Fed
up with having to give your email address out?
You know the kind of
thing. You have discovered the page which you think contains
exactly the kind of information you need, only they want you to
register with your email address and you are a little bit nervous
of giving your address out to all and sundry. Try this website
here.
It's called "bugmenot"
and it'll provide you with log-in details that give nothing away
at all. You might want to read the FAQs first, they are
here.
And before we got down
to the serious side of google, you might like to look at "googlefight"
It's a site which compares
two words or phrases and tells you which is more common on the
net. So, do more people say "different to"
or "different from"? As an example, I have compared
"Norwich Institute for Language Education" with another
well known name. Have a look at the results here.
One of the things about
software is the limited extent to which we use much of it.
If we were to realise the full potential of Word, then we would
discover it can do a lot, lot more than many of us think.
The same applies to a lot of stuff available on the net.
Take Google
for instance. Most people think of it as a simple search
engine, but it will do a lot more than that.
Word Definitions
For a start there are all sorts of
Google
extras that you can use. Try entering define:
chiasmus to see where you can find a definition of the word
"chiasmus". Try it with other words as well.
Imperial Measurements
If you, like many others,
have difficulty with the imperial system of measurement, you can
use Google
to convert. For example, in imperial measurement I weigh
13 stones 3lbs (pounds). So, what is that in kilograms?
Enter 13
stones 3 lbs in kilograms and see the result. You can
find out more about Google
extras here.
Desktop Search
Another feature to download
is the desktop search. This feature searches not just the
net, but also your computer. And it seems to be a lot quicker
than the search built into Windows. Get it here.
You can also get Picasa,
an image organiser, free as well.
Scholar
This
is a new facility from Google
which will be invaluable to all those taking
the NILE/LMU Masters course. The facility allows you to
search for articles on any academic subject and not be inundated
with lots of irrelevant stuff. It's here.
Responding to our recent
email newsletter, Barbara Enzler-Beusch has suggested that Google
books would also fill the bill. It's here.
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