"Google continues to be more than a search engine. You can now get definitions. Enter something like define plagiarism to see the definition for "plagiarism" along with the normal search results).

You'll also get a "more definitions" link, which will take you to additional definitions. If you include a colon after the word define (for example, define: plagiarism), you'll go straight to the complete list of definitions."

I think that I'll stick with a regular dictionary for quick look-ups, but this new Google service seems very promising for when one needs to get to the very heart of a word. It also proves, once again, that Google is an unstoppable force on the internet... and never ceases to innovate.

Via J-Walk

Forget computers— check out this photo blog!

"I think that it's extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot of fun. Of course, the paying customers got shafted every now and then, and after a while we began to take their complaints seriously. We began to feel as if we really were responsible for the successful, error-free perfect use of these machines. I don't think we are. I think we're responsible for stretching them, setting them off in new directions, and keeping fun in the house. I hope the field of computer science never loses its sense of fun. Above all, I hope we don't become missionaries. Don't feel as if you're Bible salesmen. The world has too many of those already. What you know about computing other people will learn. Don't feel as if the key to successful computing is only in your hands. What's in your hands, I think and hope, is intelligence: the ability to see the machine as more than when you were first led up to it, that you can make it more.''

Alan J. Perlis (April 1, 1922-February 7, 1990)