Evan Rudowski: Web Transplant

Way Cuil?

The new search engine Cuil launched yesterday and Richard McManus of ReadWriteWeb wonders how Cuil managed to get so much publicity so quickly.

I tried Cuil (by searching for myself of course) and found that while it was visually pleasing, the results were not as accurate as I would have wanted -- some older items were ranked higher than newer ones, and their association of images with results summaries was somewhat off -- for example there is a thumbnail of a very attractive redheaded woman next to the summary of one of my blog posts, and one of Winston Churchill next to another.

Now I like redheaded women, and I like Winston Churchill, but as far as I am aware neither have been referred to in my blog. So unless Cuil knows me better than I know myself, they have some tweaking to do. To be fair, it's still early days for Cuil and they surely will improve.

The reason Cuil has been met with so much anticipation, and so much hype, should be worrying to Google. What it suggests is not that Cuil is so cool but rather that people are starting to look for what's next. The days of Google as the rising underdog are over. They're the establishment now. Since everybody loves an underdog, we're all looking for the next one.

The isn't to say that Google is losing its relevance, or its edge -- but maybe a bit of its place in our hearts.

Graffiti: 19th-Century Version

One of the many pleasures of living in a place like Bath, England, is walking in the footsteps of the people who came before -- the same footsteps, in the same places, preserved and still lived-in.

A short walk from our flat is the Kennet & Avon Canal, the nearby section of which was built in 1810. Once used for commercial navigation, it now is a lovely waterway upon which canal boats putter past as walkers and bicyclists amble along -- stopping for refreshment at fantastic pubs like The George in Bathampton.

Under the stone bridges that cross the canal one can find carved into the walls graffiti left by previous walkers. But this graffiti is as much as 200 years old.

On our walk yesterday we stopped to take a closer look. "Were they naughty teenagers?" asked my five-year-old son.

"Probably," I answered, "but two centuries ago."  My son ran on ahead, little burdened by the passage of time.

These graffiti artists were never celebrated like Banksy is today, and are now lost to time. But interestingly, they took great care when carving their legacies into the cream-colored Bath stone. Most impressively, they used a serif font, or great flowery flourishes.

 They did very good work. And maybe afterward they stopped at The George for a drink.