Occasionally I like experimenting with new ways to search the internet. I’ve been living this very Google-centric life for some time now and I think it’s good to expose myself to other options. SearchMe started its invite-only beta testing about a month ago and because of all the hype, I figured I’d give it a try.

SearchMe is a visual search engine that gives you results in a slick, cover flow view. Visual search is nothing new. Tools like Spacetime, also with a cover flow view, and GooglePreview, a Firefox plug-in, are attempting to give you a visual search experience but both require you to download something.

If you’ve been following my articles on Make Use Of for any length of time, you’ll know that I am a big Firefox nut. But every now and then, I will break out the Opera browser on my PC. Even though Firefox regularly steals the limelight, Opera still has a smaller cult following and it’s only right that we begin to recognise that and give it the attention it rightly deserves.

So since 10% of you said in our recent poll that you preferred Opera as your browser, I decided for a while to lower my Firefox fanboy gushing and start to look at some other browsers. So let’s start with Opera.

When you talk for a living, it’s usually a good idea to know the proper pronunciation of the words you’re using. As a radio newscaster, I come across the occasional word that baffles me, either because I’ve never seen it before, or because I’ve seen it written, but have never heard it pronounced.

Case in point, recently a Canadian tourist fell off a building and died in the resort city of Cebu, Philippines. I’d never heard of Cebu before. Often a quick Google search for something like “pronounce Cebu” will provide a link or two with a written pronunciation guide, but there’s nothing like actually hearing someone who knows, pronounce the word.

PayPal is by far the most popular payment method on the internet (over 155 mil. accounts) and used by over 100.000 online merchants, according to PayPal. So if you haven’t registered yet, IT’S TIME. Below I listed some services to add to your PayPal experience.

PayPal Plugin (US only) - The ultimate protection for your PayPal account. And here is how it works: when you want to purchase something and are asked to fill-in credit card details, instead of giving your real card details, you can use the plugin to generate a secure single-use MasterCard number that debits from your PayPal account. And since the card is valid for only one purchase your info always remains secure.

I really like for the sites and tools I use frequently to be kept together in one place, and not just as shortcuts on my desktop or in my Favorites (who’d ever find anything there?)

Two very useful and time-saving web services I use for this purpose are Only2Clicks, which was profiled on MakeUseOf before, and Hyperigo, both of which allow you to organize your favorite websites on one tab-supported page. They come equipped with a few token sample offerings in place, but both are easily customizable for the main purpose: adding your own stuff!

A while back, I highlighted five tools for being a better Digger. But I have subsequently found another free Digg tool which will save you not having to constantly check the site to see how your stories are doing. Just as RSS feeds keep you on top of new website content, Digg Alerter lets you know from the desktop when someone diggs or comments on your submissions.

Digg Alerter pops up a window on your PC desktop when your stories are dugg or commented on. But only the stories that you submitted yourself - it doesn’t count the ones that someone else submitted but you dugg later. You can even tell it to include or exclude stories you submitted but which were subsequently buried.