Three of my favourite software apps launched new or upgraded versions recently. Only one definite hit in this group, unfortunately.

If there’s any one site I use more than others (with the exception of Gmail), it’s Technorati. This site is a fantastic window into the psyche of the more digitally inclined. Here, in another in my series of hack postings, are 10 ways I get more mileage from T’rati.

Sunnyvale-based Yahoo has purchased Konfabulator, which introduced the “widget” concept on the Mac in 2002.

When Apple debuted the highly praised OS X, one of the inclusions was Dashboard, a utility that allows users to develop widgets to increase the functionality of their computing experience.

The parent company of Answers.com, GuruNet Corporation, announced it will start trading on NASDAQ in August.

Because the Google Toolbar is only designed for Internet Explorer, if other browser users want to view a site’s Google PageRank, they have to install different types of extensions and what not to do so.

This says it all about the folks behind the latest version of Konfabulator, an application that lets you run a wide range of programs called widgets on your desktop.

The MSN Search team announced in their blog a number of new beta extentions to the MSN search engine offered by outside developers.

Yahoo’s official announcement last month that they planned to drop Google results in Q1 brought about a wave of speculation on when they would actually make the switch. Some wonder if they’ll ever fully make the switch, since Yahoo is a part Google owner.

Yesterday, as I was watching television (which is a very rare occurrence), a public service announcement for National Parks Canada was aired. The 30-second “commercial” centered on how to protect oneself from dangerous animals often found in Canada’s wilderness — namely bears and wolves. The commercial particularly targeted youngsters, such as summer-camp kids.

Since all of the major search engines use the words that appear on web pages as an important factor in their ranking algorithms, it is important to make sure that you let the search engines know exactly what your pages are about. However, it is just as important that you do so in a way that will not compromise your marketing message or turn off your visitors. To demonstrate how it is possible to style your copy for search engines without diminishing the visitor experience, it is perhaps easiest to create a fictional example.