It is that time of the year where every news source out there gets so lax in creating content, they can only muster up the strength to put together a year in review for this, that or the other.  Never to be one to disappoint, I thought now would be the perfect time to join the masses and share with you your favorite things I have posted.

Here are the ten most popular stories, tips, articles and tutorials I published in 2009 on Mitchelaneous.com.

#10 – Instant Drama Sound Effect

My new favorite web site, when you need that instant sound effect action is DramaButton.com.  Once pushed, you get that duh duh DUHHHH that has always been a favorite for the old dramatic moments on your favorite old TV shows and movies.

• More Sound Effect Fun: Six and a Half Instant Sound Effect Sites to Keep Handy

#9 – Top 10 Horror Movie Villains

Since it is October, time to look at even more things that go bump in the night.  Growing up in the 80s to early 90s era, I had a lot of great horror villains to fighting me.  We might not have had Dracula or Frankenstein, but we did have Freddy and Jason.  So, to keep with the holiday spirit of the month, I decided to take a look at my top 10 horror villains of all time.

• More Top 10 – Top 10 Favorite Red Dwarf Moments

#8 – 10 Free Ways to Search for Files Online

Need to find a file fast?  Over the years, I have collected some of the best (and maybe not so best) free file search web sites out there.  Here are the ten best resources to search for a file online.

• More Free Stuff – Hundreds of Free Online Tools I’ve Reviewed

#7 – Ninja Entry Traffic Sign Rocks

When is a No Entry sign not a No Entry sign?  When it has dropped the smoke bomb and turned into a Ninja Entry traffic sign.

• More Oddness: The Green Ranger Morphed into a MMA Fighter

#6 – Need a Wiki? Top Alternatives to MediaWiki!

Looking to setup a new wiki, but don’t know which script you should pick up to do the dirty work?  Many might say that MediaWiki is the best and the most popular, since it is what is used to run Wikipedia.  However, there are some great alternative wiki scripts you might have (or might not have) even seen before.

• More CMS Help – 9 WordPress Alternatives

#5 – EMFF – Easily the Best Audio Player via Flash

The Easy Musicplayer For Flash, or otherwise known as EMFF, is in my opinion easily the best free audio player, built in flash.  I have been using it to provide a player on up to six of my latest shows on webhostingshow.com.

• More Web Dev Help – Best of the Blogging Scripts

#4 – Down Right Creepy Mario Wallpaper

Why is it that we are all kind of amused by making Nintendo’s favorite plumber, Mario, so darn creepy looking?  There have been some real oddities posted out there in the past that have put a new light on the overall wearing hero,  but this one might take the cake on being the creepiest thus far.

• More Desktop Decoration – All My Favorite Wallpapers I’ve Blogged About!

#3 – Decorate Your Desktop with Mushroom Icons!

Time to do another free desktop icon release!  This time around, I figured I would focus on Mario’s favorite treat, the mushrooms of the Mushroom kingdom.  It always kind of freaked me out that a power up was a decapitated head of one of the Mushroom Kingdom citizens.  What do you think Toad would say if he saw Mario eat a mushroom?  Would he be shocked?  Could be they are all cannibals anyways.

• Level Up! – Free Mega Man Desktop Icons!

#2 – Charge PS3 Controller on Your PC

As I shared with you yesterday, I purchased myself a PlayStation 3.  One of the first questions I had after taking it out of the box was, “How do I charge the controllers?”.  With my Wii, it uses rechargeable batteries, so that solution was a ‘bit easier.  it looks like the PS3 controllers though have no option to do that.

• More Video Game Fun – Free Video Game Based Desktop Icons!

#1 – Best of the Free Zombie Flash Games

Nothing can get better than beating up a few mindless zombies, right?  Put that together with some of the creative and cool flash games out there, and you my friend have a good time.  Here is my collection of some of the best free “zombie-related” flash games.

• More Flash Games – Best of the Free Ninja Flash Games

I hope you have enjoyed this year of Mitchelaneous fun, and hope 2010 brings in even more readers, visits, fun stories and more.  Happy New Year to you all!

EXTRA – Best Firefox Facts Posts of 2009!

Download the Mario and Yoshi Desktop Icon! (.zip)

The icon is compatible with the following sizes:  256 x 256, 128 x 128, 64 x 64, 48 x 48, 32 x 32, 24 x 24, 16 x 16.  It is also in both .ico and .png format.

