Search Engine Puts the Human Touch Back Into Internet

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Maholo.com Inc., a human-powered search engine, was launched last week with investors including CBS Corp., News Corp. and Sequoia Capital.


Behind the site are about 30 researchers called guides who vet the best Web sites on the Internet. They pick what they believe are the best sites from reputable sources and free of spam. The sites are grouped under a dozen headers, such as “News,” “Sports” and “Travel.”


For example, a user who wants to know more about Robert Zoellick, the new nominee to head the World Bank, could click on his name under “News” and find a list of sites about him.


Although the Web site is operating, the company, which is in a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in Santa Monica, is in its alpha stage at month five of a five-year project. It plans to expand with more guides and more pages.


“The goal of Maholo is one of service to the user,” said Jason Calacanis, founder of Maholo. “Everyone in the Internet business expects the users to do all the work, like social networks and social news sites. We want to do the work for the users and save them time.”


Calacanis previously headed Weblogs Inc., purchased by Time Warner Inc. He had served as chief executive of Silicon Alley Reporter and Venture Reporter, purchased by Dow Jones.


Jeremy Philips, News Corp.’s executive vice president and Maholo’s board member, put it plainly. “Human editing can improve search. The promise here is to aggregate that process at scale.”


Mahalo has already received two rounds of venture funding, but Calacanis declined to disclose the amount. Mahalo, which means “thank you” in Hawaiian, has about 4,000 results pages completed. The company plans to have another 10,000 completed by year end.



Hospital Translation

Olympia Medical Center, a 204-bed hospital in Los Angeles, is using a wireless interpretation technology in which an interpreter is beamed through a 19-inch television screen to a triage or an emergency room to translate for non-English speaking patients.


Language Access Network, based in Columbus, Ohio, offers real-time interpretation 24 hours a day through a two-way video and audio service for about $3 a minute. It serves about 20 hospitals across the country. Olympia, along with Corona Regional Medical Center, are the company’s first clients in southern California. The company also services 10 pharmacies including those in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and CVS stores.


Andrew Panos, president of Language Access Network, said hospitals are perhaps the most heavily affected sector as the nation experiences an average 20 percent growth in the non-English speaking population every year.


A language barrier “can slow down the medical process, since it takes time to get an interpreter to the scene,” Panos said. “And it can also put patients at risk if a doctor needs to order invasive testing and can’t communicate with the patient. With the live mobile wireless device, you push one button and a live person answers that call.”


With 65 people on staff, the network provides 150 languages through its audio and visual interpretation service.



J2 Going Global

J2 Global Communications Inc., which provides companies with fax, voicemail and e-mail services, will expand its voice service to eight European markets and Canada.


The L.A.-based company announced last week that it is now offering local telephone numbers to the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Finland, besides Canada. More than 45,000 paying voice service lines are already in place, according to the company’s news release.


The company is rolling out its signature products, Onebox Receptionist and eVoice receptionist, virtual phone systems that include automated menus, voicemail, faxing and conferencing for small businesses.



NanoH20 Funded

NanoH20 Inc., which cultivates technology for commercial water purification, got $5 million in venture funding from Khosla Ventures, a Menlo Park-based fund.


The company develops nanotechnology-enhanced membrane materials that desalinates sea water and purifies recycled water. The Santa Monica-based company spun out of University of California, Los Angeles in late 2005.


It is headed by Jeff Green, former founder of Archive Inc. and former vice president of marketing at Stamps.com. “Desalination remains an expensive alternative source of water because it is energy intensive,” said Green in a news release. “NanoH20’s next generation membranes are energy-efficient and fouling resistant, providing industrial users and a growing world population with affordable high-purity water from fresh, brackish and seawater sources.”



Staff reporter Booyeon Lee can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 230, or at [email protected]

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