Fax From Internet Services

There are a lot of companies that perform fax from Internet services. Most have a monthly fee, a setup fee and other fees. But they still wind up being considerably cheaper than owning and maintaining your own fax machine in your home. We have chosen three fax on Internet services based on reputation, price and functionality. They were also chosen because all of them have a free trial period.

eXtremeFax – eXtremeFax is a great fax from Internet service that has a 500 and 1200 monthly page plans. The 500 plan begins at only $3.99 per month and charges 4.9 cents per page above that. Based on the quantity of business you do, this is a very inexpensive fax solution. You can send and receive faxes via email, preview and print faxes and create custom cover sheets. Simply set eXtremeFax as your printer and print to it and the fax will be sent.

Online Fax Plans:

500 at $3.99 per month (4.9 cents each after that)

1200 at $14.99 per month (2.9 cents each after)

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OneSuite - OneSuite has a very low monthly fee and offers a pay as you go approach. Your bill each month can be extremely cheap if you do not fax a lot. They have a basic plan that is even cheaper but lacks a lot of the features the Plus service offers.

Fax On Internet Plans:

OneSuite Fax Basic is $1.00 a month @ 2.5 cents a fax.

Onsuite Fax Plus is $2.95 per month @ 2.5 cents a fax.

The Plus plan offers a lot more features and is a no-brainer when making your choice between the two fax plans. Read here for a comparison of fax features and pricing.

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Send2Fax - Send2Fax gives you a free toll free number in addition to their Internet fax service. Pretty simple to use, just email your fax to them and they fax it off.

Online Fax Plans:

150 page plan is $8.95 ( .12 cents each after that).

350 page plan is $12.95 ( .12 cents each after that).

In conclusion, we will probably always need to send and receive faxes to some degree. But the costs associated with buying and maintaining your own fax machine is a thing of the past with fax on Internet services that provide fax from Internet service at low monthly rates. Read our other productivity tips.

Let us know which fax From Internet service you use

Free Online Audio and Video Tools

Aviary

Aviary is unlike any site we’ve seen. It has a suite of so many powerful tools, you’ll spend hours there creating audio and video, as well as watching what others have managed to do. The suite currently includes the following:

• Image Editor that allows you to create or edit images using layers and editing tools similar to Photoshop.
• Screen Capture using the Talon Firefox plugin allows you to take full screen captures or a region of a page, then edit it online or save it to your computer.
• Vector Editor uses the Raven engine to create fully scalable vector art appropriate for logos or tee shirt designs.
• Effects Editor allows you to create amazing things using Peacock.
• Music Creator allows you to create loops and simulations from various instruments.
• Audio Editor allows you to create mixes and beats from audio sources. Very similar to Garage Band.
• Image Markup allows you to grab images from anywhere and put circles, arrows and comments on them.

There’s just so much you can do with Aviary, you really have to look at their site. Visit the Aviary website.

JayCut

If you want to do video editing online, then this tool is a must. It’s very similar to Windows Movie Maker and Adobe Premiere. Simply drag and drop video clips, insert transitions and audio clips on the fly and then save the movie so you can download it to your computer. You can even export the finished product directly to YouTube.

Visit the JayCut website to look at their demo. The site is completely free, so be sure to register.

ScreenToaster

ScreenToaster is a free online video screen capture program that allows you to capture video of your screen in real time. Save the video to your computer or directly to YouTube. The quality is great and the interface is very easy to use. If you want to do training videos, lectures or demos, then this is a great online tool. You can register and work on saved or existing projects anytime. To begin recording, just click the big red button on their homepage.

Visit the ScreenToaster website to create your free account.

ClipNabber

ClipNabber allows you to download movies from YouTube and save them in several different formats. If you do not want to embed the YouTube Video (which is Flash) onto your website, or if you want to edit the clip, then you’ll need it to be in another format and Clipnabber allows you to save it as a MP4, Mobile or FLV file.

Visit the ClipNabber website to nab you some clips.

Pixlr

Pixlr is a free online image editor. It’s an easy to use Flash-based tool similar to Photoshop that allows you to create or edit images and then save them to your computer. You can create layers, effects, crop and add text. It’s a very useful tool for those who do not need all of the creation power of Photoshop.

Visit the Pixlr online image editor website.

In conclusion, all of these tools are useful and provide different services that are completely free. So if you’re looking for free applications online to help you stay productive and do things you were previously only able to do with expensive hardware and software, check out these sites and let us know what you think.

Never Work On Weekends

The number one rule is to never work on weekends. This does not necessarily mean Saturday and Sunday, but refers to your days off during the week. Being hyper-efficient means you need all the work you can get during the workweek. During your days off, slop on some sunscreen, maybe a hat and sunglasses and venture outside. Yes, I said outside. Since we both already know you will not be exercising during the week, take a walk, maybe ride a bike if you remember how. There is nothing more dangerous than a fit and tanned geek.

Get A Smart Phone

If you are in the tech industry and do not already have an iPhone, Droid or other smart phone capable of running email and other applications, then you are officially kicked out of the club. Shame on you. Shame on you. You need the ability to work on the move, and this means syncing your contacts, having a GPS and a program like Evernote to take notes and stay organized. Gmail and Google Calendar are essential. Having Outlook installed on your home computer is not helping you when you’re on the car. Sure, there are still ways to get those emails, but you will lose precious minutes you could be using to play Xbox or playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Your USB Thumbdrive is Your Friend

How many times have you downloaded Windows XP SP3 or Malwarebytes, only to sit at the computer any watch it download over and over again?  The Indians believe you lose a piece of your soul each time your picture is taken. A geek loses skin tone, muscle mass and other important physical attributes that help us find mates and reproduce. At this rate, geeks will slowly die off and become extinct.  Who will reboot the servers then, I ask?

So make sure you put the essential updates, utilities and other applications on a thumb drive and have it ready when you get to the job site. In fact, gather as much information about the job over the phone prior to leaving your house. This way, you can anticipate the drivers and other software you’ll need before getting to the job.

Remote PC Access is a Double-Edge Sword

While it is simply fabulous to connect to another computer remotely and fix it using programs like LogMeIn and Citrix’s GoToMyPC, you will find yourself supporting a lot more people–including friends and family. Once the word gets out that you can fix Uncle Joe’s computer even though you’re three hundred miles away, you might as well forget about having any free time. But it can bring you a lot more business, and if kept secret from everyone–including your spouse–you can make more money and still have a lot of time to do the things you like–such as leveling up in Modern Warfare 2.

Remember, the main goal of these tips for being more productive  is not to do less work, rather to accomplish all of your work during a four hour workday. Becoming a hyper-efficient geek machine means you extract the wasted time of a typical eight hour workday and accomplish your quota within a few hours. The remainder of your day should be spent tanning and stalking people on Facebook–if that’s what you’re into, of course.

How To Fix Corrupt Word Documents

Open the Word program. Go to File, then Open and navigate to the corrupt Word document. If you’re in Word 2007, click the Microsoft icon in the upper-left corner, then select Open. Highlight the document by clicking on it once. In the lower right-hand corner, you’ll notice the Open button has a small arrow on the side. Click that to expose more options. One of those will be Open and Repair. If you are able to get the Word document to open, see if you can copy the text and open a new, blank document and paste it in there. Creating a new document might prevent it from crashing again

Prevent The Need To Fix Corrupt Word Documents

In an effort to prevent the loss of data, you should consider rebooting the computer before beginning a big project, try not to multitask and have a reliable backup by occasionally selecting Save As and naming the document something different. If you have problems or questions about how to fix corrupt word documents you should join our free forum and ask our community.