The Best In Tech 2006 (part3)

BEST SEARCH
ENGINE
Google
Google still serves up the mostrelevant
search results on the
Web, but this mini-empire also
incorporates an excellent mapping
service, slick 3D world
views, video- and image-search
capabilities, push search technology,
a shopping bot, and
much more.

BEST ONLINE
PHOTOFINISHER
Snapfish
Shooting a huge number of digital
photos is easy, but finding a
practical way to print them and
show them to friends and family
can be a hassle. Snapfish offers
free online photo storage
for current customers, plus an
excellent utility for uploading
and managing photos. Print
quality is among the best we’ve
seen from online photofinishers
(and at 12 cents for a 4x6,
the price is among the cheapest).
Snapfish also offers a huge
array of photo-themed gifts.

BEST IM
SOFTWARE/SERVICE
Gaim 1.5
If you’re addicted to instant
messaging (IM), you’re probably
already using Gaim 1.5. This
multiprotocol IM client for Windows,
Mac OS X, Linux, and BSD
is compatible with AOL Instant
Messenger, Gadu-Gadu, ICQ, IRC,
Jabber, MSN Messenger,Yahoo
Messenger, and Zephyr. Gaim
users can log on to multiple accounts
on multiple IM networks
simultaneously, and the service
supports many features of the
various networks, including file
transfer, away messages, and
notifications that your chat
partner is keying in text.

BEST FREE
DOWNLOAD
Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition
1.06
The Web is awash in freeware,
but we suggest you start with
Ad-Aware, which will keep your
PC clean of spyware and malware
regardless of what you
download next. The app does an
excellent job of finding and removing
malicious components,
and all at no cost.

BEST WEBMAIL
SERVICE
Gmail
While we can think of quite a
few reasons to use Gmail—less
spam, integrated IM (Gtalk), and
its nice mobile version—none
tops the way the service automatically
groups an e-mail and
subsequent replies into a single
conversation.

BEST BLOGGING
SERVICE
WordPress
We like a good underdog, and
WordPress certainly fits that description.
While the scrappy
open-source blogging platform
was late to the game, it continues
to add new features, plugins,
and services that are driven
largely by user requests and
feedback. Even if you’re just using
your blog to keep in touch
with family and friends, the
WordPress Web site should be
your first stop.