Category It's Free!
 
A new service called Dropbox.com has taken online file storage another step further, allowing users to easily synchronize files between PCs, MACs and even iPhones. Download Dropbox to each one of your computers and give them your account information. Anything you add or modify will be accessible immediately to any other machine you have set up with your account, so you can have your important files with you no matter where you are!


The service comes with a fully-functional web interface which allows you to access your files from any computer on the net with a simple login. Through this, you can send out share links of your individual folders to your friends, families and coworkers while keeping other folders private. Most importantly, a copy of all of your data is left in the cloud; if your hard drive ever fails or your laptop is stolen, your Dropbox is still safe and accessible. 2 GB of storage comes free when you sign up, but you can pay $9.99 or $19.99 for 50 and 100 GB, respectively; with that kind of storage, there is no reason you should ever lose important data in a hardware malfunction. Head to Dropbox.com, watch the intro video and get started with this simple, free file-syncing solution!

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 10:24 AM Location Reseda, CA | Permalink | Comments (1)

Category It's Free!
 
Personal file-sharing sites like megaupload and yousendit are still heavily used these days, but I am always keeping an ear to the ground for anything that breaks the mold and offers something new. Box.net has been around for quite some time, but they have completely re-modeled in the last six months and added many great new features.


A free account gives you 1GB of permanent storage and individual file sizes up to 25 MB. Create folders and upload files as usual and send out links to files and folders to anyone you wish. What makes Box.net exciting is the ability to invite "collaborators" by email to upload their related files to your folder as well. With the ability to create web-based documents inside their interface and share everything out as needed to both individuals and groups, personal and business users alike will find plenty of utility in Box.net. If you find that 1GB isn't enough to backup your important files, we actually host our own service for off site backups in Los Angeles that secures entire servers of data.

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 3:29 PM Location Reseda, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!
 
If you've ever wished you could throw a PDF file into Word and start editing, you have probably been disappointed more than once. End your disappointment by checking out the PDFtoWord beta website. Choose a file to upload, select .DOC or .RTF (use .DOC, it seems to work best) and have PDFtoWord send a converted file to the email address of your choice.


I tested this out with a four-page beast; my PDF contained various text sizes, a logo, very small legal copy, footers, bold and italicized titles and even a four-column table! The output file I received looked amazingly similar to the original PDF: The font was matched throughout the document, the bolding was perfect, the table alignment was exact, all justification translated through and it even re- created the logo and embedded it as an image at the top of the document where it belonged! All text in the document was editable and the only errors were in two places where a space was not added between a comma and the following word (of course, this was underlined by Word as a grammatical mistake, so it was easy to fix). There are a select few services out there that really surprise me when I find out they are free; this is one of them. Go check it out!

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 3:28 PM Location Reseda, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!
 
Google is hosting yet another free service that comes as an add-on to Google Maps. It is called Latitude and it promises to take "staying connected" to a new level. Integrated with your driving directions and location services, you can now add friends and choose to share your location with them while you are out and about. Small icons will appear around your map with avatars (if the user uploaded one) and a Twitter-esque update of what the friend is doing at his location. The accuracy is the only issue that I have had a problem with, as the service succumbs to the GPS, wi-fi and cell tower information from your phone. If one is not available, it uses what it can get to be as accurate as possible (from 30 feet to 3 miles).


If you are concerned about privacy, be comforted by knowing you can hide your location from anyone at any time if you choose and an official request must be sent through the user interface and get approval in order to become friends with anyone and see their location; privacy is definitely not an issue here. Google Latitude is still an interesting way to see what your friends are up to and maybe even rendezvous with them if you happen to be near by!

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 12:50 PM Location Reseda, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!
 
