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One of the motives behind blogs is earning some extra cash from ads. To add Google AdSense to a Wordpress blog is a breeze. First sign up for a an account with AdSense. It may take a few days for the account to get opened. In the mean time you can download the AdSense-Deluxe Wordpress plug-in. I have not tested it, but I am sure that the plug-in should work for most affiliate programs.
Google Operating System has a good post on “10 Great Uses For Google Desktop” (thanks to Lifehacker). I have been using it for some time and it has it’s plusses and minuses. Particularly it is a bit clumsy and can use up a lot of resources. However, I find the browser caching and file “versioning” (caching really) features very useful. Simply launch Desktop Search and find the Web page or document that you would like to see history on and then click on the cached link. It does not replace a real versioning application, but is fantastic for desktop purposes. For that reason (and the hope that upgrades will have more magical features) I will keep on using it.
Google Desktop
Google Analytics is arguably the best free Web analytics tool available. It’s free and they have now made it available to everyone. To sign up go to google.com/analytics and login using your Google account info. After creating an account you will be guided through the steps to set up your first profile. Copy the tracking code or keep it close for the next step.
There are two ways to add the tracking code to your WordPress blog: 1) by installing a plug-in and 2) by editing the theme source pages directly.
Install a Google Analytics plug-in.
There are a number of plug-ins available for free and they are mostly similar and very easy to use, including:
Edit your WordPress pages directly.
This is probably the no so smart option, but since I did it I might as well mention it. You will need to edit the source of your theme pages. Login to your WordPress admin tool, select the Presentation tab and then Theme Editor. The Header (header.php) or Footer (footer.php) is normally the best place to insert your Google Analytics code, but make sure that you insert it after the <body> tag in the Header or before the </body> tag in the Footer, depending on which file you inserted the code. After saving the file, preview your blog and view the page source to verify that the tracking code has been inserted. Google Analytics can can lag a few hours to show traffic.
The popular Sudoku game is avaliable at SourceForge in portable form so it requires no installation.
Sudoku Portable is a an addictive puzzle game originally created in France over 100 years ago. It features a 9×9 grid containing 9 3×3 grids. Within this you arrange the numbers 1 through 9. But, each number can only appear once in each of the 9 3×3 grids. And it can only appear once in each row and on each column. It’s a simple concept, but it can get addictive quickly.
Sudoku Portable - portableapps.com
TrueCrypt is an open source application that allows you to create encrypted virtual drives on your computer. That way you can secure files on your computer by putting them in an encrypted space that will only be accessible by mounting the virtual drive which is password protected.
The TrueCrypt file can be emailed, backed up and FTP’ed and remain secure because of the strong encryption. It can also be run from a USB flash drive. The virtual disks can be mounted on any operating system.
Once a volume is mounted, files that are written to the virtual disk are encrypted on the fly. Performance is excellent and you hardly notice anything - except if you choose some ridiculous encryption algorithm.
You can create almost any size virtual drive and chose from most popular file systems, e.g. FAT32 and NTFS.
Make sure to save your password: There is no way to recover a lost password!
- Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
- Encrypts an entire hard disk partition or a device.
- Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
It’s very simple:
The drive is available to you and anyone else connected to the computer for as long as it is mounted. See the Beginner’s Tutorial for more information.
If you haven’t heard of Sysinternals you better visit their Website while it’s still live (and free) because they have been purchased by Microsoft. Sysinternals has a huge list of free Windows utilities that are very useful for system administrators.
The Sysinternals web site provides you with advanced utilities, technical information, and source code related to Windows internals that you won’t find anywhere else.
Some of my favorite utilities are:
I frequently get asked how to encrypt files using Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). 
There is very good documentation available on the Web, but here is my condensed version.
Public key cryptography uses a pair of keys for encryption: a public key, which encrypts data, and a corresponding private, or secret key for decryption. Your public key can be distributed to anyone and does not pose a risk. Your private key needs to be kept safe and not given to anyone. Anyone with a copy of your public key can encrypt information that only you can decrypt using your private key.
I use free software called GnuPG (http://gnupg.org/). Once you have the software installed you need to create a public/private key pair and then you need to exchange public keys with the party you wish to exchange encrypted files.
Here’s what you need to do:
1. Download and follow the instructions to install the software:
http://www.gnupg.org/(en)/download/index.html (look for the Binaries section to make your life easier)
2. Generate a public/private key pair: Go to your GnuPG install directory and type in gpg --gen-key. The default settings are usually good (DSA (1024 bit) and Elgamal (2048 bit)/never expires).
