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DARPA Seeks the Holy Grail of Search Engines
coondoggie writes "The scientists at DARPA say the current methods of searching the Internet for all manner of information just won't cut it in the future. Today the agency announced a program that would aim to totally revamp Internet search and 'revolutionize the discovery, organization and presentation of search results.' Specifically, the goal of DARPA's Memex program is to develop software that will enable domain-specific indexing of public web content and domain-specific search capabilities. According to the agency the technologies developed in the program will also provide the mechanisms for content discovery, information extraction, information retrieval, user collaboration, and other areas needed to address distributed aggregation, analysis, and presentation of web content."
Gee, I can't wait to participate in an echo chamber made up exclusively of nerds that got pissed to high hell when a UI redesign was _proposed_ on a site thats totally fucking free to them and will still work the same way in the future with regards to content (gripes about content aside)... What a joy it will be:
[dream twinkles]
"The scientists at DARPA say the current methods of searching the Internet for all manner of information just won't cut it in the future" What the fuck are they thinking? If they can't just use GREP to find what they need they must be some serious federal fuckups! Get Ron Paul down here to stop this!!!!!!!!!11
[/dream twinkles]
Ah what a lovely place, indeed.
They aren't spying and censoring the information.
They are just making a search engine and present the information which fit your profile.
Have you tried Google lately for a complex search? Or a search for a specific topic which uses words that are common to other, more popular topics?
It's a disgrace, and getting worse every year.
You have put a name to my pain, sir/madam.
I realized that the "Beta sucks!" chorus was bothering me, not just because it was a huge overreaction to, as you pointed out, a _proposed_ change to a _free_ site.
The thing that bothers me the most is that there seems to be almost a competition to show who can be the most obnoxious in registering their objections... from people who went through "gamer shaming" in high school, insults about nerdiness through college, and what not. It seems that these are people who have wanted to strike back at a handy target.
Like the French Bourbon dynasty when they were restored to power after Napoleon's defeat, they seem to have remembered everything, forgotten nothing, and learned nothing.
Strike while the irony is hot! -- The Freethinker
... that Snowden didn't have good enough tools available.
Second - we (common netizens) may welcome the sort of information availability DARPA is seeking - sort of like the scifi future where you just ask the nearest terminal whatever you want to know and magically get the answer you need - but there are lots of bad people still running around on this planet (scamsters, governments, jilted ex-lovers, religious extremists, etc.). The problem isn't the technology, the problem is our ability to handle it.
I very much suspect DARPA may be onto something. I wonder if it will be as beneficial as the WWW has been.
FBI M-O-U-S-E. next best thing to surfing along looking over your shoulder, taking notes, texting the US Marshals Service what they need to subpoena before driving over and clapping on the leg irons.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
Don't be silly. They just want to add blackjack and hookers is all.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Have you tried Google lately for a complex search?
I believe that the presence of the words "information extraction" and "information retrieval" in the summary means that the search engine should be able to answer questions of the type "which kings were assassinated less then two years after their coronation?" by going through the facts available on the web, extracting them, and figuring stuff out. For any given random question, it's unlikely that someone already has it answered on the web, but the facts are all there anyway.
Ezekiel 23:20
You're a fucking idiot. Slashdot isn't about the articles and it isn't about the fucking pathetic summaries. Slashdot is about the user-generated content. Slashdot is the comments.
Now, you think all that time spent by knowledgable members posting all that good stuff comes free? People invested their time, care and attention here. Slashdot isn't a fucking TV. Slashdot is a community.
The reason the response was negative and loud is because the beta makes it harder to follow threads. It makes it harder to follow discussion context. It makes it harder to comment within the discussion context.The beta redesign ruins the community experience. Dice is trying to turn Slashdot into another Digg or Reddit. Soon, you'll be flooded with ads you can't turn off, looking for the useful, informative and interesting comments that used to be posted here. Fuck that shit.
TL;DR: FUCK BETA!
You're a fucking idiot. Slashdot isn't about the articles and it isn't about the fucking pathetic summaries. Slashdot is about the user-generated content. Slashdot is the comments.
Now, you think all that time spent by knowledgable members posting all that good stuff comes free? People invested their time, care and attention here. Slashdot isn't a fucking TV. Slashdot is a community.
The reason the response was negative and loud is because the beta makes it harder to follow threads. It makes it harder to follow discussion context. It makes it harder to comment within the discussion context.The beta redesign ruins the community experience. Dice is trying to turn Slashdot into another Digg or Reddit. Soon, you'll be flooded with ads you can't turn off, looking for the useful, informative and interesting comments that used to be posted here. Fuck that shit.
TL;DR: FUCK BETA!
Now, at least some reasoned, if seemingly over-wrought, debate.
You argue that the content, being user-provided, will go away if people are unable to see the content organized in a sensible fashion. Okay, I can buy that. I also hadn't considered that since the content is provided by users, they might have a reason to be a bit more passionate about how their thoughts are presented.
What I don't get is the need for insult to anybody who disagrees, or the call to leave Slashdot in droves even after they acknowledged that the beta was not working out and removed it.
And, again, I submit that you have validated my other point. Bitter vituperation towards the failed beta, even after it's gone, may do as much to drive away readership as the beta
Strike while the irony is hot! -- The Freethinker