Reading the Google blog, Google Translate now translates as you type, in any of 51 languages, and will work for most non-Roman languages.

I just read a blog post from the New York Times about a tool to get rid of all advertising on a web page. It sounds wonderful! Install Readability (which is free), and when you are on a webpage with ads, click on the Readability icon in your toolbar and ads go away.

Three new software programs are on almost all public pcs - Picasa (photos) Audacity (sound), and Artrage (graphics) are free media production and editing tools. Try them out!

The ability to tag people has been added to Flickr (like you can tag in Facebook). Read about it on the Flickr blog.

The Environmental Working Group has a webpage where you can see the best and worst phones, or enter the make and model of yours and see how it rates.

Try this article, from Psychology Today, for one take on the "why" of the Twitter - is it "really just a massive social art project?"

Librarian by Day has great info on how to credit a photo that someone has labeled as "Creative Commons" on Flickr.

The Google blog reports that they've enhanced Google Docs to include an equation editor, superscripts and subscripts, a translation feature IN Google Docs, more outlining options, and more.

Blind Search is "very very beta," but still fun to compare results in Bing, Google, and Yahoo.  Enter a search term, look at the results, and click on a button to see which search engine returned those results.

See if you agree with CIO Magazine's list of the top tech gadgets - Atari, Walkman, iPod, Speak & Spell, Pulsar watch, Instamatic, and more!

See the Google blog post if you have a GPS enabled mobile phone and you use Google Maps for Mobile, you can actually provide information to Google about traffic. Enable Google Maps to show your location, and it anonymously sends data to Google about how fast you're moving. 

Here's an article in the New York Times about how a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is cautioning about Facebook quizzes and privacy, in particular. Check and see what you need to change!

Follow @mndottraffic on your phone and see where accidents or slowdowns are so you can pick a better route!

Consumer Reports is working on reviews of new laptops - here's what they're looking at, full reviews to come soon! They start at $300; most are in the $600-$700 range.

On Google's image search (from Google's homepage, select 'Images' at the top), there are additional ways to narrow your search -- click on "Show options" at top left, under "Google," and you can select what color, size, type of file (face, photo, clip art, line drawing).

Consumer Reports wrote about a study recently completed that showed that texting while driving is significantly more dangerous than dialing or talking on a cell. It is illegal in Minnesota -- but I saw someone texting while driving on the way to work...

MN Journal Finance and Commerce writes about a launch of a new website listing Minnesota technology jobs, managed by the Minnesota High Tech Association.

This is one of the most useful websites to confirm (or debunk) those forwarded emails all of us get.  Check Snopes!

There have been articles in the news lately about how social security numbers can be "figured out" and possibly open to identity theft.  Check out the Social Security Administration's guide on identity theft and your SSN.

Common Craft does an excellent job explaining technology with their videos - check out this one on Twitter, and this one on Twitter search.

Common Craft does an excellent job explaining technology with their videos - check out this one on Twitter, and this one on Twitter search.

See how MRES is using technology (and more) to educate, promote, and advocate for renewable energy.

There are many options in and around the Twin Cities to be a tech geek during the summer.  Try the Pavek and the history of radio and its technology, or the camera obscura at the Science Museum of Minnesota, or the Bakken and electricity and magnetism, or The Works Technology Museum for kids.

Wolfram Alpha is an answer engine, not a search engine - give it a math equation to solve, information on a date, compares things (i.e. countries), and much more. AND it gives sources.

Some are only available in library buildings and not from home, but have you checked out the tutorials we have?  You can learn how to use a mouse, or about Microsoft Office products.

Vote here for the student-created art for Google Doodles in 4 age categories. Top prize is a college scholarship, the student's school gets a technology grant, and prizes are given to others as well.  One Minnesotan is in the running, a 7-year-old from Grand Rapids (we're region 5).

DigitalTips has this program, with Florence Henderson as spokeswoman, to assist you in helping your parents (and others) convert to digital TV.

I received a phone call past midnight this week, with an automated voice saying they were from my bank, that they had put a stop on my account, and to press a number to speak to a person.  I hung up on them, and called my bank when they opened.  My suspicion was right, this was phishing.  When in doubt, call your bank!

