Anyone who lived through the late 1980’s ought to remember Max Headroom, the hyperactive, pseudo-CGI “head in the box” portrayed by actor Matt Frewer. The Max Headroom character was everywhere in those days, from music videos to ads for Coca-Cola and seemingly everything in between. What many people don’t remember, however, is the science fiction program that bared the character’s name. This was not the lovable, wacky Max that called Cinemax and England’s Channel 4 home. This Max exists in a world where the major television networks are in charge. Because of this, such every day items as the off switch and the mute button are deemed to be illegal. Televisions are everywhere, including bathrooms and junk yards. Simply put, no one could ever escape the grip of the mass media, and the people like it that way.

Working within the confines of this odd, “Network-meets-The Matrix” world is Edison Carter (also portrayed by Matt Frewer), ace reporter for the highly-rated Network 23 and the “basis” for Max Headroom. It is his mission to bring his viewers the truth, no matter the situation. In the show’s fourteen episodes, Emerson and company does everything from thwart a sentient supercomputer to blowing the lid off of a dangerous subliminal advertising scheme run by Bill Maher, using nothing more than quick thinking and a heaping helping of brutal honesty. The viewer, both physically in the show and otherwise, are constantly reminded that the world is a better place thanks to people like Emerson Carter and his “computerized” alter ego. As long as there are people fighting for the truth, there really is nothing to worry about.

In many ways, we are approaching this basic existence, only with a different concept serving as our vice. Instead of thriving on a flashing picture, we are addicted to information. I don’t just mean the “TMZ/Perez Hilton” style celebrity gossip columns. I mean anything. Pick your topic — President Obama, professional wrestling, U2 — and I bet there is someone, somewhere talking, tweeting, or blogging about it at this very moment. We need to know about what is going on, and we need to know it now. Take the recent “best of seven” series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic for example. Five years ago, we would have had to wait two to three days to hear former Laker Shaquille O’Neal talk about his former team. Thanks to Twitter, we heard it minutes after the Lakers cliched the NBA title. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that this kind of “instant feedback” can become addictive.

Now despite what some might be thinking, things really aren’t all that dire. Our world isn’t based upon the idea of two-way television sets or networks that can make commercials so compact that they make people’s heads literally explode. We’re simply talking about the delivery of information, not a re-creation of 1984. It’s human nature to want to know what is going on around us. Exploiting that desire, on the other hand, is something else entirely. It all comes down to priorities. Those who put more effort into their advertising than their content are more likely to alienate their audiences than the people who put their “product” front and center. By ignoring the very thing that got you into this very situation to begin with, the writer/blogger/YouTube “star” is actually sending a message that your fan base’s mouse click means more than their physical presence. Who cares if the content is good nor not? You clicked the link. It’s your loss.

While it might seem like a good idea now, turning your audience into a group of mind-numbed automatons randomly clicking things will not help you become a success in the long run. The trick, if you want to call it that, is to adopt what I like to call the “Edison Carter” approach to content creation and maintenance. It all breaks down to three basic principles:

1. Your users are more than just a group of random mice clicking a white box. They’re people. Your people. Always keep that in mind when developing your content.
2. Stay genuine to your cause.
3. Stay open to the needs and concerns of your user base.

Do this, and the world just might become a better place. If you don’t, well … let’s just say living in an “off switch-free world” is not anyone’s idea of a good time. Be sure to come back tomorrow for part two of our three part series. Until then, this is Brad Fallon signing off for Network 23 the Free Line.

As I mentioned yesterday, I have finally installed KDE onto my laptop. It all seems to be working properly … in a way. Let’s start from the top and go down from there.

Konqueror – It runs, but that’s about all that it’s doing right now. What’s the point of having a “premiere league” web browser when half of the tools and features that users depend upon aren’t available? Take this very post, for example. Usually when I type up this fantastic, award winning (hint, hint) blog, I use the standard WYSIWYG (”what you see is what you get) setup that is provided by WordPress. For reasons that I have yet to comprehend, that very setup is not available in Konqueror. I am therefore stuck using the bare bones HTML editor. I might be able to fix things eventually, but I’m not necessarily optimistic at this point.

JuK (Media player) – Nothing plays. I can see the title of the track scroll back and forth, but I can’t actually hear any music. After checking a few sound card settings, I went back into the program, hoping for a better result. Unfortunately, all I heard was dead air. I looked through the various options, hoping against hope that I would stumble across a “configure player” link. What I did find, however, was an option that allowed me to configure various audio shortcuts. While it’s a nice tool to have on hand, it is not exactly what I’m looking for at the present moment.

