I’ve updated BetterSearch, my Firefox/Flock addon, to version 1.21. Here’s what’s new:

• Compatible with Flock 2 beta+.
• FIX: Action icons are back.
• FIX: Delicious support unbroken! It’s glorious.
• FIX: MSN/Live support works again.
• FIX: Statusbar tooltip was showing the wrong version number. Silly thing.
• FIX: Made some minor enhancements to Google URL normalisation.
• FIX: Removed remnant code (”big icons” etc.).
• CHG: Removed support for everything but Yahoo!, Google, MSN and Delicious. Sorry, don’t have the time anymore to keep track of anything else.

Go get the new version while it’s still hot! :)

A couple of weeks ago (mid-June) I’ve participated in our internal Yahoo! EU Hack Day. This time around I’ve decided to tinker with Yahoo! SearchMonkey by building a couple of modules (dubbed SearchMonkey apps) during the 24 hours available.

In case you have never heard about SearchMonkey: it’s a technology built into Yahoo! Search that allows developers to present their own or other peoples’ sites in a different way (examples to follow). These search result augmentations are dubbed “SearchMonkey apps”.

The Search users then have the option to use the SearchMonkey apps they like, which enhances their search results by presenting them in a different way; review sites for example might present their articles in a way that includes the rating or verdict of the reviewed item. There is a good number of different apps available at the SearchMonkey Apps Gallery.

Using SearchMonkey doesn’t influence the ranking or the order of the results; it displays the results in the same order, just differently.

Anyways. I ended up writing 6 apps, and most of them I’d like to share. For more information about a particular app, just click the links. They’ll take you to the related Gallery listing, where you’ll have the option to enable the app for your searches.

Twitter Profiles

Whenever a Twitter profile turns up in your search, you’ll get a bit more information about the person—number of followers, number of people followed, name, bio, location, last tweet. like this:

By the way, it doesn’t query the Twitter API; instead it just grabs the HTML page and extracts the publicly available information.

Once you’ve visited the Gallery page and installed it, try a Yahoo! UK example query to see it in action.

(On a related note, there’s apparently another Twitter SearchMonkey app, but I couldn’t find the installation link to give it a try. Bart, the developer, does things in a more complex and probably more fail-safe way; in my defense, I wanted to keep it simple.)

Wikipedia Quick Lookup

If a Wikipedia article is found, the app will show you its first paragraph and, if available, a thumbnail of the first image. Also the category:

Once you’ve visited the Gallery page and installed it, try a Yahoo! UK example query to see it in action.

Xing Profiles

Xing is a more Europe-centric LinkedIn contender. It’s big in Germany. If a Xing person is found, the app shows the mugshot, the location, the title and the industry. Unfortunately Xing doesn’t reveal the company on public profiles unless you’re logged in, which my SM app clearly is not. Still:

Once you’ve visited the Gallery page and installed it, try a Yahoo! UK example query to see it in action.

Vox Profiles

In a desperate attempt to suck up to Anil Dash (I kid) I’ve hacked together a module to show the profile of any Vox blogger when a related page is found:

Once you’ve visited the Gallery page and installed it, try a Yahoo! UK example query to see it in action.

TechCrunch / Valleywag summaries

Using cutting edge high tech web 3.0 algorithms straight out of Munich, Germany, this module is able to extract the gist of any given Techcrunch or Valleywag article.

I don’t like these sites very much. At least their Yahoo! coverage (which I am interested in, given my background) is usually hysterical and often times sensationalist. DO. NOT. WANT.

Once you’ve visited the Gallery page and installed it, try a Yahoo! UK example query to see it in action.

Well, that’s it. Maybe you like those, maybe not. :) If you’re interested in writing your own apps for Yahoo! SearchMonkey now, take a look at the official Manual for SearchMonkey Developers and Publishers! And if you’re now wondering what other applications might be out there, the Gallery is a good place to start.

UPDATE/DISCLAIMER: Even though I work for Yahoo! during the day, these are NOT official SearchMonkey apps by Yahoo!. You’re looking at personal stuff. Again, this post, as everything on this site and under this domain, is NOT YAHOO! BUSINESS. Thank you.

Trying to keep track of the last one or two weeks…

• Running again! Avoiding tarmac, thank God there are many forest roads around. Using light weights on my hands now, too. Fun. The most interesting part of the down period was that I was actually missing my runs, and that I was looking forward to start running again. I think it’s official: I like it.
• Found out I can watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart & The Colbert Report freely and legally on the web,OMG. Thank you, Comedy Central. Too bad there isn’t an RSS feed. Or is there?
• Jeremy Zawodny is leaving Yahoo! – and so is JR Conlin. Bummer, two of my personal heroes gone. Well, I guess ~9 years at the same company is enough for anyone. All the best, guys!
• Using FriendFeed now. It’s not bad, really; then again, I mostly use it to have a single place where all my loose threads come together. I really like the stalking helper imaginary friends feature. Makes it easy to keep track of pals who don’t use FriendFeed themselves. I’ve tried subscribing to the combined feed of all the people I’ve subscribed to on the site, but it’s like being fed by a firehose. Unusable, sorry. As I’ve said before, the idea to build a social network on top of peoples’ lifestreams is a bit too meta for me.
• Discovered Goodreads. Nice.
• I love GTA IV. Incredible game. So many lovingly crafted details, amazing.
• New iPhones! Dope. Want. And a revamped .mac! Let’s hope it works as good as it looks in the presentations. The current .mac web implementation is useless for me. It just doesn’t cut it.

Brings no new features to the table (sorry) but compatibility with Firefox 3.0.* and Flock 1.2.

Enjoy! (The new version should also appear on AMO soon.)

I’ve updated my Firefox addon BetterSearch to version 1.19. The update brings Firefox 3 and Flock compatibility and fixes the thumbnails for Yahoo! Search. Also, it now looks a little bit better due to new icons, c/o FamFamFam.

You remember BetterSearch, right? No? Oh, okay.

“An extension for Firefox and Flock which enhances Google (all international flavours, too), Yahoo Search, del.icio.us, MSN Search [...] by adding previews (thumbnails) and Amazon product images and info (type, price, rating for US/DE/UK/CA/FR products), a quick preview feature as well as “Open in New Window”, “Site Info” and “Wayback Machine” links to the search results.”

The other changes are minor and mostly under the hood to prepare for the next major version.

Go check it out!

Next up: better thumbnails. Work, work…