Once you’ve set out on a path, keeping yourself accountable is one of the key things you need to put in place.  It’s also one of the harder things to consistently track, mainly because we tend to put it off.

21habit is a free web service which allows you set a goal for yourself and it checks in with you daily via email.  All you have to do then is to say – Yes, you’ve done your goal for the day, or no you failed, and it will help you stay accountable. 

Here’s the twist.  

You put in USD$21 at the beginning of each task.  Every day, $1 is either refunded to you if you keep your goal, or donated to charity (all of it) if you break it.  So put it this way, at the end of the 21 day session, either you form a good habit, or people in need gets helped.  Either option is better than copping out of a New Year’s resolution because you’re too ‘lazy’.

There’s a free option as well for people who don’t want to invest the $21, but I say if you want to do this, just go all the way. 

Invest in yourself.  You’re worth it :)

This is MY smartphone

Yes, that’s an actual screenshot of my phone.  Juice defender is a battery management Android app which is so good that I swear by it, and it’s one of the first apps I recommend putting on your Android phone (sorry Apple folks).

So good that it typically doubles my battery life!

How it works:

In a nutshell all it does is turn off data when you don’t need it.

When my phone screen is on: All my data runs normally.

When my phone screen is off: It turns off ALL my data and turns it back on every 5 minutes for just to check if there’s incoming data like email or twitter notifications.

Now, because data is only turned on every 5 minutes, there is a chance your received messages will be 5 minutes late if your phone screen is off, so this is where you make your conscious trade off…I have to say though, through personal experience, that 5 minutes is really no big deal, and you hardly feel any sort of delay at all.  After all, If you’re expecting some urgent messages you can always turn Juice Defender off.

FriedBeef’s Verdict:

The basic version is free, but I’d recommend you pay for the ultimate version for maximum effect… After all it’s hard to argue with doubling your battery life :)

Assignments, social circles, classes – so many things – so little time for the college student.  Thankfully, we have 5 tips here that are absolutely relevant (and useful!) to the techy student in all of us.

1. Connectify – because you want to share your wifi connection with other devices

Anyone who has lived on campus dormitories know that there are strict rules to abide by, and one of them tends to be a restriction on tampering with college property – even if its as simple as connecting your own wireless router to make your life easier. And without wireless access or an expensive data plan, mobile devices such as the iPhone, iPod touch, Android tablets etc. harkens back to the days of featurephones in terms of usability.

Gratefully, and we mean this in the sincerest way, there’s Connectify. Connectify is a service which allows you to transform your laptop into a wireless hotspot; and there’s no messing around here – it’s an Apple-esque one-click process. Since it looks like just about any other program, you won’t need to worry about it being detected by any tracking software the college authorities may have mandatorily installed on your computer.

2. Google Chrome Portable – because computer labs don’t usually have the best browsers

College campuses usually provide students with the luxury of computer labs; but unless you’re attending a rather reputable school, you’ll most likely have to contend with sub-standard services beyond the bare necessities – for example: limited range of wireless access, imperfect air-conditioning which is either too hot or too cold, and… Internet Explorer 6. If you’re among those who are stuck with Internet browsers from the 90’s and whose college computer labs restrict the installation of third-party programs, take comfort in that there is a solution for you.

Google Chrome Portable takes the speed and efficiency of its desktop variant and crams it into the tight confines of a thumbdrive. Taking up barely 100 MB of disk space, it’s nary a problem for even those constricted by 2GB thumbdrives, and the portable version works just as well as the desktop version – the differences are hardly noticeable in all practical aspects. As an added bonus, Google Chrome Portable handles a large number of open tabs just fine, making it a boon for those in the midst of writing their thesis.

3. Dropbox – because all your work should be instantly backed up to the cloud

If you’re constantly forgetting to bring your USB drive to campus, then Dropbox will be a lifesaver for you. Dropbox works by automatically uploading the contents of an entire folder on your home computer to its cloud servers, of which you can proceed to download from www.dropbox.com – so as long as you have access to an Internet browser, you’ll have immediate access to all the files which were originally saved on your home computer.

