For a Gargantuan list of Freeware, Read This!

I was at a local Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago and, as usual, perused the computer and art magazines. I came across a magazine from the UK called PC Tools: PC Freeware. Although it came with a cd with lots of awesome freeware and reviews of the titles on it, the real treasure is the magazine's website... http://www.magnesiummedia.com/pcutilities/ . They have tons of freeware in almost any category you can think of. I've downloaded a bunch from there and have been pretty impressed with many of them. I highly recommend taking a glance at the list.

Squidoo: A Look at Lensmastering

With the whole Web 2.0 revolution and the creation of services like Wikipedia who allow anybody and everybody to claim expertise on a subject, where is the credibility factor going. Here's where Squidoo steps in. Squidoo is a site that allows a self-proclaimed expert create what they call a lens. A lens is simply a webpage that focuses on a specific topic. What's different from sites like Wikipedia is that other people can make their own lens for the same topic and there is no collaboration factor. When you create a lens you are allowed to pick from a bunch of modules to include in your site. If you want to display an rss feed on your lens that pertains to your topic, you can set up a module to do that. You can also set up modules on your lens to grab picture with certain tags from Flickr or map a location using Google Maps. In addition, if you should decide to try to earn a little cash from your lens, you can set up Amazon modules to sell products related to your topic. "This is all fine and dandy" you may say but "What about the credibility?" Here's where lens ranking steps and feedback in. Unlike Wikipedia, when visitors click links on your lens or report your lens, your lens ranking is effected. In addition, regularly updating your site to keep up your "lens freshness" can help your ranking. Overall the service is a great place to create a hobby or fan page and is fairly simple to use. It lacks the whole collaboration aspect but who wants to have someone edit their content anyway?

I gave Squidoo a whirl and created the following two lenses...
Ska on Squidoo
Less Than Jake on Squidoo

Distinguished from Your Doppleganger: ClaimId

If you're like me and have a "Web Doppleganger", someone who has the same name as you and shows up on web searches, you may want to read the review below about ClaimId...

On checking out some various betas the other day I came across a new service called ClaimId. I put my email on the invitation list and lo and behold, within a few days, I got an email invite. I was curious to see what the service was all about so I began clicking. After creating my profile, I was prompted to set up links to anything related to me. The site allows you to organize your online presence. For people who have made several contributions to the web community but have a name that they share with others on the web its a great way of saying "Hey, that's mine!" and "I don't play baseball!". I wonder how many people happen upon me when they're looking for Derek Jeter? It's also a great way, if you're disorganized like me, to keep track of all the different services you dabble in on the web. The site is easy to work with and simple. Check out my ClaimId page.