PhJacquot
13th March 2007, 12:43 AM
Hello and First, congratulations for the tutorials, your work, and all your contributions. I'm Philippe from Paris - France. I'm very hhapy to announce the availability of Focus ( http://www.focus-search.eu ) : a unique Photography Search Engine.
Let me explain explain the reasons why I wrote this Search Engine and its main features :
As a Nature Photographer, I am, with no surprise, an assiduous reader of Outdoor Photographer, Nature’s Best, Wildlife Art... and several other magazines, and a bunch of Art and technical books and especially O’Reilly Books !
I keep all the issues of these magazines, ... and books,... For sure ! ... since they offer, to me, a frequent source of information, inspiration... Some kind of reference !! The only problem I had was to be able to retrieve easily an article I have read here and there on any topic. The only things I usually remember are some important words such as “Clipping Mask” or a brand as “Epson” or the name of a Photographer or a journalist ...
This is the reason why I wrote this Search Engine, or, more precisely, a Photography Dedicated Search Engine (... Nature Photography esp. ...) . At the very begining, the idea was to compile all these excellent articles . With time going by, I included some other “must have” books on Photoshop™ or Aperture™, Nature Photography then some well known Nature Photographers websites, the bests of them, Directories, tutorial sites, etc...
It’s very simple to use...
let us talk on the features :
As any other Search engine, You type one or some Keywords and the Engine returns relevant Articles. The idea is to build a Search Engine that retrieves books or magazines contents rather than just websites as does Google or such... ( -> they are much better than me ;-) ) Sure, its perimeter is limited to Photography !
I have written the code and fed the database during the last 5 weeks (January). The database counts more than 10 000 articles today. For sure, it will grow-up rapidly and it will become more and more accurate, pertinent, precise.
One of the strength of Focus (the Engine) is to be able to search for synonyms and US<->Fr Translations of keywords. Its synthax is also very powerful. May I give you some exemples :
A – Simple Searches and Thesaurus Searches...
1 – Search for “Alaska” : Simple... It retrieves articles about Alaska and Alaskan Photographers such as my excellent friend John Hyde or Kennan Ward and their Websites...
2 – But, actually, what you are looking for is a photographer who worked on the “Denali”... So, click on “Alaska : See Also...” (this enables the Thesaurus Search...)
Then, you will see a new result page with a list of Articles about Alaska (The same you had just before), but, in the header of the page, a list of keywords that are Parent/Children Words of “Alaska”. This specific list has been built manually to be sure it makes senses and is accurate. This is the reason why , in some cases, you will experiment “holes” in the thesaurus because the database is quite new and I’m still working on the hierarchies in the thesaurus.
But let’s go back to the “Denali”...
As you see, Focus has found X occurencies for the keyword “Denali”. Click on the link and it will drive you on a list of ±10 (...) articles relevant to “Denali”
---> This “Up and Down” browsing feature will be implemented on any keyword... By instance, you search for Lens, then focus will also propose : Fisheye – ultra wide-angle, wide-angle, zoom ... Etc / or you search for “Yosemite” , then click in the thesaurus Search part on “Yosemite : See Also...”, then Focus should present Parent/Child words for Yosemite as : Merced River, El Capitan, Sentinel Rock...
But let us go back to a Photoshop oriented search...
You want to find a way to change the color of an object... And... You are french ! So, you type : “Remplac Coul Obj” (be sure to have unchecked the “Accept Translations” box. This query means “Replace Color object” (or, more precisely, the first letters of each word). Focus will retrieve one article “Changer la couleur d’un objet” in a book of Scott Kelby published in French. By the way, please, notice that Focus has been able to assimilate the word “Remplacer” and its synonym “Changer”...
Now, if you go back to the home page, check the box “Accept Translations” and try the same search : “Remplac Coul Obj” . Now, you should have two results : one in french (the previous one) and one in an US publication from Julie King “Replacing the Color of An Object”. ...
