Human Powered Search

I really think that putting a human in the loop can improve the quality of search results. For example, I think that Mahalo seemed like a really good idea. I even signed up to be a guide on Mahalo. A guide basically compiles the search result page for a particular search query. I was rejected, but that's besides the point. The good thing about Mahalo is that you get results that have up to date information, the bad thing is that if the search string that you input has not been created by a guide, you won't get any results. For example, if you enter Java, you get a nice page with general Java information. If you enter Java String, you get some results on String Theory and some Google search results.
I also have recently found ChaCha, which is not really a search tool but more of an information tool. You send a text message from your phone with a question and a real human does the research and sends you back an answer along with a page link to the information source. I signed up to be guide at ChaCha as well....and I was accepted. Right now I'm in the final phases of getting setup but it should be any day now. If you want to try it out, text to 242242 and send in a question. I think it's free right now. There is also an 800 number where you can verbally submit your question (1-800-2ChaCha).