About
In a nutshell, Search Thresher is a Firefox extension that empowers users to search for Web sites based on trust.
Through Search Thresher, we can demonstrate how to enable trust and relevance on the Web. If you said this was a noble yet optimistic vision you’d be right. We are optimistic however as the method we employ for enabling trust through the extension has recently been reviewed by the World Wide Web Consortium (w3c) and is now moving onto a ‘full recommendation track’ with the view to proposing it as a replacement of PICS.
PICS is the old, outdated method used by Internet Explorer for filtering content based on content which could be appropriate for children. The screen shot shows the filtering preferences in IE - they’re not particular useful and most people don’t both with them.
In our opinion, relevance must start with Trust and where better to start with Trust than with Trustmarks such as Segala’s for Web accessibility compliance. Companies such as O2 mandate all Web based suppliers to seek an audit and certification from Segala to ensure it not only complies with the law, but it can be found by users searching specifically for accessible Web sites.
So, why not have trusted sites highlighted in search results or better still, filter all the chaff out!
Install Search Thresher now and become an early adopter of searching the Web, your way.
So, what’s the problem with search today?
Well, there’s nothing wrong with search that might bring the Web to a halt. Although companies like Google and Yahoo! are battling it out to be the first to enable relevance on the Web – they’re failing miserably as they fight to build user profiles in the hope that it will help them deliver more meaningful search results.
Unfortunately, this won’t happen in our lifetime based on their methods – for example, how often is your search based on travel and how often is it likely to be for the same thing?
Furthermore, they are unable to tell you if a particular site complies with industry standards, adopts best practices, or follows a code of conduct.
Some users might be happy to wade through all the search results before they find a site that ‘looks’ like it ‘could’ be trusted. But how do you know which ones to trust? Some users may feel a little more comfort in using a site if it promises to comply with an industry standard such as accessibility, or best practice such as privacy statement, or follow a code of conduct for advertising.
Some users may only trust sites that have been vetted by an independent authority to guarantee that the information provided is trustworthy enough to rely on it. For example, if you conducted a search on treatment for a particular illness, how would which Web sites to trust?
What’s with the Name?
The thrashing machine, or, in modern spelling, threshing machine (or simply thresher), was a machine first invented by Scottish mechanical engineer Andrew Meikle for use in agriculture. It was invented (c.1784) for the separation of grain from stalks and husks.
For thousands of years, grain was separated by hand with flails, and was very laborious and time consuming. Mechanization of this process took the drudgery out of farm labour.
Today, searching the Web is equally laborious. You may or may not find what you’re ’searching’ for and even when you do find what you want, can you trust what you find?
Think of Search Thresher as a threshing machine. It’s a Firefox extension used to demonstrate to search engines and mainstream browsers, how they can (and should!) provide users with more trust on the Web using a method called Content Labelling.
We like to call this sorting the wheat from the chaff 
The extension is owned by Segala, developed by it’s partner and friend, Glaxstar.
About Segala
Segala is a specialist in Web based standards compliance and Content Labelling.
Segala is the first company worldwide to make a machine-readable Trustmark (Content Label) available for Web accessibility and mobile content by providing a visible Trustmark (badge) that is detectable by search engines and browsers. The Segala-Certified Trustmark provides a branded, certified and secure method that enables search engines and browsers to develop systems for users to filter and trust content that contain this Trustmark.
It is the first Trustmark worldwide to be based on the method proposed by members of the W3C XG-CL activity and which is expected to exceed the previous Content Label standard, PICS, currently used by Microsoft Internet Explorer. O2 is the first major organization worldwide to adopt the Segala Trustmark as standard throughout its online content.
About Glaxstar
Glaxstar Limited, a UK company founded in 2002 by Ian Hayward, are pro-developers of browser based application products and services for blue chip companies, specializing on Mozilla technologies.
Possessing expertise working with Mozilla products, Glaxstar provide clients with advanced product extensions for the Firefox browser and Thunderbird email client. Two recent client commissions include Firefox extensions built for Paypal and del.icio.us
Glaxstar maintain and develop the Mozilla official community marketing Web site http://www.spreadfirefox.com where Ian Hayward is on the Administrative team. It has over 150,000 members and has contributed significantly to the success of Firefox.
