Archive for: top

Top 10 Web 2.0 Blogs on Blogs.com

I was lucky enough to be asked by the Sixapart team to post a guest list on Blogs.com. My list was titled Top 10 Web 2.0 Blogs and here is the list below.

CenterNetworks

Web 2.0 news from the Big Apple (NY). Allen Stern provides some great reading.

Crenk

Fast growing blog reporting on everything from web apps to Bittorrent news. Great selection of reviews on the best web 2.0 apps by Insomnia Media.

Download Squad

Profiling some of the best web apps around. Look for more than 30 articles every day.

Go2Web2.0

Orli provides the news of what is happen in Israel and surrounding countries, plus profiles only the best web 2.0 products.

Mashable

Dedicated team who profile some of the best web 2.0 services available. Look for over 20 articles everyday.

Profy

Providing a Russian point of view on the world of technology by Svetlana Gladkova.

Read/Write Web

Insights into what drives web 2.0 services. Great indepth analysis from some of the best tech journalists on the web.

Smashing Apps

The best lists around! SmashingApps details a new list of the best services relating to a specific topic every week.

The Social Times

Insight into the world of social apps. Founded by Nick O’Neill.

TheNextWeb.com

One of Europe’s leading web 2.0 sources. TheNextWeb also has the best technology conference in Europe.

Crenk’s Top 10 SEO Blogs Worth Subscribing To

Our friends over at DailySeoBlog have put together a great list of the Top 20 SEO blog feeds you should follow. We have decided to show you our top 10 SEO blogs worth subscribing to.

SEO Moz

seo-blog-1

Online Marketing Blog

seo-blog-2

Matt Cutt’s SEO blog

seo-blog-3

Search Engine Watch Blog

seo-blog-4

SEO Book

seo-blog-5

Dave Naylor

seo-blog-6

Search Engine Guide

seo-blog-17

Michael Gray Wolf’s SEO Blog

seo-blog-8

SEO Round Table

seo-blog-9

19. Blog Storm

seo-blog-20

Top Social Networks for Advertising

I came across this excellent list of social networks with their user bases and projected ad spending for 09. The list was put together by Borreall Associates and is a great resource. On the list are 118 networks that accept advertising and media buying.

Of course, Facebook and Myspace count for the majority of social media advertising, but there is still enough good traffic on other sites to be worth testing.

The download system is kind of a pain But since the report is free and this kind of data is valuable, its worth it.   Download PDF or Excel version here.

Here are the top 30:

social-networks

Best Free Wordpress News Themes

Mimbo

mimbo

Download The Mimbo Theme From Here

The Morning After

themorningafter

Download The Morning After WordPress Template Here

WP Polaroid

wp-Poloraid

Download The Theme From Here

Docx File Converter: 3 Ways to Convert and View Docx files

Docx is the new file format of Word 2007 and this is the default format of Word 2007. This format cannot be opened in previous versions of Word unless you have the office compatibility pack installed. Incase you do not wish to install the compatibility pack, there are online converters to do the job of converting to .doc format. Here are the top 3 online converters.

Docx Converter:  This is again a good service to Docx file and the output file is in html format so that it can be read in all systems. There is also a desktop widget for converting.

Docx2Doc: As the name indicated, this service converts docx formats into doc files so that it can be viewed in Word 2003 or lower. The major disadvantage with this service its that there is a one hour delay in downloading the converted files to reduce website bandwidth.

Zamzar: Zamzar can convert variety of file formats and Docx is one of them. Select the file and format to be converted and enter your email id, the file will be converted and a link will be sent to your email ID for download.

Top 10 Must Have Thunderbird Addons

mozilla-thunderbirdMost people know about Outlook competitor from Mozilla, Thunderbird. Unlike Outlook it is completely free, it’s multi-platform, it’s multi-lingual and most importantly, it’s highly customizable featuring lots of useful addons and themes. Therefore, if you are using Thunderbird we have put together a great list of the top 10 addons you should be using.

Contacts Sidebar – handy addon that lets you display all available address books in Thunderbird sidebar. This lets you easily access all your contacts from the main window, quickly edit contact details, drag’n drop files on top of a contact to send it as an attachment and more… (Thunderbird: 1.5b – 2.0.0.*)

QuoteCollapse – automatically collapses all the quotes within any message, making it look neat and less cluttered. To expand quotes back to standard view just click inserted ‘+’ button. (Thunderbird: 0.7 – 2.0.0.*)

QuickMove – must-have addon letting you quickly file messages to your frequently used folders using keyboard shortcuts. (Thunderbird: 0.5 – 2.0+)

Signature Switch – allows you to create multiple email signatures (Private, Business, etc.) and quickly switch between them right from the main toolbar. Also provides configurable signature auto-switch option based on the email recipients. (Thunderbird: 0.7 – 2.0.0.*)

