Tech Tools

Computers

Gmail, Cloud Storage and Sending Large Files

  • Amazon Cloud Drive – online storage (5GB free).
  • Dropbox – online storage (2GB free) and synchronization.
  • Gmail – Google’s e-mail service. Enhance security with 2-Step Verification.
  • Pogoplug – access your files from anywhere with this “cloud-in-a-plug.”
  • TonidoPlug (interview) – access your files from anywhere with this “cloud-in-a-plug.” Note that the Tonido software (Linux/Mac/Windows) is free and will give a computer “personal cloud” capabilities.

    • Ubuntu One – online storage (5GB) and synchronization (Ubuntu and Windows versions).

  • YouSendIt – send large files

Internet Service Providers and Public Access Points

  • Cybercafe Search Engine – database of public Internet access points in 170 countries. Note that many libraries also provide Internet access.
  • Cybercafes – Internet cafe database.
  • Freedomlist – includes user comments on dial-up ISP’s for under $10/month, as well as broadband providers. The site also has links to speed tests.
  • Skype WiFi – use Skype credit to pay for WiFi access by the minute.
  • Wi-Fi Locations

Linux and Free & Open Source Software

See A Windows user’s guide to Linux and Linux jargon buster for a brief introduction to Linux.

Open Standards File Formats

Phone Calls, Faxes & Voicemail

Printer Cartridges & Inks

Security

Web Publishing

  • A Small Orange – this Web host offers a 99.5% uptime guarantee, the PHP scripting language, unlimited MySQL databases and dozens of easily installed programs, even on their $25/year plan (150MB storage, 4.5GB/month bandwidth). I’ve used this host for static Web page sites in the past. I currently use WordPress.com (see below).
  • Amaya (Linux/Mac/Windows) – WYSIWYG Web page editor from the World Wide Web Consortium which develops Web standards and guidelines.
  • Binary Canary – monitors the accessibility of your Web site every 15 minutes.
  • Bluefish Editor (Linux, FreeBSD, MacOS-X, OpenBSD, Solaris and Tru64)
  • Cascading Style Sheets
  • Chess Diagrams and Games – add chess diagrams and games to your Web pages.
  • Custom Error Pages
  • Dreamweaver Tutorials
  • Excel Table Converter – converts a range of Excel cells to an HTML table.
  • FileZilla (Linux/Mac/Windows) – open source FTP/SFTP program that can set UNIX file attributes.
  • FormMail (and other) Scripts by NMS – NMS has created more secure versions of Matt Wright’s popular scripts. The TFMail script has advanced formatting capabilities, e.g., form data can be received as comma-delimited text.
  • HTML Tutorial – from Case Western Reserve University. Also has links to sequels on forms, tables, etc.
  • IE NetRenderer – see how a Web page renders in Internet Explorer.
  • Internet.bs – .com domain name registrations and free private WHOIS for about $9/year.
  • Kompozer (Linux/Mac/Windows) – WYSIWYG Web page editor.
  • Link Checker
  • MySQL
  • PHP – server side scripting language. It can be used to include uniform code for headers, footers, etc. If you use auto_prepend_file, one challenge involves using each page’s unique title. Consider writing a user defined function that creates the beginning of each page. At the top of each page’s content file, call this function with the page’s title as a parameter.
  • Radio Toolbox – includes staff reviews and user comments of streaming host providers, a forum, etc.
  • Robots – exclude search engines and other robots from certain files on your site.
  • SiteUptime – monitors the accessibility of your Web site every 30 minutes.
  • Submit Express – submit your Web site URL to 40 search engines.
  • Total Validator – has a screenshot feature for various browsers.
  • Uptime – monitors the accessibility of your Web site every 20 minutes.
  • Usable Web – Web site user interface issues.
  • WebHostingTalk Forums
  • WordPress.com – sites can include pages and blog posts. If your site can’t be hosted at WordPress.com (possibly because of the restrictions on plug-ins or ads), you should consider using one of the recommended WordPress.org hosts. Note the distinction between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

Miscellaneous

  • 1DollarScan – book scanning service ($1/100 pages with a maximum cost of $6 per book). Creates PDFs with searchable text.