June 11, 2009, Vol. 3, Issue 9

Sorry to disappoint, but this will not be about Wolfram Alpha or Bing; we’re going smaller, sleeker and savvier for summertime. Think bikinis, not wet suits. (Did I really write that?)

Finding alternative search engines that somehow escape the Internet spotlight is a bit of a passion for us. Moving right along… the sights, sounds and searches of (almost) summer…

What Do You See?

At a loss for words? In February we told you about TinEye, the reverse image search where you submit your photo, find out where it’s from and search for high res versions. Nice, But it’s coolness might be challenged by Picollator which uses a combination of image files and a few key words of text to do web searches that find matches for your uploaded photo. This makes for a much more powerful image search. Definitely fun to play with, Picollator (beta) is a blast.

What Does Searching Sound Like?

Does life in the big city make you miss the sound of cicadas? Does your PowerPoint need some audio garnishes? Do you long to hear the Knights Who Say “Ni”?
Answers to these and many other audio queries can be found in one convenient place – FindSounds. FindSounds is a metasearch of sound file searches, looking for sound effects and musical instrument samples of almost every imaginable description. It also filters out any obscenities, so FindSounds is fun for the kids to play with on those rainy summer days, too. Bonus!

Itching to Find a Specific Video Online?

Thousands of mosquito bites on a summer’s evening can seem like a less frustrating prospect than cycling through Google Video, Hulu and YouTube for a video you’ve tried in vain to find. You gotta try VideoSurf. It’s different. Using a combination of “new computer vision and fast computation methods,” VideoSurf has the ability to search within videos’ content quickly and efficiently. Basing its search on visual identification, rather than text only, you can get more relevant results.

Aloha

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Now it’s time to get off the computer and out to enjoy the sum-sum-summertime! But not before I do a quick search to find out which beaches are best…Note to self: Get some sunscreen.)

See you in two weeks, Dude.