New search engine Evri (pronounced Ev–ree) made it’s first public beta debut last week. Think of Evri as the Internet by way of Amazon Suggest. For every one page you frequent, Evri suggests three that you might like. Although it is a new and somewhat buggy, Envi is a truly new and original way to try something new.

In web browsing news, Mozilla has released yet another update to Firefox 3. Firefox 3.0.3 fixes some high risk security flaws that had put some users in serious danger. These updates are pushed automatically to current users, forcing them to upgrade as soon as possible. It’s nice to see a company react to a security situation in such a timely fashion.

Sticking with browsers for a moment, it seems as if the hype surrounding Google Chrome is starting to die down. According to internet traffic measuring company Net Applications, Chrome’s market share dropped from a high of one percent three weeks ago 0.77%. Many analysts, including Net Application vice president Vince Vizzaccaro, believe that Chrome’s slow slide downwards is due to Google’s promotion, or rather, lack thereof. “The only marketing effort I’ve seen from Google is in sponsored links,” said Vizzaccaro in an interview with tech blog Computerworld. “On Google, Chrome is naturally the top sponsored link. On Yahoo, it was second. And on Windows Live, I couldn’t even find it in the first five pages of organic results.”

Despite the slide, Chrome still seems to be taking a small but noticable chunk out of the other major browsers. Internet Explorer market share slipped 0.91% in the month of September, from 72.39% to 71.48%. Firefox and Opera also took a slight hit, but not nearly as noticeable. Other than Chrome, the only major browser that has made strides is Safari, which saw a 0.45% increase. Vizzaccaro suspects that this increase is likely due to Chrome’s Windows-only status. “[Chrome] isn’t available on Mac OS X yet,” he says.

Even though the market share for Chrome is slipping, there are still some very loyal Chrome users out there. We here at the Free Line have two great applications for all of the Chrome fans out there.

Backup Chrome -Save your settings and move them to another computer. Handy if you don’t want to recreate your home page and bookmarks from scratch.

Iron – A German Chrome derivative that prevents Google from tracking your web usage for their own benefit. Due to the added security features measures found in Iron, Chrome’s Suggest feature has been disabled.

Staying in touch with the news is important, especially in this day and age. The central problem, however, is deciding which source is worth your time. There are literally thousands of news sites on the web, each with their own point-of-view and spin. Luckily for us, there’s Mediascrape. Similar to social news sites such as Digg and Slashdot, Mediascrape is a hodgepodge of diverse news pieces from around the world. What sets Mediascrape is its format of choice — videos. Several of the world’s major news organizations are featured on the service, including the BBC, CBC, and the AP. Easy to use and interesting to watch, Mediascrape will let you see all sides of a developing situation in stunning detail.

Not everyone likes to get their news fix solely from news videos. Some of us still prefers getting our information the “new old-fashioned way” — a blog. As many longtime readers of the Free Line know, one of our favorite ways to access our favorite blogs is through Google Reader. Well it seems as if this venerable service has gone through a few upgrades in the last couple of days. New features include the ability to alphabetize your feeds, add a tag to a note, and improve support for the iPhone. The new and improved Google Reader is available now.

Elsewhere, we have TipJoy. TipJoy is a website designed to make microtransactions a breeze. What exactly is a “microtransaction,” you ask? A microtransaction is a quick and easy way to send and receive small amounts of money over the Internet. Microtransactions are used in situations where traditional money changing methods would be foolish, such as in online RPGs. With TipJoy, all you have to do is type the recipient’s website or email address into the text bar and press a button. Within seconds, the person will receive their small amount of money. While it isn’t exactly Western Union, TipJoy is perfect for those who want to throw their favorite blogger or guild member a few bucks.

Elsewhere, marketing expert Mark Widawer has created an interesting video showing you how to get more people to visit your blog. According to Widawer, the trick is to measure and track everything. By tracking everything, you can easily see what strategies work and which ones fall flat. Enhance the good ones and jettison the bad ones. Do this, he says, and you’ll be ready for more advanced SEO and marketing techniques in no time.

