[WikiEN-l] Custom Google search engines for finding RSs for subject areas

[Gwern Branwen]

On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 12:00 PM, Gwern Branwen <gwern0 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Further examples can be multiplied, but I hope this shows that CSEs
> can be very useful for finding online sources; I'm sure it would work
> as well for other subject-areas!
>
> (And since I can't let recent events go, I'll mar my little essay with
> a final remark: *this* is the sort of thing that will lessen issues
> like BLPs - not fanaticism like "Caedite eos! Novit enim Dominus qui
> sunt eius".)

I withdraw my enthusiastic support of CSEs. Apparently Google will
without warning or notice arbitrarily delete all but 20 URL filters:

http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/customsearch/thread?tid=29757bc2983d538d&hl=en

This makes CSE utterly useless for Wikipedia. The obvious workaround,
keeping a list of URLs on a subpage and having a CSE load that, will
run afoul of the Wikipedia blacklist filter.

Even if I found a workaround, I am sufficiently angry that Google
would unilaterally destroy approximately 10-20 hours of my work that I
do not think I would use CSE anyway.

The idea is still good, however. The restricted searches proved their
utility to me. But I currently don't know of any alternatives.

-- 
gwern