Not many people actually realize that Safari really is the world's fastest browser. It tends to get discounted by a large crowd of people - as do many products with a cult-like following - and whenever a new release comes out, Safari gets a chance to be in the spotlight again.  On top the speed, Safari is also quite efficient when it comes to rendering a page correctly. Have you ever loaded a website and found text not lining up or pictures that seem to be in a place that looks "off?" The ability to load and display a page correctly is measured with the Acid 3 test, and Safari is the ONLY browser to ever pass it. If both speed and accuracy is not good enough for you, take a look below. I'm not going to go over all 150 Features of Safari listed at the Apple website, but I will definitely mention a few of the newest additions here:
 

• Top Sites - See screen shots of your favorite websites at a glance. Open one by clicking on the thumbnail.
• Cover Flow - Flip through your site history or bookmarks like you flip through albums in iTunes.
• Full History Search - Easily retrieve sites you've seen before. Spot the one you want in Cover Flow.
• Nitro Engine - Wait less. Browse more. Surf the web with the world's fastest browser.
• Windows Native - Vista and XP users: feel right at home in Safari for Windows.
• Developer Tools - Access the best suite of development tools ever included in a browser.
  
  
  
  
  
  Check out the Safari new features site for the comprehensive list of what you can look forward to with Safari 4.

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 12:21 PM Location Reseda, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!
 
Most Wikipedia articles lack integrated media content; regardless of what you are searching for, you will be lucky to find as much as a link to a place where you can see pictures or watch videos that relate to the topic in question. Navify is a new on-line encyclopedia that not only incorporates the much-needed images and videos with Wikipedia articles, it provides a comments section to each article to allow for public discussion. Having just launched as a public beta last week, Navify is already a handy tool that really does a good job consolidating the information we are constantly looking up.

Test it out yourself: Search Wikipedia for anything you like and then perform the same search on Navify. The convenience of having all of the information you need on the same page is what makes Navify stand out.

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 12:32 PM Location Reseda, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!
 
Live Mesh is an amazing service that allows you to not only keep your files online, but sync the folders with any computer you want. Select any folder on your computer or create a new one and select "Add Folder to Live Mesh..." and watch that same folder with it's contents magically appear on any other computer in the world that is connected to the internet and running your Live Mesh account! Any change to a folder from any computer you have synced will automatically reflect in all other computers, and you can access the web copies of the files when you are not at your own personal computer by simply logging in.


The tool tray by your clock even allows you to view and manage all PCs you currently have the service running on and even allows you to remote-control every one of them if the simple check box is checked upon setup. During the remote sessions, you can operate the machine as if you were sitting in front of it and drag any file from the remote machine to your local one! PCWorld Magazine recently declared Live Mesh one of the "Five Under-appreciated Microsoft Web Services" and, after fully testing it, I completely agree. Support for Macs and phones is coming soon, as the service itself is still in open beta-testing.

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 4:29 PM Location Sherman Oaks, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!
 
Head over to boxee.tv and get ready to streamline your world of digital media. Boxee is a free program that provides a centralized place to access the slew of digital media we all take in every day from both the internet and our personal hard drives. Watch videos from CBS, ABC, NBC, YouTube, Hulu, Netflix etc or listen to music from iTunes and the net while singing the lyrics that Boxee finds for you.


With everything fully integrated, you will never have to go to another place for your media entertainment needs. You can keep track of your friends and see what they are watching, read instant reviews about anything you see or hear and even tune in to the program your friend is watching at that moment. Boxee - You are now free to be entertained. While the download is currently available for Mac and Linux only, the Windows beta test is well under way and it should be a matter of time.

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 1:31 PM Location Sherman Oaks, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!
If you're anything like the average American consumer, you have a few gadgets lying around the house that have been replaced by a new model - or maybe you just don't use them anymore. Gazelle is a new service that will actually pay you for your old stuff!

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 4:01 PM Location Glendale | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!
 
For those of you who don't wish to clog up your email servers with huge attachments, there is Sendspace. Without even signing up for a free account, you can use their incredibly simple upload form to attach any file on your computer up to 300MB in size and send it's download link to the person you desire via email. The recipient will promptly receive an ordinary link accompanied by simple instructions to download the file straight from the web to the computer.

