Weird. This was also the subject of my final year project at University. My AI creation was written in C on Unix and used the curses package.
However, my effort wasn't so accomplished, had severe problems when a piece was crowned and didn't implement the 'huffing' rule correctly.
Having said that, it did beat me on four occasions.
OK. I couldnt resist any longer. Scobles recent post about this killer Google Reader application forced me to sign up for yet another pointless, short-lived, social network, Web 2.0 application - Facebook.
I was keen to preserve my 'Johnny Come Lately' status and was relieved to find, coincidentally, that Donncha had signed up just ahead of me so I am now confirmed as the very last person in the world to sign up for Facebook.
Scoble's right. Mario Romero's Google Reader application is blissfully simple and lets you browse friends' shared items and aggregates the most popular shared items. Once it gets enough traction, this application will indeed be 'Digg for intelligent people' (and me).
Facebook is better than LinkedIn because it's more human and it's more fun. That senior partner at Accenture with a tedious, dry 6 page CV can now be seen half-naked, pole dancing in Bangkok, juggling firesticks, laughing and simultaneously drinking a colourful cocktail through a novelty straw.
Facebook is aimed at a teenage audience and people who snigger at 'Poke Norman !' and I do have some difficulty with people writing graffiti on my 'wall'.
For example, some cheeky Irish builder wrote this: 'Urgently needs re-pointing. Can do you a deal if you get your drive done at the same time.'
Lyrics plugin for Media Player and Winamp.
Although you will spoil the Reading festival for your immediate neighbour with your loud, tuneless, intoxicated karaoke at least you will know the words.
On the face of it, the recent changes to the interface to Google Docs and Spreadsheets look trivial and superficial.
Googles official announcement is brief and understated but Google Blogoscoped hits the nail on the head (twice):
'The file listing now resembles a more traditional view in the style of, say, Windows Explorer.'
...that ordinary mortals understand and are comfortable with.
'Google D&S looks more and more like an office application.'
In fact, Google Docs looks and performs much better than the most popular office application. I recently upgraded three home PC's to Office 2007. I think Microsoft Office is a superb suite of professional applications (Word, Excel, OneNote) and represents great value for money as £85 buys licenses for use on three separate PC's.
Inevitably though, my wife hated the new Word interface (shock of the new) because 'everything had changed' and she could not easily locate the old 'Print' button or even 'File-Print'.
My wife doesn't use Google Docs and now she has mastered Word 2007, she probably never will.
However, if she ever does, it will be easy to teach her how to migrate. If she wants to print a document, she clicks the 'Print' button or the pretty picture of a printer. This is completely intuitive and obvious. She won't have to call the Helpdesk and interrupt the Champions League Final just to print two copies of her CV.
If my wife wants to delete a document, she either selects the document and clicks 'Delete'. Alternatively, if she has successfully completed my 3 days 'Advanced Course' (a bargain at £150) and is officially certified, she simply drags the document to the dustbin. Two choices. Both quick, easy and obvious.
Another occasional task my wife needs help with is finding her CV. She keeps all 178 documents in 'My Documents'. She doesn't archive files by year. She doesn't remember that she last updated the CV in May 2003 nor does she know whether the document is named 'CV', 'Curriculum Vitae' or 'CV-Full' or 'CV-May-2003' .
She can't fathom out the search interface from within Word (nor can I) and does not know that you can search for Word documents from a completely different application - Windows Explorer. She simply wants to find her CV. From within Word. Quickly.
In Google Docs, she types 'CV' in the 'Search' box and is offered all the available possibilities with intelligent auto-complete.
This isn't patronising. This is all about usability, interface design and mass market appeal.
If Auntie Beryl writes yet another letter to her bank, she simply drags it to the 'Letters' folder. She doesn't need to know that this isn't really a folder and the document is now tagged as 'Letter'.
Uncle Harry doesn't need to know the definition and intricacies of folksonomies. He doesn't care that, strictly speaking, this document could also be multiply tagged 'Bank' and 'Personal'. He just wants to type the letter, run a spell checker, quickly print the thing and make the 5 o'clock collection.
I honestly believe, in the future, this seemingly trivial change will be viewed as the turning point when Google changed from a marginal, Web 2.0 application and started to offer a credible alternative to Microsoft Office (for personal but not corporate users - yet). This was the day that non Web 2.0 users can now be introduced to Docs and actually understand and use it.
Ironically, the revamped Google Docs interface is very reminiscent of the Web based interface of Office 2007 which is another excellent software product and unbelievably close to the desktop equivalent.
The Safari Web browser on Macintosh currently accounts for a paltry 4.34% of visits to this blog. It will be interesting to see whether this figure increases now Apple have released a version of Safari for Windows.
I've downloaded Safari and while I like the fonts and appearance, I probably use too many Firefox add-ons to make the change permanently.
I usually hate posts that start
Apologies in advance but I am going to be offline for 10 days because...
Mainly because the author inevitably pops up the very next day without any further explanation.
Apologies in advance but I am going to be offline for 10 days because the postman delivered a package today. Well, more like a suspect device, actually.
A couple of months ago, I foolishly purchased a digital camcorder and now face the unenviable task of transferring the footage to DVD. I have procrastinated for long enough. My long list of excuses is exhausted. 'No - we can't simply to transfer to VHS tape because we now own a digital camcorder. What on earth would the neighbours think ?'
