How To Do It Online For Free

how to translate text or websites

2008-05-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Paste text into the text box and select the language you'd like the text to be translated into.

Alternately, you can enter a website's url and Google will translate the whole site for you. Google currently supports the following languages:

From the site:

English to/from Arabic
English to/from Chinese (Simplified)
English to/from Chinese (Traditional)
English to/from Dutch
English to/from French
English to/from German
English to/from Greek
English to/from Italian
English to/from Korean
English to/from Japanese
English to/from Russian
English to/from Spanish
English to and from Portuguese
Chinese (Simplified) to/from Chinese (Traditional)
German to/from French
Link

How to keep track of your favourite tv shows

2008-05-11T13:20:00.000-07:00

This site allows you to select from a long list of tv shows and it then produces and RSS feed that will let you know when your shows are on next. A bit like an RSS tv guide.
Link

How to search multiple search engines at once

2008-05-10T07:43:00.000-07:00

Enter your search term at the top and see the results from Google, Yahoo, Technorati, Ask, YouTube, Truveo, Flickr, Blinkx, Ice Rocket, Digg, Topix, Newsvine and Tweetscan all on one page. You can customize the location of the results and bookmark the page for future searches.
Link

Redesign Your Room Online

2008-05-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

Design your room in 3d or upload a photo. This tool allows you to add all kinds of furniture and accessories, try out different wll colours and much more. You see a 2d and a 3d view via a movable camera.
Link

How to map your family tree

2008-05-05T19:39:00.001-07:00

Over at it's our tree you can map your family tree online for free. Just sign up and start adding family members according to their relationship. Zoom in and out of your family tree.
Link

How to convert any unit to anything

2008-05-02T16:26:00.001-07:00

How many litres in a gallon? Feet in a metre? Convert almost any type of unit here.

Including:

Area
Bits & Bytes
Density
Energy
Force
Length

Power
Mass
Pressure
Speed
Temperature
Volume

Link

How to clean up your hard drive

2008-04-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

CCleaner cleans out unnecessary files that not only take up space but can impact performance. Fully configurable and of course, FREE!

Here's what it found on my 3 year old computer:

Yes, that's an astonishing amount of unneeded clutter. In the end it removed about 7 gigabytes of files though you will probably not see these kind of results.

I should note that the next time I ran it the scan was completed in under 3 seconds

Removes, among other things (From the site):

From Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera:
Temporary files, URL history, cookies, Autocomplete form history, index.dat.

From Windows:
Recycle Bin, Recent Documents, Temporary files and Log files.
Registry cleaner
Advanced features to remove unused and old entries, including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more... also comes with a comprehensive backup feature.
Third-party applications
Removes temp files and recent file lists (MRUs) from many apps including Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, MS Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and many more...
100% Spyware FREE
This software does NOT contain any Spyware, Adware or Viruses.

Link

How to chat on any instant messaging service

2008-04-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

Meebo is a free web based instant messager that allows you to sign into aim, Yahoo, Google talk or msn, all for free and in your broswer. Great for use in internet cafes that don't have your IM software installed.
Link

Create a CD from any music format

2008-04-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

Pepsky Free Audio Converter will allow you to create a standard or MP3 music CD from any number of formats. It also does a lott more, like simple audio file conversion and CD ripping.

It supports a large number of formats including:
WAV, MP3, AIF, WMA, AAC, AIF, VOC, FLAC, M4A, OGG, AU, FLV, and now also APE.
Link

How to easily share large Files

2008-04-23T07:56:00.000-07:00

File Dropper bills itself as "The simplest file hosting website ever" Simply upload a file and you will get a link to download the file that you can use later to retrieve your file or share it with someone. This free file hosting service allows you to upload files up to 5GB in size!

Link

How to find the cheapest airfare

2008-04-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

Farecast let's you search for and compare flight tickets to and from the destination of your choice amongst the major online ticket agents

Link

Also try these excellent sites for multiple airfare searches:

bookingbuddy.com
vayama.com
kayak.com
Momondo.com
dohop.com
yapta.com (Will track fares and send you alerts when they change)
Hotwire.com
Farechase

How to find free Wi-Fi internet access hotspots

2008-04-21T05:12:00.000-07:00

Enter your city or postal/zip code and you will be presented with a great list of free Wi-Fi Hotspots.

