Here are the links for the items discussed in the 2008 ECWC workshop - I hope you find them helpful in your lives! These gadgets are user friendly so you don't need to be a tech wizard to figure them out.
Do you travel a lot and find that your hotel rooms only have Internet access through a cord on the desk? Make your room into wi-fi with a Compact Wireless Router. You can usually find a used one around $30. This is always top on my gadget list for travels.
Window Live Writer is a great FREE tool to use for blogging. It allows you to create you blogs offline, save numerous drafts AND if you blog at numerous sites, when you hit "publish" it will post your blog to all your sites at once! So no more wasting time going site to site for blogging!
Do you print out your research? Over time, it will be harder to find that one bit of information that will make your scene just perfect. Automate with Microsoft's OneNote. Think of it as a shelf with electronic 3-ring binders on it. You can drag in email, clips from the internet, photos, videos, links - anything! And when you cut and paste a clip from the internet, OneNote automatically inserts the URL at the bottom so you have the source to cite or return to if necessary. Retail price is about $100. There's a free 60 day trial that you can download.
Are you struggling to keep up with all your passwords and userids for all the sites you use and visit? Keep them all together, automated and encrypted with the FREE KeePass.
Consider "cloud computing" if you are part of a group that shares documents, such as critique groups or conference committees. Basically you can keep icons on your desktop and drag them into the shared file, so you never have to worry about finding the latest version of your documents and everything auto syncs. There are many companies that offer FREE cloud computing, usually with a 5 gig limit. You will want to look for how they store your documents; for example I chose Mesh because they encrypt all the documents stored on their site. Here are links to Google Docs and Live Mesh.
My heart breaks every time I hear about lost novels due to computer crashes, fires, or theft. There are so many ways to do backups, but here are a few companies that exclusively are in the backup business. The main thing to look for with backups is encryption and sync features. Check out Jungle Disk, Carbonite and Divinsa. Prices range from $0.15/gig per month and up.
Ever want to offer a survey to your readers, for targeted research or for workshop feedback? Survey Monkey is FREE for up to 10 questions and 100 responders, or $20/month for larger surveys.
If you travel and find that you need documents off your home PC frequently, you may want to check out Go To My PC.
Podcasts are a great way to keep up and you can listen to them on your computer, download to a portable device, or put on a CD to play in your car. If you are hardcore, you can get a wireless portable device that will update automatically each morning with all the latest news you've chosen. Here are a few that might be of interest to get you started/addicted: Harlequin Podcasts, Grammar Girl, New York Times Book Review Podcasts.
If you are just getting started with your writing, you still need to have an internet presence, which would include a website and maybe a blog. There are mixed views on blogs. For me, I really don't want to read about what you had for dinner last night. However, if it is informative (including your book news) then I will be more inclined to visit your site often. For others, they like the more personal blogs and enjoy getting to know you better - which is why I added a "Julia's Thoughts" category to my blog - it's a judgement call. The blogs we discussed in at 2008 ECWC were: Word Press, Blogger and Live Journal.
For ideas on web sites and blogs, I invite you to listen to my hour long Tips for Promoting on the Internet Podcast where I interviewed a technical consultant and discussed free sites, ones made with minimal investment and the professionally developed ones with all the bells and whistles. You can also follow along with the author sites we examined and discussed on my April 10, 2008 blog.
Visit Browsershots.com to see for FREE how your website looks on different operating systems and different browser versions. Note added November 6, 2008: This site was reviewed by reputable tech analysts and I used it myself, but it appears it has now been taken down. If I find a comparable service, I will let you know. A special thanks to Lesa for bringing it to my attention.
Are you brave enough to let people know the status of your Works in Progress? If so, this widget might be for you.
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