>>34
Regarding the search modifiers, I've also noticed they're not always working nowadays. In some cases you can use a different engine that is based on another to make it work, for example using goo instead of bing.

The novelty factor of the web has long since diminished so of course it's going to be harder to find sites like that. Interacting with your site visitors encouraged personal sites, but the lack of visitors, the poor conduct of the average user and the spambot armies of today make it less attractive. They do still exist, but the greater signal to noise ratio and poorly configured search engine algorithms make it harder to come across them.

Speaking of the link directories, why hasn't anyone made a wiki style link directory that anyone can contribute to? Perhaps it already exists but a quick search gave me nothing worthwhile.