# A Small Suggestion **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 27, 2015, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036 "2015-08-27T07:19:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/21 "2015-08-27T16:17:33Z")
Is the board’s hardware really _still_ running so close to the ragged edge of disaster that this stupid restriction is still doing anything worthwhile? ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/22 "2015-08-27T16:17:41Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > You guys still this boards search engine? Much easier and faster to use Google. Yes we still. > [@Morgenstern](#): > > I don’t know why anyone uses the board’s search function with Google available. I use it because I hate myself. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/23 "2015-08-27T16:23:53Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Yes we still. > > I use it because I hate myself. And in support, I use it because I hate **Drunky Smurf.** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/24 "2015-08-27T17:26:02Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Is the board’s hardware really _still_ running so close to the ragged edge of disaster that this stupid restriction is still doing anything worthwhile? Since we still receive complaints about this board’s performance at times (the last complaint was in May of this year), that rather strongly indicates that the restrictions still need to be in place. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/25 "2015-08-27T17:30:46Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > As an example, I remember you started a flip flop thread. Suppose I wanted to look it up. Google: > > charlie wayne flip flops “sdmb” > > [Voila!](https://www.google.com/search?q=charlie+wayne+flip+flops+%22sdmb%22&oq=charlie+wayne+flip+flops+%22sdmb%22&aqs=chrome..69i57.382j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=91&ie=UTF-8) I do the [[site:boards.straightdope.com flip flop “charlie wayne”]](https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=site%3Aboards.straightdope.com%20flip%20flop%20%22charlie%20wayne%22&es_th=1) It’s the first result. Your way returns this thread. eta: of course, that’s what ECG said in post #17. doh. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/26 "2015-08-27T17:44:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I have done _tens of thousands_ of searches. I mastered the two minute thing after my third attempt. I believe I was searching for threads discussing mohair. Just sayin. Yeah? Well I’ve done _ **MILLIONS** _ of searches\*. \*I’m kidding, I don’t use the search function often, however I do browse the board by the “New Posts” feature, which the board counts as a search ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/27 "2015-08-27T18:12:30Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Wow, it took 14 posts for people to start suggesting Google. I don’t know why anyone uses the board’s search function with Google available. The only reason I’ve found is that Google (as far as I know) can’t handle forum-specific searches. And if you’re looking for the time that that one guy used (say) a Princess Bride quote in GD to mock someone, Google will gives way too many results without the forum delimiter. Luckily, that doesn’t occur too often. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/28 "2015-08-27T18:24:27Z")
I use the search engine all the time and it works perfectly fine for me, mostly. For some people, though, it works miserably to the point of being almost unusable. I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/29 "2015-08-27T19:14:39Z")
Charlie’s suggestion was aimed more at new users who don’t know about (or remember) the 120 second limit, and those kind of users are also unlikely to know that Google is a better way to search the boards. So “use Google” doesn’t address what he’s trying to fix. But it still doesn’t seem like an issue that needs fixing. So a user tries another search and it says “come back in 100 seconds.” They get the message that they have to wait 2 minutes, it doesn’t reset the timer on them, and it prefills the search box with whatever they originally typed so they don’t have to retype anything. The total savings is one mouse click, and no savings in time. And how many searches return zero results? ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/30 "2015-08-27T20:30:56Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I use the search engine all the time and it works perfectly fine for me, mostly. > > For some people, though, it works miserably to the point of being almost unusable. I don’t know why. the only thing about the search feature is that it won’t search for anything with three letters or less. then Google can be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/31 "2015-08-27T21:33:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And in support, I use it because I hate **Drunky Smurf.** 😃 **Czarcasm** has the right idea. 🆒 > [@TroutMan](#): > > And how many searches return zero results? I had one today because I missplleld a word. You know, I don’t pay good money to sit on my ass and wait two minutes to do a re-search. I demand this be fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/32 "2015-08-27T21:35:14Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Complete instructions for how to search the board using google are here (in the sticky at the top of the ATMB forum): > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638051](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=638051) Thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/33 "2015-08-27T21:39:51Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > I had one today because I missplleld a word. You know, I don’t pay good money to sit on my ass and wait two minutes to do a re-search. I demand this be fixed. Way ahead of you. I just searched for “missplleld” and it returned results. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/34 "2015-08-27T21:55:48Z")
Do you have any idea how much two minutes of my time is worth? Well, not much. But this isn’t about me. It’s about me having to wait two minutes between searches. Just because my time isn’t valuable to me personally doesn’t mean it’s not precious to all of us. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/35 "2015-08-28T02:23:33Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > I use the search engine all the time and it works perfectly fine for me, mostly. > > For some people, though, it works miserably to the point of being almost unusable. I don’t know why. Yeah, I don’t know why that is. But it’s very strange to me. I almost can’t find anything with a board search. But unlike Fenris, anytime I try a Google “SDMB” search it usually brings up my desired thread first time. Of course I front load the search pretty heavily including everything I can remember about what I’m looking for which ends up being about 15-20 words. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/36 "2015-08-28T03:31:23Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Just because my time isn’t valuable to me personally doesn’t mean it’s not precious to all of us. Yes, **Vinyl Turnip** ’s time is precious to me. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/37 "2015-08-28T04:27:13Z")
At one point I was working on a search plugin for the board that would automatically add all the stuff to Google, including making it easy to search by poster and to put things in order. But then I stumbled upon something weird. **If you force Google to put things in chronological order, a lot of the results disappear.** It’s weird. My computer’s crashed since then, I don’t know if I had it backed up. But this thread reminded me of that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/38 "2015-08-28T11:56:04Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Do you have any idea how much two minutes of my time is worth? . [QUOTE=Muddy Waters] All you little girls, Sittin’out at that line I can make love to you woman, In five minutes time [/QUOTE] Just sayin ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/39 "2015-08-28T12:01:59Z")
Always found that a curious boast, but never second-guess Muddy. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2015, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036/40 "2015-08-28T20:41:38Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Yes, **Vinyl Turnip** ’s time is precious to me. I’d like to add that although Vinyl Turnip’s time may not be precious to me, it would be a lot more precious if VT took a name change. Perhaps I can make a few suggestions. How’s about some of these? 1. Vinyl Potato 2. Vinyl Tuber [https://www.google.ca/search?q=tuber&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws\_rd=cr&ei=4cTgVZCmGoewyQT4z73wDA](https://www.google.ca/search?q=tuber&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=4cTgVZCmGoewyQT4z73wDA) 1. Vinyl Rutabaga (this could be appropriate if Vinyl Turnip has any kind of Swedish ancestor because a Rutabaga is actually a Swedish Turnip). My gosh! I just learn something new every time I come to this site. [http://www.doityourself.com/stry/knowing-the-different-species-of-turnips](http://www.doityourself.com/stry/knowing-the-different-species-of-turnips) 1. Oracal 631 Turnip According to the following site, Circuit Vinyl is Oracal 631 and it can most certainly get wet. Many people have asked if vinyl can ever get wet. So if you are like me and never imagined that vinyl could somehow get wet, then you might want to reconsider using the name Vinyl Turnip and instead, you might consider changing that name to Oracal 631 Turnip. But, I would check the following site - just in case. [http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-harvest-and-store-turnips](http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-harvest-and-store-turnips) Oracal 631 Turnip just somehow sounds a lot more friendly to me than does Vinyl Turnip. You did want to appear to be friendly. Didn’t you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-small-suggestion/729036.md?page=3)