For Immediate Release: Maggie Masar: Makovsky & Co. 212-508-9607 mmasar@makovsky.com HAWK HOLDINGS LAUNCHES NEXT GENERATION INTERNET SEARCH TECHNOLOGY Teoma Technologies' new class of Parametric Search Technology innovates search engine capabilities for portals and destination sites NEW YORK - June 29, 2000 - Hawk Holdings, LLC today announced the launch of Teoma Technologies, Inc., an enabling technology business whose powerful Internet search capability capitalizes on its recent breakthroughs in parametric search technology and applied mathematics. Teoma will provide scalable business to business infrastructure search and related services to portals and destination websites, offered in an ASP environment running through a nationwide network of CyberCentersSM maintained by Qwest Co`mmunications International Inc. (NYSE:Q). "Teoma's search technology is unlike anything available in the market today," said Scott Baxter, CEO of Hawk Holdings. "Teoma is the only search technology designed from the ground-up to scale both in accuracy and speed with the growth of the Internet. It incorporates the latest breakthroughs in parametric and parallel processing algorithms, which provide unmatched accuracy, speed and relevancy. Our technology, developed with Rutgers University, represents a paradigm shift in the search marketplace by solving the practical problem associated with Internet search, namely the continuing exponential growth of the Internet. Burdened by the burgeoning number of web pages, and the increasing sophistication of spammers who routinely sabotage search results, existing search engines will continue to fail. From an engineering perspective and from a user perspective, our unique search logic breaks down the barriers associated with legacy search technology and simply outperforms the competition." The Teoma search technology provides: High quality, relevant results - Based upon its parametric search technology, a Teoma powered search will deliver a list of superior quality websites with a high degree of relevancy to the search topic. As opposed to traditional text or popularity based search engines, Teoma's technology analyzes multiple parameters such as text, link structure, popularity and status to determine the ranking and relevancy of a site. Fast access - Teoma will deliver these high quality comprehensive results in less time than many of today's conventional search services. This speed is based on Teoma's distributed and parallel processing techniques, as well as reduced modeling algorithms, implemented in its search engine and deployed on a scalable efficient hardware architecture. Breadth and depth of content - Teoma will directly index hundreds of millions of Web pages to develop one of the largest search databases available. In addition, Teoma's unique ability to identify and rank directory link pages dramatically expands a user's view of the Internet. The technology also contains landmark 'anti-spamming' technology to ensure that search results are cleansed from sites that mislead users regarding their true content, and a true "related pages" feature which enables users to pinpoint their particular topic of interest and access pages focused strictly on that subject. The technology will be made available to businesses during the fourth quarter of 2000. The company's advanced technology stems from a federally funded research project initiated in 1998 in the computer labs at Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey. That project, led by Apostolos Gerasoulis, Teoma's Chief Technology Officer and a recognized expert in the area of distributed computing, focused on highly scalable parallel processing algorithms and reduced modeling techniques. Dr. Gerasoulis', a professor of computer science at Rutgers, and his team of computer scientists, comprised of the university's leading computer science PhD candidates, created a set of parametric mathematical algorithms designed to tailor a search to locate the most pertinent information on the Internet. Teoma's algorithms employ a combination of text, link popularity and group social network status parameters to rank the Web pages and directory links. This unique approach, coupled with its highly scalable architecture, is at the core of Teoma's success in delivering a next-generation, highly scalable, commercial infrastructure for business. Teoma's Research and Development team is comprised of an elite group of software developers and engineers with advanced degrees in computer science, computer engineering, pattern recognition, and artificial intelligence, including several of Dr. Gerasoulis' former students. Dr. Tao Yang, a computer science professor from University of California-Santa Barbara, is Vice President, Chief Scientist at the company. Additionally, the company has recently hired several other developers who are pioneers in the area of Internet search. Bill Adams, Director, Office of Corporate Liaison and Technology Transfer, of Rutgers said "We are extremely excited about Hawk taking Teoma out of the lab and into the commercial world. All of us have been thrilled with the results in the lab and we believe that between Hawk and Teoma, we have assembled the leading edge technology and operating resources to establish a new benchmark for Internet search. We have every confidence in the team at Hawk that they have the operating experience, industry knowledge and relationships to establish Teoma as the pre-eminent search technology." According to Paul Abranovic, Hawk's Senior Managing Director, Teoma is the "intelligent engine for serious searches." Its primary business focus will be on providing search and directory management infrastructure services to customers who maintain Internet directories, portals, and destination websites. "Teoma's technology enables users to more effectively navigate and search the content of the Web, as well as to monitor their areas of interest for new, high status destination and directory link pages," said Abranovic. "The explosion of the Internet and the competitive environment it has created has added new challenges for businesses to not only attract, but retain their clients," said Abranovic. "Teoma, with its innovative technology, allows portals and destination websites to utilize the highest quality search services to help them maintain high user retention and increase reach. To maximize the value proposition of this infrastructure service, we will deliver the solution on a service model basis, freeing our customers of technical development and maintenance burdens." "Teoma is committed to maintaining its leadership position in parametric search technology through continued investment in research and development, a structured product development environment and a best in class design team," said Baxter. "Teoma will leverage its competitive advantages in parametric search technology to enhance its current offerings and develop complementary search and related infrastructure services. Teoma's cutting edge technology combined with the management, technology, and strategic relationships it gains through the Hawk operating platform position the company advantageously for rapid market penetration and growth. About Hawk Holdings Hawk Holdings is a strategic alliance between Qwest Communications International, Inc., the broadband Internet communications company, and Baxter Investments LLC which is focused on creating, financing and operating emerging technology infrastructure and services businesses. Hawk has created a unique and comprehensive set of resources (the Hawk Operating Platform), which enables its businesses to thrive in today's quickly evolving technology marketplace. The Hawk Operating Platform consists of management experience, industry knowledge and operating expertise; the strategic alliance with Qwest; partner companies' enabling technology synergies; strategic vendor and customer relationships; and investment capital. Hawk concentrates on the financial services and media industries and on the technologies that enable them. For more information about Hawk Holdings, visit our website at: www.hawkholdings.com. About Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey Rutgers is a leading research and educational institution and is one of the largest and oldest universities in the nation. Over 30 private corporations were founded based upon Rutgers-developed technology, licensed through the Office of Corporate Liaison and Technology Transfer ("OCLTT") at Rutgers. Rutgers actively pursues the commercialization of its leading technologies for the public benefit. For more information about Rutgers and the OCLTT, please contact Bill Adams at (732) 445 4632 or by email at Adams@ocltt.rutgers.edu. ### (c) 2001 Teoma Technologies, Inc.