Bypassing site’s visual design

Richard MacManus & Joshua Porter published on May 4, 2005 an article titled "Web 2.0 for Designers" in which they claim that

The Web of documents has morphed into a Web of data. We are no longer just looking to the same old sources for information. Now we’re looking to a new set of tools to aggregate and remix microcontent in new and useful ways… These tools, the interfaces of Web 2.0, will become the frontier of design innovation… Because content flows across the Web in RSS feeds and can be remixed along the way, Web designers must now think beyond sites and figure out how to brand the content itself.

Wikipedia is considered to be a classic Web 2.0 tool because it is a peer production, because it has an open code and because it is open for every user to edit. It shatters the unique honored status of the encyclopedian and gives each one of us the opportunity to say: hey! I wrote an entry!
But there is one crucial aspect in which Wikipedia is old fashioned Web 1.0 and that's the macro-content structure of the articles. Each article has a beginning and an end, premises and conclusions, an old-encyclopedia style flow. Mini-QTpedia
is going to change all that. It will take relevant excerpts from few articles and put them on the same page. In case a keyword is shared by many articles it will bring all the contexts in which it appears. The user will have no clue how the design of these excerpts looked on Wikipedia, were there pictures? Were there headings? Were there suggestions for further research?
even the name of the Wikipedian will disappear and in order to find out all these elements the user will have to use the link that heralds each QTpedia excerpt.

For example I downloaded QT/search results for Wikipedia titles about cats that start with the letters D-F.

Results for Domestic longhaired cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_longhaired_cat - Domestic longhaired cat
o A domestic longhaired cat is the proper name for any cat with medium or long fur, if it is not a pedigreed member of a recognised breed.They make excellent family pets for people who are prepared to give their coat the extra care it needs.
Results for Domestic shorthaired cat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_shorthaired_cat - Domestic shorthaired cat
o A Domestic shorthaired cat is the proper name for a shorthaired cat that does not have a pedigree or belong to a recognised cat breed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebelung - Nebelung
o The breed was created in the early 1980s by Cora Cobb, with the two foundation cats being Elsa, a black domestic shorthaired cat, and an unnamed blue domestic shorthair.The first mating of these two cats produced five black or blue shorthaired kittens as well as Siegfried (born 1984) who was blue with medium long hair. The second mating produced five black or blue shorthaired kittens, as well as a black longhair female and Brunhilde (born 1985), a blue longhaired female.

Search results for Eurasian Lynx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Lynx Eurasian Lynx
o The Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx) is a medium-sized cat of European and Siberian forests, where it is one of the major predators.It has yellow fur with black markings; the pattern of the fur is variable: lynxes with heavily spotted fur may exist close to conspecifics with plain fur.
o Status of the Eurasian Lynx in various countries and regions:
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe Europe
o Other important European carnivores are Eurasian lynx, European wild cat, foxes (especially the red fox), jackal and different species of martens, hedgehogs, different species of snakes (vipers, grass snake...), different birds (owls, hawks and other birds of prey)
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynx Lynx
o Lynx or Eurasian Lynx, Lynx lynx or Lynx borealis
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slovenia Slovenia
o Hunting these animals is a long tradition and is well described in the book The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (Slava Vojvodine Kranjske) (1689), written by Janez Vajkard Valvasor (1641-1693). Some important carnivores include the Eurasian lynx (reintroduced to Kočevje area in 1973), European wild cat, fox (especially the red fox), and jackal.There are also hedgehogs, and different species of marten, snakes (viper, grass snake, etc.). As of March 2005, Slovenia also has a small population of wolves and about 400 brown bears.
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Lynx Iberian Lynx
o The Spanish Lynx (Lynx pardinus, sometimes Felis pardina) or Iberian Lynx is sometimes classified as a subspecies of the Eurasian Lynx, but most authorities regard it as a separate species.While the Eurasian Lynx bears rather pallid markings, the Spanish Lynx has distinctive, leopard-like spots.It is furthermore smaller than its northern relative and hence hardly able to hunt animals larger than hares, and rabbits are its main prey. However, when hungry, the Spanish Lynx may attack young deer or mouflons.

Search results for Exotic cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exotic_cat Exotic cat
o Image:Cream tabby exotic cat.jpg Cream tabby male exotic cat

Search results for Felidae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felidae Felidae
o All cats are members of the family Felidae.A genetic anomaly that prevents them from tasting sweetness [1]may be responsible for felines being the most strictly carnivorous of the nine families in the order Carnivora. The cats' closest relatives are thought to be the other families in their branch of the carnivore evolutionary tree: the civets, hyenas, and mongooses.
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felidae_%28novel%29 Felidae (novel)
o Felidae is a novel by German-Turkish writer Akif Pirinçci.The main character is a cat named Francis who investigates the murders of several cats in a big city. There are currently 5 books in the Felidae series: Felidae, Felidae II (also known as Felidae on the Road), Cave Canem, Das Duell and Salve Roma, of which only the first 2 have been translated into English.
o The first Felidae book was also made into a German animated film in 1994, directed by Michael Schaack.A version dubbed into English exists, however due to its mature content it was not imported for North American audiences.
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivora Carnivora
o Ailuridae Canidae Felidae Herpestidae Hyaenidae Mephitidae Mustelidae Nandiniidae Odobenidae Otariidae Procyonidae Ursidae Viverridae
o Family Felidae: cats; 37 species in 18 genera
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat Cat
o "Felidae World - Catnip and Grasses for Cats."

Search results for Feral cat
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral Feral
o Such cats are often referred to as "barn" cats. A local population of feral cats living in an area and using a common food source such as food scavenged from dumpsters or supplementary feeding by humans is called a feral cat colony.Kittens learn to be feral from their mothers or through bad experiences. Kittens under six months of age can be socialized (see socialization), while cats older than six months are very hard to socialize.
o The feral adults are often killed or euthanized due to the difficulty of socializing them to the point of adoptability. More recently, the "Trap-Neuter-Return" method has been used in many locations as a means of humanely managing the feral cat population.
o Alley Cat Allies, a feral cat advocacy organizationde:Cimarrón
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cat_colony Feral cat colony
o A feral cat colony is a local population of feral cats living in a specific location and using a common food source such as food scavenged from dumpsters or supplementary feeding by humans.Feral cat populations and colonies are located worldwide, including parts of the world where the domestic house cat is an introduced species, such as the Americas and Australia.
o Feral cat colonies form when irresponsible humans intentionally abandon their unsterilized pets or allow them to wander off, or if the pet escapes before planned sterilization.Colonies can also arise when changes in human activity create an opportunity for existing baseline feral cat populations to form a locally concentrated group.For example, the opening of a new restaurant and resulting presence of edible garbage can attract cats from the local population and allow them to breed and survive in larger numbers.
o 3 Breeds arising from feral cat colonies
o When a feral cat colony grows to a large size, those living or working nearby might consider the presence of a locally concentrated cat population to be a nuisance.
o Those who consider feral cat colonies to be a nuisance traditionally have attempted to eliminate the colony, by requesting that municipal or private pest control services trap the cats and remove them (typically to be euthanized).However, if the factors that allowed the colony to develop in the first place (e.g. food resources) are not addressed as well, a new colony can form in the same location when cats that escaped trapping and cats from the surrounding area move in and breed.
o More recently, a number of animal welfare organizations have begun to employ the "Trap-Neuter-Return" (TNR) method to deal with the issue of feral cat colonies, sometimes with the support of local municipalities.This approach includes sterilization of the cats to prevent breeding, removal (and euthanasia of sick or injured cats), vaccination, marking, and return of healthy cats to the site, and rescue of kittens and other tame cats to adoptive homes. Groups promoting this approach believe that it addresses many of the concerns of those who might otherwise consider the colony a nuisance, and provides a palatable alternative for cat lovers who might otherwise take no action to prevent the population from growing.
o Two breeds of cat have been developed recently from feral cat populations.The Egyptian Mau was developed from Egyptian feral cat colonies in the 1950s.The American Keuda is being still developed from barn cat colonies in the US Southwest from the 1980s.
o Alley Cat Allies, a feral cat advocacy organization
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cat Feral cat
o A feral cat is a cat which has been separated from domestication, whether through abandonment, loss, or running away, and become wild.The term also refers to descendants of such cats, but not to Wild Cats, whose ancestors were never domesticated. It's a common myth that Feral cats usually cannot be re-socialized, even though it is difficult and not all cats will take to it.
o Many abandoned pet cats join these colonies out of desperation; these cats can usually be readopted into a new home. The average lifespan of a feral cat that survives beyond kittenhood is usually less than two years while a domestic housecat lives an average of sixteen years or more.
o JPG Some feral cats can be resocialized, although it is more difficult to do if they're not kittens. In this photo a feral cat sits with her owner.Some ferals like this one are missing a piece of their ear which helps TNR volunteers identify whether or not they've been fixed.
o In the United States "Trap-Neuter-Return" programs, one of the more humane ways to deal with feral cat populations, are facilitated by many volunteers and organizations.In addition to sterilization, inoculation against rabies and the feline leukemia virus as well as the application of long-lasting flea treatments before release are common. Frequently, attending veterinarians nip the tip off one ear to mark the feral as spayed/neutered and inoculated, as these cats will more than likely find themselves trapped again.
o Recognizing the ineffectiveness of blanket euthanasia as a means of controlling stray and feral cat population, more and more animal shelters throughout the United States are becoming "no kill shelters", and are gradually implementing more humane and effective animal population control methods.Some states such as California and many countries around the world have had tremendous success with humane methods to control feral cat populations.A proposal in the state of Wisconsin to legalize the hunting of feral cats in an attempt to reduce their population was recently (April 2005) blocked by the state's lawmakers. South Dakota and Minnesota still allow wild cats to be shot.
o These figures may be questionable, however, with some of the damage due to the resurgence of other small predators such as the gray fox (urocyon cinereoargenteus), fisher or pekan (martes pennanti), coyote (canis latrans), and puma (puma concolor). The loss of species due to overbuilding of native habitat by humans far outstrips that lost to feral cat predation.
o October 16 is National Feral Cat Day in the United States.
o The feral cat has been an ecological disaster in Australia, inhabiting most ecosystems except dense rainforest, and being implicated in the extinction of several marsupial and placental mammal species.(Cats are not believed to have been a factor in the extinction of the only mainland bird species to be lost since European settlement, the Paradise Parrot; their role in the loss of rare species on Australasian islands, however, has been significant.)
o Given the damage they do, many conservationists working in the field of island restoration (literally restoring damaged islands through removal of introduced species and replanting and reintroducing native species) have worked to remove feral cats. As of 2004, 48 islands have had their feral cat populations removed, including New Zealand's network of offshore island bird reserves (Nogales et al, 2004).Larger projects are also being planned, including their removal from Ascension Island.
o A review of feral cat eradication on islands.
o Alley Cat Allies Feral Cat Resource - provides information about how to deal with feral cats humanely.

