the time has come for me to say goodbye and wish all who’ve come the best. It’s off to school for me. Perhaps one day I’ll revive DebaterBrawl in the spirit of free speech. For now, I’m sure there’s another zealot just like me willing to run the torch.

-Chris

Google Knol is out and ready to bury Wikipedia

Google meets Wikipedia

KNOL a unit of knowledge is a website platform for authoritative articles on specific topics for people to search and review. The idea behind a knol is to empower authorship so that readers can identify and cross reference their sources to the truth.

The website comes as a direct competitor of Wikipedia the online encyclopedia (of unnamed sources). After some quick searches people would normally run, I found plenty helpful how-to articles on broader topics, but few informative pieces on specific searches.

I suspect this is because Knol doesn’t have the sheer bulk of users that Wikipedia enjoys to have that reaching grasp on virtually any thought-up topic. For now, it seems that Knol’s niche is it’s how to… as opposed to Wikipedia’s what is… search results.

Whether this niche grows and rises to bury Wikipedia remains to be seen. It’s worth noting, however, that anything to do with Google in the past has usually met with instant success and widespread popularity. And with it’s motto, “Just write, let Google do the rest,” users may find Knol and it’s Google-friendly tools to be a satisfying alternative to Wikipedia.

May the battle of the Wiki-Knol rage on.

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Al Gore Places Infant Son In Rocket To Escape Dying Planet

Young Gore sets out for his new home, where the sky is clear, the water is clean, and there are no Republicans.

The Onion is at it again, peeling back the layers and sharing with all. Portrayed in an apocalyptic world, Gore places his fictitious son in a rocket in hopes that he will be accepted as man’s last clean gasp for survival. In good ol’ comic book fashion, the narrative of a cast away politician is told, and in it, a republican fighting, carbon reducing superhero is born.

READ GORE’S EPIC STORY>>

The “Mojave” Experiment

What do people think of Windows Vista when they don’t know it’s Windows Vista? Microsoft took it to the streets disguising Windows Vista as codename “Mojave,” the “next Microsoft OS,” so regular people who’ve never used Windows Vista could see what it can do–and decide for themselves.

WATCH THE MOJAVE EXPERIMENT>>

California Earthquake Largest Since 2004

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — A magnitude-5.4 earthquake has struck just east of Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

According to the USGS archives, it’s the biggest California earthquake since September 28, 2004, when a 6.0 quake was recorded. It’s too soon to tell if any major structural damage was done, but the shake was strong enough to wake iReporter Danny Casler, 28, of Huntington Beach after recuperating from surgery.

The Associated Press states the earthquake disrupted phone service near its epicenter, but nothing more.

Fortunately, no injuries have been reported. But the story gets eerie when taking into account a study released by the U.S. Geological Survey last week confirming California’s more than 99% chance of having a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake within the next 30 years.

A 5.8 magnitude quake is considered by the USGS to be “moderate,” which can cause slight damage to buildings and others structures. Let’s hope that is as shaky as it gets.

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Five reasons Cuil won’t kill Google…yet

Here’s a follow up article published by The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch on Cuil and why it won’t kill Google, yet.

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The Google Killer!

The launch of Cuil search engine was announced on the front cover of Blogrunner (bringing news at blog speed). I found the site to be a novelty. The company claims they’ve found a way to reduce indexing costs, which means they run their search engine a lot cheaper than Google does with supposedly better search results.

At first I was skeptical, but after reading how Cuil operates, it makes a lot of sense. Rather than relying on artificial intelligence to try and figure out what sentences mean, Cuil uses semantics and word association to create better search results. I even typed in my name to see what happens, and it produced my online resume.

Google is still king. But Cuil (pronounced “cool”) could become a better alternative. It’s interactive display is far more useful than Google’s generated search lists, and it’s compatible with Firefox, making it particularly handy.

All in all, I give it 4 out of 5 stars. The only reason I don’t give it 5 out of 5 is because Google is still bigger.

The Parody of Politics

I think politics is excellent fodder for parody making, and so I laud Jib Jab for their sardonic brilliance. It just shows that the only way to take politics seriously is to recognize how ridiculous it can be. Humans are natural political animals, so the only way to stop us from acting on our preternatural instinct to kill, is by humbling ourselves with sarcasm and humiliation. Thank God this political campaign season has peaked America’s interest, it was about time we woke up in our feces to dig ourselves out. So power to the people, down with the establishment–a throwback to late 1960’s zeal.

Leave a comment and Start a Brawl!

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So It’s Time For Some Campaign’n!

JibJab's 2008 Campaign'n

Anyone who remembers JibJab‘s hilarious rendition of the 2004 presidential election between Bush and Kerry will greatly appreciate the political subtleties exploited in this year’s campaign parody. We’re always told to be informed and politically active, maybe we can finally live up to those expectations, only I’m sure this isn’t what they had in mind.

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WordPress.com Political Blogger Alliance

World’s oldest blogger dies in Australia

SYDNEY, Australia (AP)

World's oldest blogger dies in Australia

Olive Riley, a 108-year-old Australian woman who was promoted as the world’s oldest blogger, has died two weeks after making her last post about “singing a happy song,” her great-grand son and her online forum said.

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