Archive for the ‘Free Programs’ Category
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Do you feel trapped by your place of work? Is the computer you use every day locked down tighter than the doors on a submarine? Are Facebook and Twitter considered “colorful metaphors” to the IT staff? Well, there may be some relief and a way to get back to the social networking world you desire. Firefox Add-Ons!
I recently went back to work, this time for a very large company with an IT staff dedicated to keeping things on total lock-down so we (the employees) can’t waste time or share corporate secrets via the internet or installed programs. What this meant for me was a return to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer as my one and only browser choice. My first thought was “how bad could it be?”
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Tags: add-ons, AIM, AMO, computer, Facebook, Firefox, Google Talk, internet access, Internet Explorer, LinkedIn, lock-down, mozamo, Mozilla, Thunderbird, Twitter, work, Yoono, YouTube
Posted in Firefox, Free Programs, Social Networking, Tips and Tricks | View Comments
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Regular PC maintenance is as important as routinely changing the fluids in your car. Without this regular upkeep, your computer can become a slow, draggy, unusable box that has you thinking about a trip to your local electronics retailer.
In today’s article, we’ve posted links to the tools you need and a simple “5-Point Maintenance Plan” that you can follow to keep your PC running like new (or better). The average user can perform these tasks in 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size (hard drive) and speed (RAM and processor) of the computer.
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Tags: computer, defrag, defragmentation, links, Maintenance, Malware, microsoft update, PC, registry cleaning, Spyware, Temporary Files
Posted in Free Programs, PC Support, Tips and Tricks | View Comments
Monday, June 28th, 2010
There have been very few game-changers in phones and phone calls since the invention of the cellular phone. Sure, we have more sophisticated devices that rival the PCs of just a few years ago and those devices are capable of storing the phone numbers of our friends and family, but the way two people connect hasn’t been improved by much. If you want to call your friend (let’s call him Troy), you need his number and he needs to be there to answer the call. If Troy isn’t answering, you can leave him a voice mail (which he can check when he gets a chance) or you can send him a text and see if he responds to that message.
In a world where most everyone we communicate with has a cell phone, a work phone, a home phone, an email address, a Facebook page and (sometimes) a Twitter account, “getting in touch” with someone should be easier than ever. Instead, you have to play the guessing game of where to start “looking” for Troy. I think that must have been the issue that Google focused on when they decided to start Google Voice. I was lucky enough to participate in the BETA of Google Voice (for about a year now) and the application/tool is now available for everyone to use.
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Tags: application, Contacts, FREE, Google, Google Voice, Mobile App, Personalize Greetings, phone number, Screen Callers, SMS to Email, texting, Transcribe, Voice, voice mail
Posted in Free Programs, Social Networking | View Comments
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Saving money by shopping online has been a passion of mine for at least 10 years and I have tried (repeatedly) to share my shopping tips and tricks with anyone who would listen. While I have convinced a few of you to use coupon codes, comparison shoppers and auction sites to save big money, there are still many of you who think online shopping is just…. silly. I am not sure why so many people think shopping should be confined to the walls of a big-box retail store, but I have heard a few arguments that I think carry at least a little weight.
- I like to see an item in person before purchasing
- I want to be able to return the item easily, in case it’s not what the site showed/described
- I need it now and can’t afford to wait a week
- I would only save a few dollars by buying online – it’s not worth the hassle
- I don’t have the time to sit at the computer and comparison shop
While there are times when you absolutely must have an item in hand immediately, I think most purchases are a little rushed and impulsive. Time is an important factor in shopping, but it doesn’t have to be a barrier. Thanks to the makers of some very smart applications for smart-phones, online shopping doesn’t have to be scary, time-consuming or unrewarding.
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Tags: Amazon, Android, application, bar code, barcode, Blackberry, iPhone, nokia, Online, returns, safe, scan, scanning, shipping, Shopping, shopsavvy, smart-phones, smartphones
Posted in Free Programs, Online Shopping | View Comments
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
A recent survey by Norton revealed that 44% of people have been “victim of a cybercrime perpetrated via a social network – viruses, online credit fraud, unsolicited pornography, receiving excessive spam and ‘phishing’ e-mails (bogus messages sent by fraudsters posing as banks and other retail companies).” This number is increasing and the users of Facebook are growing more and more vulnerable to attacks from cyber-terrorists. So, as a user of the largest social networking site on the planet, how do you protect yourself? Norton is here to help answer that question with a FREE application called Norton Safe Web (BETA).
“The truth is that the security team at Facebook works hard to counter threats on their site — it’s just that policing 350 million users can’t be an easy job for anyone…” said Graham Cluley (Sophos) in a recent CNET article. That is where Norton Safe Web steps in. The new tool works much like Web of Trust (WOT) and has already been available as an online service for some time. The folks over at Norton have just integrated it into Facebook for the specific purpose of testing your feed for links to unsafe/malicious content. There are some limitations to this new application, but it is a step in the right direction for Facebook users and their computers.