How fast can a blind man read the Web?

Neal Ewers of the Trace Research Center
demonstrates in a 6 minute video
how people who are blind navigate the web. At the end of this video he shows how fast he himself is used to hear the text. For seeing people it sounds as if he's racing to break a world record and enter the Guinness Book.
Neal has an extremely good pronunciation, a very pleasant voice and an elegant sense of humor and this small piece of instruction becomes a master piece in which you can discover a whole new world right at your immediate neighborhood.

Cat C

Mike Linksvayer wrote on his Blog that Wikipedia belongs to The Anti-Authoritarian Age.
I tend to agree with him. I think this anti-authoritarian problem will worsen in the near future since Web 2.0 is about micro-contents that are torn from the original article - so that the author's intention and even the author's name are forgotten at the end of the day.

Mike Linksvayer expressed on his Blog his appreciation to encyclopedias. I left him the following note:

It looks like you appreciate encyclopedias a little too much. IMO they are old macro content monsters that have to be shattered to atoms of knowledge and rearranged according to users needs.

So here's an example to what I mean by the term "atoms of knowledge".

I took from Wikipedia titles starting with the letter C and manipulated them with QT/Search so that all the superfluous information vanished and all the relevant information appeared on one page, saving the user the need to click links in order to get it.

Results for California Spangled
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Spangled_Cat - California Spangled Cat
o The California Spangled Cat is a breed of cat.They were bred to resemble spotted wildcats, like the endangered species ocelot and leopard.
o California Spangled Cats are a crossbreed of many strains of cat.Despite their wild appearance, they are completely domestic.

Results for Caracal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caracal - Caracal
o The Caracal, also called Persian lynx or "African lynx"(Caracal caracal, sometimes Felis caracal), is a medium-sized wild cat.Caracals are labeled as small cats, but are the heaviest of all small cats, as well as the fastest. The caracal resembles a lynx and is related to this genus.The Caracal is 65 cm in length (about 2 ft), plus 30 cm tail (about 1 foot).It has longer legs and a slimmer appearance than a lynx. The colour of the fur is variable: it may be wine-red, grey or sand-coloured.
o Young caracals bear reddish spots on the underside; adults do not have markings except for black spots above the eyes. The most conspicuous feature of the caracal are its long, tufted black ears, which also explain the origin of its name--"karakulak", Turkish for "black ear".Their ears are controlled by 20 different muscles, to help them find their prey. The tufts of fur help pinpoint their prey.
o They are solitary, or paired, territorial cats. A caracal may survive without drinking for a long period - the water demand is satisified with the body fluids of the prey.It hunts at night (but in colder seasons also in the daytime) for rodents and hares; rarely it may even attack a gazelle, a small antelope or a young ostrich. They are picky eaters, and discard the internal organs of the mammals they catch, partially pluck the fur off of hyraxes and larger kills, and avoid eating hair by shearing meat neatly from the skin.
o But they will eat the feathers of small birds and are tolerant of rotten meat. They are most well-known for their skill with hunting birds; a caracal is able to snatch a bird in flight, sometimes more than one at a time.Caracals can jump and climb exceptionally well, which enables it to catch hyraxes better than probably any other carnivore. Their life expectancy in the wild is 12 years, or 17 years in captivity.
o Caracals are almost impossible to see in the wild, not because there are very few of them, but because they hide extremely well. Game drives in countries such as Kenya and Botswana widely encounter other animals, but a sighting of a caracal is extremely rare.
o The caracal has been hybridised with the domestic cat.I Kusminych and A Pawlowa reported a caracal/domestic hybrid cat at Moscow Zoo ("Ein Bastard von Karakal Hauskatze im Moskauer Zoo" in Der Zoologische Garten Vol. 68, No. 4 (1998)).

Results for Cat body language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_body_language - Cat body language
o A small catalogue of cat body language signals.

Results for Cat Fanciers Association
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Fanciers%27_Association - Cat Fanciers' Association
o The Cat Fanciers' Association is, an American non-profit organization, is the world's largest registry of pedigreed cats.The CFA's stated mission is to preserve and promote the pedigreed breeds of cats and to enhance the well-being of all cats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_Chocolate_cat - York Chocolate cat
o The York Chocolate cat is a new American breed of show cat, with a long, fluffy coat and a plumed tail.The first part of its name is taken from New York state, where it was bred in 1983. This breed was created by colour-selecting domestic longhaired cats, and as the name suggests, all members of this breed are solid chocolate or lavender, solid chocolate and white, or lavender and white (see bicolor cat).The breed is not yet widely recognized by breeders and the Cat Fanciers' Association.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Van - Turkish Van
o The first Vans were brought to the United States in 1982 and accepted into championship for showing in the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) in 1994.Since then, CFA has registered approximately 100 Vans born each year in the US, making them one of the rarest cat breeds.However, the gene pool thrives because it still uses Vans imported from Turkey. Imported Vans have no human breeding intervention and are quite robust.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Curl - American Curl
o The American Curl is a breed of cat with unusual ears.The ears curl back from the face in a smooth arc toward the center of the back of the skull; they are otherwise perfectly normal cats. The breed is the result of a spontaneous mutation which occurred in a cat in California in 1981.The first cat, a black female domestic cat, was found and taken in by the Ruga family who named her Shulamith.All American Curls descend from her, the foundation female. In 1983, the first American Curl was exhibited at a cat show, and in 1987, the longhair American Curl was given championship status by The International Cat Association (TICA).In 1993, the American Curl set a precedent in the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) by being the first breed to be admitted to the Championship Class as one breed with two coat lengths.The American Curl is a medium size cat with no health handicaps associated with the curled ears.They are strong, healthy cats remarkably free of genetic defects that affect many purebred cats. The American Curl may have either curled ears or straight ears.

Results for Cat flap
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flap - Flap
o A cat flap is a hinged flap to allow a cat to enter and leave a room
Results for Catamount

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puma - Puma
o It is more closely related to the common house cat than to the african lion. It is also known by the regional names of cougar, mountain lion, panther, catamount, and painted cat.The word puma comes from the Quechua language. In North America, particularly the United States, panther by itself refers to a puma, although the term black panther is more commonly associated with the melanistic variants of leopards or jaguars rather than pumas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_cat - Big cat
o Puma (other names: catamount, cougar, mountain lion, painted cat, panther) (North and South America)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Carolina_University - Western Carolina University
o The university mascot is a catamount, a fictional feline animal normally resembling a mountain lion or cougar.

Results for Catfight
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catfight - Catfight
o A catfight is, by literal definition, a physical clash between two cats.
o More often, the term 'catfight' is used as a slang term for a physical altercation between two women, usually young adults or teenagers.It is stereotyped as involving slapping, scratching, hair-pulling, and sometimes biting as opposed to punching or kicking. It can also be used to describe two human females insulting one another verbally, or being unpleasant to one another.
o There are many different forms that now exist. Catfighting media displays forms from the more recent extreme catfight aspect, in which punching and kicking are included with the stereotypical array of woman fight tactics, such as scratching and the pulling of hair.Such stereotypical displays of anger are frequently demonstrated on the daytime television talk show The Jerry Springer Show.
o The subject of a catfight was also once the focus of an episode of the popular TV sitcom Seinfeld, episode number 156, The Summer of George.

