If your iPhone service plan doesn't include text messages or you routinely burn through your monthly allotment, here's a trick for getting unlimited SMS without spending a penny. In a nutshell, you install the iPhone AIM client iTunes link, then add new AIM contacts in your desktop instant-messaging program (iChat, AIM,...
Maggie Jackson's book Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age," is getting real buzz. I got this subject line in my email yesterday: Are You Feeling Distracted? (My first thought: just about every minute of the day.) Are you feeling saturated...
Every year, a new study seems to come out claiming that either IMing is a productivity timesuck or that it's actually a useful, relatively non-intrusive tool. Recently, the scientific pendulum has swung to the "useful" side, as a recent study found that "workers who used instant messaging on the job...
Do you need help operating your computer-machine on the Intertubes? Once upon a time, AOL was master of its domain. Now that the world has realized the internet is free, AOL struggles to be useful. They bought Bebo, a social-networking site, in hopes that the young, international demographic will boost...
Whenever I migrate to a new PC it happens more often than you might think, I immediately install the following five programs. I can't live without them, and neither should you. Copernic Desktop Search  I don't know why desktop-search utilities have all but vanished, but thank goodness Copernic...
If you rely heavily on instant messaging for business communications, you've probably wished for a way to store conversations for future reference. Simkl archives instant messages to an online server and lets you search and share them. This "history saver" works with virtually all IM clients, from...
Two years ago, it was suggested to me that I submit the stacks and stacks of tattered yellow and white legal pads that had served as my social calendar for the better part of five years to be part of an exhibit called Instant Messaging: An exhibition of the debris...
In Slate a few days ago, Jeffrey MacIntyre wrote about a few small applications he likes to call ZenWare for their supposed ability to cull distractions from your desktop. He tested a few of them out, and came away particularly impressed with Spirited Away for Macs—the PC version is Swept...
The results of my highly unscientific poll suggest that, while sales pros have love email and cellular phones, they hate Instant Messaging, at least when it comes to selling. IM got ranked on the bottom, or near the bottom, by nearly every person who commented. Why...
How many people store a letter opener in the top drawer of their desk these days? O.K., we haven't done a survey, but we're pretty confident that the number would be relatively low. It used to be that you spent a significant chunk of time each day sliding that letter...
Research firm, Basex has declared 2008 the "Year of Information Overload," and to add a cherry to the top of that sundae, they say $650 billion in productivity was lost in 2006 due to email, SMS messages, and IMs. One could guess it was even higher in 2007 (no thanks...
Yesterday I listed my top software picks for 2007. Now let's turn our attention to the Web, where some truly stellar services appeared and/or evolved this year. Seriously, how did we ever call ourselves productive before the Web came along? Google Everything I can't pick a single...
Are you easily distracted? HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU, PAY ATTENTION! It's okay, I understand: It's all too easy for your brain to get pulled off task, what with e-mail and instant messages to answer, incredibly interesting blogs to read, and other daily diversions. ProductivityPortfolio suggests using timed reminders, in...
I've made no secret of my love for Meebo, the browser-based, cross-platform instant messaging service. The only downside? You have to leave it running in a tab at all times, and you can't see who's online without switching to that tab. The new Meebo add-on for Firefox solves at least one...
Microsoft's Office Communication Server 2007 -- the heart of the company's Unified Communication Strategy -- was launched this week. Jeff Raikes, president of Microsoft Business Division, initially described the offerings as a "software-focused approach to bring together disparate communications technologies into a unified experience -- driving down the cost and...
To paraphrase the old saying, everyone worries about security, but nobody does anything about it. If you're worried about the safety of your e-mail, instant messages, documents, and even voice-over-IP conversations, check out this handy guide from VirtualHosting.com:Â 25 Free Tools to Encrypt Literally Everything. You'll find utilities that can help...
If you've ever been on a conference call with clients or co-workers and wished they could see what's on your screen (say, a new product schematic or project spreadsheet), check out YuuGuu. It's part instant-messaging client, part Web-conferencing tool, and part remote-access/sharing utility. On the IM side, YuuGuu...
If you’ve got team members in multiple offices, you probably already use a fair amount of technology. But are you using the right tools for the right job? ...
I'm a huge fan of Meebo, the browser-based instant-messaging service that lets you chat with friends and co-workers on just about any IM network. eBuddy is a similar service, but with one key advantage: There's a mobile version that works on cell phones. Just point your phone's browser to m.ebuddy.com,...
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