Read on for just a few of them!

1. Switch Between Computers With Ease

One of the primary reasons students need laptops at school is for the sake of portability. However, with Dropbox, you could be stuck with a desktop and still be able to access your work from anywhere. I own a laptop and a netbook, so anytime I’m working on a project or an article, I drop the associated files into my Dropbox, and after it syncs, it’ll be online and ready for me to use at any other computer.

One of the most convenient features of Dropbox is that you can access your files not only from the Dropboxes synced with your account, but also from Dropbox’s website. That means you can access your files from any computer, even rental laptops at school. You won’t have to remember to bring along an USB stick ever again.

For even more convenience, you can use a syncing utility like SyncBackSE, and schedule it to run every night, syncing Dropbox with any folder on the computer containing your homework. Then, you can be sure that you’ll always have the most updated version of your essays and notes the next morning.

2. Keep Your Parents Up To Date

Maybe you don’t have release forms to sign anymore, but for (previously) underage teenagers like me, there are release forms for everything. In addition to those, I had Chinese assignments that I always had my parents spell check for me. For parents who are as technology-impaired as mine, it was always easier for me to tell them to pull a file out of a designated folder.

If you’re the type who likes writing home, now you can save money on paper and stamps by just typing out your letter and dropping it into your Dropbox. Or, you can leave your parents lists of things you need mailed to you, or nicely phrased requests for money.

3. Be Smarter About Collaborating On Projects

Until now, Google Docs was one of the go-to tools for collaborating on projects. Unfortunately though, you need to have a Gmail account in order to utilize the sharing and editing prowesses of Google Docs to their full potential. Nowadays, that might not be too hefty of a requirement, but it does mean that the adamant Yahoo and Hotmail users are out of luck, unless they wanted a completely new email account.

Luckily for them, Dropbox doesn’t require so extensive a commitment to use its features. Although those who you want to share folders with will have to sign up for an account before they can access the files, the sign up process is quick and relatively painless. If you really don’t want to deal with sign ups though, each file in the Public folder has a link associated with it that you can share with anyone you’d like.

The best part about Dropbox as a collaborative tool, is that two people can edit the same file simultaneously. In that situation, Dropbox saves two distinct copies of the same files, each with a person’s edits to ensure that both edits are preserved. Further, there is no need to have endless email chains back and forth in order to keep each other updated on the latest going-ons of the project. With Dropbox, all that your collaborators need to do is just open up the Dropbox folder, and pull out the most recent version of the file.

So today, I’ve given you a few more (hopefully) compelling reasons to use Dropbox. Personally, Dropbox has made switching between my laptop and netbook a lot less painful than it otherwise would have been. Perhaps you’ll find it will do the same for you.

Do you have any other ways of keeping your files with you on the move? Let us know by leaving a comment!

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Computers are definitely not just a toy for the young generation. In fact, computers are a lot more useful for people who have problems with mobility and keeping in touch with the world in the first place.

At the same time, people with reduced eyesight may have severe difficulties using computers because technology is still created to be attractive for the young. For example screen resolutions have become enormous, providing more desktop space, and as a result smaller icons and text. Everything is smaller, faster, and more sensitive. A nightmare for a slow person with bad eyesight and stiff hands.

Fortunately, Windows provides a lot of options to revert these “features” and make computers accessible for the elderly. Windows also comes with tools that enhance visibility and accessibility. Let me show you some of them.

1. Screen Resolution

A high screen resolution is wonderful because more things find space on your desktop. However, a high resolution also reduces the size of everything and text becomes very hard to read. Hence, it may help to reduce the screen resolution. It’s not a very elegant solution, but it’s quite easy.

Right-click onto a blank area of the > desktop and select > Properties. The Display Properties window opens. Switch to the > Settings tab and reduce the screen resolution to 1024 x 768 or 800 x 600 pixel. If you’re using a flat screen, you’ll see that decreasing the screen resolution will also reduce the sharpness. You’ll simply have to find the right balance for yourself.

To retain sharpness and visibility, you can also increase the DPI (dots per inch). Note that this step may require rebooting or the Windows setup CD. Within the > Settings tab click the > Advanced button, switch to the > General tab and under > DPI setting select > Large size (120 DPI) from the pull-down menu.

2. Contrast

Besides larger text and icons (we will come to that), a good contrast enhances readability. Fortunately, there are some Windows default solutions.

We’re still in the Display Properties menu from the previous point. Switch to the > Appearance tab. Under > Windows and buttons select > Windows Classic style. Now you can select a > High Contrast > Color scheme from the respective pull-down menu.

3. Sizes

We already touched on that in the first point. Size matters. And while we’re in the Display Properties, let’s see what else we can do here. For example you can increase the > Font size.

Furthermore, you can click the > Effects button and check the > Use large icons option.

Finally, back in > Display Properties, click the > Advanced button and look at the > Items you can edit here. For example you could increase the font size in menus or the size of caption buttons or the text size in message boxes. Font styles and colors are also under your control.

Before we leave the Display Settings, let me give you one more piece of advice. You can save all these settings as a theme. This way you can easily restore or share them. Within the > Display Settings window, switch to the > Themes tab and click > Save As. I’m sure you can figure out the rest.

4. Start menu buttons

Through the start menu you can quickly navigate to frequently used or standard programs. You can customize the start menu to display large icons.

Right-click onto the > taskbar, select > Properties. Switch to the > Start Menu tab, click > Customize and select > Large icons for programs. Here you can also change your default Internet and E-Mail programs.

5. Magnifier

Windows comes with a tool that lets you magnify things you can’t see despite all your settings.

You will find the tool under > Start > All Programs > Accessories > Accessibility folder > Magnifier. In the same folder you might also find an Accessibility Wizard, a Narrator, and the On-Screen Keyboard.

The magnifier will reserve a bit of screen in the top and open a > Magnifier Settings window.

Through the settings you can increase the magnification level and change the tracking and presentation. Inverting colors can enhance contrast and readability.

The magnification window itself can be moved around the screen and you can change its size. Since it will push away your open windows when launched, you might want to select > Start Minimized for the next time you need it.

6. Keystrokes

Hitting the right keys or several keys at once may be a problem when fingers are stiff. Windows provides some relief.

Go to > Start > Control Panel (classic view) > Accessibility Options and switch to the > Keyboard tab. The options you see here are > StickyKeys, >FilterKeys, and >ToggleKeys.

When > Use StickyKeys is checked the keys [SHIFT], [CTRL], [ALT], and [WINDOWS] are stuck once pressed, which will allow you to press one key at a time. For example to produce a capital A you can press [SHIFT], release the key and then press [A].

Clicking > Use FilterKeys results in a less sensible keyboard. Brief or rapidly repeated keystrokes will simply be ignored. This should reduce the amount of mistakes. However, it’s a bad choice for touch typers.

Check > Use ToggleKeys to be notified of hitting the [CAPS LOCK], [NUM LOCK], and [SCROLL LOCK] keys with a sound.

The respective > Settings buttons provide even more options to fine-tune the behavior of your keyboard.

Within Accessibility Options you can alter many other settings, for example translating system sounds into visual warnings, increasing the display contrast and cursor blink rate and width, and more.

7. Mouse

The mouse another important item to be considered.

Open the > Mouse Properties through > Start > Control Panel (classic view) > Mouse and switch to the > Pointers tab. Changing the scheme and selecting a large pointer will increase its visibility. Within the > Pointer Options tab you can further adapt its visibility and speed. Don’t forget the adjust scrolling with the mouse > Wheel.

With these default Windows options you can do a lot to make computers accessible for elderly or handicapped people. What is the oldest person you know using a computer? Is your grandma online yet? I think it’s about time!

Image credits: Brybs

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I propose to you that thinking about emergency preparedness is a good thing, however thinking about personal disasters is a far more likely scenario. What happens if you lose your job? If a relative falls ill and needs your help? If there’s a flood or a hurricane or a tornado in your area? What if there’s just a strike in industries like shipping, groceries or such? Those are much more likely. Yet if you are prepared for those, you will be well prepared for just about anything else.

