Business Hacks

If you routinely use Gmail to send e-mail, you know what a hassle it can be to create a new message when you’re in the middle of something else. You have to switch to a new tab, go to Gmail, click Compose, and so on. Who’s got time for all that? I don’t know about you, but I’m a busy man!

GmailThis! is an insanely handy bookmarklet that saves you most of those steps. Here, in handy video-tutorial form, is everything you need to know about using it.

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Second only to the Motor Vehicle office as the target of cruel jokes, the Post Office probably doesn’t really deserve its reputation. After all, what other branch of the government has gone to such great lengths to embrace the digital age for the convenience of its customers? For example: Did you know that you can use the USPS Web site to calculate the cost of packages and print postage online?

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Ever wonder if the “Twitterverse” is talking about you, your company, your blog, etc? Whether the buzz is positive or negative, it’s obviously in your best interests to read all about it. And now you can: BackTweets finds Twitter conversations related to any URL you specify. But there’s an even better way to use it.

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Ever wish you could have the same phone number for the rest of your life? And that you could make that number ring your home office, work office, and/or mobile phone at the same time? That’s the idea behind GrandCentral, a much-loved service that Google acquired way back in 2007. And after a seemingly endless wait, changes and improvements are finally afoot. That’s good news, but there’s a bit of bad as well.

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No matter who you are or where you are on the corporate ladder, you probably have some opportunities to delegate. Nonetheless, you might choose to do it all yourself, either because you’re intimidated by the thought of delegating or there’s a deceptive sense of satisfaction at doing the work yourself. In the end, though, not delegating is like a slow death; you overwhelm yourself with menial tasks that keep you from doing more important work, and you don’t give others the opportunity to grow.  Knowing how to delegate is one of the most important skills you can cultivate.  Read the rest of this entry »

You can’t put all the world’s knowledge in that report you’re writing, so you’d like to point to a few related Web sites. Good idea. Rather than reproducing the URL and making people copy and paste it themselves, you’d like to make it a real link, putting those resources just a click away. But you don’t know how to turn text into links in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. Don’t worry, we’re here to help.

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Remember the Acer Aspire One netbook? It’s the one I wrote about in my Netbook Diaries travelogue. Well, you know a gadget is popular when “modders” start going to work on it. And over at the tnkgrl Mobile blog, you can find a four-part series on modding the Aspire One. You won’t believe some of the cool ways you can trick out this tiny machine.

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Tethering is the act of linking your phone to your laptop for high-speed Internet access. TetherBerry brings tethering to the BlackBerry, effectively turning your handset into a wireless modem.

Palm and Windows Mobile users have long enjoyed this capability thanks to apps like USB Modem and PDAnet, respectively, but this is the first time BlackBerry users have been able to join the tethering party without some serious hackery.

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Want to spend less time hunting for commands in the Office 2007 ribbon? Then watch the exclusive Business Hacks video after the jump (for best results, switch to full-screen mode) to learn how to add your favorite commands to the toolbar that’s right next to the big Office button.

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The old laptops, desktops, monitors, printers, and scanners are piling up in the back corner, but getting rid of them at the local recycling center usually costs money.

That’s why it warms my heart that almost every day it seems another retailer is getting into the recycling business. This time around it’s Buy More Best Buy that’s offering to take your used electronics off your hands for free.

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