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First ‘thundersnow’ of the season November 23, 2008

Posted by Kristin Lynch in : technology , add a comment

Over the past few days, we’ve had our first significant snow storm of the season. I don’t mind snow at all really, although I could do without the cold. The snow itself is really very pretty, especially when it covers the trees nicely.

Locally we learned about ‘thundersnow’ and that it’s indeed a real weather term.  According to Wikipedia, ‘Thundersnow also known as a winter thunderstorm or a thunder snowstorm is a rare thunderstorm with snow falling as the primary precipitation instead of rain. It commonly falls in regions of strong upward motion within the cold sector of extratropical cyclones between autumn and spring when surface temperatures are most likely to be near or below freezing. Variations exist, such as thundersleet, where the precipitation consists of sleet rather than snow.’

Who knew?!

I’ve been using Google a lot more lately now that I upgraded to the newest version of Mobile Google for my BlackBerry. Now I can save documents I’ve saved in Google Docs right to my BlackBerry.

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More cool tools I can’t live without November 2, 2008

Posted by Kristin Lynch in : technology , 1 comment so far

I’m always looking for nice little utilities to make my work and life easier.  I’ve recently started using 4 more worth sharing.

Evernote Logo1. Evernote: allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere.

Clip, tag and organize your research notes. Windows, Mac, mobile and iPhone versions and browser plug-ins. Get the free version, or get a 500MB/month premium account that includes support, priority image recognition for $5/mo or $45/year.

ESET NOD32® Antivirus 3.02. eSET NOD32 Antivirus: award-winning antivirus coverage proactively detects and eliminates most viruses and trojans, adware, spyware and other Internet threats.

NOD32 (No Open Doors 32-bit) runs on Windows XP and Vista and legacy systems, mail servers, etc. I tried the trial after it was recommended by Leo Laporte on his TechGuy podcast. eSET is now an advertiser on the podcast because of Laporte’s endorsement.

I had no qualms about purchasing it once I saw how it worked and the very small footprint it required of my system resources.

Free 30-day trial, then $40/1 year or $60/2 years. I purchased the 2 year subscription.

3. OpenDNS: free web utility to manage your web experience.  By using the OpenDNS DNS server settings, you can be assured of always using updated (fully propagated) servers.  Faster Internet service, customizable shortcuts, parental controls, phishing protection, etc.

You can sign up for a free dashboard tools account where you can set up shortcuts, view statistics, and set up controls. The DNS servers can be set on your individual computer(s) or at the router level.  I set my DNS servers on my wireless router, then used the online tool to set up custom shortcuts such as ‘mail’ to open my gMail account.

Jing Project Blog4. Jing: a new project from TechSmith, the makers of SnagIt – another utility I can’t do without.  I’m just starting to use this so I’m not sure if I’ll continue or if it will be redundant since I’m already using Evernote. Jing works along with Screencast, TechSmith’s media sharing product.

Jing lets you save images, videos, text, e-mail threads, discussions, etc. and save them to your Screencast account.  The orange orb launcher sits at the very top of your screen – mousing over it drops down the menu to capture/ view history / more (preferences). You can set up your preferences to Screencast, Flickr, FTP or save as a file.

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