What's Teoma, you ask? You could ask Jeeves, but he's become ... Teoma

0 Comments | USA TODAY, October, 2006 | by Kevin Maney

Hard to believe that while I was attending Rutgers University -- in a building not far from the grain-alcohol frat parties that I may or may not have gone to, depending on who's asking -- the history of Teoma was taking shape. You don't know Teoma? Why, it is in fact a significant Internet technology out of New Jersey, a place otherwise known for out-of-the-closet governors, Bruce Springsteen and certain smells along the Turnpike that can peel the rust-proofing off a car.

Teoma was a research project at IBM that morphed into a Rutgers research project that turned into a failing dot-com. It got bought by Ask.com for $4.4 million -- an investment banker's pocket change -- in a deal announced two hours before the first plane hit the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. This year,...