Friday, June 7, 2013

My Top Five

by Bob Aiese


I just read an article about the most indispensable applications you should have on your computer to function in life. Upon review, I found that there were some items listed which I already used. But some of the other programs for me, alas, were not very useful.

Like Caffeine, a program that prevents your screen saver from kicking in (http://lightheadsw.com/caffeine/). Or Big Stretch, an alarm app to remind you to take a break from working on your computer (http://monkeymatt.com/bigstretch/). Or another app that organizes your digital music collection (just Google it). 

I don't have a need for any of these. You might. I don't. 

But the article did make me think of My Personal Top 5 Free Applications…all of which I use everyday and  could not function without.

1. Dropbox

This free program creates a folder in your work computer that automatically syncs with the internet. You can then go to your home computer, laptop, smartphone or tablet and open your Dropbox account to access work files. All you need to do is install the Dropbox application and sign in using the same login. You get 2Gb storage free when you open your account and you can purchase additional storage if you need it. But the better way is to invite others in your circle of contacts to join Dropbox. For each person who installs Dropbox on their computer you get 500Mb of bonus space. Free space is limited to16Gb, but that is still a hugh amount of storage space for free. (http://www.dropbox.com)

2. Yousendit 

When I first opened a FedEx® account I was impressed with how quickly documents, CDs and DVDs would leave my door and arrive the next day on the other side of the world. My clients were impressed, too. Then the internet came and sending files became a no-brainer with Yousendit. This program enables you to send files up to 2Gb in size to anyone with an email address. You send the file via the yousendit app or website and the recipient(s) get an email from yousendit.com with a link to download the file directly from the yousendit servers. This eliminates the need to deal with the 5Mb email limit or complicated FTP sites. The transmitted file has an expiration date that you can set so recipients can download the file again, or forward the link to someone else to download if needed. Yousendit offers various plans depending on the size of your organization or your needs. I have the Pro Plan. $100 per year. Check out the free 2 week trial to start. (http://www.yousendit.com)

3. Crashplan

Ever since my first hard drive died I have been crazed about keeping a backup of my files: tape backups, CD backups, external hard drives to back up the internal hard drives. When one of my  external back up drives died, I started to use alternate backup external drives. I didn't sleep much. Then, backup services like Mozy and Carbonite came and made backup via the internet viable. But the ease of use, the ability to recover files, and low cost made Crashplan the most viable. I sleep a lot better because of Crashplan. (http://www.crashplan.com)  

4. Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Acrobat Reader

The paperless office is a myth. But Adobe Acrobat ($299) has helped to eliminate a lot of paper that would normally be cluttering my desk. My clients have embraced the concept of a digital workflow using Acrobat Reader. Released by Adobe in 1993, Acrobat is a cross-platform program that converts your digital documents into a format that can be emailed and viewed on the free Acrobat Reader. The document shows up exactly as the document creator meant them to be seen. For example, If I create a brochure in InDesign on my Mac I can save a copy of the brochure in an Acrobat .PDF file format that I can email to my client. The client can then download the file and view it in the free Adobe Acrobat Reader. It looks and prints exactly as I created it. My client doesn't have to invest in any software or jump through hoops to convert files. They can annotate and make notes on their copy of the file and email it back to me with their changes. Did I mention it's free? (http://www.adobe.com/products/reader.html)

5. Google

Remember when Microsoft was the monster corporation that was going to eat our brains and make us all slaves to their software? No? Oh, you might be too young to remember. Remember when Apple was the monster corporation that was going to eat our brains and make us all slaves to their computers? Well, Google might have done that already. What can't this program do? It's a calculator, dictionary, translator and picture archive as well as a decent search engine. Ever notice the 'More' menu item at the top of the page when you're on Google's home page? Clicking it introduces you to a plethora of Google products and many of them are free. (http://www.google.com)

If I don't use Google at least once in the course of my work day, I'm probably working with the other programs on this list or I'm saving the world… or I could be asleep.


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