I was nearly stung by a bee yesterday, and the experience has called into question my survival skills. I’ve since realised that I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do had the critter’s attack been a success. As a result, before I venture outside into the nice weather again I’m going to make sure I’m fully prepared for any dangers that may await me by loading up my phone with a selection of essential first aid software.

I started by installing 1st Aid & Emergencies on my Pocket PC, a piece of software that offers advice on how to handle a range of emergency care situations, from a nosebleed or sunburn to a life-threatening heart attack or stroke.

This app doesn’t cover every eventually and you can never be too careful, so I also took the liberty of arming my PPC with Pandemic Flu Survival Guide in case there’s a sudden outbreak of bird flu. And, in my experience, if the birds don’t get you then the insects probably will, so I also stuck a copy of Anti-Mosquito on my mobile phone. This state-of-the art app lets off a sound frequency that repels the blood suckers. Don’t worry though, because it’s virtually inaudible to the human ear.

I also downloaded Blood Pressure Watch and Easy Pulse in order to monitor myself in case the thought of all these terrible things that could happen to me got too much for my poor old heart. What’s more, I’m now keeping a track of my general level of physical fitness using Nokia’s Wellness Diary, which monitors stuff like my weight, eating habits and exercise. Perhaps all this is a bit excessive and I’m being paranoid about suffering an illness or injury. Oh God, here comes that bee again, quick, where’s my mobile?

If you thought it had been a little quiet around here of late, that’s for a very good reason. We’ve all been hard at work implementing and testing a new codebase for Softonic English which makes the site smarter and easier to use, as well as adding some great new features for users.

The homepage, while appearing quite similar to its previous version actually includes numerous changes and enhancements, including a new high-visibility zone for blog posts like this one; much better category listings; dynamic charts which show whether programs have moved up or down since last week and a smoother, cleaner design.

Our program page has also undergone some important changes. Apart from some cosmetic adjustments and enhancements, we’ve also made it much easier to interact with programs, meaning that the tools that let you rate, review, bookmark and track your favourite software are always easily accessible.

But the biggest new feature for the site is our new user profile page. Visitors to the Spanish Softonic will already be familiar with the features available in the new profile page. Now you can pick an avatar, visit other profiles, see your visitors and more. We’ve also got the Soft-O-Meter, a popular feature on the Spanish site which shows your level activity on Softonic.

Finally, we’ve launched Softonic Deluxe - a premium edition of Softonic designed for true fans of software. Deluxe members get access to a special edition of Softonic, free of advertising and with 100% guaranteed high-speed and secure downloads. For more info about Softonic Deluxe or to get a free trial, click here.

We’re always working on more features and already have loads of exciting new stuff in development… but we’ll let you know about that later. For the moment, take a look at the new, improved Softonic. And as always, please let us know if you’ve got an opinion on the site or an idea for making it even better!

Windows: If you like the way Ubuntu looks but don’t feel like migrating to a new operating system, don’t worry: you can still get the Ubuntu look and feel in your Windows computer with the Smooth Ubuntu Human visual theme. It features everything you need, from fonts to wallpapers, to make your XP look just like the most popular Linux distro.

Mac: Want to share your iPhoto and iTunes libraries on your Xbox 360? Connect360 is the perfect tool for the job. This little preference pane item lets you easily browse through iTunes and iPhoto and stream live internet radio. Through the preference pane item you get to see if the Xbox is well connected and that iTunes and iPhoto are in sync. Absolutely necessary if you own a Mac and an Xbox360!

Java: If you were around in the 80s then you’re sure to remember one of the greatest inventions of that era - the Rubix cube. Rubix Redux is a mobile game that plays in a similar way to the original only this time you only need to rotate the blocks on horizontal and vertical axes, so that every row or column is the same color.

If just hearing the words star, universe or nebula makes you feel like changing your job to apply for the next NASA astronaut selection, you can take a breath, hold on and try Voyage 4 which will take you on fascinating trips around the Universe and allow you to discover how things really work out there in outer space.

Do you think photo slideshows are too difficult for an artistically challenged person like you? You’re wrong! Extra Photo to Video Converter lets you create very attractive presentations with your favorite photos and background music, featuring image transitions, text overlays and supportfor a wide range of formats.

Want to find out what the future holds in store for you? Then have a look at Best Tarot Pro, a fun mobile application that lets you check what’s in store for you through the medium of cards. Enter a few details about yourself, think of a problem or situation that you want a solution for you then let the cards guide you!

The 2008 Formula 1 season has just started (featuring excellent results so far, by the way) and along with it, the show of trips around the world, powerful cars, beautiful women and excited crowds cheering for their hi-speed idols. This admiration can be shown not only in F1 circuits during the race, but also in many other aspects of your daily life: for example, on your computer.

Formula 1 races are in fact the subject matter of many varied software tools, ranging from the official F1 screensaver (for Windows and Mac) to a complete Palm application like F1 Season 2008, which enables you to track the competition in full detail. If you’d like to follow Formula 1 results but don’t own a Palm, don’t worry: you can also keep an eye on the competition with F1X; it’s not exactly a tracking tool, but it does contain loads of statistics and very accurate information about the Formula 1 competitions since 1950 to nowadays.

