Part I of Inside Mahalo, the Human Produced Search Engine
Friday, March 21st, 2008
Jason Calacanis, founder of Mahalo, introduces us to his new search engine and directory. This is a unique search engine because the results aren't produced by algorithms. Rather people all over the world contribute to it. Calacanis claims that that will bring dramatically better results. But this is a startup and it's too early to say it'll take on Google. In the meantime, though, we think it's a search engine you'll want to check out and Calacanis has some very interesting philosophies. We'll split this interview into two parts, with the second part coming next week. But here you meet Eric Stephens, director of user experience. He explains how Mahalo tests features (it's a different kind of user testing than we've seen before).
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Very interesting. I wonder why the Maholo team doesn't just use Techsmith Morae for the usabiliy labs as opposed to piecing together the videos themselves.
This is my first time visiting this site and I'm so impressed. The interviews are great. I will agree with other posters....no need to hold the mic up so close to the interviewees face. Why not just use a clip on mic?
I'm looking forward to see much more content! Thanks!
I'd suggest a text based Turing test instead, much less irritiating than trying to figure out those silly little pictures.
Rob, sorry for the spam problems here. We'll have a permanent fix for that rolled into an update we're doing in the next week. We have lots of fingers in the dikes trying to keep the water from leaking out. :-) Thanks!
I know that you folks are using Drupal as the platform to present these videos. Drupal is a great system and has a number of features that will prevent the spam that you are getting here on a regular basis.
I suggest that you try out Captcha (http://drupal.org/project/captcha), Akismet (http://drupal.org/project/akismet) and a dose of good ole human moderation.
The spam that you've been getting here really dilutes the conversation as well as turning people off to the idea of getting involved with the community.
Definitely a good interview. However...
Kinda looked like you had the mic shoved up into his face. I realize you need fat signal levels, but it was uncomfortable watching him pressed against the wall. If you roll off the low end with a high pass filter, and hit the compressor a little harder, you can hold the mic back a little bit and still get a full sound. A hypercardioid wouldn't hurt either.
Nice interview. I don't know Jason well but I was impressed with his answers and attitude.
Robert, this is awesome! Using the hand held mic totally helps. The sound works and this was a VERY interesting interview. w00t!
To contradict a bit Jason, in my opinion Google hasn't the best results... is the search engine that almost everyone uses... and can't be used to measure the results of other search engines. Mahalo is different... keep it different.
Great insight into what Jason is developing. I would have to agree that Santa Monica is a great place to work from. Environments on the internet is best of what's being development.. I call what I'm doing a Social Discovery Network. Jason is a great inspiration to this new direction.
James "YogiFish" Herring
yawn!
Jason does a nice job there explaining everything very clearly. So this is a nice start to Mahalo and Jason as well. Keep up the good work ! One more thing is keeping Jason leaned against the wall makes him as well as the viewers in an uncomfortable situation. Anyway hope the Part II has something more informative !
"We are here to Help "
This is a fine interview, however I had to shut it down and wanted to come back to it, only to discover there's no skip-ahead with this video player? In this day and age, I would expect a FF button.
Your arm is really getting tired there Robert from the mic :)
@Michael- we shot this interview before we got our new equipment.
Is Scoble intimidating? Calacanis looks uncomfortable, leaning back into a wall, like he's scared.
Hi Robert,
I liked the video a lot. Content-wise that is. Jason was very insightful and so was the other guy you talked to.
Just a few pointers, though:
Don't put people up against a wall like you did the first 10 or so minutes with Jason. It makes them feel uncomfortable and it makes the viewers cringe.
Stand to their side or do what you did later. Put'em up. Let them talk down to you. Because you are after all begging for their knowledge to make your videos look good. Be grateful. :-)
And get rid of that cheap-ass mic. You haul thousands of dollars of photography and video equipment and then you try to save on the mic? What's that all about?
There are reporter mics which have what is called an isolated capsule. That means we won't hear when you shift the mic in your hand. Sennheiser makes a classy one.
Keep'em coming. You are doing well!
Thanks!
Michael
Is it me, or does Eric Stephens look like a younger, cloned Calacanis?!
;)
I love the story about them showing users beta versions of the site with "Google Version 2" and "Yahoo Version 2" logos.
I'm impressed...with fastcompany.tv...with scoble...with colacanis!