Plant a tree for $1

Here’s a cool way to send an e-greeting and be an environment advocate at the same time. Postreach, creators of those popular instant commenting blog plugin, just launched Mokugift. According to the email sent by it’s advocates:

 nstead of sending an ecard you can send an eTree to a
friend.  Unlike ecards, eTrees are fun online gifts that you can display
all year round on an e-Island webpage.  For every eTree purchased,
mokugift will plant a tree in the real world. You can add the e-Island to
your blog and other sites where you can paste code.

The United Nations(UN) Billion Tree campaign has started the largest
environmental initiative ever. By sending friends eTrees via mokugift, you
can be a part of history, while making friends smile when they receive
your eTree gift.  Mokugift’s goal is to plant 1M trees in the real world
and send 1M more smiles.

Here’s a video of a sample eTree.

Songza, your internet jukebox

Do you have a song on top of your mind? You want to listen to it but don’t have the mp3 sitting on your iTunes?

Songza is your best friend. It’s works like a search engine — I even suspect that the site uses the Google API for their searches. You type in your song title or the singer, zoom! – you’ll have a list to play.

The interface is clean, straightforward.  If you have a broadband internet, Songza is your best companion while working in the office.

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.

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?