Kile (Word processor) – Despite reports to the contrary, KOfiice is not installed by default. In its places sits Kile, a self-described “LaTex front end” with an eye for power. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about right now, LaTex is based around the idea that the English tongue should have a programming language of its own. Despite what you might be thinking right now, a “programming language for text” is actually a decent idea. Making that language editor the default word processor, on the other hand, is not. Hoping to salvage my time today, I immediately closed it and started looking for the Windows version of KOffice. Sadly, it isn’t available for Windows users anymore. Oh bother…

Overall: I will be totally honest here: there is a reason why KDE for Windows is not better known. None of these programs have been designed with the “traditional user” in mind. At this point in time, I can argue that almost everyone, even seasoned Linux users, will loathe this collection of programs. Playing with these “applications” isn’t even a good way to pass the time, let alone as a way to get some work done. So as it pains me to say it, stay far, far away from KDE for Windows. You’ll be glad that you did.

…So you want to start your own blog. Good for you. Let’s see … it says here that you already have a topic and have bought some web space. That’s good. Okay then, what software are you running? What’s that? You haven’t picked out your content management system (aka CMS) software yet? No need to worry. We realize that picking the proper management software can be a bit tricky, and we’re here to help. On today’s episode of Showdown, we take a look at five of the blogosphere’s top software packages to see which one is best for your needs. As always, all of the programs in question were tested by graphic designer/web developer/overall classy lady Angela Smedley on her custom-built, Windows 7 PC.

App #1: WordPress

Site: http://wordpress.com
Company: Automattic
Plugins: Yes.
First Impression: “Five minute install.”
Initial Setup: As we hinted at above, WordPress installs onto your server in five minutes. If you’re looking for installation trouble, you won’t find it here. Everything installed quickly and easily, with nary an error message in sight.
Special Bonuses: The documentation supplied with WordPress not only tells you how to set up the software, it offers up some suggestions on how to effectively write your blog. While most don’t have the need for such advice, it’s nice to know that it’s there.
Ease of Setup (Out of 10): 8
Overall (Out of 10): 8

App #2: Movable Type

Site: http://www.movabletype.org
Company: Six Apart Ltd.
Plugins: Yes.
First Impression: “Congratulations! It’s a blog!”
Initial Setup: While it didn’t match WordPress‘ now-famous “five-minute install,” it was fairly easy to setup and use. When a problem did arise, the official blog always seemed to have an answer.
Special Bonuses: None.
Ease of Setup: 8
Overall: 6
Notes: Make sure that your web server is up to spec before installing this software. As you might have heard, Movable Type is notoriously picky when it comes to compatibility. If something is missing or outdated, the install will not work. End of story. While it isn’t a “bad” system, nothing about Movable Type stands out. It works, but there are others out there that can do more.

App #3: b2Evolution

Site: http://b2evolution.net
Programmer: Francois Planque
Plugins: Yes.
First Impression: “I can do multiple blogs!”
Initial Setup: Insanely easy. Just upload the components to the server and start working. Everything else is automated, even down to database table creation. (You have to supply your own empty database, however.)
Special Bonuses: Photo blogs and link blogs can also be set up.
Ease of Setup: 7
Overall: 7
Notes: The entire “b2Evolution experience” left us confused. By rights, this system should be sitting with WordPress and Joomla at the top of the blog/CMS hierarchy, but for some reason, it isn’t. In fact, we haven’t even heard of it until twenty minutes before starting work on this piece. It’s a shame, because a world-class software package such as this deserves world-class attention. All in all, b2Evolution is a fantastic system for users of any age or skill level.

App #4: Joomla

Site: http://www.joomla.org/
Company: Open Source Matters, Inc.
Plugins: Yes.
First Impression: “It’s much, much more than just blogging software.”
Initial Setup: Installation is hit-or-miss. On the first go-around, the automatic install worked perfectly. The second time, which saw us move to a completely different web server, things got a tad more difficult. Due to an annoying “enable cookies” message, we had to resort a more “manual” approach. Although it sounds like a nightmare, the extra documentation supplied by the company made setup a breeze. Everything installed perfectly, and the mysterious message disappeared completely.
Special Bonuses: An exhaustive collections of add-ons.
Ease of Setup: 6; “A bit more complicated than your standard fare.”
Overall: 9; based solely upon the sheer amount of plugins, tweaks, and expansions available.
Notes: To many web professional, Joomla is the standard that all other CMS systems should be judged by, and it’s easy to see why. While it’s more complex that the others, it also the most versatile. Everything from a simple blog to a full-blown social network can be built off of this system, making it a must for anyone who tends to “dream big” when it comes to website creation. Expansive and dependable, Joomla is definitely worthy of all of the praise that it gets.

