When you’re a business owner, CEO, Head of Department or just a hard-working employee, it’s important to have everything you need to do your job and do it well available to you 24/7. Thank goodness for the creation of smart phones and tablets – now it’s easier than ever to get work done on the go, and with these 7 great apps, you’ll be able to stay organized, stay productive and stay on top of your game no matter the place or time.

Scanner Pro by Readdle

Have you ever had a hard copy of a document that you wished you could email immediately to an intended recipient? Now you can! The Scanner Pro app takes quick pictures of multi-page documents and automatically converts them into industry standard PDF files that can then be stored or emailed.

Scanner Pro takes ridiculously high quality scans, and even removes shadows from the phone or tablet itself after the scan. Now you can quickly and easily scan every hard copy document you have and either store it electronically or email it without an actual scanner.

This app will cost you $6.99, but it’s been the #1 business app in the U.S., France, Italy, UK, Australia and 20 other countries for the past 2 years. It even syncs with other organization and business apps, like Evernote or mail, or you can sync to the cloud and store documents on other devices instantly. It’s really a must-have for any business professional who handles any kind of documents on the go.

Square by Square, Inc.

With this totally free app, you can accept credit card payments anytime, anywhere. Square makes it easy to swipe a credit card with their free card reader that plugs right into the headphone jack on your iPhone. The app itself is free, as well, and to receive the reader itself, all you do is enter your shipping address and the developers of the app ship it to you for free.

Every transaction carries at 2.75% transaction fee, but it’s a great option for small business owners who don’t yet have the ability to accept credit cards. The app makes it easy to track sales, calculate and add tip to cards automatically and get electronic receipts to the customer via text message or email. You can itemize everything you sell and keep track of pricing for each item so you don’t have to enter the price each time someone makes a purchase.

Square even accepts signatures by having customers sign directly on the mobile device. It’s as safe and secure as any other method of accepting credit cards, so customers can be assured that their credit card information isn’t going anywhere except to the transaction. Again, this app is a great option for small businesses or anyone who needs to consistently accept credit card payments.

Print ‘n’ Share by EuroSmartz, Ltd

Now with a simple touch of a button on your phone, you can send electronic documents to a printer to print a hard copy. The opposite of the Scanner Pro app, Print ‘n’ Share was created to allow users to print from anywhere to any printer that is WiFi or 3G enabled, or any wireless printer.

You can send documents, emails and even photos to a printer without any additional software needed with the Print ‘n’ Share app. It’s a bit pricey at $9.99, but totally worth it for any working professional on the go.

Flight Track Pro by Ken Kazez

Are you a business professional constantly on the go? Do you struggle with keeping track of flight information, delays, cancellations and even gate numbers while you travel? You won’t anymore with Flight Track Pro. This app automatically syncs your itineraries and gives real-time updates on flight statuses, making travel as easy as can be.

It will even keep track of gate numbers and seat numbers to help you stay even more organized during your business travels. Never again will you miss a flight because you’re running around from gate to gate searching for which one is yours! It even offers weather forecasts so you can plan your travel accordingly.

For the $9.99 that it costs to download this app, you get the ultimate travel organization and instant updates on your flights even when the app is close. To say that this app is worth the money would be a definite understatement if you’re a frequent flyer.

Mighty Meeting by MightyMeeting Inc.

Presentations, videos and any other meeting presentation documents can now be stored in the cloud and accessed anytime, anywhere with Mighty Meeting. This free app also lets you host online meets and share your presentations privately over a 3G or WiFi network.

There is no limit to the number of people you can invite to an online meeting that you create and present with Mighty Meeting, and each participant is also able to provide their thoughts and share their own presentations, as well. If you tend to be stuck in meetings at the most inconvenient times, this might be the app for you. It makes meetings possible anywhere you are.

OmniFocus by The Omni Group

If you’re the type to juggle tasks and forget things because there’s just so much on your plate, then this app is perfect for you! Slightly on the more expensive side at $19.99, OmniFocus is an app that not only organizes your tasks, but also helps you monitor tasks by person, project, date or place.

It’s the most organized app on the market, and many people swear by it and say they use it every single day and need it just to get through the day. It has sync capabilities so your task information can be shared from your iPhone app to your iPad to your Mac orMacBook.

