The Top 100 Products from PC World

Google Apps Premier EditionVendor Site
Intel Core 2 Duo
Nintendo Wii
Verizon FiOS Vendor Site
RIM Blackberry 8800
Parallels Desktop
Pioneer Elite 1080p PRO-FHD1
Infrant Technologies ReadyNAS NV
Apple Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger"
Adobe Premiere Elements 3
Apple TV
Samsung SyncMaster 244T
BillP Studios WinPatrol
HP dv9000t
McAfee SiteAdvisor
Canonical Ubuntu 7.04 Review
Pandora.com Review
Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite
Paint.net
Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000
SightSpeed 6
Kayak Web Site
Nikon D40X
New York Times Times Reader Vendor Site
Samsung BlackJack
Apple iPod (80GB) Test Report
Yahoo Mail Beta Vendor Site
TomTom One
Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP
Zoho Review
Google Gmail Vendor Site
Sling Media Slingbox Pro
Red Octane Guitar Hero 2
Google YouTube Vendor Site
Mozilla Firefox 2
Google Picasa
Nikon D80
Skype 3
Aliph Jawbone
Shure E500PTH
CyberPower Gamer Infinity Ultimate
Asus w5fe-2P025E
AVS Forum Web Site
Yahoo Flickr Review
Apple iPod Nano (8GB)
Nikon Coolpix S50c
Dell UltraSharp 2007WFP
OCZ Trifecta Secure Digital Memory Card
Archos 704 Wi-Fi
Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet

The Web Celeb 25

1. Perez Hilton (Mario Lavandeira)
Age: 29
What: Celebrity gossip blogger
Where: http://perezhilton.com/
Hollywood stars fear the wrath of Perez Hilton, a controversial gossip blogger with a poison "pen." Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, styles himself as "The Queen of Mean" and has earned a rabid following, thanks to his sense of humor, snarky voice and irreverent habits--like doodling rude captions on paparazzi photos. His blog is hugely popular, despite recent missteps, including erroneously reporting the death of Fidel Castro. And Perez is increasingly becoming a TV star, with gigs including guest-hosting The View, appearing as a contestant on MTV's Celebrity Rap Superstar and hosting his own series of specials, What Perez Sez, on VH1.

2. Michael Arrington
Age: 37
What: Tech blogger
Where: http://www.techcrunch.com/
Who do savvy investors and tech-business cognoscenti turn to for help finding the next big thing? Michael Arrington, corporate attorney, entrepreneur and editor of the influential TechCrunch blog. The site obsessively profiles and reviews Internet entrepreneurs, products and services--and a mere mention of a company on its pages can make or break a start-up. Arrington has become a Silicon Valley star, one of the most influential business writers in the world, and is regularly cited or quoted in other media.

3. Mark Frauenfelder
Age: 46
What: Editor, blogger, illustrator
Where: http://www.boingboing.net/
When Mark Fraunfelder co-founded technology and culture 'zine Boing Boing in 1988, few would have predicted the project would eventually evolve into a new media giant. But in its current incarnation, Boing Boing is one of the most read and linked-to blogs in the world--so big that three of the five editors appear on this edition of the Web Celeb 25. Frauenfelder scores extra points--and ranks higher on the list than his co-editors--thanks to his work as the editor-in-chief of do-it-yourself magazine MAKE, a geek favorite. This year, he published a book, Rule The Web, about "how to do anything and everything on the internet--better, faster, easier." Boing Boing's expansion into podcasts and videocasts further increases his visibility.

4. Seth Godin
Age: 47
What: Marketing guru
Where: http://www.sethgodin.com/
In his book Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, Seth Godin says that the key to success is to find a way to stand out--to be the purple cow in a field of monochrome Holsteins. Godin himself may be the best example of how this theory works: The marketing expert is a demigod on the Web, a best-selling author, highly sought-after lecturer, successful entrepreneur, respected pundit and high-profile blogger. He is uniquely respected for his understanding of the Internet, and his essays and opinions are widely read and quoted--online and off.

