YubNub

YubNub is a web application that creates a "command line" for the internet. If you type a search query that does not start with a YubNub keyword you will perform a standard Google seach. On one level it is a kind of favorites menu (type "gma" and you will be taken to Gmail) and on the other it is a shortcut menu (type "gm" + an address and you will taken to the Google Maps results page for that address).

You are able to create your own commands and there are several that simply point to individual websites. Here are the most interesting commands I found during my first look, but there are many more (and many duplicates). The parameters are in square brackets.

• g [search string] - Performs a Google search
• gi [search string] - Performs a Google Image search
• gm [search string] - Performs a Google Maps search
• wp [search string] - Performs a Wikipedia search
• bl - Launches Bloglines
• gma - Launches Gmail
• am [search string] - Perfoms an Amazon search
• y [search string] - Performs a Yahoo search
• d [search string] - Performs a Dictionary.com search
• gym [search string] - Performs a Google, Yahoo, and MSN search simultaneously and shows the results in separate frames.
  

The real power here is that you can navigate to the most common sites without messing around with favorites especially if you are on a computer other than your own.

Categories: Internet

Debbie's Idea

This link from the Freakonomics blog is a site similar to JunkLog, but is hoping to become a reliable reference for people looking for something to read. The key diffenece is that JunkLog is item-based and Debbie's Idea is author-based.

Long before the Internet was commonly available, Debbie had the idea that it would be useful to have a reference work suggesting which book of an unfamiliar author would be best to read first. Start reading an author with a poor or atypical example of his work, she observed, and you would likely never read that writer again—perhaps losing in the process a world of pleasure and knowledge. On the other hand, since there would seldom be one right book to read first, the resource would have to be a compendium of opinions.

Visit Debbie's Idea.

Categories: books, internet

Technorati

I registered with Technorati which is a blog search engine. Maybe this will point some people towards this blog. I need to go now and think of some interesting things to write about.

Categories: blogging, internet

JunkLog

Brad from bradsucks set up a site called JunkLog to keep track of his books, CDs, and DVDs. He has now made it available to everyone. Items are added by seaching the Amazon database. (So if it's not on Amazon you can't add it.) You are then able to add comments, tags, and a rating. There is also a place to indicate that the item is finished (books) and the date finished.

You can see if anyone else has listed an item and look to see what is on their list. Hopefully, you will find some other interesting things you may have never found on your own.

It is modeled after del.icio.us which is designed to help you organize favorites (bookmarks). You can see the items I have listed by visiting my page. I am also going to put a link on the sidebar to my page.

Categories: blogging, internet

Pandora

I stumbled across Pandora the other day after reading an article in Fast Company. Pandora is an internet radio station with a twist. The founders claim they have discovered music's DNA and a working feverishly to classify music using their criteria. The result is that you can select an artist or song and Pandora will create a custom radio station playing music with a similar DNA. As songs play you can rate them to further refine the playlist.

After you create the station you can add other artists or songs to broaden the types of music played. You can also rate the songs as they are playing to narrow or widen the station's music.

You are able to have up to 100 stations at one time. There is a free option that means you will have some advertising, but it has not been implemented yet so there is no telling how intrusive it will be. The pay service is only $36 a year.

Categories: music, radio