Improved AltaVista
. AltaVista, which has long been one of the best search tools on the Internet, has added some new technology to make it faster, better, easier and safer. What's new? Kurt Losert heads the Alta Vista division of Compaq Computer...
"What we've done to Alta Vista is add a number of new unique capabilities. First and foremost among them is the new ask AltaVista capability. So now users can type in a question to the AltaVista service in simple, plain English."
And what you get back are the most relevant answers. AltaVista isn't the first to do it, but it has now added a Family Filter as well to block offensive sites from being listed when you do a search...
"A user can just set it once and in the case of families, they can password protect the setting as well. So if the parent wants to set the AV family filter to be in place on any AltaVista searches off a particular machine, they set it once and they establish a password to make it difficult for children or other users in the household to basically remove the family filter."
There's also a new AltaVista Photo Finder to help you find images on the web. Want a sunset? Just ask for it.