Specifications

92 PC MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 6, 2007
stories that U.S. news outlets and blogs
can’t.—KM
Ars Technica
www.arstechnica.com
Propeller-heads, check out the thorough
how-tos, commentary, and deep collection
of helpful tech knowledge.—EG
Engadget
www.engadget.com
The crown jewel of AOL’s Weblogs Inc.,
Engadget posts briefs (always with pretty
pictures) on everything a true-blue or
budding early adopter cares about.—EG
Slashdot
www.slashdot.org
Before there was Digg, there was Slashdot,
still the leading gathering place for hard-
core nerds.—KM
TechCrunch
www.techcrunch.com
Michael Arrington’s blog covers software
and Web start-ups with inimitable pas-
sion, candor, and fervor.—KM
Reviews
CNET
www.cnet.com
There’s no denying it (though we wish we
could): CNET is one of the premier tech-
nology destinations on the Web.—VBJ
Digital Photography Review
www.dpreview.com
Get exhaustive coverage of the digital-
camera industry, with breaking news and
detailed hands-on reviews of new cam-
eras.—KM
PCMag.com
www.pcmag.com
Is it cheeky of us to put ourselves on our
own list? Perhaps, but we think it’s war-
ranted. Online extras include our product
guide, episodes of DL.TV and John Dvor-
ak’s Cranky Geeks, PCMag Radio pod-
casts, our blogs like SecurityWatch and
AppScout, and so much more.—KM
Security and the Web
BroadbandReports.com
www.dslreports.com
Fast Internet connections via cable, DSL,
FTTH, and even VoIP services are all fair
game for reviews and ratings on this online
community.—EG
GetNetWise
www.getnetwise.org
An online learning center with all the info
you need to keep your kids and yourself
safe. Fight spam, upgrade PC security, and
protect your privacy.—EG
Gibson Research Corp.
www.grc.com
Steve Gibson fills his site with free tools
and utilities (such as the legendary Shields
UP!!), and information via his Security
Now column/podcast.—JAK
Internet Storm Center
isc.sans.org
A program that monitors the level of mali-
cious activity on the Internet is this site’s
heart, but visit daily for a diary of technical
analysis about the data.—JAK
Security Focus
www.securityfocus.com
Take a look at the vendor-neutral security
information or read the BugTraq mailing
list. It’s fascinating, informative, and really,
really scary.—JAK
Web Apps
Flickr
www.fl ickr.com
The user-generated photo site lets you
document your life in photos for everyone
to see, browse other users’ photos, and
share pics with friends.—AI
Google Docs & Spreadsheets
docs.google.com
Whether or not it ever supplants Micro-
soft Offi ce, Google’s online offi ce software
is handy, collaborative, and free.—KM
Google Labs
labs.google.com
Google always has quirky and brilliant
beta products in the pipeline. Check them
out here.—KM
Google Maps
maps.google.com
It’s the spinning globe you always wanted,
only onscreen with infinite detail. There
are new features added each year.—EG
Last.fm
www.last.fm
This social Web radio site is perhaps the
best free music-discovery engine around.
Generate your own radio stations based on
virtually any criteria.—BH
Live Search Maps
maps.live.com
Street maps and satellite images are almost
old hat. Live Search has bird’s-eye and 3D
views that you can navigate like a flight
simulation.—EG
Pandora
www.pandora.com
Pandora reimagined the way that we think
about Internet radio. It utilizes a song’s
traits to generate individual radio stations
based on users’ favorites.—BH
Yahoo! Mail (beta)
mail.yahoo.com
Stripped-down freemail might be all the
rage, but Yahoo! goes in the opposite direc-
tion. The service acts like a fast, responsive
desktop application.—KM
YouTube
www.youtube.com
As therapy for the billions of bored people
in the world, YouTube lets users upload
and view video content for free.—LR
FLICKR Caper, senior writer Eric Griffi th’s dog, is ready for his closeup.