If you’re not comfortable with the command line versions of Ping, Traceroute and other essential network tools, then there’s no shortage of GUI versions which offer a little extra convenience.

EToolz, though, extends this idea a little further. Not only do you get the usual Ping, Trace and DNS options, but it also includes some handy web-related tools, and presents them all in a simple, portable package.

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The phrase two heads are better than one didn't prove true for Research in Motion, which late today pushed aside its co-CEOs and replaced them with a single chief executive. It's a major shakeup that analysts called for more than a year ago. Out: Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. In: Thorsten Heins, who assumes his new responsibilities starting tomorrow. RIM has scheduled an 8 am ET conference call.

The question: Will the new leadership be a head-and-a-half? Lazaridis will serve as Vice Chair and lead RIM board's new Innovation Committee, working closely with Heins. Innovation was something surely missing from the BlackBerry maker under Lazaridis' co-leadership. Balsillie isn't completely out, as he will serve on RIM's board.

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There's a strange concept in marketing that no publicity is really bad. If people talk about you, it broadly raises brand awareness. People eventually forget the bad news but not the brand. Who remembers last year's furor over Apple's onerous publisher subscription terms? That's the eventual outcome from Apple's iBooks Author end-user license agreement, which has shocked many. Simply stated: If you publish ebooks using iBooks Author, no other publisher but Apple can profit. Distribution anywhere else must be for free. The Internet is outraged, even Apple apologists.

For all the negative outpouring -- and there is plenty -- Apple's EULA isn't as outrageous as critics claim -- it's more and less. The licensing agreement enforces Apple proprietary e-publishing file formats. On the less side, Apple's approach isn't far removed from what print publishers do today, and US copyright law likely supersedes Apple's EULA (but not necessarily any separate agreement).

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This has been another busy week for software releases, so it would not be surprising if some gems had escaped your attention. This is exactly why we put together these weekly roundups, bringing you a selection of the best software from the preceding seven days. If you’re a fan of software and trying out the latest and greatest titles, you’re undoubtedly going to be interested in ensuring that you have the latest versions of all your favorite programs installed. Downloadcrew UpdateScanner 2.0.0.1 Beta is a free tool that keeps you informed about when new versions are released so you don’t have to keep checking manually, as well as bringing you special offers, the latest software news and free giveaways.

It has been a surprisingly busy week when it comes to software designed with businesses in mind. As any modern company will be all too aware, having the right tool for the job can make life so much easier, and this is particularly true when it comes to the world of work. Managing a large team of people working on a project can be difficult, but Revolver Office 9.0.0 Preview is here to help make things easier. Bringing email together with project management, employee and resource assignment and much more into a single package, this is the perfect tool for any business looking to stay ahead of the competition.

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Friday afternoon, Google announced the future plans for six of its properties: Google Message Continuity (GMC), Sky Map, Needlebase, Picnik, Social Graph API, and Urchin. The company has determined that each of these products is either redundant, underperforming, or incongruent with Google's overall experience.

Like the retirement of Google Labs six months ago, some of these projects will be merged with others, some will be open sourced, and some will simply be wound down for good.

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An Android developer is looking to provide a home for apps that are otherwise verboten on the Android Market. Independent software engineer Koushik Dutta is in the final stages of developing such an app repository, recent posts on Google+ indicate. He first detailed his plans earlier this month.

Dutta is one of the developers behind CyanogenMod, replacement firmware for Android devices based on the Gingerbread OS. Over one million Android users have already downloaded his firmware with about 8,000 new installs every day. Obviously he has a vested interest in these types of apps, and having an integrated app store will help attract consumers considering rooting their devices. The question now is: does Android need an app store for rooted apps?

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Since buying Galaxy Nexus last month, I haven't paid as much attention to Samsung's stunningly clever "The Next Big Thing is Already Here" advertising campaign that slaps around the iPhone hipster set. There's a new TV commercial that begins with a group of iPhone want-to-haves camped out, literally, by an Apple Store.

"Ah that looks like last year's phone" is the killer line, says a guy rising from his sleeping bag to look at an unboxing video of, presumably, iPhone 4S. Samsung snark already has soured perceptions of iPhone and boosted those of Samsung brands, according to YouGov BrandIndex. The attack ads, which never specifically mention iPhone, marks one of the most iconic marketing campaigns since Apple's "Get a Mac".

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Even with a majority of wireless consumers not even using 4G technology yet, the wireless industry is already looking to next-generation technologies. The International Telecommunications Union this week awarded both LTE-Advanced and WiMAX-Advanced the "official" designation of IMT-Advanced.

