EraserDrop Portable was developed by John Hiller (he developed a Firefox Portable App), and is part of a suite of portable apps. So this app can be downloaded to a memory stick and used from machine to machine, or you can install to your local drive and use it from there.

What It Does

It securely erases files and folders. Just drag and drop to the icon you’ll see on your desktop after installation. Then you choose what method of erasing you want it to perform – from a 1-pass to Gutman. You’ll get a message when it’s finished telling you what it did and if there were any problems.

In addition to securely erasing your files and folders, you can also tell it to erase the free space on your drive. What’s free space and why would I need to erase it? Reading up on this, I’m finding that when/if you delete files by putting them in the recycle bin, they are deleted, but still recoverable. By using EraserDrop Portable’s wipe free space, this shreds and makes unrecoverable all that data previously deleted. I haven’t done this one yet, although I’m sure it’s OK as the documentation says that only free space is overwritten, not my files!

Download, Install & Start

There’s a link in the first paragraph for the download. I had some problems with the install. I clicked on the .exe and it started like all other installs start, but when it got to the directory to install to, it didn’t choose to put it in my Programs folder. Instead, I got the box below with no destination folder selected.

It took me a couple of tries to find a folder it liked – it wouldn’t let me put it in the Program Files folder, instead, I chose a subfolder and then when the install was finished, I simply moved the folder up a level so it can be found within the Program Files folder.

The directions say to find the folder and click on the app icon to start the program. I did this a couple of times and it looked like something was starting, but I never saw anything. I went back and read the instructions again and it said a little icon would appear on my desktop. Well, it was there, but I really just didn’t notice it for awhile because it was so small. So look for the little icon that’s below with the red line through it. It seems to appear at the top left of any application I’m using.You can right-click on the icon and change the picture or hide it.

In my research, I found other shredding and deleting programs that do the same things. I feel good about this one because it came from Source Forge, a respected name and offers great, free, open-source software.

Sync & Backup

If you have multiple computers around the house or work and home and you’d like to be able to get to your bookmarks on all of them, Xmarks is for you. With this free add-in, you’ll never be without your bookmarks (or favorites) again. A bonus is that Xmarks also functions as a back-up for your favorites. If your computer crashes or you get a new computer, just sign into your account and they’re all back again.

The built-in backup is probably the best feature. The next best is that if you decide to do some housekeeping and clean up your bookmarks on one computer, the bookmarks will be saved and synced among all computers—nice.

I’ve been using Xmarks  for several years, but I’ve never talked about it here. It used to be called Foxmarks (because it was used only with the Firefox browser), but it was renamed because it now also works with IE, Chrome and Safari.

Sync Profiles

If you want to keep your home and work bookmarks separate, but in the same account, you can set up a sync profile. You set up what bookmarks will be available at work and which you want to see at home.

Xmarks Search Engine & Enhanced Google Search

Xmarks has come out with some newer features – a search engine that gathers together the top rated sites about a particular subject. For example, I typed in ‘tech blogs’, and I got back the expected top 3 of Engadget, Gizmodo and TechCrunch. In order to use their search, you’ll need to go to xmarks.com and type in the search box. I wasn’t overly impressed.

The other newer features is Search Tabs. This is an add-on to FireFox that works only when doing a Google search.

Follow the directions to install the add-on (only works with FireFox), then restart your browser. Go to Google and type in a search. Besides giving your results, more tabs will be available to give you more information on the topic.

For example, my search was ‘bible versions’. Besides the search results, you can see the other tabs that appear. Click on one of the tabs and you’ll see further information – snapshots of each website that you can preview before deciding to actually go there.

This one impressed me more than I thought it would. I usually use Bing as my search engine, but I’ll remember to use Google for some particular searches as well.

Two other features not explored here, but that you might like to are their Secure Password Sync and Mobile Access download.

Xmarks is a useful website to explore and implement some of its many features.

Today, we’ll highlight their Skype Mobile and Skype Access services and then take a look at free and other features of Skype.

