Internet News

Backup - just do it

Back it up: How to avoid losing your digital treasures , Hugh Thomson, Globe and Mail (May 1)

Good, simple and clear advice on how to make sure you get a backup system set up and use it.

Using the Cloud for your Files

Three PCWorld articles to help (or confuse) you in selecting a place in the cloud for your files.

5 Reasons Microsoft SkyDrive is Better Than Google Drive (Apr 26) - "Microsoft added the ability to store files online and sync across multiple devices right from your Windows or OS X desktop."

Google Drive vs. The Rest (Apr 24) - has chart covering all the big features of the major services.

Add Dropbox, Google Drive, or SkyDrive to Windows' Send-To Menu (Apr 27)

Guide to Google Drive

Your complete guide to Google Drive, Sharon Vaknin, CNET (Apr 25)

Google users - Google Docs has been retired - use Google Drive.

"Google Docs has been retired and replaced by Drive, leaving you with one place to create and manage all your documents and files.

You get 5GB of free storage, the ability to view and store dozens of file types, and integration with other Google services, like Google+ and Gmail."

Lots of tips on how to use it.

Google Drive and other online sharing services

Google Drive is yet another place where we can store photos, documents, backups, music. It has 5 MB of free storage. Dropbox has 2 GB, SkyDrive 7 GB. Well - as Stephen Shankland says - why not use them all?

Google Drive, SkyDrive, Dropbox? Heck, use 'em all!, Stephen Shankland, Webware (Apr 24)

"But with online storage, there's nothing holding you back from putting your photos at Microsoft SkyDrive, your Word documents for work collaboration at Dropbox, and your videos at Google Drive. As long as the services can reach all the devices you need, you can add them together to get lots of storage while sticking in the free tier. "

But Rafe Needleman wonders if Google Drive will push the others out - especially Dropbox.

Google Drive is not for everyone, so try these alternatives

He does a quick evaluation of Google Drive, DropBox, Box, SugarSync, Cubby, CX, Mozy Stash, Wuala, Bitcasa, Microsoft SkyDrive, Apple iCloud - that many!

Google Drive is good, he says, and people who use many other Google services such as Google Docs would find it a natural fit. But for "elegant and simple solution for sharing, storing, and syncing, Dropbox is still tops. "

Make Use Of Best Sites

11 New Websites Added to Our List of the Best Websites, MakeUseOf (Apr 11)

Oh my - so many good new sites to enjoy. MakeUseOf now has 119 sites for music, movies, photos, productivity, search engines, books - and many more.

One example - "Ge.tt – a simple, real-time sharing website letting you share files quickly and move on."

Using Google Docs

52 Great Google Docs Secrets for Students, Online Colleges (Apr 4)

52 tips! It's a course in using Google Docs. You can even share a Google Doc with a workmate who refuses to get a Google account.

Google Docs searches PDF

PDF search and comments features added to Google Docs, Juan Carlos Perez, TechWOrld (Mar 8)

Something for Google Doc users --

"In February, Google added a feature to Docs that lets users search for text inside PDFs in their documents list, thanks to optical character recognition technology. That has been extended so that users can now search for and copy highlighted text when they open a scanned PDF, such as a fax or a receipt."

Two Note-Taking Apps

Evernote vs. OneNote: Note-Taking Apps Showdown, Michele Mastin, PCWorld (Jan 30)

If you're doing any kind of research - even planning a vacation - these note taking, applications will be handy. Use them for taking notes, collecting materials, organizing information, or managing projects. Use is entirely up to your ingenuity and need.

This article compares Evernote, excellent for web clipping as well as its note taking capabilities, to OneNote, an applicaiton that is included in Microsoft Office or standalone.

"Both note-taking tools are full-featured, with different strengths. Evernote is great as a quick reference tool, since you can add or look up any kind of note from almost any device, but it lacks the depth of organization and integration of OneNote. For more in-depth projects or longer form notes, I gravitate towards OneNote, due to its deeper organizational tools. OneNote’s superior syncing and sharing tools also make it more suited to team collaboration, brainstorming, and whiteboarding, whereas Evernote works well as a shared repository of reference material. Even if you don’t use Microsoft Office, OneNote may be worth the $80 stand-alone price if ink notes, deeper organization, linking, and put-anything-anywhere-on-the-page notes appeal to you."

Themeefy - create your own e-mag

Curators take note - Themeefy is a new, still-in-beta service for bringing together content you find into a flip book. You find the information from anywhere on the web - web, social networks, youtube and other video, images - anything - add it to the story you are developing and deliver through Themefy as an attractive sequence of slides. You can create a mag from your blog too - if it is wordpress- and publish as a blogzine.

Themefy has a library of these "Mags" ready for browsing.

Read the page about Use Cases to get some ideas on how you might use this.

This is the creation of Bibkosh Labs, a product of Sievelogic Software Technologies, in Pune, India. Very clever and very polished.

Microsoft Learning Suite

Microsoft Learning Suite , Microsoft (Dec 9)

All this software - and it's free - tools for creativity, research, collaboration, and teaching.

More about Evernote

Evernote: 'The longer you use it, the more likely you are to pay', Stephen Shankland, Webware (Dec 8)

Evernote grows on its users, and the ones who stay usually begin to pay because they want the premium features.

"The number of users is growing, too. In the last year, Evernote's user base grew from 5 million to 20 million now. Of them, 750,000 are paying customers. Libin wouldn't disclose revenue, but at $45 per year for the service, that would mean something in the neighborhood of $33.8 million annually right now. "

One of the reasons is the article reader -- Evernote launches soothing article reader, Rafe Needleman, Cnet (Nov 16) - it's called Clearly.

Personal Cloud Services

Rumble in the Cloud: 5 Cloud Storage Services Compared, By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, ITworld.com via PCWorld (Dec 7)

Sometimes we use cloud services without realizing it.

"Do you use Dropbox to store files? Do you get your e-mail at Gmail? Are you experimenting with Apple's iCloud? Doing work with Google Apps, Office 365, or Zoho Docs? Congratulations, you're a cloud user. You may be thinking a lot of those are software as a service (SaaS) offerings that mimic traditional client-server computing, and you'd be right. But they're also all cloud services."

Five are described in this article: Amazon Cloud Drive / Player, Apple iCloud, Dropbox, Google Music, Ubuntu One. There are many more.

Storing photos in the Cloud

The Cloud, Day 13: Storing and Managing Pictures in the Cloud, Tony Bradley, PCWorld Business Centre (Nov 26)

The Cloud has become a very attractive space for nearly everything we want to do on a computer - creating documents, storing them, email, and images. This series by Tony Bradley is excellent.

Day 13 about images is especially so with information about Flickr, Picasa, and Facebook. One bit - Google Plus users get more storage space in Picasa.

"As with most things cloud, the “best” choice for an online picture storing and managing solution is subjective. The primary factor that makes one better than the next seems to be based on my other cloud decisions, and selecting the cloud-based photo service that syncs, and most closely integrates with my choice of mobile OS."

Sending large files through Minus

You may be sending some large files back and forth with colleagues and friends. There is a new file sharing service - Minus - reviewed in this Make Use Of article - Minus: Extremely Simple File Sharing With 10GB of Free Online Storage

Google Drive Coming

Yes, Google Drive Is Coming. For Real This Time., MS Siegler, Techcrunch (Sep 24)

Google may be introducing its own version of DropBox - a place to store and sync files through the cloud - called Google Drive. This article says that "Google Drive on the web will essentially be Google Docs rebranded."

Online Office Applications

Google Apps vs. Office 365 vs. Zoho Docs: Cloud-Based Office Suites Showdown, By Tony Bradley, PCWorld (Aug 29)

For working with files and for storage Office 365 from Microsoft edged out Google Apps and Zoho Docs in this comparison of online office suites - perhaps because of its likeness to Microsoft Office. Google and Zoho were found to be stronger for collaboration.

"All three platforms provide office basics such as word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation tools. All three also have an email client, online file storage, real-time sharing and collaboration, and some measure of cross-platform availability."

But you do have to be online, and they don't have the full features of an installed version.

Free Apps for the Windows PC

Still Awesome After All These Years: Eight Excellent Free Downloads, PCWorld (July)

Can't go wrong with this list of free antivirus and utilities.

ge.tt for sharing files

Ge.tt - new service for sharing files - free, no registration, 90 days, no install - more if you do open an account.

BTW - drop.io was swallowed up by Facebook.

See- short review - Drop Everything at VeryShortList.

X1 Desktop Search better than WIndows

X1 Desktop Search Makes It Easy to Find Files Fast, Erez Zukerman, PCWorld (Jun 13)

Back to desktop search - it hasn't been forgotten. X1 Desktop Search for $50 will search all your files.

"With X1 Desktop Search, you need to type only a fragment of text, and results appear before you're even done typing. It's significantly faster than Windows 7's built-in search, while going through much more content."

This review found it better than Copernic Desktop Search.

All about Google Doc

30 Days With...Google Docs By Tony Bradley, PCWorld (May 1)

Dynamite guide to using Google Docs. On Day 27, Tony Bradley wrote "I think we have established that Google Docs is more than adequate for creating simple documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and other content. Now, let's take a quick look at some of the features that power-users might appreciate."

Time to give this a close study.

Personal newspapers for your ipad

The race to build the ‘Daily Me’, David Ebner, Globe and Mail (May 24)

iPad owners may be interested in constructing their own newspaper through Zite, a new “personalized magazine” that will learn what you like by the choices you make. (People have started to call this - "personal curation".) Zite pulls the content from the web - it was getting the content by scrapping web sites - something that the publishers stopped, and it now links directly to the stories. Zite is a Vancouver-based company.

Flipboard, in the US, is the competitor - it sells itself as a "social magazine".

"Flipboard’s app – an attractively designed “social magazine” – was a fast winner when it launched in 2010. Apple Inc. named it the iPad app of the year. It has focused on quality of presentation and doesn’t rely on algorithms, instead delivering a person content connected to their Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as from mainstream publishers that pay to be featured. "

Also about Zite and Flipboard --

A Digital 'Magazine' With One Subscriber , Wall Street Journal (Mar 9)

"It also tracks and learns from user behavior as people open stories (or don't), so if users just read a story on Zite, its personalization still works. With each story a user reads, he or she can opt to indicate they like a story, want to see more of one or all of the individual topics covered in that story, or want to see more from the source of that story. Zite then makes suggestions according to that knowledge. So your Zite magazine will never be exactly like mine."

Introducing Zite, the iPad’s Smartest Magazine Yet, Chris Taylor, Mashable (Mar 9)

DropBox has many uses

3 Unique & Creative Uses For Dropbox Accounts, Nancy Messieh, Make Use Of (April 2)

Who knew - Dropbox - the online service for file sharing and synchronization - could be used is so many clever ways?

"Whether you want to take your favourite music with you on the go, listening to it no matter where you are, whether you want a quick and easy way to create a gallery of photos, or even if you want to build an entire website using Dropbox to host it, they’ve got you covered."

Search Your Personal Cloud

Greplin Lets You Find Your Stuff in the Cloud , Avi Rappoport, Newsbreaks (Feb 21)

Have a lot of stuff online? Search your personal cloud with Greplin , but read the review first.

"The new Greplin service is like desktop search, only it indexes and makes searchable online social networking accounts—what some people are calling a “personal cloud.” The free version indexes content from accounts on Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, Google Docs & Calendar, Dropbox, and LinkedIn, while the paid versions add other sources and more index space. Simple to install, Greplin works quickly, not just finding one’s own posts, email, and documents scattered around the various services, but posts and documents shared by friends’ accounts."

