Dude You need Google desktop and its search engine - just turn off the rest of the crap. Takes a little while to index but Ctrl-Ctrl gets me a search box for all my mail and other files - I'd be lost without it. Just did a quick search for 'Jake' and got me a whole host of 'email dirt' I can use on you ;0)
Marian
· 1 year ago
Al Gore is saving the planet from overheating caused by greedy corporations. What is your excuse for a messy desk?
Jake
· 1 year ago
@Tim: Yup, Ctrl-Ctrl "dexter" yields a nice amount of email on you too. I don't like it on Mac though, prefer Spotlight. Oddly (or not), I tried the Windowz version of desktop search and hated it vs. Google Desktop.
Jake
· 1 year ago
@Marian: Apparently Al is storing all the waste from those corporations on his own desk, while he figures out what to do with it. His triple LCD monitors are outstanding though. I guess these are the perks of an ex-VP, Nobel Laureate.
Sadly, I have nothing in the way of excuses other than my desire for chaotic order.
Gretchen
· 1 year ago
"Search needs to augment my memory"
Great definition.
Jake
· 1 year ago
@Gretchen: Thanks. I neglected to mention that an equally important requirement for search is discovery. So, refined:
Search needs to augment my memory and help me discover new information.
Sarah
· 1 year ago
In "Everything is Miscellaneous" Weinberger talks about searching rather than sorting. Things can be sorted in so many ways that it's much more efficient to avoid choosing just one way of doing it.
Maybe we are still used to sorting because that's the way it has to work with physical items. As people become more used to digitization and infinite copies of things, search will become more and more critical and less likely to be an 'afterthought' in design.
Jake
· 1 year ago
@Sarah: Interesting. We tried to offer more filters as part of the Mix UI to avoid having to have heavy search, but it seems like there's always another filter that makes sense.
To your point, good search allows for more flexible sorting through its algorithm.
ChrisRowell
· 1 year ago
So on the email thing, my question is this.
How do you search for the email you glanced at and decided to address later? I assume you have tons of unread messages in your inbox, and I assume that you do not recall how many of these "I'll do it later" messages you have or even what they were about.
I still do the old filing method so that my inbox is just the: gotta do something about this.
Chris
· 1 year ago
I'm like you. I use spotlight to find what I need on my Mac and google is my home page.
Unlike you I am a naturally messy person and often find myself in my shed wishing I could google that #2 philips bit......
Jake
· 1 year ago
@ChrisRowell: Actually, my version of the 0 inbox is reading and taking action on all the mail that's new. I do that as it comes in (if I have time) or periodically (if I'm busy). I can tell at a glance if something is relevant or not. Irrelevant email never gets opened.
When I have a bunch of unread stuff that will require work, I change TBird's view to show only unread to minimize the chaos.
@Chris: Funny. I love Spotlight, but I never go to Google's home. I use the search box in Firefox to skip that step. IE7 and Safari have one as well.
If you search a lot, this will save you time.
It can't be long until there's a physical way to index your belongings to find them later, like calling your cell phone when it's buried in the house somewhere. Tools are a great sample application.
All Comments
You need Google desktop and its search engine - just turn off the rest of the crap. Takes a little while to index but Ctrl-Ctrl gets me a search box for all my mail and other files - I'd be lost without it.
Just did a quick search for 'Jake' and got me a whole host of 'email dirt' I can use on you ;0)
Sadly, I have nothing in the way of excuses other than my desire for chaotic order.
Great definition.
Search needs to augment my memory and help me discover new information.
Maybe we are still used to sorting because that's the way it has to work with physical items. As people become more used to digitization and infinite copies of things, search will become more and more critical and less likely to be an 'afterthought' in design.
To your point, good search allows for more flexible sorting through its algorithm.
How do you search for the email you glanced at and decided to address later? I assume you have tons of unread messages in your inbox, and I assume that you do not recall how many of these "I'll do it later" messages you have or even what they were about.
I still do the old filing method so that my inbox is just the: gotta do something about this.
Unlike you I am a naturally messy person and often find myself in my shed wishing I could google that #2 philips bit......
When I have a bunch of unread stuff that will require work, I change TBird's view to show only unread to minimize the chaos.
@Chris: Funny. I love Spotlight, but I never go to Google's home. I use the search box in Firefox to skip that step. IE7 and Safari have one as well.
If you search a lot, this will save you time.
It can't be long until there's a physical way to index your belongings to find them later, like calling your cell phone when it's buried in the house somewhere. Tools are a great sample application.