1. SearchWiki: make search your own
(author unknown) via The Official Google Blog shared by 34 people



Shared by Rick Dillon
Awesome. I have wanted the ability to ban certain sites from my results for a while (like swik.net).

Have you ever wanted to mark up Google search results? Maybe you're an avid hiker and the trail map site you always go to is in the 4th or 5th position and you want to move it to the top. Or perhaps it's not there at all and you'd like to add it. Or maybe you'd like to add some notes about what you found on that site and why you thought it was useful. Starting today you can do all this and tailor Google search results to best meet your needs.

Today we're launching SearchWiki, a way for you to customize search by re-ranking, deleting, adding, and commenting on search results. With just a single click you can move the results you like to the top or add a new site. You can also write notes attached to a particular site and remove results that you don't feel belong. These modifications will be shown to you every time you do the same search in the future. SearchWiki is available to signed-in Google users. We store your changes in your Google Account. If you are wondering if you are signed in, you can always check by noting if your username appears in the upper right-hand side of the page.

The changes you make only affect your own searches. But SearchWiki also is a great way to share your insights with other searchers. You can see how the community has collectively edited the search results by clicking on the "See all notes for this SearchWiki" link.

Watch our lead engineer, Amay, demonstrate a few ways to use SearchWiki in this short video:



This new feature is an example of how search is becoming increasingly dynamic, giving people tools that make search even more useful to them in their daily lives. We have been testing bits and pieces of SearchWiki for some time through live experiments, and we incorporated much of our learnings into this release. We are constantly striving to improve our users' search experience, and this is yet another step along the way.

Posted by Cedric Dupont, Product Manager, and Corin Anderson, Software Engineer



Posted on 21 November 2008 | 2:21 am

2. Bush snubbed at G20 Summit
(author unknown) via Boing Boing shared by 23 people



Shared by slacy
Ouch!




Rick Sanchez on CNN showed this video of world leaders at the G20 Summit refusing to shake hands with President Bush. Sanchez says "It's almost sad." (Via The Fire Wire)






Posted on 20 November 2008 | 10:37 pm

3. SUCCESS
Cheezburger Network via Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? shared by 17 people






» Want moar fail? Visit Failblog!
SUCCESS: It can lead to fail
kittehz has manee fail momentz.
picture: dunno source, via our lolcat builder. lol caption:
» Recaption This
      






Posted on 20 November 2008 | 8:00 pm

4. Defensive design: Magnetic zones on the unibody MacBook
Sam via Signal vs. Noise shared by 21 people



To access the RAM slots in a unibody MacBook you must first remove the back plate—a thin piece of aluminum attached by eight tiny screws. Half of the screws are hidden beneath the battery cover, and each one is surrounded by a recessed magnetic zone. The purpose of these zones is ostensibly to help keep the battery cover seamlessly attached to the case.



But removing the screws made it clear that the magnetic zones serve a second function. When my screwdriver slipped, the screw didn’t fall into the depths of the case. Instead, it flew right over to the magnet, and I was spared the pain of extracting a three-millimeter needle from an expensive electronic haystack.

It’s a perfect example of real-life defensive design: anticipate where your customers might slip up and try your best to keep them from doing it. Have you encountered any good defensive design lately?





Posted on 20 November 2008 | 4:55 pm

5. His Tweets Are Shaqalicious
Biz via Twitter Blog shared by 17 people

It's official: Shaq is on Twitter. Today's New York Times sports section has a great article about how quipmaster and pro basketball player Shaquille O'Neill discovered Twitter and rose to the challenge. What does Shaq think of Twitter so far? “It’s a fun thing. It’s a way for fans to connect.” Follow Shaq @the_real_shaq—his tweets are shaqalicious.

Posted on 20 November 2008 | 4:13 pm

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