Remove Experts Exchange from Google Search Results
About once I week I do a google search, usually regarding the vagueries of C++ destructors or something, that produces a raft of hits from experts-exhange.com and the top of the results. Since experts-exchange.com hooking you with questions, then hitting you up for cash before it actually gives you the information you're looking for, these bogus results are a distraction from the task at hand.
Usually I just hold my nose and scroll by these results, but then a tweet reminded me of the Three Virtues. Why the hell isn't the computer doing this work for me?
So after teaching myself a little javascript and a little xpath (again), I rolled a greasemonkey user script to remove these pesky obstacles to real information.
The script can be found here. You will need to install greasemonkey (and firefox) before you can use it.
Todo:
- UI for adding domains to remove from the searches.
- Support other search engines.
New Release of Atalib
Version 1.21 of the Atalib user script accommodates changes to Amazon's page format. I'm not completely happy with the placement of the search results, and will be investigating ways to better integrate the results with the Amazon page.
Download Atalib 1.21.
WorldCat Lookup From Amazon
Greasemonkey is an extension for Firefox that allows users (i.e., you and me) to run javascript programs of our choice, called user scripts, to change the look or behavior of web pages.
WorldCat is a service that lets you search the catalogs of libraries both nearby and around the world.
Amazon is, well, Amazon.
Atalib is a Greasemonkey script that runs on Amazon pages. It performs a search on WorldCat, and displays the result on the Amazon page, so you can see if the item is available from a library, near or far. WorldCat helpfully orders its results by distance, so you can easily determine whether the item you're interested in is available within biking distance, or if you will need to charter a jet.
To use Atalib:
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Get Firefox if you're not using it already.
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Install Greasemonkey. You'll have to restart Firefox after installing it.
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Look for one of these two ways of installing the script.
Whichever you see, click the
Install
button to install Atalib. - Rock the Library, 2.0-style.
It was fun to find out that a manual of Japanese etiquette is available through the Library of Congress, and that the library of the Nelson-Atkins Museum owns a copy of Introduction to the X Window System.


