Life & Tech

Have been trying out different online storage services - my favorite by far is Sugarsync. The desktop software is very intuitive. If you have more than one PC/laptop, you will appreciate the ability to sync multiple computers as well as online off-site storage. It’s not free but well worth it. Highly recommended.

Instead of viewing the PDF files on your PC or Mac using Adobe Acrobat (which can be very slow), view it online using PdfMeNot. It even allows you to embed a pdf page on your website.

Benefits of LinkedIn:
1. Connect or re-connect with business colleagues or friends.
2. Staying informed: when your colleagues changed positions, you can see what they are doing.
3. Stay in touch: as your colleges changed jobs and/or their email addresses, you will always have an up-to-date contacts.

Three Quick Start Steps:
1. Get an account at http://www.linkedin.com & create a simple profile of where you have worked (and school).
2. Search for a few colleagues who are already in LinkedIn, when you find someone you would like to connect to, click “Add… to your network”
3. Once you have a few people to your network, check their connections to find other common colleagues.

The new Google iPhone optimized page — three particularly great services: Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Reader. Of course now that Gmail supports IMAP, it’s a very sweet set up on iPhone.

Jott has been expanding it’s functionality with integration to other online services (via Jott’s Links). Three outstanding must have services:
1. Google Calendar: Call Jott and it will place your appointment into your Google Calendar
2. Xpenser.com tracks your expenses, again call Jott and it will add your expense to Xpenser
3. Jott to Twitter/Jaiku (and other blogging platforms: Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress, TypePad)

Jott will transcribe your voice message into email. Set up an account with Jott, add your contact’s email address. Dial Jott (toll free), say your contact’s name, leave a message up to 30 seconds. Jott will transcribe your voicemail into text and emailed it to your contact. The service is currently free and under beta.

Another webex-like web collaboration is www.yugma.com. There is a free version that supports up to 10 users and it’s cross-platform (works with Mac and PC).

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

Here are some useful phone services for a start-up business: a free unified messaging, email to fax, and a personal/business toll-free number.

1. Free voicemail and fax mailbox: www.k7.net You get a voicemail box with 206 area code. When someone leaves a message or send you a fax, it will be forwarded to your email. It’s free, however, if there’s no activity for 30 days (no one calling), it will be deactivated. Great if you need a fax number to receive fax.

2. If you want ability to send a fax using your email, check out a low-cost service at www.faxaway.com ($1/month and 11¢/minute) to send fax in the U.S. No set up fee plus all incoming faxes are free.

3. For about $24 per year, you can get a personal toll-free number (888, 877, 866) offered by www.kall8.com. You can route the toll free number to your home or cell phone. The rate is $2/month and 6.9¢/minute.

If you have accidentally erased your CF card (or other memory medias), this software can help recover deleted or damaged images. It is a good idea to install PhotoRescue on your Mac or PC, you don’t have to pay until you need to use the software.

Now you can pay via your mobile phone. This is a similar service to Textpayme. Use it for paying your share of dinner, movie, collecting fees, send money to family, etc. This is great when you don’t have any cash with you.

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Yahoo! Voice - Internet Phone Calls and Numbers:

• Phone Out: For pc-to-phone calling 2¢ or less per minute, call anywhere in the U.S.
• Phone In: For phone-to-pc, it’s about $29/year (a little cheaper than Skype)

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finance.google.com

A strong competitor to Yahoo Finance. The page is well-designed with relevant information. The daily stock chart has a notation indicating ‘event’ that was happening during the day (i.e. how it may impact the rise and fall of the stock price). You can drag on the chart to go forward/backward.

ptech.wsj.com

Excellent weekly column in the Wall Street Journal about computers, software, and other personal technology. You don’t need to be a WSJ subscriber to read the column and the archives. Here are some samples:

• How to Protect Yourself From Vandals, Viruses If You Use Windows
• What PC to Buy If You Are Planning On a Vista Upgrade
• MacBook Pro Offers Promising Start to Era of Intel-Powered Apple