Evernote as a writing tool

How Tim Ferriss used Evernote to write The 4-Hour Body, Ron Toledo, Evernote Blog (Dec 21)

Tim Ferriss used Evernote as his note-organizing tool in writing his book the 4-Hour Body.

His testimonial gives some ideas on how valuable Evernote can be in research and organizing.

"Without Evernote, I would have been completely lost. I would have had to create hundreds of different folders with substructures. I would have had to back everything up repeatedly to different locations. It would have been a complete nightmare. So, the research, the note taking and the organization was all done with Evernote. Then, I moved to a program called Scrivener, which is traditionally used for screenplays, but I used it to take information from Evernote and put it into a research section to draft the book. Evernote was the starting point, the central point for everything."

DropBox for large files

How to Send Large Files, Rick Broida, PCWorld (Jan 23)

It's good to know the drop-box kind of services for sending very large files. This article has YouSendIt, SugarSync, and WeTransfer.

Productivity Tools

The Web's Best Productivity Sites , Robert Strohmeyer, PCWorld (Dec 26)

"From Gmail to Xmarks to Wolfram Alpha, here are the 20 best sites and services for getting work done, keeping your schedule in order, finding useful information, and more."

Categories:

+ office apps - Office 2010, Google Docs, Zoho
+ email - gmail and Yahoo Mail
+ storage - Dropbox and others
+ personal finance - a few for people in the USA
+ calendar - remember the milk, and Google calendar
+ bookmarks - Xmarks (absolutely)
+ search - Google for web, but Bing for videos
+ reference - Wikipedia (of course), Wolfram Alpha (but in different way), some others.

New at Dropbox

Dropbox 1.0 Arrives With Selective Sync Feature, PCWorld (DSec 17)

Dropbox - excellent for online storage - now has "Selective Sync, which allows users to choose what gets synchronized to the Dropbox folder in their various devices"

Box.Net for online storage

Box.net bumps free, paid storage capacities, Josh Lowensohn, Web Crawler (Oct 28)

Online space is dirt cheap now. What's holding us back from using this for backup?

At Box.net - "Beginning with the personal plan (which is free), users now get 5GB of storage--up from 1GB. Business users get a much larger boost, going up to 500GB from 15GB. That 500GB is a pool of storage--not a per-user allotment--but it can end up being much more space for a small team than was offered before. Meanwhile, the company's enterprise plan will continue to exist without limits on how much space users take up."

Evernote for saving stuff

Evernote's Windows overhaul adds speed, finesse by Josh Lowensohn, Web Crawler (Oct 26)

Evernote is probably the coolest, most useful tool on the Web for researchers who are clipping and saving. Capture anything you see at sites, search what you collect to find things again, and do this just about any device. But it wasn't necessarily the easiest or fastest tool.

It has just announced a "a new version of its note-taking and Web-clipping Windows software this morning that improves speed, looks, and functionality."

Evernote has also released new widgets website owners can use to encourage visitors to clip and save.

- The Site Memory Button

- Popular sites that have added Site Memory
- Google Chrome Extension with Simultaneous Search - search Google and your Evernote collection at the same time
- Evernote Creative Series - ideas from how people are using Evernote.
- Mobile Trifecta! Updates to iPhone, Android and BlackBerry
- New partners and notebooks in the Evernote Trunk - a place for finding applications that work with Evernote - eg Inkiness to create ink notes and sketches and save to Evernote, or Note & Share through several means.

Waning Days for Google Desktop

10 Reasons Why Google Desktop Will Be Discontinued, Google Operating System (Sept 21)

These 10 points present a convincing case that Google Desktop, once an all purpose search utility (web, desktop files, email, plus all its gadgets) is on its way out.

Come to think of it - are people still using MyGoogle portal with its gadgets?

More from DropBox

Get an Extra 250MB of Dropbox Storage, Rick Broida, PCWorld (Aug 6)

Good tip - use the free Dropbox for 2 GB of online file storage, and then tweak it to get 250 MB more.

Evernote adds a Trunk of Apps

Evernote gets built-in, third-party app directory by Josh Lowensohn, Webware (Jul 14)

Evernote, the web-based service for clipping notes, has added more function through a "Trunk".

"The Trunk is both a directory of third-party sites and a set of tools that can be integrated into the Evernote service to bring additional functionality. "

Sharing is part of this - "Besides the new Trunk feature and branded notebooks, Libin unveiled a new way for groups to work together. Evernote will now be able to collage shared items together into one folder so that users in different locations have the most up-to-date version. Libin explained it as one of the next steps in making Evernote friendlier for business and education users. "

Searching Google Docs

New Search Operators in your Documents List, Google Docs Blog (Jun 29)

Google offers users of Google Docs some syntax to search their documents. Of course quotation marks for phrase, - for exclude, OR. New ones worth noting are:

* Type of doc: [ type:{document, spreadsheet, presentation} ]

* Items edited before (or after) a certain day: [ before:YYYY-MM-DD, after:YYYY-MM-DD ]

* Items owned by Ted: [ owner:ted@rocketsnlasers.com ]

* Items with “rocket” in the title: [ title:rocket ]; [ subject:rocket ] does the same thing"

But no NEAR operator - which would help in finding best matches and relevant sections.

Office Apps on the Web

Office Web Apps, Google Docs go head-to-head, Dennis O'Reilly, Worker's Edge, Cnet (Jun 23)

Microsoft may have a good response to the advances Google and Zoho have made in web-based office applications with its Office 2010.

"I was most impressed with the Office PowerPoint Web App, which offers a surprising number of editing options. Still, I will likely have much more occasion to use Word Web App and Excel Web App. Both are eminently serviceable equivalents to their desktop counterparts, albeit with only a fraction of the features of Word and Excel. After switching between Google Docs and Office Web Apps for a week, I prefer the Google services, which offer more features in most categories and feel more familiar. Still, the Office Web Apps have a lot going for them."

Evernote for Windows

Evernote for Windows update, Evernote blog (June 3)

Evernote for saving and clipping from anywhere announced improvements to the WIndows version of its software, and promises more. Its users are keen to make suggestions. Evernote seems to be ignoring them.

Office 2010 Reviewed

Globe and Mail has a three-part review of the new Office 2010 from Microsoft and one on Outlook 2007.
.
New features of Microsoft Office 2010 focus on collaboration, integration

Word 2010 matures nicely

OneNote below the radar no longer

Outlook gets a facelift

Office Web Apps

Microsoft's Web-based Office goes live, by Ina Fried, Beyond Binary (June 8)

Microsoft Office users can now do everything cloud style. Microsoft released the browser-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

"Consumers get free access to the tools, along with 25GB of storage as part of Windows Live, while businesses can also host their own version of the Web Apps using the latest version of Sharepoint. "

People in US, UK, Canada, or Ireland, get access through Office.live.com

You do not have to use IE - "Microsoft's Web apps are designed to work on Macs, Windows PCs, and Linux-based computers using Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari (though Google's Chrome and other browsers may work as well). "

Microsoft also offers the free Docs.com - Microsoft, Facebook launch Docs.com - for sharing documents through Facebook.

"The site allows Facebook users to log in using Facebook Connect and create, edit, and share Microsoft Office documents with their Facebook friends. New documents will show up in a user's news feed, just like status updates or pictures."

Digital Clutter

Digging out from the digital clutter , by Leanne Italie, AP via Globe and Mail (May 10)

We have too much stuff - and now it's also too much digital stuff. Periodic cleanup is a good idea. This article has some suggestions from dr Merrill, co-author of Getting Organized in the Google Era.

"Search don't file" is one -- "“Search is the new organization. Search can set us free from the clutter of our imperfect minds” by allowing us to get a little messy. No time is lost on meticulously filing and hunting for folders when well-defined searches are used" I'm not sure I agree - and certainly not for Thunderbird email.

I do think that a good bookmarks manager that you can access from anywhere (Diigo is pretty good), and a good notes manager (like Evernote) are two important tools for keeping head above the digital tsunami - plus the discipline to use them.

Evernote has Versioning

Evernote doubles note size limits, adds versioning, by Josh Lowensohn, Web Crawler (Apr 15 )

Evernote, a well regarded clip-and-save tool, has added versioning for the web version of the software. Company has said these controls will be added to desktop and mobile versions soon.

Also, premium users ($5 / month) will have 50 MB space.

Improved Google Docs

Google Announces “A New Google Docs”, Zee, The Next Web (Apr 12)

Google docs just got better.

+ "Sidebar chat has also become part of the app making it possible discuss documents as you edit away with your colleagues."

+ better formating - "a revamped comment system, real margins and tab stops, and improved image layout within documents.”"

+ Spreadsheet - "A new formula has also been added, along with cell editing, auto-complete, drag and drop columns, and simpler navigation between sheets."

+ Drawing editor - "new standalone drawings editor that lets you work in real time on flow charts, designs, diagrams and other graphics. "

Features will appear over the next 2 weeks. Lots to try.

Google Tools

10 Google Hacks To Make Life Easier by Jacob Friedman, The Next Web (April 6)

These are presented at Google "tricks" that will "simplify" life. Maybe - but they aren't tricks - they are mainly other Google tools.

+ Google search bar - Yes to having it, and Yes to using the auto-suggest and to using syntax. Article mentions the * as a wildcard.

+ Chrome - because it is speedy and stylish

+ Gmail Checker - a Gmail extension for Chrome

+ Google Labs - great place to explore

+ Google Maps - invest 2 or 3 hours

+ Google Waves (hardly a hack or something that is simple to get into)

+ GMail tips

+ Google reader - use for following news and updates, but Feedly which takes feeds set up in Google Reader is better

+ Google Buizz

+ Google Docs - now better with drawing

PCMag's Best Free Software

The Best Free Software of 2010, PCMagazine (Mar 30)

"Get what you DON'T pay for: Here are 196 programs that cost nothing but will make your computing life richer—all while keeping your wallet fat."

Acrobat Workspaces in the Cloud

Workspace tools come to Adobe's Acrobat.com, by Josh Lowensohn, Web Crawler (Mar 28)

Adobe is in the cloud too.

"Adobe is launching another offensive into the online office collaboration market with a new addition to its Acrobat.com service that lets groups of users share virtual workspaces. "

Sending Very Large Files

How to save and share ridiculously large files, by Josh Lowensohn, WebCrawler (Mar 9)

Files are getting bigger and bigger. How can you share the multi-MB files - or even one that is 1 GB with friends or colleagues? This articles lists several services - free and for fee.

On the free ones you may only be able to leave the file there for a few days. On the for-fee you get more time, more space, and other features attractive to business.

PC World's Collection of Free Tools and Services

112 Best Free Downloads, Sites, and Services: The Full List, by Adam Pash and Rick Broida, PCWorld (Feb 28)

PC World's collection of the best free downloads, sites, and services available - sorted by category.

+ All time greats
+ Anti virus utilities - Avast and AVG are two on the list.
+ Audio apps
+ Backup utilities
+ Browser Add-Ons, Apps and Utilities
+ Collaboration Services
+ Desktop customization
+ Mobile apps and services
+ Photo utilities - Paint.net is here
+ Productivity tools
+ Security utilties
+ Self-improvement assistants - like BudgetSketch
+ Social networking tools
+ System utilities
+ Time Savers - Read it later
+ Video tools nd services
+ Windows 7 Style features - like AeroSnap and Windows 7 shortcuts

Mendeley Research Management

Search for research trends with Mendeley, Altsearchengines (Dec 5)

Mendeley is research management tool intended for academic researchers. This is software for managing documents and a networking tool for sharing with colleagues.

+ Connect with other researchers in your field - navigate their "web of knowledge"

+ "Collaborate with fellow researchers and share information, resources and experiences with shared and public collections."

