There is a spell checking program for bloggers that is free to download. It is called ieSpell for Microsoft Internet Explorer. You are sol if you use AOL, Mozilla (My current browser), Netscape, or Opera.

I have seen this program save people's lives. It puts a new utility under the Tools menu option that spell checks text boxes.

Also along these lines, I have been compiling a list of free utilities for people who use the Internet for online learning and classes. I work at the Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning (OTEL), and I have been updating this Internet Tools page as well as downloading all these programs to a CD for distribution to online students and faculty. Check out the Internet Tools page and download any of the free software that you find useful. Highly recommended free and useful software!

Also, are you sick of Microsoft Office? Think you can't live without it because everybody in the free world uses programs like Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint? Maybe you can't afford the $300 dollar price tag the Office is selling at. There is an open source free alternative! That's right! Open Office.org "is a multi-platform office productivity suite. It includes the key desktop applications, such as a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing program, with a user interface and feature set similar to other office suites’. Sophisticated and flexible, OpenOffice.org also works transparently with a variety of file formats, including those of Microsoft Office. " Meaning, you can open and create spreadsheets and Word documents without having Microsoft's bloatware (software that is a memory and storage hog) on your PC.

I put this on my machine at work rather than dismantling my computer, getting a user licence (which the school has to pay for), and taking it down to Network Services to have MSFT Office installed. Screw the middle man, screw Microsoft, and screw needless bureaucracy! I am free!

The interface does take some adjusting to, I must say.

Farewell!