by Techsplosive on March 14, 2011
Many people see Fridays as the most difficult day of the week. Although the incoming workload doesn’t slow down, many workers begin to get ‘that Friday feeling’ and feel stressed as the day progresses.
Luckily, there are a number of companies out there that offer online business solutions to help you manage your tasks and make your Fridays go just that little bit easier.Tech is usually good for that. 
If you are struggling to keep up on a Friday, checking out the services of the following firms will help you hit your targets.
Add It Up
Issues related to finances and overstretched budgets are constant headaches for most companies. Add It Up, a new initiative from Bank of America, is an online service that offers major discounts for small firms who buy goods from retailers on a Bank of America card. Retailers participating in the program include Staples.com and HomeDepot.com, so if you need to purchase stationery or furniture for your business you can do so and save some money with this service – particularly useful if you have a budget meeting the following Monday and need to sort out finances by the end of the week.
EchoSign
Contract signings can be a pain for many companies. The difficulties that occur from mailing or faxing important documents can slow down vital processes and cause delays in a company’s functions. EchoSign provides a range of online business solutions to help you manage your contracts. The company offers a specialist signature software program which can be used to electronically sign any document anywhere in the world. This feature can speed up the contract signing process by negating the need to print off and send documents, meaning your deadlines will be met and your Fridays will be more enjoyable.
If you need to keep these documents on file elsewhere, and prefer not to print them out, you can also look into external hard drives for quick and easy reference without being in your way (and without killing trees)
Avery Dennison Office Products
If you want to update your business cards or spruce up important documents with some images, then Avery Dennison Office Products can meet your needs. The company gives access to a range of photos and images that are royalty free and low cost, meaning you can use them as many times as you want and not worry about copyright laws. This can be a great last-minute resource if you are on a tight deadline to create business collateral by the end of the week.
Business.gov
This website (recently changed to SBA.gov) is a useful resource for people who need to get in contact with a specific government agency regarding a business issue. The site lists a number of federal agencies and can provide you with details of the specific area you will need to contact to solve your problem – just be aware that if you are calling on Friday, you may have more chance of reaching the contact in the morning.
Unfortunately, the pace of an everyday office does not tend to slow down simply because Friday is the end of the week. Most office workers still have a variety of deadlines to meet, meaning their Fridays can often be stressful and hectic. The services these companies provide can help you alleviate some of the stress and help you cope better.
by Jennifer Williams on September 17, 2010
Ben Kauffman, entrepreneur and founder of mophie and Kluster, has struck again. Quirky.com is somewhat of a follow through on Ben’s original mental concept of Kluster. Kluster was originally meant to be a platform where ideas and inventors collaborated with designers, engineers, creative namers, etc on product ideas. Kluster quickly morphed into an online collaboration platform and their software is now used by many for such collaboration. Kluster’s NameThis.com has seen moderate success for both business owners seeking to name their product or business.
Quirky.com takes a few elements of both of the Kluster platforms and combines them into one stunning product development service. Quirky.com’s main purpose is to address the common inventor’s conundrum. People have ideas, but lack the capital and perhaps innovative improvements and feedback needed to bring that product to the market. For $99 [click to continue...]
by Techsplosive on July 22, 2010
Video games are just for the boys, and video games are for the nerds and not for the cool dudes. You cannot have average looking nerdy type characters playing hero roles in the games. Video games cannot be played by girls, because girls are too dumb to play them smartly. Why make video games for girls anyway, when most games are only played by boys and men? If someone did try to start a video game business, either making or selling video games for girls, then they will end up losing their business in under a year flat.
All the above statements are unfortunate misconceptions, or they are the personal views of a minority who haven’t come to terms with the popularity of video games among young girls. These people are totally oblivious to the fact that the gaming industry has already released quite a few video games for girls, and have a lot of releases coming up. In addition, the notion that girls can’t or don’t play video games is like thinking, our grandmas didn’t have sex when they were young. C’mon, if girls couldn’t or didn’t play games, why are these video games selling like hot cakes?
