If today’s on-the-go mobile lifestyle has you working on several computers—maybe one at work, one at home, and a laptop during travel– web-based computing tools will save you time and money, and give you all the convenience of having an office wherever you go.

With Fax It Nice, you can send and receive faxes through any computer, with nothing but your computer.

Desktoptwo saves all of your personalized desktop information in a secure online server, so you have access to everything you want all the time, from any computer or other web device with an internet connection.

Web-based Image Editors allow you to edit and save images online, so you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars equipping each of your computers with image editing software.

Online Word Processors let you write, edit, access, and share your documents from any computer with an internet connection.

Check out these web-based computing tools, and visit the links of other articles and products you may find useful for your mobile lifestyle.

Fax It Nice

Fax It Nice allows you to have a fax machine wherever you go—without the machine. This online service uses your computer to send and receive faxes, so there’s no need for you to take extra steps using a fax machine, or spend money for a fax machine at home.

You can choose from several different options with Fax It Nice: receiving only, sending only, or a plan that allows you to do both. Each selection comes with different pricing options. You can choose to pay a one-time fee, purchase credits, or subscribe to a monthly plan. The FaxIt Once option is perfect for people who rarely send faxes, but are in need of fax services fast. There’s no sign-up—”just upload your file and enter your details and your fax will be on its way!” The most expensive and flexible option—the FaxIt Elite package—gives you 1100 free pages a month and still only costs $29.99. Check out Fax It Nice and find a plan that works for you.

Fax It Nice

Desktoptwo

Desktoptwo allows you to access your personalized desktop from anywhere, and any computer. It offers the following features that you’ll never have to go without again:

• your calendar
• address book
• files
• programs
• applications
• email
• messenger
• rss feeds
• mp3 player
• and more.

It comes with a personal control panel and hard drive, as well. To take full advantage of the Desktoptwo, you will need to install the latest version of Flash, as well as Java. Adobe Acrobat Reader is also recommended. For more information and to download, visit the link below.

Desktoptwo

Web-based Image Editors

Read Useful Things’ “Edit Your Photos Anywhere, From Any Computer, For Free” post, which gives you six web-based image editors to try, courtesy of Six Revisions.

Online Word Processors

Read Useful Things’ “Write, Edit, Access, and Share Your Documents Anywhere Online” post, which gives you five web-based word processors to check out.

You might also enjoy:

“All-in-One Online Money Manager is Easy and Free”

“Turn Any PDF Into an Easy to Fill Out Online Form”

“Solar Charging Options For All Your Gadgets”

Products you might find useful:

Pocket Ref

Travel Lint Brush and Shoehorn

Travel Sewing Kit

Online word processors offer a multitude of options computer-based word processors cannot. If you want to access your documents from different computers, for example, or collaborate on a file via the internet, a web-based word processor is useful tool. Unlike your computer-based word processor, you can write, edit, access, and share (and often a whole lot more!) your documents from any computer in the world with internet access.

Here are five online word processors worth checking out.

Buzzword

Buzzword is a free web-based word processor brought to you by the Adobe team. It supports plain text, rich text, Microsoft Word, and Word XML files. You can also export documents to Adobe PDF, Open Office, and HTML. In addition to the standard word processing options, Buzzword allows you to add comments, images, lists, and roles. It comes with 5GB of storage space.

Visit Buzzword for more information.

Google Documents

Google Documents comes with plenty of options and advanced features. Add a table of contents to your document, use their built in dictionary, and even save your file as a PDF or Power Point presentation.

Documents have a maximum size of 500K, however, which is the smallest storage feature of the processors featured here.

Find out more about Google Documents.

Thinkfree

With a 1 GB storage capacity, this free web-based word processor is “designed to look, feel, and behave like Microsoft Office, eliminating the learning curve.” Your files are stored on a secure server for easy access, and you can run Thinkfree on Windows, Mac, or Linux.

