Dell Outlet on Twitter

http://twitter.com/delloutletie

Wed Mar 18 19:06:15 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

If you thought that useful business applications were somewhat limited when it came to Twitter, you might be intrigued by recent moves at Dell. Since early December last year the company has been providing special deals to Twitter users in the UK and Ireland. There are actually two discrete twitter feeds for each country with the UK to be found @DellOutletUK. It's early days as yet, but at next to zero start-up and maintenance cost, Dell is once again showing a willingness to innovate in finding new means to the market.

ThinkFree My Office

http://www.thinkfree.com/

Wed Mar 11 17:06:33 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

If using tools like Word, Excel and PowerPoint online is about recreating the same visual metaphor in a web based application window, then ThinkFree's solution is perhaps the closest yet to achieving this. If it wasn't for the outer browser frame giving away its online origins, you could be forgiven for thinking you were using a PC based software package. Whether that's a good thing or not only time will judge. Certainly, for people nervous about a transition to a cloud based computing world, it will give a level of comfort to see something which looks reassuringly familiar. But it does beg the question, is the way we write documents, manage spreadsheets and make presentations best served by recreating the same experience online? Or could there be a better way? Certainly, ThinkFree's execution is exemplary, making Google's Docs application seem very primitive by comparison.

Quake Live

http://www.quakelive.com/

Wed Mar 04 19:56:56 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

It's time for another 'something for nothing' piece of online entertainment. The only catch is that it's dangerously addictive, surprisingly playable and likely to get you into trouble if you play at any time other than your lunch break or outside office hours. We are talking about the newly available free online frag fest that is Quake Live. Still in beta, it's a first player shoot-em-up. Somehow the brains at id Software have managed to re-engineer the game into an online platform which, with the addition of a small download, turns your browser into a window on a multi-player world. What's most impressive is how even modest PCs can cope well with rendering the 3D action.

Twitterfall

http://twitterfall.com/

Wed Feb 25 23:14:51 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

One of the challenges for anyone over a certain age is getting their heads around a service like Twitter. But, as mentioned in a recent blog, because the service provides a public API, all sorts of third parties can offer up applications to enhance Twitter's massive potential. One of the latest is Twitterfall and it was developed by two students from York in the UK. Log in with your Twitter details and you can begin filtering in real time for all sorts of keywords. You can restrict it geographically too. It's just one more application which takes the vast amounts of user-generated material and starts to usefully reveal real-time trends from people across the planet.

RIP.ie - End of Life Matters

http://www.rip.ie/

Wed Feb 18 18:45:12 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

Benjamin Franklin said, 'In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes'. Given we know both are inevitable, it's good to find that death notices and all the associated tasks friends and family may need to perform, such as finding counsellors or how to register a death, have gone digital. Head over to RIP.ie and you discover that underneath a fairly plain exterior hides a wealth of useful information few of us will have occasion to know, but which is vital when a loved one dies. Given the subject matter this site may not be as cool as others, but it serves a very important role; one that hopefully won't have to be called upon too often.

Zimbra Desktop

http://www.zimbra.com/products/desktop.html

Wed Feb 11 17:36:40 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

If you're doubtful that the world is moving inexorably towards open source platforms and applications, you need look no further than the Outlook-alike Zimbra desktop. A free email client owned by Yahoo!, it pretty much does everything you'd expect and a few you wouldn't. After install it offers far more functionality than the best known open source email client Thunderbird. Best of all, as well as Yahoo Mail, it will work with any other email accounts, whether IMAP or POP3. And because it's built from a mixture of JAVA and AJAX it lives quite happily on Windows, OS X or Linux.

Fring

http://www.fring.com/

Wed Feb 04 18:39:24 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

If you're a fan of the 21st century's post-it note, otherwise known as instant messaging, then you might be tempted by yet another free service for your mobile (subject to your current call plan of course). Fring takes a variety of desktop instant messaging programs and gathers them together to allow you to stay in touch with friends and colleagues when you're away from your desk. Basically you can access your social networks, make SIP and Skype VOIP calls and instant message with all Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo! and AIM contacts using your mobile’s internet connection. And if your phone isn't up to the VOIP part, you can still IM by downloading 'mini-fring' on a wide range of Java enabled handsets. Of course, no-one's claiming that chatting over IM on a phone is ideal, but it's very handy nonetheless.

PortableApps.com

http://portableapps.com/

Wed Jan 28 20:19:42 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

If you are a fan of carrying your digital life in your pocket and you're still not swayed by the netbook revolution, you may already be familiar with the self-booting U3 USB memory keys which can carry all your web, email and applications in one handy little device. Plug it into a range of Windows computers and like magic, it's as if you have your whole office with you. But did you know that you can make any cheap USB memory key behave like this? Go over to Portable Apps and download the PortableApps.com Suite. It's a complete collection, including a web browser, email client, office suite, calendar/scheduler, instant messaging client, antivirus, audio player, sudoku game, password manager, PDF reader, minesweeper clone, backup utility and integrated menu, all preconfigured to work portably. A whole office in your pocket for the price of a USB memory key.

The IT Crowd

http://www.channel4.com/video/the-it-crowd/catchup.html

Wed Jan 21 19:11:20 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

If there’s one show currently on the telly which is sure to either be loved or hated in equal measure it’s The IT Crowd from Channel 4. Set in the IT department of the fictional Reynholm Industries, it features a dysfunctional cast which plays up to all the clichéd stereotypes we’ve come to love (or hate) in the IT geek class. If you’ve not had a chance to see it on TV then take yourself down to Channel 4 online where you can view the free catch up service. It just might be worth it.

Snaptu

http://www.snaptu.com

Wed Jan 14 17:57:21 +0000 2009

by Ralph Averbuch

If you are feeling a little depressed with your lowly mobile and would dearly love some iPhone-like action, you may just be in luck. Provided your mobile is Java enabled (and most are these days), then it's worth visiting Snaptu. There you can download a free Java environment which looks surprisingly familiar, if a little less slick than its touch-screen contemporary. With Snaptu installed your phone can then access a range of modules including news, sport, Facebook, feeds, Picasa and more. In our tough economic times, if you can't upgrade the handset, upgrade the phone instead... for free.