+ "Mendeley Desktop is academic software that indexes and organizes all of your PDF documents and research papers into your own personal digital bibliography."

Tips for Google Docs Users

100 Great Google Docs Tips for Students & Educators, Accredited Online Colleges (Nov 2009)

If you are a Google Docs and GMail user, you'll love this list of tips for using the tools more effectively alone or collaborating with others. The list shows us how rich Google Docs has become - with translation, style sheets, shared folders - they can even be colour coded.

Live is Not Dead

What’s coming for Live.com?, Lilveside (Oct 30)

Microsoft is re-purposing Live.com into services like Office Live and Windows Live.

Copernic's myCopernic

Copernic seems to have gone back to its knitting, as Tom Peters would say. It has sold Mamma.com, a metasearch engine with pay-per-click business. It has also announced a new product - myCopernic on the Go.

From Copernic Launches Service to Access Stored Data from Anywhere , press release (July 7, 2009)

"Based on Copernic Mobile, a CTIA 2008 award-winning product, myCopernic on the Go! offers the end-user an intelligent solution to search and access relevant information from virtually anywhere, using any internet enabled device. With the power of a desktop search tool installed on the client's PC, users can quickly find, preview and download the desired file, email, attachment, calendar item, picture, etc. myCopernic on the Go! uses the desktop search tools' index in order to provide the quickest path to the right document with a fast search feature. myCopernic on the Go! is designed to work with Windows Desktop Search and is optimized for Copernic Desktop Search."

Evernote for note-taking

Evernote gets a whiff of wikis by Rafe Needleman, Webware (June 29)

Evernote is making it easier to share notes.

"Evernote, a great note-taking and productivity app and a 2009 Webware 100 editor's choice winner, is getting just a hint of multi-user capability. It has new, basic sharing features that tease at a new direction for the app/online service. "

Evernote - Be Organized

Use Evernote to Organize Your Troubleshooting Efforts by Rick Broida, PCWorld (May 7)

Recommends using Evernote to organize notes gathered during research from the web or any other source. This type of tool does take self discipline to use but can save hours of rework. Rick Broida described how he used it for real benefit in troubleshooting a computer problem. I like the fact that the notes can be synced across desktop, web and mobile device.

Soonr for Collaboration

Soonr goes 3.0: Revamps search, iPhone version, by Josh Lowensohn, Webware (Apr 22)

Soonr is an online service for managing files and collaborating on documents. Its third version brings "a redesigned Web site and updated iPhone application that brings more of its desktop functionality to mobile users. "

Desktop: "On the desktop side, the site has been rearranged to put all of Soonr's collaborative features in one place. Things like past file edits, user comments, and permissions control are now in the same place. And you can quickly create a project and start adding files to it on your own, or with collaborators who will be alerted each time there's a new file, user comment, or a change."

dtSearch New Release

dtSearch Corp Announces New Product Line, eContent (Mar 13)

" dtSearch Corp., a supplier of enterprise and developer text retrieval software, announced extensions to its 64-bit developer product line. The new release covers both dtSearch's enterprise and developer products, including native 64-bit versions. "

Google Apps Dashboard

Dashboard shows customers Google Apps' health by Stephen Shankland, Webware (Feb 25)

There are all these Google applications - and Google wants to communicate to its customers on how well they are doing through this chart.

The Google Apps status dashboard will which services are working.

Sending Large Files

Share big files online with these services by Don Reisinger, Webware (Feb 10)

Full reviews on four services - some of them new.

+ Box.net - good for companies but also individuals
+ Dropbox - has offline features
+ Live Mesh from Microsoft - has a sync tool but not easy to use
+ YouSendIt - basic and utilitarian - no collaboration tools

Box.net for Online Storage

Box.net gets back to business with new look by Josh Lowensohn, Webware (Feb 5)

Box.net - online storage service with support for collaboration on files - has a new interface and pricing packages.

"Collaborators on a project can see what others have open, the edits they've made, or changes to the file structure. All of these actions are then listed in each individual user's profile in a brand new information feed."

Lite (free) has 1 GB storage and 5 collaboration folders. More support and volume is available through the Individual and Business packages.

Online Storage

Yahoo drops its Briefcase by David Meyer, Webware (Jan 30)

Briefcase had 30 MB of online storage - but people didn't use it. However there is still Microsoft Skyline with 25 MB, and Google may be introducing GDrive.

Best PC Newsletter

Steve Bass is back in force with a new newsletter about ways to live with your computer and make it work for you. He used to have a column at PCWorld. Now he runs his own which you can subscribe to at http://www.techbite.com/.

The latest issue was about Flash: Getting YouTube Videos to Play which not only explains in easy-to-understand language how to get Flash to work but also as a side bit on making your own games using Flash (use Sploder).

There's much more in tips as well as Bass's amusing indulgences in "time wasters".

Recommended - always useful, always fun - a rare blend.

Another Reason for Evernote

Evernote now syncs your files across devices by Josh Lowensohn, Webware (Dec 17)

Lowensohn strongly recommends Evernote for taking notes and archiving scanned documents especially now that it has a file synchronization feature.

"Now, when attaching a file to a note it will be available everywhere else once it's been synced. If a change is made to that file, those changes get updated in all other locations shortly thereafter, mimicking the behavior of creating and syncing text notes on the service."

PEW - When Technology Fails

If you lost your internet access in the last year or an electronic device died or was difficult to set up, you're not alone. PEW Internet and American Life has a new report on the types of problems we have and what we do about it. As it says - electricity and the telephone were both new at one time too.

* 48% of tech users needed help to set up a new device or service.
* 44% of those with home internet access say their connection failed to work properly at some time in the previous 12 months.
* 39% of those with desktop or laptop computers have had their machines not work properly at some time in the previous 12 months.
* 29% of cell phone users say their device failed to work properly at some time in the previous year.

To learn how people deal with these problems check the report - interesting reading -- http://www.pewinternet.org./PPF/r/267/report_display.asp

[From news release]

Drop.io - Private Sharing for Individuals and Businesses

Drop.io for file sharing through private "drops" where you can put documents, videos, images s etc. Includes permissions for what other people can do. Has Firefox add-on. Comes with several views. Can also add files through fax, e-mail etc. 100 MB free. There are price plans for more space and use . Has a nice video of how to use. Very impressive. Has examples of how people and businesses are using this.

Reviewed in Drop.io gets prettier, easier by Caroline McCarthy, Webware (Nov 24)

Microsoft Office going Online

Finally getting with the program: Microsoft to offer Office online by Rafe Needleman, Webware (Oct 28)

Microsoft is putting Office apps online to compete with Google and Zoho. Pricing is not known and people can encounter complications in working online (software compatibility and entrenched work habits of team members) but online applications and collaboration is the market direction.

"Microsoft announced .. that it is finally putting Office apps Word, Excel, and PowerPoint online, but not killing the traditional versions. It's about time Microsoft got with the program here. Online apps offer several advantages over software apps, which Google has been leveraging in its Google Docs suite. Primarily, documents that are created in an online app can be opened up for sharing and collaboration very simply"

headup discovery agent

SemantiNet Launches New Information Discovery Assistant: headup by Paula J. Hane, Newsbreaks (Oct 27)

There have been several articles on headup.

Description: "headup from SemantiNet (http://headup.com) is a new plug-in for the Mozilla Firefox web browser that uses semantic web capabilities to provide users with personalized, related data from all over the web in context to a current webpage. It’s a "personal discovery agent to the web" that displays an unobtrusive, yellow "+" headup icon and then presents the data as an additional layer on top of the page being viewed."

Paula Hane was reminded of Watson from Intellext, another search assistant.

One thing - seems to be renewed interest in desktop software tools that will help with search. But will people download and install?

Personal Home Pages

Put the information you need on your home page by Dennis O'Reilly, Webware (Oct 23)

Two more iGoogle alternatives (Oct 24)

Parts 1 and 2 on tools for creating a useful start page that in addition to news allows access to Gmail in-box, Google Calendar, Google Reader, and Google Docs.

"Here's a quick look at the Pageflakes and Netvibes custom-home page services. Tomorrow, I'll cover the beta test version of the new Symbaloo service, Delicious, and the new-look iGoogle. "

Links to other articles on changes at iGoogle such as iGoogle attacked by giant widgets

I suspect, that even with its deficiencies, iGoogle will win out - only it will support all those other Google services. Comment on this posting points out that iGoogle in Canada still has the older style.

It's a bit hard to keep up with these things, and inconsiderate of the providers (Google, MSN, Yahoo) to change styles after people have spent hours personalizing them. Would be better if users were allowed to keep the old.

Zoho Applications for GE

GE Drops Google, Selects Zoho, Daya Baran, WebGuild (Sept 21)

General Electric has formed a partnership with Zoho for web-based Office Suite on 400,000 desktops. That's an endorsement.

"A GE spokesperson who did not want to be identified said their decision was based around issues of personal and corporate privacy, functionality, support, features and Zoho won hands down."

Office Live not good enough

Office Live, you're no Google Docs by Rafe Needleman, Webware (Sept 4)

Interested in sharing and working on documents online? Seems Google Docs and Zoho may be better choices over Office Live.

"What it is right now is a way for people who have paid for the Microsoft Office suite to share files with other people who have the suite. It's useful, but it's no Google Docs, nor Zoho for that matter."

Zoho's Future

Zoho's last stand By Dan Farber, Webware (Aug 18)

Zoho is free for now and intent on besting Google Docs and Microsoft Office applications, but what will happen when it needs revenue from customers?

"Sridhar Vembu, CEO of AdventNet, is not afraid of going up against Microsoft Office or Google Apps. He is also the CEO of Zoho, which recently announced that it had achieved 1 million registrations (between 300,000 and 350,000 log on to the service monthly) for its cloud-based set of productivity applications. Vembu is now making a financial case that Zoho is better positioned than Google to take on Microsoft in the upcoming office suite sweepstakes."

Desktop Search - really about clouds

Ahead in the Clouds: The Future of Desktop Search by Bill Greenwood, Information Today (Aug)

It's not really desktop-search anymore - it's cloud search - working online in web-based applications and keeping data there too.

"According to Goebel [Dave Goebel, president of Goebel Group, Inc.], who spoke about the future of desktop search at the Enterprise Search Summit this May in New York, the shift away from the desktop and toward the web is the result of the “consumerization of IT,” which he says has caused companies to believe that “users don’t care where the data’s stored. They just want to get to it and use it to make decisions in the business.” However, he says he doesn’t expect the desktop to be forgotten."

Whither desktop search?

Ahead in the Clouds: The Future of Desktop Search by Bill Greenwood, Information Today (July/Aug)

Desktop search - does it have a future?

This article points out that desktop is a misnomer - it's the indexing of web-based information -- "Industry analyst Dave Goebel, president of Goebel Group, Inc., and Google vice president of product development Sundar Pichai also pointed to the indexing of web-based information as key to the future of desktop search. In fact, X1 and Google have already added this capability to their own offerings: the X1 Professional Client and Google Desktop."

Google is still working on desktop and web -- "Google Desktop also allows users to go beyond their desktops when searching for files, but in a way that targets a more mainstream audience. After indexing the information stored on users’ computers, the program allows them to search email, files, music, photos, chats, Gmail, and viewed webpages using a quick search bar reminiscent of the one used on Google.com."

But - what about privacy concerns about content on the user's computer, of the user's web activity, and use of any web-based programs?

Zoomii Books

Zoomii Books for zooming into bookshelves holding books at Amazon. A short video will introduce you to how it works. Good if you like to browse and use the mouse wheel to zoom. Not necessarily good if you like to cut to the chase fast.

