Free (or almost free) helpers while traveling

I use a lot of helpful sites while full-timing, sites that let me do things conveniently and efficiently. I am often referring folks to them so thought I would toss them all in a blog and maybe some of them will help others. I use all of these.

faxZERO.com
This site allows you to send up to two free faxes of up to three pages each once a day. The faxes can be PDF or DOC files or you can type a text message to be sent. If you need to send more then two in one day it's $1.99 per fax (paid through PayPal). Same for sending a fax for more than three pages...for $1.99 you can send up to 15 pages. I have used this several times and it has been WONDERFUL and much cheaper than hunting up a spot to send a fax. FAQ here.

eFax.com
This site has three plans and they are compared here. I use the free version and have used it off and on since their early years. In order to read the free fax attachments that are emailed to you, you will need to install their free eFax Messenger program. There aren't a lot of choices out there for free fax sending. Most require a fee for the faxes or they require you to join (for pay) another type of service offering to get the free faxing. I have had documents sent to me this way, printed it out, filled it in, scanned it in, printed out as a PDF, and sent back using faxZERO. eFax help.

FaxDigits.com
I am adding this site because I had signed up for it quite a while back and just rediscovered it. I like it better than eFax because they email you a PDF file, no special reader or other download needed. They offer unlimited incoming faxes but on the free plan they don't store them for you. Read the FAQ.

mail2web.com
Many of us use web-based email addresses or access our ISP email via their web interface. For those that don't have easy access to their email when not at their own computer, mail2web offers a great way to get to your mail. You can set up your own personal page and store multiple email accounts to check (this is what I have done). One other NICE feature about mail2web - someone sends us that HUGE attachment and it locks up our mailbox because of its size. I go into mail2web, read the message, delete it and my incoming mail is now back working. More info.

SimpleVoiceBox.com
Yes, most of us have cell phones. Yes, most of our cell phones have voicemail. No, our cellphones don't always have service. So how can you be sure you stay in communication with family & friends? I set up a free SimpleVoiceBox account. I tell my family & close friends that if they can't get to me via my cell phone and it's urgent, then leave me a voicemail at 641-715-3900 x6315069 (my SimpleVoiceBox number and extension). Go ahead, leave me a message (I will remove the number in a couple of days and use a fake one). Here is the FAQ.

GrandCentral.com
A newer offering is one from Google - GrandCentral. Currently in BETA testing, you can sign up for your number now. They advertise; "One number that rings all your phones. One voicemail box, all your messages in one place." Many features....time will tell how much I will use it, but hey, the sign up is free and I already use a TON of other Google stuff.

MyWay.com
Okay, so you have all these neat new sites bookmarked. Your computer dies and you need to get online at the library. How do you remember all the sites you need to check? What about your favorite forums and other sites?

I use a personalized MyWay portal page (my home page - sample below). I have local newspapers from home bookmarked on the left, followed by weather in areas of interest to me. I have my news sources in the middle, on the right the only advertising they use is a small Google box of contextual ads and under that I have a HUGE list of all my favorite sites.

This makes it very easy if I need to use another computer, I just log into MyWay.com and I'm set. But even on my computer it makes it easy because I can click to all my favorite forums, check weather, find out sunrise/sunset times, all my favorite sites - from one page. In addition, I have my TV listings for the stations I watch the most at the bottom of the page, nice quick overview to see what's on. It's all very customizable, even the color scheme. Read the FAQ.



I am sure other portal sites (Yahoo, ISP home pages, MSN, etc) all offer something similar. I just happen to like the clean interface and minimal ads offered by MyWay.

IrfanView
The best freeware around for image/graphic manipulation. I have used this program for over 10 years now...I love it so much that I recently sent in a small donation to help in the continuing development. I can't begin to tell you all that it can do, you need to learn as you go (I'm still learning). The basics we all need are the ability to resize the dimensions of an image (width x height), optimize the file size of .jpg photos (I use 85% optimization most of the time), crop the edges of an image, flip it horizontal/vertical, rotate it to the left or right.

In addition you can save as many different file types, open many different file types, crop out the INSIDE of an image, adjust the colors, reduce the colors, change to black & white, make a negative image, save a GIF with a transparent background, auto adjust photo colors, and so much more. I keep finding new things all the time. You do need to remember to check for updates from time to time, there is no auto-update procedure. Once downloaded and installed, be sure to download and install the plug-ins as well.

pdf 995 ~ CutePDF Writer ~ PDF reDirect
All three of these provide you with a free and easy way to create PDF files. They install a printer driver and all you do is choose that as your printer. Sweet! Each offers a slightly different way of saving the file, some have more options, some have PRO (paid) options. I have used all three and have opted for the pay version of CutePDF & PDF reDirect. Over time I had some Vista issues with CutePDF so I almost exclusively use PDF reDirect PRO now. But for most folks, the free version is all you need. Try them and keep the one YOU like best.

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Froggi/Donna