Google is getting into the publishing business. The search engine giant has worked out a deal with several major authors to bring their work online. Moreover, the new Google publishing house will not be available to e-Readers such as the Amazon Kindle. By eliminating e-Readers from the equation, users will not feel the need to buy yet another piece of equipment. “You don’t have to look at [a computer screen] at a funny angle, and today’s monitors have better resolution than ever,” says Google co-founder Sergey Brin in an interview with USA Today. At press time, a launch date for the new service has yet to be announced.

In other news, Facebook has taken a commanding lead over MySpace when it comes to worldwide popularity. Facebook received 161.4 million unique hits in September, a 4.7% increase from the previous month. MySpace, on the other hand, is down 1.6% to 117.9 million unique views. MySpace remains popular in the United States, where it holds a 59% share of the market. Rupert Murdoch’s favorite social network is said to enjoy similar popularity in Germany and Japan as well.

Elsewhere in the world of web 2.0, there’s Trutap. Trutap is a new service that promises to bring the wonders of the Internet to the average, everyday cell phone. Aside from the promised (and, let’s face it, totally expected) Facebook compatibility, users can check their favorite instant messaging service and browse Flickr and Photobucket with ease. The service is also compatible with such blogging platforms as Typepad and Blogger. While it isn’t exactly an original idea — most cell providers offer these services for an additional charge — the completeness of the package, as well as the unbeatable price (free), makes this suite well worth the download. Trutap is available now.

It seems as if AOL has contracted “upgrade fever.” Aside from the standard array of bug fixes, the new site lets users work with their MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, and Twitter account without ever leaving the front page. Users can also overhaul the page to their liking, adding new widgets, RSS feeds, and more with only a few clicks. “Consumers want choice and relevance in their Web experiences,” says AOL Vice President Bill Wilson in an interview with WebProNews. “We will continue to enhance the appeal… by adding more relevant programming, customization opportunities, greater integration of third party content, improved design and access to social networks directly from AOL.com.”

And to finish off the week: As long term fans of the Free Line know, we’ve covered more than a few Firefox extensions in our day. We even went over a hodgepodge of Opera widgets last August. Users of Internet Explorer and Safari, on the other hand, always seem to be left out in the cold. If this is you, well then today is your lucky day. We have ten extensions and plugins designed to make your personal web browsing experience a pleasurable one.

Internet Explorer:

• FoxyTunes - Control the media player of your choice, find lyrics and more, all without minimizing Internet Explorer.
•  ieSpell - Adds a surprisingly accurate spell check to all IE text boxes. ieSpell supports American, Canadian, and the Queen’s English right out of the box.
• IEPro7 - Add a variety of interesting and useful tools (crash recovery, improved page searching, mouse gestures, etc.) to IE.
• Zemata -Add pictures, links, and added information to any blog post.
• Delicious - IE users get to join the link sharing party that is Delicious.

Safari

• Keywurl - Search the web from your address bar, just like in Firefox.
• Safari Prairiefire - Give your bookmark folder a good cleaning.
• Cooliris Previews - Check out the contents of a link without actually clicking on it.
• Inquisitor - Add a powerful “predicting” search bar to Safari. Inquisitor is based upon Yahoo BOSS technology.
• ForgetMeNot - Easily organize and save your tab layout.

Are you disappointed that your favorite extension, widget, and/or AppleScript wasn’t covered? Are you a loyal Chrome, Konqueror, Epiphany, SeaMonkey, or Camino user that wants to spread the word about the best add-ons for your chosen browser? Bring it up! The Free Line is all about free exchange of ideas and products.

Google has brought the world to the iPhone … well, in map form anyway. Unlike many of the phone’s other apps, Google Maps puts the iPhone’s tilting and touch features to good use.  It even cross references sites such as Wikipedia, giving you facts and information about an area while you’re looking at the map. Also of note is the web browser. Instead of hijacking the built-in Safari browser and twisting it to fit its own purposes, Google Maps brings its own to the party. The Webkit-based browser is designed for map-related projects only. Everything else linked from your map goes to Safari. Google for the iPhone is available now in the Apps Store.