Check out Thinkfree.

Writeboard

Writeboard uses a slightly different process to store your documents. You can create as many “writeboards” as you wish, for free, with no size limits, but if you want to keep them all in one place, you’ll need to sign up for their Backpack organizer. Backpack was named a “Best of the Web 2005″ tool by Business Week, but it does come with a fee. The smallest plan is only $7, but it doesn’t offer much in the way of storage space.

Writeboard requires Internet Explorer 6.x, Safari, or Firefox.

Visit the Writeboard website.

Zoho Writer

Zoho Writer offers unlimited storage space until they are out of Beta phase. After that, you will get 1 GB with your free account. Their website lists the following functions, which are quite impressive for a web-based word processor.

• Create, format documents online with a powerful WYSIWYG editor
• Access, edit, and share (by email address) documents online from anywhere with whomever you choose
• Periodic auto-saving of your documents to prevent data loss
• Export documents to your desktop as Word, SXW, PDF, ODT, RTF, TXT and HTML
• Import documents in Word, SXW, ODT, RTF, JPG, GIF, PNG, HTML and TXT formats.
• Post your documents to your blogs (Blogger, LiveJournal, Typepad, WordPress etc) from within Zoho Writer
• View, edit and save documents available on the web directly (no need to download documents to your desktop & then open them using desktop-based software)
• View your documents’ revision history, compare versions and rollback to any version of your choice
• Publish your documents online for public view
• Tag your documents for easy access
• Lock your documents while working in shared mode

Visit Zoho Writer’s website.

RSS feeds are a great way to save time and still keep up with all the blogs you like to read. With an RSS feed reader, you can subscribe to all of the websites you want, and view them in one place. No need to visit 20 different websites just to see if there’s something new and interesting to read. With just one quick scan you can check all the latest stories from all of your favorite sites.

Let’s find out more, shall we?

What is RSS exactly?

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, or Rich Site Syndication, depending on whom you ask. Basically, it’s a type of web code put into a standardized format for easy distribution across different browsers. The RSS document, or “feed,” usually contains headlines and full or partial text of recent posts.

How-to Use an RSS Feed

If you visit a site and you see a graphic image that looks like this, or similar to this , that site has an RSS feed. On some sites, if you were to click on this button, you would be presented with a long page of code that wouldn’t make any sense. This is because in order to read an RSS feed, you need an RSS feed reader. (More on that soon.)

If you click on the RSS feed button for Useful Things, however, you’re taken directly to Feedburner. You can find that button in the upper right-hand side of your screen. Go ahead, click on the bubble. Do you see something like this?

Feedburner is an RSS feed enhancer, and is intended for use by content publishers. As a content reader, you need to first choose a feed reader. As you can see in the above image, Feedburner asks you which feed reader you want to use.

After you choose a feed reader, you will need to “subscribe” to the websites you want to keep up with via your feed reader. Say, for example, you choose Google Reader. Google Reader gives you two options–you can add your feeds to your Google homepage, or you can add them to Google Reader, a site you create a password for and log into to view your feeds.

If you don’t want new content clogging up your email inbox, select the Reader. Once you’re registered with Google Reader, you can start subscribing to feeds. In the screen shot below, notice the green box on the left-hand side that says “Add Subscription.” That is where you insert the url for the feed you want to add.

Important: The feed address is different from the website address. In order to get the correct address, right click the on the site’s RSS feed button, and select copy shortcut. For Useful Things, the feed address is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/UsefulThings.

You can see from the above image how the content will appear in the feed reader. In Google Reader, new content is displayed as headlines and a brief text excerpt. Other readers may vary.

Let’s get into feed readers now, shall we?

RSS Feed Readers

There are literally a hundreds of feed readers available for you to choose from. First, decide how you want to view your feeds. Do you want new content updates delivered to your email? Your homepage? Or do you want to visit a separate site to read everything? Though many RSS feed readers support different options for delivering content, not all do.

