Google just deployed a test version of their new search engine, known as Caffeine. You can play around with Caffeine in the Google sandbox, a popular test area on Google's website. Web moguls are saying this may be the end of keyword obsession in web development since the new search function is supposed to be smarter. If you have a website or blog, you might be interested in an article I did on one of my own sites about keywords and why they aren't as hot as one might think. Anyway, I worked with the new Google Caffeine and found differences between...

What are the worst electronic gadgets and concepts available today? I searched the web to see what venerable gadget gurus had to say and here's a list of sites for you to visit if you're interested in avoiding the crappiest gadgets on Earth. Save money. Wired's gadget lab disses AT&T, Asus and Apple, among others. Check out their list of trashy inventions. Audio gadgets to throw down a black hole - Sgt. Pepper??? Worst science cliches - are we done with silver bullet theory - please? Can we quit with the Holy Grail nonsense? Switched thumps Sega and Gizmondo among others Twenty worthless pieces of...

Can hackers on the Internet figure out your social security number from the data trail you leave behind as you surf the web? Short answer -- probably. Two egg heads at Carnegie Mellon discovered that social security numbers aren't random. Since I figured that out years ago, and I'm no digital scientist, that fact in itself is uninspiring. However, their newly found knowledge created an algorithm that can come up with thousands of people's socials in an hour - if those people happen to live in Rhode Island or West Virginia, for example. Here's the story. The government confirms that social...

Google has dominated the search engine competition for so many years that they set all the rules now, and if Google doesn't like you or you don't meet their criteria, you don't exist online. Will Microsoft's Bing search engine rip off a piece of their market share? Might smaller, less monetized webmaster's once again have a  chance of being found online? I don't find Bing a terribly impressive search engine so far - the returns seem identical to Google, in the same order. The Twitter search thing means it'll return Twitter hits on your search terms, but only if people like...

Google Docs is an online productivity suite that's FREE, uses none of your system's resources and requires no download. Google Docs is fun to explore and to play with. If you want to jump on the bandwagon and get some of the larger programs off your own hard drive, start with Google's tour of Docs . The idea is to upload your existing files and then crate new documents from scratch or from templates. You can share the stuff you write, store it online and set controls to keep it private and secure, they say. I'm not sure I trust online...

You need to take a few minutes today to visit an extremely cool website called 50 to Death. Designed and operated by three very recognizable Hollywood and Broadway celebrities, the site is loaded with deeply funny videos reflecting on the lives of us baby boomers. The website, itself, is one of the most original and appealing I've seen. It resembles the top of my desk (the wooden desk, not the Windows desktop). There's a bunch of worth-reading information on virtual post-it notes, little scraps of notebook paper and torn envelopes. Pictures and amusing sketches lay strewn about. You'll learn a...

In this economy, money is on everybody's mind. I dug up a couple of really interesting websites that address everything from how to invest your money to how to spend your money to managing your credit reports. Here we go. Online advice The Online Version of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine is a great source of free advice and information about a variety of money topics. The site's forums provide a way for readers to discuss issues such as paying for college with reporters who have written on those topics. Credit questions If you've got questions about credit reports, debt repayment,...

Is it myth or fact that MIT and other top school offer free tech classes and other college courses online? Can you round out your education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology or learn how to write effectively at Northwestern without paying tuition. Yes you can. College degrees for $100. Do you get those emails too? Well, I heard that some of the world's best real educational resources are free AND legitimate. A few weeks ago, after searching for training web sites and being disappointed at the quality and cost of what I was finding, I came across the OpenCourseWare consortium. OpenCourseWare...

Conficker, the worm, is in its third iteration this year and has been around in other guises since who-knows-when. Yes, it's of concern and really does inhabit a couple of million computers around the world. Is Conficker the end of computing as we know it? Nope. Here's what I know. If you maintain your computer properly, run auto update for Windows (if you have a MAC, you needn't keep worrying, but do keep reading, just for fun.) and have a good antivirus program, you're probably good. If you follow my advice and do the FREE self tune up every week, you're...

Oprah Winfrey, most famous baby boomer of all, says her puppy Sadie is doing well according to the veterinarian in charge of Sadie's care, Dr. Alexis Newman of Arboretum View Animal Hospital is Downers Grove, IL. Oprah chose a high tech clinic with an eye on patient survival and the future of veterinary medicine. The little guy pictured above is not Sadie, he's Ernie, my healthy Yorkie Poo. I talked with Dr. Newman's staff today and learned that there's little reason for beloved pets, even older pets, to be put down because of most illness, injuries or aging issues. for us baby boomers, pets...