Computer and Web Articles

“Ever been annoyed by all those ads and banners on the internet that often take longer to download than everything else on the page? Install Adblock now and get rid of them.”

Here’s a quick overview video: http://tinyurl.com/bcajka, the link where you can download the Extension: http://tinyurl.com/2cd87q, and the official Adblock website: http://adblockplus.org.

Remember, this is a tool that you can take advantage of only if you’re using Firefox as your web browser.

Give it a shot and see if it makes your web-browsing experience more enjoyable. If you don’t like it, simply uninstall it in Firefox by going to Tools > Addons > Extensions and clicking “Uninstall.”

Craiglook.com acts as a simple remix/mashup of everyone’s-favorite-and-ever-so-popular-because-it’s-so-useful Craigslist.com.

Craiglook helps make your Craigslist searches more efficient by allowing you to:

• specify your search radius
• enter your minimum and maximum prices
• see how far away your results items are located
• view sellers’ phone numbers without having to visit individual listings
• skim through the convenient image previews

Give it a shot and leave a comment — let me know what you think.

1. http://tinyurl.com/ybsemv6 - Personally, I think it’s fantastic that you take good care of your computer. Your maintenance efforts will surely prolong the life of your machine. Unfortunately though–just like humans–computers and software do age and, while you can slow down your computers’ aging process, you can’t avoid it altogether. Learn more by visiting this link.
2. http://tinyurl.com/32l6zq - 10 reasons why you should consider using an exercise ball as your office chair.
3. http://tinyurl.com/6yqc5r - Blog usability checklist. It may be from 2007 — but it’s one of those “oldie but goodie” posts.
4. http://tinyurl.com/ybf78pv - Do you, by any chance, happen to have a phone that’s running Android 1.6+? Yes?? Well then, by all means, check out Google Goggles!! This amazing technology actually lets you search the web *using pictures*. Yes, that’s right. Take a photo with your phone and Google Goggles will tell you what you’re looking at. Perhaps you’re on vacation staring at something that you know is … some … famous … landmark … but you can’t quite remember what it’s called. Take a photo with your phone and Google Goggles will come back and say “Oh – that big thing is called the Golden Gate Bridge.” Pretty amazing. It will definitely be fun to watch this technology develop as time goes by.
5. http://tinyurl.com/yeeh9ag - A fun post from Lifehacker on how to creatively hide all your … stuff.

I can hear the whispers now… “Is she crazy??” “Has she lost her mind?” “Is she shooting herself in the foot by writing about this?”

I have a hunch many people will feel a bit suprised by what I’m sharing today. Why? Because the tool purports to do for free the exact service my company offers to clients (not for free): create awesome websites.

Wix.com enables individuals and companies to build their very own Flash websites. For free. The Wix interface offers drag-and-drop site creation and requires zero knowledge of HTML or programming. To sweeten the pot, Wix sites are even search engine friendly!

Musicians can build beautiful sites to present and promote themselves. Designers can build their very own online portfolios using Wix.  Photographers can build their very own online portfolios without paying a web designer one single penny.  In fact, close to three million websites have already been created using Wix.

What’s the catch, you ask? How can such an amazing tool possibly be free? Well, while there is no actual catch, there are a few rules you have to play by. First, you can’t use your own domain name. Second, Wix ads will appear on your website. And third, you are limited to a set amount of bandwidth, storage, and number of pages.

If you’d prefer to build a website free of these limitations, you can do so by upgrading to one of Wix’s Premium Plans. Depending on what you’re looking for (eCommerce? Stats Tracking? Premium support?), a Wix Premium Plan could run you $4.95, $9.90, $14.90, or $19.90 per month. Pay a year in advance and your pricing becomes even cheaper.

And just in case you’re still tottering on the fence, Wix offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee that lets you to try one of their Premium Plans for two weeks and, if you’re not happy, get all your money back. Simple as that.

