roundup

If the student in your life has an iPhone, they're probably text messaging, surfing the Web, checking e-mail, and using apps. And although the phone can be a distraction in the classroom, it can also be a viable companion for students.

There are several great iPhone applications designed specifically for students. These apps all aim to make the student in your life just a little more productive in their educational endeavors.

BlackBoard Learn Since many college students use BlackBoard to access class information, BlackBoard Learn seems like an ideal choice for those students.

BlackBoard Learn, a free app, allows students to access all the information they normally would find on their unique online account. They need only to download the app, input their username, and they will be able to access all their class information. Everything from teacher announcements to new assignments are available. They can even check their grades. It's a free app, so as long as the student's institution uses BlackBoard, it's worth trying out.

Cram Cram is designed specifically to help students study for a big test. The app allows them to create multiple-choice quizzes and study guides with a flash-card-like system. The app even randomizes the answers to ensure students aren't memorizing a particular option.

Perhaps the best value from Cram comes from the many places students can access those tests. Since creating a quiz can take quite awhile on the iPhone, Cram has an online site where students can create their study tests. They can then sync their Cram account with the iPhone app. Cram users can also share their tests with friends to help the whole class do a little better. But before you get too excited about Cram, beware that it costs $4.99. That's a little steep for an app that requires so much work to make it useful.… Read more

If you're already possessed by the Halloween spirit, you'll shriek with delight to find that Facebook's cauldron includes a measure of worthy apps.

Check 'em out.

HalloweenBuilder is one of those apps that you're unsure of beforehand. But once you start using it, you quickly become a fan.

The basic premise of HalloweenBuilder is simple: create the jack-o-lantern of your dreams. The app offers numerous designs for the eyes, nose, mouth, and other features. From there, simply pick the designs you want and arrange them how you see fit. The app automatically does the cutting for you.

I really enjoyed HalloweenBuilder. I made a few designs, and each was quite fun.

Halloween Pumpkins is another app that lets you carve a virtual pumpkin. The only difference between HalloweenBuilder and Halloween Pumpkins is that the latter requires you to carve your jack-o-lantern freehand. If you like your design, you can share it with other app users.

I enjoyed the app. Although its design wasn't overly impressive and the app did a great job of highlighting my lack of artistic ability, I had fun. And comparing my designs to those that were voted most popular by the users was interesting. Halloween Pumpkins is a great app to check out when you're bored.… Read more

As the health care debate rages on, we're still left wondering which doctor is best for what we need. Asking friends is a good way to find out about personal experiences, but one person's opinion might not be enough to go on. For those instances, you need some help from a Web site or two.

I've compiled a helpful list of services that will help you research doctors, and with any luck, pick a good one. Let's take a look.

DocBoard: DocBoard might feature one of the worst designs in this roundup, but I found it extremely helpful for those looking to learn more about doctors in their area.

DocBoard features a search tool called DocFinder. When inputting a query, you have the option of searching through the sites listed below the search box. There are a couple dozen state physician board sites listed. If you're looking for doctors somewhere else, you'll find links to the right of DocFinder, sending you to state pages you can't search directly on the site. Since I live in New York, I had to go to my state's respective physician's page to learn about doctors in my area.

But if you live in a state that did make its physician information available to DocBoard, I think you'll like what you find. The site will deliver information on where a doctor graduated medical school, whether or not she's still certified to practice medicine, and more. It's an extremely informative site.

RateMDs: If you're familiar with RateMyProfessors, a service that allows college students to grade their teachers, you will be right at home with RateMDs.

When you start using RateMDs, you'll need to search by state. From there, you can narrow your search by city, the doctor's specialty, rating, and more. When I searched for doctors in New York, I was quite pleased by what I found. There were several doctors with dozens of reviews from patients who both liked and disliked the physician. RateMDs impressed me even more when I searched in suburban areas. Once again, the site delivered several useful reviews. And thanks to a nice design, you shouldn't have any trouble creating your own reviews.

As with any user-review site, some comments on RateMDs are inexplicably harsh, but for the most part, I think you'll be happy with what you find.

… Read more

The first thing an employer sees when they evaluate your candidacy for a job is your resume. It tells them what you're all about, where you've been, and what you're capable of bringing to the table. It's an extremely important sheet of paper (or these days, digital document).

Realizing that, I've found some useful tools on the Web that will not only give you ideas on writing your resume, but they'll also help you improve it. If you're looking for a job, you'll definitely want to try out at least some of these sites.

CareerBuilder: CareerBuilder might specialize in job searching, but the site is also a great place to get some help with your resume.

