Google unveils SearchWiki

Google has introduced a tool to allow users to customise their search queries, reports The BBC.

The company's SearchWiki lets users re-order, remove or add specific Web search results. This means the next time they perform the same search, the personalised version will pop up.

"I would call this revolutionary. It's a huge step, not a baby step in the world of search," Google's product manager, Cedric Dupont, told the BBC. "This is part of an obvious movement of the Web to become more participatory, so Google search is adapting to this movement. The SearchWiki is about giving users more control over their search results and increasing user happiness."

Scientists Yonggang Huang of Northwestern University and John Rogers of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say they have developed a way to make circuits that can bend, stretch and twist without breaking, reports The Register.

The duo believes the technology will be useful to make new flexible sensors, solar panels, and for medical and athletic devices.

The scientists have partnered to create stretchable electronics since 2005, with Huang focusing on theory and Rogers on experiments. The pair's new work improves on what was originally a form of single-crystal silicon they developed that could be stretched in one direction without changing its electrical properties.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has become a mammoth event every January in Las Vegas, but the down economy is paring it back as Cisco Systems, Yahoo and other companies scale back their presence, says CNet.

CES remains a useful way for technology companies to meet with retailers, press and the media. But for some in the current economic climate, it's not useful enough to pay $35 per square foot for a sprawling booth on the Las Vegas Convention Centre's cavernous interior.

"This was to have been Cisco's first time as a formal exhibitor," said spokesman Jim Brady. "Given [Cisco's] focus on reducing costs, the company has decided to scale down its participation in CES in Las Vegas in January 2009.” Cisco isn't the only one to scale back. Also on the list are Yahoo, Seagate, Logitech and Belkin, company representatives confirmed.

In an attempt to halt the spread of a network worm, the US defence department has suspended the use of so-called thumb drives, CDs, flash media cards, and all other removable data storage devices, says Wired.

The ban comes from the commander of US Strategic Command, according to an internal army e-mail. The suspension, which includes everything from external hard drives to "floppy disks”, is supposed to take effect immediately.

In some organisations, the ban would be only a minor inconvenience. But the military relies heavily on such drives to store information. Bandwidth is often scarce out in the field, networks are often considered unreliable and takeaway storage is used constantly as a substitute.

Surfing the Internet, playing games and hanging out on social networks are important for teen development, a large study of online use has revealed, says The BBC.

The report counters the stereotypical view held by many parents and teachers that such activity is a waste of time. More than 800 teenagers and parents took part in the three-year US project.

"They are learning the technological skills and literacy needed for the contemporary world," said the report's author, Dr Mimi Ito. "They are learning how to communicate online, craft a public identity, create a home page, post links. All these things were regarded as sophisticated 10 years ago but young people today take them for granted."