Yahoo goes Google-hunting with a new search engine

Yahoo is rolling out a brand new search engine today, with its own index and ranking mechanisms, casting aside its long-standing use of Google-powered search results. The move is bound to roil the industry and sets in motion a new race for the claim of web search champion.

Much as I like the Google search engine and their wonderful webmaster tools, thy’re been doing some scummy things lately, deliberately trying to wreck the homegrown world of bloggers who use a standard called XML and replace it with another, called Atom. Which might be ok, except Google is now refusing to allow XML on Blogger, which they own, rather than let people choose what they want. There have also been reports Google is downranking non-Bloggers blogs in their search engine results. All of which indicates Google is feeling maybe a bit too omnipotent.

As the acerbic Dave Winer, who helped create XML said today

Even though I think Google is a shitty company (disclaimer) I’m pretty sure Yahoo is too, even though I have less contact with them. Two shitty Silicon Valley companies competing is a billion percent better than one dominant shitty Silicon Valley company. And you can quote me on that (as I’m sure my detractors will). Am I ready to replace the Google button in my toolbar? Not yet. But with a few tweaks, I’ll be glad to do

This new Yahoo search, which from early reports is quite smart and capable, will be giving Google serious competition. 

You can find it at Search.Yahoo.com

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Inventing a close race

The pundits are saying that Wisconsin was a close race. It wasn’t. Kerry won by six points, which by any standards, is a comfortable margin of victory.

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Apparently Hell did just freeze over

Ireland outlaws smoking in pubs

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Momentum building for March 20

The upcoming March 20 antiwar demonstrations are already generating serious interest and they are still more than a month away. Demos will be held across the planet that day - in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Canada, and, of course, in the belly of the beast here in the US.

Major protests are planned for NYC, Chicago, SF, LA, and dozens of other cities too. The word from everywhere is, people already know about M20, and they are ready to get into the streets. I’m told the NY Times opined that the NYC demo may turn out to have been a warm-up for the Republican Party convention there on August 29! (I certainly plan to be in NYC in August to greet the Republicans)

Here in LA, ANSWER initiated the call for March 20, and currently there are 75 endorsing organizations, with more coming. The ANSWER flyer for March 20 has been translated into Spanish, Korean, Urdu, Hindi, and Punjabi. L.A. is a hugely multi-cultural city, and it’s been fascinating to watch so many groups come together to build for March 20, all with their own constituencies and focus, all with specific groups of people they can reach that others can’t.

These groups include amazing hard-working organizations such as Mindullae, BAYAN-USA, Korean Americans for Peace, Latino Movement USA, South Asian Network, Free Palestine Alliance, Latinos Against the War, Global Women’s Strike, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, and many more.

Together, as a coalition of coalitions, we can accompish things not possible were we working alone.

Together, we can stop these insane wars and occupations!

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