Answers Services Abandon by Google

Google Inc. doesn't have all the answers -- a fact underscored by the Internet search leader's decision to abandon a 4-year-old service that hired researchers to field questions on everything from school homework to sports trivia. The retreat, announced in a notice posted on Google's Web site late Tuesday night, represents a rare victory for rival Yahoo Inc.

It also may signal Google's intention to refocus on its core search engine, a moneymaking machine that generates virtually all its profits. Google executives have recently expressed worries about having too many disjointed products scattered across its Web site.

Despite those distractions, Google still holds a large lead over Yahoo in basic Internet search. Google has parlayed that advantage into more rapid profit growth that has lifted its stock price to new heights while Yahoo shares have slumped badly for most of the year.

But Yahoo appears to have outsmarted Google with a free online answer service that has grown rapidly since its introduction less than a year ago. Unlike Google's offering, Yahoo's service doesn't charge money. Instead, Yahoo appeals to the vanity of smart people to ferret out the answers to esoteric questions like "What has Alexander Graham Bell invented other than the telephone?"

• Microsoft Corp. and several specialty Web sites like Keen.com, Answers.com and Answerbag.com also compete against Yahoo and Google in this highly specialized niche of Internet search.
  
• Google's service required its users to pay a researcher anywhere from $2 to $200 to chase down the answers to minutiae like "How many tyrannosaurs are in a gallon of gasoline?"

The Mountain View-based company collected a 50-cent commission on each question, with the remainder going to one of the roughly 800 researchers who have responded to questions since Google co-founder Larry Page conceived the service in 2002. Although it started later, Yahoo's answer service quickly eclipsed Google's. By October, the market share of Yahoo Answers was about 24 times greater than Google's service, estimated Hitwise, a research company that tracks Internet traffic patterns.

Yahoo's users are becoming so adept at answering questions that their responses sometimes even appear on the first results page of Google's own search engine. In its first 11 months, Yahoo's service has accumulated about 160 million answers, according to the Sunnyvale-based company. Google didn't elaborate on the reasons for dropping its service, which will stop accepting questions later this week. The answers to previously asked questions will remain available.

"Google Answers was a great experiment which provided us with a lot of material for developing future products to serve our users," software engineers Andrew Fikes and Lexi Baugher wrote in the closure notice. "We'll continue to look for new ways to improve the search experience and to connect people to the information they want.

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Fabulous Gift on this Christmas

DVDs make great gifts because they are easy to wrap and are loved by all

Christmas is all about the giving and gifters can say plenty with the right choice of special DVDs sets for family, friends and loved ones. We offer some guidance, suggestions for making an impact as you shop early and often.

Shoppers this holiday will be greeted by an unprecedented mix of box sets and special editions matching and surpassing the bar set last year by HBO’s $300 pink suede-covered 20-disc Sex and the City complete-series collector’s gift set.

The number of new TV DVD box sets alone is 2 per cent ahead of last year’s record pace, when more than 550 were released, according to The DVD Release Report. It’s true that in many cases studios are doing this to repack previously released single DVDs — and reap some profits before new high-definition video formats take off (they hope).

This year, more series get that treatment, including the Homicide: Life on the Street 35-disc megaset (A&E Home Video, $300) and Six Feet Under: The Complete Series gift set (HBO, 25 discs, $280). Movies, too, are being bundled into boxes that extol various themes (Fox’s $99 Rodgers and Hammerstein Collection and Warner’s $29 Classic Comedy Teams Collection) or chronicle the careers of actors (The Paul Newman Collection, Warner, $60) or filmmakers (Preston Sturges: The Filmmaker Collection, Universal, $60).

But customers do benefit from buying in bulk: A typical DVD costs $12 to $17 individually, but discs can cost $5 or less in a set. “It’s a win-win for both the studios and the consumer,” says DVD Release Report editor Ralph Tribbey.