See more about Cats and kittens

Making Wikipedia more accessible to the blind

I just posted the following to Wikipedia:

When you look for results in any search engine you enter keywords into a search box and expect to get answers.
In Wikipedia lot of times users do not get a straight answer. For example, for the word CAT they get a list of cat species to choose from. The same happens whenever the query has more than one meaning. This is an obstacle not only for the blind but also for seeing people. It is a barrier between the query and the answer. It is a clumsy way to find out what the query means.
Using QTSaver (http://qtsaver.com/index_advanced.html) bypasses this obstacle and gives users straight answers. Blind people can use Talking Browsers like Opera to read the results.
QTSaver is free software that extracts multiple large chunks of microcontent from popular search engine sites including Wikipedia. Users can choose to get their results only from Wikipedia.
QTSaver displays a single Search-Engine-Results-Page and skips pictures tables and information that is not answering directly the users' query.
This proposed new software is being used currently in the Center of the Association for the Visually Impaired Students in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and gets positive comments.

Cat B

This is a demonstration of the power of QT/search to supply a free service that will use QT/search algorithm to retrieve only Wikipedia results.
The result of this procedure will be a short and condensed version of each Wikipedia article and in case Wikipedia retrieve few links for the same query it will skip the need to enter each link separately and put all the needed information on the same page.
The superfluous Wikipedia information will disappear in this new version – in case users look for "laurel leaves" they will not get information about Laurel and Hardy.
The user will save time and get much more focused answers to his questions.
The current Wikipedia page which is complicated nda loaded with pictures suggestions and tables will be replaced by a simple only text page which will be much more accessible for people with disabilities.

In this document I downloaded QT/search results for Wikipedia titles about cats for the letter B.
After I'll get comments from you readers about the value of this work, if any, I'll complete the missing headings until the letter Z…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_cat - Bengal cat o Bengal cats are actually a hybrid between Asian Leopard Cats and domestic felines - mainly Egyptian Maus, American Shorthair, Abyssinian, Ocicat, and domestic shorthaired cats, as well as later generation Bengal males.Developed by Jean Mill of California in the 1970's, Bengal cats are labelled with an 'F' number to indicate how many generations they are removed from their wild ancestors. Kittens from an Asian Leopard Cat (crossed with a Bengal cat or domestic cat) would be called F1 Bengal cats, their offspring would then be called F2 Bengals and so on.Bengal cats from F1 to F3 are not allowed to be shown, due to their still semi-wild nature, although many F3 Bengal cats are very friendly. Asian Leopard cats or F1 and F2 Bengal cats may not be easily house-trained and need knowledgeable owners.
Results for American Wirehair

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Wirehair - American Wirehair
The American Wirehair is a breed of domestic cat that originated in upstate New York.The first wirehair cat appeared as a random coat mutation among a litter of six born to two barn cats.This single red and white male had odd wiry fur. The owner of the cats called a local breeder of Rex cats, Mrs.
Results for Andean Cat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andean_Cat - Andean Cat
o The Andean Cat is also known as the Andean Mountain Cat.Its habitat and appearance make it the small cat analogue of the snow leopard.While it is only about the size of a domestic cat, it appears larger because of its long tail and silvery-gray, striped and spotted long fur.It is one of the least known and rarest of all felines; almost all that is known about it comes from a few observations in the wild and from skins. There are none in captivity.
o The only proof that the Andean Mountain Cat still exists comes from the occasional appearance of new skins.

Results for Angora
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angora_%28cat%29 - Angora (cat)
o The Angora is a very new British breed of cat.The Angora currently has a small population base, because the breed is still in development.They have the body type and nature of an Oriental cat - lean, sleek, intelligent and inquisitive - and a silky medium-length coat which is much longer and thicker than that of a traditional oriental cat or Siamese.
o The Turkish Angora has a svelte, but not Oriental style, foreign body type.It does not come in pointed colors. It is a refined and elegant cat, with large ears set high and tight on the head, and offering smaller boning than the more well-known Persian cat.The Turkish Angora is a natural breed of cat, and is prohibited from outcrossing to any other breed, unlike the British "Angora" (which has since dropped the name due to pending GCCF recognition of the Turkish Angora).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angora_rabbit - Angora rabbit
o The Angora rabbit is a variety of domestic rabbit bred for its long, soft hair.They are believed to have originated in Turkey, along with the Angora cat and Angora goat.The rabbits were popular pets with French royalty in the mid 1700s, and spread to other parts of Europe by the end of the century. They first appeared in the United States in the early 1900s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Angora - Turkish Angora
o The Turkish Angora is a breed of domestic cat.Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, naturally-occuring cat breeds, having originated in central Turkey, in the Ankara region.
o Turkish Angora is an intelligent, adorable and very curious breed, very active throughout their life-span.Angoras love to bathe with their owners (another link to the cousin Turkish Van cat, which is known as "the swimming cat").They also tend to bond with their owners and try to be the center of attention, often doing their part in conversations. They usually don't like to be held for long, but like to stay in human presence, happily playing for hours.
o Owners of Turkish Angoras should be careful to avoid letting electrical wires dangle out in the open. The Angora will chew them with their exceptionally sharp teeth.Turkish Angoras are also known to run the household by supervising every activity of their owner, and are the only breed of cat known to have a sense of humor.
o Like many domestic cats, it is likely that Turkish Angora descended from the African wildcat and led the way to Persian cats.The mountainous regions of Turkey allowed for confinement of the long haired breeds like Turkish Van Cat and Turkish Angora, and it is reported by French biologist de Buffon that long-furred cats have originated in Asia Minor.
o Longhaired cats were imported to Britain and France from Turkey, Persia and Russia as early as the late 1500s, though there are indications that they appeared in Europe as early as 1300s due to the Crusades. The Angora cat was recognized as a distinct breed in Europe by the early 1600s.Attempts to breed them outside Turkey yielded little success. One theory speaks about the strong negative electrical fields dominant in Central Anatolia, especially in Ankara.
o In the early 1900s, the government of Turkey in conjunction with the Ankara Zoo began a meticulous breeding program to protect and preserve the pure white Angora cats with blue and amber eyes, a program that continues today.The zoo particularly prized the odd-eyed Angoras (cats with eyes of differing colors). Prophet Muhammad's Angora, Muezza, was reputed to be an odd-eyed cat.The Zoo has its own cat facility which houses both the Van cat as well as the Angora cat.Can Ersoy, a biologist working at the zoo, the Van cat is about to become extinct, but there is a great deal of work being done in eastern Turkey to try and stop this.At the zoo, the Angora cat is kept under strict supervision, and kittens are sold only to people who can provide them with a good home environment.
o The Angora cat, which was brought to the United States in 1955, was accepted for pedigree.Most longhaired cats are descended from the Angora, and the Persian is the result of selective breeding with Angora cats.In 1970, the CFA was the first U. S. registry to accept the Turkish Angora for registration.In 1973, the CFA accepted the Angora for Championship, but until 1978 only pure white Angoras were registrable.Today, all North American registries accept the Turkish Angora.While numbers are still small, the gene pool is growing, with the registration totals gaining ground each year.

Results for Asiatic Golden Cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Golden_Cat - Asiatic Golden Cat
o The Asiatic Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii, or Profelis temminckii, or Felis temminckii), also called Temminck's Golden Cat, is a medium-sized wild cat (length 90 cm, plus 50 cm tail) weighing from 12 to 16 kilograms.In captivity golden cats can live up to 20 years, but their average lifespan in the wild is likely far shorter.While the fur is mostly foxy red or golden brown, black or grey colour variants may also be found.Normally, the coat is plain, save for some spots on the underside, and sometimes very faint spotting on the rest of the coat. However, in China there is a colour variant with leopard-like spots, which resembles a Leopard Cat.This spotted fur is a recessive characteristic, i.e. when a spotted and a plain cat interbreed, the young get plain fur.

Results for Australian Mist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Mist - Australian Mist
o The Australian Mist (formerly known as the Spotted Mist) is a breed of cat.This breed was developed in Australia in the mid 1980s, hence its name. The breed was developed by crossing the Burmese, Abyssinian, and Domestic shorthair cats to create a shorthaired cat with a spotted coat.The name was changed from 'Spotted Mist' to 'Australian Mist' in 1998 when cats with marbled coats, rather than spots, were accepted as part of the breed.
o As a new breed, the majority of Australian Mist catteries are in Australia, however desexed cats have also been introduced to America and several other countries.The breed is now accepted for Championship status by the World Cat Federation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balinese_%28cat%29 - Balinese (cat)
o The Balinese is a breed of oriental cat with long hair and Siamese-style markings, or points.They resemble a Siamese with a medium-length silky coat and a plumed tail, but not nearly as fluffy as a Himalayan, and they require much less grooming. Balinese are extremely intelligent cats, although less talkative than their Siamese ancestors.
o Helen Smith of MerryMews Cattery in New York, decided that they would commence a breeding program for the longhaired cats. Helen Smith named the cats 'Balinese' because she felt they showed the grace and beauty of Balinese dancers, and because 'longhaired Siamese' seemed a rather clunky name for such graceful felines.The breed became quite popular after this, and a number of breeders began working on 'perfecting' the Balinese appearance.This led eventually to the development of two entirely separate 'strands' of Balinese cat - some owners prefer a traditional or 'apple-headed' Balinese, while breeders and judges tend to prefer a more contemporary appearance.
o Like the Siamese, there are now two different varieties of Balinese being bred and shown - 'traditional' Balinese and 'contemporary' Balinese.The traditional Balinese cat has a coat approximately two inches long over its entire body and it is a sturdy and robust cat with a semi-rounded muzzle and ears.The traditional Balinese closely resembles a Ragdoll cat although they do not share any of the same genes or breeding other than having a partially Siamese ancestry.A 'contemporary' Balinese has a much shorter coat and is virtually identical to a standard show Siamese except for its tail, which is a graceful silky plume.

Results for Bengal cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal - Bengal
o For the breed of cat, see Bengal cat; for the tiger, see Bengal Tiger; for the American football franchise, see Cincinnati Bengals

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal_cat - Bengal cat
o There is also a species of wild cat that is sometimes called Bengal Cat, but better known as the Leopard Cat.
o The Bengal cat is a domestic cat breed with 'wild' characteristics and coloration, but a domestic temperament.They are medium sized cats - a male may weigh as much as 20 lb (9 kg), and a female commonly weighs 8 to 12 lb (4 to 6 kg). The closer the cat is to their Asian Leopard ancestors, the larger it is likely to be.
o Bengal cats are actually a hybrid between Asian Leopard Cats and domestic felines - mainly Egyptian Maus, American Shorthair, Abyssinian, Ocicat, and domestic shorthaired cats, as well as later generation Bengal males.Developed by Jean Mill of California in the 1970's, Bengal cats are labelled with an 'F' number to indicate how many generations they are removed from their wild ancestors.Kittens from an Asian Leopard Cat (crossed with a Bengal cat or domestic cat) would be called F1 Bengal cats, their offspring would then be called F2 Bengals and so on.Bengal cats from F1 to F3 are not allowed to be shown, due to their still semi-wild nature, although many F3 Bengal cats are very friendly.Asian Leopard cats or F1 and F2 Bengal cats may not be easily house-trained and need knowledgeable owners.They are often difficult to breed (F1 and F2 males are always infertile and F3 males are almost always infertile), with smaller litters. Consequently, when they are occasionally sold, they are much more expensive than later generation Bengal cats.A special breeders license is needed to care for F1 bengal cats or for their Asian leopard cat parents.
o Bengal cats are either spotted or have marbled patterns on their coats.The following colors and patterns are recognized: Brown Spotted Tabby, Brown Marbled Tabby, Seal Sepia Spotted Tabby, Seal Sepia Marbled Tabby, Seal Mink Spotted Tabby, Seal Mink Marbled Tabby, Seal Spotted Lynx Point and Seal Marbled Lynx Point only. Silver Spotted, Silver Marbled and Melanistic (black) are additional colors and patterns not yet recognized by all breeding associations that accept the Bengal cat.
o Bengal cats can take a great deal of interest in running water and often don't mind getting wet.Most Bengal owners have stories about their cat's affection for running water or even jumping in a sink or tub.Additionally, Bengal cats are very intelligent and curious, and so are particularly interactive with their human housemates, wanting to be in the middle of whatever the human is engaged in, and often following the human around the house as household chores are performed.Bengals tend to vocalize to communicate with their humans, and are quite capable of jealousy and spitefulness if they feel that another feline is getting more attention. The other side of this coin is that they are also extremely affectionate towards and playful with their humans.
o Excellent hearing and highly developed instincts make Bengal cats excellent "watch dogs."Manx is yet another cat breed that share many of these similar traits with the Bengal cat.
o In February 1998, a F2 Bengal cat named Cato made the guinness world records by being the most expensive cat purchased.It was bought for $41,435.00 (USD) by Cindy Jackson of London, England. The Bengal cat was sold by breeder Lord C.Esmond Gay of Bedfordshire, England. Note however, that as of 2005, this Bengal cat is no longer the world record holder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengal-class_strike_carrier - Bengal-class strike carrier
o A Bengal is a type of cat and tiger, named for a region in India.

Results for Bicolor cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicolor_cat - Bicolor cat
o Image:Socks-clinton.jpg Chelsea Clinton's cat, Socks, is a bicolor cat, or tuxedo cat who lived in the White House from 1993 to 2001
o A bicolor cat has white fur combined with fur of some other colour, for example black- in this case they are often referred to as a Tuxedo Cat.Bicolours are found in many breeds as well as being common in domestic longhair cats and domestic shorthair cats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat - Cat
o Bicolor cat Also known as 'Tuxedo cat' or 'Jellicle cat' (tuxedos are mostly black with white paws/legs, bellies, chests, and possible markings on face).Maltese cat The former name for a blue (grey) cat.Oriental cat (not a specific breed, but any cat with an elongated slender build, almond-shaped eyes, large ears and very short sleek fur).Tabby cat Striped, with a variety of patterns.The classic pattern is the most common and consists of butterflies and bull's-eyes. The mackerel tabby is a series of vertical stripes down the cat's side (resembling the fish).This pattern broken into spots is referred to as spotted tabby. Tortoiseshell and Calico Featuring three colors mottled throughout the coat, this cat is also known as a Calimanco cat or Clouded Tiger cat, and by the nickname "tortie".A true tortoiseshell must consist of three kinds of color: a reddish color, either dark or light; white; and one other color, typically a brown, black or blue, as described by American breeder Barbara French, writing for the Cat Fanciers community [23].Calico cats are white with distinct black and red (or blue and cream in the dilute variant) spots. The Japanese refer to this pattern as mi-ke (meaning "triple fur").

Results for Birman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birman - Birman
o The Birman is a breed of domestic cat.This breed has a pale cream coloured body and coloured points of Seal, Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Lynx or Red Factor colors on the legs, tail and face. The body type varies from Persian-type to Siamese-type.
o The male died in transit, but the female was pregnant and gave birth to a litter of kittens in France. These formed the basis of a breeding program and the breed was registered with the French Cat Registry in 1925.The Birman breed was almost wiped out during World War II.Only two cats were alive in Europe at the end of the war, and they had to be heavily outcrossed and rebred to rebuild the breed. The restored breed was recognised in Britain in 1965 and by the American Cat Fanciers' Association in 1966.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_coat_genetics - Cat coat genetics
o The white spotting or piebald spotting gene, S/s, which has variable expression, so that an SS cat has more extensive white patching than an Ss cat.It is this gene that creates the familiar white blaze across the face, a white bib, tuxedo pattern, or dappled paws. This gene can turn a cat's eyes blue if the white spotting occurs over the eyes.A hypothetical Sb allele causes the mittens in Birman and Snowshoe breeds.Some researchers believe that there are separate white spotting genes for distinct features, such as the white locket that some cats have on their neck.

Results for Black footed Cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-footed_Cat - Black-footed Cat
o The Black-footed Cat (Felis nigripes) is a small wild cat distributed over South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.It is the smallest living species of cats (length 35 cm, plus 15 cm tail). The fur is sand-coloured and has leopard-like blackish spots.
o As the name implies, the feet are black.In South Africa this cat is sometimes called Anthill Tiger.
o The habitat of this cat is arid regions, for instance the Kalahari Desert.There it hunts for rodents, lizards and insects. Black-footed cats live solitarily and are active at night.In the daytime they hide under rocks and shrubs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat - Cat
o However, some have been known to reach up to 23 kg (50 lb), due to overfeeding. This is very unhealthy for the cat, and should be prevented through exercise (playing) and diet, especially for cats living exclusively indoors.One of the smallest cat species is the black-footed cat, which weighs just over 1 kg (2.2 lb).

Results for Bobcat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat_%28disambiguation%29 - Bobcat (disambiguation)
o A bobcat is a small, tough, scrappy wildcat.Because of their nature, the name "Bobcat" is popular for products and for sports mascots.
o Bobcat for more information about the cat
o Various schools or teams that use "Bobcat" as their mascot, including
o The actor and comedian Bobcat Goldthwait
o Cynthia Lynch a professional wrestler best known as Bobcat.
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat - Bobcat
o For other uses, see Bobcat (disambiguation).
o The Bobcat (Lynx rufus, or Felis rufus) is a small wild cat indigenous to North America.They have reddish-brown or yellowish-brown coats that are streaked with black or dark brown and have prominent, pointed ears with a tuft of black hair at the tip.
o Bobcats stand approximately 25-30 cm (10-12 inches) high at the shoulder. The male Bobcat typically weighs from 11-16 kg (24-35 lb).
o Its habitat is deciduous forests and wooded areas in most of the western and southeastern United States and Mexico. The Bobcat can be found in a few parts of southern Canada, where its range overlaps with the habitat of the related Canada Lynx.Hybridization between wild Canada lynx and bobcat has been documented in Maine and Minnesota.
o Image:Bobcatonwires.jpg A male Bobcat in an urban surrounding
o Image:Bobcat tracks in mud.jpg Bobcat tracks in mud.
o Bobcat tracks show four toes, generally without claw marks.Individual adult tracks are generally 2 inches x 2 inches (5 cm) in size with about 10 inches between tracks in the direction of travel. Like all cats, bobcats directly register, meaning their hind prints usually fall exactly on top of their fore prints (this is not the case in the photograph in this section).
o National Park Service - Bobcat (some adapted public domain text)
o Exoticcatz.com Bobcat Page Information on the care and behavior of bobcats kept as pets or companion animals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta - Alberta
o Among them are the grizzly and black bears, which are found in the mountains and wooded regions. Smaller carnivores of the dog and cat families include coyotes, wolves, fox, lynx, bobcat and mountain lion (cougar).