What are the best feed readers? According to a survey conducted by ProBlogger, Google Reader took the top spot.

Other popular readers include: Bloglines, Yahoo, Firefox Bookmarks, Feed Demon, Netvibes, Newzcrawler, Newsgator, Rojo, Pluck, and RSS Owl. Select one that best fits your needs, subscribe to all the blogs you like, and you’re on your way to saving time without having to compromise your reading needs.

Think you know which Presidential candidate most closely matches your opinions on all of the important issues? You might be surprised. Let Glassbooth.org help you find out.

Glassbooth is a website that uses a simple points system to help you match your opinions and values with those of the candidates. You start out by picking which issues you’re most passionate about. Among your choices are: Taxes & Budget, Civil Liberties and Domestic Security, Iraq and Foreign Policy, Crime and Punishment, Trade and Economics, Environment and Energy, Health Care, Education, and more. Say you’re most concerned about Trade and Economics. You can give that category as many points as you wish, but be aware, you only start out with twenty points total. Not so concerned about Immigration? Don’t rank it. Once you’re done doling out points, take the quiz.

During the quiz, you’ll be asked approximately twenty questions. You choose whether you strongly oppose, strongly support, or only feel moderately about the issue. You may also skip the question. Once you’re done taking the quiz, Glassbooth will tell you which candidate(s) most closely matches your answers and why. See how the candidates voted on certain issues, and read articles about their stances and proposed policies. Don’t see the candidate you had planned to vote for as a match? Hit “See Other Candidate” and select the person you had chosen to see how they match up.

Don’t make a mistake at the polls. Visit Glassbooth and in only a few minutes you can either confirm your choice, or find the real candidate that’s right for you.

Go to Glassbooth

You may know who your Presidential pick is by now, but have you decided which candidate best represents you and your community for the other offices you’ll be voting on? How about those initiatives? Do you know what issues are on the ballot? If not, don’t worry. We’ve compiled a list of non-partisan and partisan websites packed with all the Election Day info you need. We’re also providing you a brief overview of how the voting process works, the electoral college process, and important dates to remember. Don’t hit the polls unprepared; follow our guide and you’ll be ready to make an informed decision on matters that will impact your life.

How the voting process works:
In order to vote in an election, you must be a citizen of at least 18 years of age, and registered. The registration process varies from state to state, though most states require a person to have registered at least 30 days prior to an election. Beyond these basic qualifications granted by the Constitution, most states bar convicted criminals and legally declared mentally incompetent individuals from voting. To register to vote in your state, visit your county’s election office.

If your state allows it, you can opt for absentee voting if you can’t, or do not wish, to go to the polls on Election Day. Absentee voting allows you to fill out the ballot anywhere, and mail it in. Absentee ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day.

Many polls require a form of ID. Whether that is your voter identification card, your driver’s license, or both, varies from state to state. Be prepared and take identification with you.

Once your ballot is cast, what happens next?
In a Presidential election, the electoral college is the actual body that chooses the President. In all other local elections, such as tax initiatives and gubernatorial races, the people’s individual votes determine the outcome.

Rather than every individual person voting directly for the President of the United States, votes are cast for electors. The electors take the individual votes cast in their state and cast their own vote accordingly. Electors are technically allowed to vote opposite from their constituents, but in practice, they tend to vote with the people of their state.

What exactly is the electoral college?
The electoral college is a body comprised of 538 people representing individual states. Each state is entitled to a certain number of electors, which is equal to the number of representatives the state has in Congress.

Read more about the Electoral College at NARA.

Important Dates to Remember:
When is Election Day? In 2008, Election Day falls on Tuesday, November 4th. Election Day always falls on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November.

The next Presidential Debate airs on October 15th, 2008 9PM ET.

Links to more information:
Vote Smart
Information for individual states as well as for the Presidential candidates, including biographical info, issue position, and voting records.