JetSoft Websearch

Unlimited Web Search by Ionut Ilascu, Softpedia (

Review of a search software product that is new to me - JetSoft Websearch done by JetSoft Corporation.

"Enter Jetsoft Web Search, a freebie that will give you the possibility to search a text string in more than one location at once. Search possibilities with this application give you the chance to retrieve results from more than 200 search engines. It would be nice to look in all of them at once, but for now you can only view results in four different engines at the same time.

Although the application incorporates a great deal of tools, the moment you launch it the interface will open with Google Search module. It may seem the same page as the one in your default browser, but if you take a closer look you will see that you can search any Google in the world you like as the app provides the possibility to search in any language and country Google has an office."

Seems to have several modules - web search, file search, translation based on Google's translate service, rss reader, public chat, email sender.When there are so many tools for chat and email, not clear why this was included at all. This is a suite - which aren't really in fashion anymore.

Online Acrobat.com

Adobe Acrobat takes big online leap by By Elsa Wenzel, Webware (June 1)

Adobe joins other web-based office products.

"Adobe unveiled an online community Monday with a word processor; file storage and sharing; and deep tie-ins to a newly Flash-enabled Acrobat 9.

The online push for Acrobat is a bold move for a brand perhaps best associated with the free and nearly ubiquitous Acrobat Reader, which opens print-ready Portable Document Format, or PDF, files. Now, PDFs will play movies. "

Copernic Desktop Search 2.3

Copernic has announced an update to its desktop search product, now at version 2.3 - it's faster and easier and available for home and corporate. http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/index.html

I recall that Copernic was the favourite for some time - and I did use it. Windows XP users might be interested in this article My file is missing! Using a desktop Search tool in Tech for Everyone (July 2007) that shows how to use Windows Search (good enough for most of us) and concludes that if you want something better there are three tools: Windows, Google, and Copernic - and - "I can also tell you that Copernic is the geek’s choice. "

Microsoft Desktop Search Update

Microsoft Previews Desktop Search Update Elizabeth Montalbano, IDG News Service (Mar 31, 2008)

I missed this announcement - Microsoft released an update "to its Windows desktop-search tool to clear out bugs and improve the performance of the current technology."

"The Windows 4.0 download works with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows XP Service Pack 3 or Vista."

However, this is more an enterprise product than for personal computers.

Zoho sign-in

Zoho No Longer Requires Accounts. Sign In With Your Yahoo Or Google ID, TechCrunch (May 13)

Zoho makes it much easier to get Google and Yahoo registrants to use the Zoho suite of products - notebook, conferencing, chat - much more. Some of those products directly compete with Google and Yahoo.

"The goal, Vegesnu says, is to get users to try Zoho with as little hassle as possible: “One thing we noticed is, when users try both Zoho and Google, more than 70% of them prefer Zoho. It made sense for us to do this. We want more users to try our apps.”"

About Google Sites

Google Sites: Putting the Puzzle Together by Aaron Smith, Rev2.org (Apr 8)

Quite the endorsement of Google Sites, a set of tools for creating a team set.

"... I can say without a doubt that this is another watershed moment in the evolution of web based applications. In a few hours I was able to assemble a series of spreadsheets, calendars, forms and gadgets to create a completely customized application that solved a problem that she has been struggling with for years. It isn’t quite as functional as we would like, but I’m sure that as the features evolve with time we’ll get all the capabilities needed."

101 Freebies

101 Fantastic Freebies by Preston Gralla and Erik Larkin, PC World (Mar 23)

Another of PCWorld's fantastic collections.

"Whether you're partial to online services or to downloadable software, we have the Web's best free stuff and it'll keep you productive, secure, and entertained."

Google Apps, WordPress

Why Google Apps is a Serious Threat to Microsoft Office by Bernard Lunn, ReadWriteWeb (Feb 22)

Endorses Google Apps especially the word processing component because it supports collaboration so well.

Notes that eXpresso is better for collaborating on a spreadsheet.

Suggests that PowerPoint is passe -- "If I want to persuade with words, I use words. If I want to persuade with multimedia, then it is time for video such as YouTube or maybe Seesmic and screencasting tools to show off an app. A PPT deck is very flat by contrast."

Or use WordPress - "free, open source, has a plug-in architecture and there is a Dummies book ". Competition may be Google Docs/Blogger versus Wordpress.

Microsoft Office Live is still in pre-registration state. It better move quickly.

Google Apps for Sharing Documents

Google Makes it Easier to Share Documents with Co-Workers PCWorld (Feb 6)

"Google Apps is a cool way to collaborate on documents with co-workers and share calendars online. ... Today Google's launching a free service, Google Apps Team Edition, which lets you set up your company's Google Apps universe just by entering an e-mail address."

From Google Apps - Collaborate at work with Google Apps Team Edition.

Google Desktop Search (or not)

Search, No Longer the Main Feature of Google Desktop Google Operating System (Jan 11)

Changes with Google Desktop seems to downplay search.

"If you install the latest version of Google Desktop for Windows, you'll notice a new dialog that presents a list of features and lets you select the ones you want. Google Desktop enables by default the sidebar with gadgets, but the search feature is limited to filenames. To actually search the full content of your files, you need to enable the "enhanced search"."

Tech Disappointments 2007

The 15 Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007 Dan Tynan, PC World (Dec 20)

"From on-demand video services that were overly demanding, to underwhelming operating-system updates, 2007 was full of disappointments."

Guess what was the underwhelming operating-system.

Particularly interesting observations:

+ screwed up municipal WiMax for wireless interent access - seems this hasn't worked out in the United States

+ social networks - there are so many, they do the same thing, and connecting with friends is 2006 - what's new? "Here's a safe bet: Two years from now, 90 percent of these networks will be gone and their founders will be back working at Starbucks."

+ internet security - there is none - "As with global warming, there's plenty of blame to go around--for everybody from developers of insecure software to home users who blithely log on without inoculating their PCs."

+ Office 2007 - enough said.

+ Voice Over IP - all the problems Vonage has had (though it still received "readers choice" in PC Magazine's review of "Trustworthy Tech" .

+ Yahoo - so-so in search and services but more seriously in hot water for supplying information about Chinese dissidents to the Chinese government.

Zoho Show for Presentations

Zoho Show 2.0 Unveiled - Compares Well to Powerpoint, One-Ups Google by Richard MacManus, Read/Write Web (Dec 12)

"Overall, Zoho Show 2.0 is slick and compares well with Powerpoint; and has added collaboration features. Plus, not for the first time, it's one-upped Google - whose online presentations software is basic by comparison."

dtSearch - custom search

dtSearch Introduces Version 7.5 of Product Line Newsbreaks (Dec 3)

dtSearch is still in the business of search software for desks or enterprise.

"dtSearch Corp., a supplier of enterprise and developer text retrieval software, announced Version 7.5 of the dtSearch product line. dtSearch products instantly search terabytes of data, in a wide variety of formats, across a desktop, network, Internet, or intranet."

This tool has some nice features if you need to build a database of information on competitors extracted from the web - or other similar research. See the page of case studies to see how dtSearch is being used in legal research, medical, forensics and security, government - and more.

Watch the demo.

Work Offline with Zoho

Zoho Office Goes Completely Offline with Google Gears Digital Inspiration (Nov 25)

"... the very impressive online word processor in Zoho Office suite is now available for both online and offline use through Google Gears."

Online Applications

Life Without Desktop Software Scott Spanbauer, PCWorld (Oct 23)

Scott Spanbauer worked only on the web - no desktop applications - for a week.

"Sure, online applications can't do certain things--like rip and burn CDs, or capture screen shots. But for most of my work, the convenience of storing and editing my documents and e-mail online compensates well for the drawbacks and missing features of Google Docs, Zoho Office, Gmail, and the like. Google and Zoho provided all the tools I needed, and other sites such as ThinkFree offer similar features see 10 Outstanding Web-Hosted Applications."

Windows Vista Gadgets

Windows Vista Gadgets by Niall Kennedy's Weblog (Nov 5)

These gadgets for Windows Vista are extremely colourful. Gadgets are small applications that are available to do things you want - get information, do calculations etc.

"In this article I will walk you through the major components of a Windows Vista Sidebar gadget including major differentiating features, best practices, and tips for widget packaging and distribution."

Kennedy wrote the article for people who want to develop and distribute gadgets, but users can get a sense of what they look like and how they work.

101 Freebies on the Net

World Wide Web: Land of Free Stuff by Douglas MacMillan, Business Week Online (Nov 19)

Special report from Business Week on 101 freebies on the Net. Comes with a slide show.

"You want it? It's yours. From a college education to your favorite shampoo, it's all happening gratis on the Internet".

"What have I found? I've collected 101 of the very best freebies—including enough free software to run your own business or become a YouTube video mogul—all without putting my hand in my pocket. Of course, I did have to give something, even if it wasn't money. In some cases, I had to click on an ad or watch a video. In others, information about me—such as how I spend my time online, or how I spend my money—was so valuable it entitled me to free products."

Online office with Google and Microsoft

Office wars: Google vs. Microsoft By Michal Lev-Ram, Fortune (Oct 5)

"Competition in the online office software market is heating up as Google and Microsoft go head to head and a host of startups seek space on the virtual desktop."

Microsoft Office Live Workspace

Microsoft to unveil Office Live Workspace, by JESSICA MINTZ, Canadian Press via Globe and Mail (Oct 1, 2007)

Microsoft has launhced a beta version of Microsoft Office Live Workspace -- "Web component for Office programs lets computer users store, share and comment on documents -- but not create them"

"Office Live Workspace will give users about 250 megabytes of storage, or room to keep about 1,000 average Office documents "in the cloud." PC users can upload Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, and use the site to e-mail friends or colleagues and invite them to read and add comments to those documents through a Web browser."

Google Gears for Offline Reading

Take Google Gears for a Test Spin With Google Reader by Scott Spanbauer, PCWorld (Sept 25)

Google Gears might just be the thing for travellers away from an Internet connection or people using dial-up. Spanbauer shows how to configure it in this article.

"Are you looking for a new way to read your Web news feeds while you're on a plane, train, or other conveyance that lacks Internet access? There's nothing new about offline news readers, but the Google Gears add-on makes it easier than ever to access Web information--without the Web."

Yahoo does Office

Another Big Yahoo! Acquisition: Zimbra, Rob Hof, The Tech Beat (Sep 17)

Yahoo is moving into Microsoft and Google territory with its acquisition of Zimbra and its online office-productivity applications. This is getting to be quite crowded, and as Hof points out, not Yahoo's core business. Perhaps Office is considered part of social or web collaboration.

Yahoo also launched a beta version of its new social networking place, Mash.

Online Storage - Google and Microsoft

Google charging for extra storage By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld (Aug 13)

Google will be charging for extra storage for GMail and Picasa. Users get 1GB of free storage for Picasa and 2.8GB for Gmail. 6 GB more will cost $20 / year. [ 25GB for $75 annually, 100GB for $250, and 250GB for $500.]

Microsoft has a new plan too called Microsoft's Windows Live Skydrive (previously Live Folders). It offers 500MB of free storage.

Using Web Office Applications

Get to your data...anywhere and anytime by Christopher Null, PC World (August 9, 2007)

Reviews the online Google Docs, Zoho, ThinkFree pointing out their usefulness and along with dangers. Recommends a hybrid approach - "You may not be comfortable with the security risk of storing data online, or you may dislike the feature set, interface, or slow response times of some of the online app services. And since it just isn't possible to remain connected to the Internet all the time, you need to have options that don't depend on it."

Google Docs

Google Docs & Spreadsheets tells you how dumb you are, download squad (Jul 19)

Google Docs does more than give word count - it will assess "readability".