App #5: Drupal

Site: http://drupal.org
Programmer: Dries Buytaert
Plugins: Yes, though half of them aren’t exactly available to the public as of yet.
First Impression: “This is different.”
Initial Setup: Easy, in a way. It was after the setup that things started to get hard. (More below.) If you have shared hosting, be careful. Some errors cannot be fixed if you don’t have complete control over your web server. Make sure that you read the documentation thoroughly before attempting to install it.
Special Bonuses: If you know your way around PHP and CSS, you can make this system do what ever you would like.
Ease of Setup: 5
Overall: 7
Notes: We wanted to like Drupal. We really, really did. It just didn’t work on our test server. We tried for hours on end, but it still didn’t work properly. The final straw came in the form of a PHP-induced server error. Despite assurances to the contrary, the system would not allow us to allocate enough memory to the PHP scripts. The result was a variety of errors that simulated a memory leak. None of the suggested fixes/hacks worked for us, mainly due to the stigma it places on shared hosting sites. If you run your own server, you’d be a fool not to give it the old once-through. Everyone else should proceed with caution.

…And the Winner Is – While WordPress and Joomla are our personal favorites, all five systems have their own strengths and weaknesses. It all comes down to taste. With that in mind, we suggest giving them all a try. Who knows … you might find something that really takes you by surprise. And if your favorite software isn’t mentioned here, tell us. We at the Free Line enjoy expanding our horizons as much as you do.

Given the questionable state of the economy, it’s only natural for businesses to “cut back” on unneeded services and whatnot to save a little money. Even a powerhouse like Google is running into a few “issues” that they need to take care of. The online megastar has announced the discontinuation of several services, including Google Video, Google Catalog Search, and a few invite-only beta tests. In many cases, the now defunct services were considered to be “relics,” a specialist in a field already dominated by another Google service. As with all Google related shutdowns, the teams involved are giving users a few weeks to “finish up” before pulling the plug for good.

In other news, Adobe has put a stop to the practice of in-PDF advertising. Originally designed to add contextual ads to an otherwise ad-free environment, this Adobe/Yahoo co-production wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. Sources close to Adobe say that the service was scrapped due to a combination of economical and practical matters. Advertisements will no longer be accepted after today, but will continue to run until March 31st. Adobe suggests reloading any affected file after the March 31st cutoff date, as the advertising framework could cause some files to malfunction slightly.

Despite what the previous two articles might have inferred, not everyone is in the process of cutting back. The folks over at Wikipedia have purchased more servers and storage solutions in preparation for the 2009 calendar. “Video file sizes are quickly reaching the dozens and hundreds of megabytes, and the proliferation of high-megapixel cameras means even small photos can take up a few megabytes,” Wikimedia CTO Brion Vibber told tech blog Network World. “The amount of storage actually being used is about 5 [terabytes], but that will grow quickly.” The move comes weeks after the organization’s year-end charity drive, which netted the self-described “non-profit charity” $6 million in much needed funds. According to reports, the new servers will support the site’s fast growing “multimedia” section, which features everything from classical compositions to sports highlights to public-domain documentaries.

Next, WordPress is the king of the blogging services, according to Royal Pingdom. In a poll of the web’s 100 most popular bloggers, 27 say that WordPress is the blogging platform of choice. Despite being the top platform, WordPress only comes in second in the “services” category. That award goes to Typepad, which clocks in with sixteen users. Other services and platforms making the cut include Blogsmith (sixteen users), Movable Type (twelve users), and Gawker (eight users).

And to finish out the week, MySpace is thinking about joining the world of webmail. According to a few “informants” close to the situation, the social networking giant will give every one of their 125 million users a free @myspace.com email address to go along with their accounts. By working things in this fashion, MySpace will instantly become the third largest provider of webmail, behind Yahoo and Hotmail. At press time, MySpace is neither confirming nor denying the report.