Myspace Music launched last week to much fanfare, and a bigger music library than already planned. A lot of people are calling this an “iTunes killer,” but we here at the Free Line remain skeptical for now. It will undoubtedly be a huge hit at first, but without the power of a product like the iPhone to back it up, it might only be a flash in the pan. Like Hulu, Myspace Music is currently a “US residents only” release. Expect more countries to be added shortly.

C-SPAN, the usually dull television network that made the Democratic and Republican National Conventions worth watching, is at it again. This time around, it’s due to the Debate Hub. Not only does the Hub allow you to embed video from the debate, you’ll also be able to edit that video as well. Just need a thirty second clip to prove an argument on MySpace? Edit it down and away you go. As with the Conventions, C-SPAN will be providing specialized Twitter feeds, as well and a point by point search, letting you bring up the opinions of each candidate with ease. The C-SPAN debate hub will cover both the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates.

In other online video news, Amazon released it’s own online video service. Similar to Hulu, it lets you just click and play online videos instantly. Unlike Hulu, you won’t find any commercials gracing these videos. Even though some of the content is pay to view, there are quite a few freebies, letting you taste how good the service is before you use it.

It seems as if Americans are more nervous than ever when it comes to their online security. According to a new poll conducted by Consumer Reports, 82% are worried that their credit card numbers will be stolen online. In addition, 72% of those surveyed believe that their web use is being tracked by a variety of online companies. When asked about what should be done to prevent the uneasiness, a whopping 93% stated that Internet companies should always ask for permission before taking data. Furthermore, 73% also added that consumers should have the right to “opt out” of any such service.

Continuing our fun with numbers for a moment, TNS Media Intelligence is reporting that Internet advertising campaign spending has risen 8% in 2008. In contrast, the money spent on newspaper and radio advertising has went down 7.4% and 6.5%, respectively. Many analysts believe the shift is due to many companies switching their focus from “traditional” media to the Internet. Despite the rise in Internet spending, the overall spending for advertising has dropped by 1.6%.

And to finish off the week, we have a great article about dragging more traffic to your website. In An Easy Way to Bring More Traffic to Your Website and Discover What Your Customers Want, Jennifer Haubein runs down some pretty snappy and simple ways of driving more traffic to your website. Most of it is pretty much common sense, but the way she combines the different aspects make for some interesting ideas.

Looks like keeping a secret in the internet age is neigh impossible. Every time someone tries to keep something under wraps, it gets leaked out one way or another. This week’s example is the oft mentioned MySpace Music. The leaked screen shots pretty much showed us what we already knew — MySpace crossed with iTunes. Unfortunately, there is still no release date for the beta.

One of the major problems that some perspective voters have, especially in mass urban centers, is finding his or her polling place. Luckily, Google is here to help. Google has created a widget for Google Maps that lets you look up where you can go and vote based on where you live.

Speaking of the election, if you’re afraid of someone pulling a “Sarah Palin” and hacking into your Gmail or Yahoo account, CrunchGear has you covered. In Help Key, blogger Scott Merrill tells you how to encrypt your email using the GNU Privacy Guard tools. It only takes a few moments, and is about as secure as you can get these days without a “.gov” email address.

One thing that looks to be really secure is the new Google Android, which made its debut Tuesday as the T-Mobile G1. Like the iPhone, one of the best things about the G1 is going to be the software. Tech site Gizmodo has compiled the top 10 apps for the new Android that are almost revolutionary. While most of them have to do with Google Maps, with a few really innovative apps that use the common phone functions in brand new ways. BioWallet, for example, turns your cellphone’s camera into an iris scanner, and only lets you access your secure, encrypted information

Sometimes using eBay can be a pain. While it might be good for, say, that old Krups coffee grinder from 1976, it isn’t the best place to unload that old Nsync album. If you want to just swap, say books or movies, for new books or movies, check out Swaptree. Don’t want that copy of The Da Vinci Code anymore? Put it up for swap and get that unopened copy of Back to the Future Part II that you’ve had your eye on. It’s fairly easy to use, and you only have to pay for shipping.

