Inquisitor has been updated as of build 52 to identify affiliate links. See here.
Tonight, I found this post on TUAW that discusses the Inquisitor search plugin for Safari. The plugin gives you a Spotlight-esque result when you use the built-in Google search box, giving you easy access to the top links. It turns out that the program, written by Dave Watanabe, is designed to insert affiliate-linked URL as the “top result” when you search for certain terms. This was initially found by a bloke named Allan and posted on his blog.
As I commented here, there are a specific set of terms which are written into the application that put affiliate linked URLs as the first match. Without the source code, there’s no definate way to see what is going on here. However, using the UNIX command strings, we can look for the various bits of text intermixed into a binary application. The main program doing the work here for Inquisitor is InquisitorCore, buried deep in the bundle. Running strings against this, we find some of the following code… (after the jump)
Continue reading ‘Inquisitor puts affiliate links at top of search results’
Published by Joe 1 year, 2 months ago
in Life.
A man and his sister made a trail through an IKEA parking lot with flour for a running club. Someone thought it was “the terrorist” and called 911. The two face felony charges.
Mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said the city plans to seek restitution from the Salchows, who are due in court Sept. 14.
“You see powder connected by arrows and chalk, you never know,” she said. “It could be a terrorist, it could be something more serious. We’re thankful it wasn’t, but there were a lot of resources that went into figuring that out.”
What is wrong with people? Terrorist? Yes, the terrorists are going to sprinkle anthrax around IKEA because that’s how they roll. If they had sprinkled anthrax on the road, you’d have to get on the ground and sniff it like cocaine to catch it.
(via MSNBC)
Published by Joe 1 year, 4 months ago
in Random.
“Studio 60″ was cancelled after just less than one full season. However, it was nominated for 5 Emmy awards. However, ER was renewed for the 90th season, even though it’s totally “jumped the shark.” It got no nominations.
I have not had the motivation to write anything new for some time. It seems like every time I would sit down to write something, I’d start writing about the shows I loved getting shit-canned. Then, I’d get depressed. And, I’d save the draft and go do something else. Well, I deleted the two draft posts and decided to suck it up.
We still have not watched the finale to Studio 60. It’s sitting on the DVR… but it’ll be sad and it’ll piss me off. Veronica Mars also got cancelled… yeah, the third season was a bit weak compared to the first and second. But, it was still a damn entertaining show. We’ll miss Veronica.
We get sucked into television series and grow emotional attachments. When they announced the last season of The West Wing, The Wife refused to watch it. She said it’d just make her upset. When John Spencer died, The Wife cried, knowing that Leo wouldn’t be there anymore. We were both teary eyed during the episode where Leo died.
We get anxious waiting to see who gets voted out of Hell’s Kitchen. We feel uplifted when the people we don’t like get nominated on Big Brother. We laugh when Jim plays pranks on Dwight. We were (well, I was, not The Wife so much) sad and feeling melancholy when Picard sat down to play poker with the other senior officers as the Enterprise sailed off into television history.
And people wonder why millions of Americans sit on their couches most evenings. Seems obvious to me.
NBC canceled both “Raines” and “Studio 60.” Two shows The Wife and I enjoyed. I’m sure their time slots will be filled with more “Deal or No Deal” episodes or a new reality TV show where we see bulimia and anorexia sufferers seeing who can gain the most weight in a three months.
