These people at Google are changing the way the world surfs the Web! Now you can put the Google "ToolBar" right at the top of your browser and let these smart folks quarterback your web travels and information gathering!

Among other great features the ToolBar lets you use Google's powerful search technology from any Web page, search the pages of the site you're visiting, get a ranking on the current page and get a list of pages similar to the one you are currently visiting and pages that link back to that page.

This one is worth spending 15 minutes with to check out all of the many additional ToolBar features and options. Once you have your ToolBar set up be sure to also visit Options, and check out all the additional Google services and tools. These folks keep getting better and better with powerful tools that exemplify the words helpful and simplicity!

Connect wirelessly - with coffee to boot

Here's a good down to earth peek at the way things will be! Now you can get connected from over a thousand Starbucks locations nationwide- including airports, airline clubs, and a wide geographic spread of Starbucks across the United States.

Using this neat site you can pinpoint an available location in a flash! Once you get to the Starbucks of your choice, get settled into a comfortable chair with your favorite drink, fire up your wireless-enabled laptop or PDA and launch your browser. If you are an existing customer of the wireless service provider, you can enter your user name and password and connect right away. Even if you don't have an account with the provider, you can get connected in any one of these locations. It's that simple. You can be on the Internet within minutes!

Think about it -soon the world will be like one great big Starbucks!

Get free demographics instantly

Maybe you'd like to check the characteristics of your home town. Or perhaps some demographic data would help you in your job, in school or with your volunteer work. But, for sure you don't want to lay out big bucks to subscribe to a heavy duty service. Freedemographics.com is a place was made for you!

These folks provide free, unlimited access to U.S. Census Data for all available U.S. geographies. Quick as a flash you can access three distinct data sets giving you significant flexibility. They deliver summary, comparison and geographic ranking reports based on over 140 different variables.

Two things qualify this as a great place: Your information request is in front of you in seconds - and it's free!

Compare nursing homes

For many of us the day arrives when we need to locate a health care facility for a loved one. The important chore of evaluating the options available is facilitated nicely at this government site.

Medicare allows families to access comparison information about nursing homes. It contains information on every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country, and includes over 17,000 facilities nationwide. Here you can check characteristics such as number of beds, type of ownership and whether or not the nursing home participates in Medicare, Medicaid or both. You can also view other data that analyzes many care characteristics including State inspection results, and the number of registered nurses, licensed practical or vocational nurses, and nursing assistants in each facility.

We all hope that the day never comes when we need this information but if it does there is now a depth of valuable data available here to help us make a well-informed decision.

Published: February 4, 2003

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

John M. "Jack" Peckham is the Executive Director of REcyber.com (the Real Estate CyberSpace Society). In that capacity he oversees the development and delivery of the latest up to the minute Real Estate Cyberspace tools, strategies, networking structures and services that the Society provides its members to leverage their effectiveness, visibility, professionalism and earnings. As host of Real Estate CyberSpace Radio, he provides over 40 hours of programming to help listeners integrate the power of the Internet into their daily business lives. He is the author of several real estate books published by Prentice Hall and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich including his latest Master Guide to Income Property Brokerage from Wiley Publishing. A columnist for the Boston Herald for nine years, his syndicated columns have appeared in over 100 papers nationwide. Jack loves to sell real estate has been involved directly in the sale of over one billion dollars in Real Estate. Today he sells in his jeans and fuzzy slippers as a one-man shop and has closed over $40,000,000 in sales on the Internet recently in 20% of his working time. The balance he spends directing the affairs of the 10,000 member Real Estate CyberSpace Society. The Society awards the RECS (Real Estate CyberSpace Specialist) Designation to members based on the current criteria. He served as Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), is a Past President of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and has been honored as the Massachusetts State Realtor of the Year. You can reach Jack at or by calling 617-523-4441.