Microsoft has begun integrating the recently acquired Powerset technology into Live Search. For those unaware, Powerset was a search engine that allowed users to search using “natural language” cues instead of traditional keywords. While Microsoft does have high hopes for the new technology, many analysts disagree with Redmond’s boisterous “Google killer” claims. At press time, the Windows Live/Powerset power duo is still in a closed beta release.

In social networking news, Viacom subsidiary MTV Networks has purchased media company Social Projects, developer of the burgeoning Flux social networking architecture. The purchase gives MTV more control over the direction of the Flux service, as well as access to vital advertising data. There are currently MTV Networks sites running on Flux technology, including mtv.com, vh1.com and the official sites for both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.

Elsewhere, Google has recently released Google Book Search, a tool that some analysts claim could be the “YouTube” of the written word. According to project manager Alex Diaz, the technology is comparable to “flipping through” a book at a bookstore. The service gives the user the ability to scan, zoom, and search through about 20% of a book. There are currently seven online bookstores and five publishers that offer the service, which more to be added in the near future.

As fans of the Free Line already know, corporate America still hasn’t fully embraced social networking as of yet. Jonathan Yarmis, an analyst for AMR Research, talked with CIO.com recently, giving them the run down on the future of business in America and how it relates to social networks and social marketing. According to Yarmis, the key is to have the “correct” conversations with your users and other businesses. “There are some conversations that aren’t a good use of your time and that will lead you down counterproductive paths. You want to get involved in conversations that are meaningful and impact your business.” He also suggests starting small when it comes to planning your business’ social service. “I see so many companies come up with 137 ideas about that they want to do with social media,” says Yarmis, “but they should just start with one. Get comfortable taking that first step and see what works along the way. That is way different than the software model we’re used to.”

One of the biggest problems in getting the word out about a new blog post is letting users tell their friends about that cool new link they found. There are a ton of widgets out there that let you post blogs services such as Reddit, Digg, or any number of social networks. Tell-A-Friend might be the new kid on the block, but it adds an extra layer of features we haven’t seen yet, such as being able to tell people about a new blog via an instant messenger. While there are a few bugs still to work out, Tell-A-Friend truly stands out in a fairly crowded field.

Net4Mac, a social network designed specifically for Mac users, is coming to the iPhone. Like its bigger brother, the Net4Mac for the iPhone is only available via a program instead of a website. Once downloaded, users can do a variety of standard social networking tasks, such as sending messages and reading through profiles. While there a small fee attached to the iPhone version, the desktop version of Net4Mac is completely free.

As anyone who has been following the Sarah Palin hacking scandal can tell you, keeping track of all of your passwords and user names are incredibly important. Luckily, there’s Mashed Life. Mashed Life is a new website that stores your passwords and user names securely on a website instead of in a program. While designed for use on Web 2.0 sites, the service is completely compatible with more traditional sites such web-based email accounts. Mashed Life is also one of the few password services to have certifications from both the Better Business Bureau and VeriSign. Mashed Life is currently available on both the website and as a Facebook application.

Another tool that could prove to be very handy, albeit for completely different reasons, is CinemaForge. We’ve all had video files we’ve downloaded from some website or another, and could not figure out how to get it to play properly. CinemaForge takes away the frustration of incompatible files with a bevy of formats and options. You also have the ability of making a video file out of your still images. While there are still a few bugs concerning audio conversion rates, CinemaForge is perfect for those who want their videos as soon as possible.

For something just a little bit on the odd side, there’s the Deletionpedia. The Deletionpedia is a database dedicated to the items that have been removed from the main Wikipedia website. Typical topics include an in-depth discussion on the weaponry used in the board game Warhammer and a list of professional wrestling action figures. Although it wouldn’t be the best source for someone writing a college term paper, the Deletionpedia is great for anyone in the mood for something a bit more obscure than normal.

