The year is almost over, and you know what that means: the “best of” lists are coming. Kicking off the celebration this year is Yahoo, who definitely had a 2008 to remember. According to the popular search engine/punching bag, the most popular phrase overall was Britney Spears, with World Wrestling Entertainment trailing closely behind. The top news search award goes to “hurricanes.” Other “top searches” include President-elect Barack Obama (top politician), IRS Stimulus Checks (top economic news story), Michael Phelps (top Olympian), and Miley Cyrus (top rising star). Expect to see entries from such heavy hitters as Google, Microsoft, and AOL within the next few weeks.

Those of you who have a hard time coming up with search phrases are about to get a shot in the arm, thanks to Soolve. Soolve is a new search engine that offers up automated “suggestions” based upon your root keyword, similar to Google Suggest. Unlike the name brand equivalent, however, the service doesn’t just rely on one engine for its suggestions. It goes to seven, including “niche” engines such as Wikipedia and YouTube. Suprisingly easy to operate, Soolve is great for anyone wishing to do a little “field research” into keyword creation … or have a giant mental block when it comes to finding that perfect phrase.

Elsewhere, the long anticipated Facebook Connect service has finally been launched. For those unaware, Facebook Connect is a service that allows you to sign in to other social media sites such as Digg with their Facebook information. Aside from making life easy for the end user, the service has the added benefit of improving the actual “partner sites” as well. As a Connect partner, the site is privy to most of the tools given to actual Facebook programmers, including news feed and invite displays. Despite the ballyhoo, Facebook isn’t the first social site to attempt something of this mangitude. That distinction goes to Google, who launched their Friend Connect service last May.

In other social networking news, Brazilllian start-up Power.com is out to change the way that you use your social networks of choice. As the name suggests, Power.com is designed for the so-called “power user” that operated several social media accounts on serval different networks. Instead of relegating the user to an RSS feed or email updates, Power actually combines all of the services into one gigantic process. The end result is closer to “all-in-one” instant messaging programs such as Pidgin and Trillian than the normal Google Gadget. Power.com is available now to all users.

Finally, we have something a bit different for the Free Line – a Linux distribution. The gOS Cloud is based around the idea that it shouldn’t take a super genius with a Masters degree in computer science to properly set up a Linux-based operating system. To achieve this, gOS uses a combination of Google simplicity and OS X flash to make the user feel at home. Another interesting feature about this OS is the lack of a proper “desktop.” Instead the traditional two-dimensional background picture adorned with shortcuts, the gOS always starts in a Chrome-esque web browser. Although the comparative simplicity of the OS is bound to annoy hardened Linux users, gOS is perfect for anyone who wants to give the “underground favorite” a try without straying too far from home.