Actually, I find that the most successful searches are ones which make use of a combination of search-engine techniques (quoted strings, boolean algebra, etc.) and intuition and/or common sense.
Defining search criteria in such a way as to guarantee that your desired target shows up among the first page of hits is a bit like trying to find a jet that will take you to a specific street address.
I usually search on a phrase that is likely to take me into the approximate quadrant of the haystack containing the needle, then take a scenic ramble through the neighborhood until I link my way to my destination. If the destination is not well linked-to, you won't likely find it with a search engine anyway.
"you can't build an online community that isn't there already..."
I disagree! If an online community is an emergent entitiy, which at least some online communities clearly are, then it follows that some communities are only possible online.
If chess lovers get together online to analyze the great games in chess history, then, yeah, that's simply an online manifestation of a community of interest that predated the internet. But an emergent community is by definition one whose conscious purpose only arises out of the interactions between its constituent parts...
But as concentration in the bricks-and-mortar retail world has proceeded apace, variety in products offered has diminished, thus opening up new opportunities. Witness microbreweries, which have spring up to provide a tremendous variety as all mainstream beer has become so much fungible rice water...And as grocery stores become department stores of food, I spend more and more of my food dollars in cheese shops, produce markets, food co-ops, etc. I'm obviously more the exception than the rule, but it's not clear to me that the exception is becoming more exceptional...For example, the California power crisis, coming as it does in a context of energy company mergers, has illustrated the advantages of off-the-grid electrical generation...
A little sharper in tone than I'm inclined to be, but these comments are right on, especially point #1. As a carpenter, I was on TheVines looking for articles relevant to my work and had to drill down through thevines-->home-->home improvement-->tools and equipment-->hand tools-->saws to find an actual article. This after trying to figure out which of seemingly hundreds of paths to follow just to be pointed in the general direction of content.
For a refreshingly clean and simple interface, the forums at http://www.macfixit.com are great.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, I find that the most successful searches are ones which make use of a combination of search-engine techniques (quoted strings, boolean algebra, etc.) and intuition and/or common sense.
:-)
Defining search criteria in such a way as to guarantee that your desired target shows up among the first page of hits is a bit like trying to find a jet that will take you to a specific street address.
I usually search on a phrase that is likely to take me into the approximate quadrant of the haystack containing the needle, then take a scenic ramble through the neighborhood until I link my way to my destination. If the destination is not well linked-to, you won't likely find it with a search engine anyway.
My apologies for the gruesome mixed metaphors!
"you can't build an online community that isn't there already..."
I disagree! If an online community is an emergent entitiy, which at least some online communities clearly are, then it follows that some communities are only possible online.
If chess lovers get together online to analyze the great games in chess history, then, yeah, that's simply an online manifestation of a community of interest that predated the internet. But an emergent community is by definition one whose conscious purpose only arises out of the interactions between its constituent parts...
But as concentration in the bricks-and-mortar retail world has proceeded apace, variety in products offered has diminished, thus opening up new opportunities. Witness microbreweries, which have spring up to provide a tremendous variety as all mainstream beer has become so much fungible rice water...And as grocery stores become department stores of food, I spend more and more of my food dollars in cheese shops, produce markets, food co-ops, etc. I'm obviously more the exception than the rule, but it's not clear to me that the exception is becoming more exceptional...For example, the California power crisis, coming as it does in a context of energy company mergers, has illustrated the advantages of off-the-grid electrical generation...
A little sharper in tone than I'm inclined to be, but these comments are right on, especially point #1. As a carpenter, I was on TheVines looking for articles relevant to my work and had to drill down through thevines-->home-->home improvement-->tools and equipment-->hand tools-->saws to find an actual article. This after trying to figure out which of seemingly hundreds of paths to follow just to be pointed in the general direction of content.
For a refreshingly clean and simple interface, the forums at http://www.macfixit.com are great.