The Brain is Back

TheBrain Technologies Upgrades its Information Visualization Software, Newsbreaks (Jul 16)

"TheBrain Technologies, LP (www.thebrain.com) announced the availability of PersonalBrain 4, the upgrade of its information visualization and organization software for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux users. PersonalBrain's user interface and advanced linking technology enables users to connect ideas, files, and Web pages within a dynamic visual interface."

Google Docs

Google Acquires Zenter, Online Presentation Software Company, Search Engine Land (jun 20)

Google can now add presentation software to its kit of Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

Google Gears

Google to offer offline access to online apps MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP via Globe and Mail (May 31)

Gears from Google sounds useful - it will work offline and also sync applications like word processing and spreadsheet when online.

Google Gears (http://gears.google.com) is a plug-in for browsers that "opens an offline door to software programs that until now have been inaccessible without an Internet connection".

"Initially, only Google's “reader” application for collecting the latest content on blogs and other Web sites will work offline, but the company plans to add other programs to the mix, Huber said. He cited Google's e-mail, calendar, word processing and spreadsheet programs as logical candidates for offline access.

If word processing and spreadsheets become available offline, they could become even more viable threats to Microsoft Corp.'s Office software suite, a major moneymaker that traditionally has been installed directly on computer hard drives."

Second Brain for Organizing More Information

Second Brain: Organizing Your Information Chaos, Read/Write Web (May 22)

A new organizer - Second Brain - "The service is a personal library where people aggregate all their creations, services and favorites - and then share and/or publish them online." Looks like another giant online notebook.

Google Desktop Mac Review

Google Desktop beats Mac's search tool by BY ANICK JESDANUN, AP Via HeraldTribune.com (May 2)

Google Desktop for Mac is as better than Spotlight search that comes with a Mac, and will soon be even better.

"Desktop shares many characteristics with the Spotlight search tool that Apple Inc. ships free with new Mac computers. In fact, Desktop works by borrowing many of Spotlight's core components and settings, so tweaks you make to Spotlight will automatically update Desktop."

Google Desktop in 29 languages

How to say 'Search' in 29 languages – Try Google Desktop 5 By: Peter Sayer and Tom Spring, itWorldCanada (Apr 27)

"Seven weeks after launching the English-language version of Google Desktop 5, the company localized the software in 29 languages, including French, Spanish, German, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, Russian – and Hindi, the first time a version of the application has been offered in that language.

Google Desktop 5 is an application for Windows Vista, XP or 2000 that, once installed on a PC, can be used to search the hard disk for documents using an interface similar to that of Google's Internet search engine."

CO2Saver for Computer

Snap.com Announces the CO2 Saver Toolbar - Free, Lightweight Application Allows Computer Users to Quickly and Easily Start Saving Electricity When Away from Their Computers -- Up to 95%, Business Wire via Marketwatch (Apr 25)

"Perfect Market Technologies, Inc., operator of Snap.com, today announced the immediate availably of the CO2 Saver toolbar. Available as a free download from http://co2saver.org/, this lightweight application allows computer users to quickly and easily start saving electricity when away from their computers -- up to 95%. CO2 Saver resides on the desktop and immediately adjusts user's Windows Power Management settings to reduce their computer's energy use when idle, saving energy and decreasing the demand on their power utility."

For Windows XP and Windows Vista. Pity, it's the older machines still running Windows 2000 that need this most.

Google Presentations Makes A Set

Say hello to Google Presentations!, Pandia (Apr 22)

"Google to present Google Presentations, an online alternative to Powerpoint, as part of Google Docs and Spreadsheets."

Google now has the set - documents, spreadsheets, presentations. How can it say it is not competing with Microsoft Office. However, MS Office is desktop software, Google is web-based and easier to use collaboratively (one presumes).

[However, PC World still said Zoho was the winner for web-based office-like applications.]

PCWorld's picks for fantastic freebies

101 Fantastic Freebies by Preston Gralla, PC World (Mar 28)

"Want to make your PC more productive, secure, informative, and entertaining? These downloads and services will do the trick--and they don't cost a dime."

PCWorld always has good recommendations. Categories this time are below with a few examples:

+ System Utilities: work with the registry, get antivirus and security programs, examine hardware.

+ Communication: Gmail first on the list, but Eudora is still on the list. Also file sharing, and instant messaging (Meebo or Yahoo IM).

+ Blogs and news reading: Pageflakes - have never heard of it - "With Pageflakes you build your custom Webtop from a collection of components, including RSS feeds and news, plus direct feeds from Flickr, YouTube, and similar sites."; bloglines as the RSS reader if you like Web based, and Sage (yea) if you use Firefox; Google Blogger for actually blogging.

+ File management: Google Desktop - my word; Backup and file synchronization.

+ Productivity and Office Aps: Zoho is the winner - but there are more to choose from; Time management - Google Notebook and Sticky notes are mentioned (both excellent) although not strictly ways to manage time; Notepad replacement - NoteTabLight; Business Productivity.

+ Music, Photos and Video

+ People's Choice: Best Free Stuff on the Net

View complete list by category.

Google Desktop for Macs

Mac Gets Google Desktop, "Search integrates Web, desktop, history--and works with Spotlight." by Jim Dalrymple, Macworld via PCWorld (Apr 4)

"Google is today releasing Google Desktop for Mac, marking the first time the search giant will make its desktop tool available to Mac users. Mac users already have a search tool with Apple's Spotlight, but Google said its utility will work alongside the Mac OS X 10.4 feature perfectly."

Software and Service Freebies

101 fantastic freebies by Preston Gralla, ITworldcanada (Mar 28)

"The Internet is stuffed with great downloads and Web sites offering free software and services of every kind. Want to tune up your PC, keep it safe, create graphics, or back up your system with gobs of free storage space? You can find free software and sites to do all that, and plenty more."

This is an excellent list, the product of evaluation and reader response.

+ System utilities
+ Security software
+ Registry cleaner
+ Hardware utility
+ Communications and file sharing
+ Instant messaging, voice and video
+ blogs and news reading
+ Personal Web
+ RSS readers - online, software
+ Desktop search
+ Backup and file synchronization
+ productivity and office aps
+ Music, photos and video
+ Image editing
+ Multimedia Tools and Toys

Sending Large Files

Another Tool to Share Large Files: senduit; What’s a tumblelog?, Resourceshelf (mar 1) - mentions two tools for sending large files: podmailer, senduit

Web Tools for SOHO

21 essential Web tools by Ian Portsmouth, Jim McElgunn, Kim Shiffman and Kara Aaserud, PROFIT (Mar) - collaborate, share, phone, protect files, keep appointments - lots of stuff for SOHO and larger.

Google Desktop 5

Version 5 Of Google Desktop Released, Searchengineland (Mar 7)

For people who like a desktop search product, Google Desktop has moved to version 5. It comes with more gadgets.

Copernic Desktop 2.0

Desktop search is not dead. Copernic Desktop, a popular desktop search utility, now supports the NEAR operator (within 10 words). Get details on Copernic Desktop 2.0

Mentioned in Copernic Desktop Search 2.0 Now Offers Proximity Operator, ResourceShelf (Feb 12)

Energy Usage by Electronics

Energy saving revisited by Tyler Hamilton, Toronto Star (Feb 16)

To meet new Energy Star standards, computers and other electronic devices will have to be more efficient in energy conversion (AC to DC), and in requiring less electricity in standby mode after June / July 2007.

"The Natural Resources Defense Council, a U.S.-based environmental group, says residential electricity use by consumer electronics has doubled since the late 1990s and is now responsible for up to 15 per cent of household power consumption.

A report released last September by the Ontario Power Authority concluded that growth in electronics and small appliances in Ontario households over the next 20 years will require the equivalent of two nuclear reactors to keep them powered.

This electronics surge is why new "Energy Star" standards will go into effect this year aimed at pressuring manufacturers to improve the efficiency of their products – beginning this July with personal computers, and followed later with a new specification for TVs."

And ---

"Computers sold after July with Energy Star labels – including all desktops, notebooks, tablets, gaming consoles and workstations – will now be required to sharply decrease their watt consumption in standby and sleep modes. Also, computer displays will need to be pre-set so that they go into sleep mode within 15 minutes of user inactivity. The whole computer must go into sleep mode within 30 minutes of inactivity."

Google Notebook

Google Notebook Update, Google Operating System (Feb 2)

Google Notebook, a tool for saving clips from pages. The new extension has a new popup for viewing the mini-book, a better editor, and public notebooks can produce a feed.

It's a good tool for private or collaborative use, but the public version hasn't found many users yet.

Google Presently

Google Prepares a Presentation Tool, Google Operating System (Feb 4)

Google is adding a presentation tool called Presently to its kit for documents and spreadsheets - "You will be able to convert a document into a presentation, create slides and view the presentation in full-screen. "

Google Office

Google poised to launch alternative to Microsoft Office, bigmouthmedia (Jan 29)

"Google, the world's leading search engine, is poised to take on the might of Microsoft Office 2007 and broaden its revenue beyond advertising. The company will be bundling the free web-based software offers into one premium package for sale to businesses."

Copernic Desktop

Copernic Desktop Search Wins two International Awards -- PC Pro and Micro Hebdo ranks Copernic Desktop Search Superior to Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, CCNMatthews via Marketwatch (Feb 1) - Congratulations to Copernic but can they really compete with Google Desktop which comes loaded on Dell computers or the search in Vista?

Desktop for Elementary School Students

It's Elementary, My Dear Watson™, SEW Blog (Jan 24)

Bravo Watson! Intellext, the maker of Watson search, and AOL@School have developed a desktop sidebar to help K-12 elementary school students with their homework. More informatiion about the tool from http://www.aolatschool.com/sidebar/. It's free.

Vista Ready

Vista, Windows new operating system, has arrived. Some articles on what to do and buy.

Microsoft's New Look by Jack Kapica, Globe and Mail (Jan 24)

Has details on the new interface, the computing power required, possible snags, and generally what to consider.

"Vista is like a new, more expensive car: It looks fabulous and costs a lot more, but there's always the nagging feeling that it's not going to be much different from its predecessor Windows XP."

Tips for buying a computer that will outlast the norm By: Bill O'Brien, ComputerWorld via ITWorldCanada (Jan 11) - excellent, long article on what to look for in a new computer that will really sing and dance with Vista.

"When you stare into your crystal ball trying to divine what hardware to buy this year, you're likely to see something odd. That 800-pound gorilla staring back from inside the globe is nothing less than Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system, and it can't help but affect your decision."

The Insider's Guide to Windows Vista by John Clyman, PC Magazine (Dec 20, 2006)

"We've performed extensive, hands-on analysis of Vista and sorted out the claims to help you decide whether, or more realistically when, to make the move—and to show you what you can expect when you do."

Windows Vista A to Z -- Reviews, analyses, how-tos, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS -- ComputerWorld

Of special interest - Visual Tour: Vista's new UI (October 17, 2006) -- "This article is part 2 of an excerpt from Windows Vista Unveiled, with permission of the Sams Publishing" - lots of screenshots.

Omnidrive - ONline Storage

The Virtual Desktop Takes Step Forward with Zoho and OmniDrive Partnership, ResourceShelf (Jan 21)

"Zoho has partnered with OmniDrive, a web-based/remote storage service. ... Omnidrive not only provides web-accessible, remote storage, but also offers you to stream files, share, publish, and much more. "

Save Power

Is a vampire lurking in your house? by Cynthia Ross Cravit, 50 Plus (2006)

Home electronics can continue to waste power even when turned off. They don't go fully off - there are clock displays and battery rechargers and other features that draw power. This article points to resources for taking charge including a similar article at Grinning Planet on Vampire Power.

