Capitalogix

Shopping Smarter: Where to Find the Best Deals this Season

Here is a list of shopping tools that can save you money and time.

These are sites I've used myself and was happy about using.  Please let me know if you have additions or suggestions.

The suggestions fall into several main categories: Deals, Price Comparison, and Phone Apps.

Deals:

• Woot: Interesting New Deals Each Day
  http://wwww.woot.com 
  http://deals.woot.com
  
  
• Ben's Bargains: Coupons, Bargains, Freebies
  http://bensbargains.net


• Slick Deals: Community-Driven Discounts, Reviews & Comparisons
  http://slickdeals.net/


• RetailMeNot: Coupon and Promo Codes for Just About Everything
  http://www.retailmenot.com/

Price Comparison:

• Bountii
  http://bountii.com/

• DealTime
  http://www.dealtime.com/

Phone Apps:

• Red Laser: Scans Bar Codes, Then Finds Best Prices
  http://redlaser.com/

 

• ShopSavvy

Honorable Mentions: Other Resources Worth Checking

• The Cheapskate - From CNet
• DealNews - Where it is Black Friday Every Day
• Hot Deals Club
• Bing Shopping
• Google Shopping

RoboForm: the Best Password Manager and Form-Filler

Here's something that I use many times, every day, and still think is a terrific piece of software.

Besides completely automating password entry and form-filling, RoboForm it allows you to: 

• Manage your passwords and log-in automatically. 
• Fill long registration and checkout forms with one click. 
• Encrypt your passwords to achieve complete security. 
• Generate random passwords to maximize password strength. 
• Back-up and synchronize passwords between computers. 
• Fight Phishing and defeat Keyloggers.

This tool will save you time and help keep you safe on an increasingly dangerous web. Here is a screenshot of the toolbar it installs in your browser.

 

There is no need to remember passwords anymore ... and even better, it keeps track of web addresses too (like bank and credit-card sites or any site you need to enter your member credentials). Type a few letters into the RoboForm search bar, click the website it suggests, then it takes you to the appropriate address and fills in the log-in credentials, automatically. It's fast, safe, and easy.

Lots of Ways to Use It.

RoboForm has a version that runs from a USB stick (so you can take it with you anywhere and use it without installing anything on someone else's computer). There are also versions for various smart-phones, including the iPhone. In addition, it links to their tremendous file synchronization tool, which is also worth taking a look at.

RoboForm was named PC Magazine Editor's Choice, and CNET Download.com's Software of the Year.

I've used this software for many years, and watched it get better and smarter. The author never tried to charge an upgrade fee, and continues to add new features and more intelligent algorithms to fill-out web forms as they continue to evolve.

All-in-all, this is a high-quality utility worth having on your computer. Hope that helps.

Here are the iPhone Business Apps I Use Most

This week I'm listing the iPhone business and productivity apps that I find worth using. Click here to explore last week's list of the fun stuff.

At first I wanted to create a list of the coolest iPhone apps. However, cool doesn't necessarily mean useful. Instead, this is a list of the applications that I use most. I limited myself to the top two applications per category.

For more information about these applications, click the links to go to the developer's site.  Even if you don't have an iPhone, check-out the links to see what is available.  I am amazed at how much of my computing and basic research are now done on my phone (as opposed to laptop or desktop computers).

Stock Market Info

• Bloomberg
• AOL Daily Finance

Business News

• WSJ
• Y! Finance

General News

• NYTimes
• NPR News

Reference

• Wikipanion
• Dial Zero

To-Do Lists

• Jott
• Toodledo

Calculators

• FastFigures
• Tip

Conversions

• Currency
• Units

Ideas

• Creative Whack Pack
• iChoose
  

Travel

• TripIt
• GasBuddy

That's it for now.  Let me know if I forgot your favorite or you found something worth sharing.

Here's a List of Fun iPhone Apps Worth Using

I wanted to create a list of the coolest iPhone apps. However, cool doesn't necessarily mean useful. Instead, this is a list of the applications that I use most.

This week I'm listing the lighter and more fun iPhone apps.  Here is the link to the list the business and productivity apps that I use most.

I limited myself to the top two applications per category.  Hope you find some cool stuff in here.

