Join Julie Conover and Mark Jennings as they attempt to saddle their horse on a working ranch in Montana.

Google's Apps suite for domain owners and businesses has finally received some star treatment with the launch of the Apps Marketplace. Which Google-friendly apps are free, worth the cost, and entirely useful? These 10 are definitely worth a look.

10. Box.net

Box.net is one of many online file storage sites, but from its launch, it's been focused on adding features that business and enterprise customers can use. Attached to your own web storage, Box.net's features shine through. The service has many webapp partners that can fax, print, secure, edit, and otherwise handle all kinds of documents, and Box.net itself can integrate into many enterprise software packages, set up conference calls and web conferences centered around documents, and otherwise link together the files you've stashed away and the people who work on them. [Apps Marketplace link] Price: free for Box.net business users, $15 per user per month for new users.

9. SurveyMonkey

It's an established tool that a lot of organizations are using to collect data on all kinds of topics. Better still, crafting a poll or questionnaire in SurveyMonkey will save you a good deal of time over crafting a spreadsheet and form in Google Docs and manipulating the results. If you needed more incentive, the "Basic" plan is free for groups looking to just do a little smart polling, and "Basic" covers a whole lot of data-swapping goodness. [Apps Marketplace link] Price: Free for basic version, $16.67 and up for advanced features.

8. SlideRocket

Google's own Presentation app is one of those "Hey, it works" tools, and if you needed to write something up in a pinch, it's there. SlideRocket, on the other hand, is a surprisingly full-featured presentation editor that doesn't require a Microsoft license and can be pulled up wherever you or your team have web access. Like the Aviary photo editor (below), installing SlideRocket in your Apps space puts everyone on the same page and centralizes where those presentations get stored. Alas, SlideRocket doesn't sing in every browser—it doesn't play well with Firefox in Snow Leopard, for instance—but when it works, it's pretty wow-inducing. [Apps Marketplace link] Price: 30-day free trial, $12 per user per month after that; Education and "lite" versions available.

7. Google Short Links

Why would you use Google's own link shortening service for your Apps account over popular, free options like bit.ly or is.gd? Primarily because the links you can provide clients and partners—like GlobexIndustries.com/B2B—are more stately, feel safer, and haven't already been snapped up on the major shortening servers. It also helps that you can make them far easier to remember than a random assortment of letters and numbers. It's free, too, and that's a pretty good selling point. [Apps Marketplace link] Price: Free.

6. Shared Contacts

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/r06XewlGbKc&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); It's unfortunate that Google's contacts manager doesn't make it easy for people and businesses to create and update common sets of contacts—perhaps they consider that the stuff of big enterprise packages. Their loss is Shared Contacts' gain. With the package installed, Apps domains can create new groups of contacts, set their read/write permissions, and have them show up for everybody in that group. It's not a one-click process, it would appear, but once Shared Contacts is installed, you'll likely never have to see or send email with "Phone #?" in the subject line. Apps Marketplace link] Price: free trial available, $50 per year after that.

5. Gbridge

A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a great thing to have. Having it free, and connected through your Google Apps' chat service to your other computers and project partners, is way better. By hooking up Gbridge, on-the-go Apps users have access to shared files, backup through their own computers or those of others in their group, screen sharing and control for tech support or demonstration, and the kind of basic VPN access that can be oh so helpful. [Apps Marketplace link] Price: Free.

4. TripIt

Traveling is taxing enough on its own. Frantic text messages asking "When do u land?" and the like should be unnecessary. Implementing TripIt for your site or group will win you fans, because it's like having an employee whose only job is to organize trips and keep everybody in the loop. As an individual app, TripIt does a great job turning travel confirmation emails into organized, mapped, linked-up itineraries. Installed on Apps, it enables Ted to see when Lisa is leaving and arriving, tells Bob when to pick her up at the airport and provides directions, and lets everyone know if the flight is delayed. [Apps Marketplace link] Price: free.

3. ManyMoon or Zoho Projects

For very small businesses, personal sites, and less goal-oriented groups, the free, socially adept ManyMoon may fit the bill for your project management needs. Group task management, tagging, micro-blogging for teams, and time tracking come with the free price tag. For larger organizations and those with a real need for deadlines, nested goals and tasks, and constant contact, Zoho Projects is a more robust and agile solution, one that integrates well into Google's own app offerings—project deadlines and events, for instance, can be automatically added to team member's calendars. Zoho can also serve as a kind of "project intranet," providing wikis, shared file spaces, and even public web pages. [Apps Marketplace link: ManyMoon, Zoho Projects] Price: ManyMoon free; Zoho Projects free for one project, $12/month and up for unlimited users.

2. Aviary

newVideoPlayer( {"type":"video","player":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/Yakp1VviyQc&hl=en&fs=1&fmt=22","customParams":[],"width":500,"height":412,"ratio":0.824,"flashData":"","embedName":null,"objectId":null,"noEmbed":false,"source":"youtube"} ); At its own web site, Aviary hosts a very capable image editing suite that runs entirely inside a browser. Hooked into the files you're already hosting and using on your site or in your group, it gives everybody a kind of Photoshop lite to work with, and avoids the worries of losing that one version of a graphic your client liked better. [Apps Marketplace link] Price: free.

