WordPress is an open source blog publishing platform that is also widely used as a content management system (CMS). As of September 2009, WordPress is used by 62.8 million websites in the US and 202 million websites worldwide. By itself, WordPress is a very powerful and flexible system that is easy to get up and running and to maintain. But when combined with the available WordPress plugins, it becomes an unstoppable powerhouse of a platform.

In this article, I’ll discuss 18 plugins that I consider essential for use on any personal blog. These plugins are in use on this site, so you know I really believe in their power. Ready? Here we go: [continue reading…]

Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 7 was released on Thursday October 22, 2009. The buzz around the Internet and traditional media outlets has been overwhelmingly positive, even a week later. Links: Windows 7 reviews still shine one week in, Review: Windows 7 Is Microsoft’s Best Yet, Windows 7 review: like Vista, but good.

As a user who has installed the public beta and the release candidate, I can honestly say that this is the best version of Windows that Microsoft has built and released to date. And you would expect that to be the case, particularly after the disaster that was Windows Vista. [continue reading…]