answers are easy to find with Google

It seems that Google can do just about anything you might want it to do these days. Whenever I have a simple problem I’d like to solve these days, 9 out of 10 times I can turn to Google for help.

For instance the other day I needed to quickly check up on the US Dollar to SA Rand exchange rate. Instinctively most people would use Google to search for a website that is dedicated to currencies and exchange rates. If you follow this route you are technically also using Google to “solve your problem”, but in the end you would use another website to give you the final answer. Instead you can just type Dollar in Rand into the Google search box and the real-time exchange rate will appear. Try it next time, it works with most major currencies.

Another handy Google tool related to money, is www.google.com/finance. It’s a new tool that displays historic data and graphics of the performance of stock markets and stock prices. There are also links to related news stories on the graphs that could shed some light on why a stock took a sudden dip for instance. Unfortunately the JSE is not incorporated into the tool yet, but I’m sure it’s on the Google To Do List.

This morning a colleague wanted to quickly translate a French website into English, an annoying situation a couple of years ago. Not anymore, just go to www.google.com/language_tools, type in the address of the website you want to translate and Google translates the page for you.

These are just a couple of ways that I’ve found Google useful and there are lot’s more, like using Google as a calculator (just type in the equation and click search to find the answer). If you’ve used any useful Google features lately feel free to add them here. Go…

March 29th, 2006 Comments Off

Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonegut

Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonegut

March 18th, 2006 Comments Off

3109km

4 days + 3000km by automobile + 109km by bicycle = Cape Argus Bicycle Race = a lot of fun.

March 15th, 2006 Comments Off

world wide suicide

If you like Pearl Jam, then you’ll be happy to hear that their brand new single, World wide suicide is available free of charge. All you have to do is download it from the bands official website. So go get it, I’ve listened to the song a couple of times and it brought a smile to my face.

March 8th, 2006 Comments Off

pablo

Some stupid things I heard people saying at the Picasso and Africa exhibition include…

“Look at these pictures Karen. It looks like fifth grade drawings.”

“If I draw a couple of lines like that, do you think I would also be famous?”

“You must be joking, my daughter can draw better pictures than that.”

Now I’m not a big art critic, and I don’t pretend to know a lot about art and the deeper meaning of it either, but hearing comments like that makes me want to grab the “offenders” by their necks and knock some sense into their heads.

Anyway, it’s not everyday that we get exhibitions of this nature and quality in South Africa. I found it very informative and revealing to see that a lot of Picasso’s work was influenced by the African continent. If you’ve ever seen African masks and you look at some of his work, it is actually very obvious where he found his inspiration. So if you have time, go catch this exhibition in Johannesburg before 19 March or in Cape Town from 13 April until 21 May.

March 7th, 2006 2 Comments