1. OffiSync

It's not for lack of trying, but Google's web-based Docs app can't do everything that Microsoft's desktop Office suite can pull. Whether it's revision tracking, macro recording, or database integration, you can skip the back-and-forth file swapping with the Apps version of OffiSync, a utility that does just what you might think. Save a file in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, and with OffiSync set up, it will save simultaneously to your Google Apps space. You get the feature-rich editing services of Office and the easy sharing and peace-of-mind storage of Google, all at once. [Apps Marketplace link] Price: free.

Were Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass BOURNE to work together? Host Grace Randolph finds out if audiences enjoyed their third silver screen team-up!

One of Google Wave's more powerful features is its extensions—small gadgets and doodads you can embed or include in waves to add great functionality. They used to be particularly difficult to hunt down and install, but no more.

The new Extensions gallery (found by clicking Extensions in the navigation panel) takes a lot of pain out of finding and installing a new Wave extension. It doesn't have all of our favorite gadgets, but it's a good start. Unfortunately there's still no easy way to install a gadget that isn't included in the gallery, but this method should still work if you want to install such a gadget. In the meantime, it's good to see Wave making it easier for regular users to find and enjoy new gadgets.

Looking to learn about Wave inside and out? Check our The Complete Guide to Google Wave, Gina and Adam's in-depth Wave book.

If it seems like a lamp or light fixture in your house practically eats light bulbs compared to the other fixtures, you may not be imagining it. This ten second fix can keep your bulbs burning longer.

Many people assume if a particular fixture in their house uses up bulbs faster than the others the problem is something complicated with the wiring. The most common point of failure is the easiest to repair however. Inside the socket itself is a brass tab that presses up against the base of the light bulb when the bulb is screwed in. Screwing bulbs in too lightly can lead to the tab becoming permanently bent down and not forming a solid contact with the base of the light bulb. When this happens the electricity arcs and damages the contact point on the light bulb, prematurely "burning" it out.

Over at the DIY and construction-centric blog Ask the Builder they offer a simple fix for the problem:

If you discover the tab is flattened, then you must turn off the power to the lights, and as an additional safety safety measure, turn off the circuit breaker to the lights. Use a needle-nose pliers and carefully grasp the sides of the brass tab and slowly pull it up so the end of the tab is about one quarter inch off the base of the socket.

Check out the full article at Ask the Builder for additional information including how to keep the tab nice and springy for future use. Have a simple repair tip or trick to share? Let's hear about it in the comments.

In this Dueling Excel Episode, Find a value in this row and then get the values 1 and 2 columns to the right of that value. Mike and Bill duel it out in Episode 1188.

Join Julie Conover and Mark Jennings as they try to catch and harness a horse on a cowboy guest farm in Montana.

In this episode of the Lab Daddy Clay interviews Jan Bozarth, creator and author of a young girls adventure novel series, “The Fairy Godmother Academy.” Watch Daddy Clay as he explores the world that Jan has created in both her novels and interactive website (www.fairygodmotheracademy.com/). DadLabs The Lab Ep. 610 is brought to you by BabyBjorn. Distributed by Tubemogul.

March 11, 2010 - As the U.S. population ages and the incidence of diabetes and high blood pressure rises, the number of end-stage renal (kidney) disease patients receiving dialysis is expected to increase dramatically in coming years. Kidney dialysis is a life-saving treatment, with one major problem: it requires repeated medical procedures to unclog blood vessels or it stops working.

Shopping cart software that lets you use every feature no matter how much you pay.

Dave talks to John Backert, the former director of horticulture at Churchill Downs, about the challenge of landscaping at the world's most famous race track. Dave interviewed John just before his lecture on annuals at the recent New England Grows trade show.

If you've run out of clever greeting card ideas, try a card you can plant into the ground—craft blog Make and Takes has a tutorial on how to make "seed paper" and turn it into a plantable greeting card.

If you've ever made paper before, this process is not so different—you just need some paper scraps (preferably in pretty colors), a blender and some water. However, after blending the paper and water together, add some flower seeds to the mix before shaping it flat. Once it's dry, you can cut it into any shape you like and paste it on any paper or cardstock and make a greeting card.

The coolest part of this is not only is it a pretty, handmade card on it's own (when was the last time someone gave you a greeting card out of paper they made?), but the receiver of the card can actually plant it in the ground and get some real flowers out of the deal. It's quite clever, and sure to please anyone during the coming Spring holidays (Mother's Day, anyone?). Hit the link for the full instructions.

Which photography style won? Next up, wedding locations and engagement counselor.

As part of a graduate show at the Kyoto University of Art and Design, students built miniature cities out of common household objects—including this power strip. They're just missing mini-people. [Spoon Tamago via Crib Candy via Boing Boing]

In today's podcast, a quick way to hide the column headers, and a row height in inches. Episode 1186 shows you how. ...This blog is the video podcast companion to the book Learn Excel 97-2007 from MrExcel.

The Flower Carpet Rose is easy to care for, but even this rose bush can use a little attention in the spring. Dave tells you how to help it have a healthy summer and fall.

Gary returns to the couch for a laid back Friday episode and talks about the cool appellation of Gigondas in the Southern Rhone.

Howie asks why the fill handle does what it does when you select four numbers and drag. Episode 1187 discusses trend lines, LINEST, and straight line regression. ...This blog is the video podcast companion to the book, Learn Excel 97-2007.