Last time I’d heard about Ask.com they had laid off a hero, Gary Price, and switched their focus entirely. Barely any mention of them – - save for a diss or two – - @ the recent Web Search University conference in DC last month. Now, however, it looks as if Ask.com has upgraded. Ask.com mines questions and answers and will place answers at the top of the search results. Also, a running list of users’ queries appears. Supposedly, download time have increased, too. Be sure to check out the What’s New? section.  Factoid: USA Today reports that – - as of August 2008 – Ask.com garnered 4.8% of all web searches.