Wolf at the Door?

It’s already been labelled a potential “Google-killer”, so is Google’s position as King of the search engines really under threat or is this merely a case of crying wolf? Dr Wolfram, the British creator of Wolfram Alpha is keen to stress that his is a long term project and that we shouldn’t get too carried away just yet. Wolfram Alpha (www.wolframalpha.com) is not a traditional search engine, but a “computational knowledge engine.” WA only became available online to the public last Monday and it is quickly evident in how it differs from Google. After playing around on it for a few minutes (well worth a try...) it’s advantages as well as its shortcomings are clear. Whereas Google will offer you thousands of webpages for anything you type in, WA only offers answers from its database and no links. This means that if you want to know the nutritional value of 2 slices of swiss cheese, the position of the interantional space station or answers to your maths homework then WA is the place to go as you will get all the information you need neatly laid out in a table format. However, type in Spice Girls as your search and almost inexplicably, there is no information available. Similarly, if you’re looking for a new camera, WA can tell you that the word camera is spoken on average 1 in every 37,000 words but can’t direct you to the latest cut price Sony. Dr Wolfram and his staff are constantly adding to WA’s database but it seems for now that it can’t really be seen as a competitor to Google but instead as an interesting alternative. Furthermore, due to its advanced question answering capabilities, it may also be particularly useful as an alternative to student’s favourite Wikipedia. It’s arrival has also coincided with Google announcing that it will shortly be releasing Google Squared, its own new hybrid of Search Engine and “computational knowledge engine”. Therefore, this competition offered by WA can only be good news for keen web users and searchers as it offers a new alternative way of searching for data whilst simultaneously ensuring that Google has to keep evolving. So, for those fans of random facts and those keen for tables of data, I’d advise you to head to WA. For the rest of you, it’s probably best to stick to Google for now. Feel free to let me know your own opinions of WA and until next time, hasta luego...x

Up and Running

Hello and welcome to Dimnet’s News and Views Blog. This blog will be an opportunity for the interns and staff at Dimnet Web Services (www.dimnetcorp.com) to share some of their opinions about what’s going on in the world. The blog will tend to focus on Internet based developments but will also be a chance to discuss the latest goings on at Dimnet as well as an opportunity to share with you any excitements or scandals from the office. Dimnet is a Web Design company, established in 2001 and based in Buenos Aires. Dimnet is now not only a Web Designer, but also an experienced internet consultant. In short, it is a rapidly growing Interactive Agency with a mixture of Argentinian, British and American staff, which makes it an exciting and fun place to work. We hope that some of this will be reflected in the Blog and that you enjoy reading it...x