Cycle of Search Gets a Makeover

We've recently updated the Cycle of Search image to reflect the 4000+ online search engines and specialist databases that you can blaze trails on. You can see a subset in the image below:

Since launching the ‘add an engine’ feature in 2006, we've had a lot of new additions by users.

If you are using an engine or database we don’t already recognise, feel free to add it here.

Give Me Space!!

We need to smooth the Cycle of Search so you can just search your favourite engines without even thinking about Trexy.

Sometimes when you're searching you may want to temporarily turn trailblazing off. You can do this easily by selecting an option in the TrailBar or TrailButton. But this still requires moving the mouse and can take a little time.

In the next version of Trexy you can turn trailblazing off for a given search by placing a leading space in the query: "my search terms" will be recorded but " my search terms" will not (did you see the leading space character?). This is the simplest and quickest way for you to toggle trailblazing off temporarily and should work across our database of 4,000+ engines.

Blazing Trails on Ebay

The next version of Trexy will show live trails. It's fascinating to see what people are really searching for and all the different engines people use. Here's a trailblazer in search of a "red male thong" on Ebay.

Watch out for those stamp collectors! ;-)

New Version of Trexy

I'm conscious that it's often not the innovator but the imitator that finds success with new technology. The Microsoft mantra, "embrace and extend" sums up this strategy.

But we can't be too preoccupied with imitators - we're still too busy innovating. So much so I'm announcing that we are permanently in beta mode.

We are really looking forward to bringing out the next version of Trexy. Over the past year I've really synthesised exactly what Trexy needs to do.

Making the "Cycle of Search" as fast and smooth as possible is still our main aim. Many things have just fallen into place for the next version - meta trails, and trail intersections are the two most important.

We hope you like the next version! Over the coming weeks you will see lots of changes at Trexy.com.

If you would like to try out special pre-release versions please email: nigel@trexy.com.

Romanian cracker in Retreat

So our regular visits from the Romanian cracker have ended but it has cost us time, money, stress and a lot of hassle to repair our cluster.

We've learnt lots but I'd rather be working on the new version of Trexy.

A Love Affair With Social Search

Valentine's Day was the perfect opportunity for Nigel to reveal his love affair with social search at the Search Engine Strategies conference yesterday.

Alongside, Eurekster, Yahoo! and Chris Sherman, Nigel spoke about the ideas that have lead to the creation of Trexy and how Trexy aims to harness the collective searching effort by creating and following the trails of other searchers.

An audience member summed it up well in his article: SES London: Social Search Overview.

Where's Rena?

Friday was Rena’s last day in the office :-(

Rena was Turbo10 and Trexy’s very first full time consultant - it feels like just yesterday when she first started.

We had a farewell party for her on Friday afternoon, starting with lunch at The Mayflower Pub followed by drinks in the City. We had to take one last photo - from left to right: Rena, Sven, Jennifer, Anna, Megan and Nigel.


This morning it all feels a bit unusual – we still expect her to walk through the door at any moment...

We wish Rena all of the best for her career in marketing and we hope she’ll have a great time in Melbourne, Australia.

London SES - Social Search

I'm looking forward to talking about "Social Search" at the London Search Engine Strategies Conference this week. The idea of "Social Search" is now well and truly here and is gaining momentum.

I had hoped to release the next version of Trexy by now but thanks to our visitors from Romania et al. we are not quite there yet. Nonetheless we are close to our next big release and I'm looking forward to lots of incremental releases thereafter.

Getting To Know You

The Flag and Bell introduced a new networking game last night.

The 'getting to know you' activity was a lot of fun and was a good ice breaker.

The game revealed that some of the FAB members have some crazy tales to tell.

Looking forward to seeing you all next month.

Speaking Against the Clock

We exhibited at the Network of Government Library and Information Specialists (NGLIS) conference near Tower Bridge in London yesterday.


I had a chance to speak at the Exhibitor Roadshow – all exhibitors had 3 minutes to talk before the whistle went.

Everything was going really well, but just as I got to the point of what Trexy actually does, I got whistled off – bugger!

Nevertheless, we got the attention of the attendees and some of them came to introduce themselves afterwards. We also had a few people saying they have heard about Trexy before – looks like the word is getting out!