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Filed under: Internet, Social Software, Search, web 2.0

Search Wikia Alpha launches, not useful at all... yet

Wikia Search Alpha
For those waiting with baited breath for Jimmy Wales to launch the distance cousin of Wikipedia, the wait is over. For everyone else, umm... Search Wikia Alpha is live today. What was originally billed as a human-powered search engine much the same way Wikipedia is a human-powered encyclopedia is right now just a second-rate computer-powered web search site that lets you create user profiles.

Theoretically Search Wikia will get better with time as more users create profiles. That's because you can add keywords for things you're interested in to your profile. When users search for those terms, your picture will show up on the right side of the screen. You'll be able to edit search results matching those keywords, and presumably other users will be able to click on your profile to find relevant links and articles.

But right now, Search Wikia is pretty much machine powered and far less likely to give you what you're looking for than Google, Yahoo!, Live Search, or any of the other competitors. But as founder Jimmy Wales points out at TechCrunch, it's not really fair to compare Search Wikia to sites that have been around for a decade or more. Not only has Search Wikia just launched (in alpha, no less), but in order for the site to thrive, it needs to build a dedicated user base to edit search reults. And how could anyone expect that to have happened by day one?

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Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

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