No registration is required and usage could not be easier. Just enter information for both you and the recipient, upload your file and then send. It’s that easy.

Of course, there are some limitations with using the free option, but in the event you need to remove these, there is a premium option where you just have to pay a small fee to send the fax. Overall, either method sure beats having to go find a fax machine (and most likely pay to use it) elsewhere.

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On a related note, phishers and scammers are taking advantage of job applicants as well by setting up phony companies to order to gather personal information. This is an article definitely worth looking at if you are applying for a job primarily via electronic communication.

Job seekers who posted their resumes on Monster, Career Builder and Yahoo received e-mails from either USA Voice or Instant Human Resources, telling them that based on the their resumes they qualified for a promising sounding position. Those who didn’t smell a scam right away filled out online applications, in the process disclosing personal information.

Just be careful who you give your personal information to. Whenever there is opportunity, you can bet scammers are looking to take advantage of people.

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Shoeboxed does the grunt work for you: scanning your receipts so you have all the data you need for taxes, bookkeeping, and expense reports, and now scanning business cards for easy contact management.

So step away from your scanner; mail your receipts and business cards to Shoeboxed and we’ll do the rest.

Shoeboxed is a pay-per service, but if you need to do this the price is very competitive when compared to your time. One thing to be wary of though would be sending receipts which have sensitive (i.e. credit card number) information, but for the most part I don’t think this is printed on customer copies anymore. If so, you can just use a marker to scratch them out.

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One of Yahoo’s oldest web sites, Yahoo! Finance (YHOO), is a good place to check on how tech stocks are doing. You can also perform quick stock searches by searching for the symbol on Google, ex. searching for GOOG.

Side note: Speaking of the GOOG, they might be purchasing Twitter, so that will be an interesting one to follow.

To those interested in tech stocks, or any stocks for that matter, but have no idea how they would perform or how to go about investing, I always suggest playing fantasy stock market. This is fun, easy and most of the time free so it requires no investment on your part.

Here’s a few suggestions if you want to play the market fantasy-style:

• FantasyStockMarket.com - Simple site, easy to navigate and get started.
• Virtual Stock Exchange - This is run by MarketWatch, a well-known finance site.
• Wall Street Survivor - This one has an interesting twist because you can actually win real cash and prizes here, so the game itself can actually be profitable.

Why play fantasy with tech stocks instead of doing the real thing?

The answer is to gain experience before taking the plunge, so to speak. Some people say tech stocks are totally worth it while others say it’s a complete waste of time and money, and far too unstable. However with the experience gained from fantasy playing, you can answer the question for yourself whether or not they’re worth it - free.

What’s your take? Would you or do you invest in tech stocks?

Does it sound like a boom or bust? Let us know in the comments.

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• Editor: resizing, brightness and color adjustment, white balance, backlight correction, frames, balloons, mosaic mode, adding text, drawing pictures, cropping, filters, red eye removal, blooming
• Combine: Make one photo by attaching multiple photos vertically or horizontally
• Animated GIF: Make one animation photo with multiple photos
• Screen Capture: Capture your screenshot and save it

Some of the features above you might have separate applications for (screenshots) with this program may eliminate the need for.

Of course, Photoscape is free and is definitely a ‘contender’ in the photo editing applications which are available.

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This plugin temporary pauses email from being delivered so you can work uninterrupted for a period of time. To me, this is a better alternative to closing your email client because you may forget to open it back up for long time (this has happened to me several times). With this plugin, once the timer expires, your email will flow like normal.

It gives you the ability to temporarily pause new email arrival by clicking its “do not disturb” button and prioritize email with a 0-3 star rating system. This add-in simply adds two buttons to your toolbar, but the power is in how it can simplify your email life.

Unfortunately, this plugin is limited to Outlook 2007 running on an Exchange Server. So keep this in mind before you give it a try.

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Typically, the way you roll out a SharePoint environment is via a Windows Server, as this is included with the product. While this is the only way I would recommend deployment for any production environment, it may be cost prohibitive for some people. Instead you can install SharePoint Services on Windows Vista. The linked article explains exactly how to do it with screenshots and detailed instructions of just about every step.