There are a few things the average person can bank upon — the sun rising, wall-to-wall political advertisements in the month of October, and telemarketing calls. Even with the advent of “do not call” lists, those lovely “tele-salesmen” still find their way onto your phone. When this happens, don’t get mad, get EveryCall. EveryCall is a handy social service that exposes the 1-800 numbers caller ID services usually hides. You can then post your comments on the number, making sure that no one else has to go through what you did. Easy to use, EasyCall helps even the score between you and the telemarketing industry.

Elsewhere, we have Popori.us. Popori.us is an interesting little web tool that not only tells you about the popularity of your blog or website, but others as well. All of the major tracking and listing tools are covered, from Google to Yahoo to Delicious. Unlike most outfits of this nature, Popori.us is not based around difficult code or graphs. Instead, the service uses a series of widgets and gadgets. Thanks to Popori.us, no one will ever forget how popular your homestead on the web truly is.

Next up we have the new kid on the mixtape block, 8 Tracks. 8 Tracks lets you upload up to eight simple music tracks, add liner notes and cover art, and then share it with a friend. In true web 2.0 fashion, you can also embed those songs in your personal site, blog, or MySpace page. It’s a fairly interesting service, although the eight track limit can get to be pretty annoying pretty quickly. Aside from the minor gripe, 8 Tracks is perfect for anyone who wants to share their music tastes with the world. Just a bit of warning, though: there is a clear line between pushing the Free Line and being a pirate. Make sure that you stay on the proper side.

And finally: One of the most intriguing web apps to come to our desktops as of late is MultiColr. MultiColr allows you search through Flickr for images not by keyword, but by color instead. You can choose from up to ten different colors, each giving you some really detailed and original imagery. All images found by MultiColr are covered by the Creative Commons license, meaning that editing and reworking that image of your dreams in not only encouraged, it’s allowed. Thanks to MultiColr, finding the perfect picture is as easy as picking a color.

Google is the undisputed king of search engines in the month of September. According to a poll conducted by Neilsen Online, around 8.1 million searches were performed, giving it a 59.7% share of the market. While impressive, the Google market share actually went down by .3% from the previous month. The biggest gainer this time around is Windows Live Search, which grew 1.1%. Microsoft’s favorite search engine came in at a solid third, with 953,000 searches and a 11.8% market share. Other notables include Yahoo (second place with 1.46 million searches and a 18.1% share), AOL (fourth place with 335,000 searches and a 4.1 share), and Comcast (seventh place with 52,000 search and a .6% share).

In other seach-based news, Yahoo’s so-called “Open Strategy” has gone live. The service, also known as Y!OS, lets users share applications and data in ways that most Yahoo users never considered. The new system will also add a level of “social interaction” that will permeate throughout the search engine and its related services. “As of today, developers can start using our newly available data on their own web sites and even start deploying new applications into Yahoo,” says Open Strategy chief Jay Rossiter. “We’re anxious to see what developers out there have up their sleeves and what [the end user will] do with it.”

In social networking news, the folks behind Facebook are planning to give their beloved service a major overhaul … with a twist. Instead of working during office hours, the techs are going to do it the old fashioned way — with an all-nighter. “Every few months, our engineers unleash their talents in one epic, all-night coding session,” writes Pedram Keyani in the official Facebook blog. “Dozens of Facebook engineers create working prototypes of projects that they always wanted to build but couldn’t ever pursue during their regular hours.” In addition to their ideas, the engineers will be working on some of your ideas as well. Deadlines for the suggestions are noon (Pacific Time) on Monday, November 3rd. Facebook’s Hackathon XI will go down Wednesday, November 5th.

Elsewhere, a specialized version of Microsoft Office is coming to the web. The so-called “Online Office” will allow users to read, create and edit a variety of files without leaving the safety of your browser. Surprisingly, the new web suite is not built upon Microsoft’s Flash competitor, Silverlight. Instead, the programs operate upon a solid bed of HTML and Javascrpt, similar to Google Apps. “What’s great is that this provides a consistent Office experience when and where our customers want it, regardless of whether they are accessing their Office documents through the PC, phone, or browser,” said Senior Vice President Chris Capossela in a press release. At press time, the web-centric version of Office is scheduled to work in Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.

