engineers

Run multiwidget desktops with Amnesty Hypercube

Amnesty Hypercube is a small application for Windows XP, Vista, and Mac OS X that will help you pull bits of Web content to use as widgets. These widgets can be brought up or dismissed ad hoc, or added to your desktop as a permanent fixture. Besides its cool name (second only to flux capacitor), the service is not so different from many existing widget platforms, like Yahoo Widgets, OS X's Dashboard, or the Windows Vista sidebar. Yet the company is taking a slightly different approach, one a little closer to Yourminis, which uses Adobe Integrated Runtime to run widgets on your desktop.… Read more

Sweaty rocket arm proves faster, curls more

Scientists at Vanderbilt University have adapted a miniaturized rocket motor from space to power a stronger, faster prosthetic arm here on Earth.

Actually, the power is generated by what amounts to an advanced steam engine. It contains hydrogen peroxide and a catalyst that causes it to burn at 450 fahrenheit, producing steam. NASA uses the same principle to scoot the space shuttle around in orbit.

It's "roughly the size of a pencil" and provides enough energy to operate the prosthetic for up to 18 hours. The prototype arm also weighs less because the motor eliminates the need … Read more

Google deems cost-per-action as the 'Holy Grail'

SAN JOSE, Calif.--On the morning of day three here at Search Engine Strategies ("SES") San Jose, Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search product and user experience, gave her keynote presentation. She said a lot of interesting things, but of particular note to me was that she deemed cost-per-action (CPA) "the Holy Grail."

According to Marissa, Google is making moves towards cost-per-action as a more ideal auction-based pricing model, but she also pointed out that it's a long way away.

Cost-per-action may be a new term for some readers, so I'll review … Read more

Yahoo Is The Fastest - In The Slots At Least

As part of this week's Search Engine Strategies - San Jose convention, I was invited to a private party with fifty or so of top folks in the SEO world. The event was called the "Vintage Tub and Bath Event" and took place at the beautiful Japanese gardens and restaurant in Saratoga, Hakone. Attendees included representatives of Yahoo, Live Search (MSN), and, of course, Google.

One of the top entertainments of the evening was slot-car racing. There were many races, and they were open to anyone at the party. But then the smackdown came: a race between … Read more

Why open source search engines don't have a chance

If you've been following the tale behind Wikia, you would know that Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has something up his sleeve that he believes will revolutionize the way we all search the web.

According to the company, Wikia has four main components: the indexing of the Web, developing a search engine application, an algorithm, and using people to help filter sites and rank results.

And while the first three are pretty standard, it's the fourth component that has me shaking my head. One of the highest costs associated with starting a search engine is buying enough servers and … Read more

IRS bureaucrats duped into exposing passwords

Brace yourself for another fine example of the tech-savviness of federal bureaucrats (and yes, this sentence is dripping with sarcasm).

According to a report released Friday (PDF) by the Treasury Department's inspector general, 60 percent of a sampling of 102 Internal Revenue Service employees, when contacted by government auditors posing as help-desk employees, were perfectly willing to reveal their usernames and change their passwords to ones suggested by the callers.

The auditors said they were particularly alarmed by this year's findings against the backdrop of a similar test in 2004, when only 35 percent fell for the trick. … Read more

Avenue A/Razorfish announces SiLC search engine optimization tool

I got a chance to sit down with William Flaiz, VP of SEO and Web Analytics at Avenue A/Razorfish today at ad:tech Chicago to talk about its new search engine optimization technology. For those of you who don't know, Avenue A/Razorfish builds Web sites and designs digital marketing programs and has done work for a ton of companies including XM Satellite Radio and Dell. Their parent company, aQuantive, was recently acquired by Microsoft, so Avenue A/Razorfish will soon be part of the Microsoft family, as soon as that deal closes.

Today, Avenue A/Razorfish is … Read more

Audi in with diesel and hybrids

We know Audi has the fastest diesel engine in the world, but does it also have the cleanest one?

Many car companies have been touting diesel engine technology as the short-term solution to fuel prices and environmental concerns. Others are making hybrids or concentrating on improving the efficiency of gas engines.

Audi may have something that will blow them all away.

The company plans to incorporate the TDI (turbocharged direct injection) technology that was used in its Le Mans-winning R10 TDI sports car into its existing line of consumer cars. That's not surprising.

Here's the kicker.

The company … Read more

Photos: MIT science fair for overachieving teens

Twenty teams from high schools across the United States are showing off their inventions this week during the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams Odyssey at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge. Last fall, each team received a grant of up to $10,000 from the Lemelson-MIT Program to create a solution to a problem they chose.

The three-day event enables students to show off their inventions, which run the gamut from health, safety and environment-oriented gadgets to consumer products and assistance-offering devices.

Click above for more photos of the young 'uns and the products of their intellect.