If you have errands to run throughout the day, the app has a map that can help you visualize the distances between errands and how much time each one should take you. It also “forecasts” by looking at large tasks that are coming up in the near future and breaking them down into smaller, daily manageable tasks that can be done right now.

The perfect app for the unorganized, OmniFocus is helpful to anyone looking to keep track of how they spend their time on a daily basis and make sure the work that needs to get done in a day actually gets done.

By Trevor Mogg
Provided by 

Honestly, you try to do the right thing and it all blows up in your face. A Florida man who finally came around to the idea of giving up smoking decided to use an electronic cigarette to help him try to kick the habit.

So far so good, you might think. The problem for 57-year-old Tom Holloway, however, was that while it was in his mouth the thing exploded.

The explosion was so severe that it destroyed some of his front teeth, as well as part of his tongue, and left his face severely burned. On top of that, carpet, cushions and pictures in his home were set on fire.

Holloway, from Niceville, Florida, is reported to be recovering in an Alabama hospital. It’s believed a faulty battery caused the incident. The specific brand of electronic cigarette and battery hasn’t yet been identified although it’s thought that the battery was a rechargeable lithium type.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Joseph Parker, division chief for the North Bay Fire Department, said, “The best analogy is like it was trying to hold a bottle rocket in your mouth when it went off. The battery flew out of the tube and set the closet on fire.”

But before all those people reading this with a gradually-drooping electronic cigarette in their mouth consign it to the garbage can, the co-founder of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, Thomas Kiklas, told the AP that last year around 2.5 million Americans used electronic cigarettes and to his knowledge this is the first report of one exploding.

“There have been billions and billions of puffs on the cigarettes and we have not heard of this happening before,” he said

According to Kiklas, the battery works to generate an electric charge when the user inhales, which sets off a nicotine-filled mist that is supposed to give the taste and experience of smoking without all of the carcinogens that go with the real thing.

He added that the industry has never claimed that electronic cigarettes help people quit smoking, while the Food and Drug Administration said on its website last year that such electronic cigarettes could themselves be addictive and might even contain harmful chemicals.

As for Tom Holloway, one has to wonder if all the stress of the last couple of days has put the poor guy back on the real thing.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

Computerworld - The idea of a company having a chief mobility officer (CMO) isn’t a new one. But as enterprises scramble these days to establish mobile strategies, having a CMO could be a key to success, according to a new Forrester Research report.

Smartphones and tablets are “the manifestation of a much broader shift to new systems of engagement… [with] customers, partners and employees,” Forrester said in the 30-page report. “To remain vital in this business technology reformation, CIOs must step up and work with other executives to establish an office of the chief mobility officer to implement an enterprisewide mobile strategy.”

One of the report’s authors, Forrester analyst Ted Schadler, said in an interview that one of purposes of the report is to get CIOs and CEOs moving faster to provide mobile services and apps.

“We’re trying to create awareness with CEOs and CIOs, even though a lot is already happening at the level of practitioners with partner tablet apps and more,” Schadler said. “Mobile is one of those things that bites you from behind if you aren’t paying attention.”

Forrester studied 61 companies and found a range of approaches to expanding mobile services. Some companies are eyeing mobile self-service apps for use by customers; others envision an IT group that’s focused on how people engage with smartphones and tablets.

In its findings, Forrester said business spending on mobile projects is expected to grow by 100% by 2015, and spending on mobile apps is predicted to hit $55 billion in 2016.

The explosive value of creating mobile apps for customers was obvious in several interviews Forrester conducted. At USAA, for instance, executives expected to get 22 million mobile connections for an app that can “deposit” a check when a customer takes a picture of it and sends it in. In fact, the San Antonio-based financial services company got more than five times the expected response.

At Walgreens, Forrester reported, an estimated 25% of all Web-based transactions involving prescription refills, searches for store locations and general shopping came from a one-year-old mobile app.

One of the reasons why a corporation would want to create an office of the chief mobility officer is to improve coordination of mobile initiatives, Forrester said. “Without [such an office], firms will waste too much time and money as marketing goes after a mobile loyalty app, sales builds tablet apps, the CFO implements mobile expense approvals, the CTO does his app in support of the new smart product line, and the head of Asia resellers builds a mobile dealer app,” Forrester said.

Forrester suggested that companies set up 10-to-30-person task forces that would sit between business groups and IT to coordinate and incubate mobile ideas.

