Keyboard shortcuts…
make the whole world go ’round. I would be 10 times less efficient if it were not for easy-to-remember, useful keyboard shortcuts. They’ve been a staple in regular computer programs since time immemorial, but they’re now starting to be utilized in ajax-y web applications like Google Documents/Mail/Reader, rememberthemilk, and the beautiful 37Signals applications.
Newsfire
NewsFire is not a web program, per se, in that it’s not run via some scripting language inside your web browser. But it is most definitely a program for the web. It’s an RSS newsreader for MacOSX and it is beautiful. It’s fast, intuitive, and just slick overall. If you’ve got a Mac, are interested in increasing the quality and quantity of your knowledge of the world around you, it’s highly recommended. (N.B.: It, too, has excellent keyboard shortcuts.) 
Don’t know what RSS is? This introductory article in CNET might help you on your way.
I’ve never been happier to be a shareholder in Google. Not only are they the most innovative company in the world (just ahead of Apple, of which I am also a proud shareholder), but they can actually convert that innovation into financial results that are almost startling they’re so good. To wit:
Google’s rapidly rising profits soared to new heights in the third quarter as its internet-leading search engine churned out a sevenfold earnings increase that blew past analyst expectations.
The Mountain View, California-based company said Thursday that it made $381.2 million, or $1.32 per share, during the three months ended in September. That compared with net income of $52 million, or 19 cents per share, a year ago. Last year’s results included a $201 million charge to account for a legal settlement with rival Yahoo. If not for charges related to a recent acquisition and employee stock options issued before the company went public 14 months ago, Google said it would have earned $1.51 per share.
That figure easily exceeded the consensus estimate of $1.36 per share among 31 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Even the most bullish analysts hadn’t expected Google to fare as well as it did; the highest earnings estimate had been $1.46 per share.
When was the last time you saw the Evil Empire post earnings like that? My uncle mentioned this in passing a while ago, but he’s totally right: Microsoft had to start issuing dividends to their shareholders because they were no longer really giving any return on equity. They’re a dying company, too locked into their comfy anti-competitive, non-impassioned corporate mindset to do anything of real world-shaking value. Thus they’re always playing catchup to something that Google thought up: search, quazi-GIS, increased storage space for e-mail, etc. There’s probably an exhaustive list out there somewhere, but there’s no point in wasting any more energy on it: Google is simply the best company in the world and shows no signs of stopping.