If you live constantly in fear of losing the contents of your entire USB drive to a washing machine, Dropbox may become more to you than merely a way to quickly share files across multiple computers. What’s more, it also has offline saving features for its apps on all the major smartphone platforms, so if you want access to lecture notes on-the-go, Dropbox will be especially valuable to you.

4. Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool – because you can’t afford to lose time reformatting a PC

Whether it’s your own computer or a friend’s, reformatting a Windows 7 computer can be a pain sometimes, especially when you have to search high and low for the installation CD after months of neglect. Fortunately, Windows has a nifty tool which helps you to reformat your Windows PC straight from a USB drive.

The Windows USB/DVD Download Tool handily creates a series of files which makes it bootable from the BIOS, and it has been tested to work even if you make a backup of those files and return them to your USB drive the next time you need to perform a fresh install. Best of all, since a USB drive has faster read/write speeds than a CD, your Windows 7 installation will be at least twice as fast, making reformatting your laptop a breeze.

5. KatMouse – because multi-tasking should be simpler on Windows

If you’ve done a proportionate amount of assignments on a Windows PC, you’d probably have started to realize that you can’t scroll in applications without first clicking on them. This makes it frustratingly difficult to do your research and type your assignment in Microsoft Word at the same time, because you’d have to click on the Internet browser to scroll through the website you’re researching, then click on the Word document to scroll through it, and rinse-and-repeat – even if you have both windows visible across your screen.

KatMouse does away with this little but noticeable irritation by allowing you to scroll up and down pages just by hovering your mouse cursor over them and moving the scroll wheel. This way, you can keep your Word document open as your main application, and still be able to scroll through the website you’re researching without having to click on it everytime you need to review something.

6. CopyTrans – because students love music

Ever performed a fresh install of Windows on your computer, only to realize that all your playlists in iTunes, which had been meticulously and painstakingly put together over a number of years, had been wiped clean? The endevour is made even more heartbreaking, by the fact that Apple has failed to acknowledge in iTunes the simple task of transferring the songs and playlists already residing on your iPhone or iPod back to your computer.

iTunes’s all-encompassing backup function has its advantages in simplicity, but if you’re just trying to copy your playlists over from your iPhone, tough luck. Well fret no more, as CopyTrans just does that. You can choose to backup your songs and playlist from your device straight into iTunes, so that things appear to have never changed at all. In addition, CopyTrans is also able to selectively backup your photo album, apps, contacts, messages and the like, so you’re actually capable of selectively backing up pretty much anything you wish.

This post was written by Aaron Pek

I don’t freelance regularly, but every once in a while I do something adhoc, which requires me to come up with an invoice for a client – usually just to satisfy some finance department somewhere.

Now because I’m not running a business where I need to do lots of invoicing, I’m just too damn lazy to sign up for any service or free trial.

I just want to make a simple invoice.

Now.

So say hello to billable.me, a free web service which allows you to quickly fill in a few fields to quickly create an instant invoice.  (Also does simple calculations on the fly in eg. tax), and lets you print, or save a PDF of your final invoice.

No registration, no welcome page, nothing – just you and your invoice.

It also saves your last invoice in the browser cookies, so you anytime you revisit the site, details are already populated.

Bear in mind because of it’s simplicity, it doesn’t come with bells an whistles like tracking and reminders, but then again that would defeat the purpose of this super simple web service.

Only thing on my wishlist – the ability to email the invoice directly.  Not only would it save the hassle of PDF attachments, it would also be possible to create instant invoices from your mobile phone. 

*Fingers Crossed for the future*

I love my 13 inch Macbook Air to death.  I also feel as if I’m blind when I try to read on the damn thing.   

That’s why learning to set the zoom levels on a browser is so valuable.  Most browsers respond to Ctrl + and Ctrl – to zoom in and out of pages (Tip: Press Ctrl 0 to reset zoom to normal levels).  Most of the good ones like Chrome also remember the zoom setting for any particular web page – which is a great if you ever revisit the page again.

The thing is – many a time, you’ll end up on a web page where you’ve never visited before, and then you’ve got to do the zooming song and dance again. 

What a drag.

Now you might be thinking – yeah the text is small, but I can read it, so what’s the big deal? 

