A Brief History as Searchles Celebrates its 1.022 year Birthday - Chew on THAT, Google

Upon noticing the fact that Google turned a ripe 9 years-old this fine, fine Thursday, we decided that we like to celebrate the good times too...and it is, indeed, Searchles' 1.022 year birthday - having launched September 19 in the year two-thousand six. A brief irrelevant history of the evolution of Searchles follows:

* Sometime before the year 1980 -- little Dumbfounder is born...showing great promise - as his first word uttered came out sounding a little like "google", shockingly enough. He would not be able to say "yahoo" for at least another 9 months. He still struggles with "wikipedia".

* Somewhere around 1987 -- the Jazzercise fitness program hits its peak in the US, proving yet again that the crowd loves a good business name that mashes two previously separate words into one word of awesomeness (search + circles =....hmmm). Somewhere in Northern Virginia, Dumbfounder smiles.

* 1997ish -- Caveman first sees Aishwarya Rai in Bollywood film debut and thinks "Gosh...wouldn't it be swell if this video was online."

* Circa 1998 -- Google starts up, apparently...whatevs.

* November 1, 2003 -- Dumbfounder begins work on Dumbfind, the proprietary search technology behind Searchles.

* September 19, 2006 -- SEARCHLES LAUNCH!! Worlds collide, planets align, Britney's divorce proceedings are in full swing....here at Searchles HQ, local microbrews are toasted in lieu of champagne.

* March 8, 2007 -- Searchles TV launches, immediately followed by a lovely cease & desist letter from counsel to Sony's Grouper. Dumbfounder laughs. Caveman pieces together first channel of Aishwarya Rai - the world is right again.

* September 27, 2007 -- Searchles turns 1.022 years-old. We wish you had all been here to blow out the candle(s?). It's not the same without you.

And in honor of dear Caveman...one of his personal favorites:

Searchles: We Built This City...We Built This City on Bloooooooogs and Posts!

I almost hate myself for the blog subject line, but maybe if everyone looked at the world through the lens of Jefferson Starship...it would be a better, more awesomely-bad place. Wishful thinking aside, we'd like to give a quick rundown of the social networking aspects of Searchles and how exactly your circle of groups and friends benefit you as you navigate through your sea of websites and videos:

* YOUR FRIENDS - Those users you add/approve of as "friends" on Searchles are generally those users that post content that interest you or that you've noticed make insightful comments on others posts. You can modify your mySearchles page as well so that you only view the activity of your friends - ensuring that all the posting/commenting highlighted on your page are highly relevant to your interests. Your search results are also weighted towards these friends in your network to push the more relevant content to the top of your search results! Search + Your peers you trust = Best-est search results around. Think about it.

* YOUR FANS - Who are those users listed as your fans, you may ask? These are users who have requested to add you as a friend. They've chose to track the content you've been posting because, HEY...you're just that interesting. You can either choose to reciprocate and include them in your network or you can keep them as your adoring fans if you'd rather not include their posts in your circle. (Note: this function helps you keep the spammers out of your life. If you don't approve them as your friend they will not break into your network!)

* YOUR GROUPS - Common interest groups are our handy dandy way of breaking down the content on Searchles into smaller networks of relevant content. You can monitor the content being posted to a group of relevant interest by looking at the group page or you can join and contribute! You can also perform a more targeted search within a group. (Note: in order to post to a group, you must first join). Groups you've joined also influence your search results to keep them as relevant as possible.

Do you want your actual real-life friends on Searchles sharing content with you? Invite them to join! You can do so easily from the option on the "People" page, linked at the top of the homepage. Really...we employ a the-more-the-merrier mentality and Searchles is a great way to easily share web-content with your friends. SO...I hope it's starting to come together for you. After all, Search + Circle = Searchles.

Don't tase me bro.

Top 10 Reasons Why Searchles TV Top 10 Lists Are Fun

10. VH1 and David Letterman do not have a monopoly on countdowns (though they do a fine fine job).

9. Top 10 lists generally are an enjoyable trip down memory lane.

8. Searchles TV Channels can be used for ANYTHING, from the very controversial and/or superserious (see AFI Top 12 Movies below) to the whimsical and/or pleasemakemelaugh (see AFI Top 10 Comedies below).



7. Because we're really not sure how else to approach the late and great decade of the 1980s.

6. We even have a tidy little place to put them - the Top 10 Lists (or lists of other sizes) group.

5. If you change your mind on which video is what number you can easily go back and edit the channel to reflect your inability to commit to your first instinct.



4. We'll say it again...it's easily embedded into your blog or myspace profile so you can show your Top 10 list to the world...THE WORLD!!

3. Placement on a list can spark controversy, constructive discussion, and the occasional hair-pulling catfight.

2. You can stream the videos back to back in one player instead of jumping between different sites to view the respective videos.