Remove Duplicate Messages – helps you quickly locate and remove duplicate messages from the selected folders (and its subfolders). (Thunderbird: 1.0 – 1.5.0.*)

Nostalgy – lets you assign single-key keyboard shortcuts to common thunderbird operations i.e., move/copy/delete messages, change folder, add/remove/view tags, add attachment, scroll the message while keeping the focus on the thread pane and lots more. (Thunderbird: 1.5 – 2.0.0.*)

GMailUI – adds Gmail-like mail archiving and powerful message search (i.e. ‘from:Makeuseof to:Aibek’) functionalities into Thunderbird. Makes excellent addition to already existing ‘Saved Searches’ feature. (Thunderbird: 0.8 – 2.0.0.*)

Attachment Extractor – integrates one-click attachment extract option from selected messages. Once attachments have been extracted it can delete, detach or mark messages as ‘read’. Way easier than going through messages one-by-one. (Thunderbird: 2.0 – 2.0.0.*)

Auto Zip Attachments – adds an ‘AutoZip’ button to the compose toolbar allowing you to compress all attached files to a single ‘zip’ file. (Thunderbird: 1.5 – 2.0.0.*)

Send Later – integrates extra ‘Send Later At’ (’Ctrl+Shift+Return’) feature to the message compose window, allowing you to send messages on a particular future date and time. It can be a contract cancellation notice, a ‘Happy Birthday’ or a friendly ‘Don’t Forget’ note. (Thunderbird: 1.5 – 2.0)

TheDesignInspiration: Your Resource For Worlds Best Design Inspiration

Have you been looking for some great design inspiration for your next project? Well look no further than The Design Inspiration. The Design Inspiration has been created by a group of designers who have been looking for quality design ideas from all over the internet. The Design Inspiration features some of the best logo designs, illustration art, website and more. The site is updated every day and only seems to have the premium quality ideas on the site.

design-inspiration

17 New Wordpress Themes That Will Rock Your Personal Blog

Personal blogs are more than a bunch of words put together. A good personal blog reflects your identity, your personality and individualism and a  factor of great importace here is the design. It is the first thing that the viewer notices, before making any presumptions about you or your personality. So a good design is necessary to leave a good and long lasting impression on the visitor.

To help you out with the design, we at Crenk have put together 17 new wordpress themes that we believe, will rock your personal blog. Read on.

Creative Art

Creative Art

Theme Info | Demo

Masinop

Masinop

Theme Info | Demo

Nouice

Nouice

Theme Info | Demo

Scruffy

Scruffy

Theme Info | Demo

Vigilance

Vigilance

Theme Info | Demo

Simply

Simply

Theme Info | Demo

WGrey

W Grey

Theme Info | Demo

Simple Pro

Simplepro

Theme Info | Demo

Simple Changes

simple changes

Theme Info | Demo

Reviews Theme

Reviews Theme

Theme Info | Demo

ProudBlack

Proudblack

Theme Info | Demo

Modicus Remix

Modicus Remix

Theme Info | Demo

Modern

Modern

Theme Info | Demo

LightWeight

Lightweight

Theme Info | Demo

IAMWW W2 DnD

Iamwww

Theme Info | Demo

Bright Spring

Bright Spring

Theme Info | Demo

Elegance

Elegance

Theme Info | Demo

So that ends the list. I hope you liked it, if that’s so, show me some love and Digg it :)

(By) An avid freelance writer and technology enthusiast, Keshav Khera is young geek from India. Fanatic about the web, he also writes a blog and makes unsuccessful efforts to avoid twitter.

TorrentZen: The Live Bittorrent Search Engine

Have you ever struggled to find the torrents you are looking for? This means that you have to travel to 10 different sites until you find something that vaguely looks like the right torrent! TorrentZen aims to come to your rescue. TorrentZen is a live bittorrent search engine that brings the results of some of your favourite bittorrent search engines.

TorrentZen works in the same way as other torrent tracks but instead of actually hosting pages with the results, they provide a link to those pages on other search engines. Therefore TorrentZen functions in the same basic way as a meta search engine.

torrentzen-website-logo

Twittering: Review of 5 Applications

Twitter: you all know it and you all love it and sometimes even hate it. Sure, regular blog hosting is one way of getting your thoughts and points across but if you want a quick and easy way of making sure that your friends are up to date on your latest activities, then Twitter is the thing for you.

In honor of Crenk’s 1000 followers, here are five popular and great applications for Twitter.

1) TwitPic
Perfect for all of us wanting share photos on Twitter and it’s immensely popular with over a million visitors in January. Pictures can be posted to TwitPic from your API, phone or when logged in to the site itself. We love this tool and it’s as easy as it gets!

2) TweetDeck
TweetDeck is still in a public BETA version but it’s still very functional. What the app does is taking abundant information and breaks it down to more manageable pieces. Notifications and tweets are also streamlined through this app. Great app if you want total control and wish to stay up to date at all time.