Gift for Someone Special

• Individual NFL Films highlight DVDs such as San Francisco 49ers:
  The Complete History (Warner, $27; other teams include the Green Bay Packers, Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos), because as the NFL playoffs
  
• King Kong Deluxe Extended Edition (Universal, $35), because it adds 13 minutes to the already epic-length theatrical edition that features outrageous battles, stunts, creatures and, let’s face it, a scantily clad Naomi Watts — approach, some fans will need glory days to lean on.
  
• Beverly Hills, 90210: The Complete First Season (Paramount, $55), because this series is what made Fox the social network of the 1990s. Along with six more hours of special features.
  
• An Inconvenient Truth (Paramount, $30), because it has been in the headlines ever since its theatrical bow over the summer.
  
• Grey’s Anatomy Season 2 (Disney, $60), because it has last season’s 27 episodes and extended scenes from this Emmy-winning series, which captures surgeons and interns performing under stress in a Seattle hospital — and under the covers.
  
• Ali G Indahouse: The Movie (Universal, $15), because this is the first feature film starring red-hot comedi an Sacha Baron Cohen, who, on the heels of his edgy Da Ali G Show, has become even more of a pop-culture phenomenon with
  
• The Simpsons: The Complete Eighth Season (Fox, $50) or The Simpsons: The Complete Ninth Season (Dec. 19, $50), because it’s the granddaddy of the adult-themed animation craze.
  
• Reds 25th Anniversary Edition (Paramount, $20), because it earned Oscar nominations for all four acting awards (in total it won three: best director, Warren Beatty; supporting actress, Maureen Stapleton; and cinematography).

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Buying Different Type of Running Shoes

An Athletic shoe is a generic name for a shoe designed for sporting activities, and is different in style and build than a dress shoe. Originally known as sporting apparel, today they are known as casual footwear. Depending on what part of the world you live in, they can also go by the name sport shoes, running shoes, gym shoes, tennis shoes, sneakers (American English), trainers (British English), runners (Canadian English), or sandshoes (Australian English). In some urban areas in the United States, the slang for casual athletic shoes is kicks. In Hiberno-English the term is runners. In South African English the term used is takkies.

Choosing a new pair of running shoes can be a daunting task with so many options on the market. If you visit a running shoe store or pick up a magazine about running and jogging, you will find words such as pronation, supination, and neutral to describe your running style. You will find that running shoes come in a variety of types and styles that include those for motion control, support, cushioning, and racing. You will discover that the type of running shoes you need may depend on whether you do road or trail running, whether you are fast, slow or steady, and whether or not you race. Gone are the days when you would simply go into a store and find a pair of sneakers that fit. Today, choosing running shoes has become a science.

Tips & Suggestions on Running Shoes:

• If you are in the market for a new pair of running shoes, don't despair. "Pronation" simply means your ankle rolls inward as you run, while "supination" means your ankle rolls to the outside; "neutral" is right in the middle. To find out what type of foot you have, put a paper grocery bag on the floor and wet the bottom of your foot with a sponge. Take a step onto the paper bag and look to see what kind of a print you made. A wide print means you are probably a pronator while a narrow print, or one with the middle missing entirely, shows that you are more than likely a supinator.
  
• Running shoes are made to fit the three main types of running styles, but they also take into account gait, speed, weight, and pace. Sprinting shoes are built differently than the shoes of longevity that a marathoner would wear. Trail shoes are reinforced to be sturdier as a trail runner might encounter roots, rocks, or other obstacles, while street running shoes are relatively soft and pliable.
  
• Runners should always have a good pair of running shoes; do not be afraid to spend a fair amount of money on your running shoes. Go to a running shoe specialty store and ask for a pair of shoes that fits your running style. Coaches and personal trainers can help you choose running shoes as well. Pronators will need a straight shaped shoe while supinators require a shoe that is more curved. If you are a pronator with a flat arch, you will need a motion control shoe, but if you are a supinator with a high arch, you will require a specially cushioned shoe.
  
• The many choices may seem confusing at first, but in the end, you will have the best shoe for your running style, which will mean better running health for your entire body.

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