Welcome to Part 1 in a series designed to help you take charge of your desktop. Each of these articles will showcase a different piece of software each focused on helping you to organize your computer in different way. First up for review is called Fences by Stardock, a company known for their user experience enhancing software.

Fences is a simple and easy-to-use application for the PC, available in both Free and Pro versions. By allowing you to organize your desktop into various containers, or 'Fences', and then letting you hide your files and shortcuts when they aren't in use, this software is designed to help keep your desktop cutter to a minimum.

Once installed, you can choose to allow Fences to automatically organize your current desktop icons into pre-set ‘Fences’ or you can create your own. Creating a Fence is easy; you just have to right-click and drag your cursor to the size you want and release. You’ll be prompted to name your new Fence and any icons within your selection will be automatically added to that Fence. You can add or remove additional icons just by dragging them to or from the Fence.

Once a Fence has been created, you can move or resize it whenever you want, and any icons contained within the fence will move and shift positions with it. If add more icons than the Fence can show, scrollbars will appear on the side. This allows you to contain many icons within a small area. You can even change the colour and transparency of the Fences to suit your background, or taste.

Another useful feature of Fences is the ability to quickly show or hide your icons. By double-clicking anywhere on your desktop, the Fences (along with the icons contained within) will disappear and by repeating this action, Fences will display them again. You can also choose to exclude certain icons or even entire Fences from disappearing. This feature is great if you want to show off your desktop background, or just want certain icons always visible (like the Recycling Bin).

All of the features mentioned above are available for Free (for personal use), however Stardock has also recently release a Pro version as well, available for $19.95 USD. The Pro version contains some additional features that helps make it easier to stay organized:

• Configure a default Fence for any icons (in the Free version icons must be placed in Fences manually)
• Automatically organize icons into different Fences (by name, file type etc.)
• Sort icons within a Fence (by name, date added, times used etc.)
• Fade individual Fences until you mouse-over them (in the Free version, you can only set a global transparency)
• Future Feature – Customize the look and feel of each Fence individually
• Future Feature – Enables additional customization options with the use of custom images, logos, textures etc.

I've been using Fences myself for over a year now in both my home, and at my office, and I'm found it incredibly useful in allowing me to stay organized with my large number of documents and applications. It's also extremely lightweight and uses almost not additional resources to run. Unfortunately I have been unable to try out Fences Pro first hand, so I can't say if the features are worth the additional cost, however I can definitely give the overall product a big thumbs up. Head over and download it yourself today and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Technorati Tags: containers, cursor, customize, desktop, desktop background, desktop icons, fence, fences, free, Matt Mayer, organization, organize, shortcuts, software applications, Stardock, Stardock Fences, Tech Talk, transparency

Does this scenario sound familiar?:

You wake up in the morning, have a shower, and eat some breakfast. Next, you sit down in front of your computer expecting to have a productive work day. All of a sudden, you look up to realize it's 7pm and that project/article/finance report you were hoping to get completed is still sitting there, barely started. You exclaim to yourself as you wish that you could rewind your day to find out where you spent all that time. Well, unfortunately, you can't rewind time, but you can use Manic Time (www.manictime.com).

Manic Time is a free time-tracking application for the PC that sits in the background and helps you track your computer activity including:

• When you are active or away (idle) from your computer.
• Which application you were using, when you used them, and for how long.
• What websites you visited, and for how long (optional)

All of this information is tracked along multiple colour-coded timelines within the program. By mousing-over a particular block of time, you can see what program or website was active at that time, and how long you spent in it. By highlighting and 'tagging' certain blocks of time with notes, you can track time spent on a specific project, or track those 'time wasters' you want to avoid in the future. You can even tag the time you were away from your computer.

This data is displayed in easy-to-read graphs and can also be exported to your favourite spreadsheet program. This is great if you want to do more advanced charting and analysis, or just want to archive the information. In addition, all of Manic Time's data is stored locally on your own PC, and is not collected or transmitted elsewhere, so you don't have to worry about privacy either.

