This issue of Gearhead is about searching. First up is specialized search hardware that I’ve had queued up in the Gibbs Universal Industries Secret Underground Bunker for some time: This is the SnapStream Enterprise television search appliance which, in its top end configuration, can record up to 10 TV shows simultaneously and store more than 9,000 hours of video on its built-in fault-tolerant storage.
Think of the SnapStream Enterprise as TiVo on steroids with an enterprise attitude. This rack-mountable device allows you to search within the closed captioning of television broadcasts, create clips from content, burn selected content to DVD, or download it to archive, send via e-mail, or use in other applications.
The problem with testing the SnapStream Enterprise is that I really need multiple television feeds for a real test. When I first received the unit I thought I’d have time to pull coax to the Secret Underground Bunker from the satellite dish located over in the Administrative Building, but I just haven’t had the chance. Above and beyond my guilt at the delay in testing, I wanted to give you a preview of this system because it’s a really cool idea.
You can configure a SnapStream Enterprise to send e-mail when it detects keywords, watch content saved on a SnapStream Enterprise from anywhere on your internal network or out on the Internet, transcode to other formats including Windows Media Video and H.264, and download recorded content to iPhones and iPods through an RSS feed. The SnapStream Enterprise also supports granular multi-user access control and Active Directory integration.
There’s even more to the SnapStream Enterprise that I’ll cover when I get around to pulling cable, but for now check it out; as a tool for your corporate marketing and branding people or for tracking news relevant to the markets your company deals with, the SnapStream Enterprise has huge potential. Pricing starts at $8,000.
Also on my list when it comes to search is a cool browser add-on/plug-in that I now can’t live without: The Surf Canyon browser search assistant. The latest release, Version 2.0.1, works with Internet Explorer 6+ and Firefox 2+.
Surf Canyon monitors what you search for on Google, Yahoo, MSN Live Search, Craigslist and Lexis Web and tracks which results you select. When you return to your search results page, Surf Canyon modifies the listings in real time to include results it determines through its mysterious and cunning algorithms to be related and relevant and, stap me vitals, if it doesn’t work!
It appears that Surf Canyon’s strategy is to look at the results you follow and compare those with other results from the same search. It then reorders the results placing its own recommendations indented under the original results.
What’s surprising about Surf Canyon is just how good it is! I find that about 50% of the time when I return to a results page Surf Canyon has considerably improved the relevance of the results. I now consider Surf Canyon indispensable and award it a rating of five out of five. Remarkable.
Another search tool that will appeal to all you techies is ErrorKey, a vertical search engine that indexes error codes. These codes are not only from computer hardware and software but also for various makes of cars.
Sometimes the search for an error message will result in detail that isn’t shown unless you are logged in (registration is free). As a registered user you can also leave comments on individual errors (I’m surprised the hired guns haven’t started showing off and touting their consulting on this service).
ErrorKey is a great idea but still a little rough around the edges, with some unpolished user interface features and plain sloppiness (when you confirm your account by clicking on a link in an e-mail you are greeted with “your account have been activated!”) I’ll rate ErrorKey 3 out of 5 (they could easily polish the service to get a much higher score).
Gibbs doesn’t search in Ventura, Calif. He quests. Your mission, should you accept it, to gearhead@gibbs.com.
