As you know, Viral Videos are one of the most powerful marketing tools ever created. Just ask the rock band Weezer, who tapped the YouTube talent pool to make their latest video a smash hit. They pulled in all of YouTube’s most popular stars to make a cameo. Including that weeping kid who loved Britney Spears a little too much. They then uploaded it to YouTube and watched it’s popularity soar.

All forms of social media can be used to generate big exposure, not just videos. A fake news story on a boy who goes on a spending spree and plays his Xbox with hookers made it to the top page of Digg. It was later reported on Fox News as being a real honest to goodness true news story. It wasn’t but it generated roughly 6,000 inbound links. That’s some killer exposure…

Well, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand the power of online video, but the ones down at NASA, who now are sending us live photos of the Martian landing mission seem to have a fir grasp. We reported on this earlier in the week, and we now have something to look at it. The Phoenix Mars Mission site is alive and kicking, and has tons of great photographs of the landing and the surface of mars.

Even the indie movie industry is getting in on the whole viral video thing. IndieFlix created a marketplace for independent films called MyFestival. It will stream video, and will let users select movies for film festivals. The most popular and most viral movies rise to the top. They will be performing a trail of the software for the Seattle International Film Festival.

Of course, not everyone sees online videos as the way of the future. Viacom is currently suing YouTube for copyright infringement, asking for over 1 million dollars in damages. We feel Viacom’s lawsuit is kind of a direct attack on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a law that was passed to help keep freedom of speech free on the internet. Google has gone on record saying that, “Viacom threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information, news, entertainment and political and artistic expression.”

中文版视频：

你知道，病毒视频可以说是史上最成功的营销工具之一。不信的话可以问一下Weezer乐队，【他们刚刚利用YouTube视频内容成就了自己音乐电视。他们从YouTube上节选了最火的视频并做成了专辑。包括那个喜欢布莱尼到过头到哭泣的小男孩】。最后他们就把它传到了YouTube上结果点击率飙升。

任何种类的社交网络都可以产生巨大的效果，不只是视频而已。比如一则关于一个骄奢淫逸的小男孩与妓女玩游戏的虚假新闻就成了Digg上的第一名。它随后被当作一个真实消息转载在Fox新闻中。然而它却产生了6000多个入站链接。这个不是个小数目……

呃，虽然你不用为了了解网络视频的去学习火箭技术，但是那些在【NASA给我们发送火星登陆照片的人们好像蛮厉害的。。。我们本周早些时候报道了这则消息而且现在已经就可以开始观赏。凤凰火星计划网站已经成功上线，并且上面有许多关于火星登陆已经火星表面的照片。

现在甚至独立电影业也已经开始搞起病毒视频这种东西了。IndieFlix为独立电影们创建了一个新的场所叫做MyFestival.com。【它会允许用户们为各个电影节选取自己喜欢的电影，而那些最受欢迎的电影会被顶到最上面。网站的程序会首先在西雅图国际电影节上小试牛刀。】

当然并不是所有人都觉得网络视频是个好东西。Viacom目前正因为侵权问题起诉YouTube。我们觉得Viacom的诉讼是对千禧年版权法的一个直接攻击，而后者是一项保护网络言论自由的法案。Google已经发表回应说：“Viacom这样做威胁了数百万人合法的交换信息，新闻，娱乐和政治表达的渠道。这是一个重大事件，我们会一直跟踪报道的。

Democrats took the battle for presidency online by creating an attack Wiki. Dubbed McCain-Opedia, the website is based on the famous Wikimedia software, the same software that runs Wikipedia. The whole purpose of this website is to act as a tool for opposing the candidate. It gives arguments against McCain on everything from his stance on healthcare to his Supreme Court Justice picks. Unlike most other Wiki’s, anyone can’t just walk in and edit a page, spurring some technologists to criticize it. They say that it is against the spirit and ethos that drive wiki’s.

Fans of the real Wikipedia can finally have their cake and eat it, too. You can now take the free encyclopedia offline using the eReader known as the iRex Iliad. Much like the Sony eReader and the Amazon Kindle, this bite sized book machine uses E-Ink technology, to give you a clear and crisp book like experience. Now Wikipedia can go anywhere you want it to go.

