Google Custom Search Business Edition

The website re-design is in the final stages, and today I implemented Google Custom Search Business Edition for the new site. The cost is right (only $100/year) and the implementation is as simple as cut-and-paste, in classic Google style. The search bar can be embedded anywhere on your website, and you control the setting for which pages are searched and displayed on the results page. This is the PERFECT solution for our site, as we will want to exclude all the content in our old design, along with our landing pages which live on the same URL. The only set-back with using CSBE in conjunction with a re-design is that Google must first index the pages that are returned on the search results page, so for the first few weeks the new site is live on the web the content that is returned in the search will be minimal until all the new pages are indexed. All in all, it really is a phenomenal way to quickly and easily add a powerful search function to your website!

Google Reader

My life is forever changed with Google Reader. Such a wonderful aggregation of all the things I love on the web and didn't even know it. Example: Today I had 100 new posts to peruse, and with the aid of Google Reader I was able to give my eyes over to everything on the internet this morning in less than 20 minutes--Brilliant!
Why can't Gmail 'mark as read' as I scroll through full-color versions?
That would be cool.

Knowledge pre-packaged.
Yum.