Stupid startup tricks
Cuil (because every other language has been raped of good startup names it's Gaelic's turn) is a new fun toy. It's a search engine. Some people say it's actually rather good for deep academic / technical search. Otherwise, it's getting some pretty harsh press because, let's face it, it kinda sucks.
They have this nice search results layout where they put images next to search results. But the images aren't coming from the same web page as the result text. It would seem that a lot of times the images are coming from other web sites, sometimes competitors' web sites. Sometimes it's a thumbnail of a porn site ad sitting next to a link to the BBC.
And then there is the inexplicable. Like putting _polyamory Methuselah's Children_ (don't ask how I got there, you don't want to know) [ http://www.cuil.com/search?q=polyamory%20Methuselah%27s%20Children ] gives you a link to a slashdot book review of a Heinlein book (not Methuselah's Children). It's an interesting lateral search result for true.
Here's the curious part: There's a little thumbnail of Kate from the TV show Lost next to this slashdot link. What The Fuck?! What sort of rogue deviant AI is matching these pictures up with search results? Is the great Cuil server farm in the sky somehow prognosticating about the cultural dynamics of Lost and connecting it to Heinlein? Is there a body of academic Theory devoted to the anamolous congruities of sexuo-culturo-dymorphsm within the body of work of Robert Heinlein and JJ Abrams? (And have I just stumbled upon my next PhD thesis?)
So I propose a new game: Emergent associative critique as expressed by incongrous Cuil image matchings. Whoever can find the most complex, non-obvious, genuinely cockmine cultural critique based on a Cuil search result wins.
They have this nice search results layout where they put images next to search results. But the images aren't coming from the same web page as the result text. It would seem that a lot of times the images are coming from other web sites, sometimes competitors' web sites. Sometimes it's a thumbnail of a porn site ad sitting next to a link to the BBC.
And then there is the inexplicable. Like putting _polyamory Methuselah's Children_ (don't ask how I got there, you don't want to know) [ http://www.cuil.com/search?q=polyamory%20Methuselah%27s%20Children ] gives you a link to a slashdot book review of a Heinlein book (not Methuselah's Children). It's an interesting lateral search result for true.
Here's the curious part: There's a little thumbnail of Kate from the TV show Lost next to this slashdot link. What The Fuck?! What sort of rogue deviant AI is matching these pictures up with search results? Is the great Cuil server farm in the sky somehow prognosticating about the cultural dynamics of Lost and connecting it to Heinlein? Is there a body of academic Theory devoted to the anamolous congruities of sexuo-culturo-dymorphsm within the body of work of Robert Heinlein and JJ Abrams? (And have I just stumbled upon my next PhD thesis?)
So I propose a new game: Emergent associative critique as expressed by incongrous Cuil image matchings. Whoever can find the most complex, non-obvious, genuinely cockmine cultural critique based on a Cuil search result wins.