The software can look a bit confusing when you first boot it up if you don't know what you are looking at, but it's easy to learn and there are tutorials on the website available to explain the features. There is very little setup involved, and most of your day-to-day interaction with the software will be to tag your time, or to check the statistics.

Ultimately, Manic Time won't solve the problem of ineffective time management on its own, but it can help you be more aware of how you spend your time and allow you to see your improvements day by day.

Technorati Tags: computer activity, computer software, free time, graphs, improvement, Manic Time, Matt Mayer, notes, productive work, spreadsheet, tags, time management, time wasters, tracking

Vampire Power (also known as Phantom Power or Standby Power) is a term applied to the electricity that many household gadgets, appliances, and electronics waste, just by being left plugged in. By turning off or unplugging these devices, you can save money by reducing your power bill, and be earth friendly.

Some of the worst culprits of this 'Vampire Power' are your PC and your TV (along with their related peripherals). These devices can quietly drain power, even when they appear off, and it can be hard to remember to turn off (or even just reach) a power bar every time you are finished using them.

TrickleStar is just one of the many companies out there who are coming out with easy solutions to prevent this unnecessary power (and money) drain. One of their products, the TrickleStrip combines both an advanced surge protector, and an energy saving system that can pay for itself in as little as a year*.

At first glance the TrickleStrip looks like most other advanced surge protectors. It contains six power outlets, as well as additional plugs (depending on the model) for phone or coaxial cable surge protection. Where TrickleStrip really differs is that the six power outlets are broken up into two 'always on,' one 'control,' and three 'switched' outlets.

The 'always on' outlets work as expected, however when the device plugged into the 'control' outlet is turned off or placed into standby mode, this sends a signal to shut down power to the three 'switched' outlets. Likewise, powering the 'control' device on, returns power to the 'switched' outlets. By using your PC or TV as the 'control,' you can instantly turn off/on power to any three other peripherals (monitors, printers, DVD players, and more) whenever they aren't in use. This ensures that you won’t be wasting electricity by keeping them standby mode.

TrickleStrip is available from TrickleStar's online store in both PC (also Mac/Notebook compatible) and TV models for $44.95 USD

*Estimated by the Standby Power Calculator on TrickleStar's website and may vary from person to person.

Tech Talk is always on the lookout for new and relevant tech-related articles to bring to you. If you have a suggestion for something you would like to see on this blog, please feel free to contact me at matt@entrepreneurialwoman.ca or by leaving a response in the comments below.

Technorati Tags: appliances, coaxial cable, computer, dvd players, earth friendly, electricity, electronics, energy saving, household gadgets, laptops, Mac, Matt Mayer, monitors, notebook, PC, peripherals, phantom power, power outlets, printers, save money, savings, standby mode, standby power, surge protection, surge protector, surge protectors, TrickleStar, TrickleStrip, TV

Do you remember the last time you found yourself looking for that one post-it note, important business card, or news clipping that you knew you had, but just couldn't seem to find? Have you been looking for a way to organize multiple different types of information for a single project?
In today's digital age, it can be hard to sort through all of the digital and physical notes, ideas, and data in one place.

Recently I’ve discovered a product called Evernote. Using Evernote, you can capture and organize your data into a digital ‘notebook’. Anything from audio dictations, to whiteboard notes, from website clippings to photos of your favourite wine labels can be captured as ‘notes’. These notes are then made fully accessible to you within minutes from a variety of platforms.

All of Evernote’s features, as well as your notes can be accessed directly from within Evernote’s website. There are also software applications available for your PC, Mac, and most major smartphones and plug-ins available for most web browsers. You can even use Twitter and Email to directly send notes to your account.

Evernote is available in two variations:
- The free version is ad-supported (I found them very non-intrusive however) and although Evernote offers unlimited storage, you are limited to a maximum of 40MB of uploads per month. Depending on the content of notes you are uploading, and how often, you may find this to a bit restrictive.
- For a modest fee ($5/month or $45/year), you can upgrade to a Premium account. This raises your monthly upload allowance to 500MB/month, allows you to remove the ads and adds some additional features and file support.

