Tools & Toys Ten

Ten Things for You to Work or Play With

Clue goes viral: solve a murder by playing the online advergame Apartment 13.

Try out Chrysanth NETime Author free for 14 days, and see what you think of "a professional writing and thought organizer that helps you to increase your productivity and complete your writing tasks in time." The designer also says: "The software does its job in such an intuitive way as to not come in the way of your creative thought processes. Instead, you will marvel at how its nifty little features actually make your task so much easier!" (OS: Windows 95/ 98/ ME/ 2000/ XP)

Cooking Light pretty much covers soup to nuts with their free online Ultimate Summer Cookbook

Custom design and create your own generator over at GeneratorLand.com (via Gerard over at The Generator Blog. I couldn't get this to work for me, but I think it's butting heads with my browser.)

Fun and kind of addicting, an online group advergame by Post-It UK: Draw-it.

For some more fun, History.com also has a very cool online advergame, Expedition, suitable for any adventurous spirit. The thing I like about this one is the journal you read while you play. I keep killing off all my porters, though.

Entrepeneur magazine has a free e-book, I Hate My Web Site! 10 Ways to Improve Your Web Site, but it looks like you have to give them a bit of survey-type info to get it (those of us who refuse to have web sites won't snicker, we promise.)

One of you lurkers (you know who you are) sent in a tip for QuasarDragon, a blog tracking and linking to free SF online (not mine, naturally.)

WritersFocus was designed to "create a world on your Notebook just for writing, without interruption. Without Distraction" (OS: Windows XP and Vista; for you Mac users, try Focus Writer.

The Writing Jungle has posted a free-to-download and/or print e-book version of their Writing for Children Blog Fest, with lots of articles, tips and more.