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Google's 'local' site has a map that invites you to click it. Alas, poor clicker.
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T e c h n o f i l e
Are 'local' search sites a good idea? Google Local and TrueLocal show some rough edges


Nov. 27, 2005


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, The Post-Standard

   Two Web sites are making a splash with local search results. They are Google's local search site and a new site called www.truelocal.com. They're each worth trying.
   Google's local search site is easy to get to. Go to Google at www.google.com and click the "Local" link on the main page. After the local site opens, make a bookmark for that page. (The actual address of the local search is bizarrely complicated, so I'm not going to print it here.)
   Google Local confuses me each time I use it. The first thing you see is a large map of North America, and the natural thing to do is to click on the area where you live or the area where you want local information.
   Alas, that does nothing. Double clicking? That merely centers the map. Right clicking? Not a whisper of a reaction.
   The interface yields its clues after a while. You have to click the + or - buttons on an ugly vertical stick to zoom in or out on the area you're interested in. Bad interface, Google. Baaad.
   Once I got past the dumber-than-nails way the map works, I found the rest of Google Local worth using. I typed POOL CLEANING into the search form and got no hits, but when I typed POOL CLEANER I got about 20. ("Cleaning" should have returned some results, so I suggest Google look at how it makes use of search terms.)
   I typed my own family name and got two hits -- one from a business that had a link to my old radio show and one that linked to the Web site of my newspaper employer. It did not locate anything directly linked to me.
   TrueLocal doesn't have a map. You type in a location or an area code. (Google Local can work that way, too.) My test search phrase, POOL CLEANING, was utterly misunderstood; its results included a bowling alley and a party rental place. POOL CLEANER worked better, although the results included four city schools. (No, I'm not kidding.)
   The folks at TrueLocal say they're building local databases by pounding the pavement, not by relying solely on Web sites and other Internet information. Other searches I did on TrueLocal seemed to bear that out, but the service is too new to judge at this time. (It was launched this month.)
   In brief, here are sites I find fascinating:
   Gigapixel images, at www.tawbaware.com/maxlyons/gigapixel.htm. Think your 8-megapixel digital camera is cool? Look at the 1.09 billion pixel image on this site. You can't download the full-size version, but you can see a reduced-size image; it's incredible.
   Randy Singer's site for lawyers who use Apple Macintosh computers, at www.macattorney.com. If someone tries to tell you there are no Macintosh programs for law offices, open up this site and smile. There are 170 separate programs in the site's list. My take on this: Using a computer system that's immune to Windows spyware, viruses and breakins makes special sense for a law office. Those client records are very valuable.
   A great site for kids, at www.lovethosekids.com. What drew my attention was the collection of visual puzzles, but the "Tranquility" section, labeled "Therapy" on the main page, turned out to be just what I needed on a tough day. (Yes, the site's not just for kids. It's for parents and, in my case, grandparents as well.)
   Weather photos don't get any better than the ones at www.extremeinstability.com. I like the aurora borealis photos the most, but there's a storm chase video on the site that will make you cringe.