1. We are humans...and we like to judge things and put them in their place...end of story.

Joe Biden and Searchles TV: Reaching Out to Voters with a Presidential Mash-up

Well, we'll say it again: social media has been playing a monumental role in the campaigns of the 2008 presidential candidates. Never before have the candidates been able to spread so much information about their campaigns to such a large, eager audience - particularly the web-savvy younger generation - and campaign teams are constantly looking for new, efficient means to get their message out.

Speaking of new and efficient means (can't imagine where I might be going with this), we were excited to see Sen. Joe Biden's (D) team utilizing our Searchles TV feature to mash-up videos and embed them on some of his campaign sites. We're also excited that Biden's campaign presence on Searchles offers our users the direct means to view these videos and discuss the issues put forth. How democratic is that? Below is a Searchles TV channel of Biden and the recent Petraeus hearings showing him in action on the congressional stage as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee:



Will other candidates catch on? Could make or break them in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Searchlestonfieldville.

Cirque du Video: Searchles Now Lets You Index Videos from Metacafe, LiveLeak, Veoh, and CollegeHumor

We've come to the realization that *gasp* it's not just a YouTube world out there - and we like to keep up on the times with these new-fangled video sites. Video indexing capabilities have just been added to Searchles for the following video sites: Metacafe, LiveLeak, Veoh, and CollegeHumor. These sites add to the list of video sites we already index from: YouTube, Google Video, MySpace Video, and Blip.tv. So when is the Metacafe-CNN Democratic Presidential Debate going to go down? It is unclear. However, we're now all over it when that day comes...because we know you will be. These video sites have definitely been increasing in popularity among web-users and we realize it's important to ensure that you can post these videos all in one place to share with your circle of groups and friends.

Now let's talk Searchles TV channels. With the exception of that devious, tricky Veoh, videos from ALL of the aforementioned videos sites can be mashed-up into a Searchles TV channel. No need to jump back and forth between these video sites to watch your favorite videos because you can stream them altogether in one viewer. See channel below! It's an online video site melting pot.

How does this technical upgrade affect our video search? Superfantastically! When you're conducting a video search on Searchles you're now reaping the relevant results from (let me list them out again...I enjoy the sheer length of the list so): YouTube, Google Video, MySpace Video, Metacafe, Liveleak, Veoh, and CollegeHumor. Your video search results are also weighted towards the social network you've built on Searchles to increase relevancy (to your interests/personality/life).

We're also keeping an ear to the ground for word of other video sites that host a lot of great video content - so please let us know if one crosses your path!



Video 1 - Metacafe
Video 2 - Metacafe
Video 3 - Liveleak
Video 4 - CollegeHumor
Video 5 - YouTube
Video 6 - MySpace Video
Video 7 - MySpace Video
Video 8 - Google Video
Video 9 - Blip.tv

Searchles "Outsmart(dumb) Miss Teen South Carolina" Geography Showdown!

CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT: As I'm sure you all have now heard, on August 24th during the Miss Teen USA pageant (scholarship contest?), Miss Teen South Carolina had a bit of a word stumble when answering a question from host, Mario Lopez (aka AC Slater). When asked why a fifth of Americans could not locate the United States on a world map, she responded as such:

"I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so, because, is that some people out there, in our nation, don't have maps, and I believe that our education, such as South Africa, and the Iraq, everywhere like, such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here, in the US should help the US, or um should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future, for our children."



To her credit, due to sheer nervousness, I'd probably sound like a blubbering idiot if someone even asked me to state my name on live national television. HOWEVER, this does not prevent us from having a little fun at her expense (here at Searchles we're unaffected by guilt or shame).

So, we'd like Searchles users to give it your best go to try to top Miss Teen South Carolina in a competition of "Dumb and Dumber." Tell us in your least intelligent terms why YOU think a fifth of Americans cannot locate the United States on a world map. Imagine the possibilities: you could make fun of Americans, George Bush, South Carolina, teenagers, maps?...really, we're giving you free reign here.

Once you've come up with your best answer, "SHOUT" it on Dumbfounder's profile on Searchles. Shouts are public messages you can leave on a user's profile for all other users to see and you need to be a registered user in order to be able to Shout. On September 10th, we'll choose the winner. The PRIZE will be Dumbfounder's Homer Simpson-head Chia Pet (disclaimer: actual cash value = $0.000001)....because we love the Simpsons and we love love love Chia Pets. We swear, it's pretty sweet...and we will mail it to you. So please, tell us why it is that a whole fifth of Americans can't locate the US on a map and shoot us a message if you have any questions!

(void where prohibited. Moldovans subject to shipping and handling fee of 43 lei.)