Raven is Awesome!

After a year of struggling to maintain a dozen or so blogs, today I stumbled upon Raven by Zoundry. In minutes I was able to upload all of my blogs to the software program I downloaded for free. In one simple application I am able to either edit a single blog or multiple blogs at once. It makes writing, posting photos and links so much easier! And faster! Even if you are managing just one blog, check out this free software program. I'm sure it will be much easier than what you have been using.

Brightkite - Another Twitter like application

Brightkite.com is a lot like Twitter only a lot more fun. You can email or text your status or photos as well as your location (like Open Houses). You can also text your website, if you're working on it, or even a link to your blog.

What's kind of fun about this site is that people from all over the world are posting on it, hundreds every minute or so sometimes, all through the night. Not only do they post text, but most post photos of what they are doing and some are really interesting. A lot of times you'll just see photos of what people are having for dinner, but you'll also see famous people, foreign locations, people asking for help, etc. As 'posts' pop up you can click on them and add a comment. I saw a few posts that I clicked on and answered.

Just like Twitter, you can have 'friends' or people following your 'posts' and photos. You never know whose looking for what online, or who you might be able to help out.

The other thing you can do is enter your location, be it at an Open House, or when you're working Updesk at the office, or just the city of your location. Then you can see who else is online anywhere around where you are.

Yahoo Widgets - Mobile!

I stumbled upon this awesome gadget the other day, and I have to say that I use it DAILY! Honestly I wish you could just read my mind right now because there is so much this 'Widget' does, it would take a long time to type it all. But here goes...

Once you visit the Yahoo Widget link provide (or click on the photo above), just enter your cell phone number towards the upper right of the screen. You will be sent a text message that includes a link to download this application to your cell phone. This only works if your cell phone can access the Internet. In this day and age of technology, if you have a cell phone that doesn't have Internet access, you may be truly missing out on some unbelievably free products to make your life easier (yes, I said 'easier' and I'll show you why below).

Once you download the application to your cell phone, you simply access it by clicking on the Yahoo icon (on your cell phone of course). You will be directed to the Yahoo Carousel. Right away it has the look and feel of something really cool. There are already 'Widgets' that ride along this carousel, and they are very handy. There's a News widget, Money Watch, Map, Traffic, Weather, Sports, direct link to your Yahoo Mail, etc. A widget is simply an icon that will direct you to the items I just listed (that's the simplest way of putting it). There is also a Widget (icon) to add more widgets, like MySpace, or Trapster (this one is good!), or even a Blog Feeder which allows you to receive your Blogs directly on your cell phone.

Let's start with my favorite, Yahoo Maps. It's not just the maps that are awesome, it's the Traffic icon. Once you click on Traffic and enter your City, it will immediately pull up ANY traffic incidents in and around that city that are affecting, well, traffic. On Wednesday during our meeting I was fiddling with the Widgets (okay, that sounds bad), and I came across the Traffic one. I entered 'Murrieta' and up came two incidents; one just two blocks from our office! It stated when it was reported, also that it was a traffic collision (nothing any more is labelled an 'accident'), and that an ambulance was responding! Is that unbelievable or what! This 'Traffic' widget works anywhere in the US (as far as I know because I haven't tried it anywhere), on side streets and freeways. You can also enter your route, from point A to point B, and it will tell you of any incidents along the way. This is terrific if you have a long commute every day!

Another cool 'Widget' is Trapster. This one tells you the location of red light camera's and also the location that the police like to hang out and ticket people. I looked up my city and I can tell you first hand that it IS accurate for our area. There are some common intersections that we know are 'trouble spots' when it comes to red light runners, or people that get stuck in the intersection because they've tried to get through the light before it turned red, even though there wasn't enough room for them. So the police usually sit at these intersections and wait (usually until the next light turns), before they catch another offender and ticket them. Trapster is meant for you to avoid these locations, it makes you aware of the problems that happen there, and just to drive more carefully ;-)

There are many, many more 'Widgets' you can add and it would take all day to describe them all, but check it out for yourself. Add your favorite news, sports, stocks (maybe not just yet), or blogs (like this one), and get started. You'll be glad you did!

