New York Times interview with Amit Singhal, who is in charge of Google’s ranking algorithm.

They use 200 “signals” and “classifiers,” of which PageRank is only one. “Freshness” defines how many recently changed pages appear in a result. They assumed old pages were better, but when they first introduced Google Finance, the algorithm couldn’t find it because it was too new. Some topics are “hot”. “When there is a blackout in New York, the first articles appear in 15 minutes; we get queries in two seconds,” said Singhal.

Classifiers infer information about the type of search, whether it is a product to buy, a place, company or person. One classifier identifies people who aren’t famous. Another identifies brand names. A final check encourages “diversity” in the results, for example, a manufacturer’s page, a blog review, and a comparison shopping site

A Taiwanese research institute has produced a new global memory card standard, called the miCard (Multiple Interface Card), designed to work in smaller consumer gadgets such as digital cameras, mobile phones and any device with a USB plug, which are common on PCs.

The purpose of the card is to make transferring pictures, songs and other data between gadgets and PCs easier. The card won the stamp of approval from the MultiMedia Card Association yesterday and is expected to be available globally starting in the third quarter.

Users will not only benefit from the versatility of the card, but also its speed. The miCard will transfer data at 480Mbit/sec, and throughput will improve over time. The first miCards will be able to store 8GB of data, but the maximum capacity is expected to top out around 2,048GB. The compatibility with both USB and MMC slots means most users won’t need separate card readers anymore. MMC cards fit most consumer electronics, while USB connections are built into a wide range of IT hardware, including laptops, desktops, printers and home entertainment gear.

So far, 12 Taiwanese companies have signed on to manufacture the miCard, according to its inventor, the Industrial Technology Research Institute.

Federal authorities have charged a Chicago man with copyright violations for allegedly uploading several episodes of Fox’s “24″ on the Internet before the show’s season premiere earlier this year.

Jorge Romero, 24, used a Web site to download the first four episodes of the sixth season of “24″ and then uploaded them to LiveDigital.com, according to a federal complaint filed in Los Angeles on Friday.

The episodes appeared online more than a week before their television debuts on Jan. 14 and 15.

Romero was charged with one felony count of uploading copyrighted material to a publicly accessible computer network knowing the work was intended for commercial distribution.