And if you find the iRex Iliad out of your price range, the One Laptop Per Child project just might have the ebook reader for you. They announced their next generation One Laptop Per Child computer, the XO2. Designed to be an ebook reader first and a computer second, it contains two LCD touch screen displays and is loaded with tons of free software.

In other electronic book news, Microsoft has just closed the virtual doors on its Live Search for Books. They will no longer be scanning in books digitally, and will be turning off the Live Book Search web pages within the week. Although we are sad to see it go, it should be noted that similar initiatives are still continuing with Google and Scribd’s free book scan project.

And just in time to cover this small blow to online text, we have Microsoft announced a new incentive to get people to use Live Search: paying them. That’s right, Microsoft is dishing out the cash to get users to click on paid advertisements in their search engine. They call this initiative the cashback service, and can save users between 2 and 30% off select retailers.

民主党最近通过使用攻击维基把总统竞选擂台搬到了网上，并发布了麦凯恩百科，这个网站是建立在著名的软件Wikimedia之上的，它也是Wikipedia所使用的软件，而整个网站的目的就是去反对麦凯恩。它反驳了麦凯恩主张的各种政策，从医疗保险到最高法院人员的指派问题。不像其它维基，不是所有人都可以加入并编辑它的页面的，这也遭到了很多人的排斥】。他们认为这是对维基精神的严重违反。

而维基百科的真正粉丝现在却很值得开心，因为你现在可以通过iRex Lliad 把这本免费的百科全书搬下线了。就像索尼的eReader和亚马逊的Kindle一样，这个书一般大小的阅读器可以给你清晰的阅读体验。现在你可以带着维基百科到处在了。

如果你觉得iRex Llid比较贵的话，那么OLPC【项目将给你最适合的电子书浏览器。他们刚刚宣布了其下一代的笔记本电脑，XO2，它首先是一个电子阅读器然后才是一台电脑，它搭载了两个LCD触摸屏并随机附赠无数免费软件。】

另一则关于电子书的新闻，微软刚刚关闭了它Live Search的图书搜索功能。【他们将不再扫描数字书籍，并会在本周内关闭Live Book Search的网页】。不过虽然微软离开了，值得庆幸的是Google和Scribd‘s今后还将继续这样的工作。

除了在电子图书政策方面有所变化，微软宣布将采用一种新的策略去吸引人们使用Live Search：金钱诱惑。【没错，微软要为那些在它的搜索引擎中点击付费广告的用户们支付现金。】他们在这种创新叫做回扣服务，它可以为用户们节省2%到30%的费用。

Ever wanted to talk to Martians on MySpace? That future could be a distinct possibility soon, if NASA has its way. They’re bringing all the details and goals of the new mars mission online. They plan on providing real time images of the space craft landing. This will allow millions of people across the world to experience the Martian landscape first hand. And if we see any little green men, we’ll make sure to let them friend us on MySpace and Facebook.

If you believe you are one of those people who have already met a little man from outer space, then Spielberg’s new venture should be right up your alley. It’s a website called The Rising, and it’s out to create a Facebook style social platform for UFO abductees. ET no longer needs to phone home- he just has to post a bulletin on his profile.

For those of us still trapped here on earth, we’ve got a link to Wired’s new How-To section, about using the internet to live green. It’s set up in a wiki format, so if you know anything about living with a low carbon footprint, you can go and share your knowledge with the world.

Earlier on the Free Line we showed you several free online applications that let you add Geo Tags to pictures, including one that used your cellphone. Looks like someone at Apple watches these videos and knows what the public wants. The next version of iPhone, 2.0, will have geo tagging for photos built in directly. Take a picture with your iPhone, and the geo tags automatically pop up.

While we’re on the subject of tags, we’ve got some startling news about the next version of FireFox. It will not have microformat support after all. Microformats are a form of semantic web browsing, a technology now used in Yahoo and Google searches and one that will be used in Digg in the near future. This new technology is hailed as the future of the web, and it seems sad that Firefox won’t have them built in. Fear not, though, for you can always download the Operator plugin and experience web 3.0 first hand.