Recommends "using a “smart” power strip (Wattstopper Plug Load Control and Smart Strip Power Strip, to name a few) that automatically cuts power when your devices are off".

Web Services for Everyday

The Web's Most Useful Sites by Ryan Singel, PC World (Dec 22, 2006)

Web services for doing more and more online abound. PC World lists "next-generation services can help with everything from wrangling passwords to throwing a party".

+ Word Processors - Google Docs and Spreadsheets and the Zoho product line assists in document sharing and collaborative work.

+ Bookmark Managers - del.icio.us won out over Ma.gnolia and StumbleUpon. Furl.net lost - too drab, they said.

+ Password Managers - Password Safe, but don't use it for anything sensitive.

+ Instant Messengers - not Yahoo or AIM or MSN/Live, but Meebo -- "lets you sign into AIM, Google's GTalk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, and Yahoo Messenger simultaneously. "

+ User Review Sites - Yelp seems to have nice features. Also mentions Yahoo Local and CitySearch which I have used and can be useful. But these are for US users.

+ Answer Sites - Yahoo Answers, of course.

+ Event Calendars - Upcoming.org really does have events from around the world including Canada (Toronto, Vancouver). Select Metros and enter the city name.

+ To-Do Lists - Rememberthemilk will keep the calendar and send reminders. Sign me up.

+ Video Aggregation - VideoSift was chosen for "community submissions and voting"

+ Web Operating Systems - "A Web OS, paired with a PC's ability to install specialized programs locally, may well be computing's future." - Not really ready for primetime yet.

+ Online Maps - Google Maps was picked over Yahoo, Ask, and Live. MapQuest trailed badly (but it is the most popular). Good comparison chart for the 5 services.

+ Widgets for desktops - there are hundreds of these that can be attached to personal portal pages. PC World mentions several but omits all the Firefox extensions which are widget-like.

+ Mashups - combine data from 2 or 3 sources, such as real estate with maps. Mashups are always fun.

Leave it to Vista

Is desktop search over? by Greg Linden (Dec 28)

Good question - Windows Vista is said to be remarkably good at searching the desktop. "Now that Microsoft has fixed desktop search, they will integrate search throughout Windows and Windows applications. The easiest and most obvious option for searching will be the search box sitting right in front of you. That box will be powered not by Google or Yahoo, but by Microsoft."

Vista Search

Finding Power in Vista Search, eWeek (Dec 5)

Article is meant for developers, but does give some clues on how search will work in Vista.

"How do search facilities change the overall environment of the Vista user?

Search is integrated all over the OS. A kind of buzzword we're throwing around is "instant search." There is a search column in every Explorer window. There is searchability from the Start menu, where I can pull up any application [whose name] I start typing. You see search everywhere. "

Zoho and other Office-like products

In sync with Zoho by Mathew Ingram, Globe Technology (Dec 4 )

Competition for Microsoft Office -- "One of those companies is Zoho, which has an entire suite of Web-based office services that either duplicate or extend many of the features offered by Microsoft's Office. Zoho isn't the only company active in this area -- Google has its Google Docs, Gmail and Google Calendar (not to mention billions of dollars to spend on marketing), and a company called ThinkFree also has an Office-style suite of applications that can either be used on the Web or downloaded and installed on a desktop PC."

Zoho has a lot of features including the ability to synchronize online documents and offline documents.

Google Sidebar

Check out the new Sidebar, Inside Google Desktop (Nov 14) - describes new sidebar for Google Desktop 4.5

Exalead Desktop

New Version of Exalead Desktop Search Offers Unlimited Document Indexing Capability - "Latest Release of Workgroup Software Delivers Performance Enhancements, New Features that Further Reduce Search Frustration", PR Newswire via Marketwatch (Oct 16)

"Exalead(R), a global provider of search software for business and the Web, today announced new versions of its unified search software products for desktop and workgroup environments. The new releases -- exalead one:desktop(TM) 4.5 and exalead one:workgroup(TM) 4.5 -- offer several new performance enhancements as well as support for new file formats and e-mail clients."

Inxight Search Extender for Google Desktop

Inxight Offers Search Extender for Google Desktop, eContent (Oct 3)

This is one way to cluster Google results - get Google Desktop search and add Inxight's Search Extender . It will "help users leverage Inxight's entity extraction and natural-language processing to enhance the Google Desktop search experience".

"Inxight Search Extender for Google Desktop allows users to see at-a-glance and filter search results sets by the relevant people, companies, products and other information contained within them."

Copernic Desktop Search V 2.0

New: Copernic Desktop Search Version 2.0 Steve Bass's Tips and Tweaks (Sep 20) -- finds Copernic Desktop Search better thanks to the redesigned interface.

Free Watson Does More

Free Watson Search Tool from Intellext Goes Customizable, Ties to MySpace and Others -- Users Empowered to Create a Personal Search Tool with the Information Sources They Choose, PRNewswire via Marketwatch (July 10)

"Intellext(TM) ( http://www.intellext.com ) today announced that the new version 2.4 of its free Watson search tool is now fully customizable, allowing users to choose the information sources they want, creating their own personalized search tool. Prior to today, the customizability was available only in Watson Professional, the licensed version of the proactive search tool. In addition to traditional web search engines, blog search engines, news and shopping sites, users can now also tap into additional sources including networking sites MySpace and LinkedIn, and premium news sites like the Wall Street Journal."

Google Spreadsheet

Google adds spreadsheet to its growing list of applications. Could be a great way to work on a spreadsheet with others. This is a limited test at this time - you have to apply for an invitation.

Google spreadsheet in the works, by Dan Farber, ZDNet Blog (June 5)

"The Wall Street Journal by way The Guardian is reporting that Google plans to add a speadsheet to its set of applications, that also include Writely, Google Base, Google Mail."

Related article - Google Spreadsheets turns up heat on Excel by Elinor Mills, ZDnet -- "Google is set to launch on Tuesday a Web-based spreadsheet program that will allow people to view and simultaneously edit data while conducting "in-document" chat, a company product manager said Monday."

Desktop - So What?

In Search of Search? by Jim Rapoza, eWeek (May 29)

A sane word about desktop search -- "So, while desktop search tools are nice, they aren't really big news. It would be big news if companies such as Microsoft made it easier for content to be properly tagged and categorized as it's created, making these processes natural and easy, as opposed to difficult and unintuitive."

Quintura and Semantic Maps

Quintura, Staking The Future In Semantic Mapping, by Gord Hotchkiss, Search Insider (May 11) - On the one hand, users would benefit from maps that show aspects of a concept (semantic maps), on the other hand they won't want anything laborious for developing those maps. Hotchkiss likes Quintura , a desktop tool for developing a query by making choices, but it asks too much from the user - and will not be accepted as an alternative to the big search engines.

John Battelle reviewed Quintura 1.5 also and considered it good for exploration but not necessarily a competitor to the main search engines. Qunitura Search Approaches Launch. (May 6)

Watson 2.3

Intellext Releases Latest Version of Watson Search Tool, Newsbreaks (May 1)

" Intellext (http://www.intellext.com) announced the release of Watson 2.3, an upgraded version that adds people and company content from Zoom Information, Inc. (ZoomInfo; http://www.zoominfo.com), a drag-and-drop feature for easy information collection, and Yahoo! Desktop Search integration. The product is designed to provide richer delivery of people and company information to Watson users. Watson is an intelligent search tool that proactively finds and delivers relevant information to users."

Security Issues for Desktop Search

Desktop search tools seen raising red flags -- "Consumer tools brought into workplaces expose companies to data leaks." By Ann Bednarz and Denise Dubie, Network World, 04/17/06

Desktop search tools from MSN, Yahoo, Google and others are great for the users but bad for IT security.

"From a single interface, users can quickly search the text of their e-mail, contacts, application documents, data files, multimedia files and more.

The problem is the information these programs can find and potentially expose, such as documents on a shared file drive that are not properly secured or were supposed to have been deleted. "

EFF Alarmed about Google Desktop

Google Desktop Fears Overblown?, by Chris Sherman, Searchday (Feb 15) -- Electronic Frontier Foundation feels that the new Google Desktop that allows for searching across a person's computers is riddled with privacy concerns. Sherman considers this an over-reaction. Everything must be initiated by the user - it's not automatic. He does counsel users - "Think carefully before enabling the program's advanced features, but take disingenuous claims like "Google copies your hard drive" with a substantial block of salt."

Google Desktop Beta 3

Google adds new frills to Desktop search - Beta 3, better than ever? - By Elinor Mills, Silicon.com (Feb 9)

Describes the features of latest release of Google Desktop.

"Google is adding new features to its Desktop search program, including further customisation of the Sidebar and the ability to send information directly to a friend's desktop, search on multiple computers at once and lock the search function with a password."

Google Desktop For Transferring Files

Google's Offers New Search Feature by Michael Leidtke, AP via Las Vegas Sun, (Feb 9) Google Desktop will enable users to transfer files from one computer to another by using interim storage at Google. But files must be held for 30 days. What if a government wants to look at them?

"To enable the computer-to-computer search function, a user specifies what information should be indexed and then agrees to allow Google to transfer the material to its own storage system. Google plans to encrypt all data transferred from users' hard drives and restrict access to just a handful of its employees. The company says it won't peruse any of the transferred information.

Once another computer participating in a user's personal network is turned on, Google automatically transfers the information so it's available to be searched. "

Yahoo Desktop Search

Desktop Search: Just What You Need by Steve Manes, PC World (Jan 2006) - Don't see as many articles about desktop search anymore, but in this one, Manes endorses Yahoo Desktop Search.

Free Watson

Intellext Releases Free Version of Its Watson Personal Search Assistant, PR Newswire (Dec 12)

Watson considers the context of what you are working on (while creating a document or browsing) to search for related materials. There is a free version of Watson now through Intellext. Watch the demo first for a brief introduction. Of course, people could use this as they research purchases on the Internet.

"The free version is designed to give consumers a complete experience,
connecting them with the information they need most, from a powerful shopping
comparison feature, to the web, news and blogs. Watson Professional, the
licensed version of the product, remains available for business users who want
to take the product's capabilities to the next level, customizing and
integrating Watson to search their subscription sources and enterprise
information systems."

FAST looking for partners

Fast Search & Transfer sets out strategy to beat Google "Enterprise search vendor says partnerships with publishers will deliver one-stop desktop search" By Mark Chillingworth, Information World, 21 Nov 2005 -- "Launching its Personal Search Platform (PSP), Fast said it hoped package deals from publishers like Elsevier would provide users with a one-stop-shop for scientific information, web and desktop search."

Don't leave home without it

Flash Drives Make Any Computer Personal by Brian Bergstein, AP Via Globe and Mail. (Nov

The little thumb USB drives are one of the best inventions ever. And now there is Migo Software that puts your desktop software on the USB drive to be used anywhere.

"With a gigabyte of flash memory now available for less than $100, these inexpensive digital storehouses can hold not just important data but also entire software programs. The information they carry can be encrypted and accessed speedily, a benefit of faster microprocessors."

"Plug a Migo-enabled device into a computer and enter your password, and a secure session launches in which you can send and receive e-mail and work on documents, with the background desktop and icons from your own PC rather than the ones on the host computer."

FAST does Desktop

FAST Unveils a New Standard for Desktop Enterprise Search Business Wire via Marketwatch [subscription] (Oct 24) Fast Search & Transfer (FAST) has developed a Personal Search Platform (PSP - oh these 3-letter acronyms!) for use in companies to bring together the desktop computer, the networked resources of the enterprise, and the Web into one search sweep.

