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Posts with tag farecast

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Microsoft, Search, web 2.0

Microsoft relaunches Farecast, changes almost nothing

Farecast

Just over a month after paying $115 million for travel planning site Farecast, Microsoft has relaunched the site. And after spending countless hours integrating the site into Microsoft's Live Search suite of web applications, the result is... basically identical to the old site. The biggest difference we can find is the Live Search label appended to the Farecast logo.

Microsoft has folded Farecast user accounts into the Windows Live suite, which means you can login using your Windows Live ID.

You won't find Farecast results from the main Live Search page. You'll have to click the More tab, and then select "See All" to find Farecast. But eventually we wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft started bringing up Farecast results for regular travel-related search terms. That clearly hasn't happened yet. When we entered the search query: "New York to Philadelphia flight" the top search result was a link to TripAdvisor.

[via Mashable]

Filed under: Internet, Web services, Microsoft

Microsoft buys Farecast for $115 million

Farecast
Microsoft has purchased Farecast, a travel pricing/comparison/booking service that competes with similar web services like Travelocity, Orbitz, and Kayak. What sets Farecast apart from other services is the site's focus on predictions. Based on trends over time, Farecast can help users predict whether prices will go up or down in the future.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer says Microsoft paid $115 million for the company. In a blog post, Farecast says very little about the acquisition other than that it "created tremendous opportunities." Farecast is already prominently featured on Microsoft's MSN Travel site. It's not clear if and how Microsoft will utilize Farecast and its technology beyond the travel site.

[via Profy]

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.

View more Time Wasters

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