Of course, the F1 software fever is not restricted to desktop tools. You can also find online apps and services with which to follow results and learn more about pilots, circuits and races. Besides the standard sources of information like Google or your favorite digital newspaper there are interesting tools such as the F1 Gmaps mashup, which uses the power of Google Maps to display highly detailed information about each track: date, location, satellite imagery and links to Wikipedia.

Finally, for those of you who don’t resign themselves to just watching F1 drivers speeding on the track, you can now emulate them with MiniRacingOnline, a simple fun game where you can compete on actual Formula 1 tracks against players from all over the world.

Worried about losing that data stored on your Palm device? Then install BackUp Lite, which protects your data by keeping an up-to-date copy of everything on a memory card. It does this in a very efficient manner and is extremely fast. BackUp Lite even also allows for unattended automatic backups at a pre-determined time of the day, for extra peace of mind.

Feeling unsafe when browsing the Internet? Then you need a powerful security app like PC Tools Firewall Plus to monitor your connection and prevent unauthorized users from accessing the system. Its latest version (3.0.1.9) features new application rules, stealth protection and two user modes: Normal and Expert.

AdiumBook is a smart, single windowed application that lets you sync your contacts between Adium and your Address Book. On one side you see all your Adium contacts, on the other hand your Address Book entries. Simply Sync them by dragging and dropping. All this, plus contact searches, make it one of the best ways to make sure you’re always in synch with your Adium Address Book.

Get ready to enter The Club, a secret organization that runs bloody competitions all over the world. Modern gladiators fight for survival in different locations, engaging in ruthless battles where you either kill or be killed. The game’s detailed graphics will get you so immersed into action that before you notice it, you’ll be blowing heads off.

Peggle Deluxe for Mac is an adaptation of the fun Bust-a-Move game, instead here you have to use your canon to shoot down orange pegs and bricks. Apart from the beautiful graphics and animations, it offers 55 different levels and 75 Master Challenges. You can watch your shots in instant replay and collect all sorts of bonuses and special weapons. Perfect for the weekend!

Getting bored of the ringtones on your Palm? Then get a load of RingCare Combo, an ringtone manager that lets you use MP3 and MIDI music as your incoming call tone. The software will allow you to assign unique tones to each contact, phone number, company name and/or contact category. RingCare also has partial support for Goodlink users.

Looking for a new DVD burner? Romeo Burner is one of the most comprehensive, powerful and yet simple to use CD/DVD burners you could hope to find. Designed with the latest generation Bluray and HD-DVD disks in mind, it’s a one-program-fits-all solution for your burning needs. Romeo Burner features all sorts of burning possibilities and a handy drag and drop interface.

VoodooPad is a useful little notepad for Mac, which works great for jotting down anything. You can create a sort of mini web by which to connect all your different notes together, draw up sketches and add tags. Notes can be encrypted for increased safety and you can make use of Spotlight to search for anything within VoodooPad.

Did you know you can watch DVDs on your PDA? Pocket DVD Wizard allows you to reduce the size of four DVD movies to 512Mb so you can watch them from your handset wherever you go. The program is available for Palm and Pocket PC, and the conversion process is a very simple one.

Joomla! is a content management system that enables you to build a professional looking website in no time. Forget about messing with source code or design templates - Joomla! takes care of everything so that you only have to worry about creating good quality content for your site. Joomla! is open source and fully customizable.

ShowMacster changes the way you talk with your friends on iChat by letting you show pictures in your friend’s window, stream movies, make screencasts of your chats and easily transfer files. The program works seamlessly with iChat and will definitely add some excitement to your conversations. ShowMacster works with hotkeys and supports a wide range of picture, audio and video formats.

If you’re forever late for meetings or apppointments, or if you simply want to manage your time more effectively then check out Belltime on the Palm OS. The app allows you to customise its interface with 20 different timepiece elements, including alarms, stopwatches, timers and even an MP3 player. Download it now and you’ll have no excuse for not being on time again!

As the number of iPhone and iPod Touch owners increases, software authors devote more time to create specific apps to manage these devices. One of them is MediaCoder iPhone iPod Touch Edition, a fully featured video transcoder with which you can easily convert any video to the iPhone and iPod Touch format and watch your favorite movie or TV show on the move.

I love having a calendar close at hand at all times, and now I can make dates even more accessible on my Mac thanks to TinyCal. This neat little app places your iCal or Google Calendar in the menu bar, so you can call up all your calendars immediately. You can set multiple calendars to appear from the drop down, and have them either in a line or a row.

If there’s one thing I hate in life, it’s when my PDA crashes for no apparent reason. Reset Doctor for Palm is designed to put a stop to this unexpected annoyance, reducing crashes and tracking down buggy applications on the device. It also saves your preferences, such as alarms and registration codes that are always inexplicably deleted when your handheld fails.