Rock the vote
Registration deadlines by state, student voting guide, voter information guide, candidates and issues, numbers to call if you need help, and more.

US electoral college
Frequently asked questions about how the voting process and electoral college works, as well as information on the Presidential election.

America. Gov
Guide to the 2008 election; news headlines; information on the electoral college, candidates, and more.

Fact check
Want to check if something you heard about McCain or Obama is correct? Go here.

You Decide
Watch videos of the previous Presidential candidate debates.

Political party sites
Democratic Party
Home Page of the Democratic National Committee
Democratic National Convention

Republican Party
Home Page of the Republican National Committee
Republican National Convention

Libertarian Party

Green Party

The New Party

Democratic Socialists of America Party

Presidential candidate homepages
Barack Obama(D)

John McCain(R)

Bob Barr(L)

Cynthia McKinney (Green)

Ralph Nader (I)

It’s easy to take computer security for granted, especially when they come equipped with a handful of factory installed security measures. According to Consumer Reports, however, people are still making some common mistakes that put them at risk for computer failure or identity theft.

Among the common mistakes listed are:

Assuming Your Security Software is Protecting You

Accessing an Account Through an E-Mail Link

Using a Single Password for all Online Accounts

Shopping Online the Same Way you do in Stores

and more, including warnings about free software, clicking pop up ads, and a special warning for Mac users.

What you should be aware of:

Your security software is only effective when frequently updated, and most of these programs offer updates often. Try setting your system to update automatically, so you don’t miss a thing.

Your bank, credit card company, or other important institutions, will never ask you for your account number, password, or other personal information through an email, so if you receive a request for information, don’t fall for it.

Using the same password for every online account could spell trouble if anyone ever gets a hold of that password. Read Useful Things’ post on how-to create better passwords.

Not all retailers are created equal. When you’re shopping online, take precautions. Consumer Reports suggests using a separate credit card for online purchases.

Read more tips at “7 Online Blunders” in Consumer Reports.

Telephone companies such as AT&T and Verizon recently started offering fiber-optic digital television services that appear to be comparable, if not better than, cable TV. Should you consider switching? The answer, according to Dan Rayburn, the executive Vice President of StreamingMedia.com, is yes *IF* you can get FiOS instead of U-verse.

What’s the differences between FiOS and U-verse?

FiOS brings fiber-optic quality straight to your home, whereas U-verse only takes it as far as the nearest hub then compresses the signal into your home. The former results in a far superior picture. FiOS also allows you to view multiple televisions in HDTV, while U-verse only has the ability to show one television, or one channel, in high definition.

Other important options to take into consideration when choosing between phone company service and cable TV include: channel offerings, prices, and if you would like to sign-up for internet services with the same company. Phone companies, especially those running FiOS, have great internet packages. However, cable TV is sure to offer your local news stations. Which option is right for you? Compare your local cable company’s offerings with Verizon and AT&T services.

Verizon FiOS

AT&T U-verse

Read “Is Phone Company TV Better Than Cable?” at The Bottom Line

In addition to its popular cell phone plan ratings service, BillShrink.com is now taking a closer look at credit cards. If you pay high interest rates, an annual fee, or are looking to maximize the rewards credit card companies are offering, you don’t want to miss this simple 3 step process. Enter your data in the required fields, and BillShrink.com analyzes your current rates, fees, and the fine print, to calculate your total cost for using that particular card. If there are better cards out there, they’ll let you know. Get started today, and find yourself a credit card that will save you money.

BillShrink.com
Read about Finding the Best Cell Phone Plan

Do you like light-weight, clean-tasting beer? Or dark, rich, and complex brews? Is bitter and hoppy your flavor? Or fresh and fruit-flavored? Depending on your answer, do you know if you should order an ale, a lager, a porter, a stout, a pilsner, or something else? This guide to beer styles will help you determine what beer is right for you.