Social Media

• Facebook
• TweetDeck

Food & Fun Finders

• Yelp
• IWant

Games: Strategy

• Flood-It
• Block-Out

Games: Puzzle

• Sudoku
• DropSum

Games: Pattern Matching

• Moonlight Mahjong
• Triazzle

Games: Text

• TextTwist Turbo
• Scramble

Music

• Pandora
• Rhapsody

Photo Fun

• Photo fx
• ColorSplash

Health & Fitness

• iFitness
• Lose It!

Relaxation

• Pzizz Relax
• Ambiance

Sports News

• Sportacular
• Plusmo Football Plus

Shopping

• SnapTell
• Amazon.com

Even if you don't have an iPhone, check-out the links to see what is available.  I am amazed at how much of my computing and basic research are now done on a Smartphone.

That's it for now.  Let me know if I forgot your favorite or you found something worth sharing.

Augmenting Reality

Sometimes new technology seems like science fiction. Other times, science fiction introduces us to new technology.

I remember watching Minority Report and having a sense that I was watching a future closer than it seemed. There's a scene where Tom Cruise is walking through a shopping area and each time he passes a store there is a personalized ad; and in other scenes there is a "Terminator-Like" text that overlays the physically real world. That is called "Augmented Reality". 

Well, your phone may not be as cool as that, yet; however it's getting there pretty quickly.

The next picture doesn't look like much; but it's using the iPhone's built-in camera and GPS unit to recognize highly rated restaurants in real time. The application doing this is Yelp. This feature is currently hidden by default; but you can turn it on by shaking your phone vigorously, until the "Monocle" feature activates.

Soon, I imagine this will be enhanced further with a discount coupons and the ability to place orders before you walk in the door. Nonetheless, it's an example of what's coming.

Where Else Will This Be Useful?

Imagine what this could do to the real-estate industry (as price per square foot, tax rates, etc. overlay the properties as you drive by). Or, imagine traders looking at a chart displaying the most relevant indicators, patterns, setups, and triggers for the company or market they are analyzing.  It gives a whole new meaning to real-time business intelligence.

TechTracker is Worth a Look

Staying up-to-date just got a little easier.  CNet launched a new service that scans your PC and checks your installed programs to see if updates are available to you.

I tried TechTracker and found it to be fast, accurate and helpful.  They are coming out with a Mac version soon.  Here is an example screenshot showing what it alerted me to update.

Other Info:

I use a few other services, like this, that are worth a look also.

• Here is a link to Secunia's Security Vulnerability and Patch Scan;
• Here is a link to VersionTracker, a driver update service.

PC Prices - An Offer I Couldn't Refuse

Does it make sense to try and fix a broken PC?  I used to think so; now I'm not so sure.

I'm often early adopter of technology. That's kind of code for "I've had to reformat my computer many times over many years". And when it came to hardware, let's just say that the local CompUSA people smiled when I walked in the door. I love technology; and it seems that I never met a faster video card, bigger hard drive, or clever invention that I didn't want to buy.

Your Rules of Thumb May Be Out-Dated.  Mine Were.

Over the years, I developed a strategy for acquiring new computers. I typically bought the absolute top-of-the-line, as soon as the second version of it came out. Oh, I bought many when the first version came out; but that's how I developed a strategy to buy one-step back from the newest and best.

A lot has changed in the PC industry.  For example, our local CompUSA and Circuit City stores are now closed, and today I got a pretty good idea why that happened.

Flash Player 9 or higher is required to view the chart
Click here to download Flash Player now

View the full BBY chart at Wikinvest

My laptop finally gave out; and all of my software utilities, Internet searches and efforts had failed to bring it back to life. My wife made me promise to go get a new machine before I drove myself (or her) crazy.

What Kind of Deals are Available Today?

So this morning I walked into my local Best Buy determined to find a worthy replacement. I was quite surprised to find that I walked out the door with a brand-new laptop, much more powerful than the one that had broken, for less than $500.

I also found a desktop machine with Intel's newest chip, 9-gigs of memory and a terabyte hard disk for about $1,000.

That means hardware is becoming disposable. There comes a point where it's literally not worth trying to fix something, or re-load an operating system and your programs to make something work reasonably well, when you can upgrade to a newer more stable platform for so little money.

What Does This Mean For You?

The point is technology is now cheap enough that you should look at your business and think about the point of diminishing returns. Which machines are calling-out to you that they are past their prime, and it's time to replace them with something new?