Signing up for a free account provides the ability to keep an address book of people you routinely send things to and earn points toward a "Premium" membership with each file you send. Although you can send files up to 1.5 GB for a small monthly fee, the vast majority of us will manage just fine with this great free service.

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 1:46 PM Location Sherman Oaks, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!
A new service has emerged among the other people-finders that has the possibility of making "Googling" someone a thing of the past. It's called iSearch and it can put you in touch with people you never thought you would see again.

All it takes is a full name and the city or state that you remember that person living in and you will be amazed at whom you can find. Using this search or one of the more advanced search options provided, iSearch references social networking sites, news databases, online phone books and other publicly-available information to lay out all of the hits in an easy-to-browse view. Click the logo above and find out who you can find.

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 4:37 PM Location Sherman Oaks, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

Whether you use a computer at home or work, you probably have a few files for your eyes only. TrueCrypt is a great tool that provides the average user with an advanced file security system. Complete with a beginner's guild walk-through to set up your secure "Volume," this simple, free utility displays all contents within to only those with the master password; others who stumble upon it will find only a single file that displays jumbled up text if clicked on. There is even a "Hidden TrueCrypt Volume" option to use in case you are ever forced to reveal the master password. Visit the TrueCrypt website and download a copy to try out on your PC, a thumb drive you use to carry sensitive information or an external hard drive.

Posted by Keith Lancaster At 3:52 PM Location Sherman Oaks, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

Rescue your lost pictures and other data with PC Inspector Smart Recovery from Convar

This tool recovers corrupted files from most data thumb drive devices, including Flash Card, Smart Media, SONY Memory Stick, IBM Micro Drive, Multimedia Card, and Secure Digital Card. It works with all Windows systems except for Vista, and you can download it free.

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 12:07 PM Location La Canada | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

See your work in print

Aside from the thrill of seeing your story, your poetry, or your recipes in book form, there are a lot of practical reasons to self-publish.

As a professional, having a book in your name gives you added credibility and prestige. An autographed edition of your work makes a great gift. And if it’s popular enough, your book could become a source of PR and even revenue for your company.

Too often, though, printing costs make self-publishing an expensive gamble. But Lulu.com can help you overcome this hurdle. If you’re willing to handle the editing and layout for your book, Lulu will take care of the rest.

It's easy to get started.

An online tutorial takes you through the whole process. You submit your manuscript as a PDF, .doc, or .rtf file. Set your own cover price and royalty rate. Lulu will sell your book through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and their own website. They’ll print copies of your book as the orders come in.

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 1:53 PM Location Glendale | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

Where'd that email go?

The average number of email messages received is increasing daily as it becomes the preferred method of communication. As a result, important emails and attachment files can be buried or overlooked, making it difficult to find them again.

For years, IBM’s Lotus Notes Mail has had an integrated search tool for email attachments, and now Microsoft Outlook has one too. Lookout is a free download that is quicker to access than Google Desktop or other separate search tools, or the Outlook ‘Find’ option. This personal search tool will find your keywords by searching your subject lines, body, and addresses, and can restrict searches by time frame or sender.



Feed me!

Web surfers and news junkies will enjoy Google Reader, a neat program that keeps up with your favorite websites or blogs by checking for updates.

News-feeds, or ‘subscriptions,’ are added to your profile by typing in the URL for various websites such as CNN, Wall Street Journal or ESPN. Unread entries are marked in bold, similar to unread emails in your inbox.

The interface is simple, with a built-in public page to share with your friends and family. Reader not only works with Windows but also with any mobile phone browser.

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 2:04 PM Location Glendale | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

Password protect your files

Cypherix has created a free download, the Cryptainer LE, which creates a “vault” on your computer that encrypts all the files stored in your vault.

The Cryptainer stores up to 25MB of password- protected files. It’s possible to copy, move, and send your encrypted files. By making the files self- extracting you can email your encrypted files and the recipient will be able to view them using only the password (no extra software is needed). This is a great way to send files safely and securely through the internet.

