Widgets
I’m now using the new semi-official ‘Widgets’ plugin for Wordpress. To be short, it allows me to add mini-mods to my sidebar, and arrange it in any way I like.
That’s why the normal site search has been replaced with the more customisable Google Search. Use any modifier you would normally use with Google, with the exception of site:, which is already defined by the search box (to enable it to search this site only).
I’ve also added a translator, and a Recent Comments section (which is done using the RSS Widget and my Feedburner’d RSS Comments Feed). There aren’t very many other Widgets of any consequences at the moment (sure, there’s pointless ones like displaying my Battlefield 2 stats, or displaying my MSN status without allowing you to see my address or other non-blog related stuff) but I will add any that I think could be of value (and won’t result in a 10m-long sidebar!).
EDIT: I removed the Translator box, didn’t realise Altavista was owned by Yahoo.