The PC manufacturers are trying to get rid of their Vista machines ... because the new Windows 7 operating system officially comes out this fall. I recommend you take this opportunity to investigate what is out there ... and bring some of it home.

Xobni: Looking at Your Inbox Backwards

I think Xobni is a great tool.  Here is a video demo showing how it can help you.

Microsoft Outlook is one of the most important computer programs that I use. I say this because so much of my day is spent interacting with it.

I'm not the kind of person who watches for each incoming e-mail message, and constantly re-prioritizes my day. Nonetheless, I subscribe to a number of newsletters and alert services, and interact with many people throughout the day (some via e-mail, others by phone). That means Outlook is my hub, and I find myself there many times a day. So finding tools to help organize, search, and make better use of this type of information better is  important to me.

One of the tools that I've come to rely on is called Xobni. In case you're not familiar with it, that spells "in-box", only backwards. And the reason is that it gives you a totally different perspective on your in-box and how you access and manage your personal information.

This tool has gone through several iterations, and I consider it fairly mature. It adds the ability to see all the information about the person who sent you an e-mail including all prior e-mails, their contact information,  a live link to their Linked-In and Facebook information streams; any files exchanged, a list of related contacts, and a bunch of other features. Rather than try to describe all that for you here. Take a look at the video; it does a pretty good job of explaining why this can save you time and make your experience with Outlook easier and more productive.

Here is a link to Xobni's Product Page.

Here is the announcement of Xobni Plus.

Impressions About the New iPhone

Hello, my name is Howard; and I'm a gadget addict. This week I went out and upgraded to the new Apple iPhone 3GS, even though my 3G worked fine. I had to, though; didn't I?

It's the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet. It has video, and my old phone didn't have video. It has a compass; and you know I need a compass. Okay, I don't need a compass; but apparently the new turn-by-turn mapping capability needs a compass to understand which direction you're turning (and that's pretty cool). It has voice control to dial the phone, play music, and otherwise avoid typing. And it has double the storage capacity, which I'm sure still won't be enough.

Actually, I'm very happy with the new phone and the upgrade process. I connected it to my computer, and all the applications and settings from my prior version migrated all by themselves. Even the high score lists for games I play transferred. More importantly, the phone does everything I expected, and seems faster.

And, of course, I no longer have iPhone envy. The fact that I waited a week after it came out to order mine took amazing willpower. I thought about it so many times that it was no longer worth it to wait. So Happy Birthday to me, a few weeks early.

Joking aside, the iPhone has become an important business tool for me. I am more surprised about how much less I use my laptop, than I am about how much I use the iPhone.

Even when I'm in a meeting, I have access to the internet. I can search Google.  Or even better, I can use Twitter or Facebook to crowd-source an answer. It's almost like being able to "Call a Friend" or "Ask the Audience" on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire".

One of the features I like best, is being able to use my voice instead of typing. So, I can quickly look-up a contact by saying their name. It's surprising how many places voice control like this comes in handy. For example, Google has an iPhone application that allows you to search by speaking. So I could speak an address, and the Google map comes up. Or, I could say "stock price for Apple", and the current quote and chart comes up. Similarly, I use an application called Jott to verbally capture tasks, ideas, and to-do items. The service transcribes what I say and puts it into my task list. It's important because I'm now capturing things that used to slip through the cracks.

I'll review some of the more helpful iPhone applications in a later post. In the meantime, if you don't have the new iPhone, I recommend you go check them out. It's a very fine piece of technology.

Screen Capture Software Worth Snagging

I'm so glad I found Snagit.  It is one of the un-sung heroes that I use all the time but don't think about because it is so reliable and stable that I forget how good it is.

What Can You Do With Snagit? 

Capture anything you see on the screen. Edit and combine those captures. Add text, arrows, or highlights to make the image better.  Then share them through your favorite applications. Organize and find them again later.

I end-up using it several times a day.  It is my default image editor.  I use it to create or edit the graphics for the blog, presentations and e-mails.  I use it to capture and annotate certain financial transactions ... and to get or give tech support. Bottom-Line: the more you use Snagit, the more ways you'll find to use it. 

Here is a two-minute video that will give you a quick overview of some of the things Snagit can do for you.

Techsmith makes several other cool tools too.  I'm not affiliated with them, other than as a satisfied client.  Just thought it was worth sharing.  Hope it helps you too. 

Click here to go to the product page for Snagit.

Click here to download a trial.