Here are some great emergency preparedness sites to get you started down that path, sensibly, sanely and in a way that can make your life better today.

5. Path to Freedom

The Dervaes family may not consider themselves preppers or the like, but what they have done with their home in Pasedena is, well, beyond words. On just a tenth of an acre, they have what they call a micro-farm that produces about 6,000 pounds of food annually. Really. It’s taken them 20 years to get to that point, but you can learn from their mistakes and experience. That’ll make your project go that much quicker!

It doesn’t really take turning your city lot into a slice of Eden to be prepared for everyday emergencies. Isn’t it inspiring though? If they can do this, surely you can cut back your reliance on the grocery store somewhat.

4. American Preppers Network

The only thing distinctly American about this site is the patriotism and overt love of freedom. That’s not a bad thing, though. Being a Canadian, it’s hard for me to swallow sometimes, but I guess that’s because we’re reserved peace keepers except when we knock each other’s teeth out playing hockey. That’s a joke, folks.

What’s probably most important about the APN is that it gives you a chance to get to know like-minded people in your state. Due to the number of contributing bloggers, some of the emergency preparedness advice may seem contradictory or have a flavour that is somewhat religious or political, possibly even tin-hatter in nature. Don’t let that scare you off as everyone there has, at their heart, the desire to teach, and learn more.

3. Family Preparedness Guide

James Talmage Stevens has stepped back into the role of mentor after having published his seminal work “Making the Best of Basics” 35 years ago. James shares his wealth of knowledge in the fields of emergency preparedness, survival and voluntary simplicity through re-publishing this book, but more importantly, through his weekly podcast. James may not be a spring chick, but you won’t hear that in his voice. You’ll hear a man who loves life and people and wants you to take care. There are no politics or religious talk on his show, as he doesn’t have time for that when he’s getting you ready. His motto is, “If you are prepared, the nature of the emergency doesn’t matter.”

2. The Preparedness Blog

Mike, Greg and Rob are a trio of friends who live the emergency preparedness lifestyle. Between them, they have years of experience in emergency services and the military as well as just being prepared. The blog is where they archive their show notes from ThePreparednessPodcast.com, where they host a forum and a weekly podcast.

The information is solid and they provide useful tools such as their Preparedness Capability Checklist. The checklist is NOT a shopping list but rather a guide to help you assess what you are capable of doing in an emergency. This alone is worth checking out the site.

1. The Survival Podcast

Jack Spirko is a late 30’s man who has lived in many different states and served in the military in different parts of the world. Knowing just that, and that his site uses the word survival in it, you might think he was the locked in a bunker with an AK-47 and a bazillion rounds kind of survivalist. You know, like that guy from the movie ‘Tremors’. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Jack has built an incredibly strong, sensible and educated community of what he calls Modern Survivalists. The motto for his site sums up the philosophy beautifully. “Helping You Live The Life You Want, If Times Get Tough, Or Even If They Don’t.” Although there are ads on his site, don’t think this is just a money-making venture. In fact, it isn’t a money-making venture for most of these sites. They really do enjoy helping you!

In the forum, you’ll meet the Moderators. This phenomenal team volunteers so much time to keep the forum clean from spam and on topic, you’d think they were paid for it. Nuh-uh. Nothing but comraderie and passion for a logical lifestyle compels them. Absolutely amazing.

The podcast is done daily, for about 40 minutes and covers so many topics, it’s hard to see it as anything but an entire lifestyle. I think once you listen to a few of his shows, you’ll be hooked and well on your way to taking care of business. I know I am.

Image credit: nateOne

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I’ve had a colleague who sometimes had to bring her 3 year old son to work when the nanny was sick and no one else was available to take care of him. We all helped keeping him busy and now and then he would also enjoy some games on the computer.

Here are five ways to distract your child and keep any kid busy for a few minutes when you absolutely need it.

MysteryNet’s Kids Mysteries

This website is suited for kids who can already read and love to explore. If you don’t want your kid to simply consume, but rather use their brain and learn something new, you should give this one a try.

In Solve-it and Quick-solve your kid can read short stories and solve difficult cases, based on the information the stories reveal. Was it the gardener? The Chiller section hosts scary stories.

Finally, to impress family and friends alike, the website explains some simple magic tricks everyone can learn.

KideoPlayer

Certainly, the easiest way to keep kids busy is with videos. When the television is not an option, let me tell you, neither is YouTube. You never know what they will zap into next. Pre-filtered content is always the best idea.

KideoPlayer is a family safe YouTube player for kids. It’s extremely simple to handle. Load the page and videos will begin to play automatically. Don’t like the clip, hit the space bar for the next one. There is one button for the most popular videos and a second one just for moms. This makes the site suitable for very young kids.

ZuiTube

Your child may be a little more demanding, wanting to select from a collection of clips. In that case I recommend ZuiTube, which claims to have the largest video collection for kids.

Your kid can choose from New TV & Cartoons, Movies, Funniest Videos, New Music, Dinosaurs, and Animation. I’m sure there is at least one category they will find exciting.

Within the main categories, there are many more subcategories to explore. And while your child makes their selection, you can relax because you know the material is safe.

Crayola Coloring

Kids love color and you can give them what they want with Crayola Coloring. It’s an ace up your sleeve when all you have to offer is a boring office and a computer.  Besides, even if your kid is creative and tempted to color your walls, that’s not gonna work with these colors.

The kid can choose from different types of pens, tip sizes, and colors. The result can even be printed.

Storyline Online

Do you read stories to your children? It’s something wonderful to do and usually has a very calming effect on children, but it takes a lot of time. Why not give your children a little more of it, but have someone else do it?

At Storyline Online you will find many short stories read by many famous members of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. Now they can always claim that a celebrity read them stories when they were small.

We have previously covered games that can keep kids busy.

• Abraham wrote about 10 Open Source Online Games For Kids.
• Guy introduced Roblox – A Cool Lego-Based Free Virtual World for Kids.
• Karl has covered several online games suitable for kids. For example Preschool Online Games That Are Fun For Children or Noggin + Babysmash = One Happy Baby! (Windows).
• I recently introduced 5 Cool Free Internet Games for Kids That’ll Make them Love Math.

What is the most fascinating and self-directed distraction for your child?

Image credits: jmjvicente

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That’s when I sat down with a blank Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in front of me and just started playing around, using various techniques to cut down our budget to bare bones, and create a debt plan that wouldn’t take decades to eliminate our debt, but also wouldn’t keep us eating Macaroni and Cheese for dinner until we retire. In the end, I was able to eliminate all of our credit card debt in only 5 years, and we even had good enough credit in the end to get approved for a low-rate mortgage to buy our first home.

Today, I’m going to share a few of the nifty spreadsheet techniques that I used to generate a usable (and useful) budget, and finally, I’m going to share a technique to pay down your debt in a fraction of the time using the same exact payments you’re making today.  It’s a trick that I’ve seen a lot of guys trying to sell elsewhere on the net – I’m going to share it with MakeUseOf readers here, for free.

Step 1: Structure a Personal Budget Spreadsheet That Doesn’t Drive You Nuts

Anyone who has tried to make a personal “budget” knows the basics. You need to make a log of all of your bills and all of your income. Your bottom line is how much you have left over for fun, or how much fun you have to cut out of your lifestyle before you go bankrupt. It sounds easy, but when you start entering all of your details into a spreadsheet, things get very messy very quickly. A lot of people give up after the first attempt.

The basic layout is easy enough. List your bills in the first left column, and then in the next few columns list total balance you owe, monthly required payments, and the date that the bill is usually due.  These four columns are really all you need to create a budget.

However, here I’ve gone an extra step and added a column to the right for each month for easy expense tracking. However, once you get a large number of columns and rows, the screen starts to scroll and you can’t always see the bills to the left or the header at the top. The quick and easy technique to fix this is using the “freeze panes” feature.

First, select the box where the intersection at the upper left represents the row and column that you don’t want to scroll when you use the spreadsheet’s scrollbars. First, select Window->Split, and then go back again and select Window->Freeze Panes.