Need to know if your TV is digital?  Consumer Reports has a blog posting that will help you figure it out.

Wired reports that participating in Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. has been shown by a University of Melbourne study to help sharpen workers' concentration.

There are things I haven't figured out with the latest revamp.  I'm going to read this post from Mashable, and hopefully it will help!  (I don't like how apps are in the newsfeed.  Let me opt out!)

...as a musical.  With puppets.  On YouTube!

Mars is now on Google Earth -- read about it in Google's press release, watch the video, and then give it a try. 

The FCC has this map tool, where you enter your zipcode, and it will return which stations are digital.  I noticed that KTCA had fully converted to digital, and wanted to see which other stations were digital.

Equals a possible glucose monitoring technology!  The Discovery Channel has this interesting post of a glucose-monitoring ink that would be tattooed in a small patch (several square millimeters), and its color would indicate glucose level, rather than (or in addition to?) a blood sample. 

You might want to try KeepMeOut - essentially bookmark your timesinks with the application, access them through KeepMeOut, and it'll warn you if you access it more often than your personalized settings.

Consumer Reports (one of my favorite informative blogs) has an excellent post on what the digital tv delay will mean to the consumer.

Reading the Consumer Reports Electronics blog, I learned that there is no "do not call list" for cell phones.  There have been more emails lately encouraging people to register their cell numbers, or telemarketers will be able to use them - not true, thankfully!

Forbes magazine lists America's most wired cities, and "the surprise of the list is Minneapolis, which improved its standing from No. 11 to No. 7."

Barack Obama and his staff have a blog on the White House website.  The feed isn't working in my feed reader, but maybe it's just me....

So, how are you following the inauguration?  If online works better for you than televised, the New York Times has listed several options, from Hulu to Twitter to Photosynth.

CommonCraft produces excellent videos that help teach web 2.0 topics.  A recent one is social media -- explained in ice cream.

With the combining of the city and county library websites, these subject guides were combined too -- browse for some new goodies.  I've always loved the Skyscraper Page, one of the new ones...

The Webbys are for websites, and the Shorty Awards are for the world's top Twitterers.  Nominations close Dec 31st, and winners will be announced in late January.  So if you are on Twitter, nominate your favorites!

Mashable has an interesting list of the 20 key web events - Twitter, new Facebook, streaming tv (I love hulu), citizen journalism (I've been watching The Uptake about the Senate recount), and more....

PC Magazine has a list of ideas, so does CNET, PC World, ZDNet...

PC Magazine is discontinuing its print publication, but will continue its excellent online presence.  It can be found in Technology News.

CNET writes about the Capitol Tweet widget, which follows Congress with updates every 10 minutes from members of Congress.

President-elect Barack Obama is broadcasting his weekly address on YouTube, accessible anytime, anywhere you have an internet connection.  Transition documents are available on change.gov - where you can participate in discussions, apply for a job, learn about the agenda.

Mashable has written an article listing non-human entities that use Twitter. Follow the Mars Phoenix, or Endeavor, or a plant, horse, or dog!

CNET writes that membership is now at 120 million.  The Facebook blog gives some information on election-related statistics; 15 million of us logged in election day, 2.4 million of us joined the Facebook Election Day Event.

Google has a voting location finder - as well as the Hennepin County polling place finder.

Here's something new; Senator Obama has purchased ads in Burnout Paradise online, a high-speed car racing simulation.  The New York Times reports that billboards for Obama can be seen by game subscribers in battleground states.

The Project on Emerging Technologies maintains this list of products, currently numbering more than 800.  Two were used in the Olympics -- running shoes and a swimsuit.

In honor of Google's 10th birthday, they've brought back their oldest available index, 2001.  Search for pop culture -- Paris Hilton is a hotel - in Paris!

Dakota County Technical College was awarded a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop the Midwest Regional Center for Nanotechnology Education.

Recent headlines about Sarah Palin's hacked email have prompted this Consumer Reports response on protecting your email.

CreditCards.com has an outline of the steps to take and sample letters if you believe you are a victim of identity theft.

There's a worm (virus) that hitched its way onto the International Space Station.  Read about it on the NASA website or Spaceref.com.

If you have a good computer at home, check out Photosynth.  You can see (or make!) an amazing image from a collection of photos, moving around the image and zooming in or out with incredible detail.  To see a video of it, check this TED video.

Consumer Reports has a blog entry about the upcoming possibility of television on your cell phone (currently, your carrier may be able to provide it for a fee).

NBC will be streaming video online of the Summer Games.  NBC promises the site will stream 2,200 hours of live video of the Olympic events, such as Taekwondo, which hasn't yet appeared on broadcast TV schedules. The Web site even has its own electronic program guide, listing when events will be shown, and will send you reminders via e-mail.  Consumer Reports has other suggestions as well.

The bookmarking tool formerly known as del.icio.us is now Delicious -- check out its new look!

Have you noticed the walking directions available on Google Maps?  When you're entering the address for points A and B, there's a dropdown box below; click on the arrow and select "Walking."  It will reroute your directions to smaller, less busy roads.  It doesn't recognize off-road walking trails, unfortunately.

TPT has the best all-round website about the upcoming digital tv conversion.  There's info about digital tv and converter boxes, reviews of converters, and videos on digital tv, including installing your converter box.

Consumer Reports has several blogs, one on electronics.  In this entry, the keeping and archiving of digital photographs is discussed.  Careful with your memory card!

Check out Kongregate, a new addition to the gaming websites in this subject guide.  It's Flash games, with community features, and developers can upload their own games.

Here's a map of the world, created with 1001 different, clickable logos of web 2.0 tools.

Scientific American has a great article on circuit bending, check out the slideshow....

Check out Common Craft.  They have some great videos that explain some of the current uses of social technology.

Read this Google blog entry, and see what you can do to improve the security of your password.

Really.  The Planetary Society included an archival silica glass mini DVD, Visions of Mars, with the Phoenix, which landed on the planet on May 25th.  On that DVD is a collection of Mars science fiction literature and art, and voice recordings of Arthur C. Clarke, Carl Sagan, and more.

Microsoft's maps have a great bird's eye feature - available here in the metro, but not all of MN.  You can zoom in closer than Google map's satellite view, and rotate the picture.  It's also updated more -- the Google satellite picture is at least 3 years old of my house.

Chaska student Becca Olene is a finalist in the Google Doodle contest -- she and other students across the country designed a doodle that replaces the "Google" on the front page for holidays.  Read about Becca in MinnPost, and vote for her Doodle under Grades 7-9, region 5.  She's on her way to Google headquarters for the ceremony.  The winner gets her Doodle up for a day, a $10,000 scholarship, and her school gets a $25,000 technology grant!  GO BECCA!

Here's a fun Google map hack: a.placebetween.us.  Enter two or more locations, and this will return the spot in the geographic center; you may need to adjust the destination so you're not meeting in the middle of a cornfield.  Or, pick a type of business in the middle, like a coffee shop.

Scientific American has this article about a working Charles Babbage's Difference Engine No. 2.  It consists of 8,000 metal parts and weighs 5 tons.

Have you gone to any of the circuit bending workshops at the library, where electronic toys are modified -- bent -- into musical instruments?  This weekend is the Bent Festival at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis -- performances and workshops for three whole days!  Beatrix Jar, who teaches the circuit bending workshops at the library, will be performing, as well as bands from around the world.

Johnny Lee has created a wii remote hack that will do about 80% of the functionality of an interactive whiteboard -- for $40, you can do most of what a $2000 tool will do -- and he gives away the programming.  Check out the video demonstration on TED.  Check out TED for lots of other great things in Technology, Entertainment, and Design.

Scientific American has an interesting article on new technologies that use energy created by a moving human body into electricity for battery-powered devices.

Do you Twitter (microblogging, 140 characters or less)?  Even if you don't, you can follow TwitLinks, and read your favorite tech writers.  Read a summary on downloadsquad.

Check out the fabulous websites nominated for the Webby awards.  I've found some treasures of websites this way in the past, now to find some surfing time....

Check out Waste Management's website and find out the 5 spots in the metro you can drop items off between 9 and 4 on April 11th and 12th.  The Hennepin County location is in Eden Prairie.