More Free Icons – Enjoy this icon? Be sure to check out my archive of custom icons I have created to share with all the citizens of Mitchelaneous-land.  Feel free to download, share, and use any of them.  The only thing I ask for in return is a cheap and shameless plug or two thrown back my way.

Here are some of my favorite Nintendo-based desktop icons I’ve created:

Want more?  I have created tons of them.  Check out my free icon archive for even more downloadable desktop icons from your favorite video games.  Now that you have checked out these, who or what should I turn into an icon next?

Download the Super Mario Bros Icons (.zip)

These icons are compatible with the following sizes: 256 x 256, 128 x 128, 64 x 64, 48 x 48, 32 x 32, 24 x 24, 16 x 16. It is also in both .ico and .png formats.  For more video game based desktop icon decoration, be sure to check out the rest of my free desktop icons.

Sony’s Best – ModNation Racers looked like the most fun thing they had to show, I really like the mix of the Mario-style kart racing with the do it yourself track building.

Sony’s Worst – Final Fantasy XIV was one of those moments of the show where you get really excited, till they say the word Online then you get sad again.  I never played the first “online” Final Fantasy, so maybe I should give it a fare shake first – however I am more of a fan of the more traditional Final Fantasy series.

Nintendo’s Best – It would have to be a tie, because I am really excited about Super Mario Galaxy 2, New Super Mario Bros Wii (horrible name though) and Metroid: Other M. 

Nintendo’s Worst – Wii Vitality Sensor is really weird.  Being somebody that owns 4 nun-chucks, 2 classic controllers, a Wii Wheel, the Wii Zapper, and 4 Wii-motes – I am running out of places to store all these accessories.  Also, why do I need a biorhythm sensor to play games?

Microsoft’s Best (and Worst) – Project Natal.  Now I don’t have an Xbox 360, so I am not a fair judge here – however I see this full body motion control to be a real winner or a really big loser.  Now, I understand where kicking a ball might be fun with this, but what about shooting a gun?  Are they expecting me to yell, “pew! pew!” at the screen? 

Overall, I think this year’s e3 show, from the point of view of the big three consoles will be, “Oh, you know that motion control stuff we made fun of from the Wii, we do that too… but better!”. 

Not often do I find original content that I really like to watch or flock to like a giddy school girl, however every so often I find a diamond in the rough as far as the independent content being delivered out there.  That is where the web series There Will Be Brawl comes into play. 

This dark, dramatic parody of Super Smash Bros Brawl is just fun to watch for any older Nintendo fans out there.  Yes, this web site does come with a warning that the series is not intended for anybody under the age of 17. 

A new episode debuts the second Friday of every month over at The Escapist web site, which is where I found the videos in the first place, however you can also find out more about the cast and crew at ThereWillBeBrawl.com. 

Your goal in the game is to keep the Marios, Luigis, and other Mushroom Kingdom good guys from reaching your castle.  To help you, you have all kinds of evil tools, such as babombs, goombas, and spring boards (ok, so spring boards aren’t that evil… until you fall to your DOOM!).  With 13 towers and 20 levels, you should be entertained for a long time.

Go play Super Mario Defence and let me know how high of a score you got.  Although simple, it is really addictive once you get the hang of things.  I would also recommend watching the tutorial that is included to help learn the basics of being that reptilian mastermind Bowser.

Here is what the artist in question, Rob Sheridan had to say about this oddity of a masterpiece. 

I never felt like I’d quite finished the Mario portrait I did a couple weeks ago. The background was rushed and I didn’t have time to make the bricks change over as they should have. So since it proved to be so popular, I figured it was worth expanding upon a little bit.

Download the wallpaper (both standard and widescreen sizes) on rob-sheridan.com.

Here is what I would imagine would be at the bottom of Mario’s own junk drawer.

+ Download the the Mario’s Junk Drawer Icon Pack! (.zip)

The 8 icons are compatible with the following sizes:  256 x 256, 128 x 128, 64 x 64, 48 x 48, 32 x 32, 24 x 24, 16 x 16.  It is also in both .ico and .png format.  Feel free to use, share and more.

If you like these, be sure to check out the custom icon archives!

Here you have, for your desktop customization needs five of the most popular mushroom power-ups in icon form.

+ Download the the Super Mario Mushroom Desktop Icon Pack! (.zip)

The icons are compatible with the following sizes:  256 x 256, 128 x 128, 64 x 64, 48 x 48, 32 x 32, 24 x 24, 16 x 16.  It is also in both .ico and .png format.  Feel free to use, share and more.

If you like these, be sure to check out the custom icon archives!