Dan Fernandez has an interesting post up on his blog – it’s about how Microsoft product names are supposed to be spelled. (OK, maybe it’s only interesting to grammar-obsessed folks…but it’s still kind of fun.) Anyway, he says he’s seen everyone from Microsoft employees to press get the spellings of…

Granola is a new software application that helps you reduce the energy waste that coming from using a computer and leaving it on all the time. The program, smaller than a single MP3, is a “set it and forget it” type of application that automatically optimizes system settings without compromising…

You know, we love video games as much as the next guy, but really, a badge for playing them? That’s right. The Boy Scouts of America (the Tiger Cubs, Cub Scouts, and Webelos Scout, that is) have officially introduced a new badge for video games. OK, it’s not actually a “merit” badge per se, like…

At the Next Web Conference in Amsterdam, the Windows Live Messenger team announced “Messenger Connect,” a brand-new collection of APIs for Windows Live Messenger. The Messenger Connect API actually ties together APIs that have been around for awhile, including the Windows Live ID, Contacts API,…

IMDB, aka The Internet Movie Database, is now available on Windows Mobile Phones thanks to an independent, 3rd-party developer who posts under the name of Blade0rz on the XDA-Developers forums. Interestingly enough, he created the app by parsing the iPhone IMDB API for information instead of the…

Microsoft has signed on to contribute to the open-source project Joomla!, a content management system for publishing to the web and intranet sites. According to a post on the Joomla! blog, Microsoft has now signed the JCA (Joomla! Contributor Agreement) and has contributed code that will be…

I just came across a handy web app for sharing big files with friends without having to first upload them to one of those file server type websites. (You know, the kind that barrages you with ads when you go to download the file? Upgrade! Premium features! Etc.) Instead, iSendr (Beta) is a direct…

There’s a new Bing slide show that focuses on the Bing Team’s favorite way to save money while planning for and taking vacations this summer. Included in the show are tips on cruises (very economical, with everything included on many lines), avoiding excess baggage fees on airplanes, and cheap ways…

If you’ve ever had a desperate need to share your thoughts on Twitter while at work but are stuck behind a firewall or web filter where Twitter.com is blocked or your web access is tracked, you’ll like this Twitter application I just came across: TweetByMail. Once you register an account with the…

Microsoft just announced the pricing for the new KIN phones, the KIN ONE and KIN TWO, which are now known to be $49.99 and $99.99 respectively. Designed for the highly social “tween” and teen set, these phones will be available on Verizon Wireless here in the U.S. and will require a Nationwide Talk…