Part of such a team’s role would be to identify mobile projects that are already in place and then find out how those initiatives are funded and whom they serve. Without naming names, Forrester said one of the companies it interviewed had 100 mobile projects under way; another learned it was supporting 114 different versions of the BlackBerry operating system.

Part of the subsequent role of the task force would be to blend social, mobile and business analytics technologies to better connect workers, customers and partners. In one example, Forrester found that such a mobile architecture team at an unnamed airline refined a mobile seat selector app and saw volume explode from 50,000 to 5 million seat selections a month in the first three months.

Forrester also recommended that estimates for the costs of mobile projects be set higher. The average amount spent on a typical customer mobile app — $50,000 to $150,000 — turns out to be just 35% of the true two-year cost, Forrester said.

As a way of measuring the success of mobile task forces and chief mobility officers, Forrester said businesses need to measure more than just return on investment. Factors that will matter in the mobile age are how mobile services and apps are adopted, the volume of activity associated with them, the percentage of completion of mobile projects, ratings from users and the social viral influence of the project.

“If an app is highly used and rated, then it’s valuable,” Forrester said. “If it’s unused and dissed, then it’s not.”

The idea of adding a CMO to the corporate org chart has been around for years. Nearly two years ago, some critics of the idea said the recession wouldprevent organizations from adding someone with that title.

Maybe times have now changed.

Schadler admitted that having all this corporate mobile coordination done by a single chief mobility officer “is perhaps still a little far-fetched.” But there has been progress toward the mobile task force idea within business IT groups.

“This is the second inning, maybe, in the mobile baseball game,” he said. “Business understands it, but doesn’t yet know what to do about it.”

By Molly McHugh
Provided by 

A recent study claims that algorithm-based dating sites aren’t all that they’re cracked up to be, and with Valentine’s Day just around the corner this could put the more Web-savvy among us on edge. There’s plenty to be skeptical about when it comes to online dating, and now you’ve been given even more ammunition.

If you’re weary of the same setup or need something outside the box to break up your Internet-inspired social life, there are options. A handful of Web applications are trying to put a new, less formulaic spin on the system.

Nerve Dating

The pitch: Stripping out the science in favor of casual conversation.

“The thing that baffles me is how the online-dating industry has become dominated by gimmicks, pseudoscience, robot matchmakers, and the deployment of virtual fruits,” CEO Sean Mills said at launch. “So even if you’re convinced it’s great to date online, these sties don’t make it feel so great. They look like places to book a flight, and they make you feel like you’re auctioning yourself off on eBay.”

Doing the exact opposite of its traditional competitors is the theme behind Nerve Dating. It claims it connects people based on the things that are truly unique to them by having users share opinions on food, bars, events, music, and everything and anything else. And instead of forcing members onto one another, you do more of the work yourself by “overhearing” what like-minded individuals are talking about.

Nerve Dating looks and feels more like a social networking community rather than most Web setup sites. It’s a more natural and conversational way to approach what’s inevitably going to be sort of awkward.

DuoDater

The pitch: First dates (online-inspired, no less) are bad enough. Rope in friends to make it less painful.

A few things about finding love online are bad. One is that personalities don’t always translate accurately, and algorithms aren’t faultless. Another, much more serious one, is that the Internet is an inherently unsafe place. A first date is always uncomfortable, but you should be even more on your guard if it’s with someone you’ve met online.

DuoDater is a like a security blanket to ease awkward lulls in the conversation and act as a safety net. You and a friend come as a package deal, and from there you set up dates with eStrangers and hope to find a love connection. It’s a less isolating way to approach e-dating, and easily a safer one.

TheIcebreak

The pitch: Inject romance into your relationship – regardless of what stage it’s at.

TheIcebreak isn’t your traditional online dating site. But the e-romance world has been inarguably tailored to the plight of singles and their quest to meet new people. What about those already entrenched in relationships – isn’t there something the Web can do for them?

Turns out there is. TheIcebreak creates an ongoing dialogue for couples with prompts that get them talking or reminiscing, a Pinterest-like wishlist feature which can serve well for gift-hinting, and a photo-sharing tool for collecting visual moments. There’s a public community aspect as well, but you’re more than welcome to use TheIcebreak for you and your significant other alone. You’ll be able to give your relationship the infographic spin as well so you can visualize how it’s all going. It’s like a private Facebook with analytics built-in.

