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4. The first time that a single query will bring a gallery of
            results equivalent to running multiple queries about the
            meaningful variations of the same topic.

  5. The first time a search engine will let users evaluate answers
            on the spot by displaying uninterrupted and coherent text
            snippets, often letting searchers forgo having to click through
            to links and saving time.

Both of these have been available for a couple of years: e.g. searching on the single query "semantic web" using CQ web, reveals clusters such as these:


fuzzy sets
fuzzy systems
neural networks
set theory
soft computing
aritifical intelligence
control systems
expert systems


And each one of which is linked to a specific page of results using sentences instead of snippets, e.g. for artificial intelligence:


1. This paper will present the foundations of fuzzy systems...noteworthy objections to its use with examples drawn from current research in the field of artificial intelligence.
Fuzzy Systems - A Tutorial
2. The most obvious implementation for the fuzzy logic is the field of artificial intelligence.
Fuzzy Logic
3. Ultimately it will be demonstrated...fuzzy systems makes a viable addition to the field of artificial intelligence and perhaps more generally to formal mathematics.
Fuzzy Systems - A Tutorial
4. The paper gives examples of the fuzzy logic applications with emphasis on the field of artificial intelligence.
Fuzzy Logic
5. A collection of articles and other technical resources for artificial intelligence.
PC AI - Fuzzy Logic

Well yeah... Just start with the fact that Virtual Reality is derived from artificial reality, and then you build from there...

...thought of in the 80s when they created the Knowledge Navigator clip. Scully's dream was to eventually create a computer that would act as an assistent that you could also ask questions. It would come back later when it found answers. Of course, the whole concept was a pipedream, but still, the Newton's 'Assist' button was one of the first steps towards that goal.

Too bad Jobs had to kill the Newton when he got back at Apple to finally do away with everything Scully.

LOGO is not a bad place to start, even if it is a little out of vogue.

It is a subset of LISP, it is easy to learn, and you can write programs that have some amazingly complex behavior (simple AI).

Not everyone is wowed by the "make pretty apps with lots of buttons" school of programming, and LOGO (or LISP) allows you to expiriement with some complex logical systems without having to face a steep learning curve.

There are some rescources here.

For an example of the scale and progress of their projects, see here.

Its all part of their huge research drive into Natural Language Processing. They do world-class research and have some great innovations to their name. Perhaps the one which will prove most useful is MindNet.

Computational Linguistics is the BIG growth area, and it seems that Microsoft isn't going to miss the party.

I clicked on the Dylan link in the main post and got to the PCAI Dylan site. The first thing I saw was: "Overview: Dylan is a new object-oriented dynamic language (OODL) being developed by Apple. " Then I had a lok around and found out that Apple pulled the plug on Dylan in late 1995. Aparently, it had been being developed at Apple's Cambridge labs. (Don't bother trying to follow that link... it's DEAD!) A better link is http://dylanpro.com/DylanExchange.html. Does anyone know if the Dylan language is being actively developed by anyone? Or do they have any other resources?