The "Creating Passionate Users" Blog is one of the best sources for insightfull essays on user interface design and on building software for users.  Right up there with Joel Spolsky in terms of good writing and solid principles.

Today's essay is very thought provoking and somewhat counter-intuitive, and talks about the nature of the demo you should show off of your work-in-progress..

When we show a work-in-progress (like an alpha release) to the public, press, a client, or boss... we're setting their expectations. And we can do it one of three ways: dazzle them with a polished mock-up, show them something that matches the reality of the project status, or stress them out by showing almost nothing and asking them to take it "on faith" that you're on track.

The bottom line:
How 'done' something looks should match how 'done' something is.

Read the article..

Cybernet is only a year old, and they've been producing some serious content at breakneck speed.  Let's hope for our sakes that they keep it up!

CyberNet Technology News was started on December 4, 2005 with a goal of sharing the latest technology news with our readers who are just as passionate about technology as we are. You will find this weblog filled with a variety of information ranging from the coolest hardware to beta software. The world of technology and all that encompasses it is always changing and doing so very rapidly. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the latest. We publish articles daily and frequently about current relevant technology news. CyberNet News is written and edited by Ryan and Ashley Wagner.

http://tech.cybernetnews.com/

Read their latest article: The Best Bookmarklets for your Browser!

If you didn't get what you wanted over the holidays, you might consider treating yourself to "the world's most advanced mouse."

... Best General Mouse: Logitech MX Revolution
Logitech unloaded a bombshell when it released "the world's most advanced mouse." We looked past the marketing jargon, gave it a long test drive, and concluded that Logitech was right, and this is by far the best mouse out there, period. Why? It's almost too hard to describe in few words.

Aside from its laser sensor, range of up to 30 feet, and longer battery time than most cordless mice, the MX has four distinct, new features that could very well change how we navigate through files and programs. At the top of the list of innovations is the huge upgrade to the scroll wheel, which has two modes of operation—line-by-line scrolling and free-spin scrolling. Free-spin scrolling allows the scroll wheel to become a flywheel capable of traversing thousands of spreadsheet rows or hundreds of word-processing pages with a single flick. Other advanced new features are the document quick flip wheel (or button), one-button search, and a zoom slider. All of these buttons could add up to an overload of options, but with Logitech's software, SetPoint, customizing them to fit your needs is a snap.

The MX also has a very unique and aggressive shape that allows your thumb to nestle inside the mouse, while your fingers comfortably grip the mouse. In this thumb groove you can access the document flip wheel, as well as access two buttons above...

http://www.extremete...,1697,2076487,00.asp

Today VicMan Software announces that all graphics software developed by our company goes free. We are happy to let you enjoy all the benefits of our software for free - as a gift for Christmas and New Year. Edit your holiday photos, show them off in amazing 3D galleries, enhance your creativity with our software, which is free from now on!

We invite you to experience the advantages of famous VCW VicMan’s Photo Editor Pro, easy-to-use Photo Toolkit, superb My Pictures 3D Album and other products free of charge and encourage you to download and install their fully functional versions. All products listed at our web site www.vicman.net are pure freeware, contain no ads and may be used without limitations. 

VicMan team re-focused efforts around web projects, and the first of them is considered to be announced shortly. Our registered users get a special bonus – the free accounts for the web services mentioned above.
...

A partial list of software on the site includes: Photo Toolkit, My Pictures 3D Screensaver, My Pictures 3D Album, Red Eye Remover Pro. Mobile Photo Enhancer, VicMan's Photo Editor, Color Correction Wizard, Cartoonist, Red Eye Remover, Jpeg Enhancer, Light Artist

http://vicman.net

As I am preparing the 2006 end-of-year wrap up, I realized we don't have a standalone post celebrating one of the best freeware discovery sites, FreewareWorld Team..

http://www.all4you.dk/FreewareWorld

This is *extremely* well done.

http://www.pixeljam....om/gammabros/online/