The site is also rewards-based, and your participation will earn you Date Night Coins that you can apply to your nights out. After earning enough coins, you basically just prove you spent money on a date and TheIcebreak will send you up to $20 (20-percent off your receipt from said date). For social media junkies in love, that can translate into more than a few cheap dinners.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

Even if you’ve waited until the 11th hour to do your shopping (or the holiday almost slipped your mind altogether) you don’t have to look like a stupid cupid this Valentine’s Day. Just check out the following three thoughtful gift ideas that are easy and fast to pull off.

1. Print Artful, Anything-but-Average Greetings

Got a color printer? If so, you can have beautiful frame-worthy greetings from independent artists at your fingertips—no standing in line at crowded stores for a generic greeting. All it takes is browsing Etsy.com’s wide selection of printable greetings, from a variety of artists. After you purchase the print using Paypal, the seller will email you a PDF or a link to download and print your work of art. Personalize it by writing sweet nothings to your loved one on it. Your Valentine will be so touched that he or she will never suspect it’s hot off the presses!

2. Send a Personalized E-Gift Card

Many stores, such as Amazon, allow you to send your recipient a gift card via e-mail or Facebook. There couldn’t possibly be anything easier or more instantaneous, and who doesn’t love the opportunity to get what they really
want?! Amazon even has Valentine’s Day-themed designs and messaging. Alternatively, you can purchase the gift card online and print out the coupon to present to your loved one slipped into a card with a sweet message penned by you!

3. Take Advantage of In-Store Pickup and Overnight Shipping

Shopping online makes it easy pull off last-minute shopping! If the guy in your life is a gadgetguru, order the latest e-reader, iPhone accessory, or video game from Best Buy and select in-store pickup to breeze through checkout. Since Best Buy isn’t your typical go-to store for Valentine’s Day gifts, you won’t have a problem with items being out of stock or stores being overrun with shoppers. Most guys would prefer a useful gadget than something heart-shaped anyway. Alternatively, clothes also make great gifts for the loved one you know really well. Order from a trusted online retailer like Zappos, which offers free overnight shipping!

Changing the send and receive options in Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 are very similar. The send and receive options will let you manage how your email program sends and receives your email. This is the question I received through email: “I have Outlook 2003 and I receive e-mails okay but I have to actually click the send/receive button before I know I have them. I have been all over trying to find it. Can you help me?” To change all of the send and receive settings to your preferred options you will need to access the Outlook options. This is easy and is the same for both Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007. Simply press on the Tools menu at the top of the Outlook email program. Then choose Options from the menu. See the screenshot below. When the options open you will find many choices in front of you. You must be careful what you change in here as it can sometimes stop the program from sending and receiving emails all together. There fore to be safe I only like to change one setting at a time, test how the program works, then feel safe enough to change other settings. This way I can always remember what setting needs to be changed back if there is a problem. Below are some common send and receive options that you might want to change. Configure Outlook to Send Immediately Most computer users want to send their email imediately when they press the send button. To do this in Outlook you simply: Access Outlook options as shown above. Click on the Mail Setup tab. Under the Send/Receive sub heading make the box is ticked next to ” Send immediately when connected“. See the screenshot below. This will make sure your email is sent as soon as you push the send button. If you do not have this checked your emial will be sent to the outbox to wait for the next send/recieve time that is scedualed. Get Outlook to Send and Receive More Often It is all up to you when Outlook send and receives email. If you are not happy with your current options you can simply change them to suit your needs. I personally like to set my send and receive options to automatically do its job every 30 minutes or sometimes less. How to Change the Send/Receive Options 1. Access Outlook options as shown above. 2. Go to the Mail Setup tab. 3. Press on the Send/Receive button as shown in the screenshot below. 4. Now you will see the options for groups. All of your email accounts are placed in the All accounts group by default. 5. Under the sub heading of Sending for group “All Accounts” tick the box next to “schedule an automatic Send/Receive every“ 6. Now choose a preferred number of minutes. I have 30 minutes for my options. See the screenshot below. 7. That’s it! Now my email will be checked every 30 minutes, however I can make this less if I like but I found it became annoying. Set Send and Receive Options for Groups If you have only one account, the default All Accounts group is all you need. but if you want to get into more details you can create a customized group and set different options for that. For example if you only want to check a certain email account every 5 minutes and other account s every 30 minutes then you could do this be creating a new group and separating the accounts. Either way, it is very easy to change the send and receive options in Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007.