This excellent article in Computerworld gives you a good starting point in learning all about it.

Check out the winners in comedy, creative, instruction, politics, etc.  I've seen a few, but I 'need' to watch the rest....

In beta is Photoshop Express from Adobe, free!  Give it a shot if you need to do some photo editing.

If you're on Facebook, check out the new privacy controls.  Read about it on the Facebook blog and the TechCrunch blog.

MIT's Technology Review has identified 10 emerging technologies that they believe will be particularly important over the next few years.  The technologies either solve problems, present new ways of looking at problems, are "just" new and cool things like wireless power.

Have you played FreeRice yet?  For every word you get right on this vocabulary quiz, the website donates 20 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

Or use this poll as I did, to find out some cool new apps you might be able to use....

The Library of Congress has posted more than 3,000 images on Flickr to ask for help in tagging the pictures to increase access to the collections.  This project, The Commons, has some excellent photos.  View, tag, and comment on the collections here.

Here in the U.S., we tend to use MySpace and Facebook -- but what do people use in other countries? Check out this map from the French newspaper Le Monde.

Mocmex is the name of the worm found to have infected some digital photo frames, and it can infect your computer when you download photos. The virus is a bad one, and can block antivirus software. Read more about it.

Nokia is partnering with Google to provide access to Google search on select Nokia phones -- no date as to when this is coming.  Google at the gas pump, google on your phone, I'm curious to see what's next.

Last Saturday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts honored the 2007 winners of the Scientific and Technical Awards.  "Any device, method, formula, discovery or invention of special and outstanding value to the arts and sciences of motion pictures can be considered for recognition."

The Science Museum of Minnesota has a new exhibit on animation, including the technology that makes animation possible.  Now through April 27th....

When you get rid of an old computer, how can you be sure that the data on your hard drive is gone?  Read this Wikipedia article for more information.  There's wiping, degaussing, and maybe the most fun of all, physical destruction....

Scientific American summarizes 2007 in robots, highlighting robots for healthcare, the battlefield, and beyond.

Scratch is a programming language to create your own games, art, animations and more.  It is now on TeenLinks computers, change the screen resolution to 1024x768 to use it.  (Right click on your desktop, select properties, select settings tab, and choose this resolution.)

If you're a Mac fan, you've probably already read about the new MacBook Air, and its ultra-thin profile and light weight.  What you may not know is that it was made without many of the environmentally harmful compounds in older pc's.

So says Live Science. What do you think? Digital libraries are number 10! Number 4, *printing* something dimensional (building up layers of resin to MAKE something) astounds me.

A common New Year's resolution is to get organized.  Here's a couple of tools I'm going to try -- gubb for online list management, and jott for voice to text conversion.  So, use gubb keep all sorts of lists, and call jott when you're away from a computer and it'll add to your gubb lists -- or it'll text or email a someone - or yourself!

Check out Popular Mechanics' Science and Technology Election Guide, where you can compare leading presidential candidates in these areas.

The website that shows how the 2008 candidates are using the web, and how the web is using them.

Check here for where to dispose of your old televisions, computers, gaming and audio systems, etc in Hennepin County.  This article in Scientific American is the first of two addressing the problems of electronic devices entering the waste stream.

Wired has a list of gadgets and gear for the holidays.  There's something for everyone, from a camera to headphones - to a slinky?!

On November 22nd, Amazon will be debuting its Kindle e-book reader.  It has a wi-fi connection that will enable users to download ebooks from its store.  The price is expected to be about $399.  It'll be interesting to see how well it takes off!

Google unveiled plans to have Google Maps available at new gas pumps at thousands of gas stations across the country.  I want to know where and how soon!

Time Magazine says it's the iPhone!  Other top vote-getters are the Samsung P2, Nikon Coolpix S51C - and a dragonfly toy.

The Minnesota Tekne Awards are awarded this month.  The Awards honor companies, innovations and individuals that positively impact Minnesota's technology-based economy.  New this year are awards to educators who incorporate technology education in the classroom.  Paul Keeney, an Anoka-Hennepin teacher, is a finalist!  Read the list of finalists, and see all the innovation in Hennepin County....