3) Digsby (not a twitty related name!)
Tired of many IM programs and FB all open. Digsby is a great little application that centralizes instant messaging (AIM, MSN, Gtalk, FB), e-mailing (Gmail, Hotmail, MSN) and social networking accounts into one single program. Based on Pidgin, this is cuter, lighter, and better. This is a top tool for staying on top of everything and keeping it organized.

4) Twitterfeed
With Twitterfeed you’ll be able to feed your blog or any other RSS or Atom feed directly to Twitter. Great application if you want to synchronize your Twitter account with your WordPress hosting account.

5) TwtPoll
Applications do not have to be all that complicated to be good and useful. TwtPoll is simple as can be; enter a question at the TwtPoll site and write down a couple of different answers. Your poll is now ready to be used in Twitter. Great app if you wish to understand people’s different opinions.

I have a current poll testing right now. Check it out here and see what you think. Thought I have to admit, I screwed up the URLs twice because I was not sure which was the right one.

So don’t forget to follow @Crenk on Twitter! And say hi to Web Hosting Search, that’s me, over @hostingsearch with your thoughts about Twitter applications.

Top 5 Multi-Search Tools for Find The Best Torrents

Previously here on Crenk we have talked about the top torrent trackers on the web and this time I want to outline the top 5 multi-search torrent tools.

NowTorrents. Searches up to twelve sites at once. I like the file type tabs and health indicator, and they offer a Firefox and IE compatible search plugin.

uSniff. I wrote about uSniff before, and I use it quite often. I don’t really search a lot of different sites, usually just Pirate Bay and IsoHunt, and they’re both supported (along with six others). The interface is clean and responds quickly – the search box throws some people off, though. I don’t understand why, it’s giant, orange, and says “search” on it. They also have a search plugin for IE and Firefox.

ScrapeTorrent. Offers a nice preference page and searches nine sites at once. Piratebay, IsoHunt, Mininova, and Demonoid are included, and they’re my go-to sites anyways. I approve!

Speckly. I hate the way it displays results: gobs and gobs of text, Google style, and all on one page. There aren’t any sorting options, though you can at least view by file type.

Torrentz. Technically it searches multiple sites, but you’ll get a general results page first. Clicking one of the results will take you to a listing of all the individual torrents. I find it an annoying process, and don’t use Torrentz as a result.

Top Money Making MMO Games of 2008

Over at GigaOM they have put together a great list of the top 10 money making MMO games of 2008.

1. World of Warcraft, launched 2004
Genre/Platform: Western MMORPG; client install with 3D graphics
Revenue sources: Monthly subscription, retails sales, prepaid cards (in Asia)
DFC estimated 2008 revenue: $500 million-plus

2. Fantasy Westward Journey, launched 2004
Genre/Platform: Asian MMORPG, client install with 2.5D graphics
Revenue sources: Prepaid cards
DFC estimated 2008 revenue: $150-$500 million

3. Maple Story, launched 2003
Genre/Platform: Asian MMORPG for kids, client install with 2D graphics
Revenue sources: Microtransactions, prepaid cards, international licensing
DFC estimated 2008 revenue: $150-$500 million

4. Shanda (company, includes Legend of Mir and World of Legend series), launched 2003
Genre/Platform: Asian MMORPG, client install with 2.5 graphics
Revenue sources: Prepaid cards, virtual item sales, freemium subscriptions
DFC estimated 2008 revenue: $150-$500 million

5. Lineage I and Lineage II , launched 1998 and 2003
Genre/Platform: Asian MMORPG, client install with 2.5 graphics (Lineage) and 3D graphics (Lineage II)
Revenue sources: Subscription, prepaid cards
DFC estimated 2008 revenue: $150-$500 million

6. Runescape
Genre/Platform: Western MMORPG for kids, web-based with 2.5D graphics
Revenue sources: Premium subscription, prepaid cards, real-world advertising
DFC estimated 2008 revenue: $50-$150 million

7. Club Penguin, launched 2006
Genre/Platform: Virtual world for kids, web-based 2.5D graphics
Revenue sources: Premium subscriptions, prepaid game cards
DFC estimated 2008 revenue: $50-$150 million

8. Lord of the Ring Online
Genre/Platform: Western MMORPG, client install with 3D graphics
Revenue sources: Subscription, retail sales
DFC estimated 2008 revenue: $50-$150 million

9. Warhammer Online
Genre/Platform: Western MMORPG, client install with 3D graphics
Revenue sources: Subscription, retail sales
DFC estimated 2008 revenue: $50-$150 million

10. Age of Conan
Genre/Platform: Western MMORPG, client install with 3D graphics
Revenue sources: Subscription, retail sales
DFC estimated 2008 revenue: $50-$150 million