I heard about this local company on the evening news last week, and I thought I’d mention it. It’s called ChaCha®, and the Carmel, Indiana-based online search service is winning awards and fans while it’s still in beta.

How does it work? Unlike the big G, which uses computers to perform searches, ChaCha uses real people. Users can call (1-800-2CHA-CHA) to voice their questions, or text queries (242242 or CHACHA), for free from just about any cell phone. You can even use ChaCha on Twitter (@chacha).

Each question is routed to the appropriate ChaCha Guide, depending on the subject, and answers are returned within minutes. There are over 30,000 active guides throughout the United States, with hundreds online at any given time, and the service is available 24×7.

This sounds pretty cool, and it’s backed by some big investors. I can see ChaCha becoming a huge mobile app, once word gets around! It’s more interactive than Google, accessible without a browser, and seems especially suited to the Twitter/text generation of on-the-go users. Of course, the human touch will also appeal to people who are weary or leery of computerized services, and just want to connect with a real person!

Have you tried ChaCha? What do you think?

Elliott, the 21st Century Dad himself, and pioneer of the 50-50-50 Plan for balancing work and family life, asked me to do a guest post on his blog. I gave it a try, and here is the resulting article, “Happy to be a Hapa Girl.” It’s a little bit about my experiences growing up half-Japanese in the midwestern United States, so if that sounds interesting to you, go read it. Thank you!

GeekMomMashup is now being displayed on Alltop, the “digital magazine rack” of the Internet. Yaay! The Alltop team selects the best sites, regardless of whether they are big or small, and loves to find hidden gems. I’m flattered that they like my little nugget of geeky goodness. Thanks, Alltop!

I always feel a twinge of guilt when I throw away an empty inkjet cartridge or broken electronic gadget. If you’re the same way, this program might help ease the pain of tossing your tech junk.

The United States Postal Service recently announced a program for free recycling of inkjet cartridges and small electronics, including PDAs, Blackberries, digital cameras, iPods and MP3 players. The Mail Back program is being piloted in 1500 Post Office branches around the country, but could go nationwide this fall.

Participating Post Office locations offer free, postage-paid envelopes for consumers to take and use to mail back their recyclable items. The postage is paid by Clover Technologies Group, which refurbishes and resells as many of the devices as possible. Pieces that cannot be reused are broken down for parts, or into recyclable components. Clover boasts a “zero waste to landfill” policy, which means “it does everything it can to avoid contributing any materials to the nation’s landfills.”

I think this program is a great idea. Most people will not go to the trouble and expense of recycling, unless it is cheap and easy. You can bet I’ll bet checking my local Post Office lobby for those Mail Back envelopes. I have an empty inkjet cartridge on my desk right now.

I had my first guest post published yesterday at My Wii News! It’s a riveting tale of loss, redemption, and the search for Earth. Well, not exactly. But it is about how my three year old deleted all of our saved Wii games — including my Pro status in Wii bowling — and how to back up games to an SD card.

If you’re interested, you can go check it out, and let me know what you think. So far, I’m the only girl geek contributor.

I heard a story about the Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL) on public radio, in a “guess which news story is real” game. The mission of TEAL (dedicated to a more perfectly spelling union) appeals to me.

You see, I try not to be uppity when it comes to language, grammar, and spelling. I know I’m not perfect! However, I am the kind of person who gets annoyed when there are errors in publications. I catch myself thinking, “Come on! Proofread that before you put it on television!” “Why didn’t you spell-check before that magazine was printed?” “Don’t they know the difference between there and their?” And don’t even get me started on the topic of apostrophic abuse (the misuse of apostrophes). Please!

Now, a TEAL team, led by passionate proofreader Jeff Deck of Boston, Massachusetts, is traveling the country to clean up spelling mistakes on public displays around the United States.

This March through May, we, sworn members of TEAL, will be taking a road trip around the country to stamp out as many typos as we can find, in public signage and other venues where innocent eyes may be befouled by vile stains on the delicate fabric of our language. We do not blame, nor chastise, the authors of these typos. It is natural for mistakes to occur; everybody will slip now and again. But slowly the once-unassailable foundations of spelling are crumbling, and the time has come for the crisis to be addressed. We believe that only through working together with vigilance and a love of correctness can we achieve the beauty of a typo-free society.

Armed with markers, chalk, adhesive letters, and white-out, they are circling the US, fearlessly correcting typos on all kinds of signs and labels. You can follow their progress on Typo Hunt Across America, and see before and after photos of their noble work. It almost makes me want to put a typo correction kit in my purse and do a little vigilante editing around my own town.

Keep up the good work, Champions of Correctness!

If you like watching television shows online, you might want to take a look at hulu.com, which just launched on March 12, 2008. It’s similar to YouTube, in that you can watch clips and whole episodes of your favorite shows, but hulu has actually partnered with the content providers, so the videos aren’t going to be removed when the networks get mad.

You can’t download the clips, but you can share them via e-mail and embedding. Here’s a sample for you to check out. It’s a scene from the Family Guy Star Wars episode, where Princess Leia tries to record her desperate plea for Obi-wan Kenobi’s help, but she has trouble with the technology.

So far, there are a good number of networks signed on, including NBC, Fox, Sci-Fi, G4, National Geographic, the Sundance Channel, The Onion, and Bravo, with more on the way.

There has been some grumbling about having to view ads along with clips (like commercial breaks, but only seconds instead of minutes), and the inability to download files, but I think it’s a nice alternative to YouTube, because it’s legal. I’m sure I’ll be spending even more time in front of my computer screen, re-watching some old favorite programs, and maybe getting hooked on some new ones!

What do you think of hulu? Will the ads drive you nuts, or will you give it a try?

Thanks to Lewis for the heads-up on the latest page-builder from Squidoo! It’s called Hey MonkeyBrain, and it’s just as much fun as it sounds.

All you have to do is come up with a statement that you’d like to debate. Something like, “Innies are Better Than Outies,” or “Britney Spears is a Genius,” or “Ninjas Rule; Pirates Drool.” You get the idea. Type in your main idea, add a few supporting details, click the magic page-builder button, and invite all your friends to join in the fight. The best part about the debate format is that the comments generated by visitors keep the content of the page fresh and unique.

Also, Squidoo is a revenue-sharing site. You build pages (called lenses) for free, and Squidoo pays you a percentage of revenue generated by traffic to the site. Let me warn you: Squidoo is addictive. Even without the royalty payments, building lenses is really fun!

You can visit my new MonkeyBrain page on the topic Google is Trying to Take Over the World, and sound off in the debate. While you’re there, make your own page and get in on the Squidoo fun!

I’m excited to announce that I am joining the Posh Mama Online Magazine crew as a weekly contributor! Look for my posts on Cool Gadgets, every Saturday on the Posh Mama front page. If you’re not familiar with Posh Mama, please stop by and take a look at this friendly community for women. You don’t have to be a mother to be a Posh Mama!

And by the way, I’ll still be taking good care of GeekMomMashup.com. I appreciate you, dear readers! Thanks for your friendship and support!

You can buy a piece of my sidebar! Yes, you can now purchase a square (125 x 125) in my sidebar, under the clearly labeled “Paid Adverts” heading. Ads will be auctioned through Project Wonderful. We’ll see how it goes. If you’d like to share your experience with the Project Wonderful system, I’d love to hear your comments. Thanks!