ON Computers
BOB & JOY SCHWABACH
Thomas Jefferson was so good at keeping track of his expenses that we still have records of almost everything he spent, including the tips he gave out at inns. (George Washington, by the way, was also a meticulous recorder of his expenses.)
Expense tracking isn't a magic solution to budgetary woes, but it helps. Jefferson was an acknowledged spendthrift, for example, with an immense wine collection and a taste for fashionable clothes. He was often out of pocket and would sometimes borrow money from his slaves, keeping track of every penny, of course, and the date he paid it back.
Of course, you can do that too - not borrowing from slaves, but tracking every penny. We've been testing a solution from TheExpenseTracker.com, that makes it a snap to keep track of how much you spend.
It costs $10 to set up and $10 a month for a six-month contract. Instead of having to save all your receipts during the day and enter them into a database at night, you can do it on the fly with a mobile phone and this voice-activated service.
For example, as you're leaving a grocery store, you can call a special phone number, enter your PIN number, and tell the robot voice that answers the phone how much you just spent on the "grocery" category. The robot tells you what you have left of the limit you previously set for yourself, and your personal spreadsheet, available online, is automatically updated. A daily email gives you all your latest tallies.
Setup was easy. After signing up at TheExpenseTracker.com, you can tell the service how much you have available each month after taxes. There is a list of dozens of categories already filled out with suggested amounts for each. You can click "edit" next to any category to apportion expenses that fit your lifestyle, and you can also add and delete categories.
An obvious thought is why not save $10 a month by skipping the service all together? That's the way to go if you have Thomas Jefferson's habit of writing down every cost; we found we don't. We liked how TheExpenseTracker.com made us stop and think about where our money is going.
PromptPuppy replaces a teleprompter
When you're giving a speech, you may wish you had a teleprompter, but these can cost thousands of dollars. For $20 instead, you can get a program called PromptPuppy, from DVcreators.net. It does pretty much the same thing.
With PromptPuppy, you can have your script or notes roll by in giant letters on a notebook screen. But if you're delivering your speech in front of a camera, you want to be seen looking directly at that camera, not at your notebook. In this situation, you can use a two-way mirror placed between you and the camera. The camera looks right through the clear side of such a mirror, as if it was plain glass. But what you see is your script rolling by.
Besides the huge cost difference, PromptPuppy has other advantages over ordinary teleprompters. You can use the scroll wheel on your mouse to speed up or slow down your script, or go back a few lines. If you buy the professional version, the $60 PromptDog, you can also edit your script as you practise, and then jump right back to the prompter.
The new version lets you colour text to separate various speaking parts, and has a feature typically found on expensive teleprompters: A timer shows you how long it will take to get through your script at the rate you're going.
TinyURL gets personal
TinyURL.com turns long Web address into small ones. Sometimes the web site address you want to share is a page long. If you just copy and paste the long one into the TinyURL.com window, it is made shorter.
Now, TinyURL has a new feature: You can create an address with any words you want, as long as it starts with TinyURL.com. For example, you might want TinyURL.com/basketballhound.
This personalisation reminds us of the newly popular ME domain. People are already registering sites like "Watch.ME" or "Hug.ME." Domain.com is offering registration of ME sites for $19 a year.
Numbers report
US mobile phone users are sending more text messages than phone calls, according to a Nielsen Mobile survey. For the second quarter of 2008, US mobile phone subscribers sent and received an average of 357 text messages per month, but made or received only 204 phone calls a month.
Animate this!
We've been trying out a free service, GoAnimate.com, that lets you make animated comic books. Doesn't matter if you think you can't draw; they supply the figures as well.
The process was remarkably easy. There are hundreds of stock cartoon characters you can use, as well as political caricatures of President Bush, John McCain, Barack Obama and many others. Later this month they're adding Richie Rich, Underdog and Mr Magoo.
To create your animation, select a background, drag in your characters, and choose from a menu of movements, facial expressions and music. Our characters laughed, cried, walked and danced through an Old West-style saloon.
Your animations can be emailed, posted on a social networking web site or posted on your own site. How does the company make money with a free site? There are charges for special features, and it may have ads later.
Readers can search several years of columns at http://www.oncomp.com. You can email Bob Schwabach at bobschwab@aol.com.
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