MetallicPlastic - Slashdot User

Gap Between Google and Competition Widening 188

Posted by Zonk on Friday October 06, 2006 @09:38AM from the jump-the-pit dept.

eldavojohn writes "Business Week has up an article trying to explain why it is getting harder and harder to 'catch' Google in the search engine game. We've heard of many different kinds of search engines and many different companies entering the market but: '... Google keeps gaining share in the face of newly launched capabilities on other engines. In August, Google sites gained 6.8 percentage points of search share from a year earlier, according to researcher comScore Media Metrix. Meantime, Yahoo lost 1 percentage point, Microsoft's sites lost 3.3 percentage points, and Ask.com lost one-half of a percentage point.' All of this on the heels of recent news that A9 scaled back its features. Is it possible to think of a number better than a one with a hundred zeros behind it?"

Lego Mindstorms + Lasers 122

Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday October 05, 2006 @11:28PM from the robots-with-friggin-lasers dept.

hamsan writes "My brother just hacked a laser pointer into an NXT light sensor and fully documented the process. From the page — 'Total Project Cost — $16.99 plus shipping. Time Required — Approximately 2 hours of tinkering. Having an Alpha Rex with a Laser — Priceless!' Of course, the usual warnings about voiding warranties and avoiding lasers apply."

Ballmer Speaks on His Solo Act 196

Posted by CmdrTaco on Friday July 28, 2006 @10:16AM from the but-does-he-do-the-monkey-dance dept.

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "In his first one-on-one interview since Bill Gates's retirement announcement, Steve Ballmer tells the Wall Street Journal he is bullish on Microsoft's investments in online services, and he dismisses as 'random malarkey' the idea that Microsoft is having trouble hiring and keeping the kind of brilliant employees that have always been the company's competitive weapon. Here's Ballmer on Gates's departure: 'As co-leaders of the business, I could allow Bill to be the full-time champion of innovation. And [now] with me really being the guy who's here every day running the place, I must be the champion of innovation.' And on competing with Google: 'We're going to compete. We're going to be in the online business. We are going to have a core around online. We're going to be excellent. That, I would tell people, to count on...'"

Comment The Ego Astounds Me (Score 1) 564

by MetallicPlastic on Thursday March 16, 2006 @02:10PM (#14935139) Attached to: No More Next Big Thing?

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. What kind of ego must the guy have if he thinks humans have already "discovered everything important" and "invented everything?"

At the beginning of the 20th century, most physicists thought physics was "nearly complete" and just the finer details just had to be tended to. And then quantum mechanics turned the entire field on its head. Nobody expected such a development, and it completely changed the way we look at everything. I realize that's not explicitly "innovation," but quantum theory yields a ton of innovation every day. (Price check, aisle 3!)

I'd love to see his face when virtual reality becomes real reality, and innovation becomes anything that can be envisioned. Or when (if) we discover a multiverse, or interstellar space travel. The computer revolution -just- happened, and it was completely that: a REVOLUTION. Don't be so asinine as to assume it can't happen again, Mr. Donofrio. I, like, totally wouldn't be friends with you.

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