On CareerBuilder's Resume page, you'll find several useful tools for improving your resume. One option is to get paired up with a CareerBuilder resume expert who will help you write your resume. If you choose that option, you can work with the expert to create a resume that's directly tailored to your skill sets. You'll receive a first draft of the resume within four days. Prices for that service range from a $175 one-time fee for recent grads to $279 for director or "c-level" executives.

If you've already got your resume started, you might want to try out CareerBuilder's free resume review. Simply upload your resume to the site and an expert will evaluate your resume. It's a neat service that should come in handy as you start looking for that new job.

HowToWriteAResume: HowToWriteAResume provides several features that aim at making your resume as strong as it can be. But where the site really shines is in its resume builder.

When you start creating your resume on the site, you'll have the option of inputting everything from your name to your achievements throughout your career. The service takes you through six pages that require you to input information. Once complete, you can choose between several resume formats. Unfortunately, the site's free account offers you only one format option. If you want something a little nicer, you'll need to pay a one-time fee of $10.99. I found that the premium resumes are nicer, but whether or not they're worth the price is up for debate.

If you're already happy with your resume, you can use HowToWriteAResume to get expert advice on what to include in the document, as well as some basic tips. It's an all-around useful site. I'm just not convinced that the premium resumes are worth the $10.99 fee.

… Read more

If you're running a small business, you're probably looking for tools that will make it easier for you to bill invoices, track payments, and collect your accounts receivable.

You can always use offline standbys like Peachtree or Intuit QuickBooks, but you might be happy to know that there are some nice online tools that perform basic functions. Let's take a look.

Blinksale Unlike some of the better services in this roundup, Blinksale doesn't provide a free option for those with small companies who don't need all the bells and whistles. That's unfortunate, but the service is still worth checking out.

Perhaps Blinksale's best feature is its design. The service makes moving around the different modules quick and easy. It creates an intuitive environment in which to work. And when you get to work, you should be happy with what you find. The site features invoice creation tools, invoice tracking, the ability to follow up with clients from within the app, and more. It's a full-featured product that should appeal to the small-business owner who wants to do a little more than send invoices.

Although there aren't any free options, Blinksale is one of the more affordable services in this roundup. Prices range from $6 per month up to $24 per month. There's just one catch: some services charge based on the number of clients, but Blinksale charges based on the number of invoices you send. Its cheapest plan allows you to send six invoices per month.

Chargify Chargify is a recurring billing system that should help you manage your invoices and collections without much trouble.

Chargify does things a little differently than many of the services in this roundup. Instead of simply allowing you to create invoices and track them until payment, Chargify lets you input all the products or services your company sells, then dynamically change prices as you offer free trial periods, promotions, or refunds. The service can also be integrated into a retail site, providing you with information on the number of sign-ups or cancellations your company is experienced.

Unlike so many of the services in this roundup, Chargify won't cost you any money, if you're not generating revenue. The service is even free up to your first 50 customers. Beyond that, you'll pay anywhere between $49 per month for 500 customers, up to $2,499 per month for an unlimited number of customers. One word of caution: Chargify is ideally suited for online businesses.… Read more

Finding the right services to help you save some cash (and headaches) when you travel can be difficult. That's where this roundup comes in. Below you will find a few resources to help you enjoy a better traveling experience whenever you want to get out of the house.

Campus Visit If you have a high school student who wants to look for colleges outside of your area, go to Campus Visit and get an Amtrak coupon that gives that student 50 percent off his or her rail fare.

From now through December 13, Amtrak is offering students visiting a college campus the opportunity to save half of the cost of their train tickets. Whoever accompanies the student still needs to pay full price.

Campus Visit, a site that's operated by Collegia, takes care of the coupon process for Amtrak. You'll need to input where you're going, what school you're visiting, and whether or not there's an interview scheduled. As long as the application is approved, you'll have a discount coupon you can use when booking an Amtrak trip. It's a highly commendable service.

Hello Travel Hello Travel is the site for those who don't want to deal with booking a trip on their own.

When you first get to Hello Travel, you'll have the option to research different countries around the world. Once you determine where you want to go, Hello Travel lets you create a full travel itinerary on the site. It's then posted on its agents page where travel agents can review your itinerary, get in touch with you, and build you the trip you want.

I wasn't overly impressed by Hello Travel. Although the service is great as a premise, creating an itinerary took much longer than I would have liked. I'm also unsure what kind of agent response each trip will get. I'd prefer to work with an agent I know, but that's just me. Hello Travel is a nice idea, but your mileage will vary.… Read more

If you're an avid reader, and you don't want to pick up a Kindle or a book from your local library, several Web sites let you read while you're surfing the Web.

Admittedly, the experience is less than ideal. Those of us who already spend time staring at a computer screen for work don't necessarily want to stare at a screen to read a book. I should also note that not all the books the sites offer will feature the kind of content you love. Many of the services offer many out-of-print books or classics due to copyright disputes. That said, using these sites, I still think you will find at least some titles that will suit your fancy.

