Vito Cassisi – Tech Blog Delving into technology

Intriguing Web Services

Websites to watch out for!

There are many hidden gems on the Internet. Some are so interesting, it's a wonder why so many people give you a blank stare when you mention them. I've collected a few of my favourite finds to showcase some of the best sites the Internet has to offer.

The first is TinEye. For years we've been searching for images via services such as Google Images. However, what all popular search engines require is the use of text to find an image. But what if you wanted to do the opposite? What if you wanted to use an image to find a website, alternate images, or further information?

This is where TinEye fills the void. TinEye is a "reverse image search engine". To use it, you either upload an image via the provided form, or link to an existing image on the net. TinEye compares the image to their database, and shows results based on relevance. The cool thing about it is that it completely ignores the file name. It compares the image itself, which means accurate results. TinEye can be accessed here. It's currently in beta, and its database is still quite small. However, it's still very impressive.

Wolfram|Alpha is another site which has impressed those who have experienced it. It's a mathematical search engine, to put it simply. Alpha accepts both qualitative and quantitative input, and uses this to deliver an answer in multiple forms. This may include graphs, derivatives, solutions, alternate forms, general facts and more. It's very handy when you're unsure if your solutions to mathematical queries are correct. A great site to have bookmarked. Link.

Lastly is the Microsoft's new search engine 'Bing'. What was once 'Live Search' has recently progressed to a surprisingly noteworthy search engine. It recommends similar searches, shows site previews within the result page, and offers advanced search parameters in the sidebar to refine your results. In the US, the feature set is increased significantly. There's no word about when other countries will also get access. The features include discount offers for using Bing (Bing Shopping), hotel rating search, 'Rich Listing Results' for finding locations/shops including their contact details, 'Sentiment Extraction' for searching expert reviews, 'Travel' for travel information, and trusted medical resource search. Bing.

Share your picks for 'Intriguing Web Services' in the comments section below!