This week let’s look at a web site that allows the user to act like Google: Botspot.com. Google, and other search engines, use bots that scour the 5 billion web sites that make up the World Wide Web (that’s different from the internet). Those bots read various websites and categorize them according to various algorithms. While botspot.com doesn’t let individual users search and rank all 5 billion web sites for the world to see, it does allow users to search through various web site and their computer in much the same way that search engines’ bots do.
Botspot.com features various bots for Macs and PCs, of which some are freeware and some are not. Personally, right now, I am a Mac man; though, I switch back and forth, depending on my current needs and whoever has the cooler commericals. For Mac, there are bots in eight categories: Artificial Life bots, Download bots, Search bots, surf bots, Web development bots, File Sharing bots, shopping bots, tracking bots, and there is even a category for users to design their own bots. There are 27 bots in those eight categories, and three design a bots.
Among my favorites are Htmlsearch Lite 3.1, which allows users to search the internet, an intranet, their computer, or a CD ROM. There is also Glooton, which allows users to query several search engines at once. Since Firefox has an app that can do that, I don’t think it’s worth it. For those of us who are aware of the filesharing program LimeWire that is featured under File Sharing Bots. LimeWire allows users to interface and share files with anyone else using a Gnutella file-sharing program. Though, as a social marketer, I am going to have to give my kudos to Hotline Connet 1.9.1, which allows users to enjoy a more interactive way of sharing files through social media. There are several other bots for Mac users; though, those are a few that stood out to me.
For those who work on PCs, or run windows on their Macs, there are more bots than I have time to count. Those bots can be found in eight categories subcategorized into 35 sucategories. Among a few I randomly picked, Genealogy Detective helps users search their family history, as well as it allows users to create a family website and host it for free. Visual Web Task allows the user to search through websites by parsing HTML tags and searching the most relevant data and files. Offline-Commander searches in a similar way, but it consists of a few more features that also help users protect their computers.
Since I had to undergo several months of therapy (not really) due to that infamous purple ape BonziBuddy (Whoever came up with him will probably revolutionize social networking 20 years from now), I am not going to suggest a virtual assistant who helps you keep your schedule or strips for you because she’s bored. I am going to suggest Talking Translator Pro , which translates content and finds definitions of words. While there are several more bots available for PC than Mac, the reality is Macs come equipped with many of those bots on their iMacs, so all of those extra-apps (That’s really all the bots are) are not necessary (Steve, can I get a free MacBook Air since I gave you some free advertising).
Among other features on Botspot.com, there are some books you can buy. Honestly, they’re just links to Amazon, so nothing to get excited about. For those who want to keep an eye on what Botspot.com’s up to, they do have a newsletter, and many of their editions are archived.
Botspot.com is a great site that allows computer users and internet surfers to take back control of their computers, thus making it more user friendly. So whether you’re a slightly jean wearing, geeky guy who once appeared on a show about a small town lawyer who owned a bowling alley or you’re a nerdy business man who still thinks sweater vests will make a come back, Botspot.com has a bot for you.
Botspot.com is one of the many websites featured on my custom made search engine, along with various other sites I’ll tell you more about in the following weeks. So, come back and learn about some other great websites in the weeks and months to come. And be sure to connect with my on Facebook and Twitter.
Filed under: Apps, Apple, Apps, BonziBuddy, botspot.com, computer, freeware, HTML, iMac, interactive, internet, LimeWire, Mac, PC, seobridges, social marketing, Steve Case, user friendly, virtual assistant
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