Many developers use the jQuery JavaScript library and Website Magazine has just published a list of the Top Ten jQuery Plugins For 2011 (plugins that were first released or significantly updated during 2011).

This morning I pre-ordered Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet (scheduled to start shipping on November 15th).  I already own an ASUS TF101 Eee Pad Transformer which I love; with the Transformer’s keyboard/dock I have both a tablet and a replacement for my netbook.  Since I’m very happy with my Transformer, you may be wondering why I ordered the Kindle Fire.  I’m sure my wife will be wondering the same thing so here’s my story.  Instead of a Webkit browser the Kindle Fire will use “Silk“, an all-new Web browser powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS).  As a developer, it is important that I have the ability to check my sites using this new browser.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

If you would like to pre-order a Kindle Fire tablet please use the link in the right column to place an order with Amazon.com.

The following article was submitted by Chloe Henderson. Chloe is a 23 year old media practitioner who engages herself in the world of social networking, gadgets and reading. She is also doing some freelance writing on several web hosting companies and is currently with WebHostGear.com and loves to write stuff about anything that would interest her, sharing it on the world wide web.

Bloggers who are serious about blogging have a number of important decisions to make before they plop down a large chunk of change on a hosting package. Do I opt for site hosting, the oft-cheaper reseller hosting or perhaps even free hosting? Do I pay, in time or money, for a custom theme, or do I choose a theme under the commons license and tailor it to my needs? Perhaps the most important question of all is do I choose WordPress or Blogger?

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When Apple’s iPhone was first introduced Apple’s iOS dominated the smartphone market but, by the fourth quarter of 2010, Google’s Android OS had 53% of the U.S. consumer smartphone market while Apple’s iOS fell to 19%.  Now it looks as if the same fate may befall Apple’s iPad.  The Motorola Xoom, the first tablet computer to use Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), was released recently and many reviews say it is superior to the iPad 2.  The Xoom is just the first of a number of tablets that will use Android 3, a platform specifically designed for tablets.  Android 3 may take the lion’s share of the tablet market as Android 2 has with smartphones.

Some experts are predicting that tablets will replace netbooks and laptops.  I already replaced my laptop with a netbook and, although I’m tempted to purchase a Xoom or the soon to be released Toshiba tablet, I think I’ll stick with my Samsung netbook for a while longer.

The following browser market share percentages are from NetMarketShare and are current as of February, 2011.

The latest version of Microsoft’s Web browser, Internet Explorer 9, has “gone gold” and you can download it here before its general availability to the public.

If you use WordPress and haven’t yet learned about Fast Secure Contact Form, take a look at the free plugin and I think you’ll be as impressed as I was.  I’ve used a number of PHP scripts and WordPress plugins for contact forms and I’ve never seen such a comprehensive list of options as those offered by Fast Secure Contact Form.  I think the only thing Mike Challis, the developer, overlooked was the kitchen sink.  Try Fast Secure Contact Form, you’ll like it.

Here’s an interesting Sitepoint article:  “Crimes Against WordPress: How to Be a Real Jerk if You Make WordPress Themes and Plugins“.

XARA 3D is a graphics program that makes it easy to create stunning animated and still 3D headings (like this blog’s heading), logos, animations, and video titles.  XARA has just released 3D Maker, Version 7.  You can download a free trial here.

I’m running the Release Candidate of IE9 as my default browser and it seems to be stable.  Here’s how it performs on the W3C’s HTML5 Conformance Tests: