Google definitions

Do you know that you can look up the definition of any word in Google by simply typing "define:....." (w/o the quotes) before the word? Try define:voip for instance. You will also notice that now Google is multi-lingual and will deliver all these definitions in multiple languages. Man, they never rest for long at Google.

Want a quickie 5 day weather forecast? Just type in weather and your zipcode, such as weather 46301

Want a quick stock quote? Just type in the stock symbol to Google. For instance - ADBL

Answers.com!

The wonderful Answers.com program is now a free download. I used this tool for years and found it fabulous. It is once again free. You Alt-Click on any word and voila! Tremendous amount of information will pop up covering everything imaginable. There is even a Search plug-in for the Firefox toolbar if you use Firefox as your browser (excellent browser). Go to this page for the downloads. Seems to take up about 4mb of memory which is pretty light on the resources. In my Firefox, when I Alt-Click, it pops up a new tab with the answer. That new tab comes to the forefront, but perhaps there is a way to have it load in the background rather than having it steal "focus". I'll check on that and post my findings. Of course, if you're searching for an answer - you probably want to read it now, which is probably why it steals focus. :) It's even smart enough to figure out phrases, so if for example in the phrase "de facto", if you clicked on the word "de", it would bring up "de facto". Pretty slick, huh?

In Internet Explorer, it also installs a toolbar as a handy place to type in a search item. I'm not sure how the Alt-Click works there, since IE doesn't use tabs. I assume it opens a new IE window. When I tried it in IE, it switched me back to my default browser and opened a tab. If IE is your default browser, then most likely it will open a new window in that browser.

Quote of the Day
"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."
Sam Ewing

Yummy!

Is the fish sandwich at McDonald's made of real fish?McDonald's appears to be the subject of more mythology than the Greek god Apollo. Remember the rumor about the complete lack of milk in the shakes? Not true. Yet your question remains: is there something fishy about the fish?...

Ellen DeGeneres

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it."

WSJ Guide to Using RSS

The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg has a great article on using RSS. Nice to see FeedDemon mentioned - but a link would've been even nicer :)

Flickr has RSS feeds

One of the neat new things at Flickr is that they have RSS feeds, so if you're using a reader like Feed Demon for instance, then you can keep track of my photos or anyone else's. Just look for the RSS or Atom feed links at the bottom of pages. If you don't know what RSS or Atom is, then check out the FeedDemon site above to learn more about it. It really is by far the most efficient way to surf the Net and keep up on news. (there is also an excellent review of what RSS is and does on the BBC News site

Colorful Tulips

Colorful Tulips.

Spent a few days in Myrtle Beach recently and found the real attraction were these gardens south of town a few minutes. Click the link under the photo for a bigger look and more info.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Ah, coffee time!

I've been a fan of Starbucks since I first set foot in one of their early stores in Seattle. Sure wish I had grabbed up that stock - I actually thought about it as you could tell back then that these folks had a great idea. (I did buy it later and held on for about 3 years while generating a nice yearly 30% return). If you get the chance, check out Howard Schulz's (the founder of Starbucks) autobiography . It's a great read.

Here's an article that will tell you a bit more about the Starbucks process. I think you will find it interesting. If you're a total Starbucks nut, then check out the Starbucks blog .

And less you think everbody is a Starbucks fan, well guess again. From the blog above comes this cute little story - Jack Horner describes her: "Thursday morning, I was standing at Starbucks awaiting my grande nonfat no-whip mocha when a stylishly coiffed 30-something woman with coffee stains all over her summer khakis stormed into the middle of the store, threw up her hands and staccato screeched at the baristas, How ... about ... making sure ... the lid is on?! She then stomped outside, steered her car onto the front sidewalk, jumped out with the remaining coffee and hurled the entire cup at the Starbucks front door. And then she was gone." For more on customer rage, click on the Jack Horner link above.

Computing

Revving Up Photoshop Elements 3 for Windows by Barbara Brundage -- Photoshop Elements 3 offers lots of great new features and tools. Unfortunately, you may find its performance isn't always as up to snuff. Barbara Brundage, author of Photoshop Elements 3: The Missing Manual, rounds up some of the most useful hints for revving up Elements' performance and keeping it running smoothly .