Powersetting Your Search

New search engines on the Internet are a dime a dozen nowadays. Or so it seems, right?

I ran across this new search engine today called Powerset. But before I had a chance to roll my eyes at yet another search engine...I realized that this thing is definitely getting the hype machine treatment in techdom.

Part of the reason is the "who's who" of supporters behind this thing. On its list of investors includes Eric Tilenius (former CEO of Answers.com) and Esther Dyson (techdom's queen), among a slew of others. It's even got a few heavy hitting VCs behind it..

So what's going to make Powerset so special compared to all the other search engines getting created out there in cyberspace? It claims to be a search engine based on "natural language processing." By focusing on the structure and nuances of natural language, Powerset has its sights set on breaking search free of traditional keyword confines. Or something to that extent.

It shows promise. Unfortunately, it's not available to the public yet. Claiming that it's operating in "semi-stealth" mode for now, it looks like those of us wanting to get a glimpse into the "future of search" will have to wait until Powerset's creators are ready for prime time.

I for one will be very interested to see if Powerset can live up to all this hype.

Microsoft rolling out another social networking site?

Hmmm...some interesting bit of news I came across today. It appears Microsoft is trying to form another IT community site.

How it differs from The Hive, I have yet to determine. Right now Aggreg8 is so bare bones that it's hard to tell if this thing is going to take off.

I do have to say that as it stands now, Aggreg8 is definitely not ready for primetime. It may have some interesting things here or there, but nothing substantial that would tantalize any user.

More to come as I uncover...

In the meanwhile, I will be posting more frequently!