Cuil – Not so cool November 16, 2008
Posted by Arup Deb in Techbytes.Tags: CUIL, Google, Microsoft, Search Engine, Technology
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Cuil is the newest giant on the web search block. Well it has been around for a little over three months now. With 120 billion pages indexed, which is three times as many as Google and ten times as many as Microsoft (as claimed by them on their site), Cuil pronounced as COOL, at the first glance seems to be making good inroads. However, I personally feel that Cuil (www.cuil.com) has to make some quick proliferation among the internet users before anything else, as I have hardly come across people who do even know anything about this so called cool search engine, though I wonder how much of the new traffic would get hooked on to it for a sustained period of time.
Contrary to what Cuil has been claiming, it may have indexed tons of pages, but what is the use if a visitor’s objective is not met. A word of caution, even if you are inclined to use the search engine, do so only if you have good amount of patience and time on your hand. Do not rely on Cuil if you are hard pressed for time and in a kind of rush to get the desired search results, as while you are searching through the maze of irrelevant results, there could be a high probability that you may miss your flight, may even get delayed for that all important business meeting or falter on any other job that you need to accomplish. You would do pretty well by sticking to the good old Google.
I find Cuil to be pretty dumb in its analytics, unlike Google it cannot process queries the way you want it to be queried. You may key in your search query, any which way you want and there is a very high probability that Google serves you with the desired result, but certainly not the case with Cuil.
Going forward with their features, they undoubtedly have got quite a few innovative ones. But, I would not even like to delve into those, because, as a user my first need is to get the basics right, jazzed up things can come later. What they claim to be relevant search results, may not be relevant for some other person. I have a feeling that they probably rushed to the market with an untested product. There could have been pressures from their funding partners to increase the speed to market, but how does it help? The product needs some immediate attention from their creators, as the users are a ruthless community, they would dump it without giving an iota of chance to recoup. It is high time that they improvise and moreover the luck is on their side, as not too many of the net users are really aware of them. So better luck with the next version.
I am envious of Obama November 9, 2008
Posted by Arup Deb in Worldbytes.Tags: India, Obama, Obama Girl, USA
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Barrack Obama has finally got elected as the President of the United States of America, after months of hard work and his unwavering faith in the electorate. There were moments of nail biting contests between him and McCain, but eventually the result has proved that the American people have reposed their complete trust in him, by giving him the mandate for bringing about the much desired change; a change that would work for the overall development and betterment of the country.
It was a mass following for Obama, cutting across colors, socio-economic layers, religions and regions. It was not the madness of the people that made the wave flow in favour of Obama. It was a well thought out decision of the people of America, of having someone whom not only they, but the entire world would love and be accepted.
Of the entire fan following, one person that is Amber Lee Ettinger or the Obama Girl knew for sure that Obama is a highly deserving guy for the White House and he would eventually be sweeping the Presidential election; hence paid him the well deserved tribute in the form of creating the lovely video that is “I got a crush on Obama” (Here is the link to the song for, those who are yet to watch the same: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU - the voice behind the video however is of Leah Kauffman.)
Now shifting the scene from the US to India, my homeland, I am absolutely envious of Obama for the reason that I do not see anyone, in the current lot of the Prime Ministerial candidates in India, who can match upto anywhere closer to him. The national elections in India are just a few months away and the political parties must be busy in finalizing or at least pondering about their Prime Ministerial candidates, probably without even giving an iota of thought on who could be the person that would have the thrustfullness, vision, drive and might to take the country to the next levels. It is not that India does not have the kind of talent that is required to steer a big and growing country like ours, but the political will and courage is certainly missing.
I am envious of Obama due to the fact that our leaders have not shown their honesty to the electorate, while dealing with pressing domestic and international issues.
And, I am also envious of Obama for the reason why no singer has ever sung a song as good as the “I got a crush……..” for any of our top leaders. Well, I believe the reason to be very simple that young singers like to sing for younger and charismatic leaders, like to sing for those whose vision for the country & the countrymen is as clear as glass, like to sing for leaders who do not mind calling a spade as a spade, like to sing for leaders who are not thrusted upon the people.
All envies apart, I am hopeful that one day we too would be having a leader, who would be loved by all, a leader for whom Anushka Manchandas and Sonu Nigams would love to sing. That day would certainly come soon. It is not at all a tall order for a country that has successfully sent a mission to the moon, has a huge pool of technical & managerial resource, has a sound education system, a vibrant and growing economy. “Yes We Can”.
