Mary's Blog

Alright, it's the weekend and I totally don't feel like talking geek, SEO, blogging or real estate.  So, here are some of the things I have found on the web that I couldn't imagine living without.  These things either greatly entertain me or make my life/job easier and I think you should know about them too.  Oh yeah, these tools are also totally free, which rocks, 'cause I'm cheap.

1.      Hulu.com - watch streaming TV shows and movies for free

Hulu is just cool.  Watch your favorite TV shows and movies online for free.  Totally legal (because none of us would ever violate a copyright by using the torrents.) because they sponsor to usage of the copyright with ads!  I use this all the time to entertain my son.

Prefer to Download Movies?

Speaking of the torrents, thePirateBay.org is my favorite, closely followed by seedpeer.com.  For the uninitiated - Torrents are peer to peer networks (meaning my machine and your machine can search each other) where you can download movies, images, software, music etc.  Because I go old school from time to time, I also like eMule (although it freaks me out it is written in Visual C++ which basically means that it s held together with rocket science theory, Miracle Whip and scotch tape.)

2.      Actionext.com - create and listen to free music play lists

Actionext.com Killer site that allows you to search for songs, listen to them and create playlists.  It also has an open wiki-like tool where you can get lyrics to the songs you are listening to.  I love being able to find the songs, build the playlist, share the lists (see the embedded widget on the left of my blog - totally annoying, right?  Another reason you should NEVER have music playing when a visitor lands on your site!!!) and even read the lyrics in one place.

Want to share music socially and see other's playlists?

Other music search and playlist sites you might like: 8tracks (another playlist site), Tagoo.ru (terrific site for finding hard to find songs online - lets you search and download from other people's machine's).

Try Blip.fm if you want to share music and fid other people that like the same kind music you like.  It's life streaming for music - you can even connect it to your twitter account so you can share your music with all your followers.

3.      Jing - record screencasts with voice overs and capture images from your desktop and share online

LOVE THIS.  I can record screen casts with audio and publish them to the web.  Very easy to use and high quality!  Think of Jing as a supplement to all your chat discussions, email threads, forum posts and blog entries. It sits nicely on your desktop, ready to capture and share your stuff at a moment's notice. Simply select an area of your screen, capture it as an image or record it as a video, and then click Share. Jing conveniently places a URL to your content which you can paste into any of your conversations.

Download Jing now!

4.      Skype - make free phone calls, conference calls and even video calls

We all love something for nothing. With Skype's free software - by the way, it works seamlessly with your internet connection - you can chat away with free Skype-to-Skype calls and never worry about cost, time or distance. Share the love and get your friends to download Skype so you can talk, chat or make video calls for nothing. You can also make local, long distance and international calls to phones and cell phones at great rates too. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.

Check it out and SKYPE me at REBlogGirl or simply search for Mary McKnight on Skype!  Click te logo below to download Skype.

5.      Audacity

Do you want to import, export, edit, mix, record, add sound effects or analyze voice, music, sounds, etc?  Then Audacity is the program you need. 

Download it for free from Source Forge at:

Audacity at Source Forge

Audacity is a free, easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to:

• Record live audio.
• Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
• Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files.
• Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together.
• Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
• And more! See the complete list of features.

Other Stuff I Just Love!

6.   Txt2day.com - free text messaging

Txt2day.com is the premier free manual messaging website.  Send Free Text Messages. Add text messages to your MySpace. Works with most cell phone providers. Stop Paying For Texting!  I use this all the time because when I text from my phone I make too many typos and I am usually sitting at the computer anyway.

7.   Eyejot.com - record and send video to friends and family via email

Eyejot is a video messaging platform in which there is NO software to download.  You record the message and the receipient of the message is notified via email that they have a new video message.   It offers everyone the ability to create and receive video messages in a self-contained, spam-free environment. With no client to install, you can start using Eyejot immediately with any browser, on any platform. It even features built-in support for iTunes^TM (and iPods^TM), mobile devices and social networks like MySpace^TM. Watch Eyejot video examples.

8.      Twirl - Funky desktop Twitter ap you can use to

Couldn't keep my Twitter conversations updated without this nifty little desktop widget! twhirl is a desktop client for the Twitter microblogging service. Most of the features available on the Twitter website are accessible through twhirl, too. Plus, a lot of usability enhancements have been added.

If you have an iphone- Twinkle is the way to go!

9.      Spamyourenemies.com - I can't help myself - this is just fun to do when somone pisses you off

Spamyourenemies.com - If you are not that technical or not really that pissed off, this a great solution to a little immediate revenge.  Doesn't really hurt anything, just fills their inbox with a whole bunch of weird spam.  Of course, if the person you are spammng is more technical than your average lab rat, their spam filters will catch this before it annoys them, but it still gives you that sense of justice and self satisfaction you need in those moments of ire. 

NOTE TO ALL - If you have ever been spammed, it wasn't me.  This is just where I direct people that come to me and ask me to do something evil to their main competition's website.  I'm a sociologist- I understand that if I don't give a suitable answer and they can't get immediate satisfaction, they may go to somone who would link bomb another site.  I find this to be a reasonable compromise for all parties when therapy is not an option.

10.  Rememebr the milk - Online to do lists!

The old-fashioned to-do list, which lets the brain concentrate on the task at hand rather than on others in the future, remains one of the world's best productivity tools. These fresh new sites let you keep track of your obligations and prompt you to keep up the pace.

RememberTheMilk reinvents the to-do list in a snazzy interface that lets you make lists in configurable categories, all laid out on the front page as tabs. Adding to-dos is easy, though adding deadlines, notes, and time estimates is unintuitive.

You can add to-dos using natural language such as "Call Ted next Thursday," sync with your calendar via the widely supported iCalendar format, and set tasks such as "Pay credit card bill" to recur. RememberTheMilk sends reminders through instant message, e-mail, text message, or a combination of these. You can also upload tasks via a special e-mail address that the site gives you.

It's a tremendously well-rounded free product, with neither more nor less than you need to get and stay organized.