Results for British Shorthair
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Shorthair - British Shorthair
o The British Shorthair is a breed of shorthaired cat developed in England.Originating from selected indigenous cats at the end of the Nineteenth century, they were the first breed to be selectively bred in order to exhibit specific coat colours and markings.
o The cat has a seemingly perpetual smile on its face; Lewis Carroll chose the British Shorthair as the model for his Cheshire cat in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkirk_Rex - Selkirk Rex
o The Selkirk Rex originated in America in 1987, with a cat named Miss DePesto, who was bred to a Persian, producing three Selkirk Rexes and three straight-haired cats. It is a large and solidly built breed, similar to a British Shorthair but with a characteristic curled coat.The coat has a woolly look and feel.
o American Shorthairs, Persians, Exotics and British Shorthairs have been used as out crosses to develop this breed.The American Shorthair has now been discontinued as a breeding partner.In Australia Persians, Exotics and British are accepted out crosses until 2015.

Results for Burmese cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_%28cat%29 - Burmese (cat)
o Image:Burmese chocolate cat.jpg Pedigree Chocolate Burmese, "Pipmo Golden Padung"
o The Burmese is a breed of domesticated cats descended from a specific cat, Wong Mau, who was found in Burma in 1930 by Dr.
o Image:Burmese cat large.jpg Brown Burmese, "Vronsky" Image:Burmeseretriever.jpg Burmese are clever and playful and many retrieve like this chocolate Burmesede:Burma-Katze

Results for Burmilla
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmilla - Burmilla
o Image:Male Burmilla cat.jpeg A "blue" male Burmilla
o The Burmilla is a breed of domestic cat which originated in the United Kingdom in 1981.It is a cross between the Chincilla Persian and Burmese breeds.
o The Burmilla can have a variety of colours: black, blue, champagne, chocolate, cream, lilac, platinum and red.They can also be tortoiseshell, with colours including black, blue, brown, chocolate and lilac.

See more about Cats and kittens

Mini QTpedia

In the future I intend to use the power of QTSaver to supply a free service that will use QT/search algorithm to retrieve only Wikipedia results.
It will be a short and condensed version of each Wikipedia article and it will save users time in case Wikipedia retrieve few links for the same query.
In the past I checked the feasibility of QTpedia But then I was using results from the Web that complemented Wikipedia and now I use only Wikipedia results – so it's a 180 degrees change in my attitude.
I hope that you readers will find the time to comment on the usability of this idea…

Examples:

Results for Abyssinian cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abyssinian_%28cat%29 - Abyssinian (cat)
The Abyssinian is a natural breed of domesticated cat believed to originate from one Egyptian female kitten called Zula that was taken from a port in Alexandria, Egypt, by a British soldier and brought to England where the breed was developed by being breed with an English tabby.It is believed all Abbys in Europe, America, and Australia are descended from Zula, but there has been at least one and possibly as many as three Abyssinians introduced from Libya (or less likely Egypt) into the existing Abyssinian gene pool in the USA.The Abyssinian has become one of the most popular shorthair breed of cats in the USA.There are said to be still wild Abyssinians in some parts of North Africa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Keuda - American Keuda
o The American Keuda (pronounced KEW-da) is a type of cat.The Keuda type is currently under development to become a standardized breed.The roots of the breed are from a 1980s study called the "Kitten Evaluation Under Direct Assessment" which was meant to determine the characteristics which led to superior barn cats in the Southwestern United States. Barn cats gathered from the study area (Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas) were bred with each other to develop the breed.
o Since the Egyptian Mau itself was redomesticated from feral Egyptian cat populations in the mid-1950s, it may represent a superior feral cat type, closely reproduced in the deserts of the American Southwest in the Keuda, but with no direct genetic connection to that breed.
o American Keuda cats share many physical similarities with the Mau, including body type and a belly flap, not seen in other breeds.Since the belly flap adaptation allows extra extension when running, and thus more speed, this would be a successful adaptation for any cat that needed speed, like a barn cat.Keudas also share a high level of intelligence and athleticism with the Mau, as well as speed and a love for warm conditions. One marked difference between the Keuda and the Mau is the wide diversity of appearance the Keuda displays.While some Keudas look strikingly like Maus, they may also look like a Siamese, Havana Brown, cats of other breeds or mixed breed cats. Keuda cats display a much wider variety of coat colors and patterns than do Maus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feral_cat_colony - Feral cat colony o Two breeds of cat have been developed recently from feral cat populations.The Egyptian Mau was developed from Egyptian feral cat colonies in the 1950s.The American Keuda is being still developed from barn cat colonies in the US Southwest from the 1980s.
o
Search results for African Golden Cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Golden_Cat African Golden Cat
o The African Golden Cat (Profelis aurata) is a medium-sized wild cat distributed over the rainforests of West and Central Africa.It is about 80 cm long, plus 30 cm tail.
o African Golden Cats are able to climb, but they primarily hunt on the ground.The prey includes rodents, birds and small monkeys. Due to its hidden living there is not much known about this cat.
o The African Golden Cat is similar to the Asiatic Golden Cat, but studies indicate that the reason is convergent evolution.bg:Златна котка da:Afrikansk guldkat de:Afrikanische Goldkatze eo:Afrika ora kato fr:Chat doré africain nl:Afrikaanse goudkat pl:Kot złoty.

Search results for American Bobtail cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bobtail American Bobtail
o The American Bobtail is a relatively new and uncommon breed of cat most notable for its stubby "bobbed" tail about half the length of a normal cat's tail.This is the result of a genetic mutation affecting the tail development, similar to that of a Manx. The cat is not related to the Japanese Bobtail despite the similar name and physical type — the breeding programs are entirely unrelated and the gene causing the mutation is entirely different.

Results for American Curl cat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Curl - American Curl o The American Curl is a breed of cat with unusual ears.The ears curl back from the face in a smooth arc toward the center of the back of the skull; they are otherwise perfectly normal cats.The breed is the result of a spontaneous mutation which occurred in a cat in California in 1981.The first cat, a black female domestic cat, was found and taken in by the Ruga family who named her Shulamith.All American Curls descend from her, the foundation female.In 1983, the first American Curl was exhibited at a cat show, and in 1987, the longhair American Curl was given championship status by The International Cat Association (TICA).In 1993, the American Curl set a precedent in the Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) by being the first breed to be admitted to the Championship Class as one breed with two coat lengths.The American Curl is a medium size cat with no health handicaps associated with the curled ears.They are strong, healthy cats remarkably free of genetic defects that affect many purebred cats. The American Curl may have either curled ears or straight ears.The American Curl may have three degrees of curl - first degree, second degree, or third degree.The third degree is the preferred one. The straight ear American Curl has all of the loving personality of the curled ear American Curl but may not be shown.The American Curl comes in two coat lengths - either long haired or short haired.The American Curl comes in all colors.

Making friends on the Blogosphere

Making friends on the Blogosphere is a new phenomenon worth exploring.
I know a lot of people but no one of them, including my family members, is really interested in search engines in general or In Web 2.0 in particular.
That's why I enjoy so much dialogs on the Blogosphere with people who are interested in the same subjects as me.
I started this Blog about half a year ago and since then I made some very good friends.
It always started with a comment on a Blog (mine or theirs) and ended in a regular Email correspondence in which we help each other promote his ideas and projects.
A piece of advice: I found out that my Site Meter helps prevent missing answers to my comments.

I believe making friends is the best thing Blogs can offer.

Newspaper Discovers QTSaver

Avri Dvash from Yerushalayim -a local newspaper weekly that appears in Jerusalem- called Eli Kazhdan- CEO of startupjerusalem
and asked him whether he knows about any interesting startup company.
Eli Kazhdan referred him to me (Thanks Eli!).

Avri Dvash wrote a very nice article about QTSaver. He wrote that it's a software that helps using search engines by dropping the irrelevant information.

This is the first time there's a newspaper review about our product and I think we passed this fire-test successfully.

Peer Production

These days I'm busy checking the feasibility of QTpetya - an encyclopedia about pets.
It will be a demonstration of QTsearch features and it will complement Wikipedia.
For example:
If there is an article on Wikipedia about "Siamese cat" - since Wikipedia doesn't update content related to "Siamese cat" – I'll write an article about the same subject which will have regularly updated content, powered by QTSaver search.

A friend who heard about my plan commented that it is somewhat like peer production but using software (QTSaver) in the place of humans to create content.

What the heck is peer production?

Erick Schonfeld wrote on September 30, 2005

Yale Law School professor Yochai Benkler coined the term peer production to describe "the emergence of a vibrant, innovative and productive collaboration, whose participants are not organized in firms and do not choose their projects in response to price signals." Peer production is part and parcel of what I call the culture of participation -- that is, the explosion of user-generated goods (mostly digital), including open-source software, the Wikipedia online encyclopedia, blogs, podcasts, and photo-sharing sites like Flickr.

Yochai Benkler wrote
In the past three or four years, public attention has focused on a fifteen-year-old social-economic phenomenon in the software development world. This phenomenon, called free software or open source software, involves thousands or even tens of thousands of programmers contributing to large and small scale project, where the central organizing principle is that the software remains free of most constraints on copying and use common to proprietary materials. No one "owns" the software in the traditional sense of being able to command how it is used or developed, or to control its disposition. The result is the emergence of a vibrant, innovative and productive collaboration, whose participants are not organized in firms and do not choose their projects in response to price signals.

In other words peer production is Web 2.0.

