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Aug 08

eBay Tests New Search Page, Try it Yourself!

Posted in: search, Today's Chili, Web Sites

This article was written on November 22, 2007 by CyberNet.

I was just doing some searching on eBay.com and noticed that I must have been randomly selected to use a drastically redesigned search page. The new design might be a little bit old, but it’s the first time I’ve tested it. As you can see above they have broken the search results up into two different columns, the one on the left providing the auctions and the one on the right listing the Buy It Now items.

I love the new design, but if you have a small screen the two-column design might be a little cramped. It is a lot easier, however, for people to see what items they can buy immediately, and which ones are on auction. Below the price on each item it lists the shipping cost, which is nice for determining whether a deal is as good as it may seem.

Now here’s the thing, most of you probably won’t see the redesign. I’m guessing that they are just testing this out much like how Google tests out new search pages. I hope they push this one through though, because I think it will definitely benefit both buyers and sellers.

BUT, I know how these redesigns work. They store cookies in your browser, and before I lost the cookies eBay had set I made sure to grab the data. Therefore you can test out the new design, too! Here’s what you need to do:

Copy this URL by right-clicking on it, and choosing the copy option.
Pull up the eBay.com site and paste what you copied in Step 1 into the address bar. Press Enter and you should see a popup confirming that the cookies have been set.
Do a search, and you should see the new design pictured above.

Hope everyone enjoys the new design! Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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May 21

Wolfram Alpha: Hated, Sure, But Ridiculously Useful

Posted in: feature, Google, search, Today's Chili, top

Cursed by endless speculation that it would a “Google Killer,” Wolfram Alpha has been hit with some serious backlash as of late. Here are six reasons to ignore the naysayers:

But first, a few things you need to know before you can start enjoying this thing. It’s been said plenty of times before, but it bears repeating: Wolfram Alpha is not Google. It won’t give you comparable results to Google, and you can’t use it like Google. In fact, it’s actually kinda picky, and the specific syntax it demands takes a while to get used to. But it’s not that difficult, and well worth the trouble.

[Note: Make sure the page is fully loaded before clicking the gallery.]
$IT DOES YOUR HOMEWORK, KIDS I'm not exaggerating here. Built by the guys behind <a href="http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematicahomeedition/">Mathematica</a>, Wolfram Alpha is a numbers wiz. It'll graph, solve or name just about anything you can throw at it, from <a href="http://www91.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=x%2By%3D13%2C+x-y%3D200">middle school algebra</a> to <a href="http://www91.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=y%27%27+%2B+y+%3D+0%2C+y%280%29%3D2%2C+y%27%280%29%3D1">Vulcan-level calculus</a>. It'll even draw fractals. Beyond math, it's an invaluable chemistry, physics and biology reference. They can call it whatever they want, but to millions of students, it'll be the ultimate cheat sheet.$

Apr 19

Yahoo! Introducing Alpha (Beta) – Create your Own Custom Search Engine

Posted in: search, Today's Chili, Web Sites, Yahoo

This article was written on April 04, 2007 by CyberNet.

Yahoo is responding to Google’s co-op, a platform that allows you to customize your search experience by introducing Yahoo! Alpha – in beta. Much like Google’s version, Yahoo Alpha will enable you to create your very own personalized search engine homepage.

Using a drag-n-drop interface (think NetVibes), users are able to create their search engine page. If you visit the new Alpha site, you’ll notice that it searches Yahoo, but also provides search results from services like Flickr photos, Yahoo!7 Answers, YouTube, Yahoo!7 News Search, and Wikipedia.

You can even build your own search module using sites of your choice, assuming that the site provides the search results in the form of a RSS feed.

Yahooalpha2

Essentially, it’s a tool that will help you perform multiple searches at one time by taking the results from the different sources and aggregating them all onto one page. While it is much like Google’s co-op, it’s also a lot like Google’s test site Searchmash, with a very similar interface(comparison above).

All in all, it’s a convenient way to search when you have an assortment of results to choose from like photos and videos.

Source: Digital Inspiration

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Apr 08

Firefox 3 Download Manager, Resizable Toolbar Items, and More

Posted in: Features, Firefox 3, Freeware, Mozilla, Pre-Release, search, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on August 13, 2007 by CyberNet.

