Neural Search -- was compression

[markw at mohawksoft.com]

>An unrelated unsolved probblem: How would you build a  search  engine
>that could locate things like the above story?  It's not obvious what
>keywords one could use, so google et al aren't much help.   The  best
>idea  would probably be to use human intelligence, by asking in a sci
>fi newsgroup.

Several years ago I wrote a recommendations system. I still have the code
kicking around. It is based on weighted pairs of items, very much like a
neural network.

Lately, I have been thinking about creating a neural network search
engine. I used to work for FAST Search and Transfer and am more than
casually aquainted with the difficulties. I probably have 90% of the code
already, but chances are someone patented some stupid aspect of it and is
waiting to sue.

Yup, patents are good for innovation.