On the July 8th edition of the Free Line, we reported that media giant Viacom was forcing Google to hand over the personal records associated with YouTube users. Tech blog Gizmodo is now reporting that this might not be the case after all. While Viacom is still set to receive the information from Google, all personal information will be replaced with a so called “arbitrary identifier.” This latest change came about after privacy groups protested the move. Neither Google nor Viacom have any comment concerning this latest development.

Around the world, widespread disease is still a serious problem. Keeping track of the diseases used to be a painstaking and not too reliable proposition. Thankfully, that is about to change. Healthmap is a project in which top researchers use Google Maps to keep tabs on the various viral nasties that populate the planet. According to their website, their ultimate goal is to provide a “unified and comprehensive view of the current global state of infectious diseases and their effect on human and animal health.” On behalf of the Free Line, I wish you nothing but good luck on behalf of your cause.

To some of us, text messaging is a necessary evil. For those of you who feel that texting is a gigantic waste of time but still have a need to use the service, there’s GizmoSMS. Unlike most texting services, Gizmo is based from a website. Not only can you avoid the normal texting fees that come with sending a message, you can use your keyboard to write full sentences. Ah… the simple joys of the properly punctuated sentence. As always, Gizmo SMS is a free service.

There are many of us who believe that a cell phone is not a proper replacement for a regular digital camera. Sadly this is not true, as most phone are obscenely underpowered when compared to nicer cameras on the market. Still, that doesn’t mean that your pictures automatically have to look bad. Download the Mobile Photo Enhancer and clean those pictures up. The Mobile Photo Enhancer removes noise, JPEG compression artifacts, and more from cell phone imagery. What you’re left with is nicest looking picture possible. Even cell phones can capture the beauty of the world around us. They just need a little help in the clutch.

Despite what Huey Lewis might have told you, it’s not hip to be square, especially when it comes to CSS bounding boxes. RoundedCornr delivers what it promises - nice rounded edges for all. Just choose your colors and your height and off you go. It’s not flashy, but it’s functional. And sometimes, functional is all you need.