If you click on the title of the Article you will be driven to a detailed page about this book and you will have the opportunity to buy it online @ Amazon. If you click on the little network icon on the left of the page, you will see a bunch of other books very “near” this one in terms of subject...
Focus implements a US<->FR Dictionary and synonyms. Thus, it enables searches in both languages.
B – Available Operators
Now, let us talk about the operators to query the database : (and this wil be a “Consumer Search...”)
1 - You are a photographer and you want to buy a bag to carry your gear. You want good stuff so you want or a LowePro or a Tamrac bag (sorry for the others... Just an example...) . But you are not decided if you want a backpack or a pouch. So you would like to browse your magazines to read articles on these items... Simply you enter this query : “ (LoweP Tamr) Bag (Backp Pouc) “
Let me explain.... : This “sentence” means any word begining with LoweP... OR any word begining with Tamr AND the word Bag AND any word begining with Backp OR any word begining with Pouc....
If you check the box “Accept Synonyms”, Focus will search synonyms of any word you typed and if you check “Accept Translations”, Focus will search in French magazines or books or websites if it retrieves the word “Sac”, “Sac-ŕ-dos”, “Fourre-Tout” etc etc...
In the result page, you will have to parts : The “Lexical Cloud” in blue and the results themselves in white.
About the “Lexical Cloud”, please, note the retrieved words for the first set of “OR Words” : Actually, Focus searched for LowePro – Tamrac and Tamron since it begin with “Tamr” - > Focus searches for truncations except if you type an hyphen after the exact word you search for ie : “photo-” (No translation – No Synonym)
Then , note that for the second set or “Or-Words”, Focus searched for Backpack – Backpacking – Rucksac – Sac-A-Dos (translation)...
For the Bag word, it searched different words in french and english with the same truncation or synonyms...
.... At the end of the day, it retrieved some articles about your exact query in Outdoor Photographer pages...
Try a search with “Bag” only... And See the “Bag : See Also...” link... Today, we have a very few occurencies but very quickly, it will rise in significant numbers...
Again, let us try a Photoshop oriented search... You are french and you want to know how to remove wrinkles or rings around the eyes on a portraiture. ( Rides and Cernes in french), you type “Supp (Ride Cerne)” ... Try it !
C – Thematic Search
1 – You want to retrieve websites or press magazine Articles on ILCP ..., just type “ILCP”.
Then, on the result page, click on “ILCP : See Also...”...
Then, click on Environment... -> When you see a “Web Sign” on the left of an article, clicking on it will drive you directly on the site...
Etc...
For sure, I preserve the copyrights for any article. The user is driven to the magazine site if he is interested, he can subscribe directly to the site or buy past issues if he wants - Or, in case of books, he is driven to Amazon where he can buy the book online. A popUp window (in rollover the book cover) proposes to buy the publication online. Sometimes, Articles are available online... (when a web sign appears in the list)
D – Technical Search
You want to retrieve technical information on sunrise or sunset lighting conditions. Just type “Sunrise Sunset”. As you will see, focus retrieves articles in french and US books. It searches for all synonyms such as “Crepuscule”, “Coucher de soleil”, “Dusk”, “Lever du Jour”, “Lever du Soleil”, “Sundown”, “Twilight”...
Try a search on “Magic Hours” “Stack” “Pick” “Exposure” then “Exposure : See Also...”
You search for video tutorials on Lightroom ? just type "LR"...
E – Conclusion
One more time, I would like to mention the Engine is at its very very begining... It’s not real size ! Everything has to be build now... The idea is just to let you know this tool can, perhaps..., make sense as a service for you : photographers.
Focus, because of the US/FR transparent dictionary and its powerful thesaurus could be an antenna for US Editors to be more present in Europe and France especially and be known by hundreds of photographers or simple users...
If you like it, talk about it with your partners : photographers, Journalists and let me know if you want to be “in the project”. I’m the only owner and developer of this tool, today. I think it can become a real professional unavoidable search tool for those who read books, magazines, want to be “in the loop”... You support and participation will be widely appreciated ...