Evernote supports almost any form of media including:

• Text-based notes and website URLs
• Photos from a digital camera, smartphone, or scanner
• Audio clips or dictation
• Handwritten notes via a tablet
• Screenshots, as well as clips of websites captured directly using browser plug-ins
• PDF documents
• Videos*
• Additional files such as Microsoft Office docs and more*

*Available only to Premium Users

One of my favourite features of Evernote is that whenever a note containing an image is uploaded to the Evernote servers, it gets analyzed and any visible text is recognized and made searchable. For example, after uploading a note containing a photo of a business card, you’ll be able to search the name, position, or any other text visible on the card. This allows to you to archive hundreds of business cards and still find the one you want with just a quick search. The analysis process can take a bit of time, however. In my experience it took between 5 – 45 minutes, depending on the server load. This can be reduced by becoming a Premium user as your notes will have higher priority. During this time, you can still full access your note, but any text it contains will not be searchable until the analysis is complete.

One downside to Evernote is that it seems to have some difficulty recognizing sloppy writing or blurry/underlit images. I was also unable to get it to recognize the majority of cursive script.

Expert Tip: Although Evernote doesn’t transcribe audio into text, if you have an iPhone try using the free ‘Dragon Dictation’ app I talked about in my previous article. This app will let you dictate your note to your phone, copy the transcription text to the clipboard and paste it into Evernote, allowing for searchable, readable notes.

Another great feature is Evernote’s ability to share a single notebook and collaborate with others. You can choose to share it with a specific person, or make it publicly available to anyone via a link. Have a birthday coming up? Share your list of your “preferred birthday gifts” with your friends and family. This sharing feature is limited to ‘read-only’ for the free version, however upgrading to a Premium account allows you to grant add & edit rights to a notebook as well.

Some additional features of Evernote include:

• Geotagging support
• Searchable PDF*
• Access your notebooks offline from you iPhone/iPod*
• Additional SSL security encryption*

*Available only to Premium Users

Overall, my experience with Evernote has been a positive one so far, and it’s definitely a product that I will continue to use in the future.

Tech Talk is always on the lookout for new and relevant tech-related articles to bring to you. If you have a suggestion for something you would like to see on this blog, please feel free to contact me at matt@entrepreneurialwoman.ca or by leaving a response in the comments below.

Technorati Tags: business card, clippings, collaboration, dictation, digital camera, Dragon Dictation, e-mail, email, evernote, free, geotag, handwritten notes, iPhone, Mac, Matt Mayer, microsoft office, news clipping, note, notebook, organize, PC, post-it note, scanner, sharing, smartphone, software applications, Tech Talk, twitter, web browser, wine labels

For anyone who is fortunate enough to own an iPhone or iPod Touch, the App Store offers many incredible free applications. For the busy entrepreneur, many of these applications can help improve how you run and organize your day-to-day life. Here are my top four free applications for entrepreneurs.

Dragon Dictation - This simple to use dictation app uses the same voice recognition system that powers its desktop cousin, Dragon® Naturally Speaking®, and allows you to dictate notes directly to your iPhone or iPod Touch (with external microphone). From there, the app will convert your speech into text and allows you to send the note via email, text message, or copy it directly to the clipboard (great for quick and easy Twitter/Facebook updates). Although not infallible, I found that it did a great job of recognizing what I dictated. This is a definitely a great app for those on the go who dislike the built-in keyboard, or who just want a faster way to enter text.

LinkedIn – For anyone who is a part of the LinkedIn networking website, this app will allow you to easily receive updates and messages directly from your professional network. You can update your status, view profiles, and even trade contact information with other users of the app, in a sort of digital 'handshake'. I found the app to be very clean, easy to use and I highly suggest checking it out.