5. Cory Doctorow
Age: 36
What: Author and blogger
Where: http://www.craphound.net/
Cory Doctorow is a prominent activist for digital rights, and serves as a fellow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He's one of the editors of Boing Boing, a hugely influential and popular blog about technology, culture and politics. And he's also a science fiction novelist, particularly famous on the Web, where he gives his novels away for free (For more, see his essay, " Giving It Away.") In 2007, Doctorow raised his profile with a new short story collection, Overclocked, numerous columns and articles around the Web (including on Forbes.com) and participation in Boing Boing's new podcasts and videocasts.

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2007/12/18/web-celeb-fame-tech-cx_de_07webceleb_1218top_slide.html

World Ranking for Economic

Most Expensive Countries to Live in
1. Japan
2. South Korea
3. Russia
4. Taiwan
5. Norway
6. Hong Kong
7. Switzerland
8. Denmark
9. Argentina
10. China
11. Finland
12. Cote d'Ivoire
13. United States
14. Sweden
15. Venezuela
16. United Kingdom
17. Singapore
18. Oman
19. Jordan
20. Kuwait

Countries with the Highest Gross National Income per Capita
1. Norway - $43400
2. Switzerland - $40680
3. United States - $37870
4. Japan - $34180
5. Denmark - $33570
6. Sweden - $28910
7. United Kingdom - $28320
8. Finland - $27060
9. Ireland - $27010
10. Austria - $26810
[Source: World Bank]

Richest Countries in the World
1. Luxembourg - $68,800
2. Equatorial Guinea - $50,200
3. United Arab Emirates - $49,700
4. Norway - $47,800
5. Ireland - $43,600
6. United States - $43,500
7. Andorra - $38,800
8. Iceland - $38,100
9. Denmark - $37,000
10. Austria - $35,500
[Source: CIA World Factbook]

Countries with the Largest Economies
1. United States - $11,750,000,000,000
2. China - $7,262,000,000,000
3. Japan - $3,745,000,000,000
4. India - $3,319,000,000,000
5. Germany - $2,362,000,000,000
6. United Kingdom - $1,782,000,000,000
7. France - $1,737,000,000,000
8. Italy - $1,609,000,000,000
9. Brazil - $1,492,000,000,000
10. Russia - $1,408,000,000,000
11. Canada - $1,023,000,000,000
12. Mexico - $1,006,000,000,000
13. Spain - $937,600,000,000
14. Korea, South - $925,100,000,000
15. Indonesia - $827,400,000,000
[Source: CIA World Factbook]

Countries with the Highest Employment Rates
1. Iceland - $82.8
2. Switzerland - $77.4
3. Denmark - $76.0
4. Norway - $75.6
5. New Zealand - $73.5
6. Sweden - $73.5
7. Netherlands - $72.7
8. United Kingdom - $72.7
9. Canada - $72.6
10. United States - $71.2
11. Australia - $69.5
12. Japan - $68.7
13. Portugal - $67.8
14. Austria - $67.8
15. Finland - $67.2
16. Ireland - $65.5
17. Germany - $65.5
18. Czech Republic - $64.2
19. Korea, South - $63.6
20. France - $62.4
21. Spain - $62.0
22. Luxembourg - $61.6
23. Mexico - $60.8
24. Belgium - $60.5
25. Greece - $59.6
26. Italy - $57.4
27. Slovakia - $57.0
28. Hungary - $56.8
29. Poland - $51.9
30. Turkey - $46.1
[Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]

25 Sites Americans Can't Live Without

1. Amazon.com :: The uber-e-tailer that never forgets its bookstore roots.

2. BBC.co.uk :: World News. Sports. Radio. Articles and audio in 33 languages.

3. Citysearch.com :: Helps steer you to the right restaurants, bars, nightclubs, hotels and spas in dozens of cities, with editors' picks and user reviews, and a Yellow Pages directory that includes shops and other services.

4. Craigslist.org :: Free classified ads in every category, organized by locale. To access ads that are posted elsewhere online.

5. Del.icio.us :: An immensely popular place to share your favorite Web links and see what other people are bookmarking.

6. Digg.com :: The leader in social news, where users determine what's important and interesting by submitting it, "digging" it and posting a comment.

7. Ebay.com :: The online auction powerhouse sells one car every minute on eBay Motors; at StubHub, which eBay acquired in February.

8. ESPN.com :: The ads are way too aggressive, but this site's got everything a sports fanatic needs. Speedy Net connection a must.