Well try zooming in on text just a little bit and you’ll suddenly find that everything’s so much easier to read.  Keep at it a while and you actually feel less tired and more productive. 

So how do you set a DEFAULT zoom level on your browser so that all web pages have a zoom factor already automatically applied to it when it loads?

1. How to set the default zoom level in Chrome

Autozoom is my weapon of choice on Chrome, and this free simple extension will allow you to quickly define how much zoom you want all your pages to have, tweaked right from a discrete button near the address bar. 

2. How to set the default zoom level in Internet Explorer

Interestingly enough, unlike most things involving IE, setting the default zoom on that browser is incredibly simple.  Just find the magnifying glass icon on the bottom right of your browser and select the default zoom. 

3. How to set the default zoom level in Firefox

Default FullZoom Level is probably the most powerful of all the extensions on this list.  Let me tell you why I love this add-on.  Yes, setting zoom levels can easily be set just like on all the other browsers, but here’s what sets it apart: One of the issues most people have when zooming web pages is that images have the potential look incredibly ugly and pixelated once blown up.  To address this, you can configure it to ONLY zoom text, so it leaves your pictures unzoomed.

It also has some nifty features like ˜fit-to-window’ which automatically selects the optimal zoom for that particular web page so you don’t have to bother experimenting.  This extension really gets two thumbs up for ease of use and power.

4. How to set the default zoom level in Opera

Just like IE, you configure the default zoom levels by selecting that same magnifying glass at the bottom right of your browser.  It is slightly more feature filled than IE though and has Fit-to-Width capability as well.

What should your default zoom level be?  This differs from person to person, and really depends on the sites you visit, but I typically set my default zoom at 130%.

Do you use browser zoom to read the web?  Tell us about it in the comments :)

Update: 18/6/2011: Check out this video response!

1. How to have an image placeholder with descriptive text

The Dynamic Dummy Image Generator is a simple generator which allows you to describe the placeholder and scale it to an actual size so people understand what they’re supposed to be looking at.  Although not aesthetically the best solution, This is often the most straightforward and will eliminate any confusion as to what the the image should actually be.

2. How to use color to represent your image placeholder

If you’re personally stepping a client through a presentation, the Color Random Image Generator can help to make it much more pleasant to look at as it allows you to choose between different shades of oil painting textured colors to represent your idea.  The only drawback though is that it can be ambiguous as to what you’re supposed to be looking at, but if you’re walking a client through the layout, it shouldn’t matter.

3. How to use beautiful photos as image placeholders

Flickholdr creates lovely placeholders simply by grabbing a random picture with relevant tags.  So tell it what your picture should be, and it automatically sources a relevant photo for you which you may then use as a placeholder.  The only major drawback to this is that sometimes – Flickr tags may be very general and although you’re assured of a gorgeous image, you may find yourself tweaking tag names to find a truly relevant image.

So there you have it – 3 simple ways to generate image placeholders.  Do you like any of them in particular?  Tell us in the comments!

If you’re a small or medium sized business owner you may be thinking that it’s hard or costly to implement SAP’s business software.  Watch the video above and you’ll be surprised about the number of smaller outfits actually using SAP to their advantage and improving their business.  77 thousand customers can’t be wrong :)

As this is a sponsored post, as a reader, you may also show your support for the blog by taking 38 seconds and watching the video embedded above :D

The everyday problem:

You really like the layout of a web page.  You want to build a wireframe mockup based on it, and it takes too long. 

Why not just screencapture the page?  Mainly because images and text distract your vision when you’re trying to figure out the best layout possible.  You may also want to compare different layouts and having everything mocked up on wireframe instead of screencaptured may provide a more unbiased view of things.

The simple solution:

Wirify is a cross-browser bookmarklet which instantly turns full blown web pages into wireframe mockups with a single click.

Step 1: Visit the Wirify webpage

Step 2: If you’re using Chrome or Firefox, just drag and drop the bookmarket onto your browser bookmark bar.  (If you’re using Internet Explorer switch now for a better experience)

Step 3: Click on the bookmarket whenever you want to turn the website into a wireframe mockup.