The DoshDosh blog has a great post on how you can use a mini-funnel website to draw more traffic to your blog and increase your audience very quickly. The idea is to create websites that answer specific search queries, and use the keywords in the domain title of the page. You can draw very specific traffic by doing this, and he gives some great examples of when it works and how to use it properly. Despite the slightly off-kilter presentation, this article is perfect for site owners of every age and skill level.

A lucky few users got to test out Yahoo’s new home page last week. One of the key changes is the added ability to log into third party email accounts such as Gmail directly from start page. The new page also lets users add RSS feeds, both Yahoo-branded and otherwise, to their page. A widespread release of the new Yahoo start page has not been announced.Yahoo is not the only web-based service currently in the redesigning business. Twitter is also planning an aesthetic overhaul as well. The new Twitter features a revamped color customization tool, the removal of the Archive tab, and several general usability tweaks. Several more features, such as easy access to Twitter Search, will be added in future updates. The Twitter team is also asking users for their opinions. All you have to do is send them a message starting with “@Twitter.”

The mobile edition of Google Maps received a huge update last week. Maps users now have the ability to access Google’s Street View technology directly from their phones. Google has also added a so-called “walking mode,” allowing users to get directions that are optimized for foot travel. The new Google Maps for Mobile is available now for most Java-equipped phones and Blackberry devices.

Elsewhere, Mac and Linux users who want to try Google Chrome have a reason to be happy, thanks to CodeWeavers. The compatibility kingpins have officially released Crossover Chromium, a Chrome derivative designed to operate on non-Windows operating systems. Built upon the venerable Windows emulator WINE, Chromium is said to have all of the functionality of its bigger brother, sans the auto-updater. While it isn’t meant to be a replacement for the real thing, Chromium is great for those who want to take Google’s browser for an early spin. Unlike most CodeWeavers projects, Crossover Chromium is completely free.

Sonia Simone of Copyblogger has seven great tips for people who need a little help writing their blogs. According to Simone, the trick is to look at your blog as a garden. Each idea in said garden s a seed. Spend time with each idea, and make sure that each idea is properly thought out. As the idea grows beyond a couple of paragraphs, more ideas could be added. In time, she writes, you’ll have a blog that is not only interesting, but actually fun to work on as well.

IBM and historic school of higher learning Cambridge are teaming up, and they seem to have the future of collaborative software on their minds. The new IBM Center for Social Software at Cambridge will allow students, professors, and IBM’s own employees and partners to study, test, and implement various Web 2.0 projects. There are currently several prospective products in the pipeline:

Beehive: A social networking site for IBM employees.

Social Accessibility Project: Make websites accessible for those with visual impairments.

Many Eyes: Search for patterns located within a map or spreadsheet then discuss them with others.

Bluemail: A “web 2.0 email reader.”

Olympus: Second Life-style three-dimensional avatars in a decidedly non-Second Life environment — your desktop.

Turning our attention to the world of video, there’s Panda. Panda allows you to load streaming videos to your site without having to deal with establish video providers such as YouTube. The entire process is covered by the software, from letting people upload videos to embedding them in other sites. The only potential drawback to a system like Panda is the initial set up. Programming novices need not apply. If the prospect of coding doesn’t scare you, however, we suggest giving Panda a shot. Total control over your videos is a wonderful thing.

Yahoo has introduced a feature that allows users to play music from within a search. When a user searches for a recording artist, a Rhapsody-branded audio player will appear at the top of the search. Each user can listen up to 25 full songs a month. Any song over 25 will be cut down to a thirty second clip. Despite the limitations of the Rhapsody library, the new Yahoo music search is perfect for those who wish to try before you buy.

Blogger Frank Deardurff has written an interesting piece concerning the common mistakes people make when designing opt-in pages. For those unaware, an “opt-in” page is a site that offers a free goodies such as a newsletter to its users in exchange for their names and e-mail addresses. According to Deardurff, poor writing, the need for excess information, and non-existent follow-ups are all reasons why many opt-in sites fail. Fix these problems, he writes, and you should be getting responses in no time flat.

