Buffing up

I've made a few changes to the layout of the blog. Check out the right panel:

1. I have added a search feature so you can have fun browsing through past posts. What is nice about this is that after you run a search, you will be presented with three tabs. The first is for the blog itself. The next is for the same term that appears in links we make in the blog to other sites -- very nice. The last is for all of the Web. As more entries get posted (hint), this will become more useful. Try it yourself with a word like "computer" so you can see the differences.
2. Another side panel addition is Family Bloggers. This is a convenient link to blogs being kept by members of our extended family. Some of these are no longer active, but are fun to look at anyway, and some of you may not be aware they exist. If you know of others, please let me know and I'll add them. (I know of a few inactive ones; I just haven't added them yet.) Better yet, start a new one. Everyone has something to say about something. (And some of us say too much about everything.)

If you want to add these or other gadgets to your own Blogger blog, look at Page Elements in the Layout tab. Use Add a Gadget to browse through what is available. Play around a bit and see what you like. You can change the order and position of gadgets just by dragging and dropping. If you use WordPress or another platform for your blog, there are probably similar tools available. I'm just not familiar with them. Why don't you let us know how to do it with a blog post of your own?