Now, when you scroll up or down (as shown here), the header and left column remain static, so you always know what the value you’ve selected applies to. This is a very useful feature and since I have a very bad short term memory, it has saved me a great deal of frustration where I normally would have had to keep scrolling back to check which bill I’d selected.

Step 2: Lay Out an Organized Budget Using Shading

I remember looking for a free budget spreadsheet back then and finding all of these templates filled with data that just made my head ache. Without clear lines separating the major sections of your budget, you’ll have a hard time zoning in on the area that you’re interested in. The best way to organize a budget spreadsheet is by shading each summary section between your major groups.

As you can see here, the first section of the budget pertains to bills, including household utilities and fixed bills, as well as another section devoted to only credit cards. At the bottom of this particular section, the total for fixed bills is highlighted with light green shading so it’s clear and easy to find.

As you can see, once you start shading rows, the entire spreadsheet becomes much more organized and easier to follow.

The “Fill” tool is located on the Excel menu bar and appears as a paint can tipping over with paint pouring out. Just highlight the entire row (click the numbered gray cell to the left) and then click the Fill button and select what color you’d like to use.

Step #3 – Use Excel Formulas to Project Your Credit Card Balances Into the Future

Now that you can make a personal budget that is well organized and structured in a way that’s very easy to follow, the next step is attacking that nagging credit card debt that’s been plaguing you for years. In these next examples, the same formatting techniques are used to create a list of credit card balances and monthly payments.

Set up your debt log in the same way – split and freeze the panes, but this time list each month along the left, and your credit card balances (and monthly payments) to the right. After you’ve entered in your current balance in the top cell (for example, in this case Capital One is $3,000), in the next cell below it you would enter a formula that multiplies that balance by your card’s interest rate and divides by twelve. That is your estimated monthly interest.

Then you subtract your monthly payment from the balance, and add the interest that you just calculated. Once you’ve got that first cell calculated correctly, you can duplicate the formula for every month below it by clicking and holding the small box to the lower right of the cell you just calculated, and dragging it down as far as you like. Each month will have a new calculated balance based on the previous months balance.

When you do this projection, you’ll eventually find the spot where the balance is completely paid off. As you can see from my own calculations, when I maintain a $250 payment every month until it’s paid off, it’ll take me until July 2012 to pay off the entire Advanta credit card balance.

Step #4 – Recalculate Payments Based on Interest and Eliminate Your Debt

By playing around with this kind of spreadsheet, I uncovered the very simple, common-sense solution that a lot of scammers out there are charging people for. Instead of maintaining constant payments on each of your credit cards until it’s paid off – you pay the minimum balance on all of them, and divert all of your current “debt-payment” money toward the credit card with the highest interest. Here is how it works.

This is also why I love Excel. By using the ability to “autofill” the monthly balance calculations, I tested different scenarios to pay off debts faster. Instead of paying $100 on Discover and taking until 2011 to pay that balance off, I paid $200 and will have it paid off by December 2009. Then I take that $200 and add it to the existing $250 I pay on Advanta.

As you can see, the Advanta balance is paid off in April of 2011, almost a year earlier. If you have additional credit card balances, you simply “snowball” the payment and eliminate your debt in months rather than years. Excel allows you to see that concept in a very cool graphical form by using the formula “autofill” feature.

Do you use Excel or other spreadsheets to make a personal budget or to plan out your family bills? Share your own tips and resources in the comments section below.

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Just like everything else she was only interested in it once or twice. So I have come to love the Internet for its ever changing content and have found several websites with preschool online games that my daughter visits daily and I am going to share them with you! Your kid will love you for it!

The first television show my daughter watched was on a channel we have in the United States called Noggin. Noggin has all the big shows like Dora The Explorer, The Backyardigans, The Wonder Pets and Lazy Town. For the really small ones you can run a program called Baby Smash on top of your browser to not let the baby change the page or mess with the web site. I wrote a post here about it.

There are loads more shows and they all have a mini-website built into Noggin. Each mini site contains lots of preschool online games and music as you can see below from Jack’s Big Music Show. You can see and listen to all this season’s music videos and there is a link to the last seasons videos as well.

Your kid (or you) can get lost on this page as well.

Next up on the same site is the Backyardigan’s mini-site which my daughter adores. There is all sorts of stuff, from video games to creative arts and crafts you can do at your home and even printables for parties and activities.

Next up to bat is the ever popular Sesame Street. Sesame Street has been around since I was a kid but we didn’t have an interactive website like this! Just like Noggin there are loads of games, videos and playlists. They also create a playlist for the day around a specific theme.

Below, the theme is “Guessing Day” others have been “Father’s Day” and “The Letter K”. You can get into the themed play list by hitting the green play button on the home screen after the flash intro plays. The playlist is made up of videos, games and more. If you have a really little one you will probably want to stick with the videos.

Each character has its own links. You can click on the Muppets link on the top to see the break down.

After clicking on any Muppet you will see a screen similar to the one for Elmo:

You can click on any of those links to videos, games or combo playlists all with the character of your choice!

What websites with preschool online games do you let your young ones play with? We would love to hear about them so my daughter will stop trying to find new ones on Google!

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I have a bad habit of examining my life, however as I grow older I also realize that perfect is as we make it. I now have the perfect mate and the perfect career for me. Seriously. But there are other parts of my wheel of life that are a little, umm, flat. Or should I say fat?

So, I need help. Here are some sites I’ve come across in the last few weeks that I believe could help a person to achieve worthy goals in their life. I’ll let you know which one I prefer at the end. So, in no particular order, here are my favourite three sites to change your life. (Oh, and they’re free of course.)

LivingOrSurviving.com

The tag line for this site asks if you are living or just surviving. Although that’s a bit presumptuous, you get the point. I say it’s presumptuous because people who are truly just surviving aren’t on the Internet looking for websites like this. Living Or Surviving offers a series of articles on the topics that seem to haunt us all; money, romance, health, stress and so on. The articles are more of an insightful nature than of an instructional one, asking you to ask yourself some tough questions. The articles are well written and give one the first step towards happiness, but really not much else.

Living or Surviving also has a free newsletter subscription which can really help to motivate you and look at your life perhaps a little more objectively. I’d recommend this site for someone who recognizes dischord in their life but isn’t sure what the problem is.

TheCircle.org

Going a step further than Living or Surviving, The Circle is a social support network site, designed to empower people with a circle of peers and mentors pursuing the same goal. Each circle is focussed on a specific aspect of life, so you can be a member of more than one circle. In fact, you probably should be a member of more than one circle, since life is a balance of aspects.

Another aspect of The Circle that sets it apart from Living or Surviving is that there are bona fide professionals on this site as mentors. Mentors can make money from the site in the form of ad revenue sharing. So far, I haven’t seen any mentor selling anything, or the site selling anything but advertising. There’s a circle there for Finding Your Inner Artist-Become a Better Writer. I might sign up for that.

The site does offer good advice and the support of others, but for me there is something lacking – simplicity. Unfortunately, group support situations can become just a place to vent and not get anything done. Some people will go there just for the attention and sympathy and that can become toxic. I like to look for everday ways to accomplish extraordinary things, which is a nice segue into….

Everyday Systems

Everyday Systems is one man’s foray into the world of self-improvement through the rigorous application of logic. Or as he explains it, “An everyday system, TM, is a simple, common sense solution to an everyday problem, grounded by a pun or metaphor.” The point of that approach is to do something that is doable under almost any circumstance and can easily be applied or taught by just a few words.

Here’s a few of Reinhard Engles brainstorms which I think you’ll really like.

The No S Diet – It doesn’t get any simpler than this and it will work for most people. Here it is reprinted in it’s entirety:

There are just three rules and one exception:

* No Snacks
* No Sweets
* No Seconds

Except (sometimes) on days that start with “S”

That’s it! Imagine if you just stuck to that. No scales, no pre-cooked food, no real dietary changes. It allows you to have something treat-like on weekends and special days like birthdays and such. See? ‘S’ for special!

