There’s nothing more frustrating than a fruitless Web search — or one that returns results that distract you from your original goal. This week I tested two free tools that attempt to make your Web searches more relevant by learning from users’ reactions to search results.
Katie reviews Windows Live, Microsoft’s Web-based attempt to consolidate many of the regular activities you perform on the Internet: sharing photos on Flickr, emailing via Hotmail, posting status updates on Facebook, following tweets on Twitter, sending instant messages on Google Chat and keeping a calendar on Apple’s MobileMe.
This Thanksgiving, families across the country will gather around the television just as quickly as they gather around the turkey. And with good reason: Many people will be staring at beautiful high-definition TV sets.
Web video has transformed the way the Internet is used, but finding the exact clip you want can be incredibly hard. And it’s no wonder, considering that sites like YouTube conduct their hunts by looking at a clip’s “contextual metadata” — tags, video title and description — and thus can often be misled by false information.
Many people are heading into this year’s holiday season with tighter budgets, prompting them to be even more selective with their gift buying. One way to make sure you’re getting the most for your dollar is to search the Web for product reviews.
It can be hard to find just what you want in the 24-hour news cycle that constantly churns content out online.
One way to find the information you want is by setting up computer-generated alerts. These electronic notifications are relatively simple to use and offer a range of helpful services, from a virtual heads-up when your [...]
It’s exciting to think about iPhone competitors giving better software a real try. But HTC’s Touch Diamond doesn’t hide the outdated Windows Mobile well enough or often enough for a user to want to buy a whole new device.
Kinoma Play is one application that is desperately needed by Windows Mobile users, and it just might remind them that there’s a better way to navigate media and media-related Web services without needing to buy a new mobile device.
The once-frustrating process of sharing digital photos and videos has improved over the past year, thanks to seamless Web-based programs. One such application, shwup, serves as a neat, artistic way to share photos quickly — when it works.
The Flip Video Mino changes the way people capture and share videos, and that’s a great thing. And if you really want a sleek, hip-looking gadget, you’ll learn to overlook and adjust to the touch-sensitive buttons that aren’t as functional as they needed to be.
It’s not always easy to learn from the information you find online, and how-to videos can be a big help–especially when they’re well-made and discoverable using sites featuring instructional clips.
A free Web site called Mint.com hopes to help users get a better handle on where their money is going, how much is in each account, and what can be done to budget that money more efficiently.
Video-sharing service SeeToo lets users watch videos along with the people with whom they’re sharing it and type comments to each other in real time. But SeeToo sounds too good to be true, and in many tests, it was.
Edited by Walt and written by Katie Boehret, this is a guide to gadgets, web services and other consumer technologies.
Ethics Statement
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.