Response to Mashup

http://www.doodlebuzz.com/

Doodlebuzz is a mashup that lets you search for news story and doodle to get the results.  You type in your search term and then draw a doodle that the results come up along.  If there are more results, you can keep doodling to get more results.

It is an interesting idea, but the Web site is very hard to use.  The results are difficult to see and hard to click on.  The results and doodles move around on the page, which is really confusing and makes it hard to find something.  The results are hard to read because they overlap on each other and with the doodles.

If you’re actually trying to find a news story, doodlebuzz is not the best place to look.  I couldn’t actually tell what the results were, but I would stick with Google News for researching.  Doodlebuzz is fun if you want to goof off, especially if you want to goof off while pretending to do actual work.  It’s also kind of cool to move the mouse around and have it draw doodles.  It was fun for 2 minutes, then it got boring and annoying.  I don’t really see the point of the Web site, but it is entertaining, at least for a little bit.

News discussion #3: Google's share of Web search reaches 63 percent

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080918/wr_nm/search_google_dc;_ylt=AiSENf80IoTN1m79hCbr8XEjtBAF

By extending its share of the market to 63 percent in August, Google Inc. had its biggest monthly gain in five months.  The second highest share is Yahoo Inc, which has 19.6 percent.  Some of Google's rivals and trade groups have complained to competitition regulators in the United States and Europe because of Google's growing share of Web search.  While I love using Google, I think the fact that it has such a large percentage of Web search may be a bad thing.  It isn't good that people only use Google to search because there are many other search engines out there.  Some search engines have special features that could be useful for certain searches.  Google is easy to use and we are all comfortable with it because we use it so frequently.  I think people should take the time to learn to use other search engines and take away some of Google's control in the Web search market.

New Discussion #2: Google to digitize newspaper archives

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/09/technology/09google.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

Google will make newspapers' historic archives available online through Google News and eventually with the newspapers' own Web sites. The company began scanning microfilm Monday. Google News already has archives of some major newspapers and magazines because they were already available in digital form. I think this is a great idea.  Newspapers are a reliable source of information that can be used by people to research for projects or just to look up something they are interested in.  The easier access will be beneficial and will make more people go to newspaper sources instead of random, unreliable Web sites. It is also good to have this information available on the internet to make sure it does not get lost. I would definitely use Google News to find sources for papers or if I was looking for something that happened before the internet got popular. The only problem that I see is that it could take away from databases like Lexis Nexis and make them less used. In the long run, though, I think that this is a great idea that will be used and appreciated by a majority of people. Google is already the most popular search engine and they have to keep doing things like this to stay at the top of the game.

News Discussion #1: New Ebay site has social, environmental aim

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080903/ap_on_hi_te/ebay_green_site

Ebay has developed a new Web site called WorldofGood.com, which will sell items that were produced with social and environmental goals.  With the “Go Green” theme that has started to take over the United States, this seems like a smart venture.  I think the Web site is a good idea because it appeals to a growing market.  According to the article, the U.S. market for goods that emphasize social and environmental awareness was $209 billion in 2005 and is projected to grow to $420 billion in 2010.  Ebay is already a very popular Web site, and I think many people will really be excited about their new site’s values. The new Web site also will be able to use the popularity of Ebay to gain publicity, which could help them find success, especially with young people.  The article said that the site will sell things that have some positive effect on people and the planet at a fixed price to help shoppers align their “social values with their shopping decisions.”  With the rise of environmental and human rights awareness, I think that Ebay has chosen the right time to launch this new site, which may be used by many college students.