Finally: LinkedIn, the social network designed for the business-minded, is getting into the “proprietary apps” game. Unlike the widgets available MySpace and Facebook, each LinkedIn InApp is comprehensively reviewed and tested before it is deemed worthy for release. In theory, the approval process will limit (or even eliminate) the proliferation of so-called “junk apps.” Users are also limited to having “only” fifteen apps on their main profile page to help reduce clutter. The first batch of InApps widgets are available now for all LinkedIn users.

The folks at Microsoft are the latest in a long line of tech firms putting their chips on the OpenID project. For those unaware, “OpenID” is based around the theory that having one login ID for several sites is intrinsically better than having proprietary IDs for each site. Many analysts see addition of Windows Live users — all 400 million of them — as a major victory for the emerging web standard. While Microsoft might be the biggest company to embrace OpenID, it isn’t the first. Other notable firms that have pledged their support for the service include Yahoo, Technorati, and WordPress.

Pollster and security company FaceTime Communications has a few interesting things to say about social networking use in business. According to the report, roughly 79% use social networking and video sites at work for specific, “business-centric” reasons. In addition, 51% of those surveyed said that they visit social sites at least once a day. LinkedIn is by far the most popular social networking site among business people, with 62% saying that it is their favorite service. YouTube comes in second, with a 55% user rate.

In related news, video services such as YouTube have a new group to thank for their unparalleled growth — women. Roughly 54% of women over twelve said that they have watched at least one online video in the past month, a 9% increase from 2007. Men still lead the pack at 58%, but the gap is shrinking. “It appears the prevalence of streaming video online among younger males may be approaching a ceiling today,” Ipsos Media director Adam Wright recently told WebProNews. “The other demographic groups are driving the audience growth here.”

In other news, Kwanzoo is promising that even the smallest of quizzes can boost overall advertising revenues. The little startup claims that they can produce results ten times greater than traditional banner ads, and is using the success of partners Meebo and Glam Media to prove it. Kwanzoo is based around the idea that people are more likely to click on something that is interactive and fun than “boring” and traditional. Site owners can choose from over 50,000 questions for their own personalized “quiz widget,” or they can write their own. Kwanzoo is up and running now.

Finally, a few new Gadgets are coming to a Gmail account near you. New additions include a simple Calendar viewer (complete with so-called “meeting alerts) and a full-featured search engine geared towards Google Docs. “Gmail Labs has been a really fun way to easily try out new ideas and get some of our pet feature requests implemented quickly,” writes Gmail engineer Dan Pupius. “We wanted to take this to the next level.” The new Google Gadgets are available now, with many more to come in the near future.

It seems as if the folks behind MySpace are looking to shake things up a bit. The social networking giant is testing out a new user interfacing system being referred to by some as “MySpace 2.0.” The idea behind the overhaul is give the average user as much control as possible over their accounts. Those who wish to update their profiles, for example, can now use a Flash-based tool preloaded with several popular design templates. In the current setup, users who wish to update things either has to fiddle with Javascript code themselves or go with a variety of third-party tools. At press time, the new and improved MySpace design is only available to users of the Canadian arm of the site.

In other news, Google has finally introduced “deep linking” into YouTube videos. For those unaware, “deep linking” is a tool that allows you to determine the starting point of a particular video. The new parameters are designed to go after the designated video’s address. While deep linking might be new to YouTube, it’s old hat for Google. The ability to specify starting points has been a part of the old Google Video codec for nearly two years. Deep linking for YouTube is up and running now.

In other update news, streaming video service and Free Line all star Qik is now compatible with all Blackberry devices. Many analysts see the addition as a major step on their journey to mainstream acceptance, which has included visits with Marc Andreesen and stops at both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. “This brings Qik to a much broader platform, and also helps cement Qik’s lead in terms of device support well ahead of competitors Kyte and Flixwagon,” says TechCrunch contributor Jason Kincade. The alpha release of the Qik software is available now for all Blackberry users.

Elsewhere, OpenOffice.org has hit another milestone. The open source favorite has set a new download record — three million copies downloaded in the first week. Surprisingly, over 80% of the downloads came from Windows users. While the number of Linux downloads were low by comparison, many analysts believe that it’s due to the way the operating system works. Unlike Windows and OS X, Linux users have software updates delivered to them automatically through services such as Yum and apt-get. “So how many people are already using OpenOffice.org 3.0? No-one knows,” writes OpenOffice marketer John McCreesh. “We know the number of downloads is considerably less than the number of installed copies. So five million users already?”

