Innovation in Search
Search is hot lately, with two new search engines being announced in recent weeks. As the world’s only easily-searchable database platform, we’re happy to see attention being paid to finding relevant data easily.
Google Shows Its Human Side
Were you one of the Googlers worried you were infecting your computer with viruses on Saturday morning?
For about an hour on Saturday, each and every Google search resulted in a warning that "this site may harm your computer." What happened, according to a Google statement, is due to - human error. Google works with a nonprofit that tracks the sites that install malicious software on visiting computers. On Saturday, someone accidentally checked the input value that applied to ALL URLs - ouch!
The term "human error" in situations like these is kind of amusing. It's framed almost as a good thing ("don't worry - there's nothing wrong with our software. Bob just pushed the wrong button!), but the reality is that human error can be just as harmful as systemic errors - especially because you can usually weed out the systemic errors by fixing the code (or, for you Office Space fans out there, "fixing the glitch").
There's often no such quick fix for human error.
Google Said It Best – In 1999
Two in particular explained what I’d witnessed: Google’s reverence for simplicity and speed. The principles are still there today, and are still a great articulation of two crucial principles of web-based software design.