For now it seems to be quite US-centric but I imagine that will change. Don't forget that you will of course, need to be online when you do the search!
Link

How to convert your presentation to video

2008-04-20T04:29:00.000-07:00

Would you like to put your PowerPoint presentation on the YouTube? Or perhaps on your website, blog or iPod? Sign up with authorSTREAM, upload your presentation and download your video!
Link

How to synchronize files between computers

2008-04-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

If you use multiple computers and want to make sure the files are updated on all of them (work and home for example) Syncplicity allows you to do it effortlessly...and for free!

from the site:

Syncplicity offers unlimited storage.
No configuration is required.
Works with the folders & websites you do.
Exclude any folder, keep syncing the rest.
Just one click to sync or share.
One click for intuitive, elegant status.

Link

How to find a job online

2008-04-18T06:06:00.000-07:00

Indeed is a new job search that searches multiple online job sites. Enter your profession and location and search.

The advanced search option gives you a slew of great options to narrow down your job search should you need to.

including:

With all of these words
With the exact phrase
With at least one of these words
With none of these words
With these words in the title
From this company
Show jobs of type
Show jobs from
Distance from city
Age of posting

Links:
U.S. job search
Canadian job search

How to find sounds

2008-04-17T04:21:00.000-07:00

Want to replace your system sounds, identify a bird call or need a sound effect for your home video? Findhounds.com allows you to search through over 1 million sounds and sound effects.

How to backup your email online

2008-04-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

Amic email is a FREE email backup with support for all the major email clients.

From the site:
Amic Email Backup can save emails, address book, settings, mail and news accounts, message rules, blocked senders lists and signatures to a single, compact, compressed backup file that can be easily restored when necessary.

Link

How to save money on your cell phone bill

2008-04-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

If you live in the U.S. Enter a few statistics about your cellphone usage and Billshrink.com will show you all the options available in your zip code. You can even import data from your phone bill and it will analyze your potential savings.

Link

How to share a large file online

2008-04-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

Senduit allows you to temporarily and privately, share a file, up to 100 MB in size online. Sign up, upload your file and share the link with friends or family. No need to remember to delete it, simply choose the expiration date from 30 minutes to one week.

How to choose the right time for a meeting

2008-04-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Just click the grid for all the times that are good for you and whenisgood.net then sends you a link to circulate to all the desired participants. They see your proposed times and click on when they are free. You see the combined results

Features (from the site)

Eats time zone confusion - perfect for international conference calls
Beautiful personalised URLs for each of your events
You write the invitations - no cheesy automatic emails
Free for basic usage

How to create a screensaver online

2008-04-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Instasaver allows you to upload photos, choose a background, transition type and set the delay between each image. You can even add a text watermark if you want. When you are done you can download your screensaver.

How to have a meeting online

2008-04-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

Vyew is a free 'always-on' collaboration tool that lets you give presentations, share information, colaborate on projects, host webinars, share documents, annotate content, train and much more.

How to create an online survey

2008-04-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

Formassembly allows you to create all kinds of surveys and other web forms online. View the results as raw data or charts. The free service is ad supported.

Some of the features:

Conditional fields
Supports 31 languages and international character sets
Multiple pages
Input validation
Use form and field templates
Repeatable fields
Web standard compliance
Calculated fields
Images, logos and rich text
Automated statistics and charts
Built-in protection against cross-site scripting and SQL injection attacks

How to get a disposable e-mail address

2008-04-08T12:16:00.001-07:00

If you ever need to register for something on the web but don't want the inevitable flood of spam that follows, use a temporary e-mail address from Mailinator.com The best part is you don't even have to register at Mailinator. Just make up an address that ends in @mailinator.com, enter that name on the website and you will see any mail that was sent to that address. Once you've used your email you can forget about it and never worry about it again.

How to identify a font

2008-04-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Over at Myfonts.com you can upload an image of some text and it will attempt to identify the name of the font or the closest match. I tested it with the font Snap (the example below) and it got it right away.

How to remodel your home online

2008-04-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

Signup for a free acount and re-arrange your furniture to your hearts content. Once created you can then save, send, or print your floorplans, or even place them on your own website.
Link

How to create a website in minutes

2008-04-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

No experience neccessary at Weebly.com Easy to use drag and drop interface. Sign up for a domain name or have your site hosted for free. You can customize and switch designs on the fly. If you just need to get something on the web quickly, this could be a good option.

How to create an online presentation

2008-04-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

With ZohoShow you can create online presentations and either access them online or send them to coworkers, friends or clients.