Google is pushing browser capabilities to the limit again by launching Google Spreadsheets - a Web 2.0 implementation. The sharing capabilities are really 
neat and allows you to share spreadsheets, similar to sharing Google Calendars. You can upload Excel spreadsheets as well. Google is not the first and at this time not the best on-line spreadsheet service: It is still in alpha (Google Labs) and by invitation only, but it’s really good to get a player like Google in the game because it will certainly help put pressure on Microsoft to reconsider it’s MS Office licensing strategy.
Some other on-line spreadsheet service providers:
I recently discovered the IE Developer Toolbar and it got me searching for some more hidden free tools available from Microsoft. Some of them have been around for a while, but they are still useful utilities for Web developers.
Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool
It is not a full featured anti-virus application, but it is a quick scanner for the most popular malicious software. It is Microsoft’s version of the McAfee Stinger.
The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool checks computers running Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software—including Blaster, Sasser, and Mydoom—and helps remove any infection found.
Windows Defender
A very good anti-spyware tool that has received very good reviews. It has a simple interface and is very unobtrusive.
Windows Defender (Beta 2) is a free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software. It features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it’s detected, and a new streamlined interface that minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive.
Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar
The Internet Explorer Developer Toolbar is similar to Firefox’s Web Developer extension (not quite as good). It allows you to do several things like outline tables, table cells, images, or selected tags and validate HTML and style sheets. It includes something similar to Firefox’s live bookmarks (RSS Web feed links).
Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools
Although the title suggests that the tools are for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP is also supported. The toolkit includes useful little tools like Tail (Unix like tail for Windows).
The Microsoft® Windows® Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools are a set of tools to help administrators streamline management tasks such as troubleshooting operating system issues, managing Active Directory®, configuring networking and security features, and automating application deployment.
Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Resource Kit Tools
SelfSSL is a tool for generating ssl certificates, which is very useful for developers trying to develop secure sites. The Log Parser is a powerful command line tool for querying log files database style.
The IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools can help you administer, secure, and manage IIS. Use them to query log files, deploy SSL certificates, employ custom site authentication, verify permissions, troubleshoot problems, migrate your server, run stress tests, and more.
Another useful free virus scanner is McAfee Stinger. It does not have fancy features like on access scanning and scheduling, but is great for quickly scanning a possibly infected PC.
Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimizations.
Stinger does not require installation so it’s completely mobile. Updates are made by downloading the latest executable.
Virtualization is becoming more real and if you ever wanted to try Linux, but have been too afraid to install it or give up your Windows or Mac, the VMware Player will allow you to run most operating systems virtualized. The VMware Player is a free application that allows you to run virtual appliances. It is a perfect sandbox solution: test and install applications without messing up your desktop. VMWare Virtual Server and Microsoft Virtual PC allow you to create and run virtual desktops or servers on your desktop. The VMware Player is a light weight virtualization server without the overhead of a full fledged virtual server that has system management features.
A virtual appliance is a fully pre-installed and pre-configured application and operating system environment that runs on any standard x86 desktop or server in a self-contained, isolated environment known as a virtual machine. Virtual appliances provide an evolutionary step in the software distribution model.
There is a substantial list of free virtual appliances available on the VMware site, including operating systems like:
and applications like:
All you need to do is to download install the VMware Player (it’s a 28MB download). During installation it will ask if you want to disable autorun on your cdrom and also if you want to install the Google Deskbar, which you typically would want to disable by unchecking the checkboxes. To use the player you can either download pre-built virtual appliances or you can create your own. To use a pre-built appliance, simply download the one you want and open it with the VMware Player. You can also create your own virtual appliances, e.g. a virtual Windows XP desktop, by installing the VMware Virtual Server. It is currently in beta, but it is free for home use and it works just fine for creating virtual appliances. Note that you will need OS and application licenses (as usual) for the products that you install on the VM instance (e.g. Win XP).
So for me, as a new-cool-app-I-have-to-try-it type of person, this is awesome. It’s like having unlimited sandboxes at hand 
VMware
Microsoft Virtual PC (MS Virtual Server 2005 R2 Enterprise Edition is currently available for free)
AVG Free for Windows is a free anti-virus protection tool developed by Grisoft for home use. AVG Free offers all the regular anti-virus features including on-access scanning, auto updates and scheduling. AVG is a great alternative to Clamwin (previously mentioned here) which does not do on-access scanning, however, it has more licensing restrictions (i.e can only use it for home).
GRISOFT Free Advisor: Get AVG for your home PC virus protection
ClamWin is a Free Antivirus for Microsoft Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/2003. It offers a neat, easy to use interface without clutter and complexity. It can be used as a standalone anti-virus scanner or can be integrated into IE and Outlook. It does not do on-access scanning (which is great for performance), however, it does offer scheduling. The software is completely free so you can use it at home, at work and on your Web servers at home :). I have been using Clamwin for a couple of months now and am very happy with it.