Check out a new resource on the Internet: www.wolframalpha.com, a computational knowledge engine that quickly returns a lot of information on any topic you throw at it.

I typed in "Emma," my dog's name. I discovered that Emma is the top female name for US births, with 18,587 people given that name each year based on 2008 births. The average person named Emma is 7 years old. The frequency of naming children "Emma" was lowest in the 1970s, highest in the 1880s, and headed up in this decade.

Who knew?

Imagine how useful this engine might be for questions more important than my dog's name! This site would be very useful in prewriting, for example. You could quickly research any topic, avoiding having to open a lot of Google links.

To quote the site:

"Wolfram|Alpha's long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. We aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything. Our goal is to build on the achievements of science and other systematizations of knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive answers to factual queries."

Thanks to Camille Walker for the tip to look at WolframAlpha's site.

I'll admit it; sometimes I can be obtuse. Years ago, I thought, "Why do I need Toastmasters? I've had years and years of experience as a stand-up instructor."

I was so wrong! Once I became a member of Toastmasters five years ago, I realized the wealth of speaking tips and tricks that I could have mastered much earlier in my career. I learn so much at every meeting that I have a near-perfect attendance record, except when I'm traveling.

The Toastmasters organization has a well-designed and very logically structured curriculum. As a member, you'll deliver speeches from manuals (you'll choose your own content within the goals and objectives of each speech). Many Toastmasters have used their manual speeches to polish presentations for work so that their final delivery is better.

Many companies and organizations sponsor clubs onsite; there are also many community clubs open to the public (you could probably find one within 5 miles of your house). There are frequent opportunities in each meeting to speak, and you will receive honest, constructive feedback on every facet of your delivery.

Dues vary slightly between clubs, but most clubs charge less than $100 per year to belong.

What are you waiting for? Let me know how your first speech, the Ice Breaker speech, goes!