Sitting with a coffee cup in my hand, I notice the "Solo" brand name on the lid. One of those nice boring companies that quietly build market share. Wondering if they're public and doing well, I surf a little but google doesn't find anything for me. So, I pose the question to Ms. Brie, a nimble web searcher..

13:56:13 (me): I've got a net-search challenge for you
13:56:18 (Ms. Brie): shoot
13:56:29 (me): there's a specific and a general...
13:56:42 (Ms. Brie): okay...
13:57:04 (me): specific: what company makes Solo paper products (e.g. disposable coffee cups and lids)
13:57:15 (Ms. Brie): Gee, I would've thought they were their own company...
13:57:47 (me): general: find a site where you can enter a product name (e.g. "Crispix") and it will tell you the name of the manufacturer
13:58:10 (Ms. Brie): those are good questions. would be agreat site if there isn't one already. searching...
13:59:37 (Ms. Brie): www.alexa.com used to do things like that, but I don't think it's still around.
14:00:22 (Ms. Brie): www.hoovers.com is the best business resource.
14:02:25 (Ms. Brie): 1: http://www.solocup.com/
14:04:02 (me): well done

Less than six minutes, not bad. I'm still looking for the definitive answer to my general question.