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Tags: bookmarks, cnet, Facebook, feed, FREE, links, malicious, Norton, pre-scan, pre-scanning, safe, safe web, shortened, test, unsafe, URL, warning
Posted in Free Programs, Social Networking, Tips and Tricks | View Comments
Thursday, May 27th, 2010
If I told you that I could give you detailed instructions on how to save $1,000 or more per year, would it be worth an hour of your time? No, this is not a pitch to get you trapped in a room with time-share vultures. This is legitimate information on saving money on your energy consumption and it is 100% FREE! That’s right, thanks to a BETA service from Micorsoft called Hohm, you can begin analyzing your energy consumption and saving money almost immediately. All you have to do is invest the time and supply Hohm with the necessary information about you residence and past consumption.
Before you jump in and begin entering information, lets take a look at this service. According to the press release issued by Microsoft (June, 2009), Hohm is a “new online application that enables consumers to better understand their energy usage, get recommendations and start saving money.” Recommendations are tailored to the individual home, based on house features, usage patterns and appliance information provided by the user. As a user, you can also compare your usage to neighbors and gain access to the community of participants online to share ideas and compare savings.
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Tags: appliances, cooling, cost, Electricity, gas, heating, hohm, Home, lighting, meter, Microsoft, Savings, usage, utilities, ware heating
Posted in Free Programs, Tips and Tricks | View Comments
Monday, May 24th, 2010
One of my many hobbies/addictions is saving money on the web. I love to hunt for the ultimate deal by using price comparisons, coupon codes, cashback options, etc. I have had these tools at my disposal for at least 10 years now and have saved thousands of dollars, yet I still make some purchases in physical stores. Grocery shopping, although attempted as a web service years ago with Peapod, is not available here in Houston so I venture out to my local Kroger, Randalls or HEB at least once a week. Until now, these trips to the supermarket meant I had to leave the technology behind and earn my savings the old-fashion way (printed coupons). Thanks to Grocery IQ, that is all about to change.
Grocery IQ is a FREE application (originally priced at $4.99) for smartphone users and is currently available for iPhone and Android owners. The tool, powered by coupons.com, was designed to help users with a number of typical grocery shopping activities (listed below):
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Tags: Android, barcode, cellfire, Coupons, groceries, grocery, grocery iq, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, P&GeSAVER, randalls, safeway, savings card, scanner, Shopping, shortcuts.com, smartphone, supermarket
Posted in Free Programs, Online Shopping, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized | View Comments
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Way back when (Nov 16, 2009) I posted an article about the new clicker.tv web site. The original article (posted below) highlighted some of the great features of this TV, movie and music aggregate web site. Since that first post, clicker has gone and made some significant changes to its interface. We’ve got the skinny on the changes and new functionality available at the click of a button (now on your mouse or remote control).
The original article is posted below and the additions/changes are highlighted in green.
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Tags: aggregate, BETA, clicker, clicker.tv, episodes, Glee, Lost, Movies, Music, remote control, Television, TV
Posted in Free Programs, Tips and Tricks | View Comments
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Every week 140,000 hard drives crash in the United States.
That fact alone should be enough to frighten every computer owner on the planet. We all have photographs, movies, important documents, emails, etc. that we do not want to lose for any reason, yet I find very few PC users who regularly backup the contents of their computer(s). Every one of us has experienced a moment when we thought our PC had crashed and the first thought was “I should have backed up my files!” Why is it then that so few people perform regular backups? Is is Time…. Money…. Knowledge?
Whatever the hurdle is, it is time to overcome it and protect our important files from permanent deletion. There are several theories on what makes a “safe” backup, but we are going to focus on online backups. Why? Because external hard drives or CD/DVD backups are great, but they are almost never stored in an off-site location. Natural disasters and fires don’t show any mercy when it comes to destroying a home or an entire community, so let’s prepare for the worst scenario and secure our files in a secondary location.
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Tags: backup, crashplan, Dropbox, important documents, mozy, off-site, offsite, online backup, unlimited storage
Posted in Free Programs, Security, Technical Issues, Tips and Tricks | View Comments
Thursday, May 6th, 2010
Regular PC maintenance is as important as routinely changing the fluids in your car. Without this regular upkeep, your computer can become a slow, draggy, unusable box that has you thinking about a trip to your local electronics retailer.
In the rest of today’s article, we’ve posted links to the tools you need and a simple “5-Point Maintenance Plan” that you can follow to keep your PC running like new (or better). The average user can perform these tasks in 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the size (hard drive) and speed (RAM and processor) of the computer.
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Tags: computer, FREE, Maintenance, may, PC, programs, tools, upkeep
Posted in Free Programs, PC Support, Tips and Tricks | View Comments
