Life & Tech

Ever tried to help a friend or family troubleshoot PC problems via the phone? Next time, use www.crossloop.com to supplement. It’s a free PC program that will allow you to see and control the remote PC securely and easily.

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A good and free web statistic counter site (to see how many people visited your site) is www.statcounter.com. You can create ‘invisible’ (or visible) counter code that embedded into your html. Get start by going to the site and sign in for a free account. Then create a project and follow the instruction to create the html codes. (Pretty much select all of the default values but pick the look-and-feel of the counter you want.)
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There are several sites on-line for photo sharing (www.flckr.com, www.yahoo.com, etc.) But for a quick set up, www.bubbleshare.com is probably one of the easiest to set up. You don’t even have to create an account.
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Fast synchronization of photos (for now…will allow synchronization of calendar and address book contacts). http://www.sharpcast.com (PC)

Send large file attachment (up to 1Gb)using small software (for both PC and Mac) from Pando at http://www.pando.com

Have you ever shared a good book with other people? How about with a total stranger? Bookcrossing project takes this to the next level, where you leave a good book for a stranger, for example, on a park bench, on the train, etc. By definition:

bookcrossing n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.

If you want to find out what happened to the book after you have left it, you should register the book at www.bookcrossing.com, write down the BCID on the front cover directing the reader to post an update at www.bookcrossing.com. (Just a thought, can you do this with a dollar bill?)

Instead of paying $0.75-$1 to phone company to use their 411, try the following toll-free. They are sponsored by a short ad, you have to listen to about 10-15 seconds. Over time can save you a bundle:

• 1-800-FREE-411 (1-800-373-3411
• 1-800-411-METRO (1-800-411-6387)

Pretty cool– interesting collection. Check out: Shoelace Knots - How to Tie Your Shoes

1. Check out www.tripadvisor.com for first-hand advices from other travelers, especially on the hotel you are planning to stay. Alternate site is www.travelpost.com.

2. Price check: www.kayak.com will check multiple airline simultaneously.

3. For last minute deals (this and next weekend), check out: www.site59.com. You may be able to get a good combo-deal (flight + hotel) or hotel + car.

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This is an oldie by goody site with articles on how stuff works: www.howstuffworks.com. It covers wide-ranging topics such as: automobile, science, health, computer, electronics, etc. Check out a beta of the Mobile Travel Guide section for a quick overview on travel destinations (what to see and do).

Some popular articles:

• How Lock Picking Works
• How Car Engines Work
• How Hybrid Cars Work

Gmail has over 2.5GB of free storage. Here are some ideas how to maximize your use of Gmail. Let me know if you need an invitation to set up an account.

1. Perpetual messages storage - with fast “Google-like” search

2. Forward messages from other accounts to Gmail for archive

3. Use Gmail as a catch-all accounts

4. Gmail with POP Mail reader (Outlook, Outlook Express, Apple Mail)

5. Use Gmail with Google Desktop Search or Google Sidebar

6. Store contacts on Gmail for easy search

7. Forward selected email messages from Gmail to your mobile phone

8. Star using Gmail, in case you decided to cancel your AOL account.

9. Use Gmail as information archiver (Ideas, Quotes, Recipe, etc.)

10. Use Gmail as on-line/remote disk drive (2.5 GB)

Note: the best of both world is to use Outlook and POP features to read/store Gmail locally as well.

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1. QuickSilver — A keyboard short-cut to launch applications (and much more)
2. NetNewsWire - RSS/Blog Aggregator (currently reading over 50 sites)
3. ecto - Managing Blog posting (works with typepad as well as blogspot)
4. sidenote - Quick place to take down short notes (can get out of hand)
5. StickyBrain - Outsourcing my brain (places to put stuff)
6. SplashID - Keeping track of all those logins and passwords (sync with Treo 650)
7. Growl - Background events notification, unobtrusive
8. FlySketch - Capturing Screen (instead of just Shift-Command-3)
9. Skype - VoIP that works (also SkypeIn & SkypeOut)
10. URL Well - storing URLs temporarily