A post on the Bitcoin News Network (@BTCNN) describes the new tool named BitAddress which provides a method for creating a bitcoin address and private key combination that are just like the keys stored in the Bitcoin client's wallet.

The BTCNN post also describes how this tool can be used in a more secure manner -- while offline, disconnected from the internet.

This tool brings the security of an offline wallet to a wider audience however to spend the bitcoins sent to one of these addresses requires, for now, a patched version of the Bitcoin client.  This patch may be included in a future version of the Bitcoin client or could be served from an online service but in the meantime this tool comes with this usability caveat.

Bitcoin Nodes WebGL Globe on WeUseCoins

The Bitcoin News Network (BTCNN) blog posted an article describing the new Bitcoin Nodes WebGL Globe.  The visual tool is provided on WeUseCoins.  Excerpt:

The globe represents in detail the Bitcoin broadcast nodes by city.  The height and color of bars denote the amount of nodes.

The site was built using the open-source webgl-globe geographic data visualization platform from Google.