Some features (from the site):

Access from anywhere, anytime
Access, import, edit and share presentations from anywhere and anytime
Sharing and Collaboration
No more emailing around of presentation files. Share your presentations with your friends/colleagues and the shared presentations can be viewed/edited with just a browser.
Present from Remote
Give a presentation to a client who is half a globe away. Do your demos while at your seat.
Embedding
Make your presentations public. Embed them in your blog or website for easy viewing of your readers

And of course, as is everything mentioned on this blog, it's free (for personal use) once you register.

How to create your own wiki website

2008-04-03T09:15:00.000-07:00

Over at Wetpaint.com you can quickly and easily create a wiki on virtually any topic you like, for free. It's easy to do and has all kinds of social networking tools to share you wiki, link to Facebook and more.

Verify your email contacts

2008-04-02T06:39:00.001-07:00

If you've ever wanted to know if your contacts are out of date without actually e-mailing the person in question, this free service from verify-email.org will do just that.
Enter the email in question and find out in seconds whether it's still active.

How to design a logo online in seconds flat

2008-04-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

You won't win any design awards but at cooltext.com you can pick from a number of styles and then customize your logo.

How to start a business online

2008-03-29T07:26:00.001-07:00

Flying Cart allows you to open an online store and accept credit cards as well as PayPal. The free version restricts you to 5 products but it's a great no-risk start.

What's unique about Flying Cart is that they don't charge any commission at all (Paypal will charge you a percentage however).
I suppose they are counting on you expanding and signing up for their premium services. You don't need a website as they will host the store on thier servers.

How to convert online video (Youtube, etc)

2008-03-28T08:20:00.001-07:00

Vixy.net will convert online video into either MPEG4, AVI, MOV, MP4 (for Ipods) MP3 or 3GP and allows you to download it. A great way to take your favourite Youtube video with you or burn it to a DVD.
Just paste the link into it's window and it will convert it online.

How to convert text to an MP3 audio file

2008-03-27T07:29:00.000-07:00

VozMe will create an MP3 from any text you paste into the text box on it's front page. No registration neccessary. Sure it sounds like a robot but it could be useful if you need to read a large document while you drive to work on an MP3 player. You can choose a male or female voice. It takes a few seconds to a minute to create an MP3 which you can then play or download your mp3 file

How to save notes online

2008-03-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

You can save notes to this webpage and access them later. The best part is there is no registration required so you will be up and running in seconds

How to log time spent on projects

2008-03-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

Anyone who bills for their time or needs to keep track of time spent on particular projects knows how hard it is to stay on top of your records.

Toggl is a free web-based time tracking service that enables you to track time spent on any task. It supports teams of people, multiple projects and much more. You can generate reports to see where your time was spent, categorize by client, and even export to a spreadsheet. Toggl is also available as a desktop widget so you dont even need to open your browser.

How to Create an Online Photo Album

2008-03-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

Picassa is a free online photo album. You can upload images to your album from their free Picassa software or from a web browser. Once online you can add comments and then share single images or the whole album by sending an email to friends or family.

Your invited friends can then add comments to your photos.

Some of it's Features:

Over 1GB of free storage
Download albums your friends share with you
Add comments and captions
Comment on your friends' albums
Share as few or as many photos you want to.

How to get free postage

2008-03-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

Esnailer allows you to write a letter online and they will mail it anywhere in the United States for free!

There is a Canadian version as well called Easypost.ca but the site was down when I last looked.

How to remember your phone number

2008-03-23T14:13:00.001-07:00

Phonespell helps you find out what words your phone number spells. A great way to tell people your phone number and make it easy to remember.

How to backup your computer

2008-03-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

Free online backup Services
There are many paid backup services which allow you to upload your documents, photos or virtually anything on your computer. These can also be great, not just for peace of mind but also as a way to share large files with friends or family. Many of them are free up to a certain amount of disk space.

Some things to keep in mind:

Free services may have slower upload rates
What will happen if the company runs out of money?
Does it backup your computer automatically or do you have to upload the files manually?

Here are a few of the free ones:

adrive 50GB Free
Orbitfiles 6GB free $5 per month for unlimited
xDrive 5GB
ElephantDrive .5 Gig free $9.95 per month Unlimited

How to remember your to-do list

2008-03-22T09:48:00.001-07:00

Remember the Milk allows you to keep online to-do lists. Email a task to your free account and RTM will send you a reminder when you need it via any number of supported methods including
email, SMS, and instant messenger (AIM, Gadu-Gadu, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, Skype and Yahoo! are all supported)

Never forget a family member's birthday again! Some of the things you can do with RTM include:

Manage tasks
Create and sort lists
Share tasks and lists with others
View the location of events on a map
Sync with Google Calender
Sync with Twitter

How to find the best shipping rate

2008-03-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

Shipgooder allows you to enter any two postal codes in the USA or Canada and it will compare all the shipping rates for overnight, two day, ground etc. The site compares rates between FedEx, UPS, DHL, Purolator, the U.S. Postal Service and Canada Post.