Skype Mobile

If you’re a Verizon customer and have a Blackberry or Android phone, download the mobile software and begin using Skype instead of your plan minutes. There’s not a whole lot of information on-line about this, (unless you’re able to download the software), but I’m assuming you’ll need a Skype Out number and you’ll be making your calls from that number, not your regular cell number. You’ll need Skype credit in your account to make calls—the cost is very low, around .02 cents/min. The only downside I can see to that is that you’ll need to notify people of your Skype-out number so they’ll know it’s you calling – unless you purchase Caller ID (see below).  If you’re running low on minutes, or don’t want to purchase a plan with a lot of minutes, you can switch over to using Skype to save money.

Skype for the iPhone and iTouch

The rules are usually different for the iPhone. I’m sure ATT would not allow Skype on ‘their’ iPhones – a revenue loser for them, you know. So iPhone users can download Skype from the app store and use it only at wifi hotspots.

Skype Access

This is a newer feature from Skype. Use it to connect to a public access wifi hotspot. You’ll need to be signed in with Skype on your laptop and if Skype can connect to that network, you’ll get a pop-up notification.  The cost was higher than I thought it would be – .19/minute or $11.40/hour. It could make sense to use it if you need to check for an email, or look something up on-line quickly and without having to go into some internet cafe and go through a signup process with them.

Free Skype Features

 Skype to Skype calls – they say they will always be free. This would be computer to computer calls using email addresses

• Send/exchange of files and pictures while chatting with someone
• Video calls are free – of course, both parties need a camera for this feature
• IM is free to any of your contacts
• Screen sharing – yes, what a nice feature and free! Check here for instructions

Fee-Based Skype Services

• Send SMS – from .05/each
• Skypein, or on-line Skype number—cost is $60/yr. for a number you can choose (with limits). If you buy a subscription then the number is 50% off.
• Skypeout number – this is a number  you can use to call any mobile or landline at greatly reduced prices. Choose your number (within limits), but then the number won’t be activated until you purchase skype credit
• Skypein number – this is a number you choose (again, within limits), and then anyone can call you. Calls will come in to your computer or Skype phone (in the Skype store). You can configure your phone to…
• Call Forwarding – don’t miss a call with call forwarding. If you’re away from your computer, or even logged out of Skype, you can arrange the call forwarding feature to call your cell, your home or both numbers.
• Voicemail — $6 for 3 months or $20/year
• Caller ID – assign your mobile number to show up when you call other people’s phones

Skype Reliability & Security

Though Skype is widely used and highly regarded, it isn’t to be relied upon as an emergency number or an expectation of 100% uptime. It’s still VOIP and VOIP works very well and the sound quality is quite good most of the time, just not all the time.

I really couldn’t find any current reviews on Skype reliability, so please post a link if you’ve read one.

Now on to security – here are a couple of resources: Skype’s Security Blog, or their Detailed Security Section with an independent review. If you’ve wondered what happens (electronically), when you have a call, here’s the information. As anything you do on-line, take precautions because anything you do on-line could be exposed or revealed.

When I went to set up my account, I found I could sign in with one of my other accounts (see graphic), that means one less login and password to remember!

After signing in, you can choose to flesh out your profile, adding a picture, phone number, website address and any social media you’d like to add (Facebook, Twitter,  LinkedIn, Ning, Skype and Xing). Tungle.me gives you a shortened URL that you can add in your emails, twitter messages, etc. to make it easier for people to schedule time with you.

You can choose to sync your tungle.me calendar with your Outlook, Google or iCal/Entourage calendar to ensure you don’t doublebook yourself. When you add a calendar, you’ll also be adding your contacts, so everyone’s email addresses will be accessible. There’s an iPhone app so you can take Tungle.me with you. There are options to get a widget to put on your website or blog and an RSS feed you can configure. Lots of choices.

Check out the Tungle Video

Setting Up Your First Meeting

Your account is ready to go and you want to get started. Click on the ‘Management’ button at the top of your screen and then click ‘Schedule a Meeting’. Then it’s simply a matter of following the prompts to enter in the information for the meeting, select several open times to make it easier to get something scheduled and then you can preview the email that will be sent out, OR you can opt to get a meeting URL and send it from your own email (more control for you).