I thought I had stumbled upon the perfect excuse. Not one of our modern computers is equipped with a Firewire port to connect the Sony camcorder to the PC. But no. Even that was rejected so I was forced to research all the options and finally purchase a Firewire PCI card and cable.
This means I am going to have to open the lid on my computer. However, I can approach this particular task with a great deal of confidence. Last week, I surmounted this hurdle to check that my aged computer has an available PCI slot. It only took me 25 minutes.
So, after I have finished work tonight, if I am not too tired, as long as no-one invites me to the pub and if there is nothing on the telly, I won't be donning a anti-static wrist strap but touching wood (and the metal PC case). However, it is likely that I'll still manage to blow the power supply.
The recent storm in the anti-blogosphere about Google acquiring Feedburner, the frightening prospect of Google placing ads in your precious feeds, capturing all your personal data, monitoring your every movement (online and offline) and logging your brainwaves into the Google data warehouse is starting to irritate me.
Despite the corporate motto, please remember Google is evil and 2084 is just around the corner, folks. Be aware that Google just announced a partnership with global law enforcement agencies to upload all CCT footage to YouTube.
Thankfully, some intelligent people are able to distance themselves from the hype and present a more balanced viewpoint.
Another irritant is idiots bleating, ironically enough, in Google Groups about the lack of monthly reports in the revamped Analytics and deficiencies in Reader.
If you don't like Analytics V2, go back to Site Meter to track your e-commerce site. Let me know how you get on.
If you can't stand Reader, shut up and go back to Bloglines and moan about that instead.
If you can no longer tolerate the unreliability and limitations of Docs and Spreadsheets, upgrade to Office 2007 and use Word and Excel. The choice is yours.
I use a lot of Google products (Gmail, Reader, Calendar, Analytics, Notebook, Desktop, Bookmarks, IG, Docs, Groups, Webmaster, Adsense oh and, err that Search thingy). My view is that all are excellent, innovative software products and, best of all, completely free of charge.
I really don't care that Google has stored every single keyword related to my searches from October 1991.
I honestly don't care that Google has copies of my homework excuses and letters to the Inland Revenue. Believe me, the contents are really not that earth shattering.
I truly don't care that Google has copies of every single email I have ever sent and received because, surprisingly, I have nothing to hide. I only wish Google could get behind corporate firewalls and retrieve the remainder as I have lost some magnificent blogging material over the years.
If you are genuinely worried that Google is going to tell you what to 'eat for tea', maybe you should do the world a favour and start a protest on behalf of all Interweb users by going on an indefinite hunger strike. Immediately.
If you are a child molester or jumped the turnstiles last night in Athens, then, by all means, please disable all cookies, use Ask.com or give your computer to charity.
As for me, I am putting my money where my mouth in. The next purchase in my SIPP will be the purchase of £7,000 of GOOG stock. Tomorrow.
Many years ago, in a parallel universe, I created a Web page that proclaimed:
'The fastest, most comprehensive Web search engine - AltaVista'
With the increasing domination of Google, it really is difficult to remember life back in the days when AltaVista was the only search engine in town and you were even considering sinking 500 quid of your hard-earned into the rumoured IPO. Maybe one day, another startup will come along and usurp Google's #1 position but somehow, I sincerely doubt it.
And if that search engine company turns out to be Ask, I hereby pledge to eat my underpants and buy everyone a season ticket at Manchester City (with complimentary powder blue and white scarf).
Duncan Riley of TechCrunch already posted an excellent summary on Ask's current, abysmal marketing campaign in the UK.
Listen, if you want to get ordinary people to use your search engine, don't use some subtle, understated, pretentious campaign ('Evolve Your Search') with pictures of Neanderthal man, costing millions of dollars, dreamt up by new media luvvies, wearing black shirts and no ties.
Ordinary people don't say: 'Ooh - that looks very interesting indeed. I wonder if that advert is a cryptic reference to a new, exciting search engine technology which will undoubtedly to help me find relevant stuff quickly on the Interweb. The Ask brand has now been subconsciously planted in my mind and I simply must remember to discuss this topic with the lads at work tomorrow.'
Ordinary people say: 'God there's some rubbish adverts on TV these days. Fancy a cup of tea, love ?'
Believe it or not, technically minded people have already heard of Live, Ask and Google and all those niche search engine players (incorporating Web 2.0 semantics).
Believe it or not, those technically minded people are in a tiny minority. They don't know it but they are.
You are not trying to get their attention. There's no point. They look down their nose at you. The only time they use Ask.com is the final choice to determine how many inbound links their tiresome blog has this week.
No, you are trying to get the attention of millions of desperate housewives, builders and silver surfers who have never heard of Google and have to ask their 12 year old son to dig up that Web site for holiday cottages in the Dordorgne. These people don't use IE7 and type their searches directly into the address bar.
A much better campaign would have been:
'Trying to find something on the Internet ? Go to ask.com.'
Black text on white background. Short and to the point. Quicker and therefore considerably cheaper and it probably would have delivered better results than this report from Hitwise suggests .
Well, let's face it - my campaign couldn't have been much worse; 3.69% market share and a staggering 13% down year on year). Come on Ask, only another 62% before you overtake Google.
So, don't Ask, just Google. Like everyone else.
Not content with writing excellent books, helping Oracle customers, maintaining his blog, presenting at technical seminars, traveling around the globe, family commitments and managing asktom.oracle.com, the workaholic Tom Kyte has now released a streaming media player.