The last major update to the standard was in 2000, when the ITU adopted the umbrella standards for 3G. In order to be designated 3G, a service had to provide peak data rates of at least 200Kbps. With IMT-Advanced speeds increase at least one hundred times, says the governing body.

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You’re after a free image editor. You want a powerful one, something that gets compared favorably to the likes of Photoshop. You find Paint.NET and PixBuilder Studio intriguing, but just that little bit lacking. Ultimately, though, when you ask about a powerful, free image editor, you’re going to be pointed towards GIMP.

And that’s where the trouble begins, because while GIMP is undoubtedly the most powerful free image-editing tool there is, it’s also one that puts newcomers off because of its multi-paned floating user interface. But what if you could marry the interface of Photoshop with the power (and free price tag) of GIMP? The good news is, you can, thanks to an open-source, cross-platform program called GIMPshop.

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For you Sherlock Holmes types out there, how would you like a case to crack?

As a software developer I have my own website, and l regularly track my web traffic. I check my web site stats daily. I do analysis of that data to glean everything I possibly can about those who visit my site. So to my surprise, one day recently while checking my web stats I was shocked to see the day's traffic shoot through the roof!

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Managing any sort of business takes times, effort and dedication. In order to ensure that things run as smoothly as possible, whatever your line of work, it is important that you turn to the right tools to help you to keep on top of things. Revolver Office is a powerful project management suite that includes everything you need to keep track of jobs, employees, clients, and everything else that it is involved in the day to day management of your business. The latest preview version includes a raft of powerful features that place you firmly in control of your empire, but more importantly it enables people to work together.

Revolver Office is such a varied and all-encompassing tool that its list of features is a lengthy one. Available for both Mac and Windows, the software allows for very easy collaboration on a project and ensures that everyone involved has access to the tools and information they need. For some projects the built-in address book can be used to store details of every one working on the project as well as the contact information for contractors and suppliers. A team calendar is available so you can easily check to see when everyone is free for a meeting and you can ensure that no one employee is being given too heavy a workload.

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Google shares took a beating overnight, following fourth-quarter's earnings report. The information and search giant was down 7.7 percent in pre-market trading -- $49.25 to $590.32. Still, that's an improvement. Yesterday, Google closed at $639.57, and shares fell more than 10 percent during after-market trading. Google opened at $590.90 this morning and fell to $588.03 within the first 30 minutes of trading -- that's $51.54 off yesterday's close. By 10:17 am ET, Google shares closed on their pre-market decrease -- 7.78 percent, or down $49.77 per share.

Google's problem is one more of expectation than performance. Wall Street expected strong ad revenues for the holiday quarter, particularly with increase in online sales and therefore supporting search-related advertising. But ad prices fell instead, overshadowing other metrics. While paid clicks rose 34 percent, the amount paid for them fell by 8 percent, contributing to Google missing Wall Street consensus -- that despite solid revenue and earnings growth.

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I'm a second year doctoral student, and I've got some concern about something I heard today that I want to share with any forward-thinking university president, but also with you.

Many schools will be looking at a new e-textbook platform from Apple that will have long-lasting impact on curriculum, students, teaching and cost of education.

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"The Site is under maintenance. Please expect it to be back shortly". That's the message I found at Universal Music moments ago. The US Justice Department site isn't accessible at all. You can thank hacktavist group Anonymous, which claims responsibility for these and other SOPA blackouts today in response to the Feds shutting down Megaupload.

There's a certain irony to this evening's attacks. Yesterday, tens of thousands of sites supported a voluntary blackout protesting two bills snaking through Congress -- Stop Online Piracy (SOPA) and PIPA (PROTECT IP Act). Anonymous' attacks, presumably denial-of-service, blacked out sites that either support the legislation or would be responsible for enforcing it. We've gone from voluntary blackout protests yesterday to involuntary ones today. As I write, Recording Industry Association of America is down, too.

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Apple’s iPad has fairly quickly become a great tool for the workplace and in education and the company’s latest bid to revolutionize the market is with ebooks. Ebooks themselves are nothing new, but the existence of touchscreen devices such as the iPad means that the opportunities available to readers through interactive multimedia book are now greater than ever. iBooks Author is a free Mac app that can be used by anyone to create iPad friendly ebooks that can include a variety of widgets such as photo galleries, videos, KeyNote presentations, 3D objects and more.

This is more than just an ebook creation tool for Mac, it is a complete solution that enables you to work through the entire process from initial concept to design and layout before ultimately publishing and making available online. To help get you started, there are a number of different templates to choose from and then it is just a matter of dropping material in place and performing any customizations you want.

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