The telecommunication industry now has a top-level domain of their own, thanks to the introduction of “.tel.” Operated by English tech firm Telnic, the new doamin will make it easier for telecoms, mobile phone companies, and even online Yellow Pages to differentiate themselves from the rest of the web. Users of the .tel service will also have the ability to store vital information such as phone numbers and email addresses directly into the DNS, thereby eliminating the need for a website altogether. The new domains are available now for a staggering $400. Prices are expected to fall to a more reasonable $150 February 3rd, and to around $20 on March 27th.

Google is taking time out of their busy schedules to help programmers and techs of the female variety. The conference, creatively called “The 2009 Google Workshop for Women Engineers,” is designed to help women find jobs within the tech industry. To qualify, the applicant must be currently enrolled in a tech-related, post-graduate program in the United States or Canada and have a GPA of at least 3.3. Seventy-five students will be chosen for the workshop, which will include technical demonstrations and a tour of the Google campus. The deadline for submitting the application is this Friday.

In other news, it seems as if WordPress is the latest service to contract “upgrade fever.” Unlike the previous updates, WordPress 2.7 is focused more on helping the blogger than the reader. Most of the menus have been shifted, reordered and most importantly, are completely customizable. You can now also start new blog posts without actually leaving the main admin page. As with the previous upgrades, you need to backup your previous posts before installing the new version. Without the backup, all of your work will be a distant memory. A beta release of WordPress 2.7 has already been released. The official update will be available on the morrow.

Elsewhere, Fox Media, in association with mobile video concern RipCode, is bringing their highly popular MySpace Video platform to mobile phones. “Users are increasingly interested in portability,” MySpace communications manager Amy Walgenbach told WebProNews. “Video is the natural next step for us in mobile.” Unlike most mobile video services, MySpace Video is built upon an “on-demand” network, meaning that the video is encoded into the format of your choice as you load it. This technology not only stops redundancy, but saves up on storage space as well. At press time, several big names will be available for download including TMZ, The Onion, and the NHL. MySpace Mobile Video, complete with a “beta” tag, is available now for users worldwide.

And finally, Yahoo has expanded the reach of its Search Assist line of search gadgets to include images as well. Similar to the tool found in the traditional search engine, the Image Search Assist provides the user with a list of search phrases that are related to the root phrase. It also displays a small thumbnail “example” of what the prospective search will turn up, giving the user a clear picture of what lies ahead. Aside from a few fairly annoying bugs, the new tool is more than capable of helping frustrated image wranglers find exactly what they are looking for.

MyAds, MySpace’s own personal advertising network, is an unmitigated financial success. Industry insiders suggest that MySpace and its parent company, Fox Media, are making around $140,000 to $180,000 a day on the advertising system. If the current trends keep up, MyAds could be a $50 million business by this time next year. Due to the sudden popularity of the service, some within the industry are predicting that MySpace will have up to $1 billion in revenue by the end of the fiscal year. Neither MySpace nor Fox Media have chosen to comment publicly on the matter.

In other news, it seems as if the hacking community have discovered the power of AdWords. In the Google search results for the phrase “Obama Win,” an AdWords advertisement appears at the top, urging users to “download now.” After clicking on the link, the user is brought to a download page. The malware attempts to reassure the user that everything is kosher by stating that the file has been “100% checked by Antivirus.” Another page then appears, trying to give the user a malicious PDF file. The contents of the downloaded file is currently being examined by researchers at Sophos Security.

In other potentially disturbing news, a fake WordPress site has been discovered. If a user accidentally adds a “z” to “wordpress.org,” he or she will be taken to a seemingly harmless “squatter” site. A small PHP script will then run, compromising the user’s cookie folder. The purpose of the site is to use the malicious file to steal passwords, account numbers, and everything else that crosses its path. At press time, the site has been successfully taken down.

Elsewhere, industry news site WebProNews has an interesting article up about getting your online business ready for the upcoming holidays. According to correspondent Chris Crum, the key to a successful site is to make it as “social” as possible. It all comes down to seven simple tips:

1. Market specifically for the holidays.
2. Have as many helpful “how-to” videos as possible.
3. Have relevant display ads.
4. Adding a few web 2.0 tools and toys to your site never hurt anyone.
5. Link directly to your products.
6. If you have “brick and mortar” locations, make sure that the store locator is easy to find and navigate.
7. Give useful content the “star” treatment.