It may be CUTE, but it's also FREE

I wrote earlier about a FREE PDF that I've used in the past. Recently I've had a couple of problems with it though, and went searching for another FREE PDF program to use. With PRIMO, I would save a PDF file, and go searching for it on my computer afterwards with no luck. Somehow it just never saved. I've tried a few times on a few different computers, and have occasional problems. So, in the event you come across the same probably, try this one instead:

CUTE PDF

This PDF program works as easy as selecting PRINT on your computer. Visit the website, download the FREE program and that's it. Don't go looking for the program on your computer because you aren't going to find an executable program. If you'd like to save any document as a PDF, simple access that document (by opening it up) on your computer. Then click on FILE, then PRINT, and select CUTE PDF as your printer. That's it.

And it's FREE!

Visit the website

To TWITTER or not to TWITTER...

Twitter? The first time I heard about this term was in a newspaper article, then the next day when the story hit the TV stations. A young man was out of the Country when he was arrested. He used 'Twitter' to alert his 'followers' and they came to his aid. Sounds strange doesn't it?

Twitter is a website that allows it's users to update their 'status' (what they happen to be doing at any given time). It's kind of like MySpace's 'Status' option, only your followers have the option of being notified of your 'status' change via email or their cell phones.

This is how it works. Visit http://www.twitter.com and sign up for free (create a user name and password). You are then prompted to update your status. Are you working? Having a BBQ? Getting ready to see a movie? Just start typing in the 'What are you doing' box and click on Update. That's it. Now, you can invite your friends or family to join Twitter and follow your updates (they become your 'followers'). And you can also search for friends (ones you know, or simply a search in a particular City or Town). Once you locate some 'friends' simply click on 'Follow' and you can follow their status updates. You have the option of being notified via email or text on your cell phone anytime someone you're 'following' updates their status.

So, here's where it made the news. Once the young man mentioned above used his cell phone to update his status (ARRESTED), his friends received the message and knew he had just been arrested in Egypt.

Here's the actual news blurb:
mercurynews.com — Buck, 29, used the ubiquitous short messaging service to tap out a single word on his cellular phone: ARRESTED. The message went out to the cell phones and computers of a wide circle of friends in the United States and to the mostly leftist, anti-government bloggers in Egypt who are the subject of his graduate journalism project.

Now, it's not likely that you will happen to be out of the Country and have to rely on Twitter to summons your friends to rescue you, but it's a great way to stay in touch, and let people know what you like to do (so long as you keep it somewhat PG).

What's interesting is the amount of attention that this site is getting, and also the media that is now climbing on board. Last night I was watching CNN's coverage of Hurricane Gustav, and was surprised to see them using Twitter as one of their main forms of live communication with those still in New Orleans.

You can also add Twitter updates to your own blogs (mine is in the upper left corner of this particular Blog site), as well as your personal websites, MySpace, etc. With one text, or one update on Twitters website, your status will automatically be updated everywhere you have installed the Twitter 'gadget' or code.

You may not think you 'need' this particular 'gadget' right now, but there may come a day where you might find yourself saying, that really came in handy. Imagine living in New Orleans right now, and most of your out of state friends are frantically waiting to hear if you made it out before the hurricane. One cell phone text from you to Twitter ("All is well guys"), and immediately a text, email or update to your website goes out to all.

http://www.twitter.com

AIR SET is your one stop organizer!

Air Set is a free website that helps keep you organized. But it's not just an ordinary calendar. Stay with me until the end here and you'll soon see why.

http://www.airset.com

Upon login you can view your Personal Calendar (agenda view, day, week, month, etc). You can upload any files that you might like to download later from any computer (with an internet connection). You can upload photos into the 'album' and view your contacts as well. But that's not even the cool part.

What Air Set allows you to do is to create as many Calendars as you'd like, on the same website. I'll give you an example by telling you how I set mine up as a Manager.