That’s it!  So simple :)

Check out the YouTube video below for a step-through Wirify

The everyday problem:

It’s taking you way too long to find that important email or document inside Gmail or Google Docs. 

The simple solution:

Cloud Magic is a Chrome and Firefox browser extension which allows you to search both your Gmail and Google Docs as you type.  No more hitting the search button and crossing your fingers. 

Just tweak your keywords on the fly and watch the magic happen.  It even shows you a preview of your documents, and highlights your search terms so you know exactly what you’re looking for.  Just like good ol’ Google Instant :)

Why we picked this solution:

• It works across multiple accounts at once
• It’s all local: You don’t have to worry about giving your data to a 3rd party
• The index file stored on your computer is reasonably small and so you don’t have to worry about clogging up your hard drive

This video does much more justice to this app than my explanation.

What do you think of Cloud Magic?  Tell us in the comments :)

Whether you’re the next Jack Karouac or the next NaNoWriMo dropout, any novelist who takes the craft seriously is going to need the right tools to write. And let’s face it: Microsoft Office can spit out a decent business letter, but the thought of launching a full-blown office suite to do some creative work is a little… depressing.

Most ordinary word processors are also priced out of reach of the starving artist crowd. If you’re looking to hammer out a lengthy manuscript, and you’re not looking to drop a single dime on software, read on to discover the best free writing software and tools for novelists.

1. Notational Velocity with Simplenote Sync : The best way to churn out raw ideas

The best thing a writer can do is write. From this truism it follows that a writer who can write anywhere inspiration strikes is already at an advantage. Notational Velocity is just the tool for the job. The way the software works is dead simple: just start typing in the search bar to search all the text you’ve ever written in the program. Hit enter to take that search term and make it the title of a new document, then keep typing to create the body. This streamlined design makes churning out plain-text scenes and ideas incredibly smooth and intuitive.

Best of all, Notational Velocity can automatically sync in the cloud with the free Simplenote service. This means your writing is accessible on your smartphone, your iPad, or anywhere you have internet access. Notational Velocity is only available for Mac, but Simplenote is available on pretty much anything.

2. Pomodairo : The best way to manage your time

As with any large project, the hardest thing about writing a novel is getting started. To ward off anxiety about time, and to break an enormous task into smaller, more manageable chunks, many writers and creative types swear by the Pomodoro Technique. While the method is as nuanced and detailed as any productivity system ought to be, the basics are very simple and easy to pick up. Just set a timer for twenty-five minutes and work until the timer goes off. Then, take a five minute break.

This unit of work and a break is called a œPomodoro, and every four Pomodoros calls for a longer break of about twenty-five minutes. That’s it. To make this easier, there’s a free bit of software called Pomodairo that will time your work, time your breaks, and keep track of your tasks and interruptions in a log. Pomodairo is multi-platform, as it runs on Adobe AIR.

3. Skim : The best way to make notes

Skim was originally devised as a way for scientists in academia to read and annotate PDF’s of scientific papers. Over the years this great piece of open source software has grown to include many features like advanced bookmarking, anchored notes, and a distraction-free fullscreen reading environment.

Though it might be an off-label use of the software, Skim is absolutely perfect for reading through a manuscript and making little notes for future changes. Skim lets you underline, cross out, and highlight text to your heart’s content. It’s especially great for budding novelists, because it separates the writing process from the correcting and editing. That way, when you’re on a creative roll, you won’t have to stop to ponder the nuts and bolts of punctuation and usage. Skim is available for Mac.

4. LeechBlock : The best way to remove distractions

Distraction is the bane of any writer’s existence. Award-winning novelist Jonathan Franzen famously said he will not work on any computer with an internet connection. Humorist David Sedaris goes even further, writing all his books with an old-school typewriter. That’s a little overboard for most, so those of us looking for a happy compromise will get a lot of mileage out of LeechBlock, a free extension for Mozilla Firefox.

Once you’ve identified the websites that leech most of your time and attention, tell LeechBlock what time to block them, and you’re set. Popular choices include blocking Facebook between 9am and 5pm, or blocking everything for that hour-and-a-half you set aside for your novel. Unfortunately, like any attempt at self-denial, it only works as well as your ability to stick with it. LeechBlock is available for Firefox versions 3.0 through 4.0.