And to finish out the week, we have FoxTab, a fun little extension that brings Firefox up to the “visual” bar set by browsers like Chrome. When activated, FoxTab gives you no less than five different ways to view your open tabs, ranging from a standard stack to a Vista-like flip animation. Despite the dreaded “beta” tag, FoxTab is a great, stable way to add a little bit flash to the venerable browser.

Google is entering the glamorous world of audio indexing. The service, dubbed GAudi, will feature all of the words uttered in a specific audio file or YouTube. All of the collected data will then be available to the user via a traditional, text-based search. Like the previously mentioned Google Election Video Search Applet, the still-beta GAudi will only track and catalogue audio of a political nature.

Although the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has been the go to place for movie information since the very beginning of the Internet, many of its faithful user had to go elsewhere for actual video content. That is all about to change. IMDb’s parent company, Amazon, has finally brought video content to the site. Not only can you watch trailers, you can also watch full television shows and movies, thanks to deals with Hulu, CBS, and various independent filmmakers. While the actual search experience could definitely be improved, the overall service is a commendable first try.

In marketing news, SEOmoz blogger Duncan Morris has written a fascinating piece about what he calls the “The Three Cornerstones of SEO” — technical issues, content issues and trust. According to Morris, all three have to be working properly in order to get the most out of SEO. A site that is full of great information but has shoddy web design, for example, will get less visitors than a site that is the complete package. Interesting and engaging, Morris‘ article is perfect for those who wish to brush up on their basic SEO techniques.

One of the hardest programs to replace is Photoshop. Sure, there are a lot of free alternatives, but most of these range from being overly complicated and hard to use, to being less essentially crippled. ArtWeaver is a new application that hits the sweet spot right between these two extremes. It’s got a simple and easy to use interface, but a lot of the features you expect from a powerful image editor. ArtWeaver also supports such “advanced” tools as pressure sensitivity and support for drawing tablets. Various plugins and other additions will be available shortly.

As we reported earlier in the week, not everyone loves the new Facebook profiles. If you’re one the new profile haters, all you need to do is install the old Facebook Developer application. Just install the application and click a corresponding link. It only takes a few minutes. Afterward, everything should be just as you remember it … well, for now, at the very least.

And in the bonus segment, media streaming dynamo and Free Line all-star VLC has been updated. Not only has Videolan introduced a slew of new interfaces for Mac, Windows and Linux users, the media codecs have been completely overhauled. The VLC now supports YouTube, Google Video, and Daily Motion videos as well. All you have to do is endter their URLs.

Search engine use on cell phones is on the rise. According to a new poll conducted by comScore, 25.3 million people in America and Europe used their mobile phones to search the web last June, a 68% increase from the previous year. Google is by far the most used out these engines, clocking in at a 60% market share. Yahoo comes in second with a 34% share in the US.

In video news, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley has written a great piece about the future of online video. According to Hurley, services such as YouTube have taken the multimedia power away from major studios and given it to the users. As personal recording devices get smaller and video services become more mainstream, the easier it will be for average users to both disseminate and receive new content. The result, he predicts, will be a one-size-fits-all video hub for everyone.

In other news, we have plaYce. Thanks in part to the wonder that is geo-tagging, you can now see accurate, three-dimensional models of nearly anywhere in the world. Despite the high frame rate, the plaYce 3D models do not put a strain on your browser or your system. The ultimate goal for the technology, says the development team, is to add realistic believable, realistic environments to games. At press time, plaYce is still in closed, early-alpha state.

One of the biggest problems facing software engineers these days is portability. Each new platform usually needs new code for it to work. Mytopia plans on changing this with their new API, RUGS. Free to use, RUGS moves across cell phones, web browsers and just about everything. Although currently featured in a series of online games, Mytopia believes that RUGS is ready for more mainstream recognition.

The Internet is built on the backbone of the world. Thousands of viewers each day probably stumble across you blog, each hoping it’s in their native tongue. If you’re worried about spending money on getting your blog translated into a foreign language, don’t be. AfaBetic has you covered. AfaBetic translates your entire blog for a worldwide audience. Not only do they have a Babelfish style machine translator, but they have experts that go through and make sure each new translation makes sense.