9. Facebook.com :: This social network is not as popular as MySpace, but it also hasn't been corrupted by marketers and fake friends.

10. FactCheck.org :: Staff writers check speeches, TV ads, news releases and other public statements for accuracy, and provide clarification and context.

11. Flickr.com :: More than half a billion images are now posted on Flickr, a superbly designed sharing platform and social network for photo enthusiasts

12. Google.com :: The world's leading Web search engine has helpfully gathered together a complete list of its ever-growing range of special features, tips and tricks.

13. HowStuffWorks.com :: This site lets you upload photos and video to help supplement its written content.

14. IMDB.com :: [The Internet Movie Database] It is not just the Net's more extensive directory of films and TV shows of the past, present and future —it is also a stomping ground for film buffs who like to quote dialogue, share trivia and recommend favorite flicks to their friends.

15. YouTube :: This monster video-sharing hub has more visitors than all of its many competitors combined.

16. Kayak.com :: The search engine works fast, scouring hundreds of travel sites to find the best airfares. You can compare rates on different travel dates, or check prices to several destinations at once.

17. National Geographic.com :: There's a ton of great content here about animals, world adventures, the environment, the sciences, space plus educational stuff too.

18. Netflix.com :: Digital movie downloads are getting easier, but most consumers still prefer their movies on DVD, and those slim red sleeves are still the best way to get 'em.

19. Technorati.com :: This blog search engine now searches for social media too —photos, video and music posted on online sharing sites and a tag cloud on the home page shows you the hot topics of the day.

20. TMZ.com :: The best for celebrity and entertainment news. Recent scoops include a May 18 post about Andy Roddick's buffed-up bod on the cover of the June/July issue of Men's Fitness

21. USA.gov :: The official Web portal for the U.S. government, with links to every branch, agency and organization involved in federal business, plus reports, guides, reference material and other resources to help you navigate the system, and, whenever possible, get things done online.

22. Television WithoutPity.com :: Bitingly funny recaps of dozens of popular TV shows, plus forums for further discussion.

23. WebMD.com :: A big portal packed with information about health and related issues.

24. Wikipedia.org :: The people's encyclopedia, with millions of articles written in hundreds of languages. It's free, and anyone can edit.

25. Yahoo.com :: We've already singled out a few of our favorites from Yahoo's basket of goodies Flickr, Del.icio.us, Bix but the site is also number two in Web search.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1638266_1638253,00.html

Wonders Hall of the World

1. Danish Radio Concert Halls in Copenhagen :: by Jean Nouvel [Classical Designs]
In recent years, architects have been reinventing the classic concert hall auditorium. While the end goal remains the same—to present perfectly projected classical music in an unamplified yet gorgeous environment—the design techniques used have become increasingly sophisticated and elaborate. Soundproofing, "floating" architecture, areas for socializing, the use of bare spaces or sustainable materials—all these and more have been put to use in the name of providing classical entertainment.

2. Holywell Music Room in Oxford :: by Thomas Camplin in 1748 [Oldest Design]
Traditionally, European musicians played in churches and ale houses. But an 18th-century Oxford University music professor initiated the radical change of building a dedicated music venue, the Holywell Music Room, which took six years to complete and hosted its first performance in 1748. Widely acknowledged as the first hall created specifically for people to gather to listen to music, the Holywell Music Room seats 250 people and remains one of the world's most revered chamber music halls.

3. Musikverein in Vienna :: by Theophil von Hansen in 1870 [Best Acoustics]
Vienna's shoe box-shaped concert hall was completed in 1870 and is world-renowned for its acoustics. With more than 500 shows per year, this hall is a favorite of international orchestras and is the home of Vienna's Philharmonic, a historic orchestra associated with composers like Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi. Even though the science of acoustics has become increasingly sophisticated in the past century, a hall's sound cannot necessarily rely only on sophisticated technology to achieve the best effect. "We can [use computers] until the sound is 70% or 80% [perfect]," says Yasuhisa Toyota, a company director with sound specialist Nagata Acoustics who studied the Musikverein and who has worked on more than 50 of the world's concert halls. The rest, he warns, comes from a difficult-to-duplicate combination of experience—and luck.

4. Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona :: by Domènech i Montaner in 1908 [Most Light-Filled]
Barcelona's ornate Palau de la Música Catalana does not require additional, artificial lighting during daylight hours. Sunlight pours through the colorful skylight (which weighs about a metric ton and is built directly over the stage to properly illuminate daytime concerts.) Stained-glass windows also surround the 2,200-seat hall, further eliminating the need for electric lighting (although lighting is available for nighttime concerts). Completed in 1908 by Domènech i Montaner, the Modernist hall was constructed to resemble a Gothic cathedral to lend a sacred touch to the space, which is used mainly to stage concerts of choral music.

5. Berliner Philharmoniker in Berlin :: by Hans Scharoun in 1963 [Most Influential]
Hans Scharoun started the trend of "vineyard" seating in 1963, when his design for Berlin's Philharmoniker concert hall was completed. In an attempt to involve the audience in the concert, Scharoun designed the hall so that seating surrounded the orchestra—rejecting the previous norm of "shoe box" arrangements in which audiences sat directly in front of the musicians. Since then, many of the world's concert halls, including Jean Nouvel's upcoming Philharmonie de Paris (which will be completed in 2012) and Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall have adopted this kind of seating. Some say the circular shape makes the concert-going experience more intimate and less hierarchical. "The room shape is more flexible and the layout is more informal," says Nagata Acoustics' Toyota.

6. Sydney Opera House :: by Jørn Utzon in 1973 [Most Visited]
With about 4 million visitors each year, the Sydney Opera House is not only the most visited concert hall, it's also the most visited landmark in the Southern Hemisphere. Recently, the Jørn Utzon-designed concert hall was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List, alongside the Kremlin and the Tower of London. The main concert hall has 2,679 seats that curve around the stage. Every year, more than 650 staff members assist and advise the landmark's visitors—about a quarter of whom buy tickets to some of the 1,700 annual performances. For Sydney, this radically designed landmark has not only gained international acclaim for the city, it's also become a significant source of revenue.

7. Walt Disney Concert Hall at Los Angleles :: Frank Gehry in 2003 [Most Complex]
Visitors can get a sense of the complexity of the Walt Disney Concert Hall simply by looking at it. But to build the 293,000-square-foot hall cost $274 million and took 12,500 individually created pieces of primary steel, each one ranging in size from 13 inches to 110 feet and together weighing 22 million pounds. The auditorium is intended to suggest a ship's hull and billowing sails, mimicking the exterior of the building, which resembles a ship with its sail at full mast. For the initial design, Gehry used 270 different Catia computer models and created 30,000 shop drawings, while Nagata Acoustics' Toyota spent some 14 years developing its sound design.

8. Casa da Musica at Porto, Portugal :: by Office for Metropolitan Architecture in 2005 [Most Sociable]
Promising to take into account audiences' changing musical preferences, Rem Koolhaas and Ellen van Loon of OMA designed a 1,300-seat concert hall with the underlying goal of encouraging audience interaction and discussion. For instance, wide aluminum stairs (replacing a traditional foyer) spark socializing while views of the outside world from two large glass windows located inside the concert hall act as a reminder of the world at large. "We wanted people to interact with the music as much as possible," says van Loon of the style-conscious building.

9. Zénith Concert Hall at Limoges, France :: by Bernard Tschumi in 2007 [Most Eco-Friendly]
Constructed from locally sourced Douglas fir wood as well as translucent polycarbonate (a material known for its superior thermal properties and temperature resistance), this hall's double-envelope style gives it natural light and energy-efficient insulation. In the 72-foot-high ceiling, huge vents release hot air as it rises to the top of the structure, thus saving on the air-conditioning bill. Outside, 1,500 parking spaces are covered with grass and surrounded by trees, which at least conceal the not always eco-friendly vehicles used by concertgoers. "When there is not a concert [playing] you see a grass field. Underneath is a volcanic stone that absorbs humidity," Tschumi describes. Although this venue often stages concerts of genres other than classical music, the venue made our list because its eco-awareness is a first among concert halls.

