WebPagetest, a site where it test the load time of your page and analyzes what loads, how long it loads, and even gives suggestion on how to improve it.

And of course the most important one: Browsershots. Ever wondered how your website looks in Opera 8? Or IE 6? Or any other dozen browsers out there? You don't have to install 10 browsers to find it out. This webservice takes care of it for you by taking screenshots in each browser and uploading said screenshots upon completion.

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How to enable it:

1. Go to google.com
2. Copy/Paste this into your web browser address field and hit enter:

   javascript:void(document.cookie="PREF=ID=20b6e4c2f44943bb:U=4bf292d46faad806:TM=1249677602:LM=1257919388:S=odm0Ys-53ZueXfZG;path=/;  domain=.google.com");

3. Reload google.com

Bear in mind, I have no idea how to revert this change. Still I like it this way much more!

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Yet deep down it DOES work differently and it most certainly delivers the promised improved search speed and better search results.

What does better mean? Well that's up to everybodys point of view, for me at least the newly structured search results are in fact way better structured  than the old ones.

So without further ado, go on and test the new infrastructure: http://www2.sandbox.google.com

PS: Since it's in beta testing stage expect the new search engine to be down occasionally!

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Identi.ca because I can link my Twitter account to Identi.ca and post only on Identi.ca to make my notices (identi.ca) also apear as tweets on Twitter.

The question, when I heard about such microblogging services, I asked myself was when should I be using it.

Then I looked at my blog and thought about it. It ain't that bad if you think about it.

I use Twitter and Identi.ca for distributing interesting links I stumble across while surfing  and the occasional, unsubstantial notice/tweet.

So why would I waste a whole lot of blog space when I can put the links in 140 characters. Sure I can collect the links and present them in weekly or daily blog posts, but then it'll be lacking something only the microblogging services offer: immediateness (huh, that's some strange word I came up with).

You see microblogging services, unlike personal blogs, are available and know to millions of people. While I have to promote my blog to gain users, on Twitter and Identi.ca there already are millions of users ready to read.

When I share a link it becomes, on Identi.ca at least, visible to everybody right the second I posted it. (On Twitter you have to be registered and following me in order to immediately get the tweet I just posted!).

Microblogging services, they are great, ain't they? What say you, dear reader?

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Anyway while surfing yesterday I stumbled on http://scr.im . A service which allows you to hide your email address until the person who wants to know it personally verifies  a given code. This way Spam Bots are closed out!

All you have to do is enter your email address and choose your own URL like http://scr.im/WHATEVER ! Then share it. The person who clicks http://scr.im/WHATEVER will get a code and has to match from 8 random, and 1 exact match given.

http://mailhide.recaptcha.net is a similar service, expect you have to manually enter a given captcha.

Now we can carry on debating whether such services are useful or not. I say to each his/her own! No more stupid  nocando(at)whateverservice dot com !

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When I prank my friends and don't want them to get alerted by the URL I send them, then I use so called url shortener. I came across aplenty of them. Some bad ones, some very good ones.

I also often use URL shortener when I want to share some eBay auctions. They do have some ridiculous long URLs. There are way to many reasons to list as to why you could or should use an URL shortening service.

Now my favourite of all url shortening services is http://shuurl.com because you get a screenshoted "preview" of what the linked web site looks like. You also get security stats compiled by the SHUURL community (Folks who, eventually, visit and security-rate the site). It helps if you are one of the more paranoid ones (like me).[SHUURL Don Salva's Blog , SHUURL Don Salva's Gallery]

Then there are http://bit.ly, http://tinyarro.ws, http://tinyurl.com, http://is.gd and http://snipr.com who do just that, URL shortening. And many more who I probably forgot to mention.

http://1link.in and http://linkbun.ch on the other hand are special. They allow you to shorten multiple URLs into 1 tiny URL.

http://tr.im and http://burnurl.com also are special. Tr.im shortens your URL and updates your Twitter or Identi.ca status. This service also tracks stats and allows commenting on your URLs. BurnURL however allows stats and social sharing beyond Twitter.

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Oh, how we loathe it. The daily spam. Be it in E-Mail, be it in comments on blogs, forum or otherwise, be it in Instant Messengers, we just hate it and we just can't seem to avoid it. It seems to never die, like a perpetuum mobile. Spammers earn millions and cause billions in damage. It is a proven fact.

From Day 1 when I got my first Spam (Penisenlargement anyone? Whole 10 inches! I'm serious!) I've been looking for methods to avoid it. I have been somewhat successful to some degree. Let's start with our lovely E-Mail Spam. What say you? They solution is

Temporary/Disposable Email Service.

Benefits of Disposable and Temporary Email Services

There are a lot of advantages of having disposable and temporary Emails. But here are some of the key benefits:

• No sign-up or/and registration required
• Automatically expire/deleted after a certain period of time passes
• Protect your personal mailbox from exploits, spoofs, hoaxes and spam mails

Top 10 9 Disposable and Temporary Email Services

Over the time I collected a lot of links to Disposable and Temporary Email Services. Here's my collection of the, in my opinion, Top 10 9 Services which require NO sign-up and NO registration and which are totally spam free.

1. Mailinator , one of the best and top rated disposable/temporary email services that gives you a temporary mailbox on the following address format: anythigyouwant@mailinator.com
2. MyTrashMail , another good disposable/temporary mail service which gives you a mailbox in the format anythigyouwant@trashymail.com. It also gives you a secure temporary mailbox if you choose to sign-up
3. TempEmail , an anonymous and fast yet very secure temporary email inbox
4. TemporaryInbox , gives you an email inbox in different formats and is simple and easy to use
5. MailExpire , is somewhat unique because it gives you the option to have a temporary mail inbox with an expiration duration ranging from 12 hours to as long as 3 month
6. MailEater , yet another free disposable/temporary email inbox in the format: anythigyouwant@MailEater.com
7. SpamBox , another unique disposable/temporary email inbox in the format anythigyouwant@spambox.us. It also allows you to set the expiration duration
8. GuerillaMail , a very short living (15 min.) disposable/temporary email inbox
9. Jetable , allows you to choose the life span of the temporary Email inbox and also allows you to forward the mail from you temporary inbox to you real Email address.
10. Uhmm...I ran out of links.

I hope those links are a tremendous help to you like they are to me.

Enjoy, Don Salva

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