Keyword University

Do you sometimes feel like you are just not "in the know" about pop culture? Do you want to have a broad, sweeping, knowledge of what people Really care about around the world? Do you just want to be ready to answer the trivia question that the Radio DJ asks tonight , so you can win the free passes to the new Ashton Kutcher movie?

Well, Folks, the Daily Blog of the Day is here to Info-cate and Edu-tain you, but if you need more random knowledge than one gas station clerk can dish out at you, then Might I recommend:

Keyword University!

The first step in learning more stuff than you could ever want to know is this: get the Google Toolbar add-on, and install it. Actually if you have Firefox 2, you can skip this step, but I don't know about the other browsers. If you are using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, please switch right now. go ahead. I'll wait.

OK, now here's the fun part. Type the letter "A" into the little Google search bar, and look at the "search suggestions" that pop up below. you should have "Amazon", "Apple", "AOL", and "American Airlines" as search suggestions, as well as something called "Argos". Now I know that Argos is a city in the Mediterranean, but I doubt the city is interesting enough to be the second most searched for item starting with the letter A. So select "Argos" from the drop-down list and let's learn together.

Turns out Argos.co.uk is a sort of English equivalent of Amazon.com. It is a big-time catalog/online sales outfit. Now I am that much more culturally savvy if I happen to find myself "Across The Pond" over in Jolly Old England. Now type in "B". What the heck is a "Bebo"? well, follow the link to find out. Oh, it's another MySpace-style social networking site, like Facebook, and friendster, and Hi5, and orkut, and possibly a dozen others. Wow, now we've learned two things.

If you go through the alphabet like that (although I recommend skipping the letter "X", especially if you are using your work computer), and follow the trail of any search term you come across, you will be that much smarter and culturally savvy, instantly!

In just one pass, I learned who Kim Kardashian and Zac Efron were, several different businesses that operate in the UK, and what "Club Penguin" is. (It's another MySpace-style social networking site, like Facebook, and friendster, and Hi5, and orkut, only it is aimed at 8-14 year olds with protective parents)

If you were the last one on your block to know what the heck a Yu-Gi-Oh! card or a Pokemon was, or if you were to too embarrassed at your last dinner party to ask what the heck "American Idol" was, or if you don't know why your coworkers are talking about people named "Meatwad" and "Frylock", then Keyword University may be what you need. You wont get a diploma, but you won't get charged tuition, either.