10. DR Concert Hall at Copenhagen :: by Jean Nouvel in 2009 [Most Transparent]
When it's complete, the Danish Radio Concert Hall will be enveloped with multifunctional, semitransparent blue walls. At night, the façade will turn into a film screen, allowing the details of the performances within to be displayed without. As such, it's the only concert hall whose outside walls are made completely of screens. From the inside, the foyer will also act as an auditorium to enhance the main performance by showing footage associated with the events—even before the visitor takes his or her seat in the main hall. And to allow visitors to get a clear sense of the structural skeleton of the building, the exterior of the terraced, 1,800-seat concert hall can be seen from the foyer and is connected only by three staircases and six pillars—adding to the sense of transparency inherent within the space.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/09/0926_wow_concerthalls2/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5

2007 Technology of the Year Awards: App Dev

The best and most innovative products in business rules management, AJAX toolkits, Java test tools, and more.

Fair Isaac Blaze Advisor 6.1 [Best Business Rule Management System]
Blaze Advisor 6.1's major enhancements include richer reporting and increased speed, and the newly incorporated Rete III algorithm enables it to surpass old rival JRules in performance benchmarks. Blaze still provides a wealth of tools for implementation, extensive debugging, and strong factory support. The improvements make it the top enterprise BRMS.

Sun NetBeans 5.5 [Java IDE Innovator]
NetBeans already had the most complete collaboration features among IDE platforms. This year it added important new modules such as Matisse, the most advanced Java GUI designer available today, and complete support for Java EE 5. NetBeans is likely all that developers of enterprise Java applications will need.

Parasoft Jtest 8 [Best Java Test Tool]
Jtest was already a great Java testing tool; now it's even better. Version 8 adds more pre-loaded rules and the new BugDetective analysis module for locating problems and identifying their origin. It takes on everything from unit tests to functional tests, and it does not limit your testing of any particular Java component.

Klocwork K7 v. 7 [Best Source Code Analyzer]
Klocwork K7 is a robust and scalable analytical suite for C, C++, and Java, featuring excellent defect discovery and extensive tools for managing the many results. In addition, it provides superior code navigation and analysis tools. This is a comprehensive and very impressive package.

Backbase 3.2 [Best AJAX Toolkit]
Backbase is a smooth, crisp collection of widgets with a nice, modern look. Coding amounts to dropping together XML tags to specify everything from the event routines to the layouts. Server-side support is tightly integrated with Java platforms such as JSF and Struts. Impressive tool, elegant results.

Dojo Toolkit [Best Open Source AJAX Kit]
Dojo has an excellent editing package, a wide selection of animating boxes, some drag-and-drop tools, and a slew of customizable widgets. It's a broad, deep, and well-packaged open source AJAX project, and it continues to improve as it attracts more developers with more ideas and code from other projects.

Adobe Flex 2.0 [Best Rich Internet Application Platform]
Adobe Flex 2.0 constitutes a big leap forward for this RIA platform, thanks to a new Eclipse-based IDE for drag-and-drop layout and code management, and a separate data services application for server-side messaging and data integration. Easy connections for Web services and Java objects bolster this very good choice for enterprise RIA scenarios.

http://www.infoworld.com/slideshow/2007/01/25-2007_technology-1.html

Best and Worst in Tech :: 101 Best Web Freebies

1. Load Up Your PC - Ubuntu, OpenOffice.org, Pandora Recovery, Libra

2. Safeguard Your System - AVG Anti-Virus Free, SpyBot

3. Home on the Web - divShare, T35 Hosting, WordPress

4. Phone Home - Skype, Gizmo Project, The Pudding

5. Manage Your Money - Mint (Personal accounting software), Freerealtime.com

6. File Your Taxes - TaxACT This Web-based tax software is part of the Internal Revenue Service's Free File program. But unlike other IRS partners who limit free filing services to those with incomes of $54,000 or less, TaxACT is open to all.

7. Credit Check - AnnualCreditReport.com The Fair & Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 gave all consumers the right to access their credit reports once every 12 months. The Act also created AnnualCreditReport.com to simplify the process of applying to credit reporting agencies.

8. Play the Housing Market - Zillow.com, Trulia

9. Land a Job - Emurse, Indeed

10. Raise Salary - Salary.com Have a hunch you're underpaid? Who doesn't? Before you go to the boss, get some hard evidence at Salary.com. The site will show you what others with similar job titles and geographic locations are earning, based on survey data.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2007/tc20071121_708667.htm