I like that the invitation emphasizes that they will not have to sign up for an account to schedule the meeting.

Then click the send and that’s it – your invitees will be able to go to your Tungle.me site and enter in their availability and you’ll be notified via email when your meeting gets booked, when people submit their availability or if there are questions you need to handle.

I sent one to myself to test it out and it worked with no glitches. No software to download, use an existing account to sign up and in and take the frustration out of scheduling meetings with multiple people – priceless!

I previously posted about Jing from TechSmith. Back then, I had compatibility problems with the program and had to uninstall it. Now, it’s rediscovered – at least by me. I installed it and didn’t have any problems using it with Windows 7.

I use the Snipping Tool to capture illustrations, (ships with Windows Vista & 7), but one thing it can’t do is get a capture of a drop down menu. Jing has the ‘capture hotkey’ feature. With this feature you can click to get to your drop down menu, initiate your capture key combination (I chose Crtl + J), and then the Jing interface appears and you can get your capture—slick.

Here are some of the newer features

• ability to add up to 8 additional customizable buttons to have Jing do different things
• Send your screencast to twitter to share
• updated help section with videos showing you how to do just about any Jing task
• Get an embed code and post your content to a blog or website

Other Jing Features:

• Takes a snapshot of your whole screen or a small portion of your screen
• Option to save your output (.jpg) to either a free screencast account, your computer, or if you’re really geeky, you can save output at your FTP site or YouTube (Pro Version).
• Ability to capture a video running on your computer to share with someone
• Ability to make your own video – be it instructional or just fun in nature. Videos can then be instantly shared via IM, web or email.
• If you have a microphone, you can record your comments or instructions while capturing what you want to share. Nice feature and really allows for personalization.
• Output your jpgs to your Flickr account
• There is a 5” time limit for videos.
• A Pro version is available that will allow direct import to YouTube and the ability to save your videos as MPEG4s instead of the default SWF Flash Video. Other advantages to Pro as well. See them here

The Pro version is only $15/year. If you are one who likes to make instructional videos – for fun or for business, you’ll want to upgrade. With the Pro Version, you’ll be able to use a webcam and get smoothly transitioned shots of yourself, along with what is on your screen. Then post to your YouTube account with one click.

Jing is a free product by TechSmith (who also brings you SnagIt (like Jing, only not free), and Camtasia Studio (a high-end video producing software, also paid). Jing also integrates well with both of these products.

A month or so has gone by and I really hadn’t thought about the differences between the 32 and 64-bit software. Then I was reading an article about Firefox and Chrome browsers made for 64-bit machines and I realized I just had to try them out.

When I went to Mozilla.com, I typed in 64-bit firefox in the search box, but came up with zilch. Luckily, I had the link to Firefox 64-bit in my Windows Secrets newsletter.  When I went to install the program, I was a bit concerned to see it was called ‘Minefield’, but went ahead and found that it’s a new (beta) version of  Firefox. I was wondering how my add-ins would fare with a double switch to a 64-bit and a beta of a browser. My tree-style tabs still worked (my most important add-in). Unfortunately, Foxmarks (this add-on syncs my browser bookmarks across computers), will not work with this, but I can live with that for now. So far, I haven’t gotten any messages about other add-ins.

While in Minefield, I tried playing an embedded video and got a message that I needed a plug-in, an Adobe Flash plug-in. So I downloaded what they suggested, but got a message that ‘it might not have installed correctly’. Evidently, I must need a different version of flash. I’ll keep looking, but if anyone can provide a link-that would be excellent!

Then I went to find the Chrome 64-bit installation. That one was actually a lot quicker to download and install. So far, I’ve no problems at all playing the videos that Firefox would not play for me.

Internet Explorer comes in a disappointing third place in my un-scientific browser comparison. In fact, I couldn’t even find an install for IE 8 for Windows 7 64-bit. How amazingly short-sighted is that! I did find this link for IE 8 for Vista, but it won’t work with Windows 7. So I’ll have to stick with the same, slow IE 8 that 32-bit machines use.