OK, so we’re all a bit worried about the pandemonium on the World’s stock markets at the moment (not me incidentally, I hate money) and want to keep tabs on the fluctuations in trading prices. Instead of running to your computer every five minutes why not copy those frantic traders and use your phone to check the markets? There are dozens of applications for all of the mobile platforms that provide you with up-to-date stock prices to help you ensure that your portfolio doesn’t take a battering. I’ve picked out some of the best:

• Stock Manager (Windows Mobile) - Get the very latest prices for your stocks
• Stockwatch (Symbian) - Analyse your stocks with up-to-the-minute stats
• Pocket Express (Blackberry) - Tracks price, volume, high, low, close, bid, ask, and more
• Pocket Stock Monitor (Pocket PC) - Manage your portfolio wherever you are
• StockPilot (Palm) - Monitor all of your securities with this useful application

As much as I get annoyed by the fact that youths these days only seem to communicate by clicking their mobile phones, I guess SMS messaging has brought some benefits to the world. People’s thumbs are now a lot stronger than a few years ago, we have a brand new language, text speak (or should that be ‘txt spk’), and, more importantly, the ability to quickly inform people of things without the hassle of actually having a conversation.

If you’re a text fanatic then you may be interested to know that there are a few applications that can improve your SMSing productivity, giving you extra time to send even more messages, and making the whole experience even more enjoyable. Here are some of my favourites:

• MumSMS - Shhhh! Hide your sent and received texts from prying eyes
• Animated SMS - Liven up your text messages with fun animations
• Message Tone - Set different alerts for each person who texts you
• SMS Diary - Publish a personal diary based on your text messages
• SMS Spam Manager - Block all those annoying junk messages
• SMS Chat - View your texts in a more interesting way
• SMS Face - Display an image of the sender of every text message
• NaSMS - Adapt your texts for use in other languages or characters
• BaselsReply (Pocket PC) - Send automated SMS responses to missed calls
• SMS Machine (Palm) - Control all incoming SMS and calls more effectively

The ’snooze’ feature on alarm clocks is perhaps one of the best inventions of all time and makes getting up a much more bearable task. Unfortunately the built-in alarm on the Palm OS only gives you five minutes of snooze time. Snoozy changes all that, letting you set your snooze time for any period from one minute to five hours.

I’m a little worried that before too long I’ll be forced to betray my trusted old friend Wikipedia, as the mighty Google has deemed it a good idea to create its own Web 2.0 encylopedia, which I can already guarantee will be better. Granted, Wikipedia is a little rough around the edges - the legitimacy of some of its user-generated content can be questionable, it lacks a decent rating system, and the quality of the images isn’t what it used to be. But it’s served me well over the years and I don’t want to jack in a long-term relationship just because there’s a younger, better-looking model craving my attention.

So, I’ve decided to spend more quality time with my current online encylopedia in the hope I will get so attached I won’t desert to Google, like I do with everything else (maps, RSS, instant messaging, email - heck, I’ll soon be brushing my teeth with a Google toothbrush if they keep bettering every other product out there). Let’s start by installing the Wikipedia Search Bar. OK, now when I want to perform a search from within my browser I can plunder Wikis straight away without getting distracted by that alluring Google search field in my IE toolbar.

If I don’t want to leave Wikipedia feeling left out when I turn to the “Big G” for searches, I’ll simply download the Googlepedia extension. This displays Wikipedia entries besides the Google results, so I can enjoy the best of both worlds (and it wouldn’t be classed as two-timing).

In order to increase my exposure to the wonderful user-made database, I’ll install WikiReader, which allows me to open a Wiki document from any Windows application I happen to be using at the time. Oh, and I’ll also get hold of Quickipedia, so I can search and browse the site from my Palm handheld. Finally, by adding MediaWiki, I will be able to create my own Wikis and share them with others online.

There, now there’s no reason why I would possibly want to run off into the sunset with Google’s poxy new encyclopedia when it gets released, it there? Yeah, right!

We’ve already shown you how to dress up your PC or Mac for Christmas, but what about if you need to leave the house before the big day? Well fear not, because you need never be without seasonal software because there’s plenty available for all mobile devices. So, whether you have a Palm, a Pocket PC, an Ericsson or a Nokia, you can spread digital Christmas cheer wherever you go.

• Snow Baller (Palm) - What’s that? Santa’s been captured by evil elves? Let’s help him
• Gift Wrap (Palm) - Keep tabs on all the presents you send and receive this year
• Disney Christmas Theme (Pocket PC) - The wacky gang in a seasonal scenario
• X-Runner (Pocket PC) - Clone of the classic with a Christmas twist
• Bubble Xmas (Pocket PC) - Play with bubbles in this festive game
• Li-Nuggz X-Mas (Pocket PC) - Jump-and-run platformer in a Christmas style
• X’Mas Theme Pack (Windows Mobile) - Get yourself well into the festive spirit
• Quarz X-Mas (S60) - Unlimited fun in this Christmas version of Quarz
• MicroPinball - Snowball (S60) - Sophisicated pinball game with an injection of snow