Files lite - Have you ever wanted an easy way to take and view your documents on the go? You can with Files lite, which lets you transfer images, audio/video files, Microsoft Office/Apple iWork documents and even PDFs between your PC or Mac and your iPhone/iPod Touch using WiFi. You can then view these documents fullscreen, and zoom and pan around them. This free version has a 200MB storage limit, and lacks a few advanced features of the full version, which is currently available for $4.99. I tried out the lite version and was surprised to see how fast and easy it was to copy files to my iPhone. This is definitely an app I recommend to anyone who works with a lot of documents.

2Do Lite: A Stunning To Do List -  If you are looking for a free way to create an in-depth To-Do list, look no further than 2Do Lite. This app allows you to setup multiple Calendars, each with its own To-Do list, so you can filter your priorities for home and work. Each To-Do item can be fully customized with Actions (such as Call, Email, or Visit), priorities, due dates, notes, pictures and more. You can also make Checklists or 'Projects' with multiple items inside. Once you've made your lists, you can backup and restore them on your computer (via WiFi) at any time. You can also password protect the app to prevent prying eyes. I found this app to have one of the best user-interfaces of any To-Do list app I looked at, with only a few restrictions compared to the paid version of the app (such as being restricted to three Calendars with 25 To-Do items each, and an inability to set Alarms or use the 'sync' feature). The full version is available for $6.99 and removes these limitations.

Tech Talk is always on the lookout for new and relevant tech-related articles to bring to you. If you have a suggestion for something you would like to see on this blog, please feel free to contact me at matt@entrepreneurialwoman.ca or by leaving a response in the comments below.

Technorati Tags: 2Do Lite, app, apple, apple iwork, application, Calendars, Checklist, dictate, dictation, documents, Dragon Dictation, Files lite, free, free applications, iPhone, iPod Touch, linkedin, Matt Mayer, microsoft office, network, office, PDF, Tech Talk, to-do, voice recognition

With the start of the New Year just behind us, many people have made resolutions to curb their spending. Others just want to be able to track where all of their hard-earned money is going, so they can make more sense of their finances, especially with tax season coming up. Using an online money management website, like Wesabe, can help make you a better spender or saver. Wesabe is only one of the major money management websites available online (such as Mint.com or Quicken Online), but unlike many of them, this one supports the majority of Canadian banks as well. Not to mention, Wesabe is completely FREE!

The first step in using Wesabe is to add your bank(s) and import your transaction history from your financial institution. Most banks or credit unions allow you to download your transaction histories, via their online banking website, in the form of a single file (usually in one of the common financial industry file types such as OFX or QIF). In the case of my bank, I was able to download up to three months worth of history, however this will vary between financial institutions. Currently Wesabe officially* supports only financial institutions with deposit accounts (checking, savings) and credit accounts (credit line, credit card). In addition, you can set up an' account to track cash-based transactions.

Once you have downloaded this information, you can upload the file to your Wesabe account manually via their website upload tool, desktop application, or Firefox plug-in. Some banks also support automatic uploading to the Wesabe servers (without any manual downloading) however this method does require you to provide your financial institution's login information to Wesabe (though they state that this information is encrypted and stored separately from your transaction history). In addition, you can also add additional transactions, such as cash-based transactions, via email or through Twitter.

Once your data has been uploaded, you can view your transaction history from within Wesabe. The website will do its best to recognize where the transaction took place, and rename it accordingly, making the information easy to read. If the site is unable to identify the transaction, or it identifies it incorrectly, you can manually correct it as well. In my experience with the website, it automatically recognized my transactions about 60% of the time, while 35% of the time I had to enter the company manually (but it recognized it and auto-completed it for me). About 5% of my transactions had to be manually filled out and were not automatically recognized, however this was almost always things like small, privately owned stores, etc. Wesabe can also recognize transfers between accounts will automatically remove these transactions from being tracked as Spending or Earnings.

The next step is to 'tag' your transactions with keywords that you can later sort by, such as 'restaurant,' 'groceries' or 'paycheque.' Wesabe will even look where the transaction took place and suggest tags based on the location. These tags are completely flexible and you can have as many tags as you want. The site will also 'learn' how you tag certain things and can automatically tag transactions as they appear. For example, I've set up my Rogers Wireless account to always tag itself as 'cellphone.' You can then sort or search by these tags, or by businesses.

