Envision this: A few minutes before a scheduled meeting time, you get an SMS that shows photos of the participants, together with data from their LinkedIn profiles, their last few tweets, and links to your most recent emails with them. That’s the idea behind Noteleaf. Read more »
Remote workers need to be especially vigilant about avoiding Repetitive Stain Injury (RSI). I asked licensed massage therapist Wimsey Cherrington, who specializes in treating patients with repetitive strain injuries for low-cost techniques we could share with our teams. Here are a few that she recommended. Read more »
We’ve written before about software bundles, which have become increasingly popular. Similarly, AppSumo has put together a bundle of SaaS products that will appeal to “lean startups,” timed to coincide with the SxSW Interactive event that has just started in Austin, TX. Read more »
With the new iPad 2 on the way, many teams may be considering whether iPads can replace laptops as tools for remote workers. That may be possible with one of the many remote control and screen sharing apps available for the iPad. Read more »
Citrix’s popular remote access tool GoToMyPC is now available for the iPad , with a new app that lets users access files, programs and network resources on desktop Macs or PCs from their tablets, and can can remotely connect via 3G or Wi-Fi networks. Read more »
Cross-platform screen sharing solution TeamViewer has been updated to version 6, and has added a new Android app. There are many alternatives for screen sharing and web conferencing, but TeamViewer stands out by offering an all-in-one solution for making presentations, connecting to and troubleshooting remote computers. Read more »
I keep most of my work in the cloud these days, to facilitate collaboration with my remote colleagues. But I have an HTC EVO 4G, so I tested VNC® Viewer for Android to see if it would work to gain emergency access to my work computer. Read more »
Online document service Crocodoc, which Thursday wrote about last year, is rolling out some new features that should make it easier to collaborate on and mark up highly-formatted documents, including PDFs, Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents, and PNG and JPEG images. Read more »
If you have a centralized office phone system with remote workers. AT&T now has a mobile app that allows you to manage your company phone system directly from your iPhone. The free app is part of AT&T’s Office@Hand system, which was developed with RingCentral. Read more »
Let’s face it, we could still get more nasty weather before the winter is over. If you must work, then you might as well be prepared. So I’ve collected some resources that may be helpful to those of us who work remotely. Read more »
We all know that it’s better to keep existing customers than to spend the time and effort getting new ones. So when a friend and fellow business owner asked me for advice on how she could raise her prices, here’s the procedure we came up with. Read more »
An internship can be a rewarding experience for both you and the student. It’s a great way to find out if a person will work well with your organization. And especially in the technical fields, interns can provide insights into the future. Read more »
Silentale, the “unified address book” that we wrote about last year, has sent an email to its users announcing that the service is ending. It states that “starting January 31st, we will be phasing out the Silentale service…” Silentale appears to have lost out to Gist. Read more »
Just about every business-oriented VoIP phone, and even many cellphones, come with a speakerphone these days. But such speakers are often poor, and I decided to see how much difference a really good phone could make, like the Polycom SoundStation IP 6000 conference phone. Read more »
Zoho, a provider of an extensive suite of 26 web applications, many of which we’ve written about previously, is now offering a bookkeeping and accounting system called Zoho Books. It will compete with online business accounting systems like LessAccounting and QuickBooks Online. Read more »
The Konnect office phone system is available in a couple of versions; the version I tried doesn’t require a server. It can be used with many VoIP services, but the native Konnect service is less sophisticated than some options we’ve tried. Read more »
Facebook has quietly announced to application developers that third-party apps will be able to access the addresses and mobile phone numbers of Facebook users. The easiest way to avoid making postal addresses and mobile phone numbers available is to not include them in your Facebook profile. Read more »
Most web workers have probably heard that “the Internet is running out of addresses.” In response, The Internet Society, together with such major players as Facebook, has announced World IPv6 Day. What will this mean for web workers, businesses and individuals? Read more »
VoxOx is a great idea: one program that does phone calls, IM, video chat, Skype messaging, conference calling, even incoming faxing. You can select your own phone number. Unfortunately, with an app that does this much, I suppose it’s inevitable that there will be shortcomings. Read more »
LogMeIn Hamachi is one of my favorite tools for creating a VPN to connect to my network remotely. I can create and access secure virtual networks across public and private networks. The new Mac version 2.0 sports a spiffy GUI, plus features that have been Windows-only. Read more »
