(wordpress.org) I’m very excited to announce to everyone that the latest and greatest version of WordPress, version 2.8 “Baker,” is immediately available for download. 2.8 represents a nice fit and finish release for WordPress with improvements to themes, widgets, taxonomies, and overall speed. We also fixed over 790 bugs. This release is named in honor of …

Mass Twitter Tool Give it a Try! –> CLICK HERE <– by MarcoFolio.net

Find Tweeters like You 

Directories and User Search Tools

Twits like Me

Find out people like you

Twellow

A Twitter directory sorted by occupation

Just Tweet It

A twitter directory sorted by interest

Twubble

This tool will automatically find people who are compatible with your interests. However, if you follow too many people, then Twubble may recommend some people that you already follow

Twittie Me

Search for similar users and advertise your twitter page

Twitdir

Search for words in usernames, locations or descriptions

Twitters the first line of books

Twitter Search (Summize previously)

Find out what is the latest trends on Twitter     

Sites that tell the latest stories and trends on Twitter

Search for the latest trends on Twitter

Twitscoop

A search tool that tracks trends as well as certain events.

Flaptor Search

A search tool that can be installed on your browser.

Tweet Scan

Search keywords on Twitter

Twitterment

Search Twitter users and topics

Twitbuzz

Find out the latest links and conversations on Twitter

Tweetmeme

find out the latest Stories on Twitter

Twistori

Find out what twitter loves, hates, believes, etc.

Twitturly

Find out the most talked about stories on Twitter

Twitterverse

Find out what Twitter is doing

GoodBadMe

Keep track of the good and bad on the twitterverse

Favotter

Find out the most favored (saved to favorites) tweets

Twitstat

real time twitter analytics

Track Twitter Users 

Find out who the top Twitter users are

Twitterholic

Find out who the top twitter users are

Toptweet

Find out the top twitter users on one place.

Twitrank

a list of the top 150 Twitterers

Track certain keywords on Twitter 

See keyword behavior on Twitter with these sites

Tweet Beep

Find out who is talking about you or your website through certain keywords

Site volume

Enter five keywords and see their activity on Twitter

Tweet Volume

A more personalize version of Site Volume

Monitter

Monitor Twitter conversations on three keywords. Good for catching the latest news

Hashtags

Track a certain keyword on Twitter

Twemes

See twitter memes or tags for Twitter

Tweetchannel

Find out what people are talking about through certain keywords called channels.

Twitter Meter

Find the trends of certain keywords

Flaptor Trends

Compare the trends of three keywords on Twitter

Twitter Spectrum

Find out the dominant keywords via a tagcloud generated.

Serendipitwiterrous

Search for tweets of a certain person using certain keywords

Twittertroll

real-time Twitter search engine

Twitter Links 

Work with lnks on Twitter

Twitter Buzz

See the most popular links on Twitter

Link Bunch

Share more than one link on Twitter

Tweetwire

Sorts out links posted on Twitter into news format

Twitterlinkr

Find out the latest links posted on Twitter

Twitturls

Find out the latest URLs posted on Twitter

Twitter Split

Change the way you post links by adding your domain on the beginning of the link

Track Tweets Across the Globe 

What do you get when you mix maps with Twitter?

Twittearth

Watch as people from different parts of the world tweet.

Twitter Vision

Watch Twitter in real time and see the location of Twitter users

My Tweet Map

A high tech map that tracks the location of a person

GeoTwitterous

Track a person across the map

Twitter Map

Same with GeoTwitterous

Twitter Local

Find out Tweets about a certain locale

TwitSpy

Another way where you can track the location of tweets

Geo Twitter

Another twitter location tracking site

Mibazaar

Shows current posts as they are posted on maps

Twitter Atlas

Find the conversations at certain locations

Twitter Faces

Map + Faces

Enhance your Tweeting 

Some tools to add elements to your tweeting

Twitter Keys

Brighten your tweets with little pictures

Twi8r

Translate shorthand text to English and the other way around for easy tweeting

Phweet

Phone + Tweet, talk to your twitter friends through this online phone

Create Reviews via Twitter 

Who thought 140 character won’t make reviews?

Micro Reviews

Post reviews on Twitter

Notches

Submit reviews. A partner of Microreview

Louder Tweets

Have your reviews of certain products posted

Tweet Reading Tools 

change how you read tweets

Twitter Digest

Read tweets digest-style

Tweet2tweet

Read the conversations between two people on twitter.

Twalala

Choose the tweets you wants to read. Mute people or mute topics that you don’t want to read

All About Followers and Following 

Track your followers as well as your own following behavior

Tweet Wheel

Find out which of your friends know each other

Twitter Karma

Find out who is following and unfollowing you. Have a mass follow and unfollow tool.

Twitter Snooze

If you have noisy twitter friends, you can snooze them for a certain time so you won’t receive their tweets.

My Tweeple

Evaluate your followers through the number of dings (recommendations) they have from other Twitter users

Less Friends

Find out who unfollowed you using this tool

Qwitter

Receive the names of the people who unfollowed you via email.

Does Follow

Tells you if a certain follower is following a person or not

Twitterless

Receive a direct message when someone unfollows you

Twitter100

Find out the latest 100 posts of your followers

Twitterator

Follow a list of people all at once

Twitter Who

Invite lots of people in one go

Twitterlex

See your last 30 tweets along with your friends. Use on Mac.