Again, this is a great alternative if you are just looking to get started with SharePoint without the investment in a Windows Server machine.

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Postini is a Google owned service which provides hosted spam protection for ridiculously low pricing (at the time of this writing $12 per email per year). Considering how spam can easily waste 30 minutes to an hour of your time a day, this is a no-brainer. We recently moved our organization’s mail to run through Postini and within a week, my users were already talking about how much time this is saving them.

You can read the full details here, but basically all you have to do is point your DNS mail records to Postini’s servers and the service will filter your mail and deliver only the legit messages. At the end of the day, you will then get a ‘quarantine’ message which asks you what to do with the questionable emails.

Overall, after using this system for a bit, I have nothing but great things to say about it. This is definitely a must have for any organization where spam is a constant complaint.

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I thought what I would do today is come up with a short list of things that geeks and computer/Internet users should be doing during this time.

1. Get Involved With Social Media

Many in our audience are already users of sites like Facebook and Twitter. If you, however, are in the crowd of people who are not doing this, it is time to shed the lead weights and get on board.

It is a mistake to think these trends are fads or just something young kids do. It isn’t. Facebook alone is signing up almost half a million users PER DAY. Twitter was just reported to have outgrown Digg.

But, why bother? Because networking and personal relations is EXTREMELY important in economic hard times. In fact, just a couple days ago, I put out a call on my Twitter network for a programmer and I got several people who responded. That demonstrates the use of social media in finding a job. The uses, though, are immeasurable.

If you need more avenues to make money, your options are increased many times if you have a network of people to turn to online. That’s where social media comes in.

2. Use The Internet To Track Your Finances

The potential of using the Internet to track your finances is awesome. The reason is because other information as well as collective data can be used to help you govern your own finances.

Mint.com is perhaps the best known example of online financial management. In this post on Techcrunch about what Mint’s aggregate data says about the economy, he stats that they’ve signed up 900,000 users just since September 2008. I myself have an account with Mint. I don’t use it all the time, but they’re system is incredibly slick and it has some powerful budgeting features.

3. Expand Your Knowledge

Now is the time to be a sponge. My recommendation is to learn as much as you can as regards the Internet and computers. Whatever your gaps in knowledge may be, fill them.

In my case, I have been studying social media, blogging and Internet marketing. I make my entire living on the Internet, and I know that by learning my craft and getting better at it, I can solidify my success in this business.

So, read blogs. Subscribe to blogs. Read books. Hell, join the PCMech Premium program. Yeah, that is self-promotional, but it is also a great example of what I mean.

You don’t even know what opportunities you’re missing out on if you don’t know that they exist.

4. Use the Internet To Shop

Getting in the car, driving down to the store and paying retail for something you need just doesn’t have the ring to it that it used to. Go online to buy. You can often save money. You most definitely do save gas. Plus, you have endless options to save money by comparison shopping.

Use sites like CNET to read reviews before you buy. Keep in mind you can also use Ebay to buy brand new items and save money. Price comparison sites like Pricegrabber can help you find the best deals. Run a Google search for coupons on whatever you need to buy and you’ll probably find some.

5. Look To The Internet To Make Money

The internet is the most powerful business medium ever invented. Worldwide audience. Low barriers to entry. And endless ways to generate cash flow from the comfort of your house.

The best way to make money online is information marketing. Sure, you can buy and sell things on Ebay (many got started that way). But, the sale of information has very high profit margin. So, sit down and write a Word document on some topic that you know well that can help others solve a problem. Then, sell it.

Sure, there is a lot more to know about this, but I encourage you to look more into it. We have a course called 3 Day Money inside the PCMech Premium program that provides a solid introduction and overview to this.

Conclusion

This economic recession is different than past recessions in many ways, but chief among them is that this one is happening in the midst of intense Internet growth and emphasis in technology. The last time we had a recession, the Internet didn’t look anything like it did today.

There is so much opportunity out there if one takes the time to look for it. I think the tech sector is not only going to weather this economic storm well, it is going to grow further. Sure, some businesses are trimming fat and cutting expenses. But, investing in yourself and learning all you can to become a player in this growing tech sector is my biggest recommendation for any reader of PCMech.

Do you have recommendations of your own for other readers? Please share in comments.

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