Leopard

Yesterday, I upgraded my Mac Mini and Macbook from Tiger to the newest Mac OS X release dubbed as Leopard. I’m not going to make an in-depth review of this much hyped OS. Others have done a great job already. Anyway, 2 hours of using, here’s what I’ve noticed so far:

* the iTunes-like Finder is not only cool but really useful. I don’t have to open files anymore to see its contents. It’s viewable from Finder.

* On networked computers, the new way to view the shared computers on Finder is really cool. Previously with Tiger, I have to manually connect to our server. Now, it’s so Windowish, you can see all the shared computers on the network — which is, in my opinion a good move from OS X.

* As of blogging, I’m backing up my system through Time Machine. This is, in my opinion, one of the most important upgrade from Tiger as far as office (or even personal) computing is concerned. I felt this since I lost a very important file a week ago which will take me 3 days to redo.

* Having said those, my general assessment is, if you’re coming from Tiger and you’re looking for huge system changes, you’ll be disappointed. Leopard is simply Tiger with a simple look revision and upgraded Finder look-and-feel. All others you can live without.

Gmail is now 5GB

It all started as an eye popping 2 GB space for your emails. After a couple of years, it has grown to 150%.

Great companies evolve. They hates status quo.

Free online tools for the technopreneur

1. Email/Documents/Calendar

Google Apps (Free)

Personalized email. Work on your documents anywhere there is an internet connection. Schedule. Lots of goodies. Simple set-up.

2. Online CRM

Zoho (Free, 3 users)

I particular like the Web to Case feature. It generates a form which you can publish on your website. An excellent customer support tool. More details at http://zohocrm.wiki.zoho.com/Working-with-Cases.html

3. Online / Paper Billing

Freshbooks (Free, 3 active clients)

Great service for freelancers, small business, etc. Accepts PayPal for credit card processing. A nice workaround for the three-client limitation: after a client has paid, just deactivate the account (reactivate the following billing period). Remember the term “active”
client :-)

4. Payment Processor

Paypal, Standard Business (1.9% to 2.9% + $0.30 USD)

For a low-volume, low-cost, easy-to-implement processor— nothing beats P/P. Keep an eye on Amazon Micro Payment. Wishlist: Smart and Globe would come up with a cut-and-paste micropayment ecommerce implementation for a website and none of the horrendous paperwork requirement.

5. Voice Mail / Local US Number

GrandCentral (Free for now, got acquired by Google)

Free voicemail, free local number, accessible online, redirects; am
not complaining. Or you can try Gizmo ($3/mo)

Originally posted at Ph-Cyberview by a guy nick named “bus”. I just think it’s useful to post it here.

My first Paypal transaction

As I mentioned before, I see a great potential that Paypal is bringing in as far as Philippine ecommerce is concerned.

I’m kind of documenting the success (or failure) of Paypal here in the Philippines. And I’m taking the risk — I’m trying it myself without precedents. Yesterday, I received my first transaction from a client abroad. Then I transfered the amount to my Unionbank EON account. Paypal notes that this transaction will be completed in 5 to 7 days. I’m going to wait and report here.

Anyone who has done this ahead of me? How did it go?

Why I love Multiply.com

I have recently activated 2 blogs at Multiply.com — my second blog called it’s.not.about.me. and Grace Place’s blog (yes, there will be an official announcement regarding this change). Two reasons why I like Multiply.com:

* Unlike popular social networking site Friendster.com, Multiply.com is not about the number of friends you have in your list. It is about the quality of connections. The site has a way to force you to identify your relationship with the new connection request. And in my short experience of being active at Multiply, it does work. You tend to read updates from friends and relatives that you do know.

* The tools are well thought of. I mean, look at the AJAX feel of most part of the site. Right tool and feature at the right place. While nothing beats WordPress as a blogging tool, their own blogging software is good enough. You can upload files, insert files and edit wysywyg.

* You have a whopping 1 GB of space! Yeah! They were not explicit about it, but I read somewhere that their CEO mentioned about this space. That’s a lot, really. And we’re talking about the idea of using it for podcasting purposes.

I just hope that Multiply users will know how to use the tool properly. Here are a couple of suggestions:

- Don’t play the “I have a thousand contact and you have 2″ game. Add only those who you really know. It’s a way to maximize the use of this social networking tool.

- Do read your contacts’ updates. They know it. And they will reciprocate — they will read yours, too.

- Comment on their posts. It’s a way to interact on the web. It’s a way to build relationships through social networking.

Update from its.not.about.me – Why a new blog?