Gaga for Google Goodies
Google seems to be taking over my computer. I have a Gmail account. Gmail Notifier tells me when I have new messages. I perform all my searches via the Google Toolbar or Google Desktop. (Both of which have other useful functions besides just search.) Whenever I want to figure out how to get somewhere, I check Google Maps. And, of course, I have my own Personalized Google Homepage. Recently I've come across a couple more Google goodies.
The first is Google Blogsearch. It's a search engine specifically for blog entries. Great for finding out what people are saying about a certain pattern, a new yarn, or whatever else you might be interested in. After you've done a search, scroll to the bottom of the results page for news feed links you can use to keep updated whenever new blogs are posted that match your query.
The second is Google Print for searching the content of books. It is similar to Amazon's Search Inside feature -- except you are able to search many books all at once. First, it brings up a list of books that match your search. Then once you click on a specific book, you can search further within that book, get more info on the book, or find out where you can get your hands on a copy. For books under copyright, you can only view a limited amount of pages, but you can see the entire text of books in the public domain. Obviously, this can help you decide which books you might like to purchase, but it's handy for books you already own too. You can search online and then be able to go straight to the page you need in your own book.