Pretty soon Firefox 3 is going to be feature complete, and all that will be left for them to do is fine-tune the things they have implemented. As we build up to that big moment there are some new features that are coming out of the shop for testers. This includes a spruced up download manager, resizable toolbar items, a plugin manager, and better looking menus.

So let’s go ahead and take a look at all the enhancements that have come about since Alpha 7 was released:

–Download Manager–

The download manager has gotten a lot more useful with the features they’ve added. First off it sorts your downloads with the ones currently in progress up top, and those that are completed down below:

Firefox 3 Download Manager

For any of the completed downloads you can click on the blue "i" for more information, such as the location it was downloaded from.

Then there is also the search box located in the bottom-left corner. That does a live search of all your completed items, and the results are then immediately displayed:

Firefox 3 Download Manager

At first I thought this might be really really nice, except I always setup Firefox to clear my completed downloads after they are finished. The reason why I do that is because it’s supposed to improve the startup time of the browser, and this feature is therefore rendered useless for me. So if you have Firefox setup to clear completed items in the Downloads window, the new layout and features won’t really do much for you.

–Resizable Toolbar Items–

This is a super sweet feature that I’m glad Mozilla got implemented. There is now a "Resizer" item in the Customization screen that can be added to the toolbars. It is the most useful for placing between the search box and address box, where you will then be able to drag it back and forth to resize the two boxes.

Firefox 3 Toolbar Resizer

It also works when placed between toolbar buttons, but the results may not be what you expect. I noticed that the buttons scrunch together when trying to resize them, and if space gets really tight they are just hidden. It would be a lot better if Mozilla worked on a way to scale the buttons to a size that would allow all of them to remain visible, but that might be something they are working on.

–Plugin Manager–

Plugin management has been taken from about:plugins to the same place where you manage extensions and themes. One of the most notable things that I saw when opening the plugin management was that it easily lets you disable certain items. For example, if you don’t want Flash enabled you can disable it right from the plugin management screen.

Firefox 3 Plugin Manager

The only problem, which can’t be seen in my screenshot, is that plugins with more than one file associated with them show up repeatedly. For me the issue was with Java, which had about 10 entries all given the same title.

–Menu Appearance–

The menus have also gotten a slight overhaul. Now Firefox 3 supports a Vista-like menu appearance. Some things take advantage of this, such as the History menu which shows the site’s icon next to the entries:

Firefox 3 Menus

–Overall–

Still to come in Firefox 3 is integration with Vista’s parental control system, a visual refresh/new default theme, Places enhancements, as well as a few other things that are pretty high priority. The next milestone, which is due September 18th, could be either an Alpha or a Beta build. Mozilla appears to be picking up the pace and getting some much-needed features implemented, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if they are able to move on to the Beta releases.

Sources: The Burning Edge, Ars Technica, Mozilla Links, Firefox Extension Guru & Kyle’s Cove
Thanks for the tip Mohan!

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Mar 12

CyberNotes: Best Firefox Extensions for Bookmarking

Posted in: CyberNotes, Features, Firefox Extensions, Freeware, search, Software, Today's Chili

This article was written on September 12, 2007 by CyberNet.

Web Browser Wednesday

Could you imagine having a browser without a bookmarking system? To me that would be like using a computer that doesn’t let you copy and paste…it’s almost impossible to fathom what that would be like! So I think it is safe to say that bookmarks are important for productivity, but the real question is, what can we do to make it better?

I crawled my way through all of the 218 bookmark-related Firefox extensions on the Mozilla add-ons site, and I quickly realized how poorly some of the extensions were categorized since many of them didn’t have much to do with bookmarking at all. I was able to find a pretty good amount of extensions though that I thought were pretty interesting.

–Synchronizing Bookmarks–

Circle Arrows One of the most common things people want to do with their bookmarks is synchronize them with some online service. That way they can be accessed whether they are at work, home, or on the go.

