The naming of parts… … can be tricky, but figuring out WHAT the parts of different things are called is an important SearchResearch skill. Let’s jump right into it (especially since this post is a couple of days late–see at the end…
I was looking at some type samples the other day… … and I ended up with a bunch of questions that seem like basic typography, but I didn’t know the answers! Can you help figure these out? (They seem simple, but might be …
How to find vague concepts? Searching for something as vague or open-ended as this week’s Challenge can be tough. How can we find examples of science fiction being used to invalidate patents? Was this image from 2001 used to null…
Icons can be more, much more… … than just small pieces of art that signify an app. Icons can also be works that are so rich in meaning, so deeply embedded in our culture that they stand for more than just the thing itself. They can …
And we remember… sometimes with help… If you’re like me, you probably constantly re-searching for things you only vaguely remember. A few years ago, my friend Jamie Teevan of Microsoft Research did a study about how often people try to r…
We forget, of course, … and that’s part of the reason we have search tools–to help us find and recover what we’ve forgotten. I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly re-searching for things I only vaguely remember, and I need all t…
Hate 404 errors? If you do active online research (which is pretty much the whole point of SearchResearch), you fairly often run into web pages that are 404. When this happens, it means that the link you’re trying to follow leads to a page that is missing. It might have been removed by the author, or just moved elsewhere. In any case, the link you’ve got doesn’t work any more.
As you recall, …our SearchResearch Challenge this week was to figure out the history behind this funny group of houses that extends from Lyon Street into the Presidio. Here are the 6 houses that have somehow pushed the boundary of the Presi…
You know San Francisco is full of hills… … consequently, it’s also full of stairs. Some are ordinary, but some are wonderful and beautiful. Here’s one of my favorite places in SF, not just for the view, but also for the cherry tree…
What’s “normal” changes with time. Despite our sense that something as personal as what food you eat is permanent, in fact, our collective tastes have changed significantly over time. I’m not even talking about national preferences (d…
Far be it from me to critique… … the food choices of different people at different times and places. After all, I’ve eaten roasted grasshoppers (chapulines) in Oaxaca, smoked eel (rauchen aal) and …
The key is asking good questions. But you knew that. This week, we tried to figure out what’s going on with a couple of decontextualized images. In this case, these were pictures that I’d taken and recently re-found.&nb…
You might have noticed… … that the Image search now has a set of colored rectangles just below the query area. Here’s an example with a simple query. See those rectangles? They’re called “chips,” and they modify the image que…
Every so often… … you run across a photo that makes you ask, “What’s going on here?” You take a look, and think “hmmm….” Often, these are images that you find in things you’re reading; a figure, photo, or illustration that m…
It’s true: I got an earworm while bicycling… I know, I know–an earworm is typically a short, catchy piece of music. But perhaps my brain (or ear) is wired a little differently and my earworm is a little longer than most. Whatev…