Finally, Internet marketer and blogger Michael Baker has written an interesting article detailing how you can operate a “sticky website” –  a site so full of content that it almost forces users to come back for more. “Returning visitors are easier to convert into paying customers because the more often they return to a site, the more trust they have in that site,” he writes. According to Baker, it all boils down to five simple tips:

1. Start a forum.
2. Maintain a blog.
3. Offer a few surveys from time to time.
4. Small games never hurt.
5. Update regularly.

Do this, he says, and your overall web presentation will be on the upswing in no time. “No one will want to browse a site that looks the same over ten years, so keep your site updated with fresh bites!”

LinkedIn, the social network with a distinct “marketing” flavor, is getting into the survey business. The new LinkedIn Surveys will allow researchers to contact and poll LinkedIn members — thirty million, at last count. In return for their time, registered users will be offered a variety of “rewards,”, ranging from McDonalds and Starbucks gift certificates to donations to charity. LinkedIn Surveys is up and running now.

Last week, the fine folks at Google Labs unleashed MailGoogles, a tool designed to curb instances of “emailing under the influence.”  This week the team has released something a bit more useful. Called Canned Responses, the new tool aims to turn your Gmail account into an automated response system. Each “canned message” is completely customizable and controlled via email filters.  Simple to use and set up, Canned Responses makes dealing with difficult messages (and, by extension, messengers) as easy as a setting an email filter.

Elsewhere, online retailer Amazon has purchased Reflexive, a firm best known for their free, site-based computer games. Many analysts believe that Amazon might use Reflexive’s unique talents to create a series of gaming/Amazon tie-ins. Others within the industry speculate that this purchase is the first step in adding gaming functionality to Amazon’s ebook reader, The Kindle. Although Kindle’s slow refresh rate makes gaming pretty much impossible at the moment, future editions of the device could possibly feature game-ready specs. At press time, the exact terms of the deal have not been released.

In browser news, Mozilla Camino has been updated. For those unaware, Camino is the Mac-only browser project designed to give users an alternative to Safari. The big news this time around isn’t what was changed, but what was kept the same. Despite the rumors to the contrary, the Camino team decided to stick with the Gecko engine, the same development backbone used in Firefox. Other updates include an “overlay mode” which allow users to see thumbnails of their tabs, and a revamped history section complete with a “recently closed tabs” list. Camino “preview edition” is available now for all Mac users.

And to finish off the week, we have AppCompactor. AppCompactor compresses unnecessary and unneeded program files, making your portable device or flash drive run as efficiently as possible. While it doesn’t work all of the time–anti-virus and spyware programs routinely get looked over — the program is perfect for anyone who demands the absolute best out of all of their devices. While AppCompactor is only officially available for Windows, it is being reported that it works well with the Linux emulation service WINE.

The line between traditional journalism and social media sites appears to be blurring slightly. According to a poll conducted by Bulldog Reporter and TEKgroup International, Inc, around 75% of journalists interviewed said that they use social media sites to research their stories. This is an almost 8% increase from the previous year. 38% also mentioned that they visit sites such as MySpace and Facebook at least once a month to supplement their research, up nearly 10% from 2007. While the use of “modern” methods might be gaining in popularity, there is still something to be said about tradition — 76.3% say that they prefer getting their news fix by reading their local newspapers.

Google Analytics, the online darling of marketers the world over, has officially been updated. The buzzword for this update is definitely “customization.” Analytics users can now make their own custom reports, break their user statistics down into easily manageable groups, and create animated charts based upon their data. The service is now also compatible with AdSense, allowing users to keep track of their related data in real time. Google also announced the creation of a new API, which will let developers create widgets and plug-ins. The new and improved Google Analytics is online now. The API will be “coming soon.”

Hot on the heels of the big Wal-Mart music store relaunch, we have Lala. Simply put, the folks over at Lala are trying to take the idea of “online music” into new and exciting directions. Instead of buying traditional, downloadable tracks right off the bat, you purchase a streaming, browser-based version of the track (or “web song,” as they call it). Each web song can be accessed an unlimited amount of times and cost ten cents. You can then “upgrade” the chosen track to full MP3 status for 79 cents more. Even after upgrading, the web song is still available to you. Highly original, Lala is perfect for anyone who likes to have a choice when it comes to how they want their music to be delivered.

