I believe that what makes good search people good has to do with their personality. We are highly motivated, overachievers and like our work and ourselves to be recognized. We are comfortable on a pedestal. In fact, that is where we prefer to be. So with that said, I am going back to 1984. The Summer Olympics were in Los Angeles that year, and I was absolutely captivated by an American gymnast from Fairmont, W.V....

Robin Williams' movie "RV" may not have gathered much critical acclaim, but one scene at least hit a comedic home run with me. Williams has to get a presentation back to the home office during a camping trip with his family. After his laptop goes AWOL, he uses his BlackBerry to retype the presentation and then tries to get a signal strong enough to let him email the presentation to his boss. He scales the top of his rented motor home, holding his BlackBerry heavenward trying to get a signal. This is an episode directly out of my life.

Last week Google informally gave a heads-up that we should all be expecting a change in its main Web search results, based on a new update to search technology that mostly affects its indexing process. Dubbed Google Caffeine, it is a "secret project" considered to be next-generation architecture for Google Web search. And in addition to shaking up the results a bit, it may also pave new roads toward the goal of real-time search results.

I had the privilege of hearing Hal Varian, Google's Chief Economist, speak last March. He wasn't dramatic or flamboyant, just refreshingly straight-shooting. At the time, I particularly appreciated that his flavor of economics included observations about human behavior. He pointed out, for example, that most people aren't really concerned about privacy when it comes to intended use of their data ("We will use this data to make our search engine better"), but we are concerned about unintended use of our data ("Oops! Did I just reveal that you've got questionable taste in lingerie?"). The issue, therefore, is not one of …

I recently wrote about how, in future, search could greatly benefit on-demand digital television, but the future of search doesn't start there and isn't even that futuristic. I think search is about to undergo a major evolutionary shift that will change the underpinnings of how search works, is used, and is defined.

There is certainly no lack of worthwhile topics to discuss this month, but I can't hone in on one. So this month's column is a bit of a Sm"rgåsbord. Here's what's up.

About six years ago, I had one of those life-changing moments that set me on a new path. I've always been curious. I've always had questions, and up to that point in my life, I was usually able to find an answer, with enough perseverance. But in 2003, I had a question that no one seemed able to answer. It didn't seem to be an especially difficult question, and I knew someone had the answer. They just weren't sharing it.

I really enjoyed Gord Hotchkiss' series of summer stories -- or, as I like to call them, fireside chats -- and was quite moved by Kaila Colbin's column about her father's stoke. It's not often you get a glimpse into the lives behind the Search Insiders -- unless you make it out to the biannual Search Insider Summit -- so I thought I'd continue the trend with my "getting into search" story.

Two weeks ago, I spoke lovingly of my father. Last week, my mom got the praise. But I'm devoting this week's column to making fun of myself. Here's the backstory: I'm out at dinner with my fiancé and his friend. We're talking about odd movie moments, and a memory stirs. I say, "What was that movie where that guy had a penis rocking-chair in the basement that you could sit on and it went up and down?"

The online ad industry has been on a fairly stable course for at least seven years now. However, the more I observe developments -- both inside and outside this industry -- the more I am convinced that we are all poised on the cusp of an era of great change that will shift the way we do business more seriously than anything we've experienced before.