Below is a list of useful programs that are free on the web. Some of these you may know about or maybe you know about all of them. I just thought I'd put this list out there in case anyone could benefit from it.
FireFox - this is a tabbed web browser. In case you don't know what this means, you have one web window open and then you have separate tabs across the top for each individual web page you want to view. Very handy and much better than having multiple browser windows open!!
You can also download lots of cool add-ons for FireFox such as different colored themes for your menu and other programs (extensions) you can add on. Check out the themes here and the extensions here.
Here is one cool extensions I have found: Typing Tutor
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Gmail - this is Google's version of web mail. It is MUCH better than yahoo or hotmail as you don't get all the ads and it also has a GREAT spam filter so you don't get those annoying unwanted junk emails in your inbox.
One neat thing that Gmail does is the way it organizes your emails. If you are corresponding with someone under the same subject line, instead of each response being a new email, they messages stack under the original email so you only see one message in your inbox, but if you click on it you see each email in order. Labels allow you to create multiple tags for each email. Instead of dropping emails into a folder, you apply a label (or labels) to the email to make it easier find. You can filter email that comes to your Gmail account and have it automatically labelled..
If you're interested you can sign up for a new account here.
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Google Talk - this is an instant messaging/chatting program that works through your Google account. You can access this two ways. One is through your email. When you have your email open you will see a separate section on the right side that shows who is online that you can chat with. You can also download the Google Talk program which works similar to Yahoo/MSN messengers.
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Google Calendar - this is an online calendar for your Gmail account.
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Google Documents/Spreadsheets - this is online document storage through your Gmail account. You can create text documents and spreadsheets on here. This also has a lot of the same features as Microsoft Word and Excel. (On a side note, Excel is one of my favorite programs!!!)
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Picasa - this is a very easy to use photo organizing, editing, & printing program (best out there for PC). You can even use Picasa to upload photos to your blog. A neat feature of Picasa is that it will automatically search your computer for any graphics that you may have saved.
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Google Earth - this is a pretty neat program that uses satellite imagery to find places on the map.
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whitepages.com - this is a neat website you can use to do a people search.
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Google Reader - this is an RSS reader that you can use to check blogs/other website that you like to frequent. It checks for new updates on the sites and shows you what is new. You just tell Google Reader what sites you check frequently by putting in their web address. You can also add a button to your toolbar to click on to automatically subscribe to a web page.
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iTunes - this is a jukebox/online store. For $.99 you can purchase a song then either burn it to a CD or listen to it on your computer. You can also purchase an entire CD, Movie or episodes of your favorite TV program.
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truthorfiction.com - this is an excellent sight for figuring out the validity of some of those forwards that make their way around. You can search for an item here. Or just browse by their categories to figure out if that annoying email you've received is actually true. Here's an example of an email I've received lately and found to be false.
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Hope this helps someone out there. If you know of some programs I haven't listed, please let me know!! I love finding new online resources.
FireFox - this is a tabbed web browser. In case you don't know what this means, you have one web window open and then you have separate tabs across the top for each individual web page you want to view. Very handy and much better than having multiple browser windows open!!
You can also download lots of cool add-ons for FireFox such as different colored themes for your menu and other programs (extensions) you can add on. Check out the themes here and the extensions here.
Here is one cool extensions I have found: Typing Tutor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gmail - this is Google's version of web mail. It is MUCH better than yahoo or hotmail as you don't get all the ads and it also has a GREAT spam filter so you don't get those annoying unwanted junk emails in your inbox.
One neat thing that Gmail does is the way it organizes your emails. If you are corresponding with someone under the same subject line, instead of each response being a new email, they messages stack under the original email so you only see one message in your inbox, but if you click on it you see each email in order. Labels allow you to create multiple tags for each email. Instead of dropping emails into a folder, you apply a label (or labels) to the email to make it easier find. You can filter email that comes to your Gmail account and have it automatically labelled..
If you're interested you can sign up for a new account here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Google Talk - this is an instant messaging/chatting program that works through your Google account. You can access this two ways. One is through your email. When you have your email open you will see a separate section on the right side that shows who is online that you can chat with. You can also download the Google Talk program which works similar to Yahoo/MSN messengers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Google Calendar - this is an online calendar for your Gmail account.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Google Documents/Spreadsheets - this is online document storage through your Gmail account. You can create text documents and spreadsheets on here. This also has a lot of the same features as Microsoft Word and Excel. (On a side note, Excel is one of my favorite programs!!!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Picasa - this is a very easy to use photo organizing, editing, & printing program (best out there for PC). You can even use Picasa to upload photos to your blog. A neat feature of Picasa is that it will automatically search your computer for any graphics that you may have saved.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Google Earth - this is a pretty neat program that uses satellite imagery to find places on the map.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
whitepages.com - this is a neat website you can use to do a people search.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Google Reader - this is an RSS reader that you can use to check blogs/other website that you like to frequent. It checks for new updates on the sites and shows you what is new. You just tell Google Reader what sites you check frequently by putting in their web address. You can also add a button to your toolbar to click on to automatically subscribe to a web page.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
iTunes - this is a jukebox/online store. For $.99 you can purchase a song then either burn it to a CD or listen to it on your computer. You can also purchase an entire CD, Movie or episodes of your favorite TV program.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
truthorfiction.com - this is an excellent sight for figuring out the validity of some of those forwards that make their way around. You can search for an item here. Or just browse by their categories to figure out if that annoying email you've received is actually true. Here's an example of an email I've received lately and found to be false.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope this helps someone out there. If you know of some programs I haven't listed, please let me know!! I love finding new online resources.
7:19 PM
Wow, thanks for the informative and thorough post! I spent way too much time browsing through those firefox themes. I'm leaning towards the azurefox. Which one do you use?
1:48 PM
shannon, I tried that! It doesn't have an option for me to take off the underlining. YIKES! Any other suggestions?