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Adobe’s Flex can be a fantastic tool for visualizing data. In this first installment of a three-part series, Toby gives us some general theory on data visualization, and shows us how to extract meaningful data from an application and import it into Flex.

Want to create a customized blog, without having to deal with the complexity of WordPress? Introducing Jekyll, a web site creation engine with a sophisticated templating system that’s dead simple to use. In this article, Simon Pascal Klein shows you how to use Jekyll to create a feature-rich blog quickly and easily.

If you've been using GrandCentral to consolidate your phones since before Google bought the service and turned it into Google Voice, you could still log into your GC account to listen to old messages even after you were upgraded to Voice. If you want to save those old messages for posterity, you'd better do it soon: GrandCentral's web site is officially closing its doors on December 31.

We explained that you don't need to pay for Windows security last week, but today we're taking a closer look at how to protect yourself from drive-by malware that can infect your computer by simply visiting the wrong web site.

Naturally, everything in the last article still applies (you should definitely give it a read through if you haven't already). Most importantly, make sure you always keep your PC updated; it's the biggest key to protecting yourself against drive-by malware. If you're already good on that front, here are some of the finer adjustments you can make to keep yourself safe.

What Is Drive-By Malware?

Drive-by malware infects your computer by exploiting a vulnerability in your browser, browser plug-ins, or by opening a file in a hidden frame and exploiting a security hole in an application, like Adobe Reader. Think you only browse safe sites? They've also been known to hijack advertisements on popular sites. We'll take a quick tour through some of the best ways to protect yourself.

Imfy.us is a URL shortening service for people who want to ensure the users clicking through their shortened URLs are actually people and not web-indexing search engine crawlers.

Submit a URL to Imfy.us and the resultant shortened URL will direct to a landing page at Imfy.us. On the landing page you'll find a preview of the site and a CAPTCHA system—the source of Imfy's anti-crawler abilities.

Want to take the CAPTCHA idea one step further and actually secure your shortened URL with a password and not just against crawlers? Check out previously reviewed dwarfURL and HideLinks for two URL shortening services that allow you to add a password requirement to your shortened URL.

Have a favorite URL shortener? Know of a URL shortener with a trick or two up its sleeve? Let's hear about it in the comments.

Last week Google unveiled a first glimpse at Chrome OS, their web-only operating system slated for wide release in 2010. So now that you've had time to sit with the idea, we want to know what you think of it.

We've seen plenty of "this will never work" press since the Chrome OS event last week, but we actually like a lot of the ideas behind Chrome OS, and if nothing else, we love seeing more variety and competition in viable consumer operating systems. But hey, that's us. How about you:

What Do You Think About Chrome OS?(online surveys)

I went pretty broad with the poll options above for a very simple measurement of how our readers feel about Chrome OS, but let's hear more specifics fueling your thoughts in the comments.

Weekends are a combination of playing catch up from things not accomplished in the previous 5 days, interjected with bits of free time and family obligations. Unclutter one thing a day to leave your weekends wide open for anything you please.

Photo by Mr. Toaster

Money-wise weblog The Simple Dollar shares a few specifics from the book Unclutter Your Life in One Week, which suggests steps you should take each day of the week to tackle your sanity, clutter, and daily organizational-frustrations that can leave your weekends full of anything but fun. Each day brings a new element of your daily routine to the forefront, allowing you to identify and trim down the excess baggage. For example, here's what the author suggests for a Monday:

Monday is the best day of the week to begin establishing new routines. It's also a good day to tackle the "firsts" — the elements of clutter you face first throughout your day.

For example, many of us face a cluttered closet in the morning when we wake up, so a good first step is to get your clothes in order. If you have more clothes than you can adequately fit in your dresser and closet, you need to eliminate some.

At work, the first thing we often see is our desk or workspace. Figure out a place for all of the stuff that you see – and don't be surprised if the space for many of those things is the trash can.

The author suggests tackling different things for Tuesday-Friday, all of which should leave your weekend for other things besides work, or procrastinated obligations. Hit up The Simple Dollar for the rest of the daily tasks and see if it helps keep your holiday busy season a little more organized.