Software to Look for Experts Among Your Friends - New York Times

Software to Look for Experts Among Your Friends - New York Times: "Tacit plans to start testing the service, called Illumio, next month. The service allows the user to mine the data on the computers of friends, business associates and others with shared interests on any subjects.
However, Illumio is not a search engine, like Google or Yahoo. The system works by transparently distributing a request for information on questions like 'Who knows John Smith?' and 'Are Nikon digital cameras better than Olympus?' to the computers in a network of users. The questions can then be answered locally based on a novel reverse auction system that Illumio uses to determine who the experts are."