Hacking Google Desktop Search to Index Drives Besides C:

My initial enthusiasm for the recently released Google Desktop Search product was somewhat dampened when I realized that the product would only index files on the C: drive. That restriction limits the value of GDS on my home system (on which virtually all user files are stored on the E: drive) and on my work PC (where I store all my user files on a network share mapped as G:).

It turns out that there's a workaround. Scott Kingery's excellent GDS TIPS page has all sorts of useful information about GDS, including how to hack the registry to tell GDS to index additional drives besides C:.

(Thanks to Chris Sherman from Search Engine Watch for pointing out the Kingery site.)

The Meaning of Sports

I've been reading an interesting book. Michael Mandelbaum's The Meaning of Sports. The author theorizes that baseball is a reflection of America's pre-industrial existence. Football reflects both the Industrial Revolution and the military, and basketball embodies the post-industrial era. (Most of the country won't notice that he overlooks hockey, but this is Hockeytown.)

It's a fun read. Mandelbaum is definitely aiming at a popular rather than a scholarly audience, and he provides a lot of really interesting background on the history of the sports.

And I was pleased to rediscover one of my favorite quotations--one that I hadn't thought about in years.

"Football combines two of the worst things in American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings."
--George F. Will

Cool Posters

Thanks to NPR's All Things Considered for tonight's story highlighting the American Institute of Graphic Artists' effort to get out the vote. A couple of hundred of the best posters can be seen at the AIGA's Web site.

There's some really cool stuff. Each of the posters can be viewed with Acrobat Reader and printed out on ledger-size paper (11" x 17").

Site to Check Out: Google Guide

I've made no secret of the fact that Google is my search engine of choice. Even though I preach and teach (during search workshops) the importance of not relying on a single search engine, I invariably first turn to Google whenever I'm looking for something.

And I'm not alone. I don't think I know of a single librarian who doesn't start out with Google. (Okay, one librarian . . . but I don't think JD uses any search engines. For him, computers only exist to get to OPACs and bibliographic databases.)

And the amazing thing is how versatile the tools are that the Googlers have provided. I learned a lot from Tara Calashain's and Rachel Dornfest's Google Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips & Tools when it came out a couple of years ago, and a slew of other titles have followed that title onto the market.

Today, I found a great Web site which should allow me to further refine develop my Google skills. It's the Google Guide site operated by Nancy Blachman. She provides an incredible amount of information which is beautifully organized into separate tracks targeted at novices and experienced users.

And for retro users, Nancy even provides printable versions of the site.

Tiger Season

After fading badly in September, the Tigers finished with a 72-90 record. 73 wins would have been nice--a full 30 better than the 43-119 record they compiled a year ago. (On the other hand, had the Tigers won the season finale they would have denied the Devil Rays their opportunity to notch the first 70 win season in their seven year history.)

(The team might have approached 80 wins had they had the services of stopper Ugueth Urbina during the final drive. He left the team on September 1st to return to Venezuela after his mother was kidnapped.)

Despite tailing off badly at the end, there was a lot to be impressed by in the 2004 team.

• When Marcus Thames hit 2 homers in the 161st game, this became the first team in ML history to have 11 players with 10 HR
• Ivan Rodriguez' .334 was the 7th best BA in the ML
• As a team, the Tigers batted .272--#8 in the ML and in their division (Cleveland batted .276)
• Their slugging average of .449 was also #8 in the majors and #2 in the division (Chicago hit for .457
• Their OBP was mediocre--.337 for #14
• The pitching was poor. The 4.93 ERA was #30
• Despite having Pudge and Inge combine to throw out 41 felons (#6), the opponents stole 71 bases

(not yet done with this one.)

Debate #1

I didn't watch much of the 9/30 debate between Bush and Kerry, but I listened to much of it (in an on-and-off fashion) while trying to troubleshoot a computer problem. (Problem was with me. I didn't read the instructions closely enough to notice that the new printer I was trying to access via my new wireless print server wasn't compatible with the damned print server.)

I was encouraged by the overall tone of the dialog. Both parties were civil and, for the most part, rational. I'd been worried that Kerry would be too stiff, but he seemed much more at ease than W was. It wasn't a knockout punch by any means, but I'd say Kerry scored some points. Look for Bush to be more prepared for the next one.

I heard an interesting interview on NPR with a debate specialist who published a book about the first 40 years of Presidential debates. He noted that neither participant seemed prepared to shift his focus among the moderator (Jim Lehrer), the studio audience, and the multiple cameras. He also pointed out that each network (I think there were nine broadcasting the event) got to choose which camera shot to go with from moment to moment. The consensus seems to be that Bush didn't appear to be as attentive as Kerry did--that is, that Kerry came across better when he wasn't speaking.

The author mentioned that Clinton used to practice his reactions so that he wouldn't get caught in ungraceful moment while his opponent was speaking. Every little edge counts.

Blogless Day

Well, the suspense is over as to how long it would take me to go a full day w/o blogging.

Four days.