Wesabe also offers the ability to make additional notes on transactions, allowing you to provide more information for yourself about each transaction (such as 'Took out additional cash for movies') that will appear when you mouse-over the transaction. You also have the option of attaching additional files, allowing you to add things such as receipt scans for better tracking.

To help you manage your money goals, you can create monthly Spending and Saving targets for each of your 'tags'. Once you've entered these targets, Wesabe can show you how you are tracking to them in easy to read graphs. Because it is so simple to set up, you can set targets whenever you see you are overspending in a certain area, or you are saving up for something big.

If you have an iPhone, Wesabe also has an iPhone application that allows you to view, edit and even add transactions right from within the application. This lets you take the information on the go and, if you use the automatic uploading feature, allows you to track your current account balance. I did find however, that the app did not show me a list of tags I had used previously (as the website does), so I when editing a transaction, I had to remember what tags I had used before.

In addition to the Money Management tools, one of Wesabe's big features is that it offers its users the ability to join over 100 groups and participate in discussions. These groups range from 'Paying It Off ' to 'Entrepreneurship' to 'Eating On A Budget' and allow the users to request and share information between one another, get community input about spending decisions, preferred banks, etc. There is even a group dedicated to Canadian Wasabe users. This is great for people who like to discuss financial decisions and like to share their ideas with others.

As far as security and privacy goes, Wesabe has a comprehensive Privacy Policy and a Data Bill of Rights which states that all of your data on the site is your own, and you are free to export and/or delete the data whenever you want. They also promise industry-standard encryption and the removal of all personal identifiers from the data. If you are one who is nervous about giving your data to strangers, I suggest taking a look through it.

Overall, I've found Wesabe to be a great tool in helping me understand where I'm spending my money, and let me plan my future spending habits. I have not yet participated in the groups/discussions feature of the website, but I have browsed through them, and I'm impressed at the quality of the discussions going on. Best of all, the site is completely ad free!

It does have a few downsides however. I occasionally have stability issues with the site (information not updating properly when I try to filter) but this is usually solved by a quick log out and log back in again. Also, there were some additional filters and site functionality in previous iterations of the site (that I unfortunately did not get a chance to see, but have read about in other reviews of this site). I am hoping that some of this functionality is added back in over time. Overall, though, I definitely recommend checking this website out.

* Wesabe does have a 'Labs' section where they test out new functionality on an 'opt-in' basis, which currently allows you to add Investment accounts as well.

Tech Talk is always on the lookout for new and relevant tech-related articles to bring to you. If you have a suggestion for something you would like to see on this blog, please feel free to contact me at matt@entrepreneurialwoman.ca or by leaving a response in the comments below.

Technorati Tags: accounts, bank, canadian banks, cash, checking savings, credit, credit accounts, credit unions, deposit accounts, desktop application, Finance, financial, financial institution, financial institutions, hard earned money, manage, Matt Mayer, Money, money management, online, saving, saving money, transaction histories, transaction history, website, Wesabe

One of the biggest ironies in the computing world is that most laptops are simply not suited to one thing…laps!

By placing one directly on your lap, you run the risk of blocking the air vents, thus overheating and damaging the machine, not to mention the unnecessary strain on your wrists, back and posture by hunching over the keyboard. Some laptops can also become excessively warm, or even hot underneath, adding to this discomfort.

Despite these factors, many of us still want the portability and convenience that a laptop affords; the ability to use it on the couch, at the airport or even in bed. This is where the Comfort Lapdesk from Logitech comes in, providing you with a desk designed to sit readily on your lap.

The hard plastic surface includes a multi-layer heat shield keeping any excess heat away from your lap and the lacquered finish helps hold the laptop firmly in place. In addition, the 12-degree incline helps improve your posture and provides a more natural typing and viewing angle. 

The cushioned underside is contoured to sit comfortably on your lap, while providing air circulation below and keeping the ventilation free from obstruction when placing the laptop on a soft surface, such as a bed.

