Archive of Tricks & Places


John M Peckham III


Jack Peckham ( ) is the Executive Director of the Real Estate CyberSpace Society, based in Boston, MA.

TRICK#1: FIGHT THE BULL!
TRICK#2: DEEP SEARCH ANY SITE!
GREAT PLACE #1: CHANGING YOUR E-ADDRESS?
GREAT PLACE #2: GOOGLE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS!

TRICK#1: FIGHT THE BULL!
http://www.dc.com/bullfighter/
Want to be a straight talker? The folks from Deloitte Consulting just released a new program that searches documents for unnecessarily complicated language. Once installed, the Bullfighter toolbar appears in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents, and works much like a spell checker.

The software scans documents for outrageous bull and after chastising the author suggests replacements. When you use this gem (it's free but only operates on Windows 2000 and higher) you'll also get a Bull Composite score for your deathless prose!

Neat free application -- No Bull!

TRICK#2: DEEP SEARCH ANY SITE!
http://www.google.com/
We've mentioned Google before here and these folks keep coming up with neat new ways to use their search tools. Here's one you may have missed.

Let's say there's a site filled with material you need to know and you want to narrow down the content to the specific information you need. Let's also assume that despite the sites deep content it has no robust site search function. Google has the solution for you!

Just enter a description of what you need in quotes followed by site: and the site URL. For example, say you want to see who the big wigs are at Homestore.com -- Just enter "corporate" site:homestore.com In the blink of an eye you have your material!

The possibilities are endless!

This neat service provides a central and private location to keep your friends, professional contacts, and frequented businesses informed. Register your new and old addresses here and depending on the privacy option that you choose, they will inform others of your current email address so they can stay in touch.

These folks assure users that their information will remain private and the service is free!

GREAT PLACE #2: GOOGLE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS!
http://toolbar.google.com/
You can probably tell that we think powerful Google search engine is probably the best way to find anything on the Web!

If you haven't already, you'll want to get the Google toolbar so you can have all the neat search functions at your fingertips! (Including Trick #2 above!) The Google Toolbar makes it easy to find information from anywhere on the web and takes only seconds to install.

Once you install the Toolbar, it automatically appears along with the Internet Explorer toolbar. This means you can quickly and easily use Google to search from any website location, without returning to the Google home page to begin another search.

The toolbar makes it easy for you. No formulas to memorize. It puts all the power at your fingertips and to top it off, it's free! But we know you'd like this even if it cost a few quid!

Real Estate CyberTips are provided with compliments of the Real Estate Cyberspace Society.