Now that the online collaboration service Dimdim has been purchased by Salesforce and is being shut down, what alternatives for collaboration, conferencing and screen sharing remain available? Here are a few options that we’ve covered in the past. Prices, features and usability vary greatly. Read more »
The Buffalo CloudStor is an external drive that has built-in capabilities allowing you to make its contents available outside your own network. As with Pogoplug Biz and Pogoplug Video, users will be able to make the contents of the drive available anywhere with an Internet connection. Read more »
Three new reports suggest that opportunities for technology jobs are outpacing the wider job market. Postings for information technology positions grew by 82 percent over December 2009, and the position of software engineer has been named “the nation’s best job.” Other technology-related jobs also rated highly. Read more »
Email spam is, of course, a continuing problem, even if the total amount has fallen recently. So Google has responded by adding some new spam-fighting tools to Google Apps. Administrators can now enable DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM). This technology is intended to prevent “spoofing” of messages. Read more »
Pogoplug Video, announced today at CES, will allow you to make videos available to clients more easily. The device will stream HD video and images from your own external hard drive, directly to desktops and laptops, as well as to iOS, Android, and other mobile devices. Read more »
The number of co-working spaces has continued to grow in popularity during the last year. According to a recent report, the number of co-working facilities almost doubled in 2010, and there are now over 650 such locations worldwide, according to a study by Deskwanted. Read more »
One of the fun things about writing here is that I get to experiment with a bunch of apps and devices. Here’s a list of the products I tried in 2010 that have made their way into my everyday work life. Read more »
If you’re still wondering what those funny black-and-white squares are, here’s an introduction. QR codes are an increasingly-popular way of converting data like website addresses into a form that can be scanned. Thus, users can go to a website without having to type in the address. Read more »
A new report evaluating recent job postings for remote workers found that employers are looking to hire mobile developers. The report also showed an increase in postings for experts in such languages as Spanish, German and Korean, and for business planning and market strategy professionals. Read more »
The iTwin device provides a simple and secure way of connecting to your office’s files while you’re out of the office. You’ll be able to access, move, copy and back up files. You can edit remote files directly, or copy files by dragging and dropping them. Read more »
In case you missed them, here are the top posts of 2010 from WebWorkerDaily. It’s clear that you like our compilations of tips, apps, and other tools, but you also appreciate practical discussions of ways to improve your ability to work effectively. Read more »
Contact pages on websites are usually boring. But Formsly gives your visitors detailed information about your business — the sort of information that you might find on Yelp or Google Places — but that information is embedded in your website, and you can control its format and content. Read more »
A recent survey of New Year’s resolutions found that workers want to get organized, stay connected, and respond more quickly to business communications. What are your New Year’s resolutions? How do you plan to manage your work life in 2011? Read more »
icloud, a “web operating system” with a growing selection of apps that can be included in a customizable virtual workspace, is now offering mobile apps for iOS and Android that include access to files, document viewing, and uploading of photos, along with an updated mobile website. Read more »
A recent survey of New Year’s resolutions found that the number-one resolution is to get organized. Sixty-one percent of those polled pledged to keep their business more organized in the new year. If you have a similar resolution, here are some ideas to improve organization. Read more »
If you find that the busy interfaces of standard word processors detract from your ability to concentrate, there are several options for “distraction-free writing,” including WriteRoom, OmmWriter and DarkRoom. Now there’s a web app called QuietWrite that tries to create a similar environment. Read more »
Some Gmail users are seeing ads below messages. Gmail has long displayed ads in its web interface, to the right of incoming messages. But some are complaining that the new placement makes it more likely that people will click on ads accidentally. Read more »
A recent survey of New Year’s resolutions found that workers are not interested in being out of touch in 2011. Less than one in five workers (19 percent) resolves to unplug from email or voicemail in their time off from work. Read more »
Sleipnir Mobile and the 360 Browser have joined a growing group of alternatives to Mobile Safari, the web browser that comes with the iPhone and iPod touch. Tabs, data sync with Firefox, download management, and access to Flash content highlight the features these browsers offer. Read more »
GDocsOpen is a software program for Windows that makes it easy to edit and sync local documents directly to Google Documents. I found its small size and simple installation appealing, but it can’t be used without an active internet connection, which limits its usefulness. Read more »
