HAVE you already tried Wikia Search, the new search engine from the people behind Wikipedia? This project has been one year in the making, but the alpha version is now open to the public. (By the way, as I previously blogged, Google interestingly enough has announced a Wikipedia-like service called Knol.)

I’m trying it out but as you can expect at this early stage, there’s no way I’d choose this over Google. Wikia Search is pretty up front about the quality of its search results at this stage:

Wikia is working to develop and popularize a freely licensed (open source) search engine. What you see here is our first alpha release.

We are aware that the quality of the search results is low..

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WATCH out, Wikipedia: Google is now invading your turf with the announcement of its own Wikipedia-like free service.

Dubbed as “knol,” the service is currently by-invitation only to a select group of — dare I say it? — knol-edge workers heh

Here’s a screenshot of a test knol — real author and info, but of course, the ratings, comments and other meta-data aren’t ‘coz it hasn’t been unveiled yet to ordinary Internet users like us. Check out the Official Google Blog entry for more info.

This is great news, because while I personally believe that we should empower more people with digital tools and allow all voices to be heard, we also have to make sure that these services will be used responsibly.

The goal, after all, is not just to come up with more user-generated content, but better user-generated content.

GOOGLE is great. Now they’ve gotten better.

Google wants to give you everything you need in one page with the launch of its Universal Search service. Here’s an excerpt from the Reuters story in CNN:

Universal Search means that standard Google searches will draw results from separate properties covering books, local information, images, news, and video, said Marissa Mayer, vice president of search and user experience.

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AS we count down to the senatorial and local elections on Monday, we’ve updated the Google map in our Eleksyon 2007 site to give voters even more online tools and help them make an informed choice.

Here’s an excerpt from INQUIRER.net reporter Lawrence Casiraya’s article:

MANILA, Philippines–Want to know how many voters in your province are registered this year as compared to the 2004 elections? Take a look at the Election Map at INQUIRER.net’s Eleksyon 2007 special site.

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GOOGLE believes the law is on its side. So does Viacom. Who’s right?

Read this article and decide for yourself.

Excerpt:

In its response to the lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Google said Viacom’s allegations were unfounded and asked for a judgment dismissing the complaint.

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