Some of you may be aware of my software/tech site, Macatron.com. I recently moved it to be a subdivision of SpencerTweedy.com. There you can find tons of tech nuggets.. well, here. This should explain it:

This site is a division of SpencerTweedy.com. Its a tech/mac/computers/everything-gadgetry information resource. Just want to be informed? Check on this site regularly and you’ll be leaving every time with new nuggets of tech-brainage. Thanks for visiting.

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Technology site MakeUseOf.com can be described as many things, but most importantly its an outlet for “geeky fun” (cool sites, hacks, tips, etc.). Editor In Chief, Aibek Esengulov, wrote an article about the birth of MakeUseOf.com. Here it is:

“Well, basically I got the idea while I was doing my first year of masters in Denmark. After hardcore bachelors in computational science doing masters program in business was like a chill out. Easy lectures and lots of free time. Back then I used to share an apartment with 2 of my friends, none of whom had much interest in web. When it comes to me, for the last 5-6 years most of my daily life was centered around it. On top of that web was booming, so called web2.0 era’s first celebrities (Digg, Flickr, Delicious, etc.) were just starting to accumulate all the Buzz.

It was exciting moments. I would frequently start a sentence with something like; ‘Today I found out about new service that …’ and my girlfriend would be like; ‘Ok! it’s started…’ . I had lots of energy but nowhere I could apply it on. Then around march 2006, I heard about Amazon’s new bestseller ‘Naked Conversations’, everyone was talking about it, so I read it as well. Once I was done with it, I was determined to start a blog and maybe after a month or two I went ahead and registered makeuseof.com. And somewhere around July, I talked to Kaly (see below) and asked him if he would be interested to join me. As always, he was up for it. That’s mainly it.

As about makeuseof.com, it’s very different from most of the other tech blogs/websites. It’s unique and original in what it reviewes and how it does it. On makeuseof we don’t write about any new web applications that comes around but only about ones that are COOL, FREE and USEFUL. It may be a subjective judgement but that’s how it is. We also try to keep it simple and all accessible, so that even newbies who never used such sites like Digg and Delicious or ones who think AJAX is famous washing powder brand can easily find their way around.

Period”

Nate Silver, former analyst for Baseball Prospectus, has begun an innovative electoral projection site, called FiveThirtyEight.com. You might be wondering, why five-thirty-eight? Well, as he explains in the site’s FAQ, 538 is the number of electors in the electoral college. The mission of the site, as described by Nate Silver himself, is most broadly, to accumulate and analyze polling and political data in a way that is informed, accurate and attractive, and most narrowly, to give you the best possible objective assessment of the likely outcome of upcoming elections. Silver’s site provides a gripping display of combined polls from around the media. It includes an immense amount of information, shown upon numerous types of graphs, meters, and such. The data displayed on the site is generally updated once a day, in order to refresh the polls. Silver claims the projections on his site are not biased toward his preferred candidate, Barack Obama, but also has said his non-partisan approach to the polling is for you to judge. An interesting tidbit I stumbled upon on the site was when Silver was asked “Why do you run ads for [insert name of candidate you don't like]?” he responded, “I believe in the right of free speech. Blogging is one form of free speech, and political advertising is another. If I believe an ad is particularly misleading, I will seek to block it, but otherwise, this site takes a non-partisan position toward which advertising it accepts. Ads for John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have each appeared on this website at various times.”

So please, check out FiveThirtyEight.com and leave a comment here to say what you think!

“Such tumultuous times. And in the spirit of giveaways that seem to be sweeping the nation, we’ve got something free for you. No it’s not a pile of cash (sorry) but rather an audio postcard of sorts from a summer’s night in Oregon with our friends the Fleet Foxes & a lovely Bob Dylan tune. All we ask is you check the “I pledge to vote in the 2008 Election” button below. If you can spare it, we also encourage you to consider a donation to Feeding America . (and please feel free to pass this link along to friends, family members, etc.).” - WilcoWorld.net

Click here to go to the page and pledge to vote to receive their download!

SmugMug is a great utility to share your photos online. My uncle has used it to create a family tree/photo album and it proved to be the perfect fit for the job. There are no ads or spam on their site, and the galleries are really sleek and easy to make. Its been reviewed before by the Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times. If you ever need to make an online photo gallery, I think I’d use SmugMug :D.

What do you think about SmugMug?