Interview - Vladimir Chernyshov, technical director of the intellectual search system Nigma.RF. Nigma.RF (Nigma) - intelligent search engine
The Russian intelligent search engine, known as Nigma, originally had a name written in Latin, namely Nigma. After Cyrillic domains were introduced a few years ago, the search system changed its name. Now it is called Nigma.rf. However, the site is also still available at Nigma.ru.
Unlike most of the most popular search engines, such as Google, Yandex, Bing or Yahoo, Nygma is not as popular among users. However, it is truly worthy of your attention due to some unique features. Quite a bit of money, but a lot of effort, was invested in the development. The creators have firmly established Nigma's position as a Runet search engine. Currently, attempts are even being made to enter the Southeast Asian market.
What is the principle of Nygma's work?
Many people call Nigma just a specific add-on over other search engines that have their own robots that index the Network in search of sites. But, in addition to their own index database, the creators also use other people’s databases located in free access. Nygma's share in the total data flow is not known for certain. The system is maintained by only a few dozen people, and probably not too much money is invested in indexing the Runet.
The main idea is to sort the results into categories. This process is otherwise called clustering. Its essence is to issue, upon request, the maximum number of documents corresponding to it. At the same time, headings and snippets, that is, small descriptions, are provided along with links. In this, Nigma differs from other search engines that find a huge number of files.
Google, Yandex and others are not always able to accurately determine what exactly the user wants to see on the first pages search results. In the vast majority of cases, multitasking plays a role. Various developers decide this problem differently. As for the creators of Nygma, they offer us special filters that can highlight certain clusters. In addition, filters can also remove these clusters.
If you open the Nigma search engine, you can see the filters on the left. Select the required clusters by placing a cross or a tick in front of them. A cross excludes a parameter from the search, while a tick does the opposite. This allows you to identify what is required in half a minute, thus getting rid of the gigantic display of unnecessary sites. This is how we increase relevance to our own needs.
History of the development of the Nigma search engine
Initially, the system, first launched about eleven years ago, had a fairly simple interface. But it was at that moment that the time to launch Nygma on the market was lost. Even then, the rapid development of other search engines was taking place, which lasted ten years. Yandex was then actively conquering its financial niche, and Google continued to conquer the Runet itself.
But, having appeared, Nigma had a number of advantages over the same Google, which at that time did not seriously take into account the morphology of the Russian language. Thus, it was quite possible to receive your “profit” from the search engine’s database. Google quickly corrected its own shortcomings, eliminating a small competitor from its path.
Nygma developers had to create new “features” of their system. And ultimately, the main ones were the ability to use broader hints, highlighting official online resources and identifying them. It was also possible to install special settings issuance. These settings are called "Math and Chemistry". The system allows you to search separately for torrent files or music tracks.
Perhaps the ability to search for files and compositions is the most important difference from other search engines. The latter try to stay as far as possible from anything related to copyright.
Latest updates
Four years after launch, the interface changed. At the same time, it became possible to search in Nigma by books in online libraries and by images from other search engines. The fact that the development was carried out by people directly associated with the Moscow state university, became the reason for the emergence of the “Mathematics and Chemistry” tool, which greatly facilitated the study of many students and schoolchildren.
The essence of this great feature is that address bar you can set a specific Mathematical equation or expression. The same applies to chemical formulas. As a result, we receive not only an answer, but also a solution, not only in digital, but also in literal meaning. If there are problems with typing special characters, such as “x”, “y”, “logarithms” and so on, then you can simply enter a line in Russian, Nigma-mathematics will translate it into classical form.
Nygma-chemistry allows the system to be used even by those who have already forgotten what this item is. It is also possible to enter queries in text, and the system will translate. You can refer not only to sections of inorganic chemistry, but also organic.
As for the Nygma music section, here you can listen to the selected composition using the player built into the search engine, and even download it.
The subject of today's article will be Nigma - an intelligent search engine that stands out among all competitors unusual system search, allowing you to quickly find what you need and sift out the slag.
When discussing search engines in the community of webmasters and optimizers, it is customary to mention Yandex and Google, everything else remains outside the brackets, sometimes they remember mail.ru, but there is no talk of nigma.ru at all.
The question is - why? It's all about traffic. Website owners are interested in traffic from visitors, and Nigma’s share in the RuNet is negligible. Unpopular search engines are of no interest - too few people use them to spend attention and time.
Meanwhile, for simple user networks, the Nigma search engine is much more interesting than its famous competitors.
Intelligent search system
The uniqueness of Nigma.rf (or Nigma Ru) lies not in secret algorithms for ranking web pages, but in the ability to collect, sort and process information in such a way that only the necessary answers appear on the screen and the user does not have to go through site after site, bumping into different GS and non-thematic resources.
