Google was quietly launched with lots of support from the Linux community, which knew from the start that the plain-faced new search engine was running on a large pile of Linux boxes.

Now that Google is the 10,000-box gorilla, it's time to turn our attention to a new underdog -- or, in this case, undergenie. This one's name is KartOO <http://kartoo.com/> and it comes from Areste Informatique.

Like Google, KartOO runs on Linux, but that's where the resemblance ends. KartOO is a meta-search engine that compiles results from a long list of search engines (including Google -- you can turn on or off any you like), and delivers results in graphical form. Sites are 3D buttons of various sizes, each with labels. Thee are connected to other sites by curved lines that loop through various categorical nouns, each matching a roster of the same items on the left, flanked by + and - signs that allow the user to include or exclude the nouns in subsequent searches. There's much more -- too much to detail here.

It's all quite pretty and fancy, not to mention useful and addictive. Check it out.

- Doc Searls

[Note: the engine's search results would make a fun visual, iif there's a way to make them sufficiently hi-resolution. Ask Lydia if she can find a way.]