How to Use Symlinks in Windows

This is a nice short tutorial on how to create symbolic links in Windows.

We've found that symlinks are incredibly useful, and use them all the time. However, you can get into trouble using symlinks if you aren't careful. It's even possible to permanently damage your filesystem. The symlink is a powerful tool, and should be used carefully. When you're ready to learn, click to the next page.

Symlinks work best in Windows Vista and Windows 7 (OSX also includes symlinks, but we'll talk about them later). While they're lightly supported in Windows XP, they aren't quite as transparent to apps as in the later OSes, and we haven't tested them in XP, so your mileage may vary.

• Link (via Lifehacker)

How Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web

Wired has just published an article on Google's search algorithm in their latest issue.

The comparison demonstrates the power, even intelligence, of Google’s algorithm, honed over countless iterations. It possesses the seemingly magical ability to interpret searchers’ requests — no matter how awkward or misspelled. Google refers to that ability as search quality, and for years the company has closely guarded the process by which it delivers such accurate results. But now I am sitting with Singhal in the search giant’s Building 43, where the core search team works, because Google has offered to give me an unprecedented look at just how it attains search quality. The subtext is clear: You may think the algorithm is little more than an engine, but wait until you get under the hood and see what this baby can really do.

• Link