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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YUP, I’ve finally succumbed to Facebook as well — are you happy, Erwin, hehe Just joined today after accepting one of the invitations I’ve received.

Gotta admit, Facebook is pretty cool. Much better interface and cleaner layout than other social networking sites (*cough* MySpace *cough*).

Check out my profile badge

YAHOO! has launched the beta version of a new social networking site known as Mash, which is by-invitation only for now. I was fortunate enough to get an invitation just a few minutes ago. Thanks ultraweb for the invite — much appreciated.

I’ve just begun customizing the profile he set up for me, so it’s really bare right now. The pic shows me with my daughter Sam, who’s 5 years and nine months old. We took the pic using Photo Booth on Mikaela, my MacBook Pro, with the sepia special effect applied to it.

It’s funny how Mash got leaked to the press, apparently due to an honest mistake, as recounted in the New York Times.

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THEY’VE already made TV history as the creators of “thirtysomething” and “My So-Called Life.” That didn’t stop ABC, however, from canceling Marshall Herskovitz (who has also produced a number of movies, most notably “Traffic,” “I am Sam,” “The Last Samurai” and “”Blood Diamond”) and Edward Zwick’s (who directed “The Last Samurai” and “”Blood Diamond,” as well as “Glory,” “Legends of the Fall” and “About Last Night…”) show, then called “1/4 Life,” in 2005 after the pilot.

Well, who’s laughing now?

The two have ditched the old medium and resurrected their baby, now known as “Quarterlife,” as a Web show. In fact, it’s more than just an Internet series, but also a social network — check out their site. Here’s their trailer:

Quarterlife Trailer

Add to My Profile | More Videos

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BINTAN, Indonesia–Here’s a video I took of Mark Trudinger, CEO of Kindernet Pte Ltd, talking about the dangers posed to children by the pervasiveness of social networks and other Web 2.0 applications.

And here’s an excerpt from my story that came out in INQUIRER.net Infotech:

BINTAN, Indonesia–Social networking and other Web 2.0 applications may have made the Internet more exciting and interactive to people, but they pose new dangers to children.

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