Charles Knight. He’s unlikely to receive actually Knighthood. But he is on a quest. He’s trying to build awareness of alternative search engines at altsearchengines.com. Which is nice. Because we here at Twing have created an alternative search engine! Actually, we’re not just an alternative search engine, but we’re a vertical search engine. Just what does that mean?

From a marketing perspective, vertical can mean a lot of things. In our case, it means that we focus on a particular information type. Specifically, online communities/forums. A generally “alternative” search engine might try to be a full web search engine, however present things in ways much differently then the well known top five search engines. Such products may even use interfaces to the same data from these top search engines to present their results.

In any case, the values the alternates provide varies greatly. Some are really wonderfully excellent, (like Twing for instance!), others maybe not so good. But all are attempting to serve users more effectively than the majors. What we all face together are the classic issues facing any innovator; entrenched competition, customer habits and limited resources. What we have going for us is most often a better idea. But the world doesn’t necessarily beat a path to your door because you have a better mousetrap.

You Are a Search Innovator Yourself

If you’re reading this message, you’re among the innovators. Maybe you didn’t build a new search engine yourself, but you’re seeking new and better ways to find particular types of information. You’re what’s called an “early adopter.” And as such a person, you can help inform others. Tell them about Twing.com and other alternative engines. Help others to find new ways to seek out what they’re looking for. There’s nothing at all wrong with starting online searches with the major search engines. There probably is something wrong with just stopping with them. That wrongness is simply that you’re going to miss some things of value. So expand your reach a bit and try some of the alternative search services!

From our CEO, Val Zammit…

I wanted to share a Twing Experience.

Someone very close to me has been taking care of their aging Mother for a while. Recently their Mother’s health had declined. She is now experiencing a variety of issues and refusing to take her medicine. As you can imagine, this has created a significant amount of stress in the family.

Last night, I overheard my wife speaking to our friend about how difficult and depressing it has become taking care of her Mother. I decided to crank up Twing to read about aging parents i.e.other caring children that have the same challenges with their parents. I was amazed to find all of the discussions from ordinary people dealing with the same issue. I shared the Twing results with my wife and our friend. It was good for them pour through all the posts. They knew they were not alone and they came away with some great suggestions on how to deal with their mother and the stress they were feeling.

This experience turned out to be a perfect example on how valuable Twing could be in searching communities and forums. It is comforting for my wife and our friend to be in the company of people with similar interests and issues.

Val Zammit, CEO

When was the last time you let out your inner rock star? It used to be that there weren’t a lot of ways to do it. You could sing in the shower, grab a hairbrush microphone and serenade yourself in front of the mirror, or, for a more authentic exercise, you could take the stage at a neighborhood pub on karaoke night.

These days, however, any finished basement worth its suburban zip code has a karaoke machine, and reality television shows like American Idol put the possibility of stardom within the everyman’s grasp. And if you can’t sing for your supper (but wish you could)? There are plenty of non-singing alternatives. American Idol allows anyone who can dial a toll-free number to wear a record producer’s hat. And not just for singers, video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band are a favorite for wannabe drummers and strummers, too.

Of course, not everyone has an inner rock star. But everyone has someone deep inside them just waiting to be let out. Let these twing searches take you to forums that put you in the right frame of mind:

• Race car drivers

• Super heroes

• Pilots

• Artists

• Athletes

• Writers

• Dancers

Let’s play a quick game of word association: We say “Memorial Day,” you say…what do you say?

For most Americans Memorial Day means, first and foremost, the unofficial start of summer. It’s about parties, grilling, roadtripping, the running of the Indianapolis 500. It’s when pool clubs finally open, the school year winds to a close, and we can once again fashionably wear white.

But, of course, this United States federal holiday is more than  just an excuse for a long, relaxing weekend. The last Monday in May has been set aside to commemorate the many thousands of men and women who died in military service to their country. Memorial Day traditions include flying the American flag at half staff  from dawn until noon, and a national moment of remembrance that takes place at 3 p.m. Eastern time. War monuments and cemetaries experience an influx of visitors paying their respects, and at U.S. National Cemeteries (there are 39 across the country with the most famous in Arlington, Virginia just outside Washington,  DC), volunteers place an American flag beside each grave.

Whether your Memorial Day observance leans toward patriotism or pleasure (or both!), these twing search results can help you plan:

• Travel Forums
• Barbecuing and Grilling Forums
• Military Forums
• Veterans Forums
• American History Forum

This week’s news headlines make it hard to ignore the impact of Mother Nature. In China, an earthquake has claimed more than 8,000 lives and trapped 900 children inside their school. A tornado wiped out a 20-block area of Picher, Oklahoma and created environmental concerns so serious that rebuilding may not be an option. Meanwhile, the death toll in Myanmar (Burma) is still rising two weeks after a cyclone tore through.

How can you even begin to understand the science behind such natural disasters? A Twing search connecting you to meteorology forums is a great place to start.

You might argue, in fact, that all the most recent headlines focus on disasters of one sort or another — like the unending war in Iraq, the democratic party’s deepening Clinton v. Obama divide, or the autism epidemic and its devastating effect on so many children.

Whatever current affairs peak your interest, a simple Twing search can connect you to forums full of people exchanging ideas. Here are just a few topics to check out:

• Major league baseball
• Real estate
• Alternative energy sources
• Air travel