Check out the features. Check out the galleries of beautiful sites other Wix users have created. No need to hire your own website designer — just sign up, build your own website, and have fun.

Stop burning large files onto disks, dropping them off at the post office, and tapping your fingers as you wait for your friends/clients/colleagues to receive them.

Use www.TransferBigFiles.com to send large files to anyone, anywhere – well, so long as both you and your intended recipients have email, that is.

TransferBigFiles.com allows you to send files up to 1GB in size; if you don’t understand how big that is, I can almost guarantee you never need to send files that large.

The file-sending service is absolutely free, but the downside is that unless you know how to use a program like WinZip, you can only send one file at a time.

I learned about this gem of a site while reading the book Nudge by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.

Stickk.com helps people reach specific goals they set for themselves: goals from the seemingly small (such as “make an appointment for the dentist”) to the quite ambitious (say, “stop using illegal drugs”). Conceived by Dean Karlan (a Yale economics professor) and Ian Ayres (an economist and Yale Law professor), the Stickk process is simple yet effective; apparently users as a whole are experiencing a success rate of almost 80%. Not bad, eh?

Here’s how it works:

First, you set your goal.

Second, set the stakes for not reaching your goal. For example, you could set the stakes at $250. If you reach your goal, you get your $250 back. If you don’t reach your goal, that $250 goes directly to charity. Or, as an even greater incentive, Stickk.com allows you to set an “Anti-charity” as the recipient of your money should you fail to reach your goal. Anti-charities support causes you strongly disagree with. How would you feel if you didn’t stick to your commitment and all your money went to … the NRA? The Education Fund to Stop Gun Violence? How about the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation? The Americans United for Life?

Third, pick a referee who will monitor and verify the progress of your Stickk Commitment Contract.

Fourth, enlist friends and website members aiming for similar goals to act as your support group.

Then it’s time to start working to reach your goal! And thankfully, it’s not as easy to cheat the system as you might think.

So stop drinking coffee!

Start eating breakfast every morning!

Do 20 sit-ups every day!

Stop the excuses, and start reaching your goals!

You’re not alone; Stickk.com and its users are there to help you every step of the way.

ScreenSnapr was created for all of you who have, at one time or another, thought, “Geez, I wish there was an easy and FREE way of taking pictures of what’s on my screen … and saving those pictures … and sharing them with my friends.”

Press two keys on your keyboard and you’re instantly provided with an image that you can save to your computer and a website address that you can share with anyone you’d like.

Hop over to www.screensnapr.com and watch the little 30 second introductory video at the top of the homepage to learn more.

Adobe’s Acrobat Program is the industry standard for creating and modifying PDF files.

Problem is, at $450 for the regular “Pro” version and $700 for the “Pro Extended” version, Acrobat’s cost isn’t a drop in the bucket.

Thankfully, PDFCreator is a great—and free—alternative. If you don’t need all of Acrobat’s high-end bells and whistles (such as support for videos, maps, and 3D imagery) and if you’re interested in saving a few bucks, I recommend you give PDFCreator a shot.

You can download it right here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator.

Social bookmarking is a method that exists so that Web users around the world can be exposed to sites of interest they otherwise might not encounter. It’s just like normal bookmarking, but with a sharing (social) component to it! Social bookmarking also …

1. Allows web users to bookmark and track sites of interest for personal use – similar to using the normal Favorites and Bookmark buttons in common browsers.
2. Goes beyond the “normal” bookmarking of your standard Favorites and Bookmark tools by allowing sites of interest to be searched for and shared with other Web users.
3. Usually incorporates “tags.” Tags are nothing more than keywords related to each bookmarked site or page that allow for easier, more effective searching.
4. Often exists within sites that employ voting systems so that users can indicate which bookmarks they found most interesting. The bookmarked sites or pages with the highest ratings are given more prominence and exposure to even more people within these social bookmarking sites.

Stay tuned next week for an explanation of how to get involved with social bookmarking…