Merlins Tower

Free Research Help - CrossEngine.com

Posted on January 17th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Computing, GTD, Hack, Search Engine, Web Service.

Today I found a real time saver when it comes to searching for information. It is called CrossEngine - Beyond Search.

To use this new search engine is pretty easy type what you are looking for in the search box and press enter - You will have then just searched for your term in google.

Ok, I will wait tell you stop saying "Yeah Whats the Big Deal" - Well here is where the WEB 2.0 / AJAX comes into play - Which is what this search engine uses.

You will notice little tabs across the top:

WEB, Images, Video, News, Blog, Shopping, Reference, Files, Tags, Social

Each of the Tabs list all of the search engines available under the search box.

Example: The Web Tab Has These listed:

Google, Yahoo, Live, Ask, AOL, Exalead, Gigablast, DMOZ, Altavista, UTN, All The Web, Snab, WotBox, Hakia, Clush and Many Many more

There are quite the selection of all the different forms of search - You can instantly at the click of a button best of the best and a few that you may not have heard of.

I really liked the image search - Google, Yahoo, PhotoBucket, Flickr, Getty and again many more.

I am also cross posting this to my other Blog Dr-T.com - Dr Tech Check it out for more technical blog entries.

Technorati Tags: AJAX, Web, 2.0, Search, Mashup, Hack, GTD, Technorati, IceRocket, Kinja, Live, Blog, Findory, Digger, Merlins, Tower

0 comments.

Free Sample of Various Handwriting Font Styles Print and Italic

Posted on January 16th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Anything Else, Art, Communication, Craft, Firefox, Freeware, Hack, Journaling, Notetaking, Office.

Did you ever wonder what we are talking about when you see the different styles of handwriting. Here is a link for homeschoolers and / or anyone interested in seeing the visual style of the various handwriting that is taught all over the world.

Draw Your World has sample sheets in the form of smaller images showing all the letters for all the forms of writing. From Getty-Dubay, D'Nealian Style, Palmer Handwriting Italic and Cursive,  Handwriting Without Tears, Zaner-Bloser Style. I am sure if anyone wants a small reference card these can be easily printed out. (I have not tried but looks like they should be large enough for reference) - These samples were printed out from the Starwrite Handwriting Software - Which if you want to try it out lets you try it unhindered for one time only. (So, make sure you get the most use from the first time you run it. Even Print it out to a PDF) From what I saw if you were homeschooling I would recommend trying this out and purchase if you like how it works, By the Way the program is only $39 at Starwrite Handwriting or $35 at Draw Your World.

But if you are just looking for a few FREE graphics to print out check out Studio Arts Guide to Italic Handwriting. (Click on the image on the left column to display it on the right - At that point if you are using Firefox (Highly Recommended) or IE you can right click on the image and hit the save as to save the images to your hard drive and print out later on) They have a nice chart, font families, guide, practice sheets and more for your use.

You can also check out dnealian.com for some addtional samples and primer on the D'Nealian Style of handwriting - Very Similar to the Getty-Dubay Style. 

Technorati Tags: Italic, handwriting, font, art, calligraphic, word, free, palmer, zaner, bloser, cursive, getty, dubay, dnealian, getty-dubay, homeschool, practice, adult,

1 comment.

Free Handwriting Practice Paper

Posted on January 16th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Craft, Freeware, Hack, Journaling, Notetaking, Tutorial, Web Service.

Greetings Everyone - a loyal reader Dave was kind enough to send this tip for  to me to share with the rest of the readers. It is where to get a PDF of handwriting practice paper. It is designed for children but can be quite useful when you want to practice your new found love of cursive or italic handwriting. Note if your printer can do it print it 2 per sheet to allow you a smaller line for more adult sized writing ** Great Tip Dave  - THANKS**

The Paper is available here - just save out the PDF file to your computer and you will be good to go. (Sounds like a Taco Bell Commercial)

Now I didn't print this our for myself by upon inspection this paper is similar to that is included in the back of the write now book. I can see using this when I get a new fountain pen and just want to play with how the nib works and writes without scribbling in my journal.

Technorati Tags: Fountain+Pen, Fountain, pen, Ink, writing, free, worksheet, pdf, print, practice, help, guide, cursive, handwriting, writing

1 comment.

Price Protection - Via Price Protectr

Posted on January 10th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Hack, Money, Search Engine, Shopping, Web Service.

How many times have you seen the guarantee that you will get the lowest price around even if the price drops in the next 30 days you will get the money back. Well how often do you actually keep looking at the prices once you purchase the item. Well that is where Price Protectr Comes in handy. This is a free service that allows you to watch prices for the following companies:

Amazon, Backcountry.com, Best Buy, Circuit City, Costco, Future Shop, Jenson USA, Office Max, Sears, or Target. 

I know I use quite a few of these to purchase items. I think I have only once checked the price afterwards to make sure the price didn't drop and that was by accident seeing it in a weekend sales catalog. I can see this being a very useful service and time saver. To use this service it only takes a few minutes to setup the alert then all you have to do afterwards is to check your email as you normally do. (Well I hope you check it regularly ) 

Thats it a quick and easy way to verify that you got the best price and make sure you take advantage of the best price for the upcoming month or so.

Thanks Price Protectr

Technorati Tags: price, protectr, amazon, best+buy, target, office+max, costco, circuit+city, sears, money, back, free, service, guarantee

0 comments.

Free Crossword Help!

Posted on January 9th, 2007 by Merlin.
Categories: Freeware, Game, Hack, Web Service.

