Dammit - I always try to search for prior threads before I post, but a 120 second delay is a real PITA. CAPACITY MANAGEMENT - dammit, if you can’t figure out how much indexing availability you need, fix it or say “fuck it.”
Hell, for a trivial amount of money (garnered from user fees) SDMB could googleize (with, of course, additional advertising that we all ignore).
While the Boards are not actually Googleized (i.e., don’t use the Google search function), you can Google the boards. I can often find the thread i need using Google, especially if it has some unusual terms.
I never bother with the search function as it is worthless and infuriating.
I’m sure you already know this but you can just use Google. Type “site:http://boards.straightdope.com horror of blimps” into Google. It doesn’t catch everything, but it’s a million times better than search. And you can search for three-letter words! And you don’t have to wait.
Cool! I didn’t know you could do that! Does it work on most sites?
Yes, I always use “thing I’m looking for site:boards.straightdope.com” on Google instead of the search function here. It returns things in order of relevance instead of date, too, which is lovely.
It works, but Google doesn’t have all the threads, last I checked. Just the oldest and the newest.
I have no idea why they don’t add a Google search function. They wouldn’t even have to use the one that comes with Google Adsense–there’s a free variety.
I don’t mind the delay especially if it means less advertising. I can get behind your rant, though, when the search screen bombs out and it still counts against you.