Tuesday, April 10, 2007

The Latest Cool Stuff

I am always on the lookout for cool services, programs, websites, etc. Anything to make my life easier, more fun, or cooler. I find a lot of interesting ones, but I certainly don't install every "interesting" program I happen upon. But there are definitely a few that I find worthwhile. Here are the three of the ones I've found recently that I can't live without: (and no, I do not work for, represent or own a stake in any of these companies)

Mozy
This excellent little program provides automatic backing up of files on your computers. They give you 2 gigs of online storage for free (and you can upgrade to unlimited for only five bucks a month). It installs a small desktop client which lets you select which file types, directories, or individual files you want to back up. It then either backs them up on a schedule or whenever your computer is idle. Then you can access your files from any Internet computer in the world. It's an excellent tool, I love it. But, unfortunately, it's not Mac compatible...yet.

AddThis.com
People reading your blog isn't always good enough. Wouldn't it be cool if your readers had an easy way to share what they were reading with others in their various social networks? This simple site lets you create a button that can be automatically added to each of your blog posts allowing readers to share it with 32 different sites including Del.icio.us, Slashdot, Digg, and Newsvine.

CamStudio
This program is amazing. I simply can't believe that it's free. It allows you to record your desktop as a video. You can create video tutorials, complete with voice-over or subtitles, demonstrating software, showing off a website, etc. It even lets you select what portion of the screen to record. It records high quality AVI files and even has the ability to (get this) create a standalone SWF file complete with player ready for you to put on your website. No Flash knowledge necessary. It's amazing.

Feel free to share any cool programs you can't live without in the comments.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous5:14 PM

    I have a few programs I always install:

    * Pidgin (formerly known as Gaim)
    * Skype
    * OpenOffice.org
    * Firefox

    ReplyDelete