I enjoy working on crossword puzzles - But honestly I am not always that good But I still don't resort to the answer key and would like to have some suggestions or hints. I just stumbled upon was "One Across - Search for Crossword Puzzle Answers"

Very Useful when you have a clue but honestly have no clue.

In their search engine you type in the clue given and then type in how many letters it is if the word is blank  or you can type in  ???ed?? for a 7 letter word with ED in the 4th and 5th locations.

Example: Clue is "Round"  and Pattern is "O????"  and the first letter starts with O

The Answer it gives back is

	ORBIT	similar to known clue (round)
	OVATE	similar to known clue (round)
	OXEYE	similar to known clue (round)

Technorati Tags: Crossword, Puzzle, Crossword+Puzzle, Search, Engine, Search+Engine, Help, Hints, Clue, Guide

2 comments.

Happy New Year! From Merlin’s Tower!!!

Posted on December 31st, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Announcement, Art, Communication, Email, GTD, Hack.

As the year comes to a close today - I would like to thank the hundreds of people that have decided to read Merlin's Tower each day. I am always look forward making new friends through this page and love hearing from my old acquaintances. As always I would love to hear your suggestions and ideas to make this a better site for all or what you would like me to write about. I know these things I write about are items that interest myself and seem to interest the readers and I would like to take this time to invite all to make a new years resolution to comment on the articles and let me know what you would like to see here at Merlin's Tower. You can do so my adding a comment or sending me an email. (Thanks to Gmail Signature Generator for the email Signature) - Now it is time to run off to a party and enjoy the year's end and new beginning. Don't Forget to sing that new years favorite. (more on Auld Lang Syne) Midi at Bottom Of MusicCat Page

 Auld Lang Syne

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old long time?

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
And surely I’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

We two have run about the hills,
and pulled the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since old long time.

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine (dinner time) ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since old long time.

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for old long time.

TAGS: New Year New+Years Resolutions GTD Hack Analog Comment Comments New+Years+Resolutions Auld Lang Syne Auld+Lang+Syne

0 comments.

Fountain Pen Care and Feeding: Handwriting Improvement

Posted on December 26th, 2006 by Merlin.
Categories: Communication, Craft, Hack, Journaling, Notetaking.

So, you received a fountain pen from Santa for Christmas and now you realize the reason you mostly use email for all of your communications as even you can not read your own handwriting even 5 mins after you wrote it down? Well in the continuation of the Fountain Pen Care and Feeding Series - Todays topic is how to use your fountain pen for the greater good or how to improve your handwriting. Bad Handwriting can be extremely bad for all (Check out this Article on how much damage bad handwriting does to the medical industry - Via CNN Or This article)

 I personally have used and like what I have learned from The Write-Now Course on Handwriting - Here is one of the many reviews on Amazon about this handwriting course:

It's Never Too Late to Change Your Handwriting,  Reviewer: A reader
Like so many others, I learned the standard "ball and stick" print style of handwriting and progressed to the "looped" cursive style when I was in grade school–and I got very high marks in penmanship. By high school I could write fastest in cursive, but I was taking notes so fast it became illegible. Somehow I made it through graduate school taking notes fast and figuring out what I wrote later. Ever since then, I've chosen the computer over handwriting as much as possible. (Not to mention the "looped" cursive isn't very masculine.)

Enter "Write Now". What a great book! "Write Now" teaches a style of handwriting called Italic (meaning "from Italy"). My first thought was that this was some "new" style and couldn't be as good as the "basics" I was taught. Turns out, what I was taught is the "new" style (19th century) and Italic is the more traditional (16th century). It is the style that was used by Leonardo Da Vinci and Michaelangelo.

Italic focuses on efficiency, ergonomics, legibility, and speed. It easily transitions from print to cursive to calligraphy with little change in the way you write the characters. "Write Now" is broken into three sections: 1) Basic Italic (print) 2) Cursive Italic and 3) Edged Pen Italic (calligraphy). With good explanations and illustrations, it is a pleasure to learn a new style of handwriting.

"Write Now" is geared towards adults (or teens) and presents a "cartoon's guide" to the history of handwriting throughout–a good reference even if you don't want to improve your handwriting. The author's are veteran educators and have produced an entire series of books on Italic handwriting to take kids from kindergarten through grade school. They are also in very high demand for in-house hospital seminars to those who most desparately need handwriting help–doctors. :-)

I recommend this book highly. My handwriting has already improved. I actually look for reasons throughout the day to use my new skills. If you're like me, don't pass this one up.

 But if you are not looking to purchase a book on how to improve your handwriting you can get some tips from the following websites such as the article "Handwriting Tips" on PaperPenalia.
Most of the other sites I found on Handwriting are usually geared towards youth such as "Draw Your World" Page on Handwriting. But still you can get some good information from it as well. 

But perhaps you thought a fountain pen was going to "Make you write Fancy" well that fancy handwriting has a name - Calligraphy - and actually requires a special nib or ink pen for Calligraphy Writing called an italic nib and comes in various styles. Yes, you can still use a regular pen or fountain pen and follow the instructions for italic handwriting (I again like the directions in the Write Now Book) But if you would like some additional instructions on Calligraphic Writing check out the PDF located at the bottom of Handwriting for Kids Page Or you can check out the Italic Handwriting Page from Studio Arts Page. But to learn more about Calligraphy and explore more web pages with Calligraphy (Which BTW Means Beautiful Handwriting) would be the 42 Explore Page.

TAGS: Handwriting Italic Penmanship calligraphy fountain pen fountain+pen writing free course info

3 comments.

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