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Creator of First Computer Virus to Take On Google

techcrunch.com — Rich Skrenta, who created the first computer virus (Elk Cloner), co-founded the Open Directory Project, and co-founded online news site Topix, may have bitten off the biggest challenge of his career - taking on Google. In search.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jan 3, 2008

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  • PanicAK, on 01/03/2008, -0/+63Virus is not equal to bug.
  • Dotcommer, on 01/03/2008, -7/+60Wait.. hes the father of the first computer virus? wtf... i want to shoot him not praise him now...
  • Ymeg, on 01/03/2008, -0/+44We will forget about this when it goes off the front page of digg.
  • oprstu, on 01/03/2008, -0/+36WOOOOOOOooo lets see this showdown go down!
  • D3koy, on 01/03/2008, -1/+20Blekko, hmm? I'll have to keep an eye out for it...maybe I'll do a google search for it
  • NeoNightmareX, on 01/03/2008, -1/+20Alright, let me Google it real quick.
  • mrfreeziexp, on 01/03/2008, -35/+53Well, technically, the first virus, or computer bug, was a moth. So, if this guy can create a moth I'm pretty sure he can take down Google.
  • PanicAK, on 01/03/2008, -2/+19The problem with taking on Google, is that "Google" is a common household word now.
    For example, Band-Aid is a brand name. But every adhesive bandage on the face of the earth will always be referred to as a Band-Aid.
    Say it starts to take off, people will say, "what is this, another Google?"
  • WikiEasy, on 01/03/2008, -1/+17Remember, back in 2001, Google wasn't even on the radar yet. Nobody dared to think Yahoo would be toppled back then.

    It can happen, just that the odds are very slim. Slimmer when you think it'll be some poorly-named site named blekko.
  • inactive, on 01/03/2008, -4/+20"Creator of First Computer Virus..."

    ***** him.
  • mustang460, on 01/03/2008, -8/+23here is a video with Rich Skrenta about the virus he created
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU&feature ...
  • keyo, on 01/03/2008, -4/+17If Yahoo and Microsoft can't hurt them much then this guy is pushing ***** up hill.
  • has2k1, on 01/03/2008, -0/+11He has waited patiently for the mother of all tubes to reveal itself and now is the time to strike. I hope civilisation survives this looming great battle. I now head to my bunker.
  • Shorties, on 01/03/2008, -2/+12Wow that was really good, he seems like a pretty smart guy if anyone can do it this guy can...
  • humpy, on 01/03/2008, -1/+10That was the first time i got rick rolled on digg, nice assist Shorties.
  • flatlyimpressed, on 01/03/2008, -7/+16Google can't be stopped!
  • redfox2600, on 01/03/2008, -1/+10THEN LATER THE OTHER MAN LEAVES AFTER BEING DECLARED THE WINNER
  • Cint, on 01/03/2008, -2/+9I see what you did there
  • ChiTownsWarrior, on 01/03/2008, -0/+7I may have a problem saying Blekko it rather than Google it.
  • inactive, on 01/03/2008, -0/+7TWO MAN ENTER, ONE MAN LEAVE!
  • sinrtb, on 01/03/2008, -2/+8look up the "Elk Cloner" Virus before you pass judgment on him.
  • edwartica, on 01/03/2008, -2/+8I see what you did there.
  • epoint, on 01/03/2008, -4/+9If he hadn't done it, someone else would have.
  • CaptMonkey, on 01/03/2008, -0/+5Besides, that wasn't even the first computer bug. It was a joke because the engineers found a moth causing a problem and dubbed it the "First actual case of bug being found." The term "bug" to mean an engineering or hardware malfunction is much older.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_bug#Etymolog ...
  • LightSpeed4, on 01/03/2008, -3/+8stupid "web 2.0" name, destined for failure
  • bitORlogic, on 01/03/2008, -0/+5After defeating Google, Skrenta plans to compete with Microsoft on the desktop, win a land war in Asia, and suckerpunch Chuck Norris.
  • kkkkk, on 01/03/2008, -0/+5I beg to differ. Google is no longer just a company producing techology and services, it is a brand. The same goes with Apple. "What is this, another iPod?" If Blekko really takes off, it'll be geared towards the more technologically-inclined crowd first. Then as it builds up reputation, the rest of the world follows.