What’s Up?

Find out what people are up to

Use Twitter on Your Site or Blog 

Tools that can integrate Twitter to your site or blog

Add Tweets

Make Twitter Update Widgets for site or blog using javascript

Twitterfeed

Post your blog to Twitter through your RSS feed

Feed Tweeter

integrate Twitter with Plurk, your blog and delicious

Twitter Counter

Display your follower count on your site or blog.

Twit This

Add this option so people can easily tweet information from your site or blog

Twitter Tools

A wordpress plugin that lets you integrate Twitter with your blog. You can send your updates to your blog as well as create tweets directly from your blog

Twitter for Wordpress

displays latest tweets on your blog

Loudtwitter

Ships your tweets to your blog

Twitter Sharts

‘Shart’ your twitter status anywhere within your wordpress blog posts or pages

Twitt Twoo

plugin that will allow you to update your Twitter status right from your blog’s sidebar.

Twitter Updater

automatically sends a Twitter status update to your Twitter account when you create, publish, or edit your WordPress post

Twitter Wordpress Sidebar Widget

a wordpress widget where you can send your tweets to your blog

WordTwit

a plugin that utilizes the Twitter API to automatically push a post to your Twitter account when it is first published.

Comment Twitter SMS Notification

plug in to be notified by SMS when a user post a new comment on your blog.

Stammy’s RSS To Twitter

Not too many people have access to a Ruby-enabled server so the author decided to make a simple PHP script to get the job done.

PingTwitter

automatically update your Twitter Account when you publish a new blog post

Update Twitter with other Social Networking Sites 

Post to different social networking sites at once

Ping.fm

Update twitter along with other sites like Multiply, Pownce, Plurk, tumblr and others.

Hello.txt

Same as ping.fm but with added services

Moodblast

A client which you can download. It does pretty much the same as ping.fm

Twitter and your Favorite Websites 

Integrate Twitter with other websites

Twibler

Update Twitter with your current ebay listings

Twizon

Twitter meets Amazon

iTwitter

iGoogle gadget that have ping.fm, twitter videos, twitter news, twitter tips, twitter tools and more.

Be Twittered

iGoogle app that automatically updates every 3 minutes

Twitter Facebook App

Integrate Twitter with Facebook

Friendfeed Twitter client

Update Twitter through Friendfeed

Twitku

Twitter + Jaiku

Buy Later

Receive tweets when an item comes back in stock at Amazon

Twitter Yedda

integrate Twitter with your Yedda account

Twitget

gadget for Windows Live. Displays your tweets

Twitter Planet

Windows Live gadget that features the public timeline on the planet earth

Twitt

Import links on your tweets to delicious

Twitter Viddler

Integrate Twitter with your Viddler account

Drupal on Twitter

This module provides twitter notification for new posts. Each user can use their own twitter account to post updates too, as well as have a custom format string.

Googlereader Twitter Script

Add a Twitter button to your Google Reader

Twitter King Widget

Widget for Netvibes

Your Minis

Twitter widget for yourminis website

Twitter for Groups 

Effective when you want to only talk to a particular group

Group Tweet

Tweet with only a particular group of people

Live Twitting

Host Conferences or conduct interviews on twitter and record it in an organized fashion

Crowd Status

Find out the status of a certain group of people on Twitter

Twitter Groups

Tag your followers into different groups

Twitter as an organizer 

Remind yourself of certain activities you have to do

Timer

Set an alarm for things you have to do

Retweet Me

A reminder tool that sends a DM on your scheduled activities.

Remember the Milk

Manage tasks on Twitter as well as set notifications for yourself

Twittercal

Integrate your Google Calendar with Twitter

My Chores

Track your chores

Planypus

Make plans and export them to Twitter

Server Mojo

Monitor your server with Twitter

Schedule your Tweets 

Auto-tools to schedule tweets. Use wisely. Do not use for spam

Tweet Later

Schedule tweets, auto-follow and auto-welcome people

Twittertise

Schedule your tweets. Very useful when you are advertising.

Tweet Ahead

Schedule your tweets on Mac

Twit Response

Imagine Twitter + Autoresponder. Send tweets automatically.

Find answers to your questions 

Think Yahoo Answers meet Twitter

Lazy Tweet

Find answers to your questions by posting “@lazyweb” or “@lazytweet”

Toanswer

Easily get answers to your questions by posting “@toask” and “@toanswer [question ID]“

At Answer Me

Another question tool

Twitter Answers

Another question site with a nice layout so you can easily get answers to your questions.

Polls on Twitter 

Very useful for research

Straw Poll

Create and answer polls on Twitter

Twitter Polldaddy

Create a poll on polldaddy and tweet it

Poll Tweets

Participate in the latest Twitter poll

Twittpoll

Join some twitter polls and receive the results in 24 hours

Track Yourself Through Twitter Statistics 

Check out your status on Twitter

Tweet Burner

Track the links that you post on Twitter

Twitter Grader

find out your twitter grade. Computed based on how complete your profile is as well as the number and influence of your followers.

Tweet Stats

Graph your tweet activity

Twinfluence

Measure your Twitter influence through tweets, reach of followers as well as second-order followers

Tweeple Twak

Track your friend gains and declines

Twit Graph

Graph your tweeting activity

Tweet 140

Track your direct message and tweet frequency

Twitter Ratio

Find out your friend to follower ratio.