I started off with my Personal Calendar which can only be viewed by me. Then I added another Calendar and named it 'Office' and invited the entire office (all 100 agents) to join. I had uploaded the office roster, posted class information, uploaded the monthly front desk schedule, and even added photos from a recent office BBQ. It was a terrific place for agents to log on and see what's going on in their office, and to download files, phone numbers and schedules. They could even download the photos that I had posted.

Next I added a Calendar for the Managers that were in my District (about 9 of them). We all had shared access to the information uploaded or shared in that Calendar.

Here's where I want to make things clear. When you add another Calendar and invite people to it, they CAN NOT see YOUR other Calendars. They CAN NOT be invited to YOUR Personal Calendar. They can only see the Calendar that you invited them to. So my office could only see the office Calendar, and the District Managers could only see the District Managers Calendar.

I also created Calendars for the Managers in the company, for my daughter (for her to input her work schedule) and for my Clients. So now I had at least 6 Calendars on the website. I am only able to view one Calendar at a time, but if I click on ALL, they all merge together into ONE Calendar!

The tabs of EACH Calendar show up at the top of the Calendar, and they are all different colors. What's really cool is that when you are looking at ALL of your Calendars at once, the items for each individual Calendar are the same as the corresponding tab. My Personal Tab is purple, the office is in Blue, clients are green, etc. So when you are viewing ALL Calendars at once, they will have all of the different colors.


http://www.airset.com

More to come...

AGENT PLACE gives you a place, for free

Okay, here's another freebie, it's a website. A website where you can put up your own personal 'business' profile, add properties (if you happen to be in real estate), and create hundreds of flyers.



http://www.agentplace.com

You can also add your contact list, and seemlessly send out emailed flyers, cards, notices, etc. You can even set these up ahead of time so that you can have Holiday greetings go out on a particular day. Want to create a really nice Labor Day greeting, and set it up to go out to whichever clients you like the day before Labor Day? The tutorial walks you through the process.



Would you like to keep track of different 'farms'? The database is terrific for just that.

Documents can be securly uploaded and placed in an online file. You can then send your clients the link and a passcode to download these files directly from their computer. You can also email these files directly to the server to be available to your clients immediately. Frequently use the same forms? Upload it the server. Then whenever a client or potential customer asks for it, just direct them to the site to download at their leisure.

It's a terrific website with lots of free options. Just check it out. More to come on this one (I'm in a hurry right now or I'd write more).

http://www.agentplace.com

PRIMO PDF is like, way Primo!

Have you ever sent a document only to find out days later the recipient couldn't open it? Or came across a website that you wanted to save and view offline later?

This FREE program will make your life a whole lot easier! Primo PDF is a FREE PDF creator (not editor). You can save web pages as PDF's, Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, almost anything that you can view on your computer that has a 'Print' button.

Once you go to http://www.primopdf.com and download the program, you're ready to go.

Pull up the document or website you'd like to save as a PDF.

Click on File, then Print (if you are in Word, Excel or any other document on your computer). If you are on a web page, click on the Print button.

Once the Print dialog button opens up, click on the arrow next to the default printer, and change the printer to Primo PDF. I know, it sounds strange, but it really works! So click on OKAY.

Then the PDF dialog box pops up and you can name your document and decide where you'd like to save it. Then click on OK.

That's it! Done!

http://www.primopdf.com

Check it out, it's FREE (at least it still is at the time of this post)

YOU MAIL for you!

Finally, a voice mail system that customizes outgoing messages for each individual caller or group of callers.





Have you ever wished that some people would just get the message and stop calling? A creditor, ex spouse? Ex spouses new spouse??? YOU MAIL helps you get your message across.

Maybe you'd prefer a more professional message for your clients, and something with a little more personality for friends and family. YOU MAIL gives you hundreds of custom greetings to choose from.

Once you sign up at YOU MAIL, take a few moments and add your contacts to the website. Then browse through the custom 'greetings' and choose a new greeting for each of your contacts.
If you don't choose a greeting, the default greeting your callers hear goes like this:

"Hello John (if John is their name), Christine (if Christine is your name) is not available right now. Please leave a message after the beep".