While all of these tips should be taken into consideration, your business’ budget should be kept firmly in mind. “Not all businesses have [all of the needed] resources,” Crum writes. “That does not mean, however, that there aren’t elements of this project that could be incorporated into any business’s [sic] strategy. The basic strategy… (or at least elements of it) can certainly be applied to your own [site].”

And to finish out the week: In the world of web browsing, the act of creating and viewing tabs is almost taken for granted anymore. In the latest edition of Browser Extension Friday, we have five tools designed to bring the absolute best out of our the digital friend.

• TabsLock – For Chrome. This handy little tool turns your caps lock key into a one size fits all tab creation machine. Unlike similar extensions, TabsLock is able to work its magic at any time, even when Chrome is not running.
• TabExpose – For Safari. This extension allows you to view the contents of all of your tabs with just one click, similar to Expose in OS X.
• Tabs Under the Address Bar – For Opera. An easy to read, Opera approved tutorial telling you how to move your tab menu underneath the address bar.
• IE Open Last Closed Tab – For Internet Explorer. This simple little add-on lets you reopen the last tab you closed.
• Tab Mix Plus – For Firefox. Add a number of useful tweaks and improvements to your tabs, such as mouse gestures, tab relocation, and the creation of a highly customizable context menu. Tab Mix Plus is considered by many (including yours truly) to be the “granddaddy” of all tab-based extensions.

Technorati appears to be strengthening its hand when it comes to advertising. The search service has purchased AdEngage, an online advertising agency responsible for roughly 12 billion ads a month. Aside from the freestanding service, a new version of AdEngage will also be launched to compliment Technocrat Media, an ad network catering to both blogs and those who read them.”The current Technorati Media offering is for larger sites that Technorati partners with,” writes TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington. “When the AdEngage platform launches smaller blogs can sign up as well, and hopefully command relatively higher advertising rates.” The official date for the AdEngage relaunch is not yet known.

Staying in the realm of acquisitions and mergers for the moment, Automattic, best known for the WordPress blogging platform, has purchased online pollster PollDaddy. Despite the change in ownership, PollDaddy has no plans in becoming a proprietary service. “We are still 100% focused on building PollDaddy support into as many platforms as possible, so you will see our support for MySpace, Ning, Blogger, Typepad, Hi5, Orkut, Piczo, etc. continue to improve and grow,” writes founders Eoin and Lenny. “We are no longer a two-person team, we are now a 30 person team!” The new, Automattic-based PollDaddy is up and running now.

In other news, the folks behind Facebook have some interesting thoughts concerning data sharing. “When we first started, people were relatively less comfortable sharing a lot of information,” said CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg at the Future of Web Apps Conference in London. “Early on there were a lot of questions… A lot of what got people over that hump were privacy controls so they were sharing that information with just the people they wanted.” Later on, Zuckerberg mentioned that data sharing will become even easier in the near future. “Part of the redesign that we did was to reorganize the display of things to support the growth in sharing, and more and more parts of the site will start to be reorganized in terms of that.”

Next up, we’ve got TwitScoop. TwitScoop is an interesting web app that lets you see what’s popular on Twitter right now. The service updates every twenty seconds, letting you get the latest and greatest dirt in almost real time. Fun and insanely interesting, TwitScoop is the tool for anyone who likes having their fingers right on Twitter’s pulse.

And finally: If you want to leverage the growing popularity of portable devices with your own mobile friendly website, then you should check out Jag.ag. Jag.ag lets you create a mobile website in a few seconds, and then send it out to your contacts so they can view it. You can even send mobile greetings and invitations, all from the comfort of your phone. While it isn’t the most intuitive service out there, Jag.ag is perfect for anyone who wants to join the mobile revolution and do it in a hurry.

It seems as if not a day goes by without Google doing something newsworthy. This time around, the news is centered around the new update for its Blog Search engine. The front page greets you with the latest blog news, giving you an overview of all the different things people are talking about throughout the blogosphere. The posts have also been split into eleven distinct categories, allowing users to easily find what they are looking for. While it isn’t exactly an original idea, the new Blog Search layout has made searching for your favorite blog a thoroughly rewarding experience.