5. Scrivener Gold : The best way to organize your manuscript

Scrivener is, simply put, the holy grail of word processors for long projects. The lead designer, Keith Blount, actually created Scrivener so that he could write his novel on it. What makes Scrivener so great is its ability to organize text as its created. Every chapter, or every scene, can be given its own individual text file, and then hierarchically organized in the sidebar, just like in popular RSS readers and e-mail clients. From there, reordering entire sections is as easy as dragging and dropping.

Scrivener also has a smart outlining view, plenty of places for notes and tags, the ability to compile a manuscript in a huge array of formats, a distraction-free writing mode– more features than there’s time to enumerate. Scrivener Gold is a freeware release of an older stable version of Scrivener. If you like it, the official release of Scrivener 2.0 has extra features, like Simplenote syncing. Scrivener Gold and Scrivener 2.0 are Mac only, but a Windows release of Scrivener 2.0 is on the way.

What writing tools do you use?  Tell us in the comments!

This great post was written by Peter Miller.  Contact us if you want to write on this blog :)

The everyday problem:

You need to paste different items in different fields of a form BUT Windows Clipboard only stores one item :(

The simple tech solve:

We’re going to use Clipboard alternative CLCL to create a template which you can instantly paste other items not found on your Windows clipboard.

Why we picked this solution:

There are plenty of clipboard alternatives out there, but CLCL is an excellent fit for this problem.

• No installation required.  Just run when you need it.
• Able to handle all types of clipboard data, not just text
• You can paste from the template using a hotkey combo rather than selecting it from a list of clipboard items (which takes much longer)

The Step-by-Step Tutorial

Step 1: Download and launch CLCL

Step 2: Select what you need to copy and press CTRL + C to copy it to your clipboard

Step 3: Open CLCL (Icon found in your Windows system tray) and you’ll see  that it’s recorded there as well.

Step 4: Click Edit and Add to Template

Step 5: Select a folder (Default Template folder will do) 

Step 6: Right click and Set Hotkey

Step 7: Pick a hotkey – in this case CTRL + B

..and that’s it.  Anytime you need to paste from your template just press CTRL + B (Or the hotkey you configured).  You can set up multiple templates and hotkeys if you want. Meanwhile, your normal Windows clipboard still runs as usual, as to the usual CTRL + V to paste anything from it. 

Have you ever needed to do this?  Do you know any other clipboard alternatives?  Tell us about your experience in the comments :)

The everyday problem

Email may be clunky but it makes the world go round.  As we spend more time communicating online, we move faster and faster, but it becomes increasingly hard to keep track of all the to-do and follow up items. 

Many of us suffer from email overload, and although many really good systems exist like Inbox Zero (which I use to keep myself sane), it requires effort to learn, and discipline to put into practice.

The simple technology solution

FollowUpThen has got to be one of the most simple, elegant ways I’ve ever seen to follow up on tasks. 

Just send a cc. or bcc. email to FollowUpThen and it will remind you (and your recipient if you choose) about following up on a task, if that person hasn’t responded within your desired timeframe.  It’s also free, and requires no registration.  Check out the short video for the quick explanation.

Do you suffer from email overload?  Tell us about it in the comments :)

I was doing some bank transaction and was busy filling login credentials. By mistake I pressed the "F5" key and the web page got refreshed and my transaction was ruined.

Most of us come across situations like this numerous times, where we need to avoid pressing a certain set of keys. There are also rarely used keys such as the Scroll Lock key or caps-lock key.  Perhaps you’re wishing "Why can’t we change this key to something more useful or disable this key".

Enter "SharpKeys". 

Here’s a quick tutorial on how to use Sharpkeys to:

• Make a certain key to act like another.
• Disable a certain key.

1.Click on "Add" button to change the function of a key.

2. Now the windows that will open up has 2 sections:-
First, select the key you want to change, then select the key that you want to change your selected key

3. From the left section scroll through the list and select the key that you want to change.  This is a long list so searching for your key could be quite tedious, so just press "Type Key" button and press the key that you want to change, and press "OK" to select.