There are two main types of beer—ales and lagers. What’s the difference? It depends entirely on the brewing process. Ales use top-fermenting yeasts, while lagers use bottom-fermenting yeasts. (Source.) What does that amount to? The yeast used to brew ale ferments at warmer temperatures and produces chemicals called esters that can affect the beer’s flavor. Lager yeasts, on the other hand, ferment at colder temperatures, therefore taking more time to come to fruition. This results in a crisp, clean beer, that is often very mild.

Examples of ales and lagers: Ales include pale ales, amber ales, brown ales, porters, stouts, wheat beers, and other specialty beers. Lagers include, most notably, pilsners and bocks. Budweiser, Coors, and Heinekin are well-known lagers.

Let’s look at these subcategories more carefully.

Beer contains five main ingredients: malt, hops, yeast, water, and sugar. The malt is in the form of malted barley, a grain which affects the color, body, and taste of the beer. Depending on the type of malt used, the beer can take on a nutty, chocolate, or caramel flavor. Hops are the flowering cones of the hop plant, and give the beer it’s bitterness. They are used to off-set the sweetness of the malt. The yeast is what converts the sugar in the malt into alcohol. Sometimes, additional sugar is added to the brew before bottling to achieve carbonation or a higher alcohol content. Fruit or fruit flavors can also be added to ales.

Now that you know more about the ingredients, let’s see how they affect certain types of beer.

Pale Ales, Amber Ales, Brown Ales, Etc.: Ales, as you’ve learned, use ale yeast. Pale ales use pale malt, while the malt for amber ale ranges from a light copper to a brownish-red. Brown ales use brown malts. The darker the malt, the richer the beer will taste. Adding hops to the brew will result in a more bitter ale. Newcastle Brown Ale is a moderately hopped beer, while India Pale Ales are notably hoppy beers.

Porters and Stouts: Both ale style beers, porters and stouts are made from dark malts that give the beer a dark, roasty, rich flavor. Stouts are porters on over-drive, though some of them can be quite smooth. Guinness Stout, for example, is a smooth extra stout porter. The extra sugars in porters and stouts can give them a higher alcohol content, so these beers are best sipped. They are also often served at warmer temperatures.

Wheat Beers: Instead of using all malted barley in the brewing process, wheat beers use just that—wheat. Though the taste can vary, most wheat beers are lighter in body and flavor than malted barley beers. Think Hefeweizen, for example.

Pilsners and Bocks: Pilsners are a pale lager known for their light color and body and hoppy flavor. These beers are best served very cold. If you like Bud, Coors, or Miller, you’re a pilsner fan. Bock is a stronger lager brewed with darker colored malts, and unlike the pilsner, it is low in hops.

The next time you go to purchase or order beer, take these notes into consideration. You don’t want to get stuck with a pilsner if you’re a stout fan, or vice versa.

For a more extensive overview of beer styles, visit the Beer Hunter’s index.

Do you have old computers, printers, VCRs, televisions, batteries, and other electronic equipment lying around your house because you don’t know what to do with it? No matter how judicious you are about your purchases, accumulating electronics still happens. The price of such goods has declined so much that it is now cheaper to buy a new product than get your old one repaired, if repairing it is even an option. And at the rate technology advances, there comes a point when you must replace that obsolete equipment. So, what do you do with it once your new gadgets arrive? Recycling is the best option.

Because electronics contain toxic materials such as lead, mercury, and cadmium—often called e-waste, or electronic waste—it’s important that your used electronics be disposed of properly. Improper disposal leads to contaminated groundwater and soil, not to mention congested landfills. According to Earth 911. org, e-waste is estimated to reach 40 million metric tons globally. Although it only accounts for 1-4% of landfill waste, it may be responsible for up to 70% of a landfill’s heavy metals. (Source.) But electronics also contain valuable resources—such as aluminum and copper—that can be reused. All over the country, there are recyclers, organizations, and even manufacturers that will take your old electronics and refurbish them, or remove what they can. With the programs and recycling centers available, there is no need to dump your used items anymore, or store them in the attic. Below, you will find all the information you need to recycle your electronics, cell phones, and dead batteries.

