September 3, 1999

Trawling the World Wide Web for info on life around here is tricky; spackling Washington-area keywords into queries at search engines doesn't always work too well. The home-brewed search engine at http://earthops.org/Harvest/brokers/Washington_Metro/ may be a better option: It indexes a set of 64 sites from such D.C.-area organizations as Metro, the Potomac Knowledgeway and city police, library and schools. The interface here isn't too pretty, but the site performs a number of useful tasks. For instance, a query on "MacArthur Boulevard" yielded a basketful of interestingly unfocused results — bus schedules, hours of operation for the local library and a posting from a mailing list about speed traps on that street — while a search on "pizza" located restaurant reviews, news on a school cafeteria scandal and reports of a takeout pizza franchise's attempt to open on U Street.
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Rob Pegoraro rob@twp.com