The video gaming industry has realized the enormous potential the market holds for girl-centric video games. Some games for girls include dress up games and many other games like make-up games, costume games and so on. These games offer girls the chance to explore each one’s individual skills and creativity, and also the chance to channel those traits towards a common goal by sharing them with their co-players. Good online gaming companies offer interesting and cheap dress up games that can be played online, or downloaded onto computers, cellular phones and IPods.
Role playing games like dress games appeal to young girls, and the parents are only too happy to invest money on games such as these, as they feel these games are a healthy alternative to hard core video games, and also because these games do have an educative value to them. The misconceptions about video games are changing now, and the gaming industry is not the bastion of the boys alone, anymore. Who says video games should only be about violence, fast cars, muscular bodies, sexy women, guns and bullets? They can be refined, pleasant, and educative like dress up games, as well.
by Techsplosive on July 20, 2010
For as long as “the news” has been around many have been claiming that it is too grim, dark, bad, and controversial. I contest that we pattern the news after what matters most to us and that which we are afraid of, but I digress. Occasionally a few bits of positive news will come from a seemingly bad event. Or something truly remarkable and inspiring may unfold at the most spontaneous of times. The iPhone’s latest “happy app”, SmileNews, is setting out to break through your dreary and negative news feeds and bringten your day with all the news that is good and great.
If you think that SmileNews is just another one of those “Hmm, I think I can make money with an iPhone app” applications, think again. The SmileNews app seems to have been designed from a more scientific and psychological perspective. SmileNews cites a University of Toronto study which claims that [click to continue...]
by Techsplosive on July 17, 2010
The main thing that separates current handleheld personal digital recorders from the handheld recorders of yesteryear, is the absence of cassette tapes. Handheld recorders have also significantly progressed design-wise as well. The large, fat, and clunky old recorders have become smaller, sleeker, thinner. As a matter of fact, digital recorders have gone James Bond and now even come in pens and watches.
Personal digital recorders might be the single most self explanatory piece of technology. When the user wants to record audio, they simply press the record button and then press stop at the appropriate time. Digital recorders can usually play the audio back as long as the device contains a built in speaker. Newer recorders are capable of holding up to 80 hours of audio footage. The audio is stored on an SD card and can be transferred to a computer via the SD card or by using a USB cable. [click to continue...]
by Techsplosive on July 14, 2010
In times of an unstable economy and job uncertainty, it is more important than ever to take advantage of discounts and deals. With the rise of people searching for ways to save money, many people are discovering the website dailydeals.com. This site works exactly as it sounds like it would. Almost every day a post is made featuring an item, food coupon, or offer at incredible savings. It could be everything from a buy-one-get-one coupon for a popular restaurant to percentages off on clothing items. There are countless deals being featured every few days ranging in a variety of subjects.
One of the most popular categories people search for when looking for discounts is coupons for eating out. While many people are cutting down on spending in the recession, there are still a large handful of people that continue to visit restaurants and treat themselves to nice meals from time to time. Occasionally dailydeals.com features exceptional discounts on restaurants that many people are interested in.
Another highly searched category on this site is travel deals. Years ago, many people would simply choose a hotel based on its location and amenities instead of taking the time to shop around for the best deals. Today, many hotels are choosing to offer great offers on their unused rooms, along with airlines promoting special discounts on airfare.
Routinely checking Daily Deals will give a consumer a large selection of different offers, ranging in category and price. It is important that an individual is aware that the deals typically expire in a matter of days so they will need to make a habit of checking the site and purchasing the ones that interest them. With such a large range in offers from clothing and electronic gadget discounts to discounts on hotel rooms, there is sure to be a discount that appeals to just about anybody.
by Techsplosive on July 4, 2010
This is the first ever Techsplosive Showdown. Techsplosive will take a look at two competing services and decide on which one clearly comes out on top. So here it is – Gmail v. Yahoo! Mail.