Weekend Luddite – You’ve heard of the weekend warrior right? The person that sits in a cubicle all week and then goes kayaking or paintballing all weekend. They seem to have a natural ability to detach from technology and get a life. For those that can’t do that, try the Weekend Luddite method. Just remind yourself that on weekends, you will shun modern conveniences such as computers, televisions, cellphones and all those other busy-makers. If you can commit to that, you’ll be surprised what truly productive things you will fill your life with. Maybe spending time with family or getting that whole walking thing going. It’s a simple thing to remember, once you know what a Luddite is.

You can probably guess which site is my favourite. But do you know why? Everyday Systems’ philosophy of simplicity making a plan easier to stick to, is one to which I can subscribe. Figure out what the problem is, look for a simple solution that you are likely to follow, because it is simple and easy to remember, then do it. Isn’t that perhaps the best way to solve any of life’s challenges?

I hope you enjoy these sites as much as I do and that they help you to make the change you need or want in your life. As I am fond of saying, “There is a reason there are billions of people in the world. It’s because one person can’t do it all.”

While you’re at it, why don’t you check out some of the other sites and applications other MakeUseOf writers like and recommend?

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So, I did what I always do when I have something to research – I turned to the Internet. I quickly discovered that while there are certainly free genealogy websites out there, the truly valuable or unique ones are few and far between.

During this research, I learned two things about people interested in genealogy. First, many of them are clearly not web page designers. Second, they really, really love links.

The Top 10 Free Genealogy Websites to Find Your Ancestors

Without exaggerating, there are thousands of genealogy websites out there. MakeUseOf has touched on genealogy resources before – such as Mackenzie’s review of the GRAMPS software that lets you track your research, or Kinshuk’s review of the Kindo family tree building tool. When it comes to genealogy websites, they mostly all seem to be nothing more than lists of links to other resources.

Occasionally you’ll find a truly useful website with a search feature that accesses real data. For the purpose of this article, I will provide a list of the top 10 free genealogy websites that would be most valuable to anyone first entering into the hobby. These sites provide valuable tools, guides and access to databases that are overflowing with historic data.

10. KindredTrails.com – Lots of Links to Valuable Resources

There are two things that mark KindredTrails as a “typical” genealogy website. The first is that there are links to Ancestry.com on almost every page. This seems like a sort of pandemic with genealogy sites.

Secondly, like most other ancestry sites, KindredTrails is very much a link-oriented site. However, it does make it onto the top ten list because the site is well designed, the links are well organized. Additionally, the links provided on this site are very useful and valuable.

9. Access Genealogy.com – A Great Mix of Research Resources

Access Genealogy is up a notch from the typical ancestry website. Its main page is pleasantly clean and well organized. Along the left side you’ll find links to some of the most unique research sources including charts, links to old letters, military records, native american records and much more.

One of the more fascinating resources here are the transcribed cemetary records. There are researchers in every State around the U.S. that walk through the oldest cemetaries and actually transcribe names along with birthdates, date of death and family members. This resource alone will hold your interest for hours.

8. The Olive Tree – The Starting Point for Any Amateur Researcher

Olive Tree Genealogy is another private researcher’s website holding a collection of links and resources for historical data. One thing that sets this site apart from others is that it’s apparent a great deal of research went into the provided links. The website creator, Lorine McGinnis Schulze, writes that she started the site in 1996 in order to provide free resources to other researchers.

The truth is, she delivers well on that promise. One of the more impressive links on the site are the ship passenger lists where you can search through the names of your ancestors who immigrated to the U.S. decades ago. Another very useful resource for anyone first starting out in genealogy is the “guide for beginners” that walks you through each step of finding your ancestors, and gives you the specific resources you should check out first in order to conduct that research.

7. GeneaBios – Reading about Life Stories

Ancestry research aside, if you’ve ever found yourself fascinated by the life story of someone who lived a hundred or more years before you were born – then this biography database should be your first stop. You can search through the database alphabetically or just search by specific name.

This database turns up a very long list of biographies written up by genealogy researchers who’ve conducted a thorough investigation and provide their results. Read about the person who built the old stone tavern in the middle of town, or the lives of the people who founded the community where you live.

6. Family Tree Searcher – Online Quizzes to Help Your Research

The family tree searcher is another website created by a private researcher. This site is unique in that some of the resources are actually interactive quizzes that allow you to customize your research method.

One very useful quiz in particular is the “free advice” quiz, which asks you a series of questions about what you’re looking for, and at the end it provides you with a customized “research plan” along with the free resources that are most likely to help.

5. Genealogy Today – The Google of Ancestry

Of all privately created websites, this one is probably one of those that you could bookmark and use for all of your research needs. This site provides links to the usual resources like census data or death records.

What makes this site stand above the rest are the more creative sources offered, such as funeral cards, ration books, criminal records and even business cards. As many researchers know, the most successful results usually come from the more unorthodox methods.

4. U.S. National Archives – The Prime Source for U.S. Ancestry Information

If you’re in the U.S. and you’re a historical researcher, the National Archives should be at the very top of your resource list. Eventually, most other websites end up linking to these resources anyway, so why not just start at the source?

This is where you’ll find census information, military records, immigration records, and even bankruptcy records. There are even articles and information on historical researching techniques.

3. U.K. National Archives – A Plethora of U.K. Historical Data

The UK also has a valuable resource for history buffs in the form of its own National Archives website.  The main page of this website offers links to data such as births, marriage and deaths, census records, passenger lists and much more. European history is long, and these resources are unbelievably thorough and archived all the way back a thousand years.

On this website, you’ll also find valuable guides and articles on researching family and military history.

2. US GenWeb Project – The Top Source for U.S. Researchers

One of the largest and most valuable resources for historic information available to U.S. genealogy researchers is the USGenWeb project.

This project is made of up historical enthusiasts who actively volunteer their time and energy to provide free information for other researchers throughout the country. Just click on the State where you’re looking for information, and you’ll go directly to the State’s GenWeb site where the free resources for your community and local history are provided.

1. WorldGenWeb Project – World History Buffs Unite!

Once you get involved in genealogical research, the fastest thing that becomes apparent is that the hobby knows no borders. You’ll find expert researchers in just about every country from all around the world, and the best research available that brings all of these global enthusiasts together is the WorldGenWeb Project. This resource provides researchers with a safe place where they can focus on valuable and useful resources to conduct their research. Click on the country of your choice and eventually you can drill down to the specific community, and related free genealogy websites where you can hunt for more ancestral information.

Are you a history or genealogy enthusiast? Do you have any of your own favorite resources? Share them with other readers in the comments section below.

Photo credit: maralina!

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• How To Become a Hero & Help Find Abducted Children using Mobile Amber Alerts (11)

The fact is, everyone has a little bit of that longing to become a hero, no matter how old you are. You’d like to save someone’s life, and reach your final day knowing that at least once in the many years you’ve spent on this earth, you made a real difference in someone’s life. Now, with the new mobile amber alerts provided to cellular providers by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, more people than ever before have an opportunity to become a real life hero.

Why Using Mobile Amber Alerts is So Important

According to the FBI crime statistics for the U.S., reported kidnappings in that country rose from 154,341 in 1982 up to an astonishing 876,213 in 2000. The scariest part of those statistics is the fact that almost 90% of those abductions are children under 18 years old. The kidnapping rates throughout the rest of the world are quite as bad as in the United States, but the potential for child abductions demands that all countries should strive toward an automated system of mobile amber alerts so that all citizens can help in the fight to stop child kidnapping.

While the problem may be mostly in America, other countries are taking a stand against child abductions with their own Amber Alert systems, such as Australia in 2003, various regions of Canada from 2002 through 2004, France and the UK in 2006, as well as France, Greece, the Netherlands and additional countries every year. The most promising technological advance from the Amber Alert System is a mobile alert system created through a joint partnership between the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, The Wireless Foundation, Amber Alert, the Department of Justice and the Ad Council. Signing up your mobile device couldn’t be easier.

It’s as simple as going to the WirelessAmberAlerts website and typing in your wireless phone number. Once you do, you’ll start receiving wireless SMS messages to your phone whenever there’s a missing child alert for your local area. The system doesn’t charge anything for the messages, and most mobile phone carriers waive SMS message fees when you receive Amber Alert messages (but check with your carrier to be sure).