Make Money with Twitter 

Ways you can use your twitter account to earn money

Twittad

Place advertisements on your profile

Magpie

Advertise with 5 tweets and get paid

Handle Multiple Twitter Accounts 

Useful when you have a company twitter profile.

Easy Tweets

Multiple account handling, scheduled tweets, overcoming errors, shorten URLs, add RSS

The Mattinator

Multiple accounts on Twitter

Graphic Twitter Resources 

Resources where you can get backgrounds for your profile as well as icons to put in your blog

Twitter Backs

Free Twitter Backgrounds. Includes @problogger’s background.

Twitter Patterns

50 design patterns you can easily use for your twitter background

Tweet Backs

Some twitter backgrounds you could use

Siah Design

free Twitter buttons you could use as well as animated ones.

Buttons

Follow me on twitter buttons

Twignature

Create your own twitter

Integrate Twitter with Files, Images and Videos 

Upload anything to Twitter

Twitpic

Let you share photos on Twitter

Autopostr

Update your Twitter when you post a Flickr picture

Snaptweet

Share your Flickr photos on Twitter

Twixr

Allows you to share pictures on Twitter via your mobile phone

Visual Twitter

Answers “what are you doing?” with pictures.

Twitter Poster

A huge conglomeration of Twitter user images.

Twiddeo

Think Twitter updates + video

Twitplus

Make tweets with pictures, videos and files

Twittershare

Share pictures, music, video and other files on Twitter.

Twixxer

Share photos and videos on Twitter

Tweet Cube

Upload files to Twitter

Pikter

Post pictures on Twitter

Twitter and Email 

Receive and send tweets via email

Twittermail

Update twitter via email

Twitter Reply

Receive your replies on your email

OuTwit

Update Twitter with your Microsoft Outlook

Vtwitter

Vtwitter allows Zimbra users to send messages (or sometimes called tweets) to their Twitter account directly from their Zimbra email.

mail2twitter

mail2twitter is a free service that allows you to post tweets through e-mail

Twitter and Music 

Integrate twitter with your love for music

Twittytunes

Tweet what you’re listening, watching or reading regardless what player you are using.

Blip.fm

Listen to music and tweet it to Twitter

Wiiizzz

Lists the audio tracks on Twitter

Twitter Downtime Saviors 

Tools that will save you when Twitter has its downtimes

Twit a Bit

The place to be when Twitter is down. Anyone can continue tweeting in this site.

Tweetake

Backup your twitter account

Twitter Safe

Another place where you can backup your account.

Hahlo

Another website where you can tweet

Twitter Spam Watchers 

Fight twitter spam with these tools

Twitter Blacklist

Find out who’s blacklisted on Twitter

Twerp Scan

Find out who’s following too many people at a small span of time.

Twitspam

Report those spammers here

Twitter Messenger Applications 

Integrate Twitter with your Messenger

TwitterIM

Integrate twitter with your MSN or ICQ Messenger

Yahoo Messenger Twitter Sync Plugin

Integrate twitter with your Yahoo Messenger

TwitterYM

Update your Twitter on Yahoo Messenger

Twessenger

Twitter tool for Windows Live Messenger

Twit4live

Update twitter via messenger as well as advertise the tweets of your friends.

TikiTwit

Integrate Twitter with iChat

Twitter Softwares and Widgets 

Clients you can download to your desktop

Twitterific

A downloadable application which have multiple account support, auto refreshing mechanism, audio notification of new tweets and integration with AppleScript. Compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 or later

Mad Twitter

Twitterific for Windows

Tweet-r

An Air Application that differentiates itself from other downloadable twitter applications through its flawless drag-and-drop file uploading system.

Twidget

a downloadable application with all the features of twitter except that it auto refreshes.

Twhirl

popular software that can handle multiple accounts, URL shortening, crossposting to Pownce and Jaiku, Post images on Twitpic, and search tweets using twitter search and tweetscan.

Tweetdeck

Adobe AIR application that lets you view your replies and public tweets as well as group tweets at the same time

Twinja

another twitter client built on AIR

Snitter

another twitter client built on AIR

Pwytter

A standalone Twitter client

Teletwitter

Twitter client for Windows

Twitterlicious

Twitter for Windows that supports proxies, have a read-unread system and auto-refresh mechanism.

Twitter CLI

Tweet via a command line

BLT

Another tool to update Twitter on a command line

Twitteroo

Let you send tweets on your PC with URL shortening and sound notifications for tweets

Chirrup

A Japanese software which showcases your followers and accounts in other social networks

Twadget

Twitter tool for Windows Vista

Twitgit

Twitter widget for Mac users

Vim Twitter Client

A simple client by Vim

ZenTwitter

Update Twitter without opening a window

Twitux

Another simple Twitter client

Deskbar Twitter

Update Twitter on Ubuntu

Gtwitter

Update Twitter on Linux

Twit.el

update Twitter on Emacs

Spaz

open source desktop client for Mac, Windows and Linux

Tweeter

client that is Java-based and supports proxies. Inspired by Twitteroo

GTwitter

GTwitter is a Linux client for reading and posting to twitter.com web service.