The Radicati Group reported in the year 2007 that an estimated 1.2 billion people use email. This number is expected to grow to 1.6 billion by 2011. Of these 1.2 billion email users it is estimated that 254.6 million of them use Yahoo mail, or a Yahoo owned mail system to accomplish their email needs. Only 91.6 million users have adopted Gmail as their email service provider. The mere fact that Yahoo enjoys almost three times the membership that Gmail possesses does not make it the better service. Yahoo is able to have 3 times the membership because they began their email services a few years prior to the launch of Gmail.
Google’s email service launched with much anticipation in the summer of 2004. Prior to the launch of Gmail, the most common email services were AOL, MSN (and its properties such as HotMail), and Yahoo. Users of these electronic mailing platforms were growing increasingly bored with the features and complexity of the user interfaces. In response to the consumers need, Google launched Gmail. Gmail has proven itself superior to all email programs including Yahoo mail during the past four short years of its existence. [click to continue...]
by Techsplosive on May 12, 2010
During Accessory Week, I will be highlighting and rating different accessories for tech products and gadgets that we use evey day. If I miss a cool accessory that you think should have been featured, feel free to share via comment.
Accessorizing has hit almost every sector of technology and gadgetry. Today, we will look at some of the most popular and most useful laptop accessories
.
Carrying Case. Probably the most commonly owned laptop accessory is the carrying case. Chances are it is even more popular amongst women than men. For most males, laptop toting abilites have been integrated into messenger bags and brief cases. The same goes for women who tote the same bags. For the women who choose to use a smaller handbag instead of a larger one or messenger style bag, a variety of options are available from simple zippered cloth coverings to exquisite designer leather bags.
MacBook HardCase. It is almost impossible for Apple to create [click to continue...]
by Techsplosive on April 16, 2010
Ever since BumpTop was revealed at the TED conference, the tech-lovin’ subculture has been waiting on its full release. BumpTop has been released to the general population, with unlimited downloads for the free version, and only 200 premium editions available.
BumpTop delivered as promised. All features mentioned in the TED demo are available to the end user. As long as your computer is running an adequate amount of RAM, you shouldn’t notice any lag in performance. Learning to use BumpTop is completely simple as well. If you prefer not to just fool around until you learn, BumpTop inludes a step by step tutorial to show you the ropes and get you organizing your desktop exactly the way you want it. [click to continue...]
by Techsplosive on December 27, 2009
We could all use a few hints to make the best technology even better. Here are a few tips that will help anyone with an Iphone. There are a couple of tricks that assist in speeding up the day to day processes on the phone. For more updates and news, check out mobile phone reviews.
• Tapping the screen twice expands the view for photos, maps and internet pages.
• Double tapping will also restore photos, maps, internet pages as well as mail to the original size.
• Double tap the space bar when writing an MMS and the Iphone will automatically insert a period.
• When using the Keypad, usually a person has to click on “.?123” then click the number then click “ABC” to get back to the letters. If you press “.?123” and drag your finger to the appropriate number opposed to lifting your figure and then pressing then number, the keypad will automatically jump back to the “ABC” screen which saves an entire step.
• Do not take the time to press the arrow on the keypad to capitalize. If you double click the space bar which inserts an automatic period, the Iphone recognizes necessary capitalization.
• If you hold down the home button, it will quit any app. And take you back to the home screen.
• If the Iphone freezes, hold down the home button for six seconds to quit
• Hold down the home button and the Sleep button (on the top right) at the same time for a few seconds if you want to reset
iPod tips for the IPhone:
The Iphone comes with ear buds. These are unique and compatible with the Iphone only. Here are some cool things you can do with these ear buds that you may not have known.
There is a small switch on the right cord attached to the ear piece. This is a microphone and can be used for talking and answering the phone. It also adjusts music on the iPod
• Squeeze once to pause a song, squeeze it again to continue playing
• Squeeze twice to move to next song selection
If a call comes in when listening to music:
• Squeeze the piece once to answer
• Squeeze and hold to send a call to your voice mail
