Cool online tutorials and free softwares..

I was searching the web to find some tutorials for flash, illustrator etc and came across Vector tuts This is a great resource to learn step by step design for illustrator, photoshop, flash and others. Great stuff!!.

Later I was searching for any other vector program's and found an open source software called
Inkscape. This is same as Illustrator but simpler and easy to use.

Another free software is 7zip a open source alternative for winzip.

There are lot more cool stuff like these. Praise those IT guru's.

How to do a research- "General topic"

Found a good resource from a website about "How to research "- more a very basic and general topic. But applies to most of us.

So you've been assigned a research paper. Whether it's your first time tackling such a project or you've been through it all before, we've put together a five-part manual to guide you through the process. After all, research papers are a big deal — it takes what feels like forever to compile all your sources, find the right information to fit your topic, organize the material, write the thing, and feel totally comfortable about handing it in. Well, worry not, young researcher. Read on and discover how research can actually be — dare we suggest it? — fun.

Click over the title to see the direct link*

	Stock Up Before You Start Researching Supplies and Essential Reference Books
	The Method to Research Madness Format, Writing, and Organization Suggestions
	We've Got Your Resources RIGHT HERE Places to Find Information
	The Art of the Interview Who to Interview, When to Do It, What to Ask, and How to Take Notes
	Expand Your Research Vocabulary Key Terms to Know

To read more continue onto http://www.scholastic.com

The starting point.

Where do you start your research?
Of course the god sent "search engines".

But how efficient can you be when searching with these sites?
Its the "tags" (simply- the words that you type). As a common practice most of you just type the exact word or phrase required for your search.

But is that the end?
The answer is NO. You need to use indirect phrase to explore more about the same search.

My experience:
Recently my boss hired an Japanese student as intern. He gave both of us the same job to research existing product for design inspiration. Both of us used the same google search. But he was able to find more products than me. How was that possible.
The difference is he searched in Japanese for the same product and now we have double the inspiration that we needed for the project. "Sucess"

Ok so you are not international so how can I type in Japanese or any other language. Simply translate your words from english to other language. A tool that can be found in google- " google translator" see the page: http://www.google.com/ig?hl=en&referrer=ign

So now there is no limit for your search. Find anything you want from the whole world.

Conclusion:
SO, the basic steps.
1. Search exact phrase in search engines.
2. Search some more using indirect phrases.
3. Search using a translator to find the same in other non engish countries.

You got a solid internet research journal.

Note: This is just basic on internet search. Research is not complete or fullfilled just by internet searches. There are other proven ways for research that I will talk about in my near future entries.

Thanks
Shyam
http://shyam-ideas.weebly.com