My Findings

Fastest – Chrome runs faster on my Lenovo than the other two browsers

Compatibility – Chrome seems to keep everything working the same as before while I had problems both with Firefox add-ins and it won’t play Flash videos.

Security – I don’t find just a whole lot about how they rank with security—with Chrome, there’s the privacy issue that they say we really don’t need to worry about. Firefox has been highly praised by IT people I respect, so I will give that one to Firefox. IE has had multiple browser security problems and is a bit slow to release fixes for them.

Conclusions

When I’m using my Lenovo, I’ll probably use a combination of both browsers, but probably Firefox as my primary. It’ll be nice to have Chrome as a back-up browser for playing Flash videos. I only use IE when I’m editing websites in Office Live.

Even though 64-bit has been out since around 2003, the software to utilize it is still not there. I found a site called 64x Software that might be helpful, but I’d sure like to get some links from some of you who are more experienced with 64-bit software.

For the similarities:

• Both are hosted, which means you don’t have to find and purchase hosting from a third-party and learn how to install software. Your posts are automatically backed up for you
• Both are free
• Both give the author the ability to upload photos and videos
• Both allow submission of posts via email and mobile phone. I see there’s a WordPress iPhone app, didn’t find one for Blogger
• Both feature helpful videos, although WordPress has recently come out with WordPress.tv, which seems a cut above what Blogger has

Blogger Features:

• Use your Google account credentials to sign up for Blogger – one less account login to keep track of
• Choose a name (URL) for your blog and have the ability to easily change it later, or use your own domain name
• Add a gadget to your blog that connects your blog to your Picasa account to show off your photos (limited to Picasa photos (owned by Google)
• We mentioned the ability to embed videos in your blog – you can link to Google Video or  YouTube
• Ability to make your blog private, i.e. by invitation only. Great feature for families with kids to keep photos and family information for friends and family only
• Ability to add others as authors or administrators. An Administrator can do everything you can do (may not want this), Authors only have the ability to write, post and edit their own writings
• Ability to embed audio (podcasts) into your blog. Also provided are instructions to get your podcast into iTunes
• Wide choice of themes and Blogger makes it easy to revise your theme to customize to your needs
• If you have a blog on another platform, you won’t be able to import it into Blogger, so if your blog is somewhere else right now, you might not want to switch
• Limited to 1GB of on-line storage, (less than WordPress), but if you have your pictures linked to Picasa, that doesn’t count against your limit

WordPress Features:

• Ability to import your blog from other platforms such as Yahoo! 360, Blogger, Type-Pad, Moveable-Type and other WordPress blogs
• Over 75 themes from which to choose. If you’re handy with CSS, you can revise your template. Some templates allow custom pictures in the headers
• WordPress has Askimet spam protector. This feature saves a lot of your time and aggravation weeding and eliminating spam
• Ability to add other editors/authors and give them more specialized permissions than Blogger allows
• Ability to make the entire blog private (you can invite up to 35 people to have viewing privileges, more with a paid upgrade)
• You get 3 GB of storage (equal to about 2,500 pictures)
• Import photos and videos – link your blog to Flickr or Photobucket
• Great widgets that are super easy to add and you don’t need to worry about knowing html, such as adding an image widget

These are the main features as I see them, feel free to leave a comment with a feature that has helped you out.

If you haven’t started a blog and are thinking about it, which should you use? I’m a WordPress user. I started out with the .com and switched over to the .org (self-hosted) about 7 months ago. Before I started bloggingl I did a little research and it seemed to me then, as it does now, that WordPress seems more suited for business or semi-business use while Blogger seems more suited for personal blogs. To me, the ‘W’ icon seems more elegant than the ‘b’ icon that Blogger uses.

