Specifications

NOVEMBER 6, 2007 PC MAGAZINE 85
Infected or Not
www.infectedornot.com
Panda’s Infected or Not service offers
the excellent (and free) NanoScan tool
to ascertain quickly whether there’s mal-
ware on your machine. It also tracks PC
infections around the world. Get the data
on both active and latent threats, and fi nd
out what percentage of scanned PCs have
gunk on them.—KM
InviteShare
www.inviteshare.com
Don’t you hate when the coolest new Web
services are by-invitation-only closed
betas? If you aren’t on the invite list, Invite-
Share is your ticket in. The free service lets
early beta users share their invites—and
the more you share, the more likely you’ll
receive the invites you crave.—CM
MajorGeeks.com
www.majorgeeks.com
If your PC is behaving badly, MajorGeeks
.com has a collection of free and paid apps
and utilities for your PC that have been
tested to recover, repair, protect, back up—
the list goes on and on. Sort fi les by name,
date, license, OS, or popularity.—JLD
OldVersion.com
www.oldversion.com
Everyone’s encountered new versions of
products that add unnecessary features.
Or worse, a new version that’s simply
incompatible with the other apps you need
for daily use. Roll back to the good old days
with OldVersion.com! Need QuickTime
2.0 or AIM 5.9? Chances are, if you want it,
OldVersion’s got it.—JAK
ProgrammableWeb
www.programmableweb.com
ProgrammableWeb keeps tabs on mash-
ups and open APIs across the Web. When
a service such as Google Maps or Flickr
opens its API, ProgrammableWeb is one of
the best resources for fi nding new exten-
sions or building your own.—KM
Website Grader
www.websitegrader.com
Submit your URL (and your competitors’
URLs) to Website Grader and it will give
you some basic feedback on how your site
is doing and in what areas it can improve.
It’s a free way to get advice on optimizing
your site for search engines, which can
drastically boost your traffi c.—KM
Gaming
Armor Games
www.armorgames.com
Is the boss looking? No? Good, then you
can have a fi ne time at Armor Games, the
home of countless free Flash-based games,
all playable on the Web. This site has
everything from classic card and puzzle
games to more complicated adventure or
strategy games.—WR
K2xl
www.k2xl.com
Watch dots. Place cursor on dot. Click
mouse. Watch chain reaction as dots
explode. Repeat. Basically, this is all there
is to Boomshine, one of K2xl’s highly
addictive Flash games. It’s actually really
hard to watch these beautifully colored
dots dance across your screen and not
become hooked on this simple and relax-
ing game.—VBJ
Kongregate
www.kongregate.com
Kongregate is a flash-video game site
driven by user-generated content. Aspir-
ing game developers submit their work to
have it played and debated among the site’s
online community. Not every game is a hit,
but games such as Desktop Defender and
Castle Wars will hook you and leave you
wondering what happened to all that free
time you used to have.—DE
LikeBetter
www.likebetter.com
This site presents you with two pictures,
and you click on the one you like bet-
ter. Repeat on a new pair of images. After
you’ve made your personal preference
known on enough pairs of photos, LikeBet-
ter’s “brain” will know what kind of person
you really are . . . and what kind of people
you should befriend through its site.—WR
Line Rider
www.offi cial-linerider.com
There’s something oddly addictive about
sending a fragile, scarf-clad man hurtling
down a steep, crudely drawn slope on a
sled. Line Rider is a simple online game
that lets you draw any kind of sledding
course for your character, who will then
bravely sled it with no regard for his per-
sonal safety.—KM
Shacknews
www.shacknews.com
The monumentally massive Shacknews
really is the new go-to spot for all your
gaming news. On top of an oft-updated
blog, there are Shack Reviews, a Shack-
Cast, and a FileShack filled with down-
loadable demos, movies, and game mods.
It also highlights the best and brightest
comments right on the home page.—CI
Hardware News and Blogs
All Things Digital
www.allthingsd.com
All Things Digital is the online brand
extension of the D: All Things Digital con-
ference, which in turn is a brand extension
of Walt Mossberg’s technology coverage
for The Wall Street Journal. The site uses
both text and video to dish on the hottest
tech news, and industry experts and fresh
voices contribute to the conversation.
—KM
Anything But iPod
www.anythingbutipod.com
Who wants to be a part of the Apple iPod’s
80 percent market share? Certainly not the
bloggers and readers of Anything But iPod,
which tracks the market for non-Apple
audio hardware, software, and accessories.
Whether you’re a fan of SanDisk players,
Archos PMPs, or the Microsoft Zune, ABi’s
got the news, rumors, and details.—KM
Everything USB
www.everythingusb.com
Everything USB is a gadget blog dedicated
to the one-wired-connection wonders
that are USB computer peripherals. From
keyboards to webcams and everything
in between, the newest and coolest—not
LIKEBETTER The “brain” knows you.