Happy New Year 2008

» New Search Engine Unveiled:
» Fact Byte
» 2007: Manitoba and M9 Corporation Retrospective
» Programmer's Corner

There's a new search engine moving onto the internet for consideration by Search Engine Optimization specialists (SEOs) everywhere; Wikia Search. Found at http://search.wikia.com/wiki/Search_Wikia the new engine is flawed, as is expected considering it is still being tested, but with a great deal of potential.

According to the Wikia Search philosophy the act of searching the web is:

". . . a fundamental part of the infrastructure of the Internet,
and therefore it can and should be done in an open, objective, accountable way."
Source:www.wikia.com

This definition is forward thinking and the engine has been built around user feedback from a trusted online community. In terms of SEO use the engine also has fundamental design problems that might make it easily gamed by Black Hat SEO tactics. For example: by influencing the online judging community, which could be done in several ways, a search result could easily be skewed. However the Wikipedia Encyclopedia, co-developed by Jimmy Wales (also behind the open-source Wikia Search), also has the same kind of user feedback based system and has developed a system of checks and balances that should also be effective in Wikia Search.

The engine bases its organizing principals on four considerations:

-Transparency - Openness in how the systems and algorithms operate, both in the form of open source licenses and open content + APIs.
-Community - Everyone is able to contribute in some way (as individuals or entire organizations), strong social and community focus.
-Quality - Significantly improve the relevancy and accuracy of search results and the searching experience.
-Privacy - Must be protected, do not store or transmit any identifying data.
Source: www.wikia.com

In terms of design the engine is human-driven and is based on open-source Nutch software which relies on an index of web pages from the Grub Company (owned by Wikipedia). Like other search engines Wikia Search uses spiders to index the web and then runs the results through an algorithm (also open-source). In the future the intention is that users will be able to use a ranking system to modify the results however currently they can only add keywords to their profile and contribute to a mini-article that appears above the search result itself.

The Wikia Search engine also incorporates many social networking features like photos, personal information and the ability to add friends. There are even functions that automatically notify friends what you are doing which brings the engine even closer to a social networking model.

In the final analysis Wikia Search is a good start towards a new, original, and innovative engine that should soon offer an alternative to what is currently being available on the Internet.

In Canada the Federal Government will be auctioning off wireless bandwidth in 2008. Many experts hope that changes in the industry will result in the development of new technologies and lower prices for consumers. Currently Canadians pay (on average) some of the highest cell-phone and wireless costs per person in the world, for example: medium-use cell phone users in Denmark pay (on average) $91.63 per year for service while Canadian medium-use owners pay (on average) $521.99 per year.

In many ways 2007 was a benchmark year for Manitoba and its economy, for example:

- In 2007 Manitoba had the largest population increase in 24 years
- In 2007 the Manitoban labour force increased by 2.5% and was ranked as the fourth highest in the country
- In 2007 Manitoba's unemployment rate was 4.2% compared to a national average of 5.9%
- In 2007 the Manitoban Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was at 2.9% which compares favorably to the Canadian rate of 2.6%
- In 2007 Manitoba's exports increased by 12.9%
- In 2007 Manitoba's average weekly earnings increased by 4%

All figures are from Statistics Canada, for more information see their website at http://www.statcan.ca/menu-en.htm.

To top it off Winnipeg remains a very affordable place to live despite the fact that the City of Winnipeg has had the best year of realty sales ever with more than 12,500 homes sold with a value of over $2.1 billion (Canadian dollars). According to US based Demographia research the average price of a house in Winnipeg compares very favorably to that of other cities across Canada:

- Winnipeg $130,100.00
- Ottawa $201,500.00
- Edmonton $233,800.00
- Toronto $295,900.00
- Calgary $319,000.00
- Vancouver $448,800.00

These figures all in United States Dollars and are from the Demographia website at
http://www.demographia.com/dhi-ix2005q3.pdf.

For the M9 Corporation 2007 was also a stellar year. This year the company grew by 37.5% and in June we hired Michael Van Rooy as our Lead Content Writer and SEO Specialist.

So, knowing what has happened in 2007, what does 2008 hold for Manitoba and M9? It will be interesting to find out.

Note to All Concerned:

Ian Prentice, our Lead Programmer, is currently unavailable and is in fact locked in an office, programming frantically.

He says "Hi."

Any donations of flat foods that can be slipped under the door are greatly appreciated.