It is very convenient, easy to use, and friendly even for non-technical people.
There are special modules that are responsible for non-standard types of information, for example, searching for torrents or solving mathematical problems - I will talk about them in more detail below.
There is a logical filtering of requests, in which only the category of responses that relates to the topic is selected. For example, many phrases have double, triple or more meanings. A regular search will show everything mixed up, but Nigma will recognize your area of interest and delete it.
Significantly enhances search functions the fact that Nigma takes into account search results from other search engines and can compare and combine them, which allows for better results.
Let's talk about all the functions in more detail.
Normal – Unusual search Nygma
It was mentioned above that the search results, among other things, use the data of others, which makes it better and more complete, but this is far from the most interesting element.
Search query syntax – no need to know!
Unlike other search engines, Nigma does not require knowledge of syntax search queries(all kinds of +, quotes, exclamation marks And so on). Most users don't know how to find exact phrases or exclude words using special characters, so it does not apply them when entering key queries.
Here everything is implemented more simply. We click above the search bar “Advanced Search” and in human understandable form set detailed search conditions.
Do you want to exclude unnecessary words– write them in the “without words” field. Let’s say when searching for information about lions, using the query “Lion”, you can exclude the word “Tolstoy” and pages about the great writer will not bother you.
Need exact phrase– there is a special field for it. Searching for a specific site is not a problem.
As a hint, here is an example of what syntax would have to be typed manually if there were no ready-made fields.
You can immediately set the search region, the search engines used, the language, the preferred sorting by date, and several more functions that pre-clarify the search results - and all this without any special knowledge.
Query filtering (clustering)
After you have received the results for your request, Nigma.ru gives you the opportunity to filter them in order to remove deliberately unnecessary trash and save the user’s precious time viewing inappropriate pages.
To do this, a list of categories that appear most frequently in the results appears to the left of the search results. Returning to the example with Leo, we see that many sites relate to astrology, but we need animals - we put crosses in front of the horoscope. Clicking the cross again sets a check mark - a required word.
In this way, from the whole variety of pages using a filter, I left only sites about lions of animals and the king of beasts.
Search tips
Unlike competitors, by entering a query in the search bar you don’t even have to go to the results, since search tips automatically provide information on the entered word from Wikipedia.
This is convenient if you come across an unfamiliar term - enter it into the search bar, hover over the hint, and read the answer. There is no need to press Enter.
Isolation of official sites
Nigma’s user-friendly search element is the highlighting of official sites, which is added to the search results special icon. With it you can quickly find the right organization among mountains of network garbage. This feature helps protect the Internet from scammers, since they will not be able to pass off their website as an official one.
File search (music, books, torrent)
Searching the Internet does not always mean searching for sites with information; often users want to download something - books, music, torrent files with films or programs.
In most cases, turning to Google or Yandex for such data turns life into hell, since the search results show everything, but not the places where something can be downloaded.
The Nigma search system uses special modules for these tasks that work specifically for file searches. Music and books are placed in special tabs.
Book search initially selects sites where you can download literature. A music search provides links to ready-made tracks, which means you can listen to them directly in your browser or download them to your computer. By the way, registered users can independently add audio files to the system.
Torrent trackers in separate tab not taken out. To search for them, Nigma.rf requires entering in the search bar additional word– “torrent” or “torrent”. All found torrents with this name will be placed in a table indicating the number of uploading and downloading users.
Nigma - mathematics
This is the module for which Nygma is so loved by students and schoolchildren (and will be loved by those who read the article for the first time).
Nigma actually solves problems in mathematics - equations and examples of varying complexity, including logarithms and complex numbers. It’s difficult to call this function a search, since answers are not searched, but counted, but the feature is really cool and unusual.
Moreover, not only the results of the solution are displayed, but also their progress in various ways.
(Click the picture to enlarge)
Not only numeric data input, but also words are accepted for processing. You can write an equation in Russian without numbers and the system will still calculate it (even certain mistakes in words are allowed).
I hope that these opportunities will not reduce the level of education in our country and students will use it only for testing.
Nigma - chemistry
Chemistry is not a separate section, but it works by analogy with Nygma-mathematics. In the search bar, enter substances in words or letters, and the search engine will show all possible chemical reactions between them, supporting the formulas with hints and comments.
Chemistry at school was easy for me, but I know that for many classmates it was such a dark forest that Nygma Chemistry could be the only way out of it.