    Years ago people used to search with Yahoo and then it shifted towards Google simply because its better. Bleeko may be able to be excellent in search but there are other areas that Google is famous for these days!
  • inactive, on 01/03/2008, -2/+7And 10 years ago people said about Google "What is this, another Yahoo?" Trying to compare the fast changing tech world with things like Band Aids is silly.
  • fkr3, on 01/03/2008, -3/+7Google's not infallible. Most of their products barely exist outside of the blogosphere writing content for diggs.

    Their search is *only* good by comparison to the others, it's a long way from perfect and there is no shortage of spam and trash on it.
  • mCanada, on 01/03/2008, -2/+6You don't topple google by making another search engine. Google isn't kicking Microsoft's ass by making another OS. How would you beat facebook or myspace? Build another myspace / facebook? ATM I "Stumbleupon" more than I google, which isn't really searching so to speak. Don't re-invent the wheel, ride a five assed donkey that no one on the intertubes has seen before.
  • d03boy, on 01/03/2008, -3/+7*won't
  • styler5, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4Blekko? Perhaps a suitable name for the puppet, but a horrible sounding name otherwise.
  • aynrand22, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4He's full of it. Search sucked before Google. That's why Google got popular. It didn't suck. When everyone else was loading up their search page with 500KB of little boxes full of irrelevant crap, Google had a low bandwidth search with more relevant results.
  • TastyLamp, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4Dammit, Janet.
  • mojaam, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4Showdown going to take a while, they said we won't even see a prototype until maybe 2009. But I used and love topix, always recent, since Skrenta was co CEO of such a cool product like that, I think he they might be able to compete. Not a page rank guy myself.
  • fr34k5h0w, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4So press the green button on the right side of the comment box.
  • Giga, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4Yeah, Rick Rolls are pretty common now. I think, however, you intended to say "c'mon now".
  • theodenking, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4"Pagerank ruined the internet"? How?
    Not bashing, just curious.
  • ru7hl3ss, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4"Normally an entrepreneur announcing they’re taking on Google with a six person team and just $2 million in funding would either be laughed at or ignored."
    What about laughed at and then ignored?
  • WolfHook, on 01/03/2008, -0/+4I use Google simply because it is good at what it does but if there was a decent alternative I would take to it like a fish to water. I don't like the whole Google tracking search results and IP addresses etc. ask.com is no better either, all under the guise of "helping us to help you" *****.
    Give me a search engine that works and does not build a psychological profile of you as well and we are on to a winner!
  • strictnein, on 01/03/2008, -0/+3Oh God make those commercials for DirecTv stop. If anyone has seen those commercials and thought "Hey, I should upgrade to DirecTV!" they should be sterilized and then shot.
  • inactive, on 01/03/2008, -1/+4The upgrade deal in question came about after R&B star Beyonce offered her services to Google, in song form: "Lemme lemme upgrade ya, GRADE YA."
  • theOster, on 01/03/2008, -0/+3isn't googles huge infrastructure a major barrier to competition? i thought they had trillions of datacenters with trillions of computers with trillions of somethings in the something something sector...
  • edwartica, on 01/03/2008, -0/+3Well, they said the same thing about Microsoft ten years ago - so we'll see.
  • stockjones, on 01/03/2008, -0/+3Good lord you guys and your Good and Evil declarations with companies. Its hilarious.
  • willcoll, on 01/03/2008, -0/+3I'm sorry, but google's UI needs no improvements.
  • moletimer, on 01/03/2008, -0/+22 million dollars and so far all they have is a photo of a puppet. A good start on bringing down Google....

    Seriously though, I hope they succeed. Google is controlling the internet. The internet is turning into is a Google-controlled network. Google has a haunting, ubiquitous presence on the internet.

    I don't trust Google. Then again, can we trust a search engine where the creator invented the first computer virus? Despite my worries, I hope the Blekko search engine succeeds and will be an ally in challenging Google and its monopoly.
  • inactive, on 01/03/2008, -0/+2All the spam, blogspam, referrer spam, trackback spam. Everything to get a higher pagerank and more ad revenue.
    Just take a closer look at the Digg frontpage every now and then: The idea was to promote news etc. But people actually link to sites that link to sites that link to the actual news. See the usual engadget, gizmodo, torrentfreak, techcrunch, lifehacker stuff.
  • PerfectMac, on 01/03/2008, -0/+2competition is great, in any arena. whether they are successful or not, won't be much matter, it'll just ensure that all companies do their best, to serve the customer, us.
  • Crisender111, on 01/03/2008, -0/+2I am going to take on Google & I am the creator of the first computer program to add 2 numbers & display the result as a multiplication.
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