""FAST PSP will bring personalization, localization, deeper search analysis and greater access to information to every desktop - leading to increased productivity and efficiencies for users and the entire enterprise," explained Bjorn Olstad, chief technology officer of FAST. "

Watson 2.0 - personal research assistant

Watson 2.0 Sidebar Now Available for MSN Search Toolbar with Windows Desktop Search Users PRNewswire via CBS Marketwatch (Sep 23)

"The Watson 2.0 personal research assistant proactively brings users the information they need from the sources they choose. Since Watson understands the context of users' work, it is able to proactively find information that's relevant to what they are doing in real-time. There's no need for users to interrupt their work by typing search words or visiting separate Web sites and search boxes. Instead, Watson delivers relevant search results to users' desktops in its non-intrusive sidebar while they work in Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook, and Internet Explorer."

Watson is from Intellext - http://www.intellext.com/. This is software. See the demo.

Copernic Desktop

Smart PC Searches Find the files you need on your overpacked hard disk. by Steve Bass, PC World (Aug 24) - Bass comments on a few utilities and settles on Copernic Desktop Search as the best.

Google Desktop 2.0

Google Updates Desktop Search - New feature called Sidebar gives users access to e-mail, news, and more - Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service (Aug 22)

Google Desktop 2.0 is in beta. New features are:

+ "Sidebar that gives users access to e-mail, news, weather, photos, stocks, and syndicated Web site feeds"
+ Quick Find
+ toolbar for users of Microsoft's Outlook e-mail client
+ searches more files.

Also Google tool watches as you work, BBC News (Aug 22) - "Google's desktop search software is being overhauled to become a digital helper that reacts to what users do."

Of interest: "In its latest audience figures, ComScore reveals that in July 2005 11% of all US searches were carried out via toolbars and 51% of all those queries were launched from users of Yahoo's toolbar.

But Google still rules when it comes to searching via browser. ComScore found that 36.5% of all US searches were conducted via Google in July 2005. Yahoo had a 30.5% share and MSN a 15.5% slice. "

Also Google bypasses browser to search PC drives, Web Reuters via Yahoo News (Aug 22) offers additional analysis --

"Google is moving beyond "Coke Classic" - the basic experience of searching the Web through the browser for which it is known. In ways not always apparent to the user, Google is seeking to control more of a users' computer experience, the way Yahoo, Microsoft and America Online do."

But this is a competitive field. AOL just introduced new AOL Instant Messenger that "mphasizes e-mail, radio, Internet phone-calling, text messaging with mobile phone users, even Web-based TV." Yahoo also has a "sidebar" "which manages music, photos and instant messenger conversations alongside whatever Web page Yahoo users are viewing. "

Users may have a difficult time choosing from among these, and multiple tools may clash with each other.

Lastly, Google Enhances Desktop Search by Gary Price, SearchDay (Aug 22) - very full description of how to install and what you can expect to see.

Google Desktop 2.0 is available from http://desktop.google.com/. Requires Windows 2000 or XP.

Watson 2.0 Search Software

Turning the concept of search on its head By Michelle Johnson, Boston.com (July 25)

"Watson, software produced by Chicago-based Intellext, does the searching for you. It runs in the background as you work, analyzing your documents and looking for relevant information. The results (clickable links) are continuously delivered in a side panel on your screen. Watson goes to work when you open a Microsoft Office application such as Word or PowerPoint, or the Internet Explorer browser."

Copernic Desktop Search v. 1.6

Copernic Desktop Search Version 1.6 Officially Released; Searches Emails, Files, Music, Pictures, and Videos Directly From IE and Firefox Browsers Business Wire via Marketwatch (Aug 4)

"Copernic announced today the official launch of its new and improved desktop search product, Copernic Desktop Search (CDS) version 1.6. This production release, launched after five weeks of extensive beta testing, contains important enhancements to the company's flagship product."

"CDS 1.6 works with Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP and Internet Explorer 5.0 or later. It can be downloaded for free from http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/. More information about what's new in CDS is available on the product Web site."

Copernic Desktop Search 1.6

Copernic has more features for its desktop search product. Now at Version 1.6 it offers browser toolbars for IE and Firefox, and there are some performance adjustments for activating and pausing the indexing. Full list of what's new is here.

Copernic Desktop Search won the 2005 World Class Award From PC World. (June 1)

MSN Desktop for IE

Microsoft launches desktop search tool - Reuters via Yahoo News (May 12) MSN desktop search (http://desktop.msn.com) is out of beta. Windows IE users will be interested. It can be "accessed from the Internet Explorer Web browser, the Outlook e-mail and contacts program or from the Windows desktop." ... "Using add-ins, users can also search more than 200 different file types, including Excel, PowerPoint, MP3, GIF and JPG files. PDF documents can be searched by the tool by downloading software components from Adobe Systems Inc. ."

Also see MSN Toolbar with Desktop Search Officially Launches, By Chris Sherman, Searchday (May 16) - finds many improvements including the ability to specify which items should be indexed and where the index file will be stored. You can change your default web search engine to something other than MSN Search.

"Overall, the final release of the MSN Toolbar Suite is a significant improvement over the beta versions I tested. The product remains heavily Microsoft-centric, however, and is best suited to those who are regular users of Microsoft Office and Internet Explorer"

Desktop Search Engine Comparison

Desktop Search Engines: Which is Best? By Nigel McFarlane, Informit.com (May 12)

Extensive article about Desktop Search Engines that reviews Ask Jeeves, Autofocus (has graphics), Copernic, Google, Hotbot, MSN Toolbar Suite, Yahoo. Has several tables comparing capabilities and features.

+ recommends running only one. They will conflict.
+ compares file formats - look for the Ns - tools that don't do rtf or pdf are weak. For browser web history, Google will also handle Mozilla now. But web history means titles of pages, not the cache (according to my experience with Copernic).
+ shows platforms and browsers
+ notes on controlling the search process especially on the controls that the engines don't offer. Engines seem weak in this area.
+ rights to privacy - not really clear whether one is better than others.
+ performance comparison

Thanks to Peter for this.

Onfolio 2 - New features

New version of Onfolio, the "PC application for reading RSS news feeds, collecting and organizing online content and publishing to email, weblogs and web sites." Onfolio 2.0 has a built-in RSS Feed Reader, works with Firefox as well as IE, workgroup collaboration, complete website capture, document search. See What's New.

Desktop Search Study

Pandia Search Engine News summarized the findings from the UW E-Business Consortium “Benchmark Study of Desktop Search Tools” in Copernic Desktop Search wins benchmark study.

"The study evaluated each application along six attributes: usability, versatility, accuracy, efficiency, security, and enterprise readiness." Copernic won as overall best desktop tool. BUT, "the analysis reveals that while the desktop search tools show great promise for significant productivity gains, the technology is still immature due to a lack of security and overall manageability."

Blinkx 3.0

blinkx 3.0 Links Users to World's First Fully Integrated Search Tool - PR Newswire (APr 4)

"With blinkx 3.0 users can, for the first time, view results from the desktop, the Internet, television and the news in a single, combined list."

"Version 3.0 of the software also uses blinkx's Implicit Query (IQ) technology
to link users straight to relevant information from the application where they
are currently working. "

blinkx 3.0

blinkx 3.0 - Neil Rubenking, PC Magazine (Apr 12), rated Blinkx 3.0 at 4.5. Said it was good for finding related material and unique in its "indexing video and audio using speech recognition", but the Web search component has only 500 million pages (very small by today's standards), and "Sporadic problems with indexing".

More Desktop (Sigh)

Find it fast: eight apps that search your hard drive by Robert Vamosi, CNet (March 22, 2005 updated from October 11, 2004)

Reviews Blinkx, Copernic, Google, Hotbot, MSN, Lookout, X1, Yahoo. Has a comparison chart. Gave Copernic the top mark.

Windows desktop search tools By Adam Baratz in Ars Technica. (APril 4)

Says, "The central design problem in these programs isn't finding the best way to catalog your information, but finding out how to let you best traverse it." Reviews Google, Copernic, MSN, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves. Article has many screenshots to help describe the tools. Good summary page - picked MSN Toolbar as the one to keep.

MSN Toolbar Suite beta .net (March 2005) - Describes the MSN Toolbar Suite and gives some tips on how to use it. Some comparison to Google

"So how does Microsoft’s effort compare to Google? It’s faster, and you can sort your search results in more ways; by title, author, date, size, type or folder. It doesn’t have the privacy worries that come with Google either, as it doesn’t index your search history. However, on the downside the Toolbar Suite does feel a little as if Microsoft has tried to cram too much into the toolbars, making things a little cluttered, and of course, the engine used for web searches is MSN, not Google – which may be an issue if you’re a Googler."

Blinkx 3.0 (Beta)

Blinkx Integrated Search Tool Turns Three by Kirk L. Kroeker, NewsFactor, Yahoo News (Apr 5)

" In addition to integrated search functionality, Blinkx 3.0 introduces several other new features, including a new look, a built-in document preview feature that supports more than 200 file formats, and the capability of indexing local Lotus Notes content."

Go to http://www.blinkx.com/overview.php. Requires Windows 2000 or XP. There's a beta version for the Mac.

Copernic Desktop

Copernic updates Desktop Search, Globe and Mail Technology (APril 5) -- Announces Copernic Desktop Search version 1.5.

"The final release of CDS 1.5 features smarter CPU resource usage, improved Mozilla Thunderbird support, broader metadata indexing and support for Netscape 8. The key features introduced in the beta version of CDS 1.5 were Thunderbird and Eudora e-mail search, indexing of network drives, improved multimedia metadata indexing, usability improvements, and a new API for adding custom file indexers."

See http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search.

So why is Copernic Desktop 1.5 on my computer jammed at a particular email? Why did it take days to even get to that point? Why won't CDS shutdown normally when Windows 2000 does? Why is there no help line?

Desktop Roundup

Search add-ons perform unevenly By ROB PEGORARO / The Washington Post via delawareonline.com (April 5) -- reviews the capabilities of six desktop search products: Ask Jeeves, Blinkx, Copernic, Google, MSN and Yahoo. Covers what they can find, how to use and what they show. Finds Google "the best of the bunch" - not exactly a strong endorsement, and says that MSN was easy to use and Yahoo too bloated.

Quibble - says Blinkx is the only one to do Eudora email. But Copernic Desktop 1.5 will too, in a fashion. Also mentions that some will do Web history but doesn't mention that Copernic, as an example, only indexes the title of the page in cache, not the content.

A well organized report - could help you decide to try Google or MSN, or encourage you to wait until Microsoft adds the search function to Windows.

Desktop Tool Lineup

Seeking a More Intuitive Search Tool By Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post (Mar 27) [Registration required] -- reviews the six leading desktop search tools. Tends to favor Google as "best of this bunch" but it doesn't pick up everything and is "not as easy to access as MSN".

Telling conclusion: "All this add-on software winds up being both fascinating and frustrating. By freeing users from the need to think like accountants when filing their data, and to carry a quiver of applications to view different files, they promise to solve two of the oldest problems in personal computing."

Desktop software is also reviewed in Total Recall by Cade Metz, PC Magazine (Mar 2) -- gives a primer on desktop search and tested 12 tools. It gives some guidelines on how to choose according to your needs, and points out some security concerns. In the end, Yahoo Desktop Search was their pick.

Overall, PC Mag editors concluded: "Desktop search tools really can make our lives easier, and since so many of them are free, there's little reason not to give one a try. Your mailbox isn't getting any more manageable, your hard drive isn't getting emptier, and after all, finding something on the PC right in front of you should be as easy as finding something on the Web."

But desktop search products could all become obsolete when Microsoft delivers Longhorn with full search capabilities.