With WordPress, there’s room to upgrade to the self-hosted WordPress where you’ll discover endless customization and possibilities with plug-ins, e-commerce, etc. WordPress seems to attract more developers who are writing/coding great themes and plug-ins (I’m using i-Themes for my theme). WordPress conducts popular low-cost ‘WordCamps‘ all over the world. If you’re into optimizing and tracking visitors and trends, then WordPress is the platform for you. If you’re looking for more of a personal journal or a way to share pictures and stories with far-flung family and friends, I’d go with Blogger.

Tree Style Tabs

This is a browser add-on – for Mozilla Firefox users only. You can click the link to read about all the features of this great add-on. I got it because it neatly puts all my browser tabs on the left side of my screen (you can put it right or on top too, your choice). The names of my windows/tabs are all right there and they are easier to see and locate than when I had the ‘old-fashioned’ tabs at the top of my screen before this add-on. When I didn’t have it, then my tabs would become too scrunched up and messy-looking at the top of my screen. It seemed difficult to locate what I was looking for. Now, they flow down the left side of my screen and sub-tabs will automatically open under a main tab, i.e. if I have Facebook open and click on something, the tab will indent and keep it all very orderly. I just love it and wish all browsers had this feature.

Evernote – Remember Everything  

Evernote is a great web-based tool that does so many things and stores them for you. I use the free version, but if you’re a power user, there’s a paid version for you. I’ve used it for storing software keys, receipts, research, pictures, even some blog posts with great information in them. Of course, there’s a portable version for your Blackberry, iPhone, Android and other phones. There’s great help videos and Evernote suggests many uses for its product.

The best thing about it (besides being free), is that Evernote organizes all the notes you throw up there and makes them searchable. For example, I grabbed some information I wanted on flights and  using my evernote icon in my system tray, quickly saved it to my space. Then later, all I had to do was to go back and type in a couple words in the search box and it found it right away – no tedious searching through pages of information. If you’re the ultra-organized type, you can type in your own tags and make notebooks from within Evernote. Great software.

Snipping Tool      

This is for Vista & Windows 7 users only. Perhaps Apple has a version of it, I just don’t know. If you have the aforementioned OS, you’ll want to pin this one to your start menu. I find myself using it nearly every day. There are so many times I need a screenshot, a logo, or there’s something I need to show someone. It just takes a moment to start the tool and capture the image or text I need. You can snip anything from a small section to the entire page. Then you can annotate it before cutting and pasting into your email, or whatever. Read about it.

Pandora

Pandora is your internet music source – at least it is for me. I found it a few years ago and find myself pulling it up nearly every day to use. You do have to set up an account and then you’ll get 40 free hours of music a month. Once I went over my limit and for .99, I could listen for the rest of the month – paid via PayPal. You can pay $36 for unlimited and ad and commercial free listening per year. There are portable versions for different phones and there’s information on the site about different appliances that will stream Pandora (Roku, Sonos, etc.). I used to see them advertise a free standing radio-type device that worked with broadband or wi-fi, but I don’t see it advertised on their website.

Goog-411

Never pay for phone information again! I’ve got 1-800-GOOG-411 programmed into my cell phone and use it as my 411 source now. Just dial the number and it’ll ask you city and state and then it’ll ask for a business name or category, (pizza, movie theatre, etc.).  It may return more than one result, just listen carefully and press the number of the one you want and it will connect you for free. I think it will also send you a text of the number in case you want to store it in your phone for future use. Right now, it only has business listings – no personal/residential listings. Put it in your phone, or read more about it.

We ditched our landline earlier this year and now use T-Mobile’s @home service. We still have our old land-line phone number, but we can’t use it to fax, bummer. That’s when I became interested in what was out there for faxing from my computer.

First, I have to say if you have documents generated on your computer, internet faxing is a quick, inexpensive and convenient way to send your information directly to a fax machine where it prints out just like you fed it through a machine on your end.

Here’s a place to look at several fax reviews. These all come with a monthly fee, but it’s much less per month than paying for your phone line and the ink your fax machine guzzles each month. Have you priced your local print shop, Staples or Office Depot for their fax fees? Our local Staples quoted me about $1/page and the guy told me the prices were pretty much the same around town.I think he was embarrassed to tell me the price, but I’m glad he warned me before I had to shell out $12 for my fax.  What a racket!

If you’re looking for free faxing, efax allows free incoming faxes.   It’s hard to find this feature on their site anymore, but you can use the link. You’ll be assigned a number, but don’t expect to get one in your area code. If you sign up for the pay accounts, then that is available. I believe you have to receive a fax at least once a month to keep your number.

I recently found FaxZero and really like it, with a couple of reservations. I like it because you can send two free faxes a day with a limit of 3 pages each. The three pages can be text you type or documents. There are two shortcomings: they accept only .doc, .docx, or .pdf and only one document per fax. So an excel or picture file can’t be sent with FaxZero. The other is that only one document can be attached per fax. Even with their premium service, only one document can be attached. Their premium service is $1.99 per fax with a limit of 15 pages/1 document per fax. It’s great if you can get everything into one document. But this is too limiting for me.

The fax service I found that allows multiple documents to be attached and supports up to 178 file formats is myfax. Their lowest plan is $10/month, which seems to be a great deal if you fax more than 10 pages a month.

I’ve used both efax and FaxZero and they’ve both worked just fine. For my needs, I still need a stand alone fax machine from time to time to send documents not on my computer. Luckily, I have a friend at a near by office who allows me the use their machine for free.

As a traveler and travel arranger of hundreds of trips, I wish TripIt would have been around when huge chunks of my time went to making and communicating travel plans.

TripIt came about in 2006 from frustrated, but technically savvy travelers in Silicon Valley. They wanted the ability to have all their travel plans condensed in one place using software that builds and revises an on-line, shareable and printable itinerary.

TripIt does all this and more. Set up your free account at TripIt and jump right in setting up your profile and adjusting your settings for sharing and privacy.

TripIt seems really big on the ability to proclaim your travel plans to the world. Choose from LinkedIn, Windows Live, RSS feeds, Plaxo and a Twitter-like app as well. When you initially set up your account, TripIt will encourage you to let the software scour your contacts for any other TripIt users. If it can’t find any, they will ask your permission to send everyone in your address book an invite to join. So be careful where you click. Some travelers, especially groups, could find this feature helpful.

What It Does and How To Get It Done

It’s not complicated – simply forward your travel confirmations to plans@tripit.com. That’s pretty much it. The illustration below is a current listing of the many travel companies from which TripIt can process travel confirms. From there, TripIt will organize by date your air, hotel and car reservations. If you’ve made dinner reservations, it will add that too. In addition to this, it automatically adds in weather, maps and directions.

Say you have an upcoming trip and you’ve done some on-line research and wish it could be incorporated into your itinerary, just use TripClipper to send your ‘clips’ directly to your account. No more writing notes on scraps of paper that get lost.

Keep your travel plans in sync by following instructions to add and automatically have your travel plans updated in Outlook 2007, Google Calendar, Lotus Notes, iPhone and iCal. Check the link for detailed instructions for each supported calendar type.

Mobile App

When we’re traveling we need instant access to our itineraries. TripIt has a mobile app and  has developed apps specifically for the Android, iPhone and is nearly finished with the Blackberry app.Go to m.tripit.com on your mobile phone to get set up. With these apps, you’ll be able to call your hotel or airline with a simple click.

Misplaced your itinerary? No problem. Just send an email to plans@tripit.com and your itinerary will be emailed to you.

For Travel Arrangers, Virtual Assistants, Admins

If you are a travel arranger for several people, simply set up an arranger account and have the ability to set up individual travel plans for all your travelers and keep them informed as to any changes.

With Tripit Pro you also get ($69/year):

• point tracking – keeps track of all your frequent flyer programs
• alternate flights – get options for alternate flights if your scheduled flight has problems
• itinerary monitoring – you’ll receive text messages about flight delays or gate changes
• ability to automatically share every trip with key people

Whether a corporate, small business or individual traveler, why not sign up for TripIt and try it out. It looks like a great timesaver and resource.