Are there Other Options to Receive Mobile Amber Alerts?

While the system above will work perfectly for anyone with a cellphone that can receive SMS messages, there’s a fair population of mobile users who don’t, or can’t, receive SMS messages. iPhone users have a solution in the form of a cool iPhone application that’s available for free at the iPhone store. However, other mobile users, such as Windows Mobile or Blackberry don’t really have the option of downloading a specific application yet. However, thanks to Google, both mobile and PC users have a way to receive Amber Alerts wherever they are.  At the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, you can download a gadget that you can embed on your blog or any web page, such as your own mobile web page that you can access with your phone, that will print updates form the Amber Alert system.

On your iGoogle page, you can also install the Amber Alert widget so that the Amber Alerts are displayed alongside your calendar, email, and weather.

Follow Mobile Amber Alerts, and You Might Be a Hero

There may come a day when you’re driving along on the highway, and you receive an SMS update from the Amber Alert system that notifies all local mobile users to be on the lookout for a black sedan with a particular license plate number. You quickly realize that the car in front of you is the suspect kidnapper’s car. You pass the car, and peek into the back window. Through the foggy glass, you see the small face of a scared child staring back at you. Realizing that your moment of truth has come, you glance back down at the callback number on the Amber Alert message and quickly dial the number. Barely ten minutes later, the blue lights appear and the car is stopped. You’ve just saved the life of an abducted child. You are a hero.

Would you ever consider adding the Amber Alerts to your phone? What would you do if you spotted an abducted child from a mobile alert message? Share your opinions about this system in the comments section below.

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I should back up for a moment and explain what the “shell” is. The shell is what allows a user to interact with the operating system. For most of us, the default Windows shell is Explorer, which includes the Start Menu, desktop icons, System Tray, etc.

If you’ve tinkered with your own PC enough, then you know that kids can find quick and easy ways to (unintentionally) mess up your system. If you’ve ever let your young ones frolic in the big, bad, World Wide Web, then you know what kind of trouble can appear on screen very quickly. KidsMenu is one program that can help prevent such things.

After installing the program, you’re going to want to gather shortcuts to all of the kid-friendly applications available on your system. In this example above, that includes several games, the KidZui browser (reviewed here), and even a Google-Chrome-created application shortcut to YouTube (this opens in a window without browser controls). Copy those shortcuts into the folder c:\Program Files\KidsMenu\shortcuts .

Before you comment, I’m well aware that there is objectionable content on YouTube. My oldest son, however, is also well aware that his mother and I are not only watching him while logged-on, but also checking the browser history, which records any sites he visits. He knows now not to go looking for stuff we wouldn’t approve of.

When KidsMenu is launched, it will overlay the current wallpaper being used, and lay the shortcuts out in web-page fashion. Clicking the shortcut launches the program, and exiting the program returns you to KidsMenu. KidsMenu can be run on top of the Windows shell as an application launcher, but what’s really handy is the option to use KidsMenu as the shell.

You’ll need a separate account for your kids so that you can continue to use the Explorer shell under your profile. To create a Windows user profile for your kids, go to the User Accounts Control Panel. You’re going to want to make sure that it is a “limited” account and not an administrator.

Log into your kids’ profile, and then launch KidsMenu from the Start Menu. Now, hold Ctrl+Alt and press “i” to see the above prompt, and select Yes to replace the shell. Now, whenever that profile is opened, KidsMenu will start up first, instead of Explorer. Clicking the “sleep” icon at the top right will only log the user off, it won’t allow access to the rest of the system.

Technology and the Internet in general can be exciting to kids, but worrisome for parents. KidsMenu is one of those programs that allows you to control your kids’ PC experience. To the parents out there: What are your favorite kid-friendly applications and sites? What shortcuts will you put on your KidsMenu? Let us know, yes, in the comments.

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A Brief List of The Top Educational Websites For Children

In order to produce a quality list, I started at KidSites, which is sort of the “Google” of children’s websites. The folks there accept submissions of sites and then offer the Internet community a directory of the “best kid sites on the web.”  However, the directory is huge, so I’ve decided to produce a list of only the top educational websites for children that are so much fun that even though they are considered educational sites, your child won’t even know it. I’ve selected the best site from each educational category.

#1: The Best Kids Art Website – Metro Museum of Art

Many of the sites at KidSites can be amateurish or boring, so it can take some searching to find that special gem of a site. In the Arts category, my own personal favorite comes from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Their section for kids features a long list of online applications where kids can learn about color, go on Aaron’s Awesome Adventure (the site will even read the story aloud to your child!), as well as a long list of other fun games and activites that exposes kids to the exciting world of Art. My personal favorite comes from artist Romare Bearden, a unique urban artist who produces some of the coolest art I’ve seen. His own website application for kids offers them activities that they can do with some of his art – I don’t know a kid alive who wouldn’t have a blast with these activities and the graphics.

To think that this is just one small section within a larger kid’s activity area of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website is impressive.

#2: Top Science Website – NASA

As always, you’ll find the best designed websites from larger organizations with the funding to hire people who can produce the best web applications for kids. The same must hold true for NASA, because they appear to take their mission of educating the public very seriously. NASA offers the “NASA Kids’ Club,” an interactive section of the NASA website where kids can learn about space and what it’s like to be an astronaut. The games are actually fun, while your child will learn science. Even Buzz Lightyear makes an appearance in a game where your child helps Buzz prepare to head out into space.

The graphics are obviously impressive, but the storyline and activities will hold your child’s imagination captive while they actually “learn” something about science and space…image that.

#3: Top Website About Nature and Animals

Sure, this is obviously another category under “science,” but if you’re a “Green” family, or you’re really into animals, it’s an important one. The world is filled with an endless array of natural wonders and stunning places for kids to learn about, and it makes sense that National Geographic would be the entity that would offer the best nature site for kids with National Geographic Kids. This website has amazing images and explanations of animals and places on earth for kids to explore. Of course they do also have interactive sections like an online coloring book and a games section. And yes, the games section is very cool, with one game where you race a turtle in a scene that is reminiscent of Finding Nemo.

Your child will attempt to swerve and dodge the various undersea objects, animals and plants. Okay, not terribly educational of course, but totally fun!  And when your kid is done, they can go back to reading stories or learning about animals on the other sections of National Geographic kids site.

#4: Top Website for Early Childhood Development

The best site for this category didn’t come directly from KidSites, but instead I had to drill down into PBS.org, which provides a number of submissions to KidSites. One of the best areas of PBS for kids is PBS Kids Go! for older kids, although PBS also offers “PBS Kids” for younger children. Both websites certainly prove that PBS is still king of the hill when it comes to providing content for children that’s both entertaining and educational.

The wide array of really cool games on the PBS Kids site will keep your child learning for hours. Your child will learn about living green, histor y and just about every other subject. Keep in mind that your kid will learn far more if you take some time to play these games with them, and they’ll certainly learn more because you’ll be available to talk them through the lessons that each game teaches.

#5: Top Website To Teach Children About Music

The last category that is important to cover, I needed to search other than the KidSites website, and I’m glad I did. By far, the folks who know the most about music are those who run the major symphony orchestras from around the country. So, it makes sense that the best educational website within this category comes from the San Francisco Symphony, with their impressive website SFS Kids – Fun With Music.

There are all kinds of really cool activities for kids at this site. The best example I found was “The Music Lab,” shown above, where kids can learn about tempo, rhythm, pitch and other aspects of music through an awesome interactive game. As they adjust the music, they can watch the metronome and listen to the music being played to learn about how the various elements of sound come together to make beautiful music.

Do you have your own favorite websites where you like to have your kids spend their “online” time?  Share your own favorites in the comments section below!

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The solution most financial experts suggest is to keep a simple log of your expenses from week to week. At the end of the month, you’ll have a nice snapshot of everything you’ve spent your money on, and where the major leaks are.

The problem for most people is that keeping a paper log is cumbersome and prone to getting lost. Using spreadsheet software is fine if you understand spreadsheets and how to manipulate the data. And most of free budget tracking software that are available are filled with so many bells and whistles that it’s nearly impossible to figure out how to keep a simple log of your finances.