What to Consider Before You Recycle:
Are your items in good enough condition to donate? Many non-profit organizations will accept electronics in working order. Check with your local schools, libraries, learning and resources centers, and the like.

If you’re recycling computers, cell phones, or other electronics that store data, erase the memory card or hard drive. You don’t want your personal information out there for anyone to find and use. Deleting doesn’t ensure that your information is gone. For best results, find software that wipes your data storage devices.

Call the recycling center before you load up your car. Many electronic recyclers are by appointment only, or only deal with businesses. Also, they may not be accepting certain items at all.

Not all recycling centers are created equal. You don’t want a scrap yard to yank valuable metals then dump the remaining toxins out back, near a stream that feeds your local water supply. Find a responsible recycler. There are many options listed below.

Where to Find Electronic Recyclers:
National Center for Electronics Recycling: A comprehensive site that talks about the laws and basics of electronics recycling. Their site offers links to many recyclers nationwide.

International Association of Electronics Recyclers (IAER): This site lists only certified electronics recyclers. The certification ensures that the recyclers “promote high standards of environmental quality and regulatory compliance as well as high quality business practices…”

E-Cycling Central: Ran by the Telecommunications Industry Association, this site allows you to search state by state for e-cyclers. The site also has a great list of frequently asked questions, so you can find a responsible program.

My Green Electronics: A site to find a recycler for just about any electronic item, including recyclers for corporate waste.

You can also check with your county to see if they offer their own electronics recycling program, or with local or national environmental agencies for recommendations.

Manufacturer Buy-Back Programs:
It’s now becoming common practice for major electronic companies to offer their own buy-back programs. When you purchase a new product from these companies, they will offer to take your old product—sometimes for free, while others charge a small fee. Be aware, however, that your used electronics may end up in landfills through these programs.

Some companies that offer Buy-Back programs:

Apple: Offers free computer take-back. They claim to be environmentally friendly recyclers.

Best Buy: Offers a fairly extensive recycling program. In addition to their cell phone, ink and toner, and rechargeable battery drop-boxes, they take everything but large appliances, microwaves, smoke detectors, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers. In some cases, you can trade in your old electronics for a Best Buy gift card.

Canon: Offers a mail-back program for all Canon brand of electronics. Pricing depends on item.

Dell: Offers free PC recycling for Dell products, though you will need to provide your own packing material. They also offer a $10 per box recycling for any non Dell equipment.

Epson: Offers a mail-back program for Epson products. It costs $10 per item.

Gateway: Offers a trade-in and recycling program for recent customers. Cost is determined by weight.

Hewlett Packard: Offers a mail-back program for HP brands, except monitors with broken glass, VCRs, DVDs, or televisions.

IBM: Offers a take-back program to commercial customers in 21 countries. Cost is $29.99.

Intel: Offers a mail-back program for Intel brands. You are responsible for shipping.

LG: Offers a take-back program which recycles up to five items for free.

Motorola: Offers free cell phone recycling.

Sony: Offers environmentally safe recycling at any participating Waste Management eCycling drop-off center.

Toshiba: Offers a trade-in program:

US Postal Service: Offers bags to recycle ink, blackberries, PDA, and MP3 players. Postage is included.

WalMart: Offers free cell phone recycling.

Check manufacturer websites for more information.

How-to Recycle Batteries:
Most people don’t think twice about tossing those dead batteries in the trash, but they should. Batteries also contain toxins such as mercury, lead, and sulfuric acid. For more information on the toxicity of batteries, and how to properly dispose of them, visit the three sites below.

Environment, Health, and Safety Online
Battery Recycling
Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation