Author: admin

Human-Powered Search Engine Will Provide “Natural Language” Function, Naturally

~ admin

Summary:  Los Angeles-based startup project has created a “natural language” search engine that is as natural as it gets:  search results are provided by actual human beings.  Jatalla.com, provides the Web’s first search engine in which search results are 100% user-generated.

(Original article date:  July 2, 2006 (PRweb))

While search engine monoliths continue trying to teach human language skills to computers, a Los Angeles-based startup project has created a “natural language” function that is as natural as it gets: search results are provided by actual human beings.

Expected for beta release in July, the new search engine, Jatalla.com, provides the Web’s first search engine in which search results are 100% user-generated. Initial announcement of the project in June, 2006, provoked a buzz in the industry as well as an outpouring of enthusiasm from Internet users.

“Judging from the pre-launch response we’re getting, there must be a huge demand for genuine alternatives to the major search engines,” a company representative observed.

This week the creators provided additional insights into how the system works.

Through Jatalla.com, any registered user can submit a vote called a “lexivote”, which consists of two parts: (i) a word or phrase and (ii) a list of up to three URLs. This lexivote is counted along with all other lexivotes that include the exact same term. Thereafter, when a user queries the search engine using that term, a list of URLs—ranked according to these lexivotes—is returned. Each user is limited to only one lexivote per search term.

Aside from providing the lexivote mechanism, the Jatalla.com site encourages users to submit lexivotes in both “structured” syntax—using folksonomic tagging—and natural language syntax. Since results are derived from lexivotes submitted by real, live human beings, the Jatalla.com search engine is expected to handle natural language queries that are as complex and subtle as real, live human speech.

“We think that humans speak human languages fluently, and that computers don’t,” the representative continued. “So-called ‘noise words’ are ‘noise’ to computers simply because they are not as smart as people. It’ll be a long time before even the most powerful computers can compete with a fifth-grader in the realm of human speech.”

The Jatalla.com search engine was created by award-winning product development firm Inventerprise LLC, of Los Angeles, and Viking Web Development, Inc., of Fargo, North Dakota. More information can be found at http://www.jatalla.com.

Jatalla | 100% User-Generated Search Engine Results Featuring the Most Powerful Search Engine on Earth: Your Brain
Jatalla | 100% User-Generated Search Engine Results Featuring the Most Powerful Search Engine on Earth: Your Brain

New Search Engine Uses Distributed Computing System—And the Computers Are Human

~ admin

In a coup for the “Web 2 .0” movement, a new search engine announced today provides search results that are 100% user-generated. The site, called Jatalla.com, is expected for beta release in July.

(Original article publication date: June 19, 2006 (Inventeprise))

Through Jatalla.com, any registered user can submit a vote called a “lexivote”, which consists of two parts: (i) a word or phrase and (ii) a list of up to three URLs. This lexivote is counted along with all other lexivotes that include the exact same term. Thereafter, when a user queries the search engine using that term, a list of URLs — ranked according to these lexivotes — is returned. Each user is limited to only one lexivote per search term.

The service was developed by Inventerprise LLC, a national award-winning product development company based in Los Angeles, California, and Viking Web Development, based in Fargo, North Dakota. The essential system was created in 1999, and patent filings in 2003 and 2004 disclose not only the current Jatalla.com search engine but also numerous functions not scheduled for deployment until next year. “We’re excited, and we’re counting on users to make the project a success,” an Inventerprise representative noted. “Just like a wiki, a social bookmarking service, or a folksonomic tagging system, Jatalla.com offers 100% user-created and user-maintained content. We provide the vessel; users themselves provide the search results.”

In leveraging the collective intelligence of Internet users worldwide, the Jatalla.com search engine can be likened to a distributed computing system, except that all the search algorithms are contained in people’s heads. Such an approach departs from the computer-based algorithms that drive the dominant search engines of today and leverages increased demand for adding the consumer’s voice to the media chorus.

“We believe that people are still smarter than computers, and that people are better researchers than are computer algorithms,” the representative continued. “Jatalla.com is like a modern ‘John Henry’ story.”

Another noteworthy benefit the new search engine provides is immediate responsiveness. Unlike search engines that rely on automated web crawlers to find new content on the World Wide Web, the Jatalla.com system instantaneously responds to lexivotes, so that Web pages pertaining to a particular news event can appear in search results moments after being posted.

To view screenshots of the beta model, visit http://www.jatalla.com.

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Wiki 1, Vandalism 0: Vandalism-Proof—but Still 100% User-Edited—Wiki Planned

~ admin

(Text as it appeared in original press release:  Los Angeles, CA — June 6, 2006)

Summary:  A vandalism-proof but authentic wiki has been developed in one company’s attempt to merge the best of both the old-style, hierarchical editorial model and a Web 2.0 approach to content.

In an attempt to merge the best of both the old-style, hierarchical editorial model and a Web 2.0 approach to content, a vandalism-proof but authentic wiki has been developed by California-based product development company Inventerprise LLC.

As with conventional wikis, the next-generation wiki system provides an interface through which any Internet user can create or modify a page. However, once a modification has been submitted, other users must “ratify” the modification before it becomes active. This ratification process endows the resulting “wikument” with a level of authority and credibility that has been difficult to achieve in the context of wikis.

The ratification process is similar to that used in another recently announced Inventerprise experiment, Wicracy.org. Wicracy provides a sort of “wikiplatform” through which voters at large can create a political platform for their political party.

An Inventerprise representative commented, “We hope that the wikument approach captures most of the massive benefits of universal participation while eliminating many of the drawbacks.”

“Vandalism” is a term used in wiki communities to describe content that is added to or removed from a page in an attempt to be destructive or frivolous. While most vandalism is quickly caught and reversed by the community, such “soft security” measures are highly variable in effectiveness, depending on the size and sophistication of the relevant community. Some vandalism is very subtle — for instance, a changing of a date or spelling — and is therefore hard to detect. The constant threat of vandalism — or simply bad information propagated by misinformed but well-meaning users — has tended to undermine the credibility of publicly available wiki content.

The wikument system provides a “challenge process” in which existing content on a page is pitted against a proposed modification. Users vote on whether to retain the existing content or accept the modification.

“The authentication process used in the wikument approach certainly slows everything down. But, in terms of resulting credibility, this slowdown may be a good thing,” the representative continued.

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Horology 2.0: Wearable Computing Pioneer Receives Notice of Allowance for Time-Telling Invention

~ admin

Summary:  The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance in the case of a patent application filed on a new way to tell time. The new time display method uses colors instead of an hour hand or hour digit. Products using the new way to tell time are expected to be marketed under the brand name TWELV(TM)(http://www.twelv.com).

(Original press release:  LOS ANGELES, CALIF. JUNE 5, 2006)

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued a Notice of Allowance to award-winning inventor Shelley Harrison in the case of a patent application filed on a new way to tell time. The new time display method uses colors instead of an hour hand or hour digit. Products using the new way to tell time are expected to be marketed under the brand name TWELV(TM)(http://www.twelv.com).

TWELV time relies upon a series of twelve colors, each of which is uniquely assigned to an hour of the day. A color is displayed during the hour to which the color is assigned. Thus, for instance, during the six o’clock hour, the color green is displayed. Minutes are still indicated by numerical digits, which are set against a background that is the color corresponding to the given hour.

The TWELV time-telling system allows a number of advantages. For instance, holding display size constant, two digits can be displayed at a much larger size than can four digits. Meanwhile, colors can be correctly identified at much longer distances than can individual characters or clock hands. Thus, the new time-telling system offers a readability over greater distances than conventional time display methods allow.

Users do not need have to commit the colors to memory right away: the first wristwatch based upon the new technology, called the TIKR(TM), will include a manual override feature so that users can view time in conventional digital format simply by touching the screen or a button.

Harrison holds three patents in the field of wearable computing, including wrist-wearable computers, PDAs, telephones and audio players. He is founder of Wearable Computing(R), an Internet portal, and is most known for creation of the Orang-Otang(R) Peel-It(R), a product that serves as both a case and a wrist-mount for consumer electronic devices such as the Palm PDA or the Apple iPod.

A working demo of the invention can be viewed at http://www.twelv.com/demo5.htm.

TWELV | Sample Color-to-Hour Training Image
TWELV | Sample Color-to-Hour Training Image

Snail Mail’s Revenge: New Postal System Allows Physical Mail to Be Addressed to an E-mail Address

~ admin

(Original article publication date:  June 2, 2006 (Inventerprise))

Details of a new postal mail system have been disclosed today, revealing a service in which so-called “snail mail”—regular postal mail—can be sent without any physical mailing address. Under the new system, instead of using a traditional physical mailing address (name, street, city, state, zip), a sender simply applies an e-mail address (e-mail protected from spam bots) to an envelope, affixes the correct postage, and deposits the envelope with a postal carrier. Thereafter, the postal carrier hands of the envelope to a third-party service provider, which provider in turn finishes processing the envelope.

Multiple delivery scenarios are possible. In one embodiment, the intended recipient is contacted by e-mail and asked for a delivery preference. In another embodiment, the envelope is simply delivered to the registered owner of the domain name used in the e-mail address; the domain name owner then forwards the envelope to its final destination, if necessary.

Postage required for use of the new service is expected to cost three times the regular first-class mailing rate for an envelope, or two times the regular rate for a postcard.

The new service has not yet been approved by the United States Postal Service, although the creators are seeking approval for launch of the system in the United States before pursuing launch in other countries.

A company representative expressed some hopes for the future of the service today, saying, “We expect this service to simplify people’s lives by eliminating the need for maintaining a physical address book. Just keep up with someone’s e-mail address, and you are good to go.”

If approved by the United States Postal Service, a pilot program could be launched as early as 2008.

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Comment:  This system is part of the Alternative Address Shipping/Courier System.

New Website May Offer Glimpse of the Future of Politics: Wicracy.org Provides a “Wikiplatform” for Political Parties

~ admin

(Text as it appeared in original press release:  Los Angeles, CA — May 31, 2006)

Summary:  A new World Wide Web service, called Wicracy, has been made publicly available in beta form at http://www.wicracy.org. The system, perhaps best described as a “wikiplatform” for political parties, may be a preview of the way user-generated content sites will affect politics.

A new World Wide Web service, called Wicracy, has been made publicly available in beta form at http://www.wicracy.org. The system, perhaps best described as a “wikiplatform” for political parties, may be a preview of the way user-generated content sites will affect politics.

Through Wicracy.org, registered voters can create and develop a non-binding political platform for the party to which they belong. Users propose “planks” – i.e., particular stances on issues – to be included in the party’s platform and ratify planks proposed by others. Once a given plank has been ratified by enough members, it becomes adopted as part of the party’s political platform on Wicracy.org.

“Wicracy is a powerful vehicle for user-controlled content in the field of politics,” commented Wicracy creator Shelley Harrison. “We hope to have full functionality in time for the 2006 elections and to introduce a number of enhancements for the 2008 presidential race.”

One of the most powerful, unprecedented features made possible by the Wicracy.org model is called the “representativeness indicator.” By allowing party views to be broken down issue-by-issue and the strength of these views to be measured with precision, the degree to which a given political candidate represents the views of his or her party can be quantified more accurately and precisely than previously possible. The representativeness indicator function is anticipated for launch later this year.

Wicracy.org also expects to allow formation of user coalitions—essentially voting blocs—so as to further enhance the power of the user control model. The site also features a blog-like function that allows users to submit arguments for and against the adoption of a particular plank.

Eventually, Wicracy.org will allow users to fund individual planks, thereby putting the power of the purse behind their views on specific issues.

“We are using the catch phrase ‘Total Democracy’ for the site because that is really what Wicracy provides: a truly empowered electorate,” explained Nicole Theiss, quality assurance lead for the project.

Wicracy.org is provided as a free public service by Inventerprise LLC, an award-winning invention and design company. Additional information can be found through http://www.wicracy.org.

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Acacia Becomes Exclusive Licensee of Sure-T Bonded Internet Auction and Electronic Payment System

~ admin

Following acquisistion of TechSearch, Acacia Technologies is now the exclusive licensee of Sure-T. We are glad to be working with Acacia!

Sure-T | Suretyship Performance Bonds for Internet Auctions and eCommerce
Sure-T | Suretyship Performance Bonds for Internet Auctions and eCommerce

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Comments:  The TechSearch / Acacia deal pertained to the Sure-T performance bond and electronic payments patent family, which has now been licensed eBay, PayPal, and others.