Company: Any scanner or all in one.
Price: Incrementally $0.
Scanner is generally not thought of a product, unless you are shelling out $100 for a portable receipt scanner. Scanning is signficantly underused. This is especially true of the all-in-one types of printers that almost always come with scanners (by definition).
I dont have a receipt scanner. I just save all of my receipts in one bag and scan them when I get home. I used scanning for all my bills, pieces of paper with notes or phone numbers, advertisements, invitations, coupon codes and receipts - literally everything that creates a huge mess, that I used to try to juggle in my head. I literally just scan everything and dump the actual papers into a box. I don't even think about wasting my time filing any more.
Most of the time I dont even bother wasting time naming the document unless it is really, really important, because MS windows will show me the document as a thumbnail, if I just sort by date. (Generally, I have some idea about the date.) The only thing I even bother to file and name are tax documents, actual W2, 1099 documents, and those are few and far in between.
Not having to file paper has been really great, a tremendous time saver, and since external hard drives are cheap, about $80 for a terabyte, the whole thing is guilt free. The whole exercise pays for itself in no time, and mentally is so incredibly liberating. I use a Brother 7820n, but any printer will do.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tether (Almost Free Internet); one-time fee for the life of your Blackberry
Company: Tether
Price: $49.99
www.tether.com
This is a great product for those of us who have a blackberry and some times want web service on our laptop anywhere, but don't want to pay $60 a month for internet service.
Since the Blackberry and your cell provider provides 3G service, and you are already paying for it, you can already access the web at 3G speeds. It is just that the cell phone interface is bad b/c of the small screens.
Well, you can have your cake and eat it too. For a one time fee of $49.99 (or some times as low as $19.99 - 24.99 when they have a sale), you can link up your laptop at 3G speeds subject to the 5gb monthly limit (which is the same as data card at $60.00 a month that you would have provided your cell phone company any ways). $60 a month service for a one time fee of $49.99. What a bargain!
I took Amtrak from Chicago down to St. Louis and I got the internet for 90% of the way down.
Price: $49.99
www.tether.com
This is a great product for those of us who have a blackberry and some times want web service on our laptop anywhere, but don't want to pay $60 a month for internet service.
Since the Blackberry and your cell provider provides 3G service, and you are already paying for it, you can already access the web at 3G speeds. It is just that the cell phone interface is bad b/c of the small screens.
Well, you can have your cake and eat it too. For a one time fee of $49.99 (or some times as low as $19.99 - 24.99 when they have a sale), you can link up your laptop at 3G speeds subject to the 5gb monthly limit (which is the same as data card at $60.00 a month that you would have provided your cell phone company any ways). $60 a month service for a one time fee of $49.99. What a bargain!
I took Amtrak from Chicago down to St. Louis and I got the internet for 90% of the way down.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Aircell's Gogo; WiFi Aboard a Plane
Company: Aircell
Product: Gogo
Price: $12.95
I have been taking airplanes for the better part of 15 years now. Gogo allows me to access the internet while aboard going from West Coast to East Coast and visa versa. I greatly appreciate this service because for 14 years, I paid full prices for magazines and newspapers at the airports and watched the single movie feature that was available aboard the flight.
With Gogo, I can use the better part of my flight to return email and watch clips and movies aboard a plane. This service only cost $12.95, and greatly impacts my productivity. If you are on a business trip, you can almost certainly pass the cost to your employer. At less than $3 per hour from San Francisco to New York, it's a steal.
If you register online, you will not have to show the person seated next to you your credit card number!
Link: http://www.aircell.com/
Product: Gogo
Price: $12.95
I have been taking airplanes for the better part of 15 years now. Gogo allows me to access the internet while aboard going from West Coast to East Coast and visa versa. I greatly appreciate this service because for 14 years, I paid full prices for magazines and newspapers at the airports and watched the single movie feature that was available aboard the flight.
With Gogo, I can use the better part of my flight to return email and watch clips and movies aboard a plane. This service only cost $12.95, and greatly impacts my productivity. If you are on a business trip, you can almost certainly pass the cost to your employer. At less than $3 per hour from San Francisco to New York, it's a steal.
If you register online, you will not have to show the person seated next to you your credit card number!
Link: http://www.aircell.com/
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