Sphere

Ther's a new Blog search engine called Sphere.
Sphere team members think they will solve the Blog relevance problem by concentrating on relationships between Blogs, pushing spam-blogs way down the page, matching Blog content with relevant web articles from mainstream media, analysing metadata, analysing content semantic -All these techniques seem to be more of the same old macro-content techniques. I believe that in order to really push forward a solution to the relevancy of Blogs they'd better search the solution with MICROCONTENT techniques. I'll help them if they want…

Here's what I collected about Sphere:

1.http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/archives/2005/10/om_malik_on_sph.html - Om Malik on Sphere: Too much of a good thing
I met this morning with Tony Conrad, CEO of Sphere, the new blog search engine.He told me that he and his team had carefully calibrated the release of the beta version, first testing it in a small group, and then gradually expanding. But when his friend, Om Malik, gave Sphere a thumbs-up in a blogpost, 20,000 people rushed to sign up for the beta version.It was far more than Sphere was ready to handle.

2.http://www.sphere.com/about.html
Sphere is a blog search engine focused on discovering high quality, relevant blogs on a timely basis.We started as a tiny virtual company based in San Francisco. This past January, the three of us (Tony Conrad, Martin Remy, and Steve Nieker) founded Sphere because we believe we could build a better blog search engine.Along the way, we met with some angels with halos -- Phil Black, Doug Mackenzie, Kevin Compton, Will Hearst, David Mahoney, Vince Vannelli, and Mike Winton -- who wanted to support our vision. So we raised a little money to get started.
We are strong believers in the blogosphere. We hope Sphere, focused solely on returning the most relevant user-generated content, will help readers explore the blogosphere more effectively, and perhaps inspire many to become bloggers themselves and contribute to the 'sphere.

3. http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/005537.html Playing with Sphere Beta (by Jeremy Zawodny)
Tony Conrad, CEO of Sphere, came by Yahoo! on Friday to give a few of us a look at the blog search technology they've been building.
He started off by explaining the company background (ties to Oddpost) and the small team that's been tackling the problem from a different angle. Unlike other engines that focus on trying to index every single blog, deal in link ranking, etc, Sphere puts an emphasis on trying to understand the content of individual posts.With that understanding, Sphere can then be smarter about finding related content from other sources, including some mainstream media.

4.http://www.technosight.com/blog/interview-with-sphere-ceo-tony-conrad
- TECHNOSIGHT " Interview with Sphere CEO Tony Conrad
Prior to co-founding Sphere, I was a general partner in an early-stage venture capital fund where he led consumer-tech and marketing software and services investments.I served on the boards of directors for Oddpost (acquired by Yahoo), Iconoculture, MusicNow (acquired by Circuit City), and Centive. I also played an active role managing investments in Post Communications (NASDAQ: NTVS) and Stoneyfield Farms (acquired by Groupe Danone).
Sphere’s relevance/authority algorithm rewards authentic blogs and penalizes splogs, fake blogs (flogs?) etc. by taking into a account a wide range of data points (metadata, link patterns, posting patterns) that we gather about a blog.Our algorithmic approach has yielded great results so far, and improvements to our algorithm are ongoing.

5. http://gigaom.com/2005/10/08/sphere-the-relevant-blog-search
Om Malik writes about Sphere, the Relevant Blog Search
The team has built the product with less than $200,000. The company is headed by Tony Conrad, who is a reformed VC who in past life had funded companies
Lets use an example say of what else, Broadband. The look for blogs that write about broadband, (including those with broadband in the title of the blog) to create a short list. If I am linking to someone who is also a broadband blogger, and vice-versa, Sphere puts a lot of value on that relationship.
...tend to push what seems like spam-blog way down the page.
The coolest feature they have is matching Blog content with relevant web articles from mainstream media.

6. http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/searchinsider/wpn-49-20051021SpheresNewSearchImpresses.html Tony Conrad, Sphere's CEO, gave me a tour of Sphere.com today, a new blog search engine. He started out by saying that Mary Hodder is on their advisory board.

7.http://www.techcrunch.com/2005/10/14/first-screen-shot-of-sphere/
Sphere is a new blog search engine that quite frankly blows everything, and I mean everything, I’ve seen out of the water in terms of relevance.
Their approach involves three key algorithms - an analysis of links into and out of a blog, an analysis of metadata around a post (links, post frequency, length of posts, etc.), and something Tony calls their “secret sauce”, which is content semantic analysis to filter out spam and to understand what a blog post is talking about.

8.http://blog.softtechvc.com/2005/10/blog_search_eng.html
The engine seems to do a good job at extracting the actual content of pages, and not include “surroundings” like blogrolls.
I like the idea of displaying relevant blogs and news article for a particular search term. What is not clear to me is which news source are used currently.
The overall UI is actually quite clean. I sense the touch of Adaptive Path in the design.

Project Quaero

Google's success is attracting new competitors: the Europeans want to make a Google of their own called Quaero and the Japanese want to make a Google of their own, which has got no name yet.
Until now the more competitors like Yahoo and MSN hated Google the more Google succeeded and I estimate the same will happen with these new rivals.
Why?
- Because you can not beat Google on its own game field. You can not be faster or more accurate on the macro- content level in which Google is the best.
Conclusion:
Project Quaero and the Japanese new search engines will succeed only if they will develop a new MICRO-CONTENT search engine. I hope they will use the knowledge gathered in this area by QTSaver team members.

Here are some details I collected about Project Quaero

http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2005/09/01/frenchfunded_quaero_to_tackle_google_yahoo/index.php Chirac's plans to provide forgivable loans to a Franco-German "multimedia search engine for the internet" being developed by French group Thomson and by Deutsche Telekom. The program has been dubbed "Project Quaero" (Latin for "to seek").
Project Quaero does not yet have a formal budget, but will be financed by the companies involved and European governments. Some of that money will come from the 2 billion euro Agency for Industrial Innovation officially announced by Chirac during his speech.
Serge Travert, who is leading the project for Thomson, admitted that it was developed in part to counter U.S. dominance of the internet. Project Quaero does not yet have a formal budget, but will be financed by the companies involved and European governments.Some of that money will come from the 2 billion euro Agency for Industrial Innovation officially announced by Chirac during his speech.
http://business2.blogs.com/business2blog/2005/09/chirac_rallies_.html
business2blog: Chirac Rallies France to Defeat Google
No, this one's not from the Onion. Jacque Chirac actually announced a project to create a European search engine called Project Quaero.
Maybe somebody should tell Chirac that Google already searches in French.I guess no VCs wanted to back Project Quaero.Instead of showing results by PageRank, I here it will come up with something new called FrancRank (results are based on how French they are, as determined by a committee of French philosophy professors, deconstructionists, and bistro waiters).
http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/4648/194
EUROPA - IDABC - Pan-European library information service launched
The governments of France and Germany decided in April 2005 to support the development of a European search engine to be known as Quaero widely seen as a potential competitor to Google.Quaero from the Latin word meaning to seek would allow users to search for text, image, video and audio content, and would also be meant to provide access to European digital libraries.Currently being steered by Franco-German working group on economic cooperation the Quaero project involves a number of public and private organisations such as LIMSI-CNRS, the University of Karlsruhe, MIG-INRA, RWTH Aachen, Berlin Technologies, Jouve, INRIA, Exalead, INA, Thomson, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom. The new French Agency for Industrial Innovation, launched by President Jacques Chirac on 30 August 2005, is also expected to work on the project."We're engaged in a global competition for technological supremacy, Mr Chirac said. France, in Europe, it's our power that's at stake.
http://p2pnet.net/story/6107
Work is to soon start on a European search engine called Quaero.
The Telegraph has Thomson’s Serge Travert saying the new search engine was developed "in part" to combat the dominance of US companies in the internet arena.
But Quaero wouldn’t be built from scratch.Rather, it will be developed from "science and technology that already exists in France and Germany".
http://globalsearchengines.blogspot.com/2005/09/chirac-seeks-search-engine-supremacy.htmlo I guess Mr. Chirac doesn't like the idea that two American companies wield such influence not only in France and Europe but around the globe. His response is to help fund a new European search engine Project Quaero, but I wonder if it's too little, too late.
http://timworstall.typepad.com/timworstall/2005/08/project_quaero.html
Tim Worstall: Project Quaero
Another mind-numbingly stupid boondoggle from Jacques Chirac. Project Quaero, a truly European search engine.Funded by "forgiveable loans" and developed by those two startlingly fleet of foot and entrepreneurial companies, Thomson and Deutsche Telecom.
18 January 2006 - update
http://www.pandia.com/sew/149-the-multimedia-search-engine-quaero-europe%E2%80%99s-answer-to-google.html
Jean-Luc Mollet at Thompson, a project leader of the Quaero project...has not been sleeping on the job. A presentation of Quaero will be held at the Agance de l’innovation industrielle (AII) in January.

QTSearch SERP

The new address for QTSearch Search Engine Results Page is
http://qtsaver.com/design1.html
Thank you, Zohar, for the cute design.

QT/Mobile Fire-Test

My partner Oni went today with Lena-the-programmer to Office Depot. They wanted to buy a color printer to print our new business presentation. They found a Lexmark printer.
Oni asked Lena:

What do you think?

Lena: If it does not support Linux I do not want it.
Oni: let's find out.
Lena: no, I can not. I don't have an Internet connection here.
Oni :I do, here, in my pocket.

Lena saw his Mobile and said:

Lena: no, you will not find it!
Oni: let's try.