Elsewhere, famed photography firm Fujifilm is trying their hand at photo editing.  Similar to web apps such as Flickr and Photobucket, SeeHere aims to take the imperfections out of your photography. Unlike the others, SeeHere attempts to keep things as simple as possible. While this is good news for the less “technically inclined,” experienced users might find the overall system to be a bit lacking. Those looking to import files from services like Photoshop Express and Picasa will have to look elsewhere as well. On the plus side, SeeHere boasts free, unlimited storage space and a variety of printing options. Fujifilm SeeHere is available in both as a downloadable Windows program and as a web application.

And finally: Every now and again, even the best of us need some help getting motivated. For that, we here at the Free Line suggest giving Noomii a try. Noomii is a social network designed to get you up and working vigorously on your dream project, or projects, if you prefer. What sets this social service apart from the myriad of self-help programs out there is the innovative “pair coaching system.” Immediately after you sign up, you are paired with another user. You and your new found partner take turns helping each other out. Easy to use and even easier to keep up with, Noomii is great for anyone who wants to see how motivating a social network can truly be.

Those of you who follow the Free Line with some regularity know about the pandemic of “upgrade fever” that have been making its rounds as of late. Web-based companies of all shapes and and sizes have contracted the illness, from Yahoo to YouTube and everyone in between. The latest “victim” is Google, who was “caught” revamping their customizable start page, iGoogle. The big change this time around concerns the size of Google Gadgets. Although many welcome the new, larger Gadgets, some feel that the new-look tools are now too difficult to work with, especially on their “more traditional” 4:3 monitors. Aside from a few bug and layout fixes, the new page also features new slate of “content partners,” including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and TV Guide. The new and improved iGoogle is now online.

It seems as if Wal-Mart is ready to give the world of online music distibution another try. This time around, the retail giant has replaced the oft-criticized, DRM-infested, WMA files of its previous store with the “ol’ standby” — MP3s. As with the old store, all of the Wal-Mart-branded music is five cents cheaper than iTunes and clean as a whistle. Despite some reports to the contrary, those who bought files from the old store can still have access to their music. The new and improved Wal-Mart music store is up and running now.

Every now and again, you might feel the urge to record that thrilling piece of virtual real estate known affectionately as “your desktop.” This process, often referred to as “screencasting,” is not as easy to pull off as you might think. Enter the ScreenToaster. Unlike most programs of its ilk, ScreenToaster is web-based, meaning that it’s compatible with most major operating systems. All you have to do is click on the big blue button that says “start recording.” Within minutes, you’ll have the ultimate in desktop keepsakes ready and waiting. Simple and effective, ScreenToaster can deliver that “desktop video” that you desire in almost no time at all.

If the thoughts of recording your own desktop just doesn’t thrill you, but you still have that pesky “video itch,” we suggest giving Xtranormal a try. Utilizing a simple drag-and-drop layout, Xtranormal lets you create your own 3D movies with relative ease. The only real downside we found with this service involves dialog. While we weren’t expecting our characters to sound like Mel Blanc or late voice over legend Dan LaFontaine, we were hoping for them to sound like something other than a “twenty year old Speak and Spell.” Our minor gripe aside, Xtranormal is perfect for anyone wanting to try their hand at simple computer animation.

And finally: One of the more difficult things about building a web presence is finding a domain name. Thankfully for all of us, there’s Domainr. Domainr is a handy little web service that makes finding that perfect name a breeze. All you have to do is type in a keyword, like “Free Line,” for example. A list of domian names then appears, complete with availability and pricing information. Easy and painless, Domainr lets you take care of more important things, like the actual construction of your site.

The use of online video sites such as YouTube are on the rise. In a recent poll conducted by D S Simon Productions, 65% of all online media sites use so-called “outside video sources” to supplement their content. Furthermore, 67% of magazines, newspapers, and radio stations and 45% of television stations say that their respective websites have used at least some outside video with the past year. Out of those polled, 79% state that they plan on using outside video sometime in the immediate future. “Web Influencers [sic] are now the mainstream media,” said D S Simon president Douglas Simon in a statement to Online Media Daily. “We need to understand the content needs of these Web Influencers if we hope to communicate successfully in the online world.”