In other news, we have Dipity, a social network that attempts to make social networking fun for everyone. Like FriendFeed, Dipity goes through other social networks such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIN to pool all your updates into one website. Dipity, however, has one feature that the others lack — timelines. A timeline is a powerful tool that intuitively displays the right content for the right medium when you hover over it. Amazingly simple, the Dipity service is perfect for those who wish to keep their social networks all in one place.

Sling, best known for their SlingBox line of video recorders, has its eyes set on the Internet. The company has recently announced the creation of Sling.com, an online video service similar to Hulu. Like Hulu, Sling.com will feature video content from several media partners, including CBS. SlingBox users will also have the ability to upload short television clips from their SlingBox for others to watch. Sling.com is currently in a closed beta state.

In other software news, it seems as if Yahoo has finally jumped onto the iPhone bandwagon. The embattled search company has launched Flickr for the iPhone, a service designed to make sharing your precious photographs a breeze. While some might be disappointed at the lack of an editor, most will be too busy showing off their photography skills to care. Flickr for the iPhone is available now.

Keith Baxter, best known as the mastermind behind the KingsPoint Project, has unveiled his latest Wordpress-centric system for online marketing. In The Wordpress Project, Baxter shows you how to leverage Wordpress and several key plugins to generate a large revenue stream almost automatically. He also shows you how to find good, niche markets, and how easy it is to get everything up and running efficiently. Simple to implement, Baxter’s system makes blog-focused marketing as easy as writing a paragraph.

If you want to get high Google rankings for a local business, then getting a Google Maps listing can be a big plus. The trick is learning your way around Keyhole Markup Language, or KML. For those unaware, KML is the language used to show points on Google Maps. (Keyhole, incidentally, was the company that originally developed the language.) In “The Definitive Guide on Using KML for SEO,” one blogger takes you through the ins and outs of KML, from the other underlying theory to screen shots showing you exactly how to use it.

As most of you already know, link building is one of the best things you can do to get higher search engine rankings – and more free traffic. And if you have a WordPress blog, check out the Link Builder plugin. Link Builder scours the links you post in your blog, and then notifies the webmaster that you have linked to them. It’s not completely automated, which is probably a good thing, but it’s easy to use. Link Builder gives you an easy way to get more links from quality sites — and that’s always good.If you want to build a longer term relationship with those who visit your site, you might want to try Comment Relish. Comment Relish is a WordPress plug-in that sends a personalized welcome letter to all first-time posters to your site. Comment Relish is a cool way to solidify new relationships with those most likely to become long-term readers. Oh… and it’s free. Bet you didn’t see that one coming.

And once you start reeling in more readers, you want to keep track of them. Wassup is another fantastic (and free) WordPress plug-in that lets you keep track of statistics, visitor information, and much more. For example, you can see which blog posts are the most popular and see what links are referring visitors to your site.

Finally, if you keep working on bringing in more readers, you might just become one of the top blogs around. There are several lists of “best blogs”, but one of our favorites right now is “The Top 142 Social Marketing Blogs,” created by our friends at Friday Traffic Report, “The Top 142″ shows you which blogs you should be reading and why. Be sure to subscribe to the Free Line Report, whether it’s on the list or not.

The new iTunes store was launched last Thursday, and with it came all of the new portable applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Out of the roughly 550 applications hat have been released, 125 of those applications are completely free.

And of course, the best way to choose what to install on your new iPhone is by seeing it in action. Tech blog TechCrunch has a fantastic feature showing off eight of the new apps.

Our friends at Lifehacker a nice little piece detailing the best free applications the iPhone has to offer.

And it just wouldn’t be the Free Line if we didn’t put our two cents into it as well. So without further adieu, we give you the Free Line’s top five free applications for the iPhone.

Remote: Control both iTunes and Apple TV using your iPhone. Simple idea, but it’s executed well.

Pandora: Internet radio has invaded the iPhone. Not only does Pandora stream your favorite music, it actually customizes its play list based on your preferences. Perfect for those who want to listen to something different, yet don’t want to shell out the $12.95 a month for satellite radio.

Mobile News Network: Powered by the Associated Press, the Mobile News Network allows you to keep up with the latest goings on in the world around us. Easy to use and a wealth of proven, credible sources, all for free. Can’t beat that.

SpeechCloud: A helpful little tool that adds voice dialing. Simple? Of course. Not everything great has to be complicated.

Wordpress: The sheer power of blogging has hit the iPhone. Keep in touch even when you’re away from your computer. Fun and useful… seems to be Wordpress’ M.O., doesn’t it?