Google Analytics is a number one tool for all webmasters. Therefore if you have a website you must get Google Analytics. It is free to use for anyone with a website.

In this video tutorial you will see how to add a website into your Google analytics account.

This video presumes that you have a google Account. If you do not have one simply go to http://www.google.com/analytics/ and signup for a new account.

I use Google Analytics to:

• Find the highest paying Adsense keywords
• Find out what keywords people use to get to my website
• Find out what is popular content

Google Analytics is an amazing free tool from Google.

I once read a study that said typical office workers only work 1.5 hours a day—if that applies to you, you might find the following computer tips useful to keep the boss from finding out what you do the other 6.5 hours a day. I take no responsibilty for
how you use these computer tips and you didn’t see them here.

While we’ve known for quite some time that Google likes to take account of our activity across its products for personalization purposes, consumer concern has been heightened by its new singular privacy policy system.

There are benefits to the upgrade, but some are worried about getting too much customization in with your search queries. If you generally want to keep your Google applications free of personalization, here are a few ways to circumvent the system.

Ad Preferences

Here you can find out the categories that Google has tied to your Web activity. You can edit or remove any or all of this (via the opt-out tool on the edit and remove page). Also interesting is how exactly Google has pegged you—and in cases (ahem, personal cases) they will be very, very wrong. Check this out under “your demographics,” where your assumed age and gender are listed.

If you opted out entirely, be sure to go here so that it’s permanently saved.

You can also disable cookies entirely–it’s available in your browser privacy options, located in “under the hood” for Chrome users.

+1 settings

Much ado has been made about the +1 button, and while we know it does affect personalized search, to what degree is still a little uncertain. Visit this page if you want to disable Google from using your +1′s “and other profile information” so affect content and ads on non-Google properties. Just to be clear, this means that on outside sites, you won’t see +1s from people you know and yours won’t be shown to others.

Mobile

You’ll have to take a different route when using Google products via smartphone. Android uses should go to the Android Market, select Menu and then Settings. Under here you should be able to adjust ad preferences.

iOS uses will need to visit this link and use the QR code to follow the next steps.

Gmail

Here are a few ways you can control Gmail. First of all, if you don’t want to be subjected to ads when perusing your inbox, you can view via an HTML, POP1, or IMAP interface. It’s not an elegant solution, but it’s a simple one. There are also webmail blocker apps, like this one, that can help.

Google also introduced some new personalized features to Gmail this year. Most of these have to do with priority and shuffling your email into certain categories based on an automated system. If you’d rather forego this, visit your inbox preferences center. Under “Inbox Type” choose “classic,” which should change it from “Important first.”

Search Plus Your World

Recently introduced, Google’s latest go at combining social and search was less than well-received and has garnered some controversy. You could use the Don’t be evil button to see what social sites you’re missing out on, or you could use the Google-given toggle (at right) to decide whether or not you want Google+ content pulled into your search results.

More than 60 percent of American teens have at least one profile on a social networking site, and many spend more than two hours a day on social networking sites, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Like many activities, social networking sites offer both opportunities and risks for teens, and parents need to help their children use these sites wisely, the academy advises.

Potential benefits include: staying connected with friends; developing new social contacts with peers who have similar interests; sharing self-expression such as music, artwork and political views; and development and expression of individual identity.

Possible risks include: cyberbullying; sharing too much personal information; vulnerability to predatory adults; regrets about sharing certain photos or videos; exposure to large amounts of marketing that may not be age-appropriate; identity theft and reduced physical activity.

Parents can help children use social networking sites safely and appropriately and should have an open discussion with their children about the topic, the academy advised in a news release. Parents should suggest that children:

–Restrict access to their page to keep control of their information.
–Keep their full name, address, telephone number, social security number and bank or credit card number to themselves.
–Post only information/photos/videos they are comfortable with everyone seeing.
–Talk to their parents before considering a face-to-face meeting with anyone they meet online and consider the potential risks of such meetings.

Parents need to establish rules about the use of social networking sites, how Internet usage will be monitored, and what happens if usage interferes with family time or other social activities, the academy suggests.