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War on the Web

War on the Web

Cool Web toys to entertain you on a Friday afternoon (or a Monday morning, or Sunday at noon, or whenever). The latest fun thing on the Internet seems to be scraping data for a head-to-head battle. Witness Google Fight, where you enter terms to see which appears most often (compare you and your friend, say, or Tom Cruise vs. Brooke Shields).

That's been making the rounds, but just today I encountered AIM Fight, which, social-networking style, tracks how many people you're connected to on AIM versus your buddies. Now, at least Google Fight might have some interesting social ramifications, but AIM Fight just reminds me that there are people out there using instant messengers that aren't interoperable. Seriously, folks. Get Trillian.