Online unit and currency converter
Another feature is the ability to convert various quantities into other units. You can ask to translate the units of measurement of information, for example, by asking the question “how many MB are in 4 GB” we will get the following answer:
Currency conversion possible different countries at the current rate. The system even accepts some common names. It is enough to ask a question in human language and you will find out “how many bunnies are in 5 wooden bunnies”:
When you communicate with Nigma more closely, you begin to believe that artificial intelligence is already a reality.
Nigma for webmasters - site search
Despite the fact that the greatest interest (in this moment) the intelligent search engine provides users with benefits, but it also has benefits for webmasters.
We are talking about searching the site. If you read my article on how to do a Yandex site search (), then you understand what I’m talking about. If not, then I’ll briefly explain.
We get 2 codes:
- We paste the frame code with search results onto the created page;
- We paste the search form code into the place on the site where we want to see a line for entering queries.
Search system Nigma is very easy to use. This system is especially convenient for schoolchildren and students, because there you can find answers to the school curriculum and more. The fact that at the moment there are slight difficulties with entering this program can be explained quite simply. The school year has begun, date active users has increased, so the system can’t cope. Just try to come back later, I'm sure everything will work out.
The intelligent search system Nigma collects information from various search engines; it is convenient for schoolchildren and students, because it can find answers to almost all educational questions. And therefore, when the influx of students increased, the search system could no longer cope and began to malfunction. In addition, dramatic changes are about to occur in the system, and therefore it will periodically fail to work.
Why doesn't Nigma 2017 work? What happened to the nigma ru search engine
It is quite possible that the developers of this search engine are simply finalizing it. After all, just recently, in mid-September, there was information that
Such changes do not pass painlessly in 90 cases out of a hundred. Therefore, you need to be patient and wait a little until the developers polish this search engine to shine.
The name change is written on the 3Dnews website. This site has been on the Internet for 20 years and there is no reason not to believe its information.
Indeed, many users noted that in September the search engine stopped working. The search engine itself is not entirely in demand, but still some people use it, since the information here is well sorted and the search engine provides everything you need. There is no explanation about this on the Internet.
On transition it says:
IP address 141.8.142.95 (from which you accessed the Internet), access to Nigma.ru services is temporarily blocked. We apologize for the temporary inconvenience.
So most likely the server is overloaded due to a large influx of users, especially students, or a system failure. Maybe after a while everything will work.
unlike other search engines, this system made it possible to find exactly what you needed, bypassing various Internet junk. Thus, there was no need to look for information by climbing all the sites. For pupils and students this was generally a godsend. But not long ago, access to the Nygma website was closed.
I think it’s all due to the large influx of users and the server simply can’t cope.
(12th of April). It is unknown whether the choice of such a date was accidental or intentional, but this once again emphasizes the scientific orientation of the search system. For reference, it is worth noting that nygma are spiders of the Dictunidae family, colored greenish, no more than three millimeters long.
System Features
The founder of the project was the former vice-president of the famous company Mail.ru Viktor Lavrenko. A Moscow State University student helped him from the very beginning in creating Nigma. Today the project employs about 15 people.
The Nigma search engine is a kind of laboratory for research. It will be useful to students and with its help they are already defending diplomas and dissertations today. At the same time, like all Internet search engines, Nigma also has a commercial component. For example, search engine results pages contain advertising from Yandex. But the creator of the project still notes that commercial gain was not the main goal of creating this system. The most important thing is efficient search necessary information based on document clustering. Search results are grouped by thematic sites. To do this, the Nigma search system combines all the results obtained from different search engines, using user queries and counters to sort them. For example, the site makes it possible to filter topics that users do not need, which greatly simplifies the search for useful information.
For whom was the Nigma search system created?
Basic user search engine are students. Among other RuNet users, the popularity of the system is at a fairly low level. Of course, the creators of Nigma are interested in promoting their search engine. For this purpose, various events have been and are being carried out. For about a year, Nigma placed its advertisements on Yandex; advertising campaigns on the radio, promotions for particularly active users.
Users can leave feedback on the system's performance or complain about search results using special form. In addition, surveys are conducted to develop new algorithms and services, functions, including not only search. Systems, for example, correct errors in requests themselves. We can only hope that the creators of Nigma will continue to take into account user opinions in the future.
Index and documentary base
The Nigma search engine produces results using the database of several machines at once - Rambler, Altavista, Aport, Google, Yahoo, MSN and Yandex. In addition, our own documentary database has been created. In the search results, at the user's request, documents are generated, grouped by topic. This allows you to expand your search conditions by unchecking certain descriptions.
Programmers of the Nigma search engine are developing in an effort to move one more step in creating artificial intelligence. Their main task is to create software for solving intellectual problems. In the future, the developed technologies can be used in other areas of human activity.
