heapr.com – Search from Google, WolframAlpha, Twitter, Flickr and other sites all at once! via kwout

Heapr is a great mashing of a couple big dog search engines: Google, Twitter, Wikipedia, Wolfram Alpha, Flickr for images, and for video searching it searches Youtube, Vimeo and Hulu. When you complete a search your main results are from Google featured on the left. On the right side of the page one of the other three contestants is showcased and you can easily switch between these remaining three, which are set up like tabs, with the click of a button while never loosing the ever accurate Google results.

Heapr of course does loose some of the great functionality of Google search like the promote, similar, and comment buttons that add extra value to the original Google engine but the search results are the same because Heapr is powered by Google primarily.

Of course on of the most important aspects of any search engine for me is that it can be integrated into the my Firefox search bar and Heapr does that admirably giving me instant access to their search engine without ever having to go to their site.

I really like all the search engines that Heapr has mashed together and find each of them useful in their own way as they are all very different. Google is a mainstay search engine that always produces results. Wikipedia is a great starting point in researching a topic. Twitter is the best way to get a feel for what the masses are saying about certain topics , Wolfram Alpha is just creepy in how it just answers questions, Flickr is one of the most popular photo sharing sites, Youtube is a huge video sharing site that many people use as a search engine in and of itself, Vimeo is a great video website as is Hulu. The problem with each of those search engines is I forget about them or just don’t want to perform multiple searches on one topic, so I fall back on old Google and it always delivers. That is a problem that is solved with Heapr allowing me to search it all quickly and easily in one page, giving me a better cross section of answers.

Heapr is officially at the top of my search engine toolbar and is likely to stay for a while.

How can this be used for education?

It can save time and paint a more accurate and holistic picture of most internet searches than any one search engine can give because of the search engines it uses. Google gives the most popular results, Twitter is the pulse of the people and can give insight into what the popular belief about certain subjects. Wolfram Alpha is a fact engine that will do it’s best to answer you question as best it can (see my article on W.A.) and Wikipedia as we all know is a great resource used as a starting point for research.

Give Heapr to your students as an alternative to the search engines they are using, perhaps the additional information will spark some extra interest in a particular research paper. Check out my other articles on search engines.

Twoogle: Search Twitter and Google Simultaneously via kwout

There has been plenty of buzz this past week regarding Twitters new search engine and I must admit I am impressed. I won’t go into in this article but I will be doing a post that will be specific to Twitter. This post is about the combination of the Google search engine and Twitter’s code-named Twoogle.

Basically this is a search engine mash-up by our friends at Browsys. Browsys is a folder system for links and resources. Now I can’t say that I would recommend Brosys because Diigo does the same thing an much much more. But the Twitter and Google search engine that it provides is a very handy tool that can be used.

How can this help in education?

• Two searches at once saves time
• Utilize the power of both search engines.

Wolfram|Alpha via kwout

This past week a new challenger arose to test it’s might against the very powerful Google. Its task is a great one as Google dominates the western world but it appears that Wolfram doesn’t intend to play by the same rules. Instead of the user (you and I) searching for webpages that can bring the answers that we seek, we simply type in the the question to the answer we seek and Wolfram gives an answer.

So how good is it? Actually very good, it’s math and arithmetic is exceptional and should be feared as it seeks to put mathematicians out of work, try it by typing in “x^2 sin(x)”. Also try typing in “n=np”, one of the most persistent unsolved questions within computer science. Or perhaps try typing in your name to see statistics on how often it is used in the world. I also typed in “how tall is the empire state building?” and it promptly gave me a very detailed answer. So instead of searching for several minutes and trying to find a well cross-referenced answer I have it in seconds with Wolfram.

Will it replace Google? No, Google’s place is carved in stone but Wolfram may have a place of its own carved out if subsequent releases impress as much as this did.

I think I should also say that Wolfram isn’t the first search engine to try it’s hand at this sort of searching feature. True knowledge has been out for a little over a year now and has the same sort of search functions (see my article on search engines). But so far I am more impressed by Wolfram.

To test out some of the more humorous answers that it gives you try these searches on for size.

• To be or not to be?
• How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?
• How old are you?
• Where am I?
• How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
• 88 MPH
• What’s the answer to life?
• Hello
• What’s the speed of an unladen swallow?

