AlphaConnect, part of a company called Alpha Microsystems, which now does business as AlphaServ.Com, has filed a patent application for its Network Query Language (NQL). The language was designed as a tool for software developers to built non- biased shopping bots.
NQL should work like this. Users will leave a standing list of the items they want, defined by preferred vendor, model and style, and will establish their timetable. The shopping bot will watch the internet and when it finds a listed item, will notify the user by email, pager or pop-up alert.
NQL was designed with the same objectives as SQL, but is a proprietary language. AlphaConnect intends to license NQL to software and web developers, as well as using it as the basis of products of its own.
