A new way to search the internet universe

Let's face it - most of us are diehard Google fans when it comes to searching for relevant information fast. And while we might use another search engine occasionally, generally we end up back at Google when the going gets tough or simply out of habit. But there's a new player in town by the name of "Cuil" (pronounced "cool") intending to give Google a run for its money. According to Cuil's website, they search 3 times the number of websites as does Google and the output is organized based on page content and relevance. The simple search for cuil is located at http://www.cuil.com/ and the output is tabular making for a balanced look to the screen. Check it out!

For those Firefox fans, at the bottom of a cuil search, there is a "Add cuil to Firefox" link. Click there to bring cuil into your search engine bar.

Can Google's New Open Encyclopedia Best Wikipedia?

Google in competition with Wikipedia - for more info, click here.

Cloud Computing

Have you ever had compatibility problems with Microsoft Office? Are you working on a Mac at home but printing on a PC at school? Do you only have the powerpoint viewer on your computer but need to create a slide presentation for class? Ever lose or break a Flash Drive? Is your Floppy Disk more corrupt than a Jack Abramoff dinner party?

Well, these and other issues can be a real headache for Students and Professors alike. A new way of thinking about document creation and storage is being led by (get ready for a really big surprise here) Google and it could alleviate, if not solve, many issues like this.

The concept is simple. Instead of creating your documents and storing them on your computer (which is liable to crash, freeze, melt, etc.) you create all your documents on the web and store them there. You would access them the same way you access your email, so only you would have access to your documents. Google Docs has all the basics covered: word processing, spreadsheets, a slide-presentation creator, and even a calendar; and each in a simple-to-use (ahem, Word2007...) layout. If you already have a Gmail account simply login to Google Docs using that information. Or, if you don't have a Google account, you can sign-up for one at no charge and test out all the features for yourself.

Click here for a New York Times article on the subject.

Google allows cutting and pasting

of its books in the public domain. For more information, click here.