If you're using Internet Explorer to browse the web, you can search directly from the address line. Just enter your search term into the address window, but preface it with the name of the search engine you'd like results from, voila--one stop shopping. I learned this from Danny Sullivan's Search Engine Watch newsletter, which I highly recommend if you're at all interested in search.
Google also has a new page called the Google Zeitgeist. Interesting stuff. Once a week, they post interesting stats about what folks are searching on in Google. Go check it out.
Last honest, heartfelt plug (really, I don't get paid for these): I enjoy reading the Industry Standard's daily newsletter Media Grok. They provide humorous recaps of how major news outlets cover the biggest stories of the day. Since no one single paper ever seems to cover stories consistently well from day to day, Media Grok is like getting a read on the average of coverage across the board.