Sociable Stamp Society

This is our blog for current stamp news and views of interest to the philatelist and beginner. Daily updates provide items on shows, new issues, events, what's selling, and timely facts.

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005

12c

with tongs in hand
Greetings, stamp fans! I thought I'd fill you in on the Glassine Surfer as I have the space here. This is the website about stamp collecting that I run. I also write a column called the Glassine Surfer for the American Philatelic Society. Same name. Lots in common. But different species of the same animal. And as some of you may know I contribute to Gibbons Stamp Monthly in the United Kingdom. There, I write a more detailed column called US Stamps, which carries a primer on a US topic, along with news and some ideas. I recommend both APS and Stanley Gibbons, leaders in their realms.

Special Motorcycle FDC
Usual timely item from Gibbons. This time: "Top racers to sign for charity." ...UK


PC PRO Whacks the Big G
The UK mag PC Pro recently had this to say about everyone's favorite search engine. I guess I've seen this coming, but I've not clue as to the solution.

"Go to Google and enter the name of a London hotel for which you'd like the homepage. You'll be confronted by pages and pages of hotel reseller aggregator websites, all offering to make the booking on your behalf. No, I just want the website of the actual hotel please, so I start scrolling down the list. I count myself lucky if I find the right URL within the first ten pages of hits.

"Let's try something else - some computer or home hi-fi product. Again I get a vast number of irrelevant websites, many of which are aggregators of not only Google but also Amazon or eBay. Tearing my hair out, try to dive into the search terms to find a way to stop it giving me all this unnecessary rubbish. And it isn't easy to do, since Google is giving me all this stuff deliberately.

"I understand from fellow contributing editor Davey Winder that there are some magic incantations I can add onto the search terms to knock out a number of these aggregators. But this isn't the long term solution. The reality is that Google has thrown the baby out with the bath water for my daily searching, and I confess that I've gone back to Yahoo! for the time being. It's far from perfect, but I find things quicker." ...pro

and yes, I'm prodigal son of Yahoo

the lanai guy | 1:37 PM | 0 comments |  

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