I consider myself pretty proficient when it comes to things such as general technology and the web. But today I am having trouble - is it just me or is the technology just not up to par yet? I am down in Atlanta for the holiday and thought to myself "Self - you should really try to find a good place to watch the Ravens beat Denver tonight". As my in-laws don't have cable to watch MNF on ESPN (not that they have a TV either...) this means I will most probably be heading to some bar to catch the game (which works just fine for me). There is a really cool sports bar not too far from their house where I have watched games in the past but I started thinking that maybe it would be nice to find someplace new where there may be a gathering of fellow Ravens enthusiasts. So I did what anyone would do - headed to Google. Here is where the technology of search begins to break down. I have run five or six different variations of searches and still can not come up with a place to go watch the game (although if you'd like to buy a watch with the Ravens logo I can point you to a few sites...). So question #1 is if anyone has ideas of where to watch the game? #2 is of course how to properly do a search for finding such a place? And most importantly, would you agree with the statement that the technology really should be good enough at this point in time that if i search for "watch the Ravens game in Atlanta with other fans" it should understand what i am actually looking for?
Posted by ravomess at October 9, 2006 02:14 PM | TrackBackYou're basically describing the difference between a natural language based search engine and a semantic search engine. Google and others at this point have worked on processing information in free-text natural language form. They have yet to really tackle information in a structured fashion by adding meaning to the information they index. There's different ways to do semantic search (relational databases is the simplest way to get started by associating kinds of data with meaning, i.e. columns), but the way Google does it is not the best way. The Semantic Web hasn't really materialized, and other steps at getting there are yet to be fully realized.
None of this, of course, helps you with your current predicament. I would suggest that you check any number of blog search engines to see if anyone may have, perchance, mentioned ravens bar atlanta in a recent post. I would also check some of the event/meetup websites that are out there, such as Meetup.com, Upcoming.org, Eventful.com, Zvents.com...some of them may have user-created events that fit with what you are looking for. And also, blogging about it, although lower in fidelity, is another possibly good way to find people to watch the game with. For example, I can tell you that I'm pretty sure Lanie and Joel are in Atlanta right now, and perhaps you can hook up with him to see what he is doing tonight (I have his email if you need it).
Posted by: Greg at October 9, 2006 02:43 PMSorry, I'm back in B-more now or I'd go watch with you.
Posted by: Jewboy at October 9, 2006 04:18 PM