Clips from PC Magazine

November, 2007
Net Disaster
-www.netdisaster.com
-"trash" the web site of your choice by nuking it, having dinosaurs stomp it, or sending aliens to attack

Fuzzster
-www.fuzzster.com
-give your furry or feathery buddy an online personality with the social networking site for pets.

Hack Yourself: test if your network is secure
-NetStumbler (go.pcmag.com/netstumbler): Wi-Fi tool that lays out the network "land". Helps find unsecured networks, dead spots with weak signals, and rogue access points that fool unsuspecting users, and sorts out wireless interference.
-Wireshark (www.wireshark.org): comprehensive network protocol analyzer. Usually used to troubleshoot network issues, but also a packet sniffer (pull data out of any live network stream over Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB connections) and can try to decrypt traffic on WEP and WPA networks.
-Cain & Able (www.oxid.it/cain.html): password cracker program for Windows XP, NT and 2000 systems, using algorithms like Dictionary, BruteForce, and Cryptanalysis.

Software Inspector
-www.secunia.com/software_inspector
-looks for potentially vulnerable applications on your system

December, 2007
Online reputation
-TrustPlus (www.trustplus.com): provides holistic reputation rankings that travel with users as they move from site to site.
-RapLeaf (www.rapleaf.com): similar service

Loosr
-www.loosr.com
-share your embarrassing (yet hilarious) stories with the rest of the world anonymously. You can also read and vote on other users' stories.

Cyberhomes
-www.cyberhomes.com
-for parents looking for local school and community information before they move.

Tunesquare
-www.tunesquare.com
-music site that lets you download free music (ad-supported).

ThinkFree Online
-go.pcmag.com/tfonlineupdate
-effortlessly opens almost any MS Office file. 1GB of free storage on their server.
-can be confusing, limited features, slightly buggy.

OpenOffice.org
-go.pcmag.com/openoffice2_3
-high compatibility with Office formats and interface (through 2003), full-featured word processing, spread sheet apps. Powerful macro language. Exports PDFs.
-dreary, overcomplicated interface. Can't open Office 2007 files. Can slow down some Windows systems.

Ustream.tv
-go.pcmag.com/ustreamtv
-YouTube of live, streaming video. Turns webcam owners into video broadcasters. Register, name your show, and click "Create Show". You have a cam-specific URL to give to friends. And it's free.

Tubes
-www.tubesnow.com
-upload and share files

Excel 2007 tips
-nonlinear series: type the first value, right-click and drag on the fill handle
-custom lists: office button > Excel options > popular > edit custom lists
-drop-down: type of list of entries > select it > name it > in new worksheet, select cells for data > click on data tab > choose data validation > settings tab > allow > list
-forms: office button > excel options > customize > choose commands from > commands not in the ribbon > form > add > click in table of data > click form button

January, 2008
Retrevo
-www.retrevo.com
-online clearinghouse that offers reviews and ratings for consumer electronics from thousands of expert and user reviews

TV Trip
-www.tvtrip.com
-detailed photo and video tours of hotel destinations around the world

Songza
-www.songza.com
-web jukebox that lets you play virtually any song from any artist you can think of