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Good Google search tool

Anyone who's spent much time downloading software knows that search tools--bars, boxes, enhancers, filters, whatever--are among the most ubiquitous freeware on the Internet, and they vary widely in usefulness. GGSearch is a Google-based search tool that's actually useful in a lot of ways. It lets you quickly filter searches for everything from the whole Web to blogs, pictures, Linux, maps, stocks, Webquotes, and YouTube. It offers a plethora of options, including the ability to translate results into and from dozens of languages. GGSearch uses Google's search engine and some other Google components, but it's not affiliated … Read more

It's all text to us

Personal Web sites, blogs, and wikis have dramatically increased even casual surfers' opportunities to edit text, but the site-based editors often fall short. If you've ever wanted to edit text in a Web site using your own text editor, you need Doctor What's It's All Text. We like this free Firefox add-on; once you set it up, It's All Text will open a selected page's text content in the text editor of your choice, in the format of your choice, and post your changes to the site.

We downloaded and installed It's All Text, … Read more

Tweak your Mac OS settings

TinkerTool is a small, free app that lets you tinker with your user preferences, allowing access to options that you can't find through System Preferences. These "hidden" preferences--extras like adding scroll arrows to both ends of scroll bars--exist for a variety of reasons, but are usually invisible to users without the help of an app like TinkerTool.

TinkerTool's preferences are organized under 10 main headings: Finder (for options like showing hidden files or restricting the Finder), Dock, General (a lot of useful options, including control over scroll arrows and screenshot file formats), Applications, Snow Leopard (with … Read more

Return 'print on one page' to Word 2010

A reader named Teresa C. contacted me yesterday to ask what happened to the "shrink to fit on one page" option in Microsoft Word 2010's Print Preview window. This useful feature is one of several that Microsoft chose to hide in an attempt to "simplify" the Word 2010 interface.

You can get fast access to Word 2010's option to fit a document on a single printed page (or at least attempt to) by adding this function to the Quick Access Toolbar. Click File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar to open the Customize the … Read more

Oracle to pay Hurd $950,000 per year

Tapped by Larry Ellison to become a co-president of Oracle, Mark Hurd is poised to earn a base salary of $950,000 per year.

Hurd is also eligible for an executive bonus of $5 million next year if he meets whatever targets Oracle has set up for him, according to the offer letter (PDF) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Beyond that, he's in line for an overall bonus as high as $10 million.

Stock ownership is a big part of the package as well. Hurd has been rewarded with stock options that will let him buy up … Read more

Change Word 2007's default paste-formatting option

I spent several hours last week cleaning up the errant formatting in a complicated, 30-page Word document that was loaded with custom styles. It seems the author pasted material into the file from several different applications. Unfortunately, the formatting of the source documents made the trip as well. The resulting file was a formatting disaster that bore little resemblance to the template the document was allegedly based on.

One of the best features Microsoft added to Word 2007 is the ability to change the program's default paste setting so added material adopts the formatting of the destination document. To … Read more

Ye olde stock quotes

Ashkon Technology's Historical Quotes Downloader is a free download that costs just shy of $50. Before you look up who said "A fool and his money are soon parted," be advised it's not that kind of historical quote. This software instantly downloads intraday and daily historical quotes for stocks, mutual funds, and indices traded in the United States or Canada, including NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX. With a customizable ASCII output, it's compatible with leading financial tools like MetaStock and Omega TradeStation. The program downloads quotes from free Internet sources, so there are no subscription fees … Read more

The best of Windows 7's new interface features

Do you need Windows 7? If you're happy with your current PC—whether it runs Vista, XP, or some other operating system—probably not. But if you're in the market for a new system, there's a lot to like about Windows 7, particularly in the look-and-feel department.

You can read all about Win7's new features on Microsoft's official Windows 7 site. But some of my favorites are the subtle interface tweaks that can be easy to miss.

Starting with the basics I like to keep the Windows desktop free of icons, so the first change … Read more

The psychology of healthcare reform

The House has passed the first comprehensive reform package of the health insurance industry in decades, which is now up for debate in the Senate. This is a highly complex issue, but there are some quite basic reasons why it's so difficult to accomplish significant reform, and in part these have to do with psychological responses to change and uncertainty. 

A few years ago I was fortunate to work with a couple of organizational consultants, and they introduced me to the concept of NICs and PUFs. These funny sounding acronyms give insight into why health care reform is … Read more