Elsewhere in the polls, not everyone is down on the economy. According to a DLA Piper survey, 66% of business executives polled believe that the “Tech Bubble” troubles of 2000 was worse overall than the current crisis. Only 25% said that they are planning to cut back due to financial concerns. While the mood isn’t exactly upbeat — 75% said that their businesses have been negatively affected by the market’s volatility — the survey suggests that things aren’t as bad as it could be.”Those responses reflect an opinion that the impact of the current crisis on the technology industry is more residual than the 2000 crash,” says DLA Piper co-head Peter Astiz.

Moving to the web, data tracker Hitwise has published an interesting list detailing the twenty most popular websites in the month of September. Coming in first is Google, with an industry leading 6% market share. Despite its impeccable reputation amongst the web elite, Google’s Gmail mail service came in eleventh with a 0.79% share. The undisputed king of the web-based email services is Yahoo Mail, which came in second overall with a surprising 4.7% share. Other notable rankings include MySpace (third, 4.01% share), Facebook (eighth, 1.2% share), and YouTube (tenth, 0.93% share).

Our last stop on the survey train takes us to England. According to the London Telegraph, 92% 0f those polled said that they were at their creative worst at 4:33 in the afternoon. In contrast, 25% said that they were at their best past midnight. Nearly 44% mentioned that a quick shower usually gives their minds a proverbial “second wind.” The survey also suggests that people tend to be more inspired in the lavatory than anywhere else. It just goes to show that creativity can truly strike at any time … unless the time in question is 4:33, that is.

And finally, it seems as if Microsoft’s search interests are about to get the “social” treatment. A derivative of Live Search, U Rank allows users to not only customize their searches, but also share them with others. Although still in development and fairly bug-filled, many critics consider U Rank to be an interesting departure for Microsoft. “This… takes search into a different direction by putting a lot of emphasis on social interaction,” writes RedWriteWeb contributor Frederick Lardinois. “We can see how this new interface could be very useful if you are working in a team that is focused on a very specific topic.” U Rank is up and running now.

It seems as if Yahoo’s “social experiment” isn’t going as smoothly as they were hoping. The experiment, which saw Yahoo Profiles morph into more of a MySpace style user account, has been panned by both users and critics alike. When many loyal Yahoo users went to check out the new layout, they found that their profile information had been removed. “Why change something that obviously wasn’t broken,” writes one disgruntled user. “I am slowly bringing all my friends to other chat clients. I am tired of dealing with people who fix the unbroken instead of dealing with the stuff that has been broken for ages.” According to Vice President Jim Stoneham, those who wish to retrieve their missing information can contact Yahoo Customer Care.

Sometimes, even the best writers and orators are at a loss for words. When this happens, we here at the Free Line suggest giving Tip of My Tongue a try. Unlike traditional thesauruses, Tip of My Tongue harnesses the power of the search engine in order to help you find the word you have in mind. You can search by meaning, by letter, by length, or all three at once. Simple and powerful, Tip of My Tongue is perfect for anyone who is on the hunt for the perfect synonym.

Users of so-called “social networking” browsers such as Flock know about the bliss that comes with using both Twitter and the web at the same time. Users of traditional browsers such as Firefox haven’t known this giddy thrill … until now, that is. Enter TwitBin. TwitBin is a Firefox plug in that adds a side of Twitter to your browser. Simple and powerful, TwitBin is set to make both you and your browser very, very happy.

In other Twitter related news, we have TwitterVision. TwitterVision is an online tool that allows users to use Google Maps to see exactly where  different tweets are coming from. Think of it as a GPS, only for your Twitter accounts. It is extremely easy to set up, fun to use and best of all, completely free. Twitter and Google Maps … together again for the first time.

Finally: Pizza Hut has begun taking orders from Facebook. Using a specialized plug in called The Pizza Hut Interface, users can look at menus, place orders, and more, all without leaving your profile page. In addition to Facebook, the world famous purveyors of pizza accept text messages, orders placed from an Adobe AIR-powered web app, and of course, the good ol’ telephone. While it isn’t designed for regular use, The Pizza Hut Interface is perfect for the times when leaving Facebook is simply not an option.