Alex Catalogue of Electronic Books: As someone who focuses much of my time reading history and philosophy works, Alex Catalogue of Electronic Books is an ideal site for me.

The majority of titles on Alex Catalogue of Electronic Books includes great literary works over the past few hundred years. The site also has prominent titles on Western history and philosophy. They range from books by Niccolo Machiavelli to Ralph Waldo Emerson. When you click on a title you're interested in, the site quickly delivers the text.

I was generally impressed by the Alex Catalogue. Although I would have liked to see more historical content on the site, the books that are available were worth checking out. And thanks to a quick load time, it made the site all the more useful. You can also print the texts so you don't need to sit at your computer screen to read them.

AskSam: AskSam is an interesting site. It doesn't feature nearly as many books as I would have liked (in fact, it has just a handful of classics), but it makes several documents available that make it a viable alternative for those who aren't necessarily looking to read an e-book online.

When you first get to AskSam, you'll see a listing of some of the "classics" it has available. When you click on those titles, you can typically read them on the site. A few books require you to download the text, but those are few and far between. Overall, the selection is poor. I would have liked to see more books. But in the end, it didn't detract too much from the service.

I found that AskSam's extras provided the most value. They include several interesting documents, like a collection of all the speeches President Barack Obama has recited, legislative texts, transcripts on important political events, and more. It's a nice collection to sift through. And if you don't want to read them online, they can all be printed out from your browser.… Read more

If you have a picture of yourself, why not put it to good use? With the help of some online resources, you can do all kinds of neat things to it. You can even put it on greeting cards, avatars for your Twitter profile, and more.

If you're planning to put your picture to use, do it with these sites.

BeFunky BeFunky is a neat way to create pictures that you typically don't find on the Web.

When you first make your way to the free site, you'll be able to choose the kind of effect it will apply to your picture. I was really impressed by the number of options it offered. Everything from stenciling to creating an Andy Warhol-like picture was included in the options.

BeFunky gives you the option to upload a picture from your computer or take a snapshot from your Webcam. When you're satisfied with the design, you can add artwork behind your image, include some text, and more. My picture took just a few seconds to create. And thanks to some nice share options, syndicating it to sites like Facebook and MySpace was quick and easy. Not bad for a free service.

FACEinHOLE If you're the kind of person who goes to an area fair and sticks your head in a picture hole, you'll love FACEinHOLE.

To use FACEinHOLE, you'll need to register for the site. From there, you can pick a "scenario" that ranges from Halloween costumes to movies and television. You can also create your own scenario to put your portrait into.

In essence, FACEinHOLE shows you a picture and lets you modify it to get it to fit perfectly in the face hole. I tried it out on several images. For the most part, the uploading process was quick and easy. But as I started editing the image, I found it difficult to accurately place my face in the hole. It took away from the service. That said, I did like that FACEinHOLE allows you to share your image across the Web. You can even put it on a shirt. It'll run you $19.99 to do that.… Read more

The television season is about to arrive full force.

Soon, most of your favorite television shows, as well as new series, will be making their way into your home. But if you're unsure when your show will come back, you want to catch up, or you simply want to track the show as the season progresses, I have you covered with some great sites.

Let's check them out.

Hulu...There are few better ways to track your favorite shows than to watch them on Hulu, which is backed by NBC Universal, ABC, and Fox.

Thanks to strategic partnerships that Hulu inked with networks, finding and watching your favorite shows is quick and easy. And since the site is ad-supported, you won't need to worry about doling out cash to watch your shows.

I spend considerable time on Hulu. I caught up with last season's of "Family Guy" on the site. The videos run well. The ads, while a necessary evil, aren't that bad. And the quality is outstanding. Even better, you can embed Hulu videos into your blog, making it a great platform to share your favorite shows with friends.

MyTVRSS...When you first get to MyTVRSS, you'll probably be a little sickened by its design. A black background sitting behind pink type makes the site an extremely unattractive target for your attention. But once you realize you'll spend very little time there, you'll get past it.

MyTVRSS lists every television show currently in production. When you click on one of the links on that site, you'll find a show summary, information on the last episode that aired (assuming it isn't a new show), and the series premiere's date and time. Unfortunately, not all the show listings are as informative as I would have liked. For instance, the site's "The Office" page was great. But its "30 Rock" page didn't feature nearly as much information. Your mileage will vary.

As you sift through all the shows on the site, you can pick those series that you watch most often by checking the box next to their titles. At the bottom of the page is a "Create Feed" option. When you click that button, you'll receive a unique RSS feed that you can add to your reader. That feed will alert you when your shows air. For someone like me who easily forgets a favorite show is on, it's a nice service to have.

… Read more