I hadn’t noticed this before, but Google has added a site search box underneath the site links in their results.  

Not sure what criteria they’re using to generate this, because it doesn’t work for every site.  The SMH gets it, but Drive doesn’t.  It seems to be based on sites that are listed on Google News and their size.  That’s a total guess just based on the couple of dozen of searches I’ve checked out.

Not sure how I missed this seeing as it was posted on the official blog site.  The official word on what sites it will show up for is:

This feature will now occur when we detect a high probability that a user wants more refined search results within a specific site. Like the rest of our snippets, the sites that display the site search box are chosen algorithmically based on metrics that measure how useful the search box is to users

Not sure what that means in real terms, but as I said, I’ve only seen it show up for sites that exist in Google News.  That may simply be coincidental though, as people are often searching those sites too.

Update: Strike my theory. The search box shows up for gimp.org & ubuntu.org & they’re not in Google News.  I guess it’s just down to the pigeons then.

One of the pitfalls of being an information junkie, and especially a habitual RSS subscriber is the inevitable firehose effect, and the fact that I just don’t have enough time when I start in the morning to read through everything that’s in my unread items in FeedDemon, let alone reddit, and any number of other items I find during the day.  FeedDemon has a very nice ‘clippings’ tool that can store items for looking at later, but it’s only good for inside FeedDemon.  I can click and drag an item from FireFox into FeedDemon’s clip folder, but it’s a pain.

Marco Arment of Tumblr has built a site called Instapaper.  It has to be the simplest bookmarking site I’ve ever seen.  No tags, no design fluff, you don’t even have to enter a password to register if you don’t want to.

For an explanation of what it is, this is what Marco said:

Here’s the basic premise:

• You come across substantial news or blog articles that you want to read, but don’t have time at the moment.
• You need something to read while sitting on a bus, waiting in a line, or bored in front of a computer.

(more…)

UK Fireman faces punishment for risking his life in rescue

Tam Brown, 42, is the subject of an internal investigation by Tayside Fire and Rescue because he breached safety rules during the rescue in the River Tay in Perth.

He spent eight minutes in the cold water and at one stage feared that he would be swept to his death. But after dragging the 20-year-old woman to safety he was told by his employer that he had acted improperly by risking his life.

Mr Brown, who has 15 years’ experience as a fireman, was hailed as a hero by the young woman’s family but Tayside Fire and Rescue said that he had broken the brigade’s “standing instructions” on safety procedures.

But wait, there’s more…

The brigade’s rules state: “Personnel should not enter the water.” The fire crew should instead have tried to haul the woman out using poles and ropes.

Stephen Hunter, chief fire officer of Tayside Fire and Rescue, admitted that fire engines in Perth were not equipped with the correct poles and ropes, but insisted that Mr Brown had broken the rules.

You’ve seriously got to wonder.  This followup Courier article says that Tam was cleared and has now been commended by CFO Hunter.  Hunter is quoted in that article as saying:

It is important to stress that at no time during this investigation did principal managers indicate that any firefighters involved in this incident would be the subject of a disciplinary investigation.

This myth has been perpetrated by the Fire Brigades Union.

However, in the Times article he’s quoted as saying:

We know they broke procedure because we know he went into the water. We are investigating exactly what happened, and once that is concluded we will consider what action is necessary. That could include disciplinary action.

No, they didn’t say they would be the subject of an investigation, just that they could be.  Yes it’s all the nasty Fire Brigades Union’s fault for muddying these very clear waters.