| Google SearchWiki |
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Yesterday Google launched SearchWiki, which allows you to reorder your Google search results, delete sites from the hit list, add sites to the results, and annotate your results page. For each hit, you’ll see an up-arrow (to reorder), an “X” (to delete), and a speech balloon (for comments). SearchWiki is available to you only if you’ve logged into Google with your Gmail account. The changes you make to the results page will also only apply to your account. However, if you want to see how others have customized the results, click on “See all notes for this SearchWiki” at the bottom of the results page. I’m not going to edit a results page. I’m either going to find what I want in the top 10 or 20 hits, or I’m not. If I find a site that I like, and that I think I’ll use again, I’ll bookmark it. It’s bad enough that Google has my Database of Intentions, but I’m not going to teach it what I like as well. This is simply another way for Google to benefit from my free labor. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
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Comments (0)| A Half-Hour to Boot? Even Vista’s Not That Slow |
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The National Law Journal reports on a spate of lawsuits being filed by hourly workers against their employers over time spent booting their computers. The article quotes Las Vegas solo lawyer Mark Thierman, who has filed of few of these suits himself: “‘These are hourly employees who are not making much more than minimum wage,’ Thierman said. ‘There’s a good half-hour a day that they’re not being paid for. It adds up.’” Puh-leeze. I know Windows Vista (like my wife) takes a while to get going in the morning. But no way does it take 30 minutes to boot up and/or shut down. Link via TaxProf Blog, via Lifehacker. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
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| From Hurricanes to Hollywood |
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1) Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Outstanding Need, Slow Progress 2) Editing Hollywood’s Editors: Cleaning Flicks for Families 3) Steroids in Sports: Cheating the System… What do all of these things have in common? They are all the titles of hearings before the U.S. Congress. Although other documents, such as Committee Reports, are considered more valuable sources of legislative history, hearings are still a piece of the puzzle. They provide great background and include a range of useful information. Hearings are usually held to assist Congress with proposed legislation and give committee members the opportunity to ask questions and collect information from experts, scholars, and officials. Hearings commonly contain transcripts of Q & A sessions, prepared statements by witnesses and exhibits. LexisNexis Congressional is available to members 24/7 and has complete versions of hearings from 2004 - present. In addition, select testimony transcripts and submitted statements are available from 1988-present. If you need any help with your research, call the Reference Desk at 215-574-1505 or email research@jenkinslaw.org |
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Submitted by: Jenny Hohenstein, Reference/Electronic Services Librarian
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| Microsoft Will Offer Free Security Software Next Year |
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From the announcement: “Code-named ‘Morro’, this streamlined solution will be available in the second half of 2009 and will provide comprehensive protection from malware including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans. This new solution, to be offered at no charge to consumers, will be architected for a smaller footprint that will use fewer computing resources, making it ideal for low-bandwidth scenarios or less powerful PCs.” Currently I’m running AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition on my personal laptop, which I use for testing all sorts of apps. I’m happy with AVG, but I’d definitely be open to testing Morro, just to see how it works. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
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| Free Download: Doc Scrubber |
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If you create and distribute documents with MS Office, you need to be aware of metadata. What’s that, you say? Metadata is data about data. It describes how, when, and by whom a document was created. You can manually remove this hidden information, or you can purchase one of the metadata scrubbers available on the market to do it for you automatically. Yesterday Lifehacker featured a free metadata scrubber: Doc Scrubber, which works with Windows versions 98 through XP. (Please note that I haven’t tested or used this product yet, but since it’s a freebie, it’s certainly worth a try.) For more info, including some great examples of actual embarrassing metadata slip-ups perpetrated by the Democratic National Committee, U.S. Central Command, United Nations, U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco, and the FBI, come to our one-hour Internet Ethics CLE class. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
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| PC Magazine, Print Edition, Will Cease in January 2009 |
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Ziff Davis says that, following the lead of some newspapers, they will now go all-digital. I dunno … there’s nothing like the print version of a magazine or a newspaper. You can read it anywhere. Leave it stuffed in the couch to finish later. Rip out articles for your archives or to give to someone else. Browse through the ads to see what’s hot in tech, and who’s selling it for what. You just don’t get that experience online. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
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| … And Speaking (Yet Again) of the iPhone |
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The SearchMe application for the iPhone is now available. In case you’ve never used the Web-based version, SearchMe displays your hits the same way that Apple’s iTunes Cover Flow does album covers. You flip through your hits by clicking on the “forward” and “back” arrows. Searchme even highlights the search terms on the current page, similar to the way they are in Google’s cached copy. SearchMe and Google’s voice recognition search are the first 2 apps I’d download should Jenkins ever (cough) get yours truly an iPhone. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
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| More Halos for Wal-Mart |
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Previously I blogged about how Wal-Mart’s selling the G1 Android phone 30 bucks cheaper than the T-Mobile store. Come December 28, they’ll also be selling the iPhone 3G, so says Boy Genius Report. Right now, there’s no info on what Wal-Mart’s discount will be, if any. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
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| We Haven’t Come To Bury Jerry, But To Buy Yahoo Stock To Kick Him While He’s Down |
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Amid the flurry of stories about Jerry Yang’s resignation as Yahoo’s CEO, two posts stand out. The NY Times reported that Yahoo’s market value rose $2.3 billion in pre-market trading this morning, hours after Yang’s resignation was announced. TechCrunch put the increase at 1.8 billion. (BTW other companies, Apple, for example, have the opposite problem.) I know a CEO is supposed to have thick skin, but, c’mon, it must really hurt when your company’s valuation shoots up the minute you say you’re leaving. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
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| No “Over the River and Through the Woods” This Year |
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Hitwise reports that, just a week or so before Thanksgiving, visits to airline Web sites are at their lowest levels in 3 years. On the other hand, searches for “cheap flights” have increased, which indicates that travelers are being forced to pinch pennies this year. This is another example of how the Database of Intentions can help businesses and even the public identify developing trends. |
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Submitted by: Dan Giancaterino, Internet Librarian
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