Natsulion

Simple Twitter client for Mac

Twitterpod

TwitterPod can store logs to database and search Twitter logs quickly like Mail.app

Twitterpost

TwitterPost allows you to easily post to and read from your Twitter feed – plus a whole lot more

Twittereeze

SIMBL extension to add functionality to Twitterrific

Twitter with your Browser 

And save yourself some energy

Twit Kit

Integrate Twitter with your Firefox browser. This plugin can work on Windows, Mac and Linux. You can also customize the look to fit your tastes.

Twitterfox

Find out the statuses of your friends on Twitter right on your Firefox browser

Shareaholic

Share webpages with your friends on Twitter. Can be integrated with your Firefox Browser

Twitbin

Receive and send tweets at the side of your Firefox browser

Firefox Search Plugin

Find out how you can post to Twitter right from your Firefox search bar

Twitterbar

Post to Twitter via the address bar

Tweetbar

A twitter sidebar for Firefox and Flock

Twippera

Twitter widget for Opera

Power Twitter

Twitter plugin for Firefox that have photo and video sharing capabilities.

Yoono

Firefox add-on that add different social networks to your browser

Twitzer

Firefox plugin that let you post more than 140 characters.

Twitterlights

Firefox addon that lets you Tweet any page you see.

Twitterbook

Post to twitter like Bookmarking

Twitterline

Displays your friend’s public timeline on your toolbar

Maxthon

This is a toolbar you can download so you can tweet via your browser

Twitter on your Mobile Phone 

Twitter anywhere you like

Twitterfone

Update Twitter using Voice

Twitsay

Record Voice Messages on Twitter

Twitter for iphone

Self explanatory

Itwtr

Another Twitter client for iphones

Pocket Tweets

another twitter client for your iphone

Twittai

mobile phone software with retweeting capabilities

CCtwit

windows mobile twitter client written in c# leveraging the .net compact framework.

Twapper

send updates from your 30boxes calendar to your phone via Twitter.

Twittelator

Integrate your iphone with Twitter

Twitterberry

Integrate Twitter with your blackberry

Vlingo

Another tool to integrate your blackberry with Twitter

Email Twitter

Get your Tweets on any email-enabled mobile phone

iTweet

Twitter Site for your iphone

Qik

A tool that let you share videos via your phone.

Jargong

Twitter client for your phone that has Flickr and other social network integration

MoTwit

Application for Palm OS

Widsets

Get content without sending SMS

Moby Picture

Post to your blog or sites like Twitter on your mobile phone

Twixr

allows you to share pictures on Twitter via your mobile phone

Locify

Send twitter updates on your mobile phone along with GPS location

Fring

Post to Twitter + other sites using your mobile phone

Abiro Jitter

Abiro Jitter (Java Twitter) is an easy-to-use and fully-featured Twitter client for mobile phones

Jtwitter

Java application which you can install on your phone

Twidroid

twitter client for android mobile phones

Twitteresce

Twitteresce allows you to access your twitter feed using your mobile phone.

Twobile

Twitter client for users of Windows Mobile Pocket PCs

Tiny Twitter

Client for any Java enabled device (that’s a bunch & includes the CrackBerry) and any Windows Mobile Pocket PC or Smartphone

Twitter SpellCheck

Check your spelling while twittering on your mobile phone

Specialized Twitter Sites 

From funny, useless to weird Twitter sites

Secret Tweet

Imagine PostSecret + Twitter. Tweet those secrets

Curse Bird

Find out who’s swearing on Twitter

Tweet What You Eat

Tweet what you’re eating at the moment

Foodfeed

same with “Tweet what you eat”

Xbox 360 Gamer Tag

Automatically update twitter with what you are playing at a certain moment

Twee60

Another site where you can update Xbox live activities on Twitter

@Trackthis

Track your packages via Twitter with this tool

Bkkeeper

share what you’re reading on Twitter

Commuter Feed

Share tweets on traffic and transit delays

Foamee

Tracks who you owe coffee or beer to

InnerTwitter

signals you through chimes where you have to let go of your thoughts.

Qwitter Tobacco

A twitter tool that helps you stop smoking

Post like a Pirate

Talk like a pirate on twitter

Roll the dice

Give you the power to roll a dice on twitter. Useful when you’re betting or playing games with your friends.

Twitter Me This

A contest where you can win $5 if you answer their question

Tweet gift

Send gifts to your friends.

Twaction

turns your tweets into actions

Xpenser

Track your expenses with twitter

Twithire

The place where you can tweet job postings

GasCalc

Tracks your gas usage on Twitter

Moonrise

Tell twitter how you feel

Deal Tagger

Shop and tell your Twitter friends

LOL feeds

Have your tweets on lolcat images

Textgasm

Tweet your secrets

Sad Statements

Twitter + Flickr with an emotional twist. Post those sad statements here

Twitter Nonsense

Daily Twitter Comic Strip

Xbox to Twitter app

only updating when the title being played changes, not showing popups and even a preview of what your twitter updates will look like once they are combined with your template.

Twitterbox

a Twitter Client for Second Life

Swotter

Reads books to Twitter

Twitterlit

Most of these Apps also got a 4-5 Star Rating by the CNET Editors 1) Comodo Firewall Pro has eradicated most of its resource-hogging ways and gives users what they want: a flexible yet simple firewall that’s great for beginners but also provides a smorgasbord of information and plenty of options for advanced users. From the category tabs of Summary, Firewall, Defense +, and Miscellaneous to more specific headings, most security terms come linked to relevant security issues so users can drill down to learn more about how the firewall is performing. Although the app rears its head often when you first fire it up, once it learns your behavior, it becomes virtually unnoticeable.

