Spock emerges

Yes, I said Spock. No, not as in Star Trek.

I posted about Spock last year--they are a "people search" website that will allow users to search for, say, 'Engineer', and instead of getting links to Wikipedia or BLS, will get actual people that are Engineers. Spock has, according to its website, indexed over 100 million people.

What's the big deal? Well, imagine how powerful this could be for both recruiting AND assessment. Looking for a Unix developer in San Antonio, TX? Plug it in and see who comes up! Interested in hiring Sally Garcia but need more information about her? Plug in her name and see what comes up!

To address concerns about accuracy (see this series from George Lenard) Spock also incorporates the "wise crowd" idea, a la eBay or Wikipedia, to help ensure accuracy.

This has the potential to be a more objective, and much more comprehensive, version of MySpace or any other social networking site. More like a universal social catalog.

So what's new? A couple things. First, they gave a very well-received demo at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco this week. Second, they announced their invitation-only beta (more on that soon I hope).

So what's it look like? If you do nothing else, watch this screencast. There's so much here it's hard to put in a single post--widgets, search bars, the whole kit 'n caboodle. I guarantee it will raise your eyebrows.

How soon 'till its up and running? Two months, according to reports. Keep an eye on this one, folks!!