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Chicago’s Enso Introduces New Beta Products – Web Search Anywhere, Translate Anywhere and More

Aza Raskin chatted me up a few minutes ago and shared with me that they are launching four new beta products Monday. These will complement the existing Humanized offerings of Enso Launcher and Enso Words which I’ve been using since shortly after I met Aza at Barcamp Chicago earlier this Summer. Enso is a useful tool, but you need to have an open mind to fully appreciate what it can do for it to be effective at it’s full potential. Just remember that these are beta products so they may have some unique bugs, but I like they way they’ve set up transparent feedback for each offering so that they can live the quotes of Peter Drucker and others in their actions.

I had a few brief moments to download it and bang on them a bit. So without further delay here is a quick and dirty rundown of the four new Enso beta products, you can download them here in a nice little bundle, I’ve ranked them in the order that they interest me and my typical readership:

Enso Web Search Anywhere v0.1 – Simply select your document text, hold the caps lock, type goo and presto a new browser with that query executed in Google appears! After doing that only three times, I kind of find manual entry or cutting and pasting to be kind of ancient and stone tablet like. A distant memory. Maybe even downright lame!

Enso Translate Anywhere v0.1 – Translate languages on the fly in Enso. With a little refinement, I think the last reason I ever visit Alta Vista will meet it’s ultimate demise!

Enso Media Controller v0.1 – Now you are getting it. It controls your media with ease.

Enso TeX Anywhere v0.1 Nothing to do with the lone star state, I think they state the value proposition quite well, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a way of creating stunning equations quickly and simply?”

Again, this is just a brief overview, be sure to visit the Enso micro pages above for vivid detail and screen prints.

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Suburban Chicago Silicon Prairie Social Internet and Technology Mixer Thursday

Tim Courtney sent me the following note late last week, I hope to see you there….

When: Thursday, September 20, 2007 from 6:30-10:00pm
Where: Mullen’s Bar & Grill 3080 Warrenville Rd., Lisle, IL 60532

An opportunity to connect in an informal setting with like-minded people in technology; whether you’re an upwardly mobile professional, a job seeker, an entrepreneur, or a VC. We welcome everyone, including IT workers, e-commerce companies, Internet and Web 2.0 startups, mobile and mobile marketing, and B2B services.

The event is free to attend, free drinks and food will be provided. RSVP is required at http://siliconprairiesocial.eventbrite.com.

For more information see www.siliconprairiesocial.com or call Tim Courtney at 630.983.6064 or tcourtney at xnet.com.

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New Chicago Tribune Story Writer For Chicago Blackhawks This Season

Many Chicago Blackhawks fans are understandably quite excited about #1 draft pick Patrick Kane. I am too.

I actually think I might be more excited that there is a new full time writer for the Chicago Tribune, Chris Kuc, assigned to the Chicago Blackhawks this season!  Someone needs to keep Tim Sassone at the Daily Herald honest. Chris seems to have a passion for the role that has been lacking for many years and in addition to his normal writing, he’s the author of the first Chicago Tribune Blog on the Chicago Blackhawks.

To both Patrick Kane and Chris Kuc, I wish you both a long and prosperous journey! I hope the Stanley Cup drought comes to an end sometime during your tenure!

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LinkedIn View Quality Rising After Non Eventful September 11

I logged into my Linkedin panel the other day and saw top tier retained search firms viewing my profile…I’ve had several other recent experiences that I can’t make public that seem to indicate a healthy reallocation of capital away from the mortgage and housing market is occurring and may in fact be accelerating after a non eventful September 11th. I’m hoping this will be part of a long term trend, not just a blip.

Your profile has been viewed by 9 people in the last 3 days, including:

Senior Associate at Heidrick & Struggles

  • Director at Gap International
  • Someone in the Marketing And Advertising industry
  • Research Consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates
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    Yahoo! Chief Data Officer and Executive Vice President of Research & Strategic Data Solutions, Usama Fayyad Talks at KDD 07

    My friend Bill Slawski posted some links to video of Usama Fayyad, Yahoo!’s Chief Data Officer and Executive Vice President of Research & Strategic Data Solutions Talking at KDD 07.

    You should probably drop by Bill’s place as he has written an extremely nice summary of the talk. If you enjoy that, you should likely check out the video of Usama Fayyad talking, it gives some rare behind the scenes glimpses into the direction of Yahoo!.

    Good stuff, thank you Bill for pointing it out!

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    Youtube Already Accepting Questions for the November 28, 2007 Republican Debate

    Wow, I’m amazed that Youtube has a page up to collect this material over 10 weeks in advance! That will obviously generate many, many questions from the supporters of the candidates in the race as well as issue voters:

    Sam Brownback, U.S. Senator from Kansas
    Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor of New York City
    Mike Huckabee, Former Governor of Arkansas
    Duncan Hunter, U.S. Representative from California
    Alan Keyes, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council
    John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona
    Ron Paul, U.S. Representative from Texas
    Mitt Romney, Former Governor of Massachusetts
    Tom Tancredo, U.S. Representative from Colorado
    Fred Thompson, Former U.S. Senator from Tennessee

    UPDATE: Due to off topic comments not related to the Youtube process, the comments have been closed on this thread.