2) Avira AntiVir Personal Free Antivirus does double duty, protecting against spyware and viruses alike. For users who want backups or want to have their antivirus and antispyware separate, we’ve recommended alternatives, but the trend is to find the two formerly separate features rolled into one program. AntiVir’s scans are flexible, allowing the user to check all hard drives, choose a preloaded scan–for rootkits, for example–or customize. After testing on several machines, no viruses turned up, although several malicious hidden files did rear their heads. The heuristic scan can be turned on or off completely or partially, with three different intensity levels. The quarantine offers extensive support, too, although the definition file updater can be sluggish. Still, combining effective antimalware and antivirus tools into one is a freeware luxury, and AntiVir has been rated one of the most effective defense tools by third-party testers.

3) AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition provides all the necessities to destroy infections, including tools for scanning your hard drive, e-mail, and a real-time shield to prevent infections. By default, it’s set to update new virus definitions daily, but you always can use the scheduler to change this. Should a virus create serious system problems, AVG creates a rescue disk to scan your computer in MS-DOS mode. The program doesn’t tax your system when scanning or when running in the background and always proved effective in our tests. The interface isn’t pretty, but it isn’t hard to navigate, either.

4) Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is a surprisingly effective freeware antimalware tool. It’s a relatively speedy malware remover, with the quick scan mode taking about 10 minutes. The heuristics engine proved on multiple computers during empirical testing that it was capable of determining the difference between false positives and dangerous apps. The app has some nice features rolled in, too. It supports multiple drive scanning, context menu options including a scan-on-demand for individual files, and the FileAssassin option under the More Tools section for removing locked files. The interface is simple, but pleasant-looking and well-organized. Tabs live just below the oversized logo, with few options per tab to keep the clutter to a minimum. The installation process was fast enough, but interestingly offered up the well-kept change log and an instant definition file update. You can pay for an upgrade to some snazzier features, but the free version is a worthwhile, responsive malware remover.

5) The SiteAdvisor plug-in for Firefox and Internet Explorer warns you about covert spyware and browser-hijack attempts as you visit a site. It operates as an unobtrusive signal in your browser’s interface, turning green if the site is safe, yellow if it’s suspect, and red if it senses threats. The same system applies to search results, inserting a colored icon next to each link. Clicking on one provides threat diagnostics, including links to suspect sites, spam counts, and dangerous downloads. In our tests, SiteAdvisor turned out accurate and reliable results, and though it doesn’t have a wide array of features, we urge all users to try this extension.

6) The ultimate freeware encryption program, TrueCrypt is loaded with powerful features that those concerned with protecting their data from thievery should want–and have. It offers 11 algorithms for encrypting your private files in a password-protected volume. You can store your encrypted data in files (containers) or partitions (devices). TrueCrypt works hard to offer powerful data protection, recommending complex passwords, explaining the benefits of hidden volumes, and erasing telltale signs of the encryption process, including mouse movements and keystrokes. Though the interface may not be immediately intuitive, its powerful, on-the-fly encryption for no cost still earns the freeware security tool a top rating.

(Images Credit:CNET) See full article at CNET

Photo credit: TuneUp Distribution GmbH

TuneUp Utilities 2009 earns high praise for its capability to get to the heart of Windows’ maintenance tools in a faster, prettier, and easier-to-use format. The modules tackle temporary files, superfluous registry entries, and start-up routines, and do so in a way that gets you maximum speed. In addition, the free-to-try application also packs on a host of performance accelerators, enhancers, and tweaks. There’s also a file shredder, file recovery tools, and a tool to quickly analyze your problem areas. A button programmed with general presets gives those new to the optimizing game a one-click option for boosting performance.

Photo credit: PerfectDisk

A defragmenter at its core, PerfectDisk tops robust performance-tending features with an attractive, logical interface. Its defragger comes equipped with a tool to analyze your data patterns and to use that information to more efficiently store your data in the future. This tack introduces a preventative element that helps lubricate your PC’s internal gears. Offline defragmenting is another key feature of this free-to-try application that can optimize parts of your drive that can’t be touched while Windows is going.

Photo credit: Auslogics

BoostSpeed supersizes Auslogics’ freeware disk defragmenter and Registry defrag into a strong package that includes some services unique to this all-in-one premium download. If you’re already a fan of Auslogics’ applications, its free-to-try suite will not disappoint. Optimizing the program’s RAM, disk space, and Registry are Auslogics BoostSpeed’s top tools, along with the file shredder and performance monitor. In addition, the application features a decent uninstall manager, start-up manager, browser tweaker, and manager for customizing Windows’ interface and routines.

Photo credit: Glary Utilities

A brawny freeware application, Glary Utilities will helpfully put the squeeze on inefficient settings without charging you a cent. The good-looking optimization suite includes a Registry cleaner, and a privacy minder that sweeps away Internet Explorer tracks. In addition are tools to cut out junk files, remove invalid and dead-end shortcuts, and manage start-up programs. A file-shredder is also included, to securely reduce deleted files to ribbons. While you’ll be able to perform many of the same actions from Windows’ various maintenance folders, Glary Utilities and its optimizing kin conveniently centralize the tools and streamline the process.