The lightweight Comfort Lapdesk is sleek and sexy, yet can be discreetly stored both horizontally (under a bed, in a bag) or vertically (on a shelf, next to a couch) when not in use. Best of all, it can accommodate larger laptops – ones with up to 17" screens.

The Logitech Comfort Lapdesk is currently available for $49.99 CAD from Amazon.ca

Technorati Tags: air circulation, air vents, comfort, computer, desk, heat shield, keyboard, lapdesk, laptop, laptops, logitech, logitech lapdesk, Matt Mayer, notebooks, portability, posture, ventilation

If there are two things in life that don't mix, it's electricity and water.

Due to this well known fact, the Swedish company, Haglöfs, who are renowned for their quality line of outdoor products, have developed a laptop drybag as part of their 'Watatait' line. Not only will this durable padded sleeve shield your laptop from bumps and scrapes, but it's double sealed with a ziplock and roll-over closure to make it waterproof and protect it from dirt.

This bag is available in two sizes, for laptops with 15 or 17 inch screens, and comes in Mandarin (orange) and Charcoal colours. 

So whether you plan to take your laptop out on a day trip of fishing and boating, or just for a walk in the pouring rain down to the local coffee shop (as so many of us in Vancouver do), or maybe you just have recurring nightmares of your house being flooded, this laptop bag will protect your investment from the looming threat of water.

[Via OhGizmo!]

Technorati Tags: accessory, bag, drybag, Haglöfs, laptop, laptops, Matt Mayer, sleeve, Tech Talk, water-proof, waterproof, ziplock

As many Provinces in Canada start to ban cellphone use in vehicles, more and more companies are developing hands-free solutions.

Recently announced, the Ontario based company, Allerta, has begun taking pre-orders for their soon to be released inPulse Smartwatch for BlackBerry. This stylish watch connects wirelessly to your BlackBerry (via Bluetooth), and allows you to catch those important messages, emails and calls, even if your hands are full.

The built-in vibrating motor in the watch alerts you to incoming calls or messages and the colour touchscreen OLED screen shows all the important information like caller ID, text messages, email titles, calendar alerts etc. The watch even grabs the time directly from your BlackBerry, as well as allowing you to set custom alarms, timers, message filters etc. right from your phone.

The rechargeable battery lasts for about 4 days under "normal use" and can be charged in less then 30 minutes via the included micro-USB cable.

A few features are missing, like being able to send messages directly from your watch, and it's not rated to be waterproof or water-resistant (however it should be fine for rain etc.), but for anyone who always has their hands full, this watch is sure to impress.

Allerta is currently taking pre-orders for the limited first edition inPulse watch for $149 US, and are planning to ship it in February, 2010.

[Via Engadget]

Technorati Tags: alarms, Allerta, BlackBerry, bluetooth, caller id, gadget, hands-free, inPulse, Matt Mayer, smartwatch, Tech Talk, text messages, watch, water resistant

The Livescribe Pulse smartpen is an all-in-one note recording device. Not only does it function as a regular pen, but by using special "Dot Paper," the Pulse smartpen can record anything you write down (notes, diagrams etc.) and save it to the tiny computer inside.

This is all thanks to a built-in infrared camera that allows the pen to 'recognize' what is being written, drawn or doodled. In addition, this pen contains a built-in microphone that can not only capture anything you hear, but can sync it with your written notes as well. The built-in speaker allows you to play back this audio at any time.

You can even use the pen to tap a written note and have it play back the corresponding audio clip. The most important feature, of course, is that all of this information can be later downloaded to a PC or Mac, allowing you to backup, replay and search your notes right from your own computer. You can even share your note and recordings using the included software.

Livescribe has recently released an upgrade to this smartpen, bringing the maximum capacity up to 4GB (along with a new titanium colour). For any professionals who take a lot of notes during meetings or interviews, this pen adds a level of convenience to helping you to stay organized.

[Via Engadget]

Technorati Tags: convenience, gadget, infrared camera, Livescribe, Matt Mayer, microphone, notes, organize, pen, Pulse, smartpen, sync, Tech Talk