Desktop Search Loyality

Desktop Search: Searching for Loyal Users By Kimberly Hill, NewsFactor Network (March 8, 2005)

"The challenge for all desktop search vendors -- traditional search engine companies and other application makers -- is how to secure loyalty. Companies like Google and Ask Jeeves are counting on their popularity in the Web search world to carry over into the desktop search arena."

Google Desktop Version 1.0

Google Desktop Search Moves Out of Beta By Chris Sherman, SearchDay (Mar 7) Google has release Version 1.0 of Google Desktop.

+ new formats including pdf, music, image, vodel
+ addresses some security concerns
+ compatible with IE, Firefox, Netscape browsers - indexes pages you've viewed and puts in a cache on your computer.
+ English, Chinese, Korean
+ Does Thunderbird and Netscape email folders as well as Outlook -- NOT Eudora.
+ Requires Windows XP and Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 and above, and 500MB of disk space, a minimum of 128MB of RAM, and a 400MHz (or faster) Pentium processor

Watson Searches While You Work

Watson from Intellext is a new search engine for searching the desktop and the Web. It will suggest terms based on contextual analysis of what you are working on in a document.

Meta Search For The Desktop By Susan Kuchinskas, Internet News (Feb 4) ""It understands the overall gist of what you're working on and selects terms of the query that you use over and over. It tempers that with what slide or paragraph you're on at that moment," he [Jay Budzik, a founder and chief technology officer of Intellext] said. The toolset includes ways of focusing the search, as well as a regular search query box."

"It will search Microsoft Word, Outlook and PowerPoint files, do Web searches via Internet Explorer only and can leverage only the X1 desktop search tool. But Budzik promised that integration with other desktop search products is on the way."

Trial personal version is available for 30 days. Then costs $99.95 US / year. There are multiuser and enterprise versions also.

Requires Windows 2000 or above and a 766 MHz CPU or greater.

Copernic Desktop Search 1.5

A New Version of Copernic Desktop Search is Now Available Search Engine Watch Blog (Feb 23)

Copernic Desktop Search is Gary Price's favourite of the many desktop offerings. In this posting he says why. Specific features worth noting:

- indexes Eudora email and Mozilla Thunderbird as well as Microsoft's email tools.
- does iPod music files - for all those iPod fans.
- handles 20 new file types
- indexes Firefox bookmarks and browsing history (as well as IE, of course)

More details and download are at Copernic Desktop Search.

Organizing Personal Digital Content

The growing market for organizing -- Commentary: Tomorrow's content may be home grown by Bambi Francisco, CBS Marketwatch [registration] Sees a huge growth in personal digital material through email, documents, photos, music and video that will spur acquiring tools for organizing information. Of the desktop search tools - Blinkx, Yahoo, Google and Ask Jeeves, Francisco liked Yahoo's the most, and picked Google's Picasa for organizing digital photos. In a digital world, she finds, "In a digital world, there is no delineation between video, text, audio and voice. It'll be delivered by anyone. What does it matter who's bringing this information to me or giving me the platform to exchange information on?"

Google Photo Software

Google Releases Photo Organizing Software AP Online via CBS Marketwatch (Jan 18) Google has released software developed by Picasa for organizing photos on home PCs.

+ can detect photos as they are added to a computer
+ has several editing features
+ can save versions and reverse changes
+ captions are automatically attached to the photo file

Also see Photo Search: Google Picasa 2 Vs. Adobe Photoshop Album 2 by Danny Sullivan, Search Day (Jan 18) - full review of Google Picasa capabilities vs those of Adobe Photoshop Album 2. Important article for digital camera buffs.

Don't Mix Desktop Search Tools

Desktop Search: The Game Is Afoot "New tools have various strengths, but you can only use one" by Stephen Wildstrom, Business Week Online (Jan 10, 2005) -- mainly about Microsoft 's new MSN Toolbar with desktop search, but mentions X1 being used by Yahoo and Earthlink, Google's desktop search, and AOL's rumoured partnership with Copernic to include desktop search in the browser. Wildstrom is sticking with X1 for now.

Of interest >> "this sudden proliferation of desktop search may end up creating difficult choices. Each of the search programs has its strengths, and it would be a good thing if you could just pick the one that's best for a given job -- the way you might use multiple browsers or e-mail programs. Unfortunately, you can't safely run more than one desktop search program on your computer. "

Desktop Search Matrix

Compare Desktop Search tools at Desktop Search Matrix. Includes downloads where available. ISYS and X1 have the longest lists of searchable file types.

(Mentioned at Search Engine Watch Blog)

Copernic supports Mozilla

Copernic Desktop Search is First to Fully Support Mozilla Firefox Browser; Up to 200 Percent Faster Indexing Achieved With New CDS Version 1.2 Business Wire via CBS Marketwatch (Dec 7) -- "CDS 1.2 features lightning-fast indexing of PC hard drive content and improved PC memory usage. The new CDS version also indexes browsing history and bookmarked sites from Mozilla browsers." More information and download at http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/

MSN Toolbar for Desktop Search

MSN joins desktop search fray By Stefanie Olsen CNET News.com December 13, 2004. MSN tries to catch up to the other desktop search players with the MSN Toolbar Suite. "The software lets people search the contents of their hard drive, including Microsoft Outlook e-mail, calendar items, contacts and Office documents. It also lets them navigate the Web with MSN's proprietary search technology, released last month, from points within e-mail and within Windows."

Also reviewed by Chris Sherman -- MSN Joins the Desktop Search Fray SearchDay (Dec 13) -- was "impressed with both the quality of search results and the speed with which they're found."

Ask Jeeves joins desktop group

Ask Jeeves Desktop Search (Beta) 1.7.0 by Neil Rubenking, PC Magazine (Dec 16) - reviews the new desktop search from Ask Jeeves - another tool for indexing Windows 2000/XP Microsoft Office documents, text files, and rich text documents, as well as IE Outlook email. It doesn't do pdf or email attachments yet. Compares product to Google Desktop and X1 (Yahoo).

PC Magazine issued a longer article about desktop search utilities - Supersonic Search Engines (Nov 12) - reviewing blinkx; Clarity (Creo Six Degrees); Google Desktop beta; MSN Search beta; and X1 Search.

Also -- Desktop search avalanche set to hit By Joris Evers and Juan Carlos Perez, The Industry Standard (Dec 10) -- new desktop search from Ask Jeeves and Yahoo.

Copernic vs Google Desktop Search

Are desktop search programs ready for prime time? by Dan Verton, special to PC World (Nov 23) -- Finds that "
Copernic Desktop Search does the work without Google's security flaws"

More Desktop Search Coming

Vendors Rush the Desktop Search Field By Matt Hicks, E-Week,
November 17, 2004 - Ask Jeeves will be releasing a desktop-search product in December that will include integration with MyJeeves. Google has one, MSN is part way through developing one, and Yahoo has plans.

Will desktop search change search-engine marketing? People interviewed in this article think not, but the trend to multi-word searches and the new feature at MSN for tweaking rankings will.

MSN Desktop Search Images Surface (November 15, 2004)

Blinkx has Smart Folders

Blinkx fills Smart Folders with search results "Search software creates folders and automatically populates them with documents from users' hard drives and the Internet" By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service (Nov 15) Blinkx 2.0, the desktop software that does MS formats, Adobe, and Eudora has three new noteworthy features: smart folders - auto classification of documents; SIS - stuff I've seen - recently viewed files; and peer-to-peer networks. Works with Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Copernic v Google Desktop Search

Robs Blog compared Google/Copernic Desktop Search (Oct 27) Found that Copernic has more options for configuration and more features. Picked it over GDS - at this time.

Google Desktop and Advertising

Snoop-Google By Jim Meskauskas, Media Post (Nov 4) Google Desktop Search indexes your files on your computer much as it does the Web. Meskauskas sees this as opening the door wide for more pay-per-click advertising activated by what Google finds in your own files.

"But what is Google going to do with this tool? It does, after all, live on an IP address, so the results of a search on your desktop can be "seen," so to speak, at headquarters. Other than providing something for the altruistic good of the jumbled computer user, what does Google want to achieve with this tool?

Well, certainly it is going to be to extend the reach of the AdWords and AdSense program, first and foremost. "

And then, of course, there is the privacy issue.

Google Desktop

Google Brings Search Technology to the Desktop By Jay Wrolstad
NewsFactor Network (Nov 3, 2004) - Another review of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft.

Google Desktop

Google's Desktop Search Could Change SEM Forever› › by Fredrick Marckini ClickZ November 1, 2004 -- Looks at marketing implications of desktop search, especially in view of the fact that Google Desktop application is so good.

"Desktop search will eventually increase the volume of Web searches without requiring an increase in Internet users. This profoundly benefits search engine marketing (SEM)."

About Blinkx

The Desktop Search Land-Grab Google's Desktop Search both validates and kills the 'local search' business. by Rafe Needleman [AlwaysOn] (Nov 1) Needleman "recently sat down with Suranga Chandratillake, co-founder of Blinkx, and asked him how Blinkx will survive the Google onslaught."

Google Desktop

Google Introduces Desktop Search Tool by Paula J. Hane. Newsbreaks (Oct 25) Bottom line -- "There’s no question that Google Desktop Search offers great improvements over using the current search functionality in Windows."

Google Desktop and Security

Does Google Desktop Search Pose Risks? "The powerful search application may be too good at what it does, experts say." Tom Spring, PC World (October 19, 2004) -- more on the implications for security and privacy from Google's Desktop Search. Of interest -- ""This is basically a spying program," says Richard Smith, an independent privacy and security consultant. "Like a gun, it is extremely useful and potentially very dangerous.""

Google Desktop Examined

Interesting entry about the new Google Desktop tool at the Seattle PI blog -- On Google Desktop Search by Brian Chin (Oct 19) - rounds up the buzz on the release, says the search isn't wonderfully accurate in finding emails, notes how the marketing is integrated.

Copernic Desktop WIns

COPERNIC DESKTOP SEARCH AWARDED CNET EDITOR’S CHOICE The Best Gets Better; Copernic Introduces Faster And Easier Version 1.1. Press Release (Oct 18) Describes improvements in Copernic Desktop Search 1.1. Of course it works exclusively with IE and Microsoft products.

Google Desktop and competition

Google Envy Is Fomenting Search Wars By JOHN MARKOFF, New York Times via Garden Times (Oct 17) Sees a burst of activity as the fight for search market moves to the desktop search utility. Article doesn't mention Copernic's tool for this. And it also perpetuates the rumour about a Google browser.

Google Desktop Search

Google Launches Desktop Search - Exclusive Review by Andy Beal, Search Engine Lowdown (Oct 14) - Andy Beal previews the new Google Desktop search. It's for Windows and Internet Explorer - indexes text, word, powerpoint, excel, IE history, AOL instant messenger (why not MSN?), and Outlook mail. Beal has links to other reviews.

Especially -- Google Desktop Search Launched by Danny Sullivan. SearchDay - Sulllivan loved the tool - "Anyone who uses Google will want to install it, if only because it's so easy to do and will likely improve their web searching experience."

anacubis desktop

anacubis Desktop 3.0 Tackles Information Overload by Paula Hane, Information Today (Oct 11) "Using a visual interface, the product supports the complete information research and analysis workflow, including gathering from multiple internal and external sources, processing, managing, analyzing, and communicating. New features with this launch include a new wizard-driven interface, database importing, categorization, summarization, and image support." See demos at http://www.anacubis.com/

DeskTop Search Review

Desktop Search, or just where did I leave that knowledge? · 4 September 04, Tech - Michael Wexler , author of the blog - The Net Takeaway - describes the drive behind desktop search and the main players and software products. Good article.