This is where the SimpleD Budget Windows application can help. With this free budget tracker software, in just a few short steps, you’ll have a monthly budget and expense log ready for managing your household finances.

Starting A Budget With SimpleD Budget

SimpleD Budget lives up to it’s name the very first time you load it. It doesn’t get much simpler than this. The application first asks for your “budgeting type,” meaning are you a student, single without kids, a parent with kids, or retired?

Each one of these categories will automatically fill in the default budget for you with the typical items that someone in your circumstances usually spends money on. After also asking you for your monthly net income, it produces the default budget page.

While you can save a lot of time by using this simple budget, I like to break down my own budget into more specific items. For example, instead of grouping everything into “utilities,” I like to budget a certain amount specifically for electricity, cable, internet and so on.

You can do this by adding a new category and typing in the monthly amount that you typically spend on that item. You can color-code each item so that they are visually separated by type of expense. For example, I use green for fixed and blue for variable. You can also sort the items within each category by date, location, description or amount.

It’s important to take enough time to carefully go through all of the items you spend money on every month, and include it in this list. The more realistic you are with putting together this budget, the easier it will be to stay within your budget every month.

The nice thing about this software is that you can see a visual representation of the percentage of your overall income that each expense eats up. Every item is displayed in the form of a bar chart. The goal, obviously, is to get these bars as small as possible.

Here’s an example of what a completed budget looks like.

Tracking Your Expenses Throughout The Month

The biggest reason I like to use this software is not so much the budget itself. Anyone can put together a budget. What I really like about this application is how it allows you to log expenses as the month progresses. When you click on the “Expense” button at the bottom left corner of the screen, you are brought to a new screen where all of your defined categories are listed, and under each of those you’ll find a link to “Add New Item.”

Now, let’s say you’ve budgeted a fixed amount every month for groceries. Many people have a hard time keeping track of what they’ve spent and how much is left as the month goes on.  With SimpleD Budget, you can enter the expenses as the month goes on, and the software automatically calculates how much of your total budget you have remaining for that particular category.

With this application, you’ll know if you’ve spent the entire amount that you set aside for entertainment each month, and that it’s time to tighten the belt and skip dining out a few times so that you can stay on budget.

As the month goes on and you’re keeping a log of all of your expenses compared to your budget, you might also want to follow your trend of spending throughout the month. For example, do you tend to spend more on fuel at the beginning or end of the month? Do you tend to spend more on entertainment in the middle of the month?  By clicking on the “Balance” button at the lower left corner of the screen, you can view your spending trends based on the expenses you’ve already entered for the month.

These charts take no manipulation or effort, they update automatically based on the data that you’ve entered on the other tabs. Each month, you can create a brand new sheet based on last months budget, tweak it however you need to, and then start all over again tracking expenses.  As time goes on you’ll have a detailed record, complete with graphs and charts, outlining your monthly spending patterns.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

We’ve covered the pros of this software so far. It is extremely fast and easy to use. As a simple personal journal to hold all of your family expenses and spending in one place, SimpleD Budget works well. However, there are a few features that are lacking, and they need to be mentioned.  First, the print feature of this software is useless. If you hope to print out nice paper copies of your budget and graphs, then don’t bother using this software. The printout ends up shrunk down into a small corner of the page, barely legible.

Since I primarily use the software to keep an electronic log of my spending, I don’t really care about the print feature. However, for some people that could be a showstopper.

Another small drawback of the software is that you have one format to save the data, and that’s an XML format that’s readable only by the SimpleD Budget software itself. Again, for my own purposes, I only intend to store, view and manipulate my financial log within SimpleD, but for anyone who hopes to export this data to Excel or some other financial application, this will prove to be a significant roadblock.

With that said, the small size and simple layout of this application makes it easy to run on any PC, and the smooth flow from establishing a budget and logging expenses through the month to charting out your spending results, makes this application perfect for the amateur family budget planner who may be wary of the larger, more complicated financial applications.

For some additional ideas for tools you can use to manage finances, take a look at Sam’s 5 Online Tools to Help You Manage Your Money article.

Do you have a favorite budget tracker software that you use to manage your personal finances? Share your favorite app in the comments section below.

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So, when something gets stolen or damaged and you’d like to report a claim to your insurance company, pulling out a record of the purchase isn’t likely going to happen. It is going to end up being your word against theirs.

In order to help remedy keeping track of your multitude of assets, I am here today to talk about online home inventory tracking tools, one online and one off. They are designed specifically for situations like I described. To track your entire home inventory, including photos of receipts, credit cards, tax documents and much more.

StuffSafe – Online

StuffSafe is a completely free home inventory tracking site that lets you track every asset in every room of your home or workplace. You can separate all of these items by room, track many different items of your purchase, along with attaching photos of receipts, or the actual product.

Once you have all of your items entered, there are also advanced reporting options, to Excel, HTML or PDF.

Here is a look at my empty inventory database on StuffSafe.

Here I am entering the first of many assets into my StuffSafe database. These items can include many details, and also photographs, which you cannot see on this screen.

StuffSafe includes advanced export options for you to display to your insurance provider, or just for safe keeping of a hard copy report.

KnowYourStuff – Offline

KnowYourStuff has many of the same features as StuffSafe, but is offline. In other words, it’s home inventory software which keeps it away from possible snoops in the cloud. It includes a room-by-room inventory as well, with item descriptions, photos and cost.

It does not however include any reporting option like StuffSafe.

KnowYourStuff also includes a nice search tool, for sifting through the dozens of items in your database.

One of the bonus options that it has is an online ‘vault’ to store your database for safekeeping. (Vault 24 is not free though, but comes at a nominal fee)

Below is what you’ll see at first glance in KnowYourStuff. Here you will create your new location, your rooms, and item additions.

Here is a look at an addition of a new item to the KnowYourStuff database. I’m adding the same TV that I added in StuffSafe. Here you can see that you have many of the same options, including photos for receipts.

Trying to keep track of all of the thousands of purchases you’ve made during your lifetime can be a daunting task. And you don’t really know how important it is, until you have something damaged or stolen. Without evidence, such as a receipt or photograph of your product, most insurance companies aren’t going to help you out. Free asset tracking tools like these keeps all of your things in a nice and organized fashion and makes life easier when you need to get it replaced in an emergency.

Try both of these out and let us know what you think. How do you keep track of your proof of purchases? Do you have your own methods? Please let us know, we’d love to hear about them.

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Children are prone to learning inappropriate things whether in school or the outside world, however you have the control over what they may learn in your home. Explore the following two preventative Firefox applications to add Internet parental control to your favorite browser. Choose the one that can aid you and your family the best.

FoxFilter

This first app is a powerful filter that blocks access to inappropriate content because of its pre-defined set of rules that are instantly triggered when an individual visits a site that may contain explicit groups of keywords (i.e. Adult Content, 18+, erotic, etc…)

Configuration & Options

As you’ll note the resemblance in its name, FoxFilter is a Firefox add-on that’s compatible with Mac, Linux and Windows operating systems. In order to modify your version of FoxFilter and edit whitelist/blacklist preferences you’ll need to login to your account settings.

You can do this by double-clicking the FoxFilter icon at the bottom of your Firefox browser. If a URL is whitelisted it’s because it has been previously blocked and believed to be a legitimate site by you. Whitelisting is easy, all you have to do is access your account settings.

Suricate

This Firefox add-on collaborates with a global group of sites that have been flagged by previous Suricate users. Not only does it use this list to deny access to users on your PC, but it also blocks the sites you select as well.

How it Works

The way it works is if you come across a site that Suricate didn’t initially block then you can click the site banning button at the top left hand corner of your browser and it will immediately block the site, add it to your blacklist and notify the Suricate central site that the URL you’ve just banned isn’t appropriate for children in general.

With these options you have the control to customize Suricate by banning the sites you want and allowing whichever ones you prefer.

This is a shot of me configuring Suricate:

FoxFilter vs. Suricate

When it comes to deciding which of these two applications best suit your parental control needs you should take into account the simplicity and basic uses of the apps. FoxFilter is easy to use, however it is a bit more difficult to configure when compared to Suricate due to the extra settings.

