00111100 tips in 0x00A4CB80 msec
(English translation: 60 tips in 90 minutes)
1. Backup up your computer!
Backup Now (http://www.cmsproducts.com/)
Acronis True Image (http://www.acronis.com/)
2. CEO Express, dashboard of a lot of business resources
http://www.ceoexpress.com/default.asp
3. RSS Feeds
Google Reader: http://www.google.com/reader (or Outlook)
Interesting RSS Feeds: http://feeds.engadget.com/weblogsinc/engadget, http://feeds.feedburner.com/Techcrunch, http://lifehacker.com/vip.xml, http://feeds.feedburner.com/Makeuseof, http://feeds.killeraces.com/wisebread, http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/usatoday-TechTopStories, http://feeds.feedburner.com/laptopmag, http://feeds.harvardbusiness.org/harvardbusiness/
(don't click on these links, right click, copy link address, and paste into your RSS reader Add Feed)
Travel Hacking
4. Organizing your trip plans and details
5. Kayak (multi-site travel search engine)
6. ITA Software (booking engine for Orbitz, good for finding fare options, can’t book a ticket)
Since Google bought ITA it has been integrating their technology http://google.com/flights
7. Find the best seat on any commercial airplane
8. Actual available seats on flights
9. Hotwire/Priceline (inexpensive hotel rooms)
http://www.biddingfortravel.com (forum of winning bids, so you don’t bid too much)
http://www.betterbidding.com/ (another forum)
http://www.biddingtraveler.com (automated bidding for hotels)
10. Renting a Car
book "early," then recheck the week of the rental
11. FlyerTalk, great resource for “working the system” for any airline, hotel, etc.
- Yapta (tracks your fares, alerts you if they go down, great idea more/less killed by changes in airline rules, but made valuable again now that they track hotel room rates)
Meeting/working Without Travel
12. Set-A-Meeting, lets you set up a meeting finding a date and time that works for the most people
13. Free conference call service
http://www.freeconferencecall.com
14. Free or inexpensive web presentation and desktop sharing system
http://www.freescreensharing.com/
- Collaboration software like Groove but open source (aka free)
- Wiki, build a knowledge base for each factory, each person adds/updates
http://www.wikipedia.org/, great source of info on anything
http://www.wikidot.com/ build your own wiki instantly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software, comparison of wiki software
15. Listserv (email lists that redistribute to a group)
Google groups (http://groups.google.com/)
Yahoo! groups (http://groups.yahoo.com/)
Mailman listserv built into most web hosts
16. Online document creation/collaboration
Zoho,lots of applications including CRM, (http://www.zoho.com/)
Google Documents (http://docs.google.com/)
- YouTube for PowerPoints
If You Travel
17. Thin and Light Notebooks
MacBook Air: http://www.apple.com/macbookair/
ASUS U31/U36 http://www.go-asus.com/style/?gclid=CKDlvIbYlasCFQIEQAodmC7GuA
Acer Timeline http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/series/aspiretimelinex
Ultrabooks: Coming soon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrabook
18. Tablet Computers
iPad 2: http://www.apple.com/ipad/
Android: http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxytab/10.1/index.html or
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_TF101/
Tablet/smartphone screens break, you can get a warranty that includes accidental damage from Square Trade http://squaretrade.extole.com/a/clk/1QcQS (using this link gets a $10 discount)
19. Access your files/computer(s) remotely
https://devices.live.com/ (part of Microsoft Live http://explore.live.com/)
20. Virtual Private Network, full access to your network, open source (again free)
http://hamachi.en.softonic.com/
21. International Telecommunications
CDMA (Sprint/Verizon) doesn’t roam well, GSM (AT&T/T-Mobile) does
Watch out for international roaming charges!
Use “local” pre-paid SIM cards (coupled with Google Voice using http://www.localphone.com)
Use Skype (http://www.skype.com) to make calls back to the US.
22. Flash drives for backups and moving documents
8-16 GB drives for under $10 on sale
Portable Apps, carry Open Office, Thunderbird, Firefox on a flash drive
23. Universal power brick, works on AC, car or airplane, interchangeable tips for different devices
http://www.targus.com/us/powerstore.asp
http://us.kensington.com/html/11168.html
Label your power bricks (return address and what device they are for)
24. Portable printer
HP Officejet 100 (http://www.hp.com)
Canon i90 (http://www.usa.canon.com)
25. Portable scanner
Plustek OptiSlim M12 (http://www.plustek.com/product/m12.asp)
Fujitsu S300 duplex scanner (http://www.fujitsu.com/us/services/computing/peripherals/scanners/scansnap/s300.html)
26. 240,790 pages of scanned documents on a pocket sized hard disk
also use the same hard drive to back up your computer
Western Digital Passport (http://www.wdc.com/en/), frequently on sale
Seagate FreeAgent Go (http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/external/freeagent/freeagent_go/), has an USB docking station
- Keep track of your expenses while traveling
Neat Receipts (http://www.neatreceipts.com/), includes M12 scanner
- MapPoint (UPS saves 3 million gal gas a year routing for minimum left turns)
optimize your travel between customers
organize territories
http://www.microsoft.com/mappoint/default.mspx
- GPS, why get lost again?
portable GPS less than $50, http://www.geeks.com/products.asp?cat=GPS
27. Is it time to back up your computer? -- Online backup
http://www.mozy.com, $5.99 per month
http://www.carbonite.com/en/, $299 per year unlimited computers
28. Cloud storage
http://skydrive.live.com/, 25 GB free (limit on download)
https://www.dropbox.com/, 2 GB free
http://www.pogoplug.com, hardware to create own cloud storage
Shopping
29. “Deal” websites
http://www.spoofee.com, http://www.wisebread.com/bestdeals (short term sales)
http://www.nextag.com, http://www.pricegrabber.com (price comparison sites)
http://www.google.com/products (used to be called froogle)
http://www.meritline.com, http://www.dealextreme.com (Chinese sourcing good for accessories)
30. Refill ink cartridges, use generic ink cartridges, or recycle empties (Staples, Office Depot offer rebates for empties)
31. Recycle old equipment
Optimize Your Computer
32. Speed up your computer with more memory
4 GB desktop or notebook memory is about $29.95 on sale (check Spoofee)
33. Clean up your machine
defragment (right click drive on My Computer, select properties, then tools)
uninstall programs you no longer need
what’s on your computer? http://www.pxserver.com/winaudit.htm
34. Remove the plaque
System Mechanic (http://www.iolo.com/)
clean registry, free utility at http://www.ccleaner.com
don’t load extraneous program, (Start > Run > msconfig)
35. Remove malware
Ad-aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/)
Microsoft Defender (http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx)
Microsoft Security Essentials (http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/)
Alternative Data Input
36. QR Codes
or Google “QR Code Generator”
Windows PC QR Code Reader (http://www.dansl.net/blog/?p=256)
37. On-line forms
Google forms: www.google.com/google-d-s/forms/
Embedded forms on your own website
38. SMS - Text Messaging
Toys or Tools
- Business card reader/scanner, get those cards into your contact manager
Dymo CardScan, http://sites.dymo.com/Solutions/Pages/Seg_cat_lndg.aspx?cat=CardScanCMS(DYMO)&locale=enUS
39. Digital Pen for converting notes into images/text
http://www.iogear.com/product/GPEN200N/
40. eBook reader (documents without booting up the computer)
Amazon Kindle (http://www.amazon.com)
Barnes and Noble Nook (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/index.asp)
Sony PRS-500 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Reader)
Conversion software to create eBook formats (http://calibre-ebook.com/)
41. Pocket digital recorder, 6 to 60 hours of recording plugs in like USB drive (ideas, meetings)
Olympus (http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_vr_digitalrecorders.asp)
Samson Zoom H2, (http://www.samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=1916)
- Digital camera, carry one with you all the time
Casio S200 (http://exilim.casio.com/digital_cameras/Compact_Digital_Cameras/EX-S200), about ½" thick
Nikon S80 (http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Compact-Digital-Cameras/26231/COOLPIX-S80.html)
42. Digital camera as a "scanner"
6 megapixel camera = 250 dpi
10 megapixel camera = 300 dpi
Productivity
43. Keyboard shortcuts
copy, cut and paste (ctrl-C, ctrl-X, ctrl-V)
select all (ctrl-A)
bold, underline (ctrl-B, ctrl-U)
44. Organized filing
folders for each factory
folders for each customer
Google Desktop Search (http://desktop.google.com/)
Microsoft Desktop Search (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/desktopsearch/default.mspx)
45. Keep your inbox clear, read it, reply, file or delete. Handle it once.
46. Organized emails
same as organized filing, but only as many folders as can display at once
47. Outlook junk mail filter, sort Junk E-mail folder by "to", makes scanning for valid emails easier
many web hosts have "boxtrapper" option, challenges new senders to hit reply
Google Apps (Gmail) has really good spam filtering, works with Outlook
48. Exchange alternatives
Office 365 (hosted exchange): http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/online-software.aspx
Google Apps: http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html
- Voting in Outlook
In the message, click Options.
Select the Use voting buttons check box, and then click the voting button names you want to use in the box.
To create your own voting button names, delete the default button names, and then type any text you want. Separate the button names with semicolons
Under Delivery options, select the Save sent message to check box. To select a folder other than the Sent Items folder, click Browse.
Click Close, and then click Send.
Communicating
49. Wireless Broadband, DSL speeds over cell phone network --Mobile Hotspots
Virgin Mobile: http://www.virginmobileusa.com/mobile-broadband/mifi-2200.html
Sprint: http://ria.sprint.com/ria/pages/index.jsp?ms=4G&INTNAV=ATG:HE:4G#!/devices/mifi
AT&T: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/?q_sku=sku5320262#fbid=yON_ufh_l1K
- FON (wireless access worldwide in return for sharing your internet)
- Extend a wireless network in your building/neighborhood look at Meraki mesh networking
50. Skype, free/low cost international calls, video conferencing
51. VoIP, unlimited calls to US/Canada (and often Europe and Asia) for fixed price
Vonage is largest, http://www.vonage.com
Ooma, http://www.ooma.com/, buy hardware, service is free (US unlimited)
other options, http://www.geekbooks.com/VOIP-comparison.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_VoIP_software
52. Have your voice mails turned into emails/text messages
54. Google Voice, https://www.google.com/voice
Ring on multiple phones, voice mail transcription, spam filtering, call blocking
To port an existing phone number, it must be from a cell phone
55. eFax free version (receive faxes via email, 10 pages per month limit for free)
https://www.efax.com/en/efax/twa/signupFree?rqcp=1
Marketing
- LinkedIn, Facebook,
- On-line surveys
http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=87809
55. Bulk Email services/software
Emma email service (http://www.myemma.com/)
GroupMail (http://www.infacta.com)
- Blogging, on-line newsletter, Web 2.0 advertising
http://www.blogger.com, Google free service
56. Podcasting, audio product training opportunity
http://www.podshowcreator.com/why.shtml
57. Video, if a picture is worth 1,000 words, a video is worth a million
product demos, training, video podcasting, troubleshooting
capture from video camera, video camera to media (e.g. JVC or Aiptek, http://www.aiptek.com/) or use video mode on your digital camera (Casio will store 1 hour of 640 x 480 video on a 1 GB SD)
edit with Movie Maker (part of Windows XP), Studio (http://www.pinnaclesys.com), automatically with muvee (http://www.muvee.com)
58. Vistaprint, free or low cost 4 color printing
order their free business cards (their logo on back), they start sending emails with all sorts of free offers (including free "premium" business cards [no logo] and postcards)
59. Send a "handwritten" note (or have the office do it)
handwriting font service (http://vletter.com/)
easy to use font creation software (http://www.high-logic.com/scanahand.html)
free on-line font creation (http://www.fontcapture.com/)
- Contact Management
Outlook as minimum (contacts, calendar, to do)
Zoho CRM, 3 users free, http://crm.zoho.com/crm/login.sas
SalesForce.com, http://www.salesforce.com/
Act, http://www.act.com/
Goldmine, http://www.goldmine.com
Maximizer, http://www.maximizer.com/
60. Contact Information
Xobni: http://www.xobni.com/
Plaxo: http://www.plaxo.com/
Nimble: http://www.nimble.com/
61. Do you have a disaster plan?
Office Depot's Expecting the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness Strategies for Small Businesses, 71% of small businesses do not have a disaster recovery plan and 64% of small businesses do not think they need a plan. Almost two-thirds of the respondents (63%) are confident they can resume operations within 72 hours of a natural disaster which is a false assumption (ask Gulf Coast businesses if that is true). The Office Depot brochure states that one of four small businesses will experience a significant crisis in any year.
Cheap Field Computers
62. Low Cost NetBooks
http://www.acer.com/aspireone/
http://products.liliputing.com/
63. Free Software Alternatives
Microsoft Office: Open Office http://www.openoffice.org/ or LibreOffice http://www.libreoffice.org/
Adobe Acrobat: http://www.cutepdf.com/, free or $49, or http://www.bullzip.com/, free