I have used the holidays to install a new version of Windows Live Writer since the official version - no beta -  is available as download since the beginning of November and is named Windows Live Writer 2008.

After installing I searched for useful resources which would make blogging easier and I came across three websites containing useful tips and Plug-ins.

• Writer Zone
• LiveWriterBlog
  a German website with many information's and a very useful Plug-In overview
• Windows Live Gallery
  The official Plug-in overview provided by Microsoft. If your Gallery seems to be empty you possibly do use German as a standard language - more information's are provided in the LiveWriterBlog.

Currently I have added the following Plug-ins:

• Insert Code Snippet
  Download
  
• Insert Event
  Download
  
• Insert Amazon Link
  German Description - Download
  
• Insert Video
  German Description - Download
  
• Insert Polaroid
  German Description - Download

There are only two reasons why I have avoided Windows Live Writer so far

1. it is still beta...
2. it does not have a kind of "Insert Code" like my online form

Today I discovered that Omar Shahine has build a "Insert Code for Windows Live Writer" - and kindly also hast posted it on Windows Live Gallery.

Thanks Omar!

I just came across Ms. Dewey, which in my personal opinion is a very interesting effort to make a search engine more "personal" and could also help to tear down barriers for target groups with low affinity for the Internet...

The search engine technology used behind the scenes is Windows Live like mentioned here in the Windows Live Blog.
As a suggestion:
the result set could be arranged in a larger area to enhance the lucidity....

But this is a nice try I think...

Microsoft, listen! With Lena Gerke being the "german face" for Windows Live I would expect - and also highly recommend.. - a localized version...

Kay Giza points to the Soapbox beta and also gives a link to join the beta.

But not only that, Kay also gives an example how to view a soapbox video in your website or your weblog like this one...:

<p align="center">
<embed name="msn_soapbox" pluginspage="http://macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" align="center" src="http://images.soapbox.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf" width="412" height="362" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="c=v&amp;v=55feb6d9-1691-4643-845e-c41d0f995816" wmode="transparent" quality="high" border="0" hspace="10" vspace="10" /><br />
<font face="Verdana" size="2">
<a title="Brotherhood of DPE" href="http://soapbox.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=55feb6d9-1691-4643-845e-c41d0f995816" target="_blank">
Video: Brotherhood of DPE</a></font></p>

And I am not astonished that Kay once again used the fabulous Brotherhood Of DPE video to show the power of Soapbox... Lean back and enjoy [sorry, german only...]

Video: Brotherhood of DPE