In my search I was able to save $13.74 on a ground shipment from Toronto to Washington D.C

The range of rates for next day were even more dramatic ($81.63 difference) and DHL, the most expensive for ground shipping was the cheapest.

How to pronouce names, places and things

2008-03-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

Type in a word on Inogolo and it will allow you to hear someone pronouncing it by clicking on hte play icon.
I tried Vincent Van Gogh to see whether it would give the American or Dutch pronounciation. I was pleasantly surprised to see it offer both. If it doesn't know the word it will submit your word as a suggestion for future inclusion.

How to find the name of a song

2008-03-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

Got a song in your head but can't remember what it's called? Heard a song you love on the radio but don't know who did it? You need to visit SongTapper. Tap out the beat of the song using the spacebar and SongTapper will try to identify it for you. It's surprisingly accurate, it correctly identified 3 out of 5 songs I tried.

How to scan a file for viruses in 31 virus checkers at once

2008-01-31T11:11:00.000-08:00

Upload a file to Virustotal.com and it will scan it for you in over 30 of the top virus scanners. You may have to wait a bit but it's definitely worth it. My test file was checked and cleared in about 3 minutes. No guarantees of course, but it's certainly worth a bit of peace of mind.
Link

How to convert anything to anything

2008-01-23T19:07:00.000-08:00

This free online converter will convert anything you send it to almost any format imaginable, for free!

Do it here

Below are just a few of the formats it will convert for you, for free!

Raw text,
HTML,
XHTML,
Microsoft Word,
RTF,
PDF,
PS,
Open Office,
Star Writer,
Pocket Word,
Word Perfect
CSV,
dBase,
Microsoft Excel,
Pocket Excel,
Lotus 123,
Quattro Pro,
Star Calc,
Open Office spreadsheet
MathML,
Star Math,
Open Office math
Microsoft Powerpoint,
Star Impress,
Open Office presentation

video presets:

Windows,
Linux,
Mac,
SVCD,
DVD,
Pocket PC,
Mobile phone,
Nokia 770,
Nokia N800,
iPOD,
iPHONE,
Sony PSP,
Nintendo DS,
Wii,
Zune,
S1MP3 MP4 player

Audio presets:
WAV to WMA,
3GP,
MP3,
OGG,
AAC,
AMR,
FLAC,
MPC,
MMF,
AU,
AIFF,
QCP.
FLAC to WMA,
3GP,
WAV,
MP3,
OGG,
AMR,
AAC,
MPC,
MMF,
AU,
AIFF,
QCP
VQF (Yamaha TwinVQ) to WMA,
3GP,
WAV,
MP3,
OGG, A
MR,
AAC,
FLAC,
MMF,
AU,
AIFF,
QCP.QCP.QCP to WMA,
3GP,
WAV,
MP3,
OGG,
AAC,
FLAC,
MPC,
AMR,
AU,
AIFF,
MMF.
3GP to WMA,
WAV,
MP3,
OGG,
AAC,
FLAC,
MPC,
AMR,
AU,
AIFF,
MMF.
+ Amiga files (8SVF, MAUD),
Psion files (PRC, WVE),
SNDT,
SF,
SoundBlaster VOC,
AVR,
TXW,
Soundtracker files (MOD, XM FastTracker, IT ImpulseTracker, S3M ScreamTracker)

Convert your files for free

How to increase your typing speed, without trying

2008-01-23T17:09:00.000-08:00

Eliminate repetitive typing. How often do you re-type certain phrases or even paragraphs in your e-mail or other writings?

Phrase-express allows you to easily setup shortcuts for commonly used phrases. Instead of typing your address, just type 'adr' or hit 'ctrl-backspace" or any other text or key combination you choose and PhraseExpress will type out the rest.

Also:
- Launch programs using shortcuts or key combinations
- PhraseExpress automatically learns and remembers commonly typed phrases.
- Very easy to setup and run
- Installs quickly
- PhraseExpress is FREE!
- Watch a video of it's key features here

Download here