Greetings from France !
Let me explain explain the reasons why I wrote this Search Engine and its main features :
As a Nature Photographer, I am, with no surprise, an assiduous reader of Outdoor Photographer, Nature’s Best, Wildlife Art... and several other magazines, and a bunch of Art and technical books and especially O’Reilly Books !
I keep all the issues of these magazines, ... and books,... For sure ! ... since they offer, to me, a frequent source of information, inspiration... Some kind of reference !! The only problem I had was to be able to retrieve easily an article I have read here and there on any topic. The only things I usually remember are some important words such as “Clipping Mask” or a brand as “Epson” or the name of a Photographer or a journalist ...
This is the reason why I wrote this Search Engine, or, more precisely, a Photography Dedicated Search Engine (... Nature Photography esp. ...) . At the very begining, the idea was to compile all these excellent articles . With time going by, I included some other “must have” books on Photoshop™ or Aperture™, Nature Photography then some well known Nature Photographers websites, the bests of them, Directories, tutorial sites, etc...
It’s very simple to use...
let us talk on the features :
As any other Search engine, You type one or some Keywords and the Engine returns relevant Articles. The idea is to build a Search Engine that retrieves books or magazines contents rather than just websites as does Google or such... ( -> they are much better than me ;-) ) Sure, its perimeter is limited to Photography !
I have written the code and fed the database during the last 5 weeks (January). The database counts more than 10 000 articles today. For sure, it will grow-up rapidly and it will become more and more accurate, pertinent, precise.
One of the strength of Focus (the Engine) is to be able to search for synonyms and US<->Fr Translations of keywords. Its synthax is also very powerful. May I give you some exemples :
A – Simple Searches and Thesaurus Searches...
1 – Search for “Alaska” : Simple... It retrieves articles about Alaska and Alaskan Photographers such as my excellent friend John Hyde or Kennan Ward and their Websites...
2 – But, actually, what you are looking for is a photographer who worked on the “Denali”... So, click on “Alaska : See Also...” (this enables the Thesaurus Search...)
Then, you will see a new result page with a list of Articles about Alaska (The same you had just before), but, in the header of the page, a list of keywords that are Parent/Children Words of “Alaska”. This specific list has been built manually to be sure it makes senses and is accurate. This is the reason why , in some cases, you will experiment “holes” in the thesaurus because the database is quite new and I’m still working on the hierarchies in the thesaurus.
But let’s go back to the “Denali”...
As you see, Focus has found X occurencies for the keyword “Denali”. Click on the link and it will drive you on a list of ±10 (...) articles relevant to “Denali”
---> This “Up and Down” browsing feature will be implemented on any keyword... By instance, you search for Lens, then focus will also propose : Fisheye – ultra wide-angle, wide-angle, zoom ... Etc / or you search for “Yosemite” , then click in the thesaurus Search part on “Yosemite : See Also...”, then Focus should present Parent/Child words for Yosemite as : Merced River, El Capitan, Sentinel Rock...
But let us go back to a Photoshop oriented search...
You want to find a way to change the color of an object... And... You are french ! So, you type : “Remplac Coul Obj” (be sure to have unchecked the “Accept Translations” box. This query means “Replace Color object” (or, more precisely, the first letters of each word). Focus will retrieve one article “Changer la couleur d’un objet” in a book of Scott Kelby published in French. By the way, please, notice that Focus has been able to assimilate the word “Remplacer” and its synonym “Changer”...
Now, if you go back to the home page, check the box “Accept Translations” and try the same search : “Remplac Coul Obj” . Now, you should have two results : one in french (the previous one) and one in an US publication from Julie King “Replacing the Color of An Object”. ...
If you click on the title of the Article you will be driven to a detailed page about this book and you will have the opportunity to buy it online @ Amazon. If you click on the little network icon on the left of the page, you will see a bunch of other books very “near” this one in terms of subject...
