The Squadcast - Download Squad

And we're back! After a brief hiatus (sorry about that!), the Squadcast returns, this time with tips on how to trick out your WordPress install to make it as "bloggerrific" as possible. Grant and Christina catch up with uber-WordPresser Alex King to talk about why so many bloggers swear by WordPress.

Links

The Five:
All in One SEO Pack - A great way to optimize your blog for listing in all th major search engines; available for WordPress installs version 1.5 and up.
WP OpenID - Easily add OpenID support to your blog with this great plugin; available for WordPress 2.2 and up.
Akismet - Comment spam got you down? Akismet comes to the rescue. Akismet not quite meeting your needs? Give Defensio a try; Defensio requires WordPress 2.1 and up
FlickrRSS - Easily show off your Flickr stream in your WordPress blog.
WP Cache - Handle the Digg effect or other traffic spikes with WP Cache. Also check out the newer fork project, WP Super Cache.

Thanks again to Alex King -- be sure to check out Alex's company, Crowd Favorite, which specializes in WordPress development

Downloads

mp4 (iPod, iPhone, Nano, AppleTV, Quicktime, VLC)

Subscribe
RSS podcast

Subscribe to The Squadcast by Email

iTunes (coming soon!)

Contact & Socialize

The Squadcast Facebook group

Christina's Twitter

Grant's Twitter

The Squadcast 10 - Searching for the future

Can you believe the Squadcast is now on episode 10? Well, we're excited anyway. This week Grant and Christina discuss the future of web search, specifically social search. Christina chats up Jason Calacanis from Mahalo to get the inside scoop on social search and its benefits over traditional methods.

The Squadcast 09 - Making Video for the Web

Web video is hot and getting easier and easier to use. Grant and Christina talk to Vimeo's dalas verdugo about techniques to make web video look its best and garner attention.

The Squadcast 08 - So You Think You Can Podcast

Podcasting might not be easy, but it isn't as hard as you think. Christina and Grant catch up with Amber Rhea to talk about the benefits of starting your own podcast.

The Squadcast 07 - Switching to Linux

Kristin Shoemaker joins Grant and Christina to talk about what it takes to switch to Linux and leave Windows behind, for good. Also, we take a look at our five favorite Linux applications for people who've recently switched. Direct replacements for a few of those must-have apps on Windows.

The Squadcast 06 - Email: Take back your life!

Christina and Grant talk with Matthew Cornell about how to take your life back from the crushing grip of an overflowing inbox. Also, The Squadcast counts down its five favorite eMail applications and helpful tricks.

The Squadcast 05 - Security Starts at Home

The Squadcast talks to security researcher Ben Feinstein of SecureWorks about staying safe online. Grant and Christina count down the five best free security related downloads for your computer.

The Squadcast 04 - Social Networking

The Squadcast looks at social networking with guest Jason Evangelho of Insomnia Radio. Also, Grant and Christina count up Download Squad's favorite and least favorite Facebook applications.

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters