Archive for the ‘Resources/Free Programs’ Category
Ever have the need to watch TV on your laptop?
HULU desktop is a free program that allows you to watch all of the awesome content. Just download and install HULU desktop and start watching. This program makes it simple to browse through the thousands of TV shows and movies on HULU.com. You can even use HULU desktop to queue your favorite shows so you don’t miss anything. It’s at http://www.hulu.com.
If you need some information such as movie showtimes, restaurants or fast food nutritional data, but you’re not near a computer this is for you! You can call 800-2chacha (800-224-2242) on your cell phone and ask your question. The question is sent to one of chacha.com guides who locates the information and answers you by text message a few minutes later. There is no charge for this service and it works with most cell carriers. Give it a shot!
Tired of keeping that “to-do” list and watching some things transferred every day because you ran out of time? This amazing free program called Accomplice lets you list everything and then transfer only those items that you plan to accomplish “on your plate.” It even puts an almost invisible bar across the top of your screen where you can click it and instantly add another task without opening the entire program. It’s free or you can upgrade to the pro version for $29.00. Worth checking it out! Click here.
Need more cool tools to make your photos shinier, your audio recordings zippier, your illustrations simpler, and your presentation graphics well annotated? Aviary is a new, online, cross-platform suite of tools you can now use in the pro mode for no charge. This company got a new round of funding so you no longer have to pay.
It has lots of video tutorials to help you understand and use the tools, too. You will need a computer, an up-to-date Web browser, and a broadband Internet connection.
Wonder how fast is your computer? Take this free speed test. Mine is about 3280 upload and download for comparison.
Looking for a way to meet new people and network in your area? Try http://www.meetup.com. Put in your zip code and find meetings and groups in your area.
Although you may use Google every day, you might be missing out on some of the tricks to strengthen your search muscles. Thanks to speaker Dawn Bjork Buzbee for these great tips.
1. What time is it?
Want to know the time anywhere in the world? Enter a search for:
time:London or time London
You can type any other place name instead of London. Your search is not case-sensitive.
2. What’s the weather outside?
To see the weather for many worldwide cities, type “weather” followed by the city and state, zip code, or city and country. Some examples (capitalization and punctuation not required):
weather:maui hawaii
weather Lahaina, HI
weather 96761
3. Quick math
Use Google’s built-in calculator function. Simply enter the calculation you want completed into the Google search box. For example, 2468*35.79, which works with or without spaces around the mathematical operators. Much more complex calculations work too.
4. Easy search for public data
To see trends for population and unemployment rates of U.S. states and counties, type “population” or “unemployment rate” followed by a state or county. You can then click through to a page that lets you compare different locations. For example:
population CA or unemployment rate Nevada
5. Unit conversion
You can use Google to convert between many different units of measurement of height, weight, and volume among many others. Just enter the conversion you want into the Google search box and it will calculate the conversion for you. Some examples to try:
50 pounds in kilos (50 lbs in kg also works)
100 meters in feet
6. Currency conversion
Simply enter the conversion you want into the search box such as:
75 euros in us dollars
50 canadian dollars in usd
7. Flight status
To see flight status for arriving and departing U.S. flights, enter the name of the airline and the flight number into the Google search box. You can also see delays at a specific airport by typing in the name of the city or three-letter airport code followed by the word “airport”. Some examples of this tip are:
frontier airlines 449
chicago airport
DFW airport
http://bit.ly/6F8Mt
Don’t have time to chat? Bypass the conversation and just leave a voicemail message. If you’re calling a cell phone number there’s a no-cost service called Sly Dial (www.slydial.com). Call their toll-free number, input the cell number of the person you’re wanting to leave a message for, listen to a short advertisement, and leave your message. Their phone won’t register a call, just a voicemail message alert. Sneaky.
You can download yoga, Pilates, Cardio and strength training videos for free at this great web site. More than 80 to choose from you could do a different workout every day for almost three months without ever going to a gym. Click here.