The search engine with metaphorical results
Kate Russell's weekly review of the best apps and websites.
Web search queries tend to work best if they are very literal. But if you take the genre and give it a metaphorical twist you can uncover some really interesting stuff. Yossarianlives is an experimental search tool that lets you look for images, moving a slider to define the conceptual distance from your original query term the results should be.
Another alternative search tool is Blippex which instead of ranking results with an algorithm no-one understands (mainly because it is a closely guarded secret at Google), is powered by data collected about real people's browsing habits and behaviour. The longer one of the participating browsers lingers on a page the more interesting it is deemed to be. You can contribute by installing the browser extension that anonymously tracks your page views.
From a different kind of search to a different kind of gaming experience - and one that will take you back to the good old days when gameplay was king over special effects and graphical acrobatics. Brilliantly narrated by Danny Wallace, the demo levels of Thomas was Alone can be downloaded free for Mac and PC and the full game is also available on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.
For a different listening experience on iOS and android devices, instaradio brings the world of amateur radio to your handset with some mixed results. As well as listening it is easy to set up and start broadcasting, with integrated posting to Facebook and Twitter.
Chocoholics will be looking forward to Easter this weekend. EasterEggTrail.com has loads of print out and play at home activity ideas to entertain the kids and burn off some of the excess calories. If you are in the UK it will guide you to one of 250 National Trust organised event-days where there will be egg hunts, face painting and fun activities for all.
17 Apr 2014