CG Report - 04/11/2007 (Plain Text Version)View Graphical Version | Subscribe
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Editor... Alan Hanbury, Jr., CGR, CAPS In this issue: Cheap Tricks: Simple Technology Solutions for Your BusinessYou don’t need to spend a fortune to put technology to work for your business. Here are links to simple, cost-effective solutions to everyday business problems: Backup and Recovery Solutions Carbonite Automatic “in-the-background” backup service. Only $50 a year for unlimited storage
Connected.Com Online Backup Stop messing around with backup tapes. Connected.com backs up your data at night over the Internet, to a secure data center.
Mozy 2GB/mo free, cheap after that
PeerSoft Save-N-Sync and PeerSync The best way we’ve found to synchronize files and folders between your laptop/desktop
X Drive Another good online backup solution
BLOGS / SPLOGS / MOBLOGS/ Social Networking BlogDigger A search engine to research what is being posted on blogs about your business
BlogSource Free, simple blogging service
MySpace This is where 100 million of your next buyers and employees hang out
Wordpress Open source content creation and blogging software
YouTube Ubiquitous Web video site, now owned by Google
Collaboration DotNetNuke Open source collaboration engine — alternative to SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint Services: http://www.microsoft.com/sharepoint The newest collaboration platform from Microsoft: Integrates with Microsoft Office to let builders and remodelers share documents, photos, meetings and more on the Web.
Wynwood Associates — Yankee Ingenuity on the Web! Builder Todd Wacome has his whole business on the Internet using off-the-shelf tools. An example of how much you can do with a little imagination.
Yahoo Groups Free collaboration site. Good way to stick your toe in the online collaboration water CRM, Unified InBox and Salesforce Automation
Dynami Builder Revolutionary Web 2.0 system that enforces the principles behind Jagoe Homes’ Success
Palm Desktop http://www.palmone.com/us/software/desktop/ Personal Information Management software from PalmOne. Functionally similar to Microsoft Outlook. Simpler to use, and free — even if you don’t have a PDA.
SalesForce One of the first and best-developed online applications. CRM functionality like ACT!
Sugar CRM Commercial open-source alternative to ACT! or salesforce.com
SwiftPage Mail E-mail marketing tool for ACT! and other databases
uReach Unified Inbox Get a phone number that will follow you anywhere, as well as e-mail, fax and text-to-speech. Forward your calls to any number, or save them as .wav files on your computer.
DOWNLOADS AND FREE/CHEAP UTILITIES 46 best Free Software Utilities http://www.techsupportalert.com/best_46_free_utilities.htm Site compares and reviews free software in nearly every category.
Bookmark Manager Pro The best way to organize and find your bookmarks and “favorites”
IzArc Zip Utility Free open-source replacement for WinZip!
Fax Solutions e-Fax and Fax-Away Inexpensive and reliable Web-based faxing solutions
IT Management and Purchasing Help SlickDeals Site tracks multiple coupon and discount deals on IT gear
Shopify Very easy online shopping cart service
Misc. AllClear The easiest flowcharter for those process improvements (NOT cheap...)
Advanced Call Center and CallSoft http://www.voicecallcentral.com/ Turn an old computer into a voicemail system for your small business.
PhoneScoop The latest buzz on mobile phones, smartphones and other hand-held devices
Hamachi Virtually painless VPN solution utilizing the Internet
Mobile Office Jotto Desk (Mobile Office) The best vehicle laptop/technology stand we’ve found.
Pay-Per-Click Advertising BuildingOnline’s Production Agency http://www.buildingonline.net/ Allan Wickstrom’s agency. (IBS Virtual Tradeshow) One of the few consultants in this business who understand “pay per click” and can make it work for you on the Web.
PDF Tools PDF Zone and Planet PDF http://www.pdfzone.com/, http://www.planetpdf.com/ Everything about the .PDF file format
PDFCreator http://www.pdfforge.org/products/pdfcreator Totally free open-source PDF creation and editing tool. Replaces Acrobat in many applications.
Productivity, Office and Image Editing HyperOffice Free Microsoft Office alternative, along the lines of OpenOffice.org
Oracle Small Business Suite http://www.netsuite.com/portal/products/nsb/main.shtml Internet-based alternative to QuickBooks and other applications.
Palm Desktop http://www.palmone.com/us/software/desktop/ Personal Information Management software from PalmOne. Functionally similar to Microsoft Outlook. Simpler to use, and free — even if you don’t have a PDA.
PaintShop Pro 90% of PhotoShop at one-sixth the price. A must-have for any builder using digital images
Zoho Another open-source “office” collaboration suite
Project Management Dynami Builder Revolutionary Web 2.0 system that enforces the principles behind Jagoe Homes’ Success
eProject Internet-based project management. Similar functionality to Microsoft Project.
Field2Base Revolutionary Field/Office document control system utilizing the TabletPC. Field2Base eliminates the learning curve by turning your paper clipboard documents into digital forms.
QuickBooks/Excel Add-Ins BuildWorks http://www.synaspesoftware.com Does what QuickBooks can’t do by itself and provides effective purchasing, change-order and job costing automation for small volume builders. Many are now available as stand-alone forms you can download.
Remote Access, Remote Control, Remote Meetings GoToMyPC.com The most reliable way to gain remote access and control of another computer
GoToMeeting.com An easy, reliable and inexpensive way to conduct meetings online
Hamachi (and LogMeIn) Virtually painless VPN solution utilizing the Internet . LogMeIn is an alternative to GoToMyPC.
Research Journal of Light Construction Online Home of Joe’s Computer Solutions forum, and one of the best building science research sites on the Internet
http://www.google.com/downloads Forget complicated Web directories and product databases. Learn to use Google and you can research anything you need to research on the web.
Wikipedia Online human knowledge base/encyclopedia
Web 2.0 Consultant Directory http://www.econsultant.com/web2/ Online directory of 1,200+ “Web 2.0” projects
Security/Spyware/Anti-Virus AVG Free Antivirus The best and most transparent anti-virus product — free for personal use
CastleCops One of the best security, anti-spyware, anti-spam, anti-virus/trojan/worm sites on the Internet. Download trusted security tools, and have expert volunteers diagnose your problems for free.
Windows Defender http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx Microsoft’s free anti-spyware tool
Synchronize a Desktop and a Laptop PeerSoft Save-N-Sync and PeerSync The best way we’ve found to synchronize files and folders between your laptop/desktop
Web 2.0 Applications Dynami Builder Revolutionary Web 2.0 system that enforces the principles behind Jagoe Homes’ Success
DotNetNuke Open source collaboration engine — alternative to SharePoint
Google, G-Mail Writely, Google Spreadsheet, Picasa, SketchUp, Google Toolbar, Other Google tools http://www.google.com/downloads Forget complicated Web directories and product databases. Learn to use Google and you can research anything you need to research on the Web.
Web Hosting, SharePoint Hosting, Domain Registration FrontPages-Web www.frontpages-web-hosting.net/ The largest provider of hosted Microsoft SharePoint™ solutions.
GoDaddy Domain Registration Register and manage all your domain names for only $9 a year — a fraction of the price of Network Solutions and other registrars. For more information or to contact us directly, please visit www.NAHB.org | ©2005, National Association of Home Builders |