Metaverse Ink, Alternative SL Search Engine, Launches

Here's a pretty cool metaverse search engine you can use as an alternative or supplement to Second Life's official, Google-powered search.  You can use it on the Web and launch the teleport link when you find what you're looking for, or in-world, just hit F1 to bring up SL's internal web browser, plug in the URL, www.metaverseink.com, and you're ready to find places, objects, people.  I just did a few side-by-side comparisons with the official search (see above), and the results (speed and relevant hints) stand up pretty well.  (It also has an Open Search version works with RealExtend, an open source variation of Second Life.)  Developed with a computer science professor at UT Austin and a research alumni of Xerox PARC (background here), it's worth trying out. Read more about the technical details on the company's blog.

Comments

[Alex]

"...and you're ready to find places, objects, people." :)
SL(tm)Hamlet, did you TRY what you are saying?
1. It DOESN't search for people.
2. It DOESN'T search for 'places'
it only searches PARCEL information.

How much the anouncement on your blog costs? I would like to order one. It will be about a search engine that actually DOES all what you are saying.

[Hamlet Au]

The searches do bring up Resident names and places as part of the listing, actually.

[Alex]

Oh! I forgot to prise the 'achievement' itself!
Take a look at URL's there, it's just a PRESENTATION LAYER for the http://secondlife.com/app/search/search.php application! That very same application it's supposed to be an 'alternative' to. :)
Are you, people, kidding me? :)

[Jill Clary]

It is one thing to get basic information from a website where everyone knows the rules and about search engines scanning your site, it is quite another for Meteverse to also be sending out bots, in game along with capturing web information to build content for it's site with and combine the two sources into one place. They are doing this without people's prior knowlege or consent. I myself just found out about this when I caught one of their robots on my land stealing information. The bots have all been banned now. Stealing people's images and product information for thier own use is not only against TOS rules, but now that they claim they are taking them from the Internet, they have also crossed over into the real world and real world law on property rights. I expect to see law suits coming if they do not remove people's content when they are ordered to do so by the owners of that content. They even stole the the sim image. LL does not use anything that belongs to the people that play SL without the players checking boxes or filling in the information themselves for LL to us. Likewise the same is for SLX and SL Boutique. Somehow Meteverse thinks that if they see it online, or can collect the information with bots in game, the images and information belongs to them now and they can do what they please with it. Well not on my sim anymore. Their bots no longer have access and if I catch then taking anymore of my images or product information without my writen permission, they can expect a lawsuit from me.