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If you searched for something on Google today, you may have noticed something different, such as a new drop-down menu of search tools. This is the latest in Google's changes to how query results are displayed and how its search engine works.

Google's redesign was first noticed by TechCrunch, which noted that the major difference is the results are now vertical. Rather than having the search tools taking up space on a sidebar, they are now located directly under the search field.

The search engine has already started showing an automatic text box in the right side bar … Read more

Lots of tools claim to be useful for your PC. Whether an application cleans out junk files, duplicates, or other nasties, a lot of the time it wants to take a spot in your right-click menu. Supposedly, this is for "your convenience," but most of us know what's convenient and what's just more bloat for Windows.

CCleaner released a recent update that added a feature that allows you to clean out random application shortcuts from the right-click menu. This is useful for those apps that either didn't give you a choice in the matter, or … Read more

Do you use the Start button in Windows? If not, then you're supposedly the reason Microsoft got rid of it in Windows 8.

Chaitanya Sareen, principal program manager at Microsoft, told U.K. computer publication PC Pro that data indicated a decrease in the use of the Start button. Citing "telemetry" obtained by the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program, Sareen said the company found more users relying on the Windows taskbar for pinning and accessing their favorite software instead of going through the Start menu.

As a result of the reportedly dramatic drop in Start menu usage, … Read more

If the Internet and Facebook specifically have become a distraction during your workday, MenuTab for Facebook may help you stay on target. This Mac app gives you quick access to Facebook from your Mac's menu bar, saving you from having to open a new browser tab or window. Whether this leads to less frequent or shorter Facebook sessions is a question only you can answer for yourself. The app is free, so it won't cost you anything to give it a whirl.

When the app installs, it places an icon in your Mac's menu bar. Click on … Read more

When it comes to heart attack rates, Scotland appears very high in the charts.

However, sometimes it takes awhile for a nation's diet to begin to counter its habits.

At one Scottish school, indeed, it took a 9-year-old girl to write a blog describing, among other things, how some dishes at her school occasionally included hair.

Martha Payne's blog, Never Seconds, is a litany of well, solicitude.

For each school meal, she offers a Food-o-meter rating (how much she likes it), a mouthful count, a healthy rating and a number for how many pieces of hair were in … Read more

For Windows 8 beta users still yearning for the good, old-fashioned Start menu in Windows 8, StartMenu7 is one utility that can bring it back.

Initially designed to replace and enhance the Start menu in Windows 7 and prior versions, StartMenu7 (aka StartMenuX) can pull a similar trick in Windows 8. Designed for a PC or touch-screen device, this utility is available as both a free version and a paid $19.99 pro version, so you can try out the freebie first.

After installation, the software displays an icon in the lower left corner of the desktop. Click on the … Read more

ImageOpen can serve as your default image viewer in Windows or as a lightweight alternative. This portable freeware is compact and launches quickly, even with large images, but it also lets you open very large images inside Internet Explorer, if you prefer. It sizes windows to images and offers a borderless display option. It also displays slideshows. ImageOpen can handle most image types, including less common ones like ICO and TIFF as well as the usual JPEGs and GIFs. It works in all versions of Windows, though XP and previous versions may require .NET Framework 2.0 or better. We … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week people wrote in with questions about the best way to move data from an old user account to a new one, the purpose for the key given to you when you enable FileVault, and how to add new menu extras to the menu bar. Others asked how to manage exceptionally large virtual memory used by programs, and how best to move an OS installation to a new partition. We welcome alternative approaches and views from readers, so if you have any suggestions, post … Read more

The latest in the everyone-sue-everyone patent war is an alleged infringement by Samsung and Research In Motion for installing emoticon shortcut menus on their mobile phones, according to tech news site Ars Technica.

A firm called Varia Holdings began the process of suing both cell phone makers on Thursday for using its "emoticon input method and apparatus" patent, reports Ars Technica. The company asserts that it owns the idea of pop-up emoticon menus, which let users easily insert a happy or frowny face without having to type out the characters one at a time.

"It is known … Read more