There are several different services that can be used to store your bookmarks, and here’s a listing of what I believe are the best synchronizing extensions:

GMarks (for Google Bookmarks) – This is my favorite Firefox extension for synchronizing bookmarks. It makes use of the Google Bookmarks system so that everything you bookmark is kept private, and it is packed with features. You can have your bookmarks in a toolbar or in the sidebar, and it’s capable of importing your existing Firefox bookmarks.
Smarky (for Simpy) – This is based off of the GMarks extension mentioned above, except this one works with the Simpy bookmarking system.
Del.icio.us (for Del.icio.us, duh) – This is a simple Firefox extension that’s used for managing your bookmarks on Del.icio.us. You can add a description, notes, and tags to each bookmark you save.
Foxmarks (for Foxmarks or custom) – I really like this extension because it integrates right into your existing Firefox bookmarks. You can hardly notice that the extension is synchronizing your bookmarks, but it is. Lifehacker also has a great tutorial on how to setup Foxmarks to work with your own FTP.
Clipmarks (for Clipmarks) – Clip certain sections of websites so that only the content you want is saved.

–Making Bookmarks More Productive–

Now on to more of the gems. Some of these extensions I had heard of, or even written about prior to this, but there are still several that I hadn’t seen. You may not need to use some of them now, but there are certain times when each would serve a useful purpose.

Flat Bookmark Editor – This adds several fields to the bottom of the Bookmarks Manager so that you can edit the contents of a bookmark without having to pull up the properties. This is extremely useful if you’re trying to edit a bunch of bookmarks simultaneously.
Speed Dial – The idea for this type of feature was originally from the Opera browser, but as expected, a version with slightly less features has also been turned into a Firefox extension. Using it, you can set some of your favorite sites to be displayed on a Speed Dial page.
Visual Bookmarks – Have a hard time finding a site or image in your bookmarks? This could be just the solution since you can view all of the sites as thumbnails. Unfortunately this doesn’t integrate into the Firefox bookmark system so you’ll have to bookmark sites separately with this extension, but you can highlight certain portions of the screen that you want captured for the thumbnail.
Bookmarks Duplicate Detector – When you reach a few hundred bookmarks, sometimes it is difficult to remember whether you’ve already bookmarked a site or not. Have no fear…Book Duplicate Detector will scour through your bookmarks looking for ones that point to the same address.
Smart Bookmarks Bar – Sometimes you may want to put a lot of bookmarks on your toolbar, but the problem is that there just isn’t enough room. This extension will collapse all of your bookmarks down to just their icon, and when you hover over them with your mouse it will reveal their names.
Bookmarks LInkChecker – You can check your bookmarks to see if the links have been broken. This should become part of your regularly scheduled maintenance.
Enhanced Bookmark Search – This is a much more powerful search mechanism for finding bookmarks. You can even save searches into dynamically updating folders…it kind of reminds me of how the dynamic playlists in iTunes work.
Dog Ears – This lets you bookmark your place on a page so that you can quickly jump to the important portions using the Shift+Spacebar hotkey.
AddThis – Using this extension you can quickly bookmark a site on any number of different services.
Bookmark Permissions – This lets you enable or disable certain options, such JavaScript, on a per bookmark basis. That way you can disable JavaScript system-wide, but enable it for the sites that you trust. Of course you’ll have to open the site using the bookmark in order for the settings to be applied.

–Overview–

I think I’ve covered almost all of the interesting bookmark-related extensions, but I would love to hear of any others you can come up with. Don’t forget to checkout our URL-related extensions as well, but even more importantly, make sure that your Firefox extensions don’t have memory leaks.

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Jan 19

Google Offers “Skip Intro” Option in Search Results

Posted in: Google, search, Today's Chili

This article was written on June 11, 2008 by CyberNet.

One thing that can become really frustrating is when you go a site only to find that they have a long Flash introduction. Your options are to sit and wait for the 10 or 15 second introduction to finish, or you could search the page for the “skip intro” button which is never in the same spot on every site. On the bright side, at least there is the option to skip the intro, but it would be nice if there was one universal spot to put it on every site.

Instead of searching all over the page, what if you were able to just click the “skip intro” button right from your search engine? Google has now added a new feature and if a site has a “skip intro” button, they will show it in the search results. When you click on it you’ll be taken to the homepage without having to sit through the introduction. Nice, isn’t it?

google skip intro.png

I should say it’s nice for the people visiting the site who really don’t want to have to wait to see an introduction. For developers though, it’s not so nice. There’s a reason they have an introduction and they probably spent a good amount of time making it.

As Google Blogoscoped mentions, this is a feature that could have been around for some time that is now just getting noticed, or it could be new. We did come across some sites that had an introduction, but Google didn’t provide the “skip intro” option. It appears as though a site must have the words “enter site” on the introduction page that is in HTML in order for Google to pick it up.