If 25 MB isn’t enough for your needs, you can pay for a bigger version. Download your free Cryptainer here.

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 2:30 PM Location Glendale | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!


The frugal alternative to Microsoft Office

Microsoft plans to release its new version of Office this year—with a price tag of $399 for the suite. Most users will either pay for the upgrade, or keep plugging along with the older version.

But there’s a third option, and it’s free.

OpenOffice has been around for years. It’s open source, which means programmers are constantly tweaking it to create a better version. Anyone is welcome to download it for free.

While OpenOffice is supposed to be able to read any file created by Microsoft Office and vice-versa, there have been some glitches. OpenOffice can’t always read the more advanced spreadsheets created in Office, and slide show presentations don’t always translate well.

But a recent development may change that. A few months ago, the International Organization for Standardization approved the OpenOffice Format. The new format is designed to allow any application that creates office-type files to communicate with other applications.

If you’d like to give it a try, you can download your free OpenOffice software here.

Almost Free

Sun Microsystems' office suite called Star Office 8.0 that has a document writer, spreadsheet, and a “presentation” program similar to PowerPoint. All of these applications can open and save MSOffice files so they can be read by Office or OpenOffice2.0.

Star Office 8.0 has a better spellchecker than OpenOffice2.0, and fonts that more closely match those of Office. Compared to Office, Star Office has a more logical and streamlined interface, and it also lets you create PDFs.

There are some minor problems in translation between the different software suites, and Star Office has a few annoying features, such as Writer finishing words for you and often choosing the wrong word. (This feature can be disabled but it takes some poking around to discover how.)

The suite sells for around $50-$70 at most online shopping sites, a considerably lower price than Microsoft Office.

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 2:44 PM Location Glendale | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

Create secure, Un-editable PDF Files for Free!

Create PDF's without costly software by downloading CutePDF writer. CutePDF works like an additional printer except it creates a file instead of sending to the printer. PDF's are the best way to send proposals, financial documents, or word documents to clients, accountants, or lawyers.

Internet Explorer 7 Now Available for Download

Microsoft is about to release their new platform, Vista, in the last quarter of this year. There’s also a new version of Internet Explorer, IE7. But you don't need to wait for Vista to get IE7.

Besides the clean, sleek, and streamlined features, IE7 offers lots of extra security features against pop- ups and spyware. A proactive system warns you of suspected phishing sites, and IE7 gives you a lot of new browsing and printing freedom as well.

We’re not just telling you about this as a teaser. If you have XP, you don’t have to wait to use the new Internet Explorer 7. Several of us are already using it, and it’s very stable.

One of the best features of Internet Explorer 7 is Tabbed Browsing. You can view multiple pages in a single browser window. Tabs at the top of the frame make it easy to quickly move from one page to another.

You can even organize these tabs into groups, and set a group as your home page so that when you open Internet Explorer you open your chosen web pages automatically.

IE7 gives you a lot more control over printing web pages, too. It scales the web page you want to print, so it’s never wider than the piece of paper you’re printing it on. You can also set it to only print selected text.

Even though IE7 is still in beta, several of us are using it as our main browser with Windows XP, and we’re having no problems. You can download the beta version of IE7 here for free.

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 2:57 PM Location Glendale | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2008, 47 percent of all Internet users have searched for themselves online. That's up from 22 percent in 2002. So, go search yourself!   http://www.google.com

Posted by Brent Whitfield At 5:32 PM Location Hollywood | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

Have you ever misplaced the product key that came with your Windows installation disk or Microsoft Office?

You will need it if you ever wish to reinstall on a new computer or recover from a crash. The Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder utility is an easy way to discover it so you can save in a safe place. It has the option to copy the key to clipboard, save it to a text file, or print it for safekeeping. Download it here.

Posted by Brent Whitfield At 5:35 PM Location Hollywood | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

 
You've probably already downloaded the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, but there's a chance you don't have software to edit PDFs, unless you've shelled out $299 for the full Adobe Acrobat Standard.

