Taking Notes on an iPad 2

November 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I recently purchased an iPad 2, my first since iPad, but have been on the prowl for the best note-taking app. There are so many variations as to why you are needing to take notes, but for me the requirements were simple:

  1. I wanted to be able to type and also use handwriting for marking up as I’m a doodler.
  2. I wanted to have access to my dropbox folder so I can read PDF’s that I’ve saved there, mark them up, highlight, etc.
  3. I wanted to be able to share the final notes easily.
  4. I wanted to have a great way of keeping my notes organized as what I have been using before this was 3 or 4 different notebooks spread around 3 different desks. Not optimal.
Many people swear by Evernote, I haven’t really gotten into it and I’m not sure why, even before getting an iPad. My main hang-up for using Evernote as a note-taking app is that you can’t use handwriting. I moved on.
I tried GoodNotes and really liked almost everything about it, except that it didn’t let me type – though to their credit it isn’t supposed to and I knew that before purchasing. Once I started using it “for real” I realized that was something that I was going to value.
I gave Notes Plus, Note Take HD and Notability a look, but didn’t really feel like paying so much.
Along came a review on appadvice.com and whamo! Lead me to Notarize. This app did the trick. And best of all, FREE. Highly recommend for any iPad users out there.
Filed Under: Reviews, Software/Apps

Mozy.com Back Up Break Up

February 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

It’s official. I’m single.

Mozy and I had to break up. We had a pretty good run and I will say there was great potential for a long-lasting relationship, but things happen. Namely, this happened.

As in every relationship it’s the subtle things. From the announcement there is the causal line of “we’re replacing our Unlimited backup plan.” Replacing? With what? Oh, that’s right, you’re replacing it with a plan that just quadrupled my price each month. Yeah, thanks for that. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Opinion, Reviews, Software/Apps

One Powerful Shopping Cart

January 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

So you want to open an online store?  Great!  Just get your web-guy cousin to hook you up with one…there’s just a few things you have to get figured out first:

  • What store software will you use?
  • How will you host the store?
  • Will your site have an SSL Certificate installed so you can accept credit cards?
  • How easy will it be to update your store or will you have to wait for your cousin to get to it?
  • How will your store get found online?
  • What features do you want and will all those features be covered by the software you have now installed?  What about in 2 months when a new “big thing” is happening on shopping carts around the world, how will you adapt

The list could go on and on.  Honestly, it’s more daunting than you think to host your own store.  Luckily, the folks at www.bigcommerce.com have come through huge with a complete e-commerce solution to have you up and running in minutes! [Read more...]

Filed Under: E-Commerce, Online Tools, Reviews, Software/Apps, Solutions

Desktop Sharing Using join.me – a Review

August 29, 2010 By 1 Comment

I recently found the need to share my desktop with a few people and wanted a better option to LiveMeeting, GoToMeeting and Yugma.  I could review those as well, but will stick to one that I found recently that is still in beta but was a great alternative.

After stumbling upon join.me (created by LogMeIn) I was immediately impressed with how SIMPLE it was!  Download this packet and presto!  It assigns you a number that you can email or share and people can just go to that URL and they are on.  For those joining the presentation it’s such a clean experience as there’s absolutely nothing to install. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Online Tools, Reviews, Software/Apps, Solutions

WordPress for Blackberry

August 5, 2010 By 1 Comment

I have been wrestling to try and figure out how to get the email-to-post to work on this WordPress installation. This is something fairly straight forward, and yet came to realize that because I am using Google Apps for my email, so far no good. There are a ton of posts ‘out there’ as to something that changed in December not allowing this to happen any longer.

Plan B to the rescue. The issue was that I wanted to be able to post from my phone so I just downloaded the Worpress app for blackberry. The only thing I had to do was enable the XML-RPC option under Settings – Writing on my WordPress install.

Not a ton of bells and whistles but if you’re looking for a nice alternative to posting by email, give the WordPress app a try. This is my first post with it so I might have more thoughts in the comments section…

Are you using it? Anyone using the WordPress app for Android or iPhone who want to chime in?

Filed Under: Reviews, Software/Apps Tagged With: ,

Mac and Blackberry/Android/Smartphone Users Gotta Check Out Missing Sync

December 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment

One of my frustrations with have a Mac is that my Blackberry is sort of pieced together in terms of keeping everything in sync. I tried a ton of different “solutions” but they all seemed like they missed the mark (no pun intended for what I’m about to say). Along comes Mark/Space with their Missing Sync product. Sure, you have to pay for it, but it is so worth the price.

Here’s what I like about it most:

  1. Simple to set up; simple to use
  2. Support is great – received emails back rather quickly
  3. Forum is very helpful
  4. BLUETOOTH sync – no wires needed. Start the program, make a few settings changes on your Blackberry and it’s done.

The only thing that is missing for me in the Blackberry/Mac world is the ability to have the entire Blackberry backed up so if I get a new one, all my settings/passwords/info just get ported right over. For non-BES users we have to hack things together a bit.

Overall all I highly recommend Missing Sync to any Mac/smartphone user – give it a whirl and see what you think.

Filed Under: Reviews, Software/Apps Tagged With: , ,