Showing posts with label Internet Treasures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet Treasures. Show all posts

02 October 2008

Microsoft gets...perky?

searchperksYou may, or may not, know, in the cut-throat, dog-eat-dog (which, by the way, is kinda sick, in a cannibalistic kind of way), Microsoft ranks a distant 3rd. Behind (of course) Google and Yahoo.

No, admittedly, I normally use Google. Why? I dunno, because it is habit I suppose. I used to use Yahoo...heck, everyone used to  use  Yahoo. It was the premier search engine. Lycos and Alta Vista were...meh....ok, but really didn't hold a candle to Yahoo. What I like primarily about Yahoo back in the day, was their simple interface. They had a white page,  with regular old HTML hyperlinks, a regular old HTML text box in which to type your search, and a regular old HTML button you'd use to submit the form.

But they veered away from that. they started adding color, and images, and videos,and advertising. Ok, I don't mind the adverts really. Hey, I am an unabashed capitalist. My belief is, 'If someone, somewhere, isn't making money on this, it should just not be done'. That is, of course, rather simplified....suffice it to say that I don't have any problem with people making money...LOTS of money. But, I digress....

Then, along came Google. I noticed, shortly after Google was launched, that Yahoo's search had a tag line "powered by Google' under their search box. Well, thought I, why am I using Yahoo, and not just going straight to the source? So I started using Google. I like it. It was back to the simple, white page, limited graphics, fast loading web search. They way it should be in my opinion.

The, last year, Microsoft's Live Search is launched. It's ok. It is a search engine, and now-a-days, they are pretty much all the same. I've used it (heh, my own sites come up higher on it than on Google, so I should be happy about that). I've used it, but not used it all that much. Though, it does integrate well with the Microsoft Desktop Search (integrated into Vista, and available for download for XP) which is a great way to find stuff  on your machine (much, much  better than that  stupid dog search thing).

Ok, ok,....I'm getting to a point here...I promise. The thing is, since Microsoft's failed attempt at purchasing Yahoo (the number 2 search engine - in case you didn't know), I'm certain they've been trying to figure out ways to increase the use of Live Search. And now they found something. Microsoft Live Search SearchPerks. SearchPerks is a deal where you earn 'ticket' for each search you perform using Windows Live  Search (up to 25 a day). You have to download a toolbar add-on, and have to be using Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 or better browser (sadly, Firefox - my default browser - won't work with it). At the end of the SearchPerks promotion (April 15, 2009), you can redeem your tickets for prizes ranging from cookbooks to video games to music downloads to frequent flyer miles. You can even donate your tickets to charity if you want.

Really, not a bad deal at all, to do 25 searches a day, earn the max number of points, and get some free swag. You can find out more at the SearchPerks website.

 

(oh...and uh...sorry about the crappy pun in the title...I couldn't help myself).

30 June 2007

Having a few extra minutes after replacing an outlet took way less time that I had budgeted for (I can be sneaky that way) I found this video. The things this guy does with that laser are just way cool.