Turn Google, Yahoo search results into tag clouds

Search Cloudlet is a Firefox extension from the International Software and Productivity Engineering Institute (INTSPEI) that gives users a cloud of tags to help modify and focus searches on Google and Yahoo. Once installed it will show up on top of search results and provides a simple way to tweak the original query by offering up keywords pulled from the results.

Words that appear more often in the results appear as bigger, bolder tags that you can click on to re-start the query with that word tacked on. The creators recommend dialing up the number of default search results to 100, which may make your searches slightly slower but result in a much more accurate tag cloud. This can be done from the user preferences in both Google and Yahoo.

In addition to standard Google and Yahoo searches the extension works on Google News both for keywords and locations. It also works for Google Blog search in a really neat way by adding tags for each author that you can click on to filter which posts come up.

Search Cloudlet is an experimental add-on and does not yet work on the latest beta of Firefox 3.1.

Via CNET News

Google Maps now comes with YouTube (officially)

Just a few short months after adding videos as an optional addon in Google Maps, Google seems pleased enough with the feature to have built it into the popular mapping tool. By choosing the video layer from the "more" menu, which also houses photos and Wikipedia entries, users can now browse and watch YouTube videos that have been geotagged.

The feature is no different from the previous one except in presentation. Instead of pockmarking your map with little red dots, each video appears in thumbnail form. The interface has also been slimmed down to exclude the video information and view count, letting the player fit in a smaller amount of space.

Via CNET Crave and Google Blogoscoped

Orbita mouse lets you rock 'n' scroll

The Orbita mouse from Cyber Sport is a wireless puck that rotates, letting you use the whole device for scrolling, zooming, jogging, or object rotation.

It's an uncommon approach to traditional mousing, unless you've used a SpaceNavigator 3D mouse. But it is wireless and it does look cool.

Look for it in January 2009 for about US$100.

Via CNET Crave

Sony still believes in USB drives for music, movies

The big entertainment companies refuse to give up on USB drives for media delivery. Sony announced on Monday that it was loading movies and albums on flash drives.

Michael Jackson fans can obtain the 25th Anniversary edition of the album Thriller for US$19.99 or the feature films The Da Vinci Code or Men in Black for US$29.99 each.

I can understand trying to sell flash drives for digital movies. Downloading big movie files can still take hours depending on the speed of the Internet connection. I'm not quite sure why anyone would pay US$30 for catalog titles just because they're on a USB drive. Sony's press release doesn't say whether there are any added features.

As for offering music on flash drives, well, it's been tried and the public yawned. It's just too easy to download music from iTunes or other music stores and store them on digital music players. If you absolutely require a physical media-delivery system why not just buy a CD?

But Sony Music has struggled lately. For more on that read this story.

Via CNET Crave

ASUS unveils Celeron-based Eee Box

ASUS has beefed up its Eee Box line with the addition of a Celeron-based B203 to its Web site.

As expected, ASUS' new Nettop is largely unchanged from the B202, but it features a budget-minded Celeron 220 CPU instead of the Intel Atom found in earlier versions. ASUS also increased the hard-drive options in the new model, offering a 120GB and 160GB version in addition to the 80GB offered in previous versions.

The B203 comes with four USB ports, a flash card reader, a DVI output, and Ethernet and Wi-Fi connectivity. The Nettop runs Windows XP Home, but ASUS recommends Windows Vista.

Pricing wasn't available on ASUS' Web site Sunday night, but the processor change is expected to drop the cost of the Eee Box from US$350 to US$240, allow the small form-factor desktop to better compete with similarly low-cost desktops and laptops.

Via CNET Crave

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