But Tracker Software offers you something almost as good, and it's free: the PDF- Xchange Viewer.


This application lets you mark up PDF files to comment, point out errors, or emphasize key points. The PDF-Xchange Viewer can highlight and circle text. Our favorite function is the sticky note-it leaves a tiny yellow icon on the spot you choose. When a reader clicks on it, it grows to a full-size post-it with your message.

Even though you can't create new PDF files with this application, it includes a lot of fun and useful functions. See for yourself. You can download yours here.

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 10:32 AM Location Glendale | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

The problem with the Windows clipboard is that you can only copy once before pasting"

If you ever wished you could copy more than a single clip from one document before pasting to another, M8 is for you. With M8 you can copy up to 25 times, and unlike other multi clipboards, M8 shows you a preview of each clip before you paste it. It can also be set to remain on top of your working program. M8 handles all forms of clips including multi graphic Word clips and it allows you to "bulk paste" all of your clips into one document or email. Download a free copy from M8 Software.
 

Posted by Brent Whitfield At 1:36 PM Location La Canada, CA | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!


Drop.io is a revolutionary file-sharing and communication service that allows you to do some pretty amazing things. With three VERY easy online steps, you can upload pictures, videos, documents, text, links and any other type of file to a private space and share them with anyone you would like. It's free, it's easy to use and your files are completely un-searchable for added security (you must provide the drop.io/yourfolder url to anyone you want to see your files). Without signing up or even providing an email address, you can create as many "drops" as you please and store up to 100MB on each one; if you need more space on a drop, it is only $10 per gig per year!


You can email your drop and have it save your message and attachments; you can send a fax to your drop and it will become a PDF file; you can even call your drop, leave it a message and have it saved as an MP3 file! Click on the screen shot above and see how it works; we've uploaded a few files so you can see the way it categorizes everything for you.

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 12:20 PM Location Glendale | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

 
You're sitting in traffic or waiting in line at the store. Suddenly, you come up with the perfect idea to fix your latest business challenge or boost your revenue. Or you remember an important task that you want your assistant to perform. But you're nowhere near your computer, and you'll forget your idea by the time you get back to the office.


Jott.com has a service to capture these bursts of inspiration. When you call their toll-free phone number from your cell phone, you can record a short message. Jott will transcribe your words and email them to anyone you wish.

You can send ideas to yourself, a colleague, or your team. Use Jott to remind yourself to complete small tasks, or make last minute requests to your staff.

Best of all, it's free! Visit Jott.com to find out more.

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 12:06 PM Location Glendale | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

 
If you want to know at a glance which files are taking up your disk space, an application called WINDIRSTAT creates a graphical depiction of your hard drive.


You'll see all of your files as color-coded rectangles arranged in an intuitive tree diagram. The largest files will show up as big rectangles, while smaller files show up as smaller rectangles. You can navigate through your drive by pointing and clicking and using the zoom function. By clicking on different files, folders, and levels, you can open, rename, or delete files.

Download WINDIRSTAT.  http://windirstat.info/wds_current_setup.exe

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 12:33 PM Location La Canada | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

 
Scribble your notes online

If you ever spend time doing internet research, Google Notebook makes it easy to organize and annotate all the snippets of information you glean. This free tool lets you clip bits of text, images, or website content. You create a “virtual notebook” (which is somewhat like a scrapbook) and store your information inside, where it’s easy to move, manipulate, and organize. Google Notebook also lets you share your clippings online, or print them.

Quick tip: Create a separate notebook for each project, and you’ll never have trouble finding what you need.

Posted by Arland Whitfield At 12:35 PM Location La Canada | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category It's Free!

Picasa 2.0 lets you organize and edit photos, as well as email them or burn them onto CDs or DVDs. It will even upload your photos to sharing sites. This free tool from Google only takes a few minutes to learn, and then you’re on your way to creating your own digital albums.

You can download Picasa 2.0 for free at http://picasa.google .com.

Posted by Brent Whitfield At 5:11 PM Location | Permalink | Comments (0)