Although in order to access your account all you need to do is click on the FoxFilter button, some detest the idea of having to travel to another site, while with Suricate you can just configure it by selecting the options button in the add-ons window.

In regards to effectiveness, both applications are fast as they work to immediately blacklist or ban a URL and instantly make it seem as though it’s been wiped off the face of the Internet.

Thus with this being said, FoxFilter and Suricate are both similar applications and either one will aid you on your quest to successful parental control.

Which app do you use to restrict your child’s access to the internet? Please let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

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But if you’re like me, you’ll be looking for something different to do with the megapixels of memories that you’ve collected over the past few weeks, as well as of years past.

Here is a collection of a few websites that should give you a little more freedom with your images and are sure to change the way you work with digital photographs.

Collagr

If by any chance you’ve already done that Flickr upload, then Collagr is just for you. This easy-to-use site lets you quickly spice up a collection of photos that you may have either on Flickr or Photobucket by simply providing a URL.

Thus far, collages can be customized by way of background colors, layouts, resolutions and overall size. However, the site is still in open beta and more features (including a sleeker UI) are currently in the works.

Big Huge Labs

Big Huge Labs is hands down one of the best sites for playing with your digital photos. The site has a ton of things to do and uploading images is effortless. Photographs can be transformed into movie posters, calendars, trading cards, badges and the even motivational posters.

BHL also offers a bunch of cool effects as well, including a caption-maker, billboard-creator fake magazine cover generator and my personal favorite, the ‘Warholizer’.

Imageloop

Imageloop is a website that offers to create customized slideshows of your photos and images. Registered users (it’s free) can upload photos from their computers, social networks (such as Facebook, Flickr or MySpace), or even from a URL of their choosing.

From their customization of your slideshow is simple: everything from image animations and effects, background music, captions and size can be specifically tailored. The site also allows you to set privacy restrictions to your slide shows; such as allowing or disallowing viewers to add their own images to your collection, for example.

Finished slideshows can be uploaded to preset sites like Facebook and Blogger or to personal websites. Imageloop can also create loop galleries, which feature a sleeker interface, as well as play/pause and speed controls.

Blipfoto

Another cool site, Blipfoto has a unique premise: upload one photo per day to create a daily journal to share with family and friends. The site will probably appeal to more photo-savvy users but the idea is certainly out of the ordinary and can give you a chance to showcase your photos, whether professional or just for fun.

Journal entries can also contain a written commentary about your digital photographs, giving the site a certain blog-like feel and keep in mind that only JPEG format images are permitted for upload.

MyFamily

MyFamily is a site dedicated to personalizing photos and sharing them with…you guessed it: your family. The site lets family members connect with each other by creating a private web locale for you and the people you want to let in.

MyFamily offers unlimited storage of photos, videos and even files, however a free account does have a monthly upload limit of 100 MB (forking over the cash gives you 1 GB). But 100 MB should be more than enough for most people per month.

One of the more prolific features of MyFamily, in my opinion, is the photo story option, which lets users create a 4-picture slideshow, coupled with your own audio commentary that adds a storybook feel to your photos and emphasizes the family-orientated feel of the site.

BONUS:

Loonapix

If Big Huge Labs wasn’t to your heart’s content try Loonapix. The site has almost 40 effects to choose from, including making your pictures look like wanted posters, YouTube videos and newspaper clippings. Most images have to be cropped to get the right effect however, so try sticking to portraits, or small group photos.

Know of any sites that are photo-friendly? Then comment below and share your thoughts with fellow MUO readers.

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Few. Bad news clearly receives a lot more attention than the good stuff. But good things do happen all the time and they must be encouraged.

So when something positive has happened to you, when someone has been exceptionally helpful or when something has changed your life positively, why not say Thank You!

Thanks-O-Meter is a site that collects all the nice things people do and experience. The site is public access and no membership is required to express your own gratitude. Stories can be searched for by keywords.

It’s a great way to remind you of how good life can be and that it’s the small things that make us happy – breathing, smiles, good words and gestures. People do nice things everyday and on Thanks-O-Meter you can read about it or share your own story.

When you decide to submit a Thank You, sharing your story is optional. You can simply select your Thank You category or add a custom one, and express how the event made you feel. It only takes a few seconds and adds a positive voice to the statistics.

Below is a chart to demonstrate the statistics of the site. There you can also see which Thank You categories you can choose from.

Organizations can sign up for paid, customized accounts. Schools, churches, charities and sports leagues however can request free accounts.

Has the site inspired you to do a good deed, to buy flowers for someone or simply write a Thank You eMail? Please share!

Picture credits: lusi

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My little Kayla loved it and now I have come across another similar app and thought we would share it with you.

I downloaded the tiny 481KB ToddlerKeys executable from here.

Upon launching it I got a setup screen that ran down the basics of the application that you can see below:

The next screen allows you to automatically start the app with Windows as well as whether or not to create the shortcut and launch ToddlerKeys immediately after installation.

You can then look for the TK icon in your system tray. Right click on it and choose Manage Pictures and Sounds…

This is a free program so it does not come with sounds or images, so at first I was like….this blows!

Then I thought about how I secretly wished I could change the sounds and icons from BabySmash.  Now with ToddlerKeys I can customize what my baby is seeing and hearing. The letter K brings up a picture of my daughter and says the words that she says.

This changed everything. Now the whole family loves it! Let’s just run through the basics quickly. You can choose options and get the screen below:

On this screen you can choose what drives will be locked when ToddlerKeys is running as well as a few other basic options. You can also customize the word you need to type to exit. It is set at quit by default.

Do you let your little ones use your computer? Now with my baby teething I am sure glad my HP Tablet is water resistant! But if yours is not, you can always add a piece of Clear Plastic Wrap over the keyboard tucking it under so drool doesn’t get where it doesn’t belong!

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I’ve been working on it for a couple of years now, and I just love this program, GRAMPS. GRAMPS stands for “Genealogical Research & Analysis Management Programming System.” That’s a mouthful, though, so it’s GRAMPS. GRAMPS is available for Linux, Windows, OSX, BSD, and Solaris, but the Linux versions are generally the most up-to-date. If you’re using one of the other OSes, there is a live CD available.

If you’re a genealogy enthusiast and you’ve used software to track your records before, you’re probably familiar with the GEDCOM format. The thing I loved about GRAMPS to begin with was that it worked directly with the GEDCOM. Nowadays it does have its own format available, but it can still use the GEDCOM directly. It also automatically backs up the file when you save, so if you screw up royally, you have a checkpoint.

As with any genealogy program, you can enter names, dates, places, etc. One of the features I like is that you can set the quality of the dates to regular, estimated, or calculated and also include that it was before, after, or about a certain time. I find this useful when I’m going through census records and figuring out “So she was 20 in May 1873, meaning she was either born in early 1853 or late 1852…” since I can’t really be properly accurate without something like a birth certificate. You can also create an event, like a ship arriving at port, just once and link multiple people to it. The list of events you can choose is extensive. There are definitely more options than what I recall Personal Ancestry File having and if you find yourself thinking, “wow James and Joseph sure named their kids a lot of similar na—oh…they’re the same person…crap,” there’s a tool to merge people as well.

Of course, GRAMPS allows you to store media attached to the people and events. By “media,” I do not simply mean photos. Videos, audio clips, and scanned documents are all options. So, even if you do spend a lot of time transcribing some old form, you can have the original there. Many people take issue with using just transcriptions because of the possibility for error in transcribing. If a scan of the original document is attached, however, you have a verifiable record available and yes, one photo of many people can be attached to all of them.

Speaking of verifiability, it is extremely important to cite your sources when doing genealogical research. GRAMPS provides for this, as well. There are two tabs on the left marked ‘Sources’ and ‘Repositories’. These two are meant to work together. Everything you reference goes into a source. The sources then go in a repository. If you looked at a bunch of old newspaper clippings and records in the library, the library would be your data repository. A church’s collection of family records would be another repository, with each baptism certificate they’ve got on hand being a source. Since headstones are great sources for birth and death dates, cemeteries also qualify as repositories.