你是否想过在MySpace上认识火星人？这个想法也许很快就会实现了，【如果NASA有办法的话。他们正打算在网络上公开未来火星计划的细节。计划中包括提供实时的探测器着陆图片。这可以让世界各地的人们第一时间体验到火星的景色。另外如果你看见了火星人，我们会确保把它在MySpace和Facebook上加为好友】。

如果你确信你是一个曾经遇到过外星人的人的话，那么斯皮尔伯格最新的作品一定正适合你。【这是一个叫做The Rising的网站，它是一个类似于Facebook的UFO爱好者在线交流平台。外星人不再电话回家了，因为它只在博客上写日志。

对于我们这些只关心地球的人，大家可以看一下【连线杂志的最新板块，教大家如何使网络更环保。它很像一个维基网站，所以如果你知道如何用一种更环保的方式生活】，你就可以去跟世界分享你的经验。

我们之前在FreeLine中提到过如何利用免费的在线程序给照片添加地理标签，包括一个在手机上使用的软件。看起来苹果公司的有人看到了这些视频并了解大家喜欢什么。【苹果在iPhone的2.0版中内置了地理标签系统。用你的iPhone照张相片，地理标签系统就会自动弹出。好玩极了。

说到标签系统，让我们来看一则令人吃惊的关于新版本火狐的消息：【它竟然完全不支持微格式！微格式是语义互联网络的一种，目前正被雅虎跟Google使用，另外Digg也在计划中】。这项新的技术被推举为网络的未来，可以看起来火狐并不打算内置这项技术。不过不用害怕，你可以随时下载Operator插件并第一个体验Web 3.0Until next time, for the freeline, I’m Brad Fallon.

For you video buffs out there who want to spruce up your podcasts with some 3D special effects, you should check out Blender. This free and open 3D software suite just released version 2.46 and it available for download. It’s got some great new features that make it almost as cutting edge as any of the big name 3d modelers. Go and check it out from our link at free line report dot com.

Blackberry users now have another option in staving off the ravages of boredom. XM, the satellite radio network that features such personalities and Opie and Anthony and Bob Dylan, is now available on most Blackberry devices. Subscribers will have access to twenty of the XM stations, ranging from rock to comedy. XM on Blackberry proves that even reading your email can be fun… if you have the right music to back it up, that is.

Open source programmer Miguel de Icaza has announced the release of Moonlight, the open source answer to Microsoft’s Silverlight technology. For those unaware, Silverlight is Microsoft’s new software initiative created to compete with Adobe Flash. This is not the first time open source programmers have taken a patently Microsoft idea and given it that distinct GNU flavor. Mono, the development kit that Moonlight is based upon, is actually the open equivalent to the software giant’s .NET Framework. At press time, Moonlight is only available for Linux-based Firefox browsers.

Before giant media centers like iTunes became the norm, stand alone players like WinAmp were the king of all digital media. If you would like to go back to those days while staying still staying true to FOSS, then may we suggest the VLC. Small and lightweight, the VLC can handle almost any kind of non-DRM’ed format thrown at it, from mp3s to Divx files to even DVDs. The VLC is available for most of the major operating systems and is, as always, completely free.

Finally, we leave you with a look at OpenOffice.org gone blue - IBM blue, to be specific. IBM’s Lotus Symphony is a combination of OpenOffice’s core systems and Big Blue’s Rich Client Platform, giving the user new functionality and eye candy while keeping Open Office’s dependability in tact. Lotus Symphony is currently available for both Windows and Linux-based systems, with a Mac version coming in the near future.

对于那些视频爱好者来说如果你希望在你的视频中加入一些3D效果的话，你可以试一下Blender。这个免费并且开源的3D软件套装刚刚发布了2.46版。它提供了很多新的功能可以说已经能和那些大型的三维建模软件旗鼓相当了。这个软件的下载地址就在FreeLineReport.com。

黑莓用户现在有了新的选择来打发无聊的时间了。XM这个主推如Opie and Anthony和Bob Dylan的卫星广播系统现在可以在黑莓上使用了。用户们可以收听20多个XM频道，从摇滚到喜剧。黑莓上的XM上证明了即时读读Email也是有趣的……当然如果里面有你喜欢的音乐的话。

开源软件作者Miguel de lcaza刚刚发布了软件月光，它可以被看作是微软银光技术的开源版。银光是微软最新的用来与Flash竞争的软件。这已经不是第一次开源作者把微软的专利技术拿来当作GNU的东西了。Mono，这个月光的开发平台，事实上也是相当于开源版微软的.NET框架。目前为止，月光仅仅可以在Linux系统的Firefox中使用。

