NY Times : The coming search wars

Sunday’s New York Times took a look at the upcoming search war between Microsoft and Google. There is no doubt in my mind that Internet search will be built-in to Longhorn. Google will offer their deskbar, and you may even be able to choose your default search technology similar to your media player, instant message client, browser, etc. today. Google will change once it enters the public market. Employee perks will be scrutinized, and there might be some employee shuffle. Google and Yahoo! are the first names techies think of when it comes to search, and MSN Search will have a more difficult time accepting top talent. I interviewed with MSN Search in December 2000, before the company dedicated itself to its own search technology. They were proud that they were #2 in search and they felt something is obviously going right. I asked where they placed in Internet searches from a browser other than Internet Explorer and was told that statistic does not matter since Internet Explorer has such a huge market share. Sharepoint carried the search torch the last three years. Maybe things have changed for the better, but Microsoft still does not have its key pieces in place (keyword advertising, Intranet) to compete anytime soon.

Imaginary girlfriend

Would you like to pretend you have a girlfriend? There are over 60 women on eBay right now willing to be your imaginary girlfriend: write letters, talk on the phone, instant message, and even send underwear to the highest bidder. Most offer 4-8 week terms and include a break-up letter detailing how sad she is to see you go. Sounds like a great job for writers looking for work. Just create a fantasy and take in the money. Thank you Jason Kottke for the link.

Joel Spolsky on Resumes

Joel’s latest article is about what he is going through sorting through hundreds of applications for two internship positions open this summer at his company, Fog Creek Software. Joel offers some good advice on what not to do. I was hoping he would go into more detail about what does catch his eye in the résumé process. Fog Creek Software reads through résumés by hand, other companies parse and rank. One of the reasons I moved my weblog over to my domain is that I wanted to associate all of my work in one location. If someone sees an e-mail from xyz @niallkennedy.com they may check out the domain and learn a bit more about me. I think of a résumé as a document bound for HR in companies with hundreds of employees. In case there is a techie in the group, I have started putting together a more detailed description of what I have done in my tech career. Once you do not care that the résumé fits on one page, I want to provide a way to easily find out more. Sure it is not personalized, but it does challenge the employer to ask more interesting questions than the standard fare. I am looking for new work but not blanketing the world with résumés. If the back-end is well taken care of then marketing myself should become easier.

Opportunity lands on Mars

Opportunity landed last night and communicated back to Earth. It is on its side, 15 miles off the center of its target in Meridiani Planum. Arnold Schwarzenegger was at JPL to cheer everyone on. Total Recall takes place in 2084. If we do get to Mars in person by 2030, it would not be unheard of for someone like Coohagen to have the planet organized as a business 50 years later.