The system will announce each caller by name as long as they are in your list of contacts.

Now, back to the callers you don't care to hear from again. There are 'greetings' that are actually called 'Ditch Mail'. They usually go something like this:

"The number you have reached is not in service at this time, please check the number and try again later" and best of all, it doesn't give the caller the opportunity to leave a message.

Another good one:

"The number you have reached is no longer in service" and then the system 'ditches' the caller and they are unable to leave a message.

There are dozens more to choose from, but they tend to get a little rude and more direct so I won't include them here.

There are greetings that include everything from Austin Powers to Bart Simpson. Also some terrific Military ones as well! Plenty of professional ones to choose from, as well as melodies and more famous people.

One favorite of mine starts out like this:

"You have reached the police department's voice mail. Please listen carefully as some of our selections have changed" and then it goes into some pretty funny stuff!

Aside from the greetings available, what this service really does best is translate your caller's voice mail to text and then sends it to your cell phone. How often have you been in a meeting and you know that someone just left a voice mail. But you can't check your voice mail in the middle of your meeting. So what do you do? The system will transcribe the voice mail and first send you a text letting you know that you have a voice mail waiting from "John Doe" using "Verizon" at "123-456-7890" and that the voice mail is "3 minutes" long (provided your caller is John Doe and he's calling from a Verizon cell phone with the number being 123-456-7890). Next comes the text message with the exact transcription of the voice mail. You don't even have to be conspicuos about retrieving your 'voice mail'. No one will ever know!

Besides the features listed already, YOU MAIL's website will list all of your recent voice mails along with a link to listen to them online. You also have the option of receiving an email that transcribes your voice mails, and also includes a voice recording as an attachment.

To find out more about YOU MAIL, visit their website at: http://www.youmail.com/youmail/home.do

What is the coolest thing about YOU MAIL?

It's FREE!!

Make sure you check with your own cell phone carrier to see if text charges apply to you.

Wait a minute while I JOTT this!

What's the first thing that comes to mind when someone tells you they need to Jott something? Usually it's of someone scrambling for a pen that works and a scrap of paper. That was the old days, let's talk about the new!

'Jott'ing today means much more than grabbing your notepad and pen. It has to do with your cell phone. Now that the laws in California have changed and cell phone use while driving is no longer legal (nor is it even safe!) Jott has the perfect solution. It's as easy as putting Jott's 800 number on speed dial.

Once you've dialed Jott from your cell phone, you are recognized by their system. A recording asks you 'Who do you want to Jott?' Now, if you'd like to send a reminder to yourself, just say 'Me' or 'Myself'. Then you will promptly hear a beep which means it's time to start recording your message. Whatever you record is then transcribed and sent to your cell phone as a text message (and to your email if you choose that option). It's a great way to 'jott' something that you can't conveniently write down. Maybe a house address as you're driving by, or the license plate number of some reckless driver (okay, so that's something that I would do!)

Suppose you're driving on the freeway and you suddenly have an urge to text a message to a friend or client. Instead of putting yourself and others at risk by using both thumbs to type out your message at 75mph, just speed dial Jott. When you are asked 'Who do you want to Jott?", say the name of the contact (it helps to take a few minutes ahead of time and add these contacts to the Jott website). Jott will then confirm the name from your list of contacts, and then you will hear the beep. Whatever you record will immediately be transcribed to text and sent via a text message to your friend or client!

As far as reminders go, Jott is so much more. Not only can you send yourself a reminder, you can set up a reminder for the reminder. Here's how it works:


Jott: "Who do you want to Jott?"
Me: "Myself"
Jott: Beep
Me: "Don't forget appointment next Thursday at 8:00am."
Jott: "Do you want to set up a reminder?"
Me: "Yes"
Jott: "What day?"
Me: "Next Wednesday"
Jott: "What time?"
Me: "5:00pm"
Jott: "Jott Sent"

That's it! So next Wednesday at 5:00pm you will get a text from Jott (and email if you like) reminding you of your 'appointment on Thursday at 8:00am'.

