SnapAsk - information retrieval service

SnapAsk is a great service that helps you retrieve information from the web by using simple email commands.

All you have to do is send a blank email to Ask@SnapAsk.com with the request in the subject line of the email and you will have the required information with in a few minutes. You receive the required information. So all my Papua New Guinean wantoks out there that have a slow internet connection and are worried about the time it takes to research a particular topic. Do fear because now help is here with SnapAsk it does the research for you. Great for Papua New Guinean primary and high school students that need a bit of extra help researching an assignment. But because it makes it so easy, that it may take away some of the learning process of learning how to research.

You can use SnapAsk to read Wikipedia articles, get stock quotes, get the latest news from Yahoo, etc. Just by learning to use a few of the commands from SnapAsk. Great tool to help you with basic research.

According to the SnapAsk website:

SnapAsk is a way to get information using e-mail. It's simple:

1. Add Ask@SnapAsk.com to your cell phone or Blackberry's address book.
   
2. When you have a question, e-mail Ask@SnapAsk.com with a command in the subject line (body of the e-mail can be blank)
3. In less than 30 seconds, you'll receive an e-mail with the information!
   

Commands
Use the following commands by e-mailing Ask@SnapAsk.com with the request in the subject line.

What do you want to ask?	Example
flight status	flight continental 14
traffic	traffic los angeles, ca
weather	weather dallas, tx
dictionary	define scrupulous
local time	time moscow
stock quote	quote msft
latest news	news iraq war
Wikipedia entry	wiki cell phones (great for random trivia/bar bets!)
movie showtimes	showtimes bee movie seattle, wa
yellow pages	local dragon bar in san francisco, ca local pizza near van ness and clay, san francisco, ca
lyrics to find the name of a song	lyrics "how to save a life" "where did I go wrong"
slang term definitions	urbandictionary crunk
sports scores	ncaab (men's basketball) nba celtics

SnapAsk is great for those who have e-mail access on the go (via cell phone, Blackberry, Treo, Sidekick, etc.). No need to browse or search the web over a slow connection. Get information the way you're familiar with - through e-mail.

How to track your bandwidth usage for free - bitmeter

For six months when I was using Daltron's (ISP) wireless service at the end of the month I would see the bill and wounder if I really did use the amount of data that they were charging me for. I know that Daltron does offer a page where you can see how much data you have used. But how do I know that their data is correct. Well this post is going to introduce you to a tool that I have recently discovered that that allows Windows users to see how much data they are chewing through. The tool is called bitmeter which is offered free from download.com.

What bitmeter does is that it allows you to visually monitor your Internet connection by showing a scrolling graph that shows your download and upload speed over a period of time. The features of bitmeter are:

• Graphical and numerical displays of historical data,
  
• Web interface,
  
• alerts,
  
• stopwatch,
  
• calculator,
  
• transparent/float/click-through modes,
  
• help file,
  
• audio notifications,
  
• configurable color-schemes

Follow these instructions to set up the monitoring notification to let you know once you have hit your monthly megabytes limit.

1. Download & Install bitmeter from download.com
2. Once bitmeter is installed and running click on the bitmeter icon in your windows task bar to see a graphical view of your data usage.
3. To access bitmeter's features right click on the bitmeter icon and it will show you a list of options. The one that we are looking for is called ISP restrictions. Now select it.
4. Make sure that you select ISP restrictions apply check box.
5. Select what day of the month your new billing period starts.
   
6. Then you need to put in your monthly down load limit.
   
7. Then select when bitmeter should alert you that you are getting towards the end of your limit.
8. click Apply