在巨型媒体软件如iTunes出现之前，媒体播放市场小型软件如WinAmp的天下。如果你想回到过去并且仍然使用开源程序的话，那么你应该试一下VLC。这个体积小巧的软件可以解决任何未必限制的格式，从mp3到Divx甚至DVD碟片。VLC可以在大部分操作系统中使用，并且，完全免费。

最后，在结束前我们来看一下OpenOffice.org变蓝色，IBM的颜色，如果具体说的话。IBM的“荷花交响乐”是一个结合了OpenOffice核心系统和它自己的富客户平台的软件，它给用户提供了许多新功能和界面并保留了OpenOffice的依赖性。荷花交响乐目前可供Windows和Linux用户使用，另外苹果版本也正在开发中。

Noted file sharing critic, Comcast announced Monday that they have entered into an agreement with peer-to-peer start-up, GridNetwork. Analysts predict that the alliance will likely result in a perfectly legal, Comcast-controlled P2P network. The telecom giant also has deals in place with both BitTorrent and Pando Networks. These moves show that Comcast might finally be ready to embrace P2P.

Kyte takes the social video free-for-all concept used by YouTube and Daily Motion and streamlines it slightly. Kyte users are referred to as channel owners, with all of their content acting as different shows. Kyte also allows users to interact with each other in real time, using a built-in chat client. Kyte currently hosts shows by such notables as musician Scott Ian, David Hasselhoff, and Spin magazine, as well content from average people like you and me.

2Collab allows users to bookmark the world.  2Collab bookmarks focus on scientific research, not the ten hottest Italian footballers. 2Collab allows scholars to connect with one another again, just like the old days, giving them their slice of the Web 2.0 pie with a scoop of dignity on the side.

Pigdin takes your precious IM buddies from such services as MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, and AOL and puts them all into one easy to use program.

And the last stop on the Free Line is ZabaSearch, a search engine that is trying to become the Google of public information. Simply pick your state, type in the name you wish to search for, and hit find. It’s as simple as that. Once you find what you are looking for, you can easily post a message or send an email. ZabaSearch is a great tool for those who are just plain curious as to what that Internet has to say about them.

One final note, guys. Just in case you haven’t heard, Stompernet re-opens to new members today for the first time in over a year.

To software geeks, the arrival of summer can only mean one thing: Google’s Summer of Code returns. Now in its fourth year, Google is expecting more than 1,100 students and 175 open source projects to take part in the festivities. In today’s edition of the Free Line, we cover four projects that are choosing to spend their summer with Google.

Anyone who has taken a high school journalism class is familiar with the desktop publishing app QuarkXpress. It’s versatile, it’s powerful… and it’s as easy to use as…a Boeing 737. For an easier alternative, try Scribus. While it contains most of the tools that QuarkXpress does, Scribus is one thing the name brand competition is not: user friendly. Scribus is available for most major operating systems — and it’s free.

As many loyal viewers of the Free Line know, OpenOffice is a great alternative to the big name word processing suites produced by Microsoft and Apple. But what if you want an alternative to the alternative? If this is the case, then AbiWord is for you. AbiWord does one thing - word processing - but it does it well. Small, lightweight and very easy to use, AbiWord is a good choice for those who dislike OpenOffice, but loathe the competition even more. And by the way, AbiWord was used in the creation of today’s Free Line Report.

Being creative is great and all, but what if you just want to leave the house? Don’t worry. Open source programmers have that covered as well. OpenStreetMap is is kind of like Google Maps, and operates under a Creative Commons license. This guide is actually created by its users. Armed with everything from GPS devices to pen and paper, participants in the project track, photograph, and write about everything they come across. These journeys, in turn, are added to the OpenStreetMap database.

And finally, if you like the idea of unwinding and have a few of those old LucasArts point-and-click adventure games lying around, then ScummVM is certainly for you. Created by uTorrent creator Ludvig Strigeus, ScummVM is intended to breathe new life into the forgotten classics like Day of the Tentacle and I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream. Perhaps the best part is that it will run on most anything, from Windows XP to the iPhone. But before you run off to play Monkey Island 3, a word of warning: while the emulator might be free, most of the games are not. Go to ScummVM for a world class emulator, but go to thrift stores or eBay for the games themselves.