Thanks for the tip Cory!

Source: Google Blogoscoped

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Jan 06

TiVo Search is The Future of TiVo

Posted in: amazon, search, tivo, Today's Chili, top, TV, ui, update

The redesigned TiVo Search does away with the Swivel Search and now makes show searching more efficient and HD friendly.

Just like Swivel Search TiVo Search will weed through both live TV and broadband content, like Amazon on Demand and Youtube, to find a complete list of available programs. But now upon searching for a show TiVo Search will automatically generate similar recommendations and display them with eye-pleasing art at the top of your TV. Another upgrade over the Swivel is the menu layout that is now three columns wide to make use of wide screen TVs and when available HD content is automatically recommended.

TiVo Search has be redesigned with that leaked TiVo UI we saw a few months ago, which brings a more evolved look to the friendly TiVo software. Right now this UI is only available while using Search which is currently in beta and available to all Series 3 and HD TiVos today.

If the leaked UI and the use of it in the new TiVo Search is any indication than it would seem this UI will probably be the future of TiVo, which I for one can’t wait for.

TIVO TRANSFORMS THE TV WORLD ONCE AGAIN BY OFFERING A NEW WAY TO SEARCH & DISCOVER CONTENT
Introduction of New TiVo Search Means Channel Surfing is a Now Thing of the Past
Find What You’ve Been Missing
LAS VEGAS, NV. January 7, 2009 —TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today showed the future of television, unveiling a redesigned TiVo Search feature that offers improved search results with a completely new High Definition design, all at no additional charge. TiVo Search brings users the power of choice, offering millions of pieces of content not available via cable or satellite, along with thousands of linear TV choices. Delivered via broadband, TiVo Search combines a graphics rich experience with simplicity and relevancy that makes it a truly revolutionary way to get more out of your TV.
“What Google did for the Internet, TiVo is now doing for the TV, bringing people a combination of excellent search results and innovative discovery that can’t be found anywhere else,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and President of TiVo Inc. “TiVo has always been known as the best way to watch what you want, when you want it. Now we’re taking that to a new level, using TiVo technology to find just the right program from hundreds of channels and thousands of broadband options, all in seconds. It is clear TiVo is leading the way in providing more choice, and also leading the way in finding content quickly. TiVo Search is a new way to find what you’ve been missing.”
TiVo Search takes advantage of extra screen size afforded by high definition televisions by showing more details about a highlighted program than ever before, eliminating the need to dig down into each and every program to learn what it is about. It ensures the most important information is surfaced right up to the screen you’re already on, equaling less navigation and quick, accurate results.
“One of the best things about the new TiVo Search feature is how it works as a discovery engine, helping users find content they didn’t even know they could get,” said Jim Denney, Vice President of Product Marketing at TiVo Inc. “We’ve added a new discovery bar that gives a quick guide to relevant content, and the search experience incorporates content from broadband sources like Amazon Video on Demand and YouTube. The newly tuned search engine also displays the most popular search results of the day automatically, even when typing only a single letter. Searches work not with just the first word of a title, but any word of the program, which is especially handy when looking for programs with specific search words.”
The new interface not only displays in high definition, it has a focus on finding high definition television content. TiVo search automatically recommends high definition television channels and episodes when users schedule a program to record. Additionally, users can now browse shows season by season and select any episode they want utilizing a robust episode guide. Depending on availability users may record content from cable/antenna, download it from Amazon Video on Demand, or use WishList searches to record it the next time the content is broadcast.
Seeing equals believing, and the new TiVo Search is no exception. Starting today broadband connected TiVo Series3, TiVo HD, and HD XL subscribers can experience a beta version of the feature on their TiVo DVR, which can be found under Music, Photos, and Showcases. For an online preview and to provide your comments and feedback on this new search tool to TiVo visit www.tivo.com/tivosearch.
TiVo Search will be on display at the TiVo Inc Booth at the Consumer Electronics Tradeshow, Room N202 running January 8th – 11th.

Hasta La Gadget!

eBay Tests New Search Page, Try it Yourself!

Wolfram Alpha: Hated, Sure, But Ridiculously Useful

Yahoo! Introducing Alpha (Beta) – Create your Own Custom Search Engine

Firefox 3 Download Manager, Resizable Toolbar Items, and More