Reverse Evolution
I propose an evolution. We need to change the way we look at the web and push it further forward into a future of crafty ideas and utility. My proposal is not new. It is, in fact, the basis for the dot com companies that survived.
I see technology as the application of science. Usually, technology is utilitarian but many people (I’m thinking M here) see it as an outlet for art. In either case, what I propose encompasses both perspectives because I propose that we shift from seeing web sites as tools and begin to use them as a technology.
Here is a simple example: use search engine keywords.
Proof of concept – go to http://search.yahoo.com and type the following:
define intractable
There are quite a few keywords you can take advantage of at Yahoo! search – if you’d like to know where I live type the following:
map 7351 Artesia Blvd Buena Park, CA
If that whets your appetite, you can take a look at the full listing of keywords you can use on a Yahoo! search.
But this is only the start – while these keywords empower you to drill down faster, they don’t fundamentally change how you browse the web. Fortunately, Yahoo search isn’t where it stops because the gnomes at Google are on top of this whole web as a technology bit. They take a phrase like ‘push the envelope’ and make it look like Woodstock the day after.
Google has keywords too, but I’ll let you in on one that will hopefully change the way you browse in the future. What I want to propose is that we browse the web in reverse, or, more specifically that we reverse the associations we use in browsing the web.
Let’s say you find a site you like – for example, I’ve had a thing for Rebecca Blood for some time. You can browse backwards from that association using the Google link keyword. Try it out:
link:www.rebeccablood.net
What you end up with is other sites that have links to Rebecca’s blog. Rather than moving forward, looking at sites she’s linked and going to them, you go backward, seeing who is referencing her.
Forward and backward aren’t the best adjectives to use – references online are circular as the moniker ‘web’ would imply, but the gist is that we are able to check the non explicit references of a website.
There are so many interesting applications of this: if you find a book that you think is interesting online, you can use subtlety to discover who else is interested. You could find something controversial and see what others are saying. You could find a nice site and see if there are others like it.
There are many other 'Easter eggs' to be found on Google. This one in particular I only just found via Google Hacks, a book I skimmed recently. From time to time I’ll add more nuggets from the book to the public domain. It will make us all better.
9:31:04 PM 
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