Bing and Google Squared?

Want to compare two new search engines, Bing and Google Squared, read the
University of Minnesota Law Library Blawg.

Bing

As our Bing cherries ripen on our cherry trees that were covered with blooms earlier this Spring, I am looking forward to trying Microsoft's new Bing search engine.

I like the name Bing. The name is reminiscent of the sweet, dark red cherries that we love.

Microsoft announced the new Bing.com search engine on May 28, 2009, at

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/may09/05-28NewSearchPR.mspx.

Bing is being described as a "decision search engine". I look forward to trying Bing.com and compare the results with Google, Yahoo, Carrot, Pandia, and the many other search engines, I use.

Trade Shows

For trade show information, a guide to trade shows, exhibits and conventions, trade shows by state, designing a trade show booth and a calendar of shows, see the Trade Show Handbook at http://www.tradeshowhandbook.com/

Google vs Social Networking

I never considered that Twitter and Facebook, social networking sites, might become competitors to Google. Read the recent post entitled "How Twitter and Facebook Now Compete with Google" at http://blogmaverick.com/2009/05/15/how-twitter-and-facebook-now-compete-with-google/#comments

I chat with my 16 year old nephew using Facebook. Per an unofficial Facebook source, soon we will have video chat - see blog post at http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/05/facebook-video-chat/

Swine Flu, H1N1 2009

Keep up with the latest on the Swine Flu (H1N1) with the following web sites:

H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) from the U.S. CDC U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pandemicflu.gov

Influenza Virus Resource from the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information).


Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response (EPR) from the World Health Organization (WHO) web site.

Check the Official Google Blog: Adding search power to public data

Official Google Blog: Adding search power to public data is a potentially very useful, interesting, and truly incredible feature. Imagine the possibilities for instant comparisons as a picture (in this case a graph) is worth a million words.

The Wallstrip Edge - by Howard Lindzon

The WallStrip Edge by Howard Lindzon emphasizes the importance of understanding trends to make money, specifically how to buy and sell stock in our shrinking world.

Trends are very important to those of us in the information profession and any book that helps one identify secrets to discovering new trends is a most worthwhile read for the information professional.

Information specialists often identify trends, report trends, research trends, predict trends, and create them! Trends are born, reborn, end, and die.

Lindzon reviews past trends and suggests how we might easily view trends in a business, sector, or country. He reviews popular web sites, blogs, and browsers for trend tracking, and includes the new roles of social networking. Lindzon's book is centered on stocks but the information he provides is not limited to the stock market as Lindzon is a student of the study of human nature, society, the global economy, the importance of networks, our past, and our future.

Lindzon suggests we continuously quick scan technology, headlines on the web, and "hot buttons" to keep us in the loop and up-to-date.

The book is easy and fun to read. Lindzon includes a "To-Do List" at the end of each chapter for our review. Lindzon reviews the importance of doing our "homework" in any endeavor.

Lindzon echoes the importance and power of information and includes information as the first in his list of everlasting trends. He states that "information is the most important everlasting trend because information gives people power."

Lindzon's four categories of everlasting trends include:

1. Information
2. Vices
3. War & Defense
4. Health, Wellness & Vanity

I hope that my husband will turn off the television (as Lindzon suggests) and read this inspiring book that I found in the "new nonfiction section" of our public library.

Howard Linzon's web site Wallstrip.com states it is "where pop culture meets stock culture."

Image Search Engines - Imagery

I can not believe how quickly the prototype search engine "Imagery" found images on my research topic. Almost every image was relevant. I could limit the images by adding additional terms in the search box.

Per the complicated question I have been working on as an information specialist searching for particular images, containing certain words, Imagery is another database that I am adding to my "to search list" for Rosa S. Raskin & Associates, LLC.

The search engine is user friendly with useful features. It quickly produced 100 relevant images on my topic. I especially like the option of clicking on the thumbnail to increase the size of the image so that I could read a label on a product. The enlarged image appears on the bottom of the screen so that I may compare the enlarged image with the search results (thumbprints) on the screen.

Intersection of Nanotechnology & Material Sciences

Nanotechnology and the material sciences are of great interest to me. The intersection of these two areas holds promise for innovative technologies.

Much research is centered on drug delivery. Recent news concerning a new type of non-toxic nanoparticle drug delivery system that breaks down and is excreted by the kidneys after delivering the drug to the target is most exciting.

For more information see

Biodegradable luminescent porous silicon nanoparticles for in vivo applications

The April 6, 2009, news report about this discovery, includes a picture of the nanoparticle, see MaterialsToday online - Nanoparticles deliver the goods and leave without a trace. The news report reviews the research in which doxorubicin was used to target a tumor, without any toxicity to major organs of the mouse.

The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

If you are ready for optimism about our world and the future of business, read and reread The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson. Anderson's book was recommended to me as a must read by my entrepreneurial mentor, Dr. William R. Sharp.

Anderson's work is the result of two years of research, interviews, and includes much analysis of the relatively new companies building on the concept of the "long tail".

What is the "long tail"?

Using Anderson's insight, the "long tail" is infinite, unlimited, unrestricted, abundant, "choice" and much more.

The book is relevant for those of us specializing in the dynamic field of research and information gathering, as well as those working in other business sectors.

Anderson includes insights into our internet-based economies, emphasizes the explosion of choices as a result of a digital world, and sums up how the future differs from the past in the subtitle of the book:

"Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More"