4. Now in the right section select the key that you want to change your key to.

5. After the selection has been done press "OK".

6. Then click "Write to registry" button to apply the changes that you have made.

7. Re-Start your PC.

As soon as your PC restarts, you will see that your keys are changed.

Tips

• When choosing a key to map, you can also select the first option (Turn Off Key) to disable the key.

You can use this trick to even play pranks on your friends by disabling their certain keys.

Did you like the software?   Do post all your suggestions and queries in the comments below. Instead of old boring conventional keyboard, you can turn it into a more productive machine working and amaze your mates.

This is a guest post written by Pranav Jain and edited by James Yeang

Gmail is already far and away the best web-mail client out there, but there are still ways to make it even better.  Here are 5 free ways to tweak Gmail to suit your needs, and to save you time.

1. How to set extra flexible filters in Gmail

Gmail already comes with a good set of filter options by default.  Syphir (Free) however is a free plugin which takes it to the next level.  The level of flexibility on display is quite remarkable.  For example

• You can selectively auto-delay personal email so you can focus on your work. 
• You can have older email automatically archive themselves to keep your inbox clean.
• It can understand the level of importance of each incoming email, and labels it accordingly.

Syphir comes into its own when coupled with it’s SmartPush iPhone app which selectively pushes you email notifications for only your most important email.  Simply indispensible.

2. How to understand and remember more about your email contacts

Rapportive is a free plugin which helps to retrieve information about your contacts when you’re dealing with them on Gmail.  It will go and pull contextual data about the person from other services for instance Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr and Twitter, and unobtrusively display them on the sidebar. 

You can also make private notes about any contact within Rapportive so you can remember little important details about the person in the future. 

3. How to be on the cutting edge of Google’s latest email innovations

We’ve covered some amazingly cool features found in Gmail Labs before, and true to their word, they’ve continued to roll out experimental tweaks.  Here are some of my favorite new ones aside from those I covered previously. 

4. How to fully customize your Gmail in Firefox

Better Gmail 2 is a plugin which was revolutionary when it launched.  Many people (including myself) give this plug-in credit for giving Google direction on how to improve Gmail.  Many of the features originally found in the original Firefox extension has since made their way to the Gmail product or labs. 

This Firefox extension still has some excellent features like the hierarchical labels, and highlighting active rows.  Worth a download if you’re on Firefox.

5. The Best Google Mail Extension for Chrome

Ever since Chrome introduced extensions, it’s certainly given Firefox a run for it’s money.  Gmail already features some pretty neat ˜Chrome-Only’ features such as the ability to drag and drop attachments from your desktop to your browser.  Google Mail Checker Plus is a Chrome extension which acts as an email-notifier within your browser, saving you the trouble of keeping a tab open for your mail. 

What’s also great is that you’ll be able interact with the message (star/delete/archive/mark as spam) directly from the extension without even having to open the mailbox.

How do you tweak your Gmail?  Let us know in the comments :)

If you’re researching a topic or trying to collaborate with another person, you may be using more than one website as reference.  Here are the best free web services that will help you share multiple URLs at once and save you time.

1. How to share multiple URLs and have them display as tabs

Sharetabs is a multiple URL shortener which allows you to combine multiple links- and have them display the results in neat tabs and shortcut icons.  This makes for perfect previews for quick viewing.

2. How to share and password protect multiple URLs

1link.in is an elegant way of sharing mutiple links but still be able to password protect them.  When you open the short-URL, it also shows you a list of all your links you’ve combined.

3. How to share multiple web pages and track stats

Fur.ly not only allows you to shorten multiple links but also track stats, so you know how many people visited your links and when exactly they did it.  

4. How to share multiple web pages and have them display side by side

NiceSharing lets you combine multiple URLs and have them display together as well.  Useful for comparisons between two pages, and it also supports an interesting feature whereby your second link can be a music file.  With this, rather than having two websites display side by side, you’ll be able to listen to the music file as background music while you browse another website.

5. How to share all your Firefox tabs at once

Send Tab URLs is a Firefox extension which creates a list of URLs from all browser tabs in the current Firefox window. This list can be emailed using your favorite email application, or copied to the clipboard for pasting into another application.  It works with most email applications, and supports up to 30 tabs at once.