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Google won because they were able to provide much more meaningful results then its competitors, thanks to the PageRank algorithm[1]. When you have the most eff

by tcgv 14y ago

Google won because they were able to provide much more meaningful results then its competitors, thanks to the PageRank algorithm[1]. When you have the most efficient SE, it is easy to 'monetize' without risking losing your users. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank

lutusp 14y ago
> it is easy to 'monetize' without risking loosing your users. http://www.ericpinder.com/html/lose.html http://www.ericpinder.com/html/lose.html
- tcgv 14y ago
  Thanks for correcting my grammar. I'm actually not a native english speaker, and I'm not writing from home where I have a grammar checker plugin in my browser... so that's my excuse ;)
  - lutusp 14y ago
    > I'm not writing from home where I have a grammar checker plugin in my browser ... I wish there really was a "grammar checker" as opposed to a spell checker. That would be great, but such a thing doesn't exist yet. It would be much more complicated than a spell checker -- there are so many rules and exceptions to rules. In fact, thinking about it, I suspect it's not even possible. But I would like to write a small, substitute grammar checker with very limited abilities. It would do trivial things like catch misuses of "less" when "fewer" is meant: Less apples -> fewer apples. But even that would be complicated -- there are edge cases and exceptions. Oh well. :)
    - biot 14y ago
      Please tell me you're joking. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar_checker#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar_checker#History Grammar checkers are far from perfect, but they've been around in various forms for around 40 years.
      - lutusp 14y ago
        I should have said "grammar checkers that actually work." My bad.
        biot 14y ago
        Word 2010 actually works, particularly with your example: 1. Type: "I want less apples." 2. Click Review > Spelling & Grammar 3. Grammar dialog appears: Number Agreement: "I want *less* apples" Suggestions: "fewer" 4. Click Explain 5. "Number Agreement A noun and the words that modify that noun must agree in number. "Many" and "few" modify plural nouns. "Much" and "less" modify nouns that cannot be counted or divided such as "much oil," "less happiness." In addition, the phrase "one of" must modify a plural noun." Word 97 (and possibly earlier versions) also supported grammar checking for number agreement as evidenced in this review: http://www.ateg.org/monographs/haist.php http://www.ateg.org/monographs/haist.php
    - zevyoura 14y ago
      MS Word has had grammar checking for a decade or more. I haven't used it in about five years, but I remember it being inconsistent and irritating.
    - fallenhitokiri 14y ago
      English is not my native language so I cannot comment on the quality of it but Apple includes some basic grammar checking. It looks like it is able to catch some basic things like "is" / "are" or "a" / "an". (This counts as grammar, right?) Someone who knows the traps of the English language who can test / comment on this feature?
shuzchen 14y ago
And the same with Facebook. Myspace was just a cesspool of autoplaying music, animated backgrounds and illegible text. Not to mention it was horribly buggy and you weren't allowed to remove Tom from your friendlist (eventually you were able to remove him but still got his pointless updates in your newsfeed). Myspace was winning on user count only because Facebook was limited to college students. When the gates opened at Facebook is when I mark the demise of Myspace.

by tcgv 14y ago

lutusp 14y ago

> it is easy to 'monetize' without risking loosing your users. http://www.ericpinder.com/html/lose.html http://www.ericpinder.com/html/lose.html

tcgv 14y ago
Thanks for correcting my grammar. I'm actually not a native english speaker, and I'm not writing from home where I have a grammar checker plugin in my browser... so that's my excuse ;)
- lutusp 14y ago
  > I'm not writing from home where I have a grammar checker plugin in my browser ... I wish there really was a "grammar checker" as opposed to a spell checker. That would be great, but such a thing doesn't exist yet. It would be much more complicated than a spell checker -- there are so many rules and exceptions to rules. In fact, thinking about it, I suspect it's not even possible. But I would like to write a small, substitute grammar checker with very limited abilities. It would do trivial things like catch misuses of "less" when "fewer" is meant: Less apples -> fewer apples. But even that would be complicated -- there are edge cases and exceptions. Oh well. :)
  - biot 14y ago
    Please tell me you're joking. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar_checker#History http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar_checker#History Grammar checkers are far from perfect, but they've been around in various forms for around 40 years.
    - lutusp 14y ago
      I should have said "grammar checkers that actually work." My bad.
      - biot 14y ago
        Word 2010 actually works, particularly with your example: 1. Type: "I want less apples." 2. Click Review > Spelling & Grammar 3. Grammar dialog appears: Number Agreement: "I want *less* apples" Suggestions: "fewer" 4. Click Explain 5. "Number Agreement A noun and the words that modify that noun must agree in number. "Many" and "few" modify plural nouns. "Much" and "less" modify nouns that cannot be counted or divided such as "much oil," "less happiness." In addition, the phrase "one of" must modify a plural noun." Word 97 (and possibly earlier versions) also supported grammar checking for number agreement as evidenced in this review: http://www.ateg.org/monographs/haist.php http://www.ateg.org/monographs/haist.php
  - zevyoura 14y ago
    MS Word has had grammar checking for a decade or more. I haven't used it in about five years, but I remember it being inconsistent and irritating.
  - fallenhitokiri 14y ago
    English is not my native language so I cannot comment on the quality of it but Apple includes some basic grammar checking. It looks like it is able to catch some basic things like "is" / "are" or "a" / "an". (This counts as grammar, right?) Someone who knows the traps of the English language who can test / comment on this feature?

shuzchen 14y ago

And the same with Facebook. Myspace was just a cesspool of autoplaying music, animated backgrounds and illegible text. Not to mention it was horribly buggy and you weren't allowed to remove Tom from your friendlist (eventually you were able to remove him but still got his pointless updates in your newsfeed). Myspace was winning on user count only because Facebook was limited to college students. When the gates opened at Facebook is when I mark the demise of Myspace.