[rdfweb-dev] Eurekster?

[Bill Kearney]

> I think that's the point...
>
> >People with the same interests could then be added to your 'buddy
> >list' or whatever they call it.
>
> Not sure if this is what they're trying to do...
>
> >I still don't really see what use it would be, though... :)
>
> It seems to me to be just another way of targeting advertising more
> effectively. If they know you (and maybe your friends) are all
> interested in lingerie for sheep, then they can push your local sheep
> lingerie shop along with your search results.

It would be a great tragedy to see this used solely for advertising purposes.
The public has already shown a tremendous skepticism about accepting the sort of
"rigged results" seen in things like Altavista's initial attempt at search
sponsoring.

Personally, I find simple keyword searching to be a horrendous abomination.  If
only because it greatly misleads people as to what it takes to form a decent
search.  People aren't grasping search now (ask any librarian) and giving them
'searching for dummies' interfaces like Google is not helping.  But I digress...

Before something like a 'context search' can be made you need to have some idea
of a 'presentable context' that can be handed to the searching agent.  This, of
course, raises the skepticism issues about trust and demographic prostitution
(aka advertising).  But if you approach a search and provide it with your
context then you certainly stand a better chance of getting desired results.  As
in, if you're a plumber and you ask your librarian for information "about some
seal work I'm doing" then you're pretty likely to get results from plumbing
supplies, not small mammals clubbed on artic ice or navy assault teams.  It's
all a matter of context.

I'm hopeful more appreciation will be given to, and more accountability demanded
from, the concepts of trusted third parties.  Call me an optimist but this is
the only way we're going to break out of the misery of modern advertising and
marketing and up to more to a more accurate level of searching.

-Bill Kearney