by alec on August 31, 2007
Hugh Macleod writes that Microsoft should buy Facebook because "all search begins and ends with people, not algorithms". I don't know where this diagram came from, but it expresses the evolution of search pretty perfectly — from portal to search engine to social network.
One of Hugh's commentors took issue with his view, stating that search and recommendation are not necessarily the same thing. Surely they are similar. Google's relevance algorithm is a voting algorithm based on how many other sites link. It's a mathematical model of the meatspace recommendation algorithm that Facebook represents.
by alec on August 31, 2007
Andy Abramson's latest addition to VoIP Watch is a daily News and Notes column. At the end of today's, he writes:
Dan York highlights the RebTel Facebook app. Big whoop. All the RebTel app is one more layer on top of a complicated way to make a cheap call yawn…I'm more excited about Pat from Roam4Free's list of FaceBook apps PSST… Alec Saunders tells me that the iotum team have something that will really be relevant for the Facebook crowd….Check his blog out next week….Obviously Alec knows that announcing after Labor Day is a smarter idea. I mean, the bulk of Facebook is still in college, and that starts next week. This week those at college are looking for a new face and hook up. Not an app that makes it hard to hook up. I think Alec has that figured out too.
Iotum's effort is still under wraps, but we're going to be doing some load testing over the weekend. If you're interested in helping us out, drop me email at alec@iotum.com. Otherwise, enjoy your Labour Day Weekend.