Shown above is part of Henry VIII’s relationship view. As you can see, one generation backwards and forwards is displayed for the person in focus (Henry VIII). The person can be removed from any of the families listed by clicking the minus sign, and the families can be edited with the pencil & paper button. Clicking any of the people brings them into focus in that view. Each person’s birth date and location, death date and location, and gender is shown with their name if it is available.

There is a vast array of reports available to be generated by GRAMPS. By far my favorite is the fan chart. I once showed one of my family to a professional genealogist friend, and she said she’d need to check out Linux again. This was before I knew about GRAMPS for Windows, if it even existed at the time. Ahnentafel reports are highly-detailed reports of a person and his or her descendants. Large, multi-page charts are possible as well. The option to create a full book out of the data is a nice one, for example as something to give out at a family reunion. Plus as we are in a web-based world, I figure I ought to mention that it can generate websites.

It’d be impossible to cover all of the features found in GRAMPS, or show examples of the many charts it can generate, so just give it a try yourself. If you’ve used GRAMPS before, what did you think? Got any other open source genealogy apps to recommend?

GEDCOM for Tudor family found here.

(By) Mackenzie is a college student who likes to promote Linux and Free/Libre Software. Most of her free time is spent on the computer, helping new users, or hanging out with some of the friends she’s made in the Linux community. Check out her blog, Ubuntu Linux Tips & Tricks.

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Many of us do not have ready access to malls or enjoy shopping for gifts for our friends and family members. However, Amazon Gift Central provides a clean, easy to use interface that prepares you to select great gifts for your friends and family members without the hassle of driving to a mall or taking hours and hours to find the “perfect” gift.

Amazon Gift Central provides dozens of gift guides, so you can select by age, gender, price favorite activities of the recipient and more to select the perfect gift. In addition, keep track of what you purchased previously with the Gift Organizer.

Screenshot of Gift Organizer

Create a gift idea list by visiting Amazon Gift Central and adding the name and birthday of a person you want to select gifts for. Don’t forget to sign in to your Amazon.com account so your settings are saved. Once you’ve created a gift idea list, add new items to the list!

This is pretty easy:

1. Browse Amazon.com for the item you want to add to your list, or visit the Gift Guides for gift ideas.
2. Then, click the “Add to Wish List” button on the product’s detail page, and be sure to place the item in the correct wish list.
3. Press “Go”!

Note: “Move to” will place the item only on the Gift Idea List you select. “Also add to” will place it on your Wish List and the selected Gift Idea List.

When it is time to purchase a gift, find a gift idea list by visiting your Amazon Wish List page, and look below the list of your wish lists for the ones you created. Also, link to your recipient’s Amazon.com Wish List (if they have a public one), so you have an idea of what they are looking for.

For information on how to make Wish Lists public, visit Amazon’s help pages. This will also generate two new sections on your Amazon Gift Central page, “From Wish Lists” and “Latest Activity.” Latest Activity will show you the most recent items your friend or family member has viewed – just so you can have an idea of what has interested them lately on Amazon.com.

Screenshot of Latest Activity

Amazon Gift Central also makes the best of the combination of the wish lists you’ve created and the wish lists that were self-created by the recipient and develops suggested gifts for you to take a look at as potential winners in the “best gift ever” competition!

Screenshot of Reccomended Items Sections

What’s your favorite way to organize your gift selection and gift giving? Let’s hear it in the comments!

(By) Ellie, a lover of all things shopping-related. You can find her searching the streets of New York City and online for great deals and gifts when she isn’t writing for ultimate geek girl!

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(1) HealthVault
Service that many US families should find really useful. In simple terms, HealthVault is an online safebox for all your medical records. It’s not just a storage place to keep medical history but also to share records with doctors, place to where medical documents can be faxed and auto-archived, and lots more.

(2) Windows Live (Office Suite)
Long-awaited online office offering from Microsoft. I know, there are plenty of other online office suites, but many of us are still hesitant when it comes to compatibility issues. What if the document won’t open? What if text styling gets messy? … Well, who if not Microsoft can guarantee 100% compatibility with Microsoft Office. Although the service is yet to go public, you can opt-in now and get notified as soon as it’s launched. (Update: Some people have suggested that it’s going to more like a document storage and sharing service rather than online office suite)

(3) TellMe
Tellme is a free alternative to costly 411 directory service. Lets you quickly obtain contact details and directions to local businesses (repair shops, pizzerias, restaurants, etc.). You can access it via toll free number, text messaging, or TellMe mobile client. Check out TellMe video demo here.

(4) Windows Live (Safety Scanner)
Online Windows health check-up and maintenance center. Includes virus scan and removal, hard drive space recovery and performance tools. The only drawback, it doesn’t work with Firefox and thus you need IE to access it.

(5) Tafiti
Looking for a comprehensive research tool? Check out Tafiti. It’s a single application that integrates multiple search engines, visual search, webpage sharing, and a handful of other features for online research. Tafiti will work on any browser but you do need to have Microsoft Silverlight (free).

Software

(6) Win XP Powertoys – PowerToys is a set of tiny all-purpose apps that add to your Windows experience. Currently, the package counts 15 different programs, including ‘Alt+Tab’ replacement, all-in-one unit converter, right click image resizer, and virtual desktop manager.

(7) FolderShare – Simple and memory-friendly program with a bunch of cool features. FolderShare lets you access your PC remotely, share files with others, and synchronize files across multiple computers and mobile devices. It’s a pretty useful app to have on your arsenal.

(8) Sysinternals Suite – Over 60 troubleshooting utilities bundled in one suite. Most of the bundled apps are rather techy and may require technical skills. Although some of the apps are 100% automated. For instance, PageDefrag (excellent paging-file defragmenter) is one of such apps.

(9) ConferenceXP – Live screen sharing and collaboration application for groups. Highlights include local screen streaming, browser screen sharing, and live collaboration sketchboard.

(10) Windows Live Pack – Brings Windows Live services to your desktop. Cool part about it, you have an option to choose which services to get. Package includes, Family Safety suite, web photo gallery, online storage service, Windows Live Writer blogging tool, and some more.

Got another Microsoft goodie ? Let us know in comments!

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The thing that stands out about these recipe websites is the fact that all featured recipes are tried and tested and allow for user commenting/reviewing, so you can be assured of the quality of the recipe. Enjoy!

Top 5: Recipe Websites (again in no particular order)

(1) GroupRecipes
Almost 100% user-contributed recipe website that does an excellent job at making huge recipe database easy to digest and browse through. Browse by flavors (spicy, sour, chilly…), images, ingredients (whats in your fridge), popularity, menus, users, and tagcloud.

(2) SimplyRecipes
A wonderful recipe-based food blog where all recipes have been personally tested by either the blogger, her family/friends. Browse recipes by primary ingredients (chicken, seafood, meat…), meal course (breakfast, desert…), diet type (veg., low carb…). The quality of the recipes is reflected in the number of subscribers (over 230k!)

(3) 101CookBooks
This one is for the foodies…the people who love to eat food with their eyes and would like a short intro for each of the recipes. Basically, another excellent recipe-based food blog (2006 food blog winner) where readers can feel a nice personal bond with the blogger through her writing style (a short personal and technical history for each recipe) along with beautiful imagery. Lets you browse recipes by type (appetizers, baked good, mains, etc.)

(4) AllRecipes
Over 40,000 recipes along with complementary extras i.e. nutritional content, user rating and an interesting meal accompaniment tool that lets you search for accompaniments such as side dish/desert/… to this recipe. Other features include recipe videos and related food guides such as healthy eating etc. (Note: website navigation is slightly confusing).

(5) Chow
Apart from recipes gives other foodie related information such as food events, user stories etc. Simply yet efficient recipe browsing method where users can browse through recipes by sides, mains, sweet and drink. Plus insightful video section which gives a good selection of videos on cooking and food etiquette howto’s.

And some more recipe stuff …

• Epicurious – very similar to the above mentioned Allrecipes
• SmoothiesRecipies – over 100 smoothies recipies
• BakeSpace – social networking website for foodies

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