Before you start counting down the final seconds of 2010, you might want to take a brief tour of the blogosphere to ease your mind and educate your soul. Here are some great posts from the preceding week.

Lisa Bettany offers us a glimpse into her creative process by de-constructing a recent photograph she took of the San Francisco Bay Bridge rainbow. Yes, there was some definite post-processing involved, but it made for a much more dramatic effect than the RAW image that came out of her camera.

Justin Germino, who you may know better as Dragon Blogger, is helping you stay safe in 2011. He lists off five of the best free antivirus programs available for Windows-based computers. Among them are Avast, Avira, and Panda. You will want to keep your Internet activities as safe as possible and you don’t have to break the bank to do it.

Darren Barefoot is recognizing that many designers are stuck in the past and that they need to get with the times. He noticed a very “jaggy” or “low res” banner running across the width of a nearby building, for example, and there is definitely a better way to do it.

Raul Pacheco makes his way around the Internet as Hummingbird604 and he is very well known in the Vancouver social media scene. Even so, he is trying to learn how to embark on the digital disconnect for the holidays. It’s hard to pull yourself away from Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail, but Raul says he’s been about 80% successful.

Consumerism Commentary is recognizing an emerging trend among college graduates and young professionals: they’re moving back in with their parents. The economy is still struggling to rectify itself and finding a good-paying job simply isn’t as easy as it may have been in the past. There are pros and cons to moving back, of course, and it will ultimately come down to an individual decision.

And on that note, we bid adieu to 2010 and welcome 2011 with open arms. Happy new year!