Now, if you have the FREE Calendar by Google you can Jott directly to your Calendar. As soon as you say, "Don't forget dentist appointment next Thursday at 8:00am", an entry will automatically show up at 8:00am on Thursday that says, ' dentist appointment'.

There are about 20 or more programs already associated with Jott, with more coming soon.

To find out more about Jott, visit their website at: http://jott.com/myjotts.aspx

And what is the coolest thing about Jott?

It's FREE!

But don't forget to check any text charges with your own cell phone provider!

Do you CHA CHA?! You will after you read this!

Is this an old dance craze coming back? Not quite. So how can Cha Cha help you in business, or even your personal life. It's kind of like having your own personal assistant in the palm of your hand, literally.

Ever have one of those moments with a group of your friends where you just can't remember a song, an actor or some kind of sports fact? Finding out the answer is as easy as sending a text to Cha Cha, and usually within 3 minutes, the answer is text right back to you.
"What is the tallest building in the United States?"
Cha Cha immediately text back, "The Sears Tower in Chicago, Ill is the tallest building in the US; it stands 1,451ft and has 110 stories. Thank you!" It's THAT easy!
You can ask for facts (who sings a particular song, etc), or for the closest coffee shop to your location. You can even get directions. The sky is the limit as far as what you can ask. If the first Cha Cha 'guide' doesn't receive enough information from you to answer your question, they'll text you back to get more information. Anything you can find on the Internet, your Cha Cha 'guide' will be able to answer and text you back.

"What is the phone number for the White House?"

Need a phone number? Directions? Facts and Figures? Even local laws? Just text Cha Cha!

How easy is it? Just create a text message and send it to: 242242. That's it!

By the way, Cha Cha just returned the answer to my question above:

"Here's the number for the switchboard at the White House - 202-456-1414"

Yep, it's that easy!

There are thousands of Cha Cha guides all over, sitting by their computers awaiting your text questions. These 'guides' get paid approximately .20 for every text they answer. In each text response from a 'guide' there is a link that takes you to a small blurb about your Cha Cha guide, as well as where they found the answer to your question.

And what's the coolest things about Cha Cha?

It's FREE!*

*Check with your own cell phone carrier to find out if you get charged for text messages.

To find out more, just visit the website: http://chacha.com/

TELL ME about that cool new gadget!

Okay, you know you've been there, on the side of the road, completely lost and can't seem to find your destination to save your life. We've all been there, so what do you do?

You simply pick up your phone and say the name of the business you'd like to find. What comes back to you within seconds right there on your phone is the name of the business, location and phone number. Not only that, but quick links to either call, view a map and even turn by turn directions!

Have you ever found yourself wanting to see a movie, but you're nowhere near a newspaper and you're not even sure what's playing and where. So, what do you do?

You simply pick up your phone and say 'movies'. What comes back to you is a list of all of the movies that are playing in your town. If you see one you like, click on it and immediately a list of all the theaters and showing times are displayed for that movie! Click on the name of the theater and you will instantly see the address and phone number, and you will have the ability to click to call the theater, or click for directions. What if you know what theater you'd like to go to but you don't know what is playing or what time? Simply click on 'find a theater' and it's all instantly displayed for you.

How about weather? Just pick up your phone and say 'weather' and it instantly diplays the weather for the city you have chosen. Want to look up another city, simply choose 'change city'.

What about police stations? Just say 'police' and you will instantly get a list of police stations, sheriff stations, CHP, and even substations, complete with address' and phone numbers. Don't forget, they all come with directions!

So, what is this cool new tech tip called? It's called Tell Me, and you can find it at http://www.tellme.com/

The ability to find what you are looking for in any city or state seems endless. Sports? News? Entertainment? Maps? Traffic information? It's all there!

And what's the coolest thing about TellMe?

It's FREE!FREE!!