For the past few weeks, I’ve been trying out the closed beta versions of QumanaXP, an offline blog editing tool that is available in versions for Windows and Mac platforms.

The Google Reader team have issued an update. The main new feature is a drop-down that gives you quick access to all of your labels, but the keyboard access to the same feature is a cooler: a dark gray overlay that appears when you hit g, then l.

Download Squad links to a great tip for freeing Windows of device drivers you don’t use, which sit in system memory.

Google is about to release a new version of its toolbar.

This must be a glitch at Google. Search for anything with Google and it will not let you navigate beyond the first page of results.

Lots of interesting news about Skype and some of the things they’re announcing at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. (Heads up for visiting the CES website: loud Flash intro page.)

It looks like the hacker team at Addict3d.com have developed an application that allows users to run multiple Yahoo! Messenger account simultaneously.

Steve Jobs isn’t the only one concerned about pressure from the major music labels over music download pricing; New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has sent Warner Music Group a subpoena about the issue.

Changes are afoot at Google’s Video service, with some tweaks and twists to the terms of service that hint tantalizingly at a payment-based download service.

News of what two big companies in entirely different industries are doing with audio as part of their communication is a great example of imaginative ways to use this communication medium.

The widow of Jerry Garcia and the surviving band members had asked Archive.org to take downloadable recordings of the band offline, but the resulting fan outrage has forced a change of heart.

Enterprise security solutions provider SSH Communications Security has released a white paper called “Replacing FTP and Telnet in Cross-Platform Networks“.

How about a commercial to go with your commercial? In conjunction with the portal’s roll out of newly available classic television, AOL also announced a trial of “Hi-Q,” a free DVD-quality video service offering visitors access to movie and video game trailers and music videos to broadband users, sponsored by GM.

Texan Lynda LeCompte has created an avian flu outbreak add-on for Google Earth mapping out confirmed cases of the bird virus worldwide, contributing to the rash of Google Earth/Maps mash-ups. Get it? Rashoutbreak

Sam Whitmore has snagged a podcast interview with Daniel Lyons, the author of Forbes’ controversial cover story on blogs.

The new Firmware 2.0 upgrade for Sony’s PSP system has some interesting new features such as a new integrated web browser, and increased Wi-Fi security.

Gigablast is now offering a new toolbar for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. The toolbar allows users to conveniently search over 2 billion pages.

Game Developer magazine has published its 2005 Game Career Guide. Some in the industry would consider a game career warning guide a better choice.

One of the bigger laments coming from the Mac crowd in relation to search is the lack of search utilities and tools for the Mac environment, although the Google Toolbar is available to Mac users, if they don’t want to use Spotlight.

While the desktop search craze (if there really was one) may have subsided some, that doesn’t mean developers are going to stop improving their product.

When working in Flash, you may find yourself having a large collection of symbols such as movie clips, buttons, and graphics.