How can this be used in education?

Again I am going to refer you to the articles I wrote on search engines.

True Knowledge via kwout

True Knowledge is a “question answering” search engine. You ask a question the way you do to any other person and it will give you an answer and the results (webpages) from which it drew that conclusion. So if you type in “How tall is the Eiffel tower?” I get a simple answer of “324 meters” I also get the specific article it got that information from, a list of other webpages that are relevant to the search and also an option as to if I agree or disagree with the answer.

True Knowledge is still in beta (like the other 2 I reviewed) so not everything has an answer and on top of that you still need to sign up to be able to use it something that can take days before your account can be set up. That is not very good when you are just wanting to do a simple search. If you are very interested in this concept and feel you want to contribute you sure can add to the knowledge base.

How can you use True knowledge in education?

Really because it is in beta, and has been for over a year, it really isn’t suitable to use in education but is definitely one to watch out for and should be followed.

So who is the winner of this throwdown? My choice as best search engine alternative is Hakai, and for these reasons:

• Smoothest and fastest interface
• verified search results
• direct comparison with other search engines

This isn’t to say that the other search engines are not good, they are good but I just prefer Hakia at this point.

See part 1 and 2 here respectively

Part 1: Middlespot

Part 2: Hakai

hakia via kwout

Hakai is a self proclaimed semantic search engine that spits out results based on web sites that are suggested by librarians. Because most search engines bring search results based on popular websites the results may not be credible but Hakai is trying to change that.

Most search engines bring popular results based on what statistical ranking algorithms, the problem with this is that the popular results are not always credible. Enter Hakai, the self proclaimed semantic search engine that brings quality results based on 3 criteria:

1. credible websites recommended by librarians
2. relevance to the query
3. up to date information

Hakai takes it a step further by allowing you to compare (http://club.hakia.com/challenge/default2.aspx?q=is+sleep+deprivation+dangerous?) your search to Google, Yahoo and MSN to see how effective it is as well letting you see if you find the search to be as effective as they say.

No sign up required, no commitment of any kind is needed to use this tools so feel free to try it risk free.

So how can this tool be used in education.

• If you are tired of Wikipedia, Google and the like then you can test drive Hakai and it’s librarian approved search result out and perhaps only allow your students to use it when doing research.
• It is another search engine option for yourself or anyone for that matter.
• Use it to show your students how different search engines can offer different results, thus it becomes a teaching tool to demonstrate why extra research is usually needed.

How would you use Hakai?

middlespot.com via kwout

Middlespot

Once again I am pitting three similar tools against each other to see who comes out as the victor. Three tools enter, one tool leaves. This go around is focused on search engines and ever since Google came in, stole the spotlight and made search engines cool everyone has been wanting their piece of the pie. The 3 tools I will be spotlighting are Middlespot, Hakai, and True Knowledge.

The first tool up is Middlespot and though this tool doesn’t offer any complex search algorithms but this search engine boasts the added functionality of a thumbnail picture for every search result that shows up. These images can be zoomed in and out and are all laid out on a basic workspace and to the left is another workspace with all the text present.

Another cool aspect of of Middlespot is that you get a thing called a workpad which enables you to:

• save multiple pages to
• change names
• give it a unique url
• add comments
• email to people
• it remembers your searches
• it makes suggestions for other searches.
• embed your workpad to your website or blog as I have done here

Middlespot also allows you to search twitter, amazon and images for a bit more variety. It also boasts the ability to add (if you want, no requirement here) Middlespot to you firefox search engine list and of course the obligatory bookmarklet. And if you don’t like the algorythm that Middlespot uses you can save google searches to your workpad and look at them there.

All of this is offered with no signup, plugins, logins, or kitchen sinks required so no passwords to remember, if you don’t want.

All sounds pretty good but there must be a downside, right? Well there is, bringing up 25-50 thumbnail images of websites can be pretty taxing on your internet connection and things tend to slow down, something that can cripple a search engine because people want their search results like they like their coffee…fast.

So how can Middlespot be used in education?

• You can post links via the workpad
• use it as a personal search engine
• use the comment tool to document separate workpads, like an overview
• and you can use it like any other search engine

Stay tuned for part 2 of the search engine throw-down coming early next week.