Oni typed "Z815 Lexmark Linux" in his mobile phone,and after a few seconds he got the name of the right driver and the address to download it.
Oni and Lena went to pay to the cashier and there they found out that a different printer is waiting for them - it was Z615.
They asked the seller what goes on and the seller answered that the Z815 ran out.

Lena: OK, if it also has a Linux driver we take it.

Oni opened the mobile. He pressed Qtsaver.com/wap and posted another query.
"Z615 Lexmark Linux".
There were a few answers:
The first was about somebody asking if there is a Linux driver to Z615 Lexmark.
In the second some expert explained that he is sure that despite the fact that Lexmark does not declare it down on the product's cover, Lexmark have a driver for Linux.
The third was a positive answer with the name of the driver for Z615 Lexmark printer and where to download it.
They paid and went home and they live happily ever after...

Blooks

When I wrote a table of contents to my Blog a thought about publishing some of my postings in a book, sometime in the future appeared on my mind's screen.It seemed to me that I'm inventing a new concept here and that many Bloggers may use it, but then I stumbled upon Tom Evslin's article which had a totally different concept about Blooks: Tom is planning to write a "regular" book in his Blog and tries to solve the problem of Blogs' time sequence that contradicts building mystery tension.

Then I Googled "Blooks" and got 67,500 results. This number shows that although Blooks are a new phenomena it already starts attracting attention.

Reading the top ten results on Google I saw that my concept of extracting the best Blog-postings for a book is not mentioned there. So Bloggers are still invited to check if they have Blogs that fit publishing.

Eventually I QT'd "Blooks" (used QTSaver to retrieve results for the word "Blooks") and got the following:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blook
o On October 10, 2005, print-on-demand publisher Lulu announced the Lulu Blooker Prize limited to blooks which exist in a print edition by the conference deadline.
o An Instance of Shining Light and Madie's Bear Tribe Journals by Marsha Loftis are self-described as blooks. Other blooks available as of 10/12/05 include The Boy Who Heard Music by British rock star Peter Townshend, Time to Play the Game by Tim Jousma, A Novel by Tao Lin, Death Sucks: On being a vampire kitty-cat by Ray Rhamey, Rad Decision by James Aach, The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, Blake Schwendiman's Blog and Book, and Fiddle and Burnby Jason Pomerantz.
2. http://www.salutor.com/2005/10/blooks.html
o And Lulu, not surprisingly, finds itself host to an increasing number of books based on Blogs, or blooks. It's worth noting, while we're on the subject, that since a Blog is really just an easily updated web site, a large number of the best-selling books on Lulu qualify as blooks, from web comics like Boy on a Stick and Slither - Vol.
o And an update: Hard to tell the exact moment the term blooks came into being, but I suspect it is here to stay.
o Listed below are links to weBlogs that reference Blooks!:
3. http://www.lulublookerprize.com/
o The 2006 Lulu Blooker Prize for Blooks
o Comics About the Blooker Prize Create A Blook Blooks are the world's fastest-growing new kind of book and an exciting new stage in the life cycle of content, if not a whole new category of content.
o The Lulu Blooker Prize is sponsored by Lulu, the world's fastest-growing provider of print-on-demand books, including an increasing number of blooks. However, the judges are independent of Lulu and no favor will be shown to blooks published on Lulu.
4. http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2005/10/emw295297.htm
o Prominent Internet figures will award prizes for books in fiction, non-fiction and webcomics categories. Blooks, declares Lulu.com, are a new hybrid literary form for a new publishing era: "Blooks are the new books!" Details can be found at www.lulublookerprize.com.
o The Lulu Blooker Prize (www.lulublookerprize.com) is the first contest to honor blooks, a hybrid literary form that has evolved in recent years from web sites, particularly the web sites known as Blogs. “Blooks are the hottest new publishing trend,” says Bob Young, CEO of Lulu.
o The prize will reward the best blooks in three categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction and Comic-Blooks (based on web-comics), but with one overall winner. It is open to blooks published anywhere by anyone, provided they are in English.
o Although the prize is sponsored by Lulu, the judging is independent of Lulu. No favor will be shown to blooks published on Lulu.com. The Lulu Blooker Prize will take place annually.
o Winners will be announced April 3, 2006. Details for submitting blooks for the prize can be found at www.
5. http://www.loiclemeur.com/english/2005/11/have_you_heard_.html
o Loic Le Meur Blog: Have you heard about blooks ? --
o A blook is a printed and bound book, based on a Blog.
o It seems like more than 100 blooks have been published till now, there is now also "The Blooker Prize" that has been launched on the 10th of October 2005, the world's first literary prize for blooks, organized by Lulu, a website that enables anyone to publish and sell their own book.
6. : http://www.lulu.com/static/pr/10_10_05.php
o Announcement of "The Blooker" — whose name is an affectionate nod to another important literary prize — marks the 450th anniversary of Gutenberg's invention of moveable type in 1455. "Blooks are the latest landmark in the history of books," says Young. "They represent a new stage of books, if not a whole new category of literature, with its own emerging literary style."
o "Blogs encourage their authors to publish in small, partially formed chunks," says Doctorow. "Previously, such jottings might have been kept in the author's notebook, but something amazing happens when you post them online: readers help you connect them, flesh them out and grow them into fully-fledged books or blooks." Doctorow also co-edits BoingBoing (www.boingboing.net), the world's most linked-to Blog.
o "Blooks differ from books in several ways," says Doctorow.
o Some blooks are written as the product of multiple voices and perspectives, filtered through discussions and feedback from online communities. Chris Anderson (longtail.typepad.com), editor of Wired magazine, is working on a much discussed book called The Long Tail (Hyperion 2006), which he is developing through a series of Blog postings, feedback and online discussions.
o Some blooks are written and published at great speed. An example is Katrina and the Lost City of New Orleans, a blook just published with help from Lulu.
o More Likely To Take A Serial Form. Some blooks, especially those based on online journals or diaries, take a serial form, which harks back to the Victorian heyday of the novel when Dickens and others first published their novels as serials. Belle de Jour is a good example.
o Although the word "blook" itself is new, scores of blooks have already been published. As the publishing industry catches on, the number is growing.
o "We already know of over 100 blooks — almost half produced by mainstream publishers," says Doctorow. "But this is just the start of something much bigger."
o At least one significant new publishing company has placed blooks at the heart of its publishing strategy, making it arguably the world's first dedicated "blook publisher". The Friday Project (www.thefridayproject.co.uk) is a London publishing house that bills itself as "a completely new breed of publishing house, specializing in turning the Internet's best-known brands into the world's finest books."

Wikipedia Versus Britannica

An expert-led investigation carried out by Nature ...revealed numerous errors in both encyclopedias, but among 42 entries tested, the difference in accuracy was not particularly great: the average science entry in Wikipedia contained around four inaccuracies; Britannica, about three.

This comparison helps raising the prestige of Wikipedia on the account of lowering the prestige of Britannica. For the reader it is not the most practical comparison since most readers don't use Britannica, while Wikipedia is the 37th most visited website.

Since Google and Yahoo are drawing results from Wikipedia - a much more practical comparison could be drawn between a certain Wikipedia result and the other results. IMO the result from Wikipedia will be better than the top ten in 99% of the cases in any query in any field.

What Wikipedia and Britannica both lack is "gossip" – for example, an article about a famous artist will not include details about his next exhibition. This piece of information may be very relevant for the reader. This problem is going to be solved by QTpedia.

IBM's 40,000 Patents

IBM's announcement about providing start up companies access to its 40,000 patents sounds tempting but reading the details makes an unfriendly impression. One can hear the bureaucratic wheels of IBM lawyers' minds turning while they cut the potential applicants into two groups:
For stage 1 - companies earning less than $10 Million in annual revenue - upfront fee of $25,000.
For stage 2 - companies earning more than $10 Million in annual revenue - 1.0% royalty…
In a Blog called marketmachines the Blogger suspects that companies that would apply would have to cede all of their own patent rights to IBM as part of the deal.

When Google or Yahoo enable access to their information treasures they ask the developers gently to declare their sources (Google or Yahoo API)- This I call friendly.

IBM would seem friendlier if they will let people (not lawyers) write their announcements and if they will offer a third option:
For stage 3 - companies that develop applications for the blind (for example) – no fee…

How many search engines are there?

Phil Bradley says that there are around 140 general search engines and over 2000 search engines in 200 countries. for example, in Japan there are several hundreds.
On Beaucoup there are more than 2500 search engines and directories listed under the following headings:
General, Computer, Software, Employment, Society, Geographical, Health, Business & Money, Media, People, Arts/Entertainment, Family/Pets/Hobbies, Sciences, Reference & Ed , Potpourri.

I hope that some of the owners of these search engines will install QTSaver as an add-in and let their users enjoy another view of the information. Only search engines under the headings of People, Employment and References do not fit the way QTSaver extracts microcontents – still there are more than 2000 potential clients in this area.

Original Thinkers

How do you recognize an original thinker?
You read your own ideas and they look new and unfamiliar to you.
You don't recognize your own ideas.
This can make you feel good or bad. In my case it made me feel important:

Today I got a Google Alert about Jos Schuurmans' Blog-post dedicated to QTSaver. It's titled "QTSaver and the advent of microcontent" and it's on http://www.josschuurmans.com/josschuurmans/2005/12/qtsaver_and_the.html
Jos interpreted an excerpt I wrote as a prediction to the end of journalism:
When I wrote this idea ("I believe that the future of search engines is in microcontent manipulation…The original intention of the author will be forgotten and each new author will recycle the excerpt for his new intention.") I didn't think about this interpretation. Anyhow now that I read it on Jos' Blog I like it, embrace it, agree with every word he wrote.

