PubSub Sidebar Adds Real-Time Monitoring of Weblogs And Newsgroups To Popular Firefox Web Browser
NEW YORK, October 26, 2004 - Users of the popular open-source Web browser, Firefox, now have access to a free tool to help them stay up-to-the-second on new content of interest from over three million weblogs and over 50,000 newsgroups.
PubSub Concepts, Inc., the company behind the PubSub matching engine, have launched a version of The PubSub Sidebar for Firefox compatible with the Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. The PubSub Sidebar is a free tool that sits inside the Firefox web browser and instantly delivers the latest weblog and newsgroup posts that match the query terms (called "subscriptions") set up by the user.
"As the use of blogs and other forms of online communication explodes, staying on top of relevant new information as it's published is becoming more and more of a challenge," said Bob Wyman, PubSub chief technology officer and co-founder. "Through our Sidebar, PubSub pushes notifications of newly-published information into a user's Firefox browser the second that relevant update occurs. This enables unparalleled real-time monitoring of the blogosphere and other types of content."
"Matching" and Real-Time Alerting
The PubSub Internet-scale matching engine is a "prospective" search tool that complements traditional "retrospective" search engines. Extending traditional search engines - which search documents collected in the past - PubSub's matching engine essentially "searches the future" by continuously matching users' queries against newly published content, and then instantly notifying them whenever a precise match occurs.
This unique, real-time notification service is made possible by PubSub's proprietary matching engine which, each day, performs billions of matches of subscriber requests against newly-published items.
The PubSub Sidebar uses the XMPP/Jabber instant messaging protocol to instantly deliver these matching posts into the browser-based sidebar. This true real-time delivery eliminates the time-lag associated with other content delivery methods like email, ad hoc blog searches or even RSS-based news aggregation.
Each new post that appears in the PubSub Sidebar has a direct link back to the original site, along with a timestamp telling when it was created. The user simply clicks the link to navigate to the relevant page in a Firefox window.
The Firefox version of the Sidebar integrates seamlessly with Firefox's menus and toolbars to provide constant and real-time access to PubSub subscription results. The PubSub icon on the Firefox toolbar is coded to change color when new messages arrive - which lets users to stay on top of their subscriptions even without having the Sidebar open.
The PubSub Sidebar is quick and easy to both install and uninstall. "We've provided a sample account so users don't have to establish subscriptions on the PubSub site beforehand to try out the Sidebar. But for those who already have a free PubSub account, they simply enter their email address and password right in the Sidebar 'Options and Settings' menu to connect to their existing subscriptions," said Wyman.
Those interested in downloading the PubSub Sidebar for Firefox should visit www.pubsub.com/sidebar-firefox.php. The PubSub Sidebar has been tested with Firefox 0.9 - 1.0PR on Linux, Mac and Windows.
The Sidebar is still in its beta stage, so PubSub welcomes ideas from users on how to improve its features and functionality. Firefox users can contact PubSub with suggestions at feedback@pubsub.com. PubSub also welcomes the developer community to explore integrations with its service at pubsub.com/developers.
About the PubSub Service:
PubSub.com provides a free matching service that continuously reads over 3 million weblogs, over 50,000 newsgroups, all SEC Edgar Filings, press releases from major wire services and FAA airport delay information to instantly alert users whenever items of interest appear. This unique, real-time notification service is made possible by PubSub's proprietary "matching engine" which, each day, performs billions of matches of subscriber requests against newly-published items.
About PubSub Concepts, Inc.:
PubSub Concepts, Inc. is a New York-based company founded in 2002. The company develops Internet-scale Publish/Subscribe systems and plans a series of product releases to extend the search capabilities of its unique technology. Visit www.pubsub.com for more information.