Using the Google Usenet Agent: Bill M.
I use Surf3D to find valuable old message posts in the new Google Usenet
archive database since I am teaching myself how to build guitars. I start by
entering in a few search terms into the Google Usenet search window. When
the search results come back, often thousands of hits long, I then start up
the Surf3D agent. It plows into all of them and grabs key sentence extracts
relating to a bunch of optional keywords I entered into different Surf3D
metric channels. I get to see all the posts at once in the 3D display with text
captions of the subject lines for each post. The point and click feature is neat
since I can click on the bigger spheres or taller bars and open the browser to
those posts to see if my search is on the right track. Now I can examine
thousands of posts and instantly sort them by my alternate keyword counts
for each subtopic, and without having to start over with a Google search
again or having to click through on every single Google hit. Google doesnt
provide much info for each hit. With Surf3D I was able to easily and quickly
collect useful tutorial information I needed on guitar making and acoustics, and
rank it according to my topic focuses of acoustics, instrument modifications,
and different types of instruments.
Using the eBay Agent: Scott M.
I just love to buy cool things on eBay, especially great deals on Folk Art when
they show up. I go to eBay and type in the search terms for Folk Art and usually
get back a huge results list. Then I have Surf3D get the search results URL from
my browser. Surf3D digs into hundreds and hundreds of individual auction pages
so I don't have to do all that click surfing. It collects some text descriptions from
each auction, downloads full size pictures of the art, the current bid price, if the
item has a reserve amount, and the number of bids on each item. What is
great is that this saves me many hours of time culling through all the auction
pages and produces a convenient and useful preview of each auction page,
I get to rank Surf3D auction item reports based on number of bids for
example (something eBay site tools do not provide). I get an all-in-one
combined report in my browser so I see things I am interested in a few
seconds from all of the auctions. The only problem with this is now Im buying
more stuff from eBay than I ever did before, since it takes so much less
time and effort to get many more choices. I used to get tired before I could
browse all the auction pages I might have wanted to see. If I see something I
want to bid on, I just click on the Surf3D report listing and it opens the browser
to that eBay auction page. This is a fantastic tool to find bargains on eBay.
Using the Patent Search Agent: Steve W.
Im an inventor. Once in a while I try to patent an idea or design. When Im
writing up my patent application, I go to the US Patent online database to look
for prior art, that is, existing patents that I might need to cite. The US
Patent search tools are very nice, but one thing they don't do is text extracts.
I use Surf3D to get those extracts so I can review lots of patents in short order
to see if they are relevant prior art. I just put my general keywords into the US
Patent search box, and I get about 300 to 400 patent hits. Then I click to start
my Surf3D Patent Agent. It goes through all the patents and get extracts that
contain the specific keywords Im looking for. In the past I would have to click on
and read through every single patent to see if its relevant. With Surf3D all I
have to do is open the report and I see dozens of patent hits at once with the
important stuff extracted out of the patents. I rule out the stuff thats
unimportant right away, and go on to read the whole patents that look most
relevant. This has already saved many days of reading for me, and has reduced my patent
search time by 80 percent. Thank you for makiing this tool.
