It is mentally busy here at Shiny Towers largely because half the staff have cleared off on holiday. So rather than the usual weekly rant here's a list of a few things that are getting us all a quiver.

1 Vox - Love it, love it, love it. There will be reviews of the new Six Apart blogging meets social networking software on this site and other places in the Shiny network soon. Suffice to say that invitations to trial the beta version of the service are rarer than entertaining Channel Four progarmmes here at the mo.

2 Windows Live Writer - Alright so I know that there are plenty of other apps that enable you to blog from your desktop without always having to log on all the freaking time. But the WL writer is a cinch to use and I like the facility that enables you to add maps with a click or two, (which might explain the aerial shot of Shiny's London  HQ below.)

3 Fanpop - This is by far the coolest social networking site we have seen. You choose your passion - everything from TV programmes through to sports or shopping, then hang out with fellow obsessives while getting instant updates on news, YouTube vids etc about your passions. Katie discovered the Veronica Mars section two days ago and hasn't been seen since.

4 Ask - Yep, I am talking the search engine site you used to use before Google came along. The US version of Ask is blinding now with a powerful search engine accompanied by loads of whizzy features. I especially like the Goggles feature which give you a snippet of a page when you hover over the link and the cool maps section which can show you how to get from one place to another and offer you turn by turn instructions. The maps section doesn't cover the UK yet but should be coming soon.

5 Nokia N93 - Alright, so I know it is  a beast of handset, but I am totally smitten. The video quality is fantastic, the three mega pixel camera takes top snaps and the way the screen flips round to create a mini laptop style device is genius and ace for web surfing and watching video. It is going back soon and it'll break my heart to see it go.

6 YouTube - Any place which houses Dandy Warhols videos as well as snippets from cult movies like Valley of the Dolls is obviously incredibly cool. But you knew that already.. What you might not know is that Shiny has had the number one spot for its One Minute Video Reviews four times in the last two weeks. Susi, Gemma and Katie now rival Ashlee Simpson and Linda Lohan as the top lust object for mid western US teenage boys.

7 Football - Sod the the World Cup. The Premiership is back. Arsenal have a fab new stadium and Shiny has the best Premiership football blog in the world.