Photo credit: J.Pajula

While most of the all-in-one optimizing applications include a tool to rev performance by freeing up choked RAM, you can do that on your own with a freeware program like RAMBooster. The small application may register as a little old-school, but it has what it takes to give your PC some extra fire. RAMBooster includes a few program defaults for those still new to the process, but you can modify them to your liking. An icon in the system tray serves as your memory conscience, gleaming red and black if all’s well. As your quotient of available memory falls, the icon switches to yellow, a sure sign it’s time to do some tweaking.

Photo credit: Sepanta Soft

Laying out a smorgasbord of tweaks for all your computer’s categories, this premium, easy-to-use performance-perfecter has Vista’s particular traits in mind. Each of Easy Vista Manager’s categories, ranging from hardware and software to network and security, is chockablock with detailed information about your computer and what you can tweak, including a few surprises that might help you save on energy overall–your own and the computer’s. While the 20 use trial period isn’t the most generous we’ve seen, Easy Vista Manager’s thorough view into Vista’s ins and outs makes it well worth the download.   (See Full Story at CNET)

Keeping your software and drivers current helps keep your PC running smoothly, but locating and matching the right updates for your machine can be frustrating and time-consuming. With VersionTracker Pro, you don’t need an IT department. VersionTracker Pro scans your hardware AND software to determine the right updates for your drivers and applications.

VersionTracker Pro can help you find the latest Windows drivers for your computer hardware. Download the client now and see what driver updates we can find for your machine.

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75+ Web & Graphic Design Blogs (courtesy David Airey)

PR 7 blogs

Design Observer: writings about design & culture

Smashing Magazine – a weblog dedicated to web-developers and designers

Core77 / design magazine + resource /

PR 6 blogs

AdGoodness – advertising and design blog from Frederik Samuel

Authentic Boredom – by graphic designer, Cameron Moll

Coudal Partners: a forum for creativity and experimentation

CR Blog – News and views on visual communications from the writers of Creative Review

Design is Kinky – a proudly Australian blog on design

Design Notes published by Michael Surtees who tries to see life filtered through design as opposed to placing design on a pedestal

Dexigner – popular design portal featuring the latest design news

Hicksdesign – Journal of a small creative agency based in Witney, Oxfordshire, UK, authored by Jon Hicks

I Love Typography, devoted to fonts, typefaces and all things typographical.

Mark Boulton: Design Thinking. Web Delivery. By a designer based in Cardiff, UK.

Quipsologies – Corralling the most relevant and creative on- and off-line bits that pertain to the design community.

Randa Clay Design – Design, Marketing, Blogging, Branding and all things Creative

Russell Davies – incredibly diverse UK-based blog on topics associated with design

Speak Up > Design Dialog

Subtraction 7.0 – NYTimes.com’s Design Director, Khoi Vinh, blogs about design and other relevant info.

swissmiss – tina roth eisenberg | swiss designer gone nyc

Typographica. A Journal of Typography.

Veer: The Skinny – provides visual elements for use in professional creative work

Veerle’s blog 2.0 – Webdesign – XHTML CSS | Graphic Design

You the Designer – Graphic Design Blog

PR 5 blogs

Logo Design Love: a website dedicated to all things logo.

Ace Jet 170 – Found type, print and stuff

AisleOne – Design, typography and everything else.

Anamorphosis. learn design create

Be A Design Group – a blog for graphic designers, created in March of 2004 by Adrian Hanft and Bennett Holzworth.

Chris Glass, The Last 10 Days. A creative fella’s journal from Ohio.

Creative Curio – Learn, discuss and explore the realm of graphic design.

Designers who Blog – features blogs discussing graphic design, web design, illustration, marketing, photography, branding, writing and advertising

Design Adaptations | Charity Ondriezek

Design Sojourn | Strategic Industrial Design Blog

DesignM.ag — Articles and Resources for Web Designers

Design View: Articles, Essays and Opinions by Andy Rutledge

Elite By Design a freelance and web design community website

Fuel Your Creativity – Find your spark

Grain Edit – covers contemporary graphic design / illustration, as well as design from the from the golden era of advertising (1950s–1970s).

Graphic Define Magazine – focuses on the business of running a graphic, interactive, or web design studio.

ideasonideas, a blog that invites dialogue on issues relevant to communication designers and brand strategists

Inspiration Bit – Get inspired and learn from the latest technology, art and design buzz on the Web.

Inspiredology – covers everything that inspires us.

ISO50 – The Visual Work of Scott Hansen

Jasongraphix :: A journal of art, thoughts, and projects by Jason Beaird

Noisy Decent Graphics by Ben Terrett, a Graphic Designer in London

Positive Space :: The Graphic Design Blog

Spoon Graphics – the personal project of Chris Spooner, a UK based Graphic / Web Designer.

Swiss Legacy – Graphic design and typography

The Dieline – packaging design blog

The Serif – Your daily dose of design inspiration

Numbers 51 and upwards

PR 5 blogs continued

things to look at – plenty of images, and oddly, things to look at

Type for you. A blog on typography, by Pedro Serrão, a graphic designer from Porto, Portugal.

TypeNeu dedicated to typography, fonts, lettering and typefaces

PR 4 blogs

Andy Budd :: Blogography – based in Brighton, England

BittBox – Homemade vector freebies, design tips, tutorials and bitts.

Computerlove – Connecting Creative Talents

creativebits | Apple orientated design community (must register to comment)

David the Designer – don’t underestimate the knowledge this man has acquired (and don’t call him Dave)

Elliot Swan survived three days without the internet

FormFiftyFive – Design Inspiration – the pet project of designers Glenn Garriock and Jack Daly

graphicPUSH – “a sporadically but faithfully updated design blog”

Graphic Design Blog – graphic design, freelancing, illustration, advertising, web design

Laughing Lion Design : Web, Graphic Design & Illustration Ireland

Lealea Design: Blogblog: Design inspiration and introspection

Luz Cannon: The Work of David Brooks : Designer, Photographer and Audio Producer

NOTCOT.ORG – for your ideas + aesthetics + amusement.

SeptemberIndustry | a showcase of the best in international graphic design

SonSpring | Journal by Nathan Smith

We Made This (It’s Our Blog)

Your Brain on Design: A Graphic Design Blog | Leslie Tane Design

PR 3 blogs

Binky the doormat – Thoughts on design and visual culture by Daniel Gray

CrazyLeaf Design Blog – Web Design and Graphic Design Blog

Creative Guy – tips, tricks, tutorials and discussion about Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator for designers running Mac OSX

Designer Daily graphic design inspiration and resources

Gazelle Creative – by Elizabeth Jackson (a.k.a. Zabs)

gradient dropshadow curve – by Henry Tapia

Just Creative Design – personal blog of Jacob Cass, a graphic designer in Australia

Outlaw Design Blog – A Graphic Design Blog

Reflections – the personal blog of Paul Enderson, a freelance web and graphic designer from England

Truly Ace – Graphic Design Blog

Tutorial Blog – Design Articles and Tutorials

This is not a complete list and is subjective.  Let us know if you should be on this list!

 

So we do know a thing or two about how to get found, increase traffic and staying relevant.  Enough self praise, its just that unless you can show people that you know what you are talking about you loose your audience.  There are millions of sites out there and so it is important to stay one step ahead.  

Okay then our search engine optimization speech is over and lets get on with the list.  What you will want to do is visit each site listed, sign up (FREE), customize your look and feel – but keep your theme and message the same as other accounts you have.  You don’t want to confuse a user when they happen upon you at another venue, but rather re-inforce your message.  

1) Google : (will give you access to adsense, affiliate program, orkut, webmaster tools and so much more)  Enables users to search the Web, Usenet, and images. Features include PageRank, caching and translation of results, and an option to find similar pages. The company’s focus is developing search technology.

2) Yahoo : (will give you access to finance, myblog log, directory and many other tools) Personalized content and search options. Chatrooms, free e-mail, clubs, and pager.

3) Facebook : A social utility that connects people, to keep up with friends, upload photos, share links and videos.

 4) YouTube : is a way to get your videos to the people who matter to you. Upload, tag and share your videos worldwide! If you don’t make videos you need to!

5) MySpace: Social Networking Site.

6) MSN: Search engine from Microsoft. Dialup access and content provider. (lots of tools and resources)

7) Wikipedia : (Don’t be afraid to educate people).  An online collaborative encyclopedia.

Craiglist : (Add info about your services, site, something) Online classifieds

9) eBay: (if you have stuff to sell this is a no brainer – if you don’t find something) Online marketplace to buy, sell, trade.

10) AOL : (lots of services offered) America On Line’s portal, offering search, shopping, channels, chat and mail.

Some of you are looking at the list and wondering why Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL – search engines is on our list of Social Media.  Take a seat grass hopper, it goes like this … Google owns Orkut, Yahoo owns mybloglog, MSN owns Live Spaces and AOL owns Bebo.  The latter listed for each company is highly utilized social networking or internet tool.  Basically they all get viewers who will see you, so if you are going to sign up with them go to the source and that will give you access to all of their products/tools and resources.  

see Nielsen

Top 100 social media-networking communities as of 4-23-09 (courtesy of Prelovac)

Web Site (Community)—————————–Traffic Rank (Alexa) ———————————Category

 