Kuznetsov Vladimir Georgievich, associate professor of the Department of TiMEMO and ICT, OGBU DPO "RIRO"Nygma- Russian intelligent metasearch system, the first clustering search engine in Runet. The project was created with the support of the departments of computer science and psychology of Moscow State University, as well as Stanford University (USA). The name "Nigma" (one of the genus of spiders of the family Dictynidae, en:Nigma) was chosen by association with World Wide Web. The founders of the project are Viktor Lavrenko and Vladimir Chernyshov. The head of the Nigma.RF development team is Vladislav Kuznetsov.
At the top of the Nygma start window there is a menu bar for accessing all popular services.
This eliminates the need to open new windows or tabs to access these services, or enter special addresses. You just need to click on the name in this menu the required service And social network or mail or TV programs, or news will open next to Nygma.
So, for example, using the “TV program” menu commands, you can view the TV program for the current day or some other day of the week, indicating the viewing time (now, morning, afternoon, evening).
If we select the “maps.yandex.ru” command in the “Maps” menu, and in the window that opens, select the “Ryazan View on panorama” option, you can take a virtual walk around Ryazan.
Nygma's control elements
The Nigma search engine window itself consists of 6 tabs: “Internet”, “Pictures”, “Books”, “Music”, “Mathematics”, “Mini-games”, a special field for entering a query with a button for initializing information search for the entered query , and a number of other control elements. By default, the "Internet" tab is selected in the search engine window.
To switch to another tab, click on the button with the name of this tab located in the line of buttons located above the field for entering queries.
The name of the button for initializing requests depends on the selected tab. If the "Internet" tab is selected, the button is engraved "Find"; if the "Pictures" tab is selected, the button is called "Find Pictures!", etc.
Each tab below the query entry field has its own line for example queries.
Smart search in all search engines at once!
Nigma is designed in such a way that after entering a query from the keyboard and pressing the initialization button, the search engine will begin searching for the requested information immediately not only using Nigma, but also using other search engines, and immediately (Yandex, Google, Rambler, Bing, Yahoo, Altavista). It's comfortable. At the same time, if the query is poorly formulated, the search result will find too many a large number of documents and it will take sufficient time to extract the most suitable document from this list.
To speed up your search necessary information in Nygma you can use the following main methods:
- filtering the requested information on specific topics;
- use of a special block of control elements;
- use of advanced search capabilities;
- using your own query language.
Filtering requested information by specific topics
The essence of this method is as follows. Based on the user's request, Nigma generates a list of documents, dividing it into groups (filters). Using filters, the user can refine the query and quickly sort the found documents according to the topic he needs (select the ones he needs or exclude unnecessary topics).
Let us enter the general query “Medicine” on the “Internet” tab and click the “Find” button. As a result we got crazy big number results - more than 150 million documents.
But Nigma automatically grouped the found documents into topics that are similar in meaning, and displays a list of these topics in the column on the left.
To the left of the name of each topic/group of topics with a similar topic is an indicator in the form of a miniature square flag.
By clicking on the flag indicator, we can either turn on topics, or, conversely, turn them off so that they are eliminated during filtering.
If we click on the indicator for the first time, an icon in the form of a miniature red cross appears in the indicator, and the corresponding topic name will be crossed out, i.e. this topic will be excluded during filtering.
If we double-click on the indicator, an icon in the form of a green checkmark will appear in the indicator, and the topic indicated by the indicator will be included in the list of selected documents when filtering.
Enabling or disabling topics when filtering documents takes effect after clicking the "Filter" button.
If we want to turn off all the topics presented in the list, then we must select the “Exclude” command in the “With all” group.
If we want to include all the topics presented in the list, then we must select the “Select” command in the “With all” group.
If we want to reset all selected checkboxes (that is, not filter anything), then we need to select the “Reset” command in the “With all” group.
Suppose we need to exclude all topics when filtering, with the exception of the topic “Drug Directory”. The easiest way to do this is as follows. First, use the “Reset” command to exclude all topics from the list of topics. Then additionally click on the indicator of the topic “Directory of Medicines” so that instead of the icon with a red cross, a green checkmark icon appears in the indicator. Finally, click on the “Filter” button.
Using a block of control elements
Under the query entry field there is a block of control elements for configuring the search.
If we turn on the “In Ryazan” checkbox in this block, then the search for the information requested in the request will be limited only to the Ryazan region. The "Search Engines" button opens a list of available search engines: Yandex, Google, Rambler, Bing, Yahoo, Altavista, Nigma.
By default, all these search engines are connected with checkboxes and will be used to find the necessary information. If necessary, some of them can be disabled.