I just finished reading it when I got an Email from Arnold notifying me that he posted an article on Qtsaver and it's on http://google4africa.blogspot.com/2005/12/when-less-is-more.html.

Arnold wrote:

Why are tools like QTsaver relevant to Africa? For the majority of users in Africa, access to the internet is via internet cafes. Not knowing where to find the information directly, compounded with the bandwidth limitations make research via web search engines - time consuming and through internet cafes - costly!!. With QT/Search - quicker access to relevant micro-content, aggregated on a single page means less time spent & less money spent.

I didn't know that for the majority of users in Africa, access to the internet is via internet cafes.
It gave new meaning to my ideas about saving user's time and reducing user's frustration. Anyhow now that I read it on Arnolds' Blog I like it, embrace it, agree with every word he wrote.

In cyberspace It is a great honor when your ideas are discussed profoundly by other (regular) Bloggers. It is a greater honor when your ideas are discussed profoundly by ORIGINAL THINKERS
...and it is the best way to start a new day…

Top five Postings

In order to make this Blog even friendlier I propose to the new reader who wants to know what I wrote up till now to read the following postings or at least their headings:

my-hall-of-frustration

Why frustration?
- Because we want to find information and we can not find it. In our imagination we translate our failure in survival terms:
I will not finish my term paper
so they will kick me out of school
so I will never find a decent job
so I will never find a spouse
so I will never have kids…
That's why we get so emotional about not finding…

monkey-in-zoo
There is a gap between experiencing QTSaver and explaning what is it that you feel. The reason is that you feel what you don't get. You feel that the irrelevant results to which you were used to , which were scattered between the relevant ones in any other search engine that you used - were disappeared. You feel like walking in a quiet neibourhood after spending the whole day in the central bus station.

qtpedia
Wikipedia is an admirable project and there is no doubt that when it has an article about any term most chances are that it will be better than any Google or Yahoo equivalent. Still Wikipedia is not enough. I believe QTSaver might assist Wikipedia and complement it and I'll try to prove it in my next researches.

pileup-query
Since QTSaver retrieves sometimes too few excerpts other times an avalanche of excerpts I started exercising a Pileup Query which will take the first "suggestion to refine your query" and add it to the query phrase, then the first Suggestion to refine your query from the second results page and so on until I get 18 excerpts. This might bring some homogeneity to the retrieval and the user will get used to receiving 18 excerpts in each query.

homonyms-synonyms-unique-words
In case many meanings have one word (Homonyms)
For example:' apple' from the tree and ' apple' the company.
The computer can find a right match or a wrong matche or both. And again, if it found a right one there is no problem, and if it found wrong ones the user is either frustrated or confused.

QTSaver Research

My friend Udi Segal commented on my posting about table-of-contents saying that in order to make my Blog even more friendly I'll better sum up the main issues. I accepted his advice and here is the sum up of Chapter 3 - RESEARCH:

In this chapter I show the results of researches about the following questions:

• How new versions of QTSaver effect the results of the queries?
• How to use QTSaver to collect information about a new subject (mobile gambling)?
• Are QTsaver results more relevant than those of other search engines?
• Are Pileup Queries better than regular queries?
(Pileup Queries take the first "suggestion to refine your query" and add it to the query phrase, then the first suggestion to refine the query from the second results page and so on until the suggestion is a repeated suggestion).
• How to rearrange microcontents by views (by country)?
• Is QTpedia feasible? Can QTSaver results complete articles that were published in Wikipedia?
• What did I do in this Blog?

google4africa

I just left a comment on Mr. A T Marunda's Blog.

Mr. A.T. Marunda's reaction to the news about the US$100 laptop that project One Laptop per Child (OLPC) is going to distribute to 100 million children in Africa is thought provoking:

"One Laptop per Teacher", he suggests

.

When outsiders like the OLPC project management look at the problem of illiteracy in Africa they say:
Give these kids a Laptop and the problem will be solved. When an insider like Mr.
A.T. Marunda looks at the problem he considers the unique role of teachers in the African education system, and not how the slogan One Laptop per Child sounds to the Media.

His suggestion sounds practical and serious to me.I just hope that the people at the OLPC project will hear his voice too and rephrase their slogan.

Demonstrations

In a comment to my posting about table-of-contents my friend Udi Segal advised me to sum up the main issues in order to make my Blog even more friendly. I accepted his advice and here is the sum up of Chapter 2: DEMONSTRATIONS

In this chapter I show:

• How to use QTSaver to write an article in an hour
• How to use QTSaver to write a research in a few hours
• How to use book contents to collect information
• How to use QTSaver to find a person
• How QTSaver helps you automatically to narrow your search
• How to choose the right words for your query
• How to execute pile-up queries
• How to look for definitions
• How to map all sorts of searches
• How to arrange the results with appropriate headings
• How to translate a verse from the bible
• What's the difference between the results of a company that specializes in finding articles and QTSaver
• Why the logic of search is not common sense
• That sometimes there's a need to use a dictionary in order to find what you search for
• That sometimes there's a need to call up a friend who knows English and not count on a dictionary
• That sometimes there's a need to use Yellow Pages instead of search engine
• That sometimes nothing goes right – no matter what search engine or tactics you use.

QTSaver Time Table

15/03/2005 Oni meets inventor and hears about QTSaver.
01/04/2005 Programmer puts QTSaver on the WWW (Yahoo and Google APIs).
03/04/2005 QTSearch gets a password.
19/04/2005 A patent pending application is issued and the company is registered.
29/04/2005 A new interface is designed.
07/05/2005 QTSearch SMS by-product starts working.
11/05/2005 First user starts feed backing.
16/05/2005 Programmer works on QTphone.
28/05/2005 Programmer improves retrieval speed.
15/06/2005 Hebrew HELP is publicized. Research on SMS bugs is finished.
28/06/2005 SMS algorithm is finished. High percentage of relevant results.
03/07/2005 Demo page starts.
17/07/2005 First publicity in a newspaper brings more users.
21/07/2005 Opening a Blog that is dedicated to the development of QTSaver.
24/07/2005 New interface.
25/07/2005 Udi joins the development team.
26/07/2005 Work on Hebrew version starts.
01/08/2005 Opening Chat.
02/08/2005 Opening Forum.
02/08/2005 Meeting with the organization for the visually impaired students.
24/08/2005 Hebrew version-1 is finished. Eddie joins the development team.
01/09/2005 Revealing first competitor – THECONCEPT.
08/09/2005 Revealing second competitor – ORION.
13/09/2005 Getting the password off and changing the domain name to QTSaver.
13/10/2005 DMOZ and Wikipedia API are added as new sources.
19/10/2005 Metasearch is operational.
20/11/2005 WAP site is finished.
24/11/2005 First commercial client.
25/11/2005 Zohar designs a new logo and a new interface.
27/11/2005 We discover that Opera Browser is working fine with the Wap site.
07/12/2005 Business presentation is ready.
07/12/2005 Hebrew version-2 is finished.

Why QTSaver?

A table of contents that is copying the original headings of each posting doesn't convey clearly what's in the body of these postings.

In a comment to my above mentioned posting my friend Udi Segal
advised me to sum up the main issues that the Blog deals with. I accepted his advice and here is the sum up of Chapter 1: EXPLENATIONS

In this chapter I ask "Why QTSaver?" and answer:

To reduce search engine frustration: people look for information and don't find it.
There are millions of unique terms that bring a satisfying answer on the first result. For almost every unique word there is such an answer. But on the other hand, in case one word has many meanings (synonyms) or many meanings have one word (Homonyms) the computer will find many wrong matches and users will be frustrated.

To reduce illiteracy in third world countries with the help of retirees who will gladly "adopt" a pupil (kid or adult) and take care of his/her intellectual needs through computer connection and by using QTSaver.

To change the World: searching for information is based on macro content and with QTSaver I hope that people will start using micro content search which will lead eventually to
One Right Result for each query.
It will enable users, specifically students, to collect data without an effort and to concentrate on thinking, not on collecting.
It will enable dyslectics and visually impaired people to reduce the amount of irrelevant information they have to cross currently until they get the information they need.
It will enable thousands of people who have no computer to connect to the vast fields pf knowledge on the WWW by phone.
It will enable Group Browsing.
It will enable concentrating a whole research on the Web and get the right answers for every new demand for information.
It will help users think about their subject of interest by posing questions about the connection between the main terms that compose the subject.

Actually if search engine frustration and illiteracy will be reduced the world will change. I just hope that it will change for the better because history taught me that every new tool the world gets serves the bad guys better than it serves the good.

Filtering Irrelevant Information

I Looked for "cell phone horoscope" on Google and got a list of links and snippets. I wasted time choosing the right link.



I clicked the link and got a web page that was very attractive to the eye but had little relevance to my information need. There was information about cell phones and ringtones but the horoscope thing was somewhere downs the page and I had to waist a lot of precious time in order to get it.





In QTSaver I Looked for "cell phone horoscope" and got the answer in the most straight forwards manner. QTSaver FILTERED the IRRELEVANT information and I got the nuggets I wanted.