1.	youtube.com	3	Videos
2.	flickr.com	39	Images
3.	digg.com	127	General
4.	metacafe.com	143	Videos
5.	stumbleupon.com	380	Cool Content
6.	technorati.com	440	Blogging
7.	scribd.com	538	Articles
8.	blogcatalog.com	784	Internet / Blogs
9.	del.icio.us	1,096	General
10.	propeller.com	1,140	News
11.	twitter.com	1,970	General
12.	fark.com	2,028	Entertainment
13.	mister-wong.de	2,242	General
14.	mybloglog.com	2,252	Blogging
15.	indianpad.com	2,577	General
16.	kaboodle.com	2,741	Shopping
17.	startaid.com	3,026	Internet
18.	i-am-bored.com	3,040	Entertainment
19.	tutorialized.com	3,214	Tutorials
20.	reddit.com	3,851	General
21.	slashdot.org	3,856	Tech
22.	care2.com	3,898	Social Action
23.	blinklist.com	4,229	Internet
24.	megite.com	5,227	General
25.	balatarin.com	5,368	Persian Digg Site
26.	killerstartups.com	5,529	Internet
27.	clipmarks.com	5,907	News
28.	leenks.com	6,014	Entertainment
29.	activerain.com	6,771	Real Estate
30.	blinkbits.com	7,354	Internet
31.	ulinkx.com	7,453	Videos
32.	good-tutorials.com	7,885	Web Design
33.	faves.com	7,984	Internet
34.	nowpublic.com	8,155	News
35.	newsvine.com	8,535	News
36.	linuxquestions.org	8,596	Linux
37.	stylehive.com	9,600	Fashion
38.	pixel2life.com	9,642	Web Design & Development
39.	gather.com	10,033	Articles
40.	ballhype.com	10,466	Sports
41.	shoutwire.com	10,625	General
42.	furl.net	10,693	General
43.	dealigg.com	13,182	Deals
44.	photoshoproadmap.com	14,058	Graphics and Web Design
45.	autospies.com	14,858	Cars
46.	swik.net	15,202	Open Source news
47.	showhype.com	15,914	Web Design
48.	mixx.com	20,536	General
49.	dzone.com	20,562	Web Design & Development
50.	uvouch.com	21,349	Videos
51.	sphinn.com	22,136	Internet Marketing
52.	clipclip.org	24,325	Internet
53.	lipstick.com	24,619	Celebrities
54.	searchles.com	25,788	World
55.	rojo.com	25,900	General
56.	citeulike.org	26,893	Academic
57.	buzzflash.com	27,335	News
58.	blogmarks.net	27,505	Internet
59.	netvouz.com	27,908	Internet
60.	rnel.net	30,120	Graphics and Web Design
61.	spotplex.com	30,959	Automatic Digg like
62.	cgtutorials.com	31,196	Graphics and 3D
63.	plime.com	31,893	News Culture
64.	Mister-Wong.com	33,172	General
65.	wists.com	34,800	Shopping
66.	linkroll.com	35,475	General
67.	ma.gnolia.com	36,035	Internet
68.	simpy.com	37,039	General
69.	bumpzee.com	37,897	Internet / Blogs
70.	corank.com	38,068	News
71.	work.com	38,415	Business & Work
72.	teenwag.com	45,916	Teens
73.	pslover.com	46,204	Graphics nad Design
74.	tailrank.com	46,365	News
75.	links.hubspot.com	52,927	Internet
76.	diigo.com	53,389	Internet
77.	spotback.com	55,256	Internet
78.	flashperfection.com	55,968	Flash Design
79.	backflip.com	59,282	General
80.	spurl.net	59,410	Internet
81.	freeiq.com	65,464	Articles
82.	smallbusinessbrief.com	70,335	Internet Marketing and Business
83.	kinja.com	71,263	General
84.	9rules.com	81,860	Internet
85.	listible.com	89,147	Lists
86.	bloggingzoom.com	91,019	Internet / Blogs
87.	connotea.org	94,104	General
88.	bibsonomy.org	102,801	Publications
89.	sk-rt.com	104,842	Lifestyle
90.	thoof.com	106,745	Internet
91.	rawsugar.com	106,940	Web 2.0
92.	zaadz.com	115,488	General
93.	wirefan.com	128,516	Internet
94.	plugim.com	132,234	Internet Marketing
95.	folkd.com	134,123	General
96.	buddymarks.com	136,480	General
97.	linkagogo.com	136,615	Internet
98.	connectedy.com	148,571	General
99.	designfloat.com	151,710	Web Design & Development
100.	a1-webmarks.com	169,060	General

 

When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server here.

So if you have ever wondered how your site would fare in other browsers, now you can find out and make changes accordingly.  For web designers and developers this is an invaluable tool, especially if you are creating a site for a client and need to be multi-browser compatible.  

So stop by, input your info and keep designing and developing!

If you haven’t or aren’t too sure how to check for running processes on your system, press Ctrl + Alt + Del and a utility named Task Manager should popup. The Processes tab of Task Manager should give you a list of all the processes running on your system and this is where you’ll see multiple svchost.exe processes, along with the rest of the processes running on your system.

Whilst researching we came across a Microsoft article which says that (check here for your specific Microsoft OS)

Svchost.exe is a generic host process name for services that run from dynamic-link libraries (DLLs).

This tech talk basically means that svchost.exe is a utility used to load System services which require DLL files. We know that is oversimplifying things, but that should be enough for the average user.

We were a bit more curious and wanted to see the services that each svchost instance was responsible for, so we googled for tools which would give us this info and came across Svchost viewer.

Svchost viewer is a simple and useful utility that analyzes your system for all running instances of svchost.exe and tell you the services each instance is responsible for.

It’ll also tell you the amount of memory each instance of svchost is consuming and the number of threads that it has open.

When you first start Svchost Viewer, it’ll take a couple of seconds to analyze your system and will then display all the running instances of the svchost.exe process, followed by their process ID in a tree like structure.

Click on any one individual process you’ll be able to see more data about the process, like the number of services it is responsible for, number of active threads it has and the amount of memory that is being consumed by the process. Expand the tree and you will be able to see more information about the individual services along with a handy description of the process.

The best thing about Svchost viewer is that it doesn’t even require an install. It comes as a self contained executable and can be run from a USB flash drive if required. Very handy when you want to use it for troubleshooting on a friend’s computer.

Svchost viewer is an excellent utility to have around and probe a little deeper into the inner workings of the operating system. It might even be helpful when you are looking to save some previous RAM and want to see the services that are taking up the most of it and can be removed safely.