Slashdot Mirror
Google Expanding To IRC?
AnimeFreak writes "In this The Register article, Google apparently has been involved in a little bit of activity in various IRC channels. According to Google, as asked by IRC Junkie: they're researching ways to improve their service and the activity is only temporary. Could this mean an ability to search for information that is contained on IRC? Services, such as Netsplit.de and Search IRC exist, and both allow the ability to get information from various IRC networks. Is Google trying to replicate what both these sites have done?"
"Search for w4r3z complete. Results 1-10 of eleventy billion:"
--saint
The "information" on IRC is 99% crap. I'm concerned that, by integrating IRC searching in Google, the signal to noise ratio of Google will go way down. If however, Google keeps it as a separate service like Usenet I suspect that it will go away due to lack of interest.
Who really wants to search IRC, except the Justice Department?
2005 - Google indexes all the things ever said on soap operas and talk radio.
2007 - Did you forget what you said in your high school cafeteria in 1998? Don't worry, Google now has it indexed.
2010 - Lost your car keys? Don't worry, Google knows. Just do a search and you will find them.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Well, recalling from where I get "news" (read: 90% useless but funny content via links), the IRC (IRCnet, which is popular in Germany) is a incredible fast distribution way for links.
Assuming that google is interested in finding new sites as soon as possible, they should crawl the irc channels.
This does not mean that they are going to index it.
It seems Tony Collen had the original scoop on this story. It is more informative than the Register link.
If you scroll down his original web log on this topic you will see Google's first official acknowledgment of their IRC activity.
Remember... ZG9uJ3QgZm9yZ2V0IHRvIGRyaW5rIHlvdXIgb3ZhbHRpbmU=
...a/s/l?
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
that spam will extend itself to irc?
Thousands if not millions of bogus irc channels with specific keywords inserted in the topic only to attract hits on the main google search page?
Hack your mind out of its sandbox.
The IRC admins, at least for most of the better channels, will simply set up a config to kick/ban the google bot. Many channels don't allow non-human connections unless set up by the channel admins. Unlike the annoying spammers who uses legit and stolen access points, google will likely come from a single legit source making the process of denying access easier.
Google shouldn't be trying to find more content, they should be working on filtering out the mass of garbage sites that already exist.
Well, how do you build up a reliable irc database.
Have your bots sit in channels worth archiving. Break logs down into manageable chunks (hourly, by size, etc), and index them. Searches pull up these chunks of log with your search terms highlighted.
I mean there are many servers and bots and so on in the irc, and most of them deal with warez and therefore are only up temporary. So if google really wants to build a irc search engine they have to find a way to get rid of the dead links, and also from links that point to illegal copy's
Ever try searching for warez on Google Groups? Good luck. They don't archive the binary newsgroups, and it is simple to weed out the posts that contain binaries in regular newsgroups.
Google is pretty smart, let's wait and see what they come up with.
Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
like archiving email, usenet, and web traffic before it - this is simply a reminder that nothing you type through an open network is -private-. this is a lesson most of us should have learned a long time ago.
but this isn't an invasion of privacy. there's no expectation of privacy when you log onto a public chat board. just as there's no expectation of privacy should you decide to walk naked through a park.
the best you can hope for online is pseudonymity.
but that's out the window with the combined power of google. which is quickly becoming the internet's inadvertant Big Brother.
the primary difference being, google works -for- the people just as much as it works -against- the people.
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
Bill Gates: Speak.
Neo: The search engine Google has grown beyond your control. You cannot stop him -- but I can.
Bill Gates: And if you fail?
Neo: I won't.
--- several scenes later ---
Google: Mr. Anderson! Welcome back, we missed you.
* Google pauses and looks around at the multitude of web sites and irc channels he has cached
Google: Like what I've done with the place?
Neo: It ends tonight.
Google: I know it does, I've had some researched figure out the answer for me. That's why the rest of me is just going to enjoy chatting on irc while we fight. I've seen the logs and irc'ers already know that I'm the one that beats you, so they're just gonna download from some leet xdcc bots.
Now we've new category of stuffs to search for other than p0rns. :)
bloodninja: Ok baby, we got to hurry, I don't know how long I can keep it ready for you.
j_gurli3: thats ok. ok i'm a japanese schoolgirl, what r u.
bloodninja: A Rhinocerus. Well, hung like one, thats for sure.
j_gurli3: haha, ok lets go.
j_gurli3: i put my hand through ur hair, and kiss u on the neck.
bloodninja: I stomp the ground, and snort, to alert you that you are in my breeding territory.
j_gurli3: haha, ok, u know that turns me on.
j_gurli3: i start unbuttoning ur shirt.
bloodninja: Rhinoceruses don't wear shirts.
j_gurli3: No, ur not really a Rhinocerus silly, it's just part of the game.
bloodninja: Rhinoceruses don't play games. They f*cking charge your ass.
j_gurli3: stop, cmon be serious.
bloodninja: It doesn't get any more serious than a Rhinocerus about to charge your ass.
bloodninja: I stomp my feet, the dust stirs around my tough skinned feet.
j_gurli3: thats it.
bloodninja: Nostrils flaring, I lower my head. My horn, like some phallic symbol of my potent virility, is the last thing you see as skulls collide and mine remains the victor. You are now a bloody red ragdoll suspended in the air on my mighty horn.
bloodninja: Goddam am I hard now.
(Original post from bash.org
*Goes into new google IRC search mechanism and searches for term "Warez"*
Result: "Warez" is a very common word and was not included in your search
Mad Hatter