The "Language" button opens the list available languages. By default, the "Any language" option is selected. At the same time, you can use the selector button to select other options: “Russian”, “Ukrainian”, “English”.
The "Sorting" button opens a menu for selecting a sorting method. By default, the "No sorting" option is selected. You can use the selector button to select the following sorting options: “By date (from new)” or “By date (from old)”.
The "Settings" button opens a group of options included by checkboxes in the search engine ("Autocomplete", "Translator", "News", "Mathematics", "Chemistry", "Fact Search", "Definitions"). Some of them can be disabled if desired.
Using Advanced Search Mode
On the right side of the line with buttons for selecting the desired tab there are two more buttons: and “Switch to help mode”.
Clicking on the "Advanced Search" button opens a special panel for selecting additional parameters for an advanced search for the information you are looking for.
A second click on the same button closes the advanced search panel.
By clicking the "Go to help mode" button, Nigma is switched to help mode. In this mode, you can quickly get acquainted with the list of tasks that are available to the user using certain system controls.
Search images in Nygma
To search for pictures, go to the "Pictures" tab. Let's say we want to find pictures of the Amur tiger.
In the field for entering a request from the keyboard, enter “Amur tiger” and click the “Find pictures!” button.
As a result, a window will appear with a selection of thumbnails depicting an Amur tiger.
Click on the thumbnail you like to open the picture in a separate window.
By clicking on the picture right click mouse open context menu and in this menu we select the command we need (to save the picture in a file, print the image on a printer, copy the image to the clipboard, save it on the computer as background picture to decorate the worker Windows desktop, etc.).
Nigma - Smart Library
If we leave the request “Amur Tiger” and go to the “Books” tab, then we will automatically go to the section of the search engine related to literature dedicated, one way or another, to Amur tigers.
Moreover, based on the request (in our case " Amur tiger") Nigma generates a list of documents, dividing it into groups (filters). Using filters, the user can refine the query and quickly sort the found documents according to the topic he needs (select the ones he needs or exclude unnecessary topics).
1. Search in Russian literature
1.1. By author's last name
By writing only the author's last name (for example, Yesenin), you can find his works.
I have already pointed out that Nygma’s tabs are interconnected by the entered query.
So, for example, if we want to select the most suitable picture with the image of Sergei Yesenin, then we just need to go to the “Pictures” tab to see an extensive collection of pictures with the image of S. Yesenin
1.2. Text of the author's work
To find a specific text by the author, you need to supplement the query with the name of the work, for example: Chekhov Horse surname.
2. Search in foreign literature
In the search bar, you can write both the name of the author (for example, Galsworthy) and the title of his work (for example, The Forsyte Saga).
Nygma Music
Nigma Music is a service that simplifies the search for musical compositions. Search robot Nigma.ru is found on the Internet music files and indexes the tags contained in these very files, producing the desired result upon request.
Nygma searches for music all over the Internet, sorts and groups the results. This means that you can easily find the artist or song you need, and without leaving Nigma you can listen to and download them.
Search for music tracks by artist, album, song
The user can enter the name of the group, song, artist, album, etc. into the search bar (for example, Lyube, Alexander Malinin, etc.).
In the materials found by request, when you click on the “Read lyrics” link, a page with the lyrics of the song will open. For example, with the lyrics of the song "Shores".
When you click on the “Listen” link, the player control panel will open and the process of playing the ordered melody/album will begin.
When you click the "Copy" link, a panel will open asking "Do you want to open or save?"
If you want to save the selected melody in the desired folder, expand the "Save" button menu and select the "Save As" command from this menu.
A standard “Save As” window will open, in which you just need to specify the destination folder and then click the “Save” button.
Nygma. Catalog of popular games
Nygma. Mathematics
Mathematical Nigma system allows you to perform simple arithmetic transformations and solve math problems, taking into account different units of measurement and recognition of mathematical and physical constants. Queries for currency conversion, solving systems of equations, and plotting functions are also supported.
The mathematical system was launched in October 2008.
Nygma. Chemistry
In December 2008, support for queries on inorganic chemical reactions, both the starting and the final reaction substances, became available. Subsequently, search for chemical reactions and support for organic chemistry were added.
As of 2011, the system allows you to search for more than 12,000 inorganic reactions. Substances can be specified either as names (“sodium chloride”, “rock salt”) or as formulas (“NaCl”).
Browse Search
Nygma is effective for overview search when collecting information. It allows you to quickly find public information from various areas and check if you missed anything important using other search engines.
I have prepared a small brochure with a selection of exercises for accelerated mastery of the described online service and you can download this brochure from the provided link. (doc, 6.99MB)