Thing 11 & 12

There is much to help in one's search process. Google has so much "help" that I felt overwhelmed: financial help, geology, book searches, blog searches, images, maps, patents, news... oof da! Plus the information and tools to "customize" the way one works with one's computer: blogger, gmail, calendar, IM, YouTube, Picasa (to share photos), mailing lists and discussion groups, and it just goes on and on. I wonder if Google will become a major target for computer virus-makers like Microsoft is? And would my Mac still be safer and easier to use than a regular (windows) PC? {I do like the fact that Macs run Microsoft Word easier than PCs do and will also run both formats. Training students to use any computer (ie Macs in schools) will help them run PCs in the business world. I am wholly convinced and completely sure of this; yet also know that some are "PC people" and unwilling to believe that it could be true. :-)} It strikes me that as one company seems to begin to "control" the market by growing large that people rebel and then the virus-makers tend to crop up. Just a thought...

There are a lot of search engines that one could use, some which search differently than Google does. I have always recommended Ask.com; I was told of a site that searched with 2 engines together. http://www.polycola.com/ is the URL; it is pretty cool to be able to use 2 engines. There is a drop-down menu of 6 engines each side; Live, Ask, AltaVista, AOL, Dogpile, and Yahoo or Google. It is nice.

My dad has read my blogs and was curious about where the word "blog" comes from. I'm not sure myself, and don't have time to dig out the answer now.

from a book on tape

On my drive to South Dakota, I was listening to a book on tape and the writer said the following: A bad student makes the best teacher. So my question is, how many teachers were not-so-good students in school and how did you decide that teaching was for you? Do you agree with this statement? And does the corollary also apply: that a good student will make a bad (or at least a not-so-good) teacher? That is something with which I don't think I can agree. What do you all think?