TECH TIME

... Not to be confused with Tool Time, because I don't do tools, and well, let's face it, nobody man-grunts like Tim Allen...

I've run across several pieces of new (free) software this week, so I thought I'd share.

Digsby- www.digsby.com - Digsby is an instant messaging client that works with literally anything. MSN, Y!, AIM, GTALK, FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, IRC, ICQ, XMPP, you name it. Also has the ability to show Facebook feeds and send SMS messages.

Evernote- www.evernote.com- Evernote is a note taking application that syncs itself to all of your computers, an account on their website, and even your cell phone. Photos, articles, or just writing down your ideas, Evernote will help you remember and organize all of your thoughts. One of my favorite features of Evernote is the web clipper application. It automatically snaps, crops, and saves screenshots of your computer into Evernote. Very handy tool for bloggers.

Dropbox- www.dropbox.com- Kind of along the same lines as Evernote, Dropbox is a syncronized folder application. Basically, here's how it works: You have a folder on your desktop call My Dropbox. You put a file in that folder, Dropbox automatically uploads the file to its internet server, then downloads the file to all of your computers that have Dropbox installed. There is a 2 gig limit, but for documents and pictures, that's really all you need.

Opera 10- www.opera.com- O.k., so this isn't a new discovery, but definitely deserves an honorable mention. Opera is a web browser that I used several years ago (version 7, I think?). I gave it up when Firefox 3 was released. Recently, Firefox has been having serious memory leak issues, so I decided to see what the makers of Opera were up to. Lo and behold, version 10. The number 1 sleekest, fastest, and resource friendliest browser I have ever used. Tabbed browsing, speed dial start page, turbo engine for slow networks, high compatibility, and the ability to identify itself as another type of browser (i.e. Firefox) for those site that have stupid web developers writing code to block other browsers. Definitely 10 steps up from Internet Explorer 8, which is still have compatibility issues with sites that are written for it (Microsoft.com doesn't even fully render in IE8), and trumps Firefox in resource usage. A must have for any internet junkie.