Focus implements a US<->FR Dictionary and synonyms. Thus, it enables searches in both languages.
B – Available Operators
Now, let us talk about the operators to query the database : (and this wil be a “Consumer Search...”)
1 - You are a photographer and you want to buy a bag to carry your gear. You want good stuff so you want or a LowePro or a Tamrac bag (sorry for the others... Just an example...) . But you are not decided if you want a backpack or a pouch. So you would like to browse your magazines to read articles on these items... Simply you enter this query : “ (LoweP Tamr) Bag (Backp Pouc) “
Let me explain.... : This “sentence” means any word begining with LoweP... OR any word begining with Tamr AND the word Bag AND any word begining with Backp OR any word begining with Pouc....
If you check the box “Accept Synonyms”, Focus will search synonyms of any word you typed and if you check “Accept Translations”, Focus will search in French magazines or books or websites if it retrieves the word “Sac”, “Sac-ŕ-dos”, “Fourre-Tout” etc etc...
In the result page, you will have to parts : The “Lexical Cloud” in blue and the results themselves in white.
About the “Lexical Cloud”, please, note the retrieved words for the first set of “OR Words” : Actually, Focus searched for LowePro – Tamrac and Tamron since it begin with “Tamr” - > Focus searches for truncations except if you type an hyphen after the exact word you search for ie : “photo-” (No translation – No Synonym)
Then , note that for the second set or “Or-Words”, Focus searched for Backpack – Backpacking – Rucksac – Sac-A-Dos (translation)...
For the Bag word, it searched different words in french and english with the same truncation or synonyms...
.... At the end of the day, it retrieved some articles about your exact query in Outdoor Photographer pages...
Try a search with “Bag” only... And See the “Bag : See Also...” link... Today, we have a very few occurencies but very quickly, it will rise in significant numbers...
Again, let us try a Photoshop oriented search... You are french and you want to know how to remove wrinkles or rings around the eyes on a portraiture. ( Rides and Cernes in french), you type “Supp (Ride Cerne)” ... Try it !
C – Thematic Search
1 – You want to retrieve websites or press magazine Articles on ILCP ..., just type “ILCP”.
Then, on the result page, click on “ILCP : See Also...”...
Then, click on Environment... -> When you see a “Web Sign” on the left of an article, clicking on it will drive you directly on the site...
Etc...
For sure, I preserve the copyrights for any article. The user is driven to the magazine site if he is interested, he can subscribe directly to the site or buy past issues if he wants - Or, in case of books, he is driven to Amazon where he can buy the book online. A popUp window (in rollover the book cover) proposes to buy the publication online. Sometimes, Articles are available online... (when a web sign appears in the list)
D – Technical Search
You want to retrieve technical information on sunrise or sunset lighting conditions. Just type “Sunrise Sunset”. As you will see, focus retrieves articles in french and US books. It searches for all synonyms such as “Crepuscule”, “Coucher de soleil”, “Dusk”, “Lever du Jour”, “Lever du Soleil”, “Sundown”, “Twilight”...
Try a search on “Magic Hours” “Stack” “Pick” “Exposure” then “Exposure : See Also...”
You search for video tutorials on Lightroom ? just type "LR"...
E – Conclusion
One more time, I would like to mention the Engine is at its very very begining... It’s not real size ! Everything has to be build now... The idea is just to let you know this tool can, perhaps..., make sense as a service for you : photographers.
Focus, because of the US/FR transparent dictionary and its powerful thesaurus could be an antenna for US Editors to be more present in Europe and France especially and be known by hundreds of photographers or simple users...
If you like it, talk about it with your partners : photographers, Journalists and let me know if you want to be “in the project”. I’m the only owner and developer of this tool, today. I think it can become a real professional unavoidable search tool for those who read books, magazines, want to be “in the loop”... You support and participation will be widely appreciated ...
Greetings from France !