Evolution of a Search Engine

So I had Amazon this morning, and it was quite intense. Definitely the hardest interviews I've ever had, though the first one went much better than the second. Not to say that I bombed the second, but I just feel that I could've been sharper. The fact that they only hire people better than their average employee is just slightly intimidating, but continue to pray I shall. Oh well, the rest of my day went better, so I'm feeling just fine right now! Honestly, there's not a whole lot to talk about in technology. Since the first website I probably ever visited was Yahoo though (back in like 1996 or 1997), I just enjoyed this look at how its evolved over the years. I guess it's hard to remember when the Internet was novel and exciting to me. I haven't gotten tired of it now or anything, but I was just so stunned back then by it, despite the ridiculously slow speeds. Doing research without having to go to the library and look in a card catalog and junk? Totally awesome. Anyway, you kind of see a really neat trend in how web design has progressed across the board from that. Just comparing 1999 to 2004 is quite a large change itself. I'm tempted to say that I like their current design the best. What's nice about it is that they don't clutter it with specifics of all these categories, which I never ever looked at. Instead, it's a really brief glimpse at certain things, and it loads really fast. It dares to be different from Google (so it's not a copycat), without being bloated (ala MTV). Sometimes the journey is more important than the end result, and that's the impression I get from looking at this. I like that they evolved, because no one ever gets anything right the first time (well, I guess except maybe God).

iTunes is starting to open itself up a little more to indie producers, or I guess maybe it's the other way around. Certain indie movies that failed to strike a deal through their distributor to get in iTunes movies' section are now getting in the TV shows section on their own for the $2 price tag. I think if you can't get in the big retailers, then iTunes is the next best thing to broaden your audience.

Of course some shows still aren't on iTunes, and we need to go somewhere else for our fix. You can such options over here. That TED thing looks pretty cool to me.

The only other appealing thing in technology today is some free online storage options. So when you're on-the-go and need to store your data, or maybe you need to share it, or maybe you just want an alternate back-up, look into those sites for some relief.

It looks like the movie news is weak as well today. People have been getting really really early screenings of Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie in its unfinished form and it sounds about as entertaining as those ridiculous teaser trailers they put out. I guess Seinfeld doesn't really need the money anyway though.

We have another video from the new Fantastic Four movie, and it's not bad. It definitely intrigues me, but the real baddies are conspicuously missing.

Hollywood Reporter has some news from the production of Get Smart that definitely interests me. Not only is Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway on board, but so is Little Miss Sunshine's Alan Arkin. I love him as an actor, so now I'm officially interested in this flick.

Lastly, enjoy this international poster for the next Die Hard movie (which is apparently only Live Free or Die Hard in America):



Now for a Wednesday Mind Hump:

What is the last book you read?
Completely? Carrie by Stephen King.
Who is your favorite character in the book?
Definitely Carrie. What a really interesting character. I don't think I've read a book before where the protagonist is the antagonist. She's so innocent but ends up so guilty. Just a tragic story.
Did you enjoy the book?
Oh yeah.
Would you recommend the book to others?
Definitely. I liked the way it jumped around in sources of the storyline, and how the end of the book was told in bits and pieces. It makes you appreciate the little things more.