WebGems and NiftyClicks, Part 8: Xobni, SBA, Acrobat Alternative, and FixPicture A Closer Look at Xobni, Foxit Reader, FixPicture, and More Andew Lock
By now you know that I'm always looking for the best productivity tools around, and this week I've found another great selection of sites to share with you. Without further ado, let's have a look.
A great product with a silly name, Xobni is a piece of software that plugs into Outlook, the e-mail program. But it's difficult to describe exactly what Xobni is because it does so much.
Basically, once installed, Xobni appears on the right-hand side of your Outlook window as a narrow column / sidebar / toolbar — whatever you want to call it. As you use Outlook, it constantly and instantly updates the view to provide helpful information.
For example, when you click to read a new e-mail message, Xobni displays the phone number of the sender if they're in your address book, or even if they've simply included it in a previous email. You'll also see the full communication history and details like what time of day the person usually sends e-mails, as well as attachments sent or received.
Xobni's super powerful search is lightning fast, too. See, Microsoft, it can be done. If you use Outlook, this is a must-have addition in my opinion. Try it out — it's free.
A Better (and free) Alternative to Adobe Acrobat Reader
The problem with Adobe Acrobat Reader is that it's a huge, unwieldy, bloated piece of software that takes up a large chunk of memory, and it takes an age to load. It didn't use to be like that, but with each new version Acrobat Reader seems to run even slower.
Fortunately, some smart folks at FoxIt Software have come up with a fantastic alternative called FoxIt Reader. It's a tiny 2.5 MB download and it runs FAST! You can open PDF documents, of course, and there are other features that you may or may not be interested in, such as the commenting text tool, automatic scrolling, and multi-tabbed browsing capabilities.
IMPORTANT: Don't download FoxIt Reader from the main foxitsoftware Web site. You'll be forced to review some offers before you get to the download link. Instead, get it from Jumbo.com (Foxit Reader direct download, a reliable Web site where you can be sure it's also been tested as virus free.
The name gives it away, doesn't it? You probably own some kind of image-editing software such as Photoshop, Corel Draw, etc., but there are times when you're traveling and away from your computer that it's useful to have access to a free online application.
Obviously the functionality of FixPicture.org doesn't compare to the full-featured image editing software apps, but that's part of the appeal, honestly. It does a few things very well. After you've selected the image you want to edit (from your local hard drive or from a Web site URL), you can resize, crop, rotate, make a mirror image, or adjust the brightness/contrast, etc.
There's also an 'effects' tab with auto presets such as 'auto levels,' 'auto contrast,' focus, blur, greyscale, emboss, etc. The other nice feature about the site is that there are two ways to access the interface — an HTML version and a flash version. I found the flash version to be easier to work with (and a lot more attractive), but I guess the HTML version is probably more compatible with a wider range of browsers. Once you're done editing, you export the image to your hard drive.
Few of us would expect much from a government run Web site, but this one is different. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has created a wealth of information — all accessible from this portal style site.
I've never liked the term 'small business' because it implies that it's likely to stay that way. But regardless of the name, there's lots of information and free online courses on how to start your own business, how to obtain grants, financing and accounting, international trade, managing technology, and much more. This is a surprisingly useful resource with relatively intuitive and easy navigation.
Andrew Lock is a self-described maverick marketer and the creator and host of Help! My Business Sucks, a free, weekly Web TV show full of practical marketing tips, advice, and resources to help small businesses "get more done and have more fun."
Be sure to check out all of Andrew's articles in the WebGems and NiftyClicks series:
