The Five Best Free Chat Clients For Android

by Posted on December 6, 2011

To help Android users better utilize the power of their phones, we have put together a list of the 5 best free chat clients for Android. In our opinion, each offers the best of what you can do with a chat client, and they don’t cost anything.

The Android operating system is our personal favorite. It isn’t locked down, there are thousands of apps and many of them are free. The system itself is constantly updated too, which is also a bonus.

In no particular order…

Imo

Imo is a great little free chat app that supports most popular IM protocols, such as AIM/ICQ, Jabber, Facebook, Google Talk, MSN, MySpace, Skype, and Yahoo. It has a nice interface and is intelligent in how it manages multiple accounts. Logging in to Imo automatically logs you in to all your IM accounts on whatever device you’re using.

File sharing is also pretty straightforward, but image sharing is slightly problematic. It send a link to the image instead of the image itself. If you don’t share many images, this free chat app is ideal.

Trillian

No list of free chat apps would be complete without at least a nod to Trillian. It needs an account to work, but manages to juggle multiple IM clients with ease. It isn’t quite as intuitive to use as Imo, but it a great free chat client nonetheless.

Trillian also uses continuous chat, meaning you can begin a chat on your desktop, then continue on your cell phone as you walk out the door. It’s a neat trick.

Meebo

Meebo is a very popular free chat app that has made the rounds for a while now. You can chat on AIM, Facebook, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, MySpace, Yahoo and Meebo’s own chat client if you so desire, but you need a Meebo account to do that.

The interface is logical and it saves previous chats so you can refresh your memory before picking a fight with someone. It’s a great free chat application that everyone should try at least once.

Fring

Fring is another free chat app worthy of consideration. It allows you to communicate with friends on Google Talk, Msn, ICQ, Yahoo, AIM, Facebook and Twitter. This is all achieved through a phone book in the app, which is a fairly logical way of sorting out who’s who.

Fring also allows users to make free video calls too when you create a Fring account.

Nimbuzz

Nimbuzzis our final pick of the best free chat apps for Android. You need to create an account, but it’s free, like the others. It allows you to connect to Google Talk, MSN, Skype, Facebook, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ and more.

The interface is clean and uncluttered and can handle file transfer with ease.

I’m sure there are plenty of you out there who are asking where your free chat app of choice is. Well, as we mentioned, these are our choices. We know about eBuddy, WhatsApp and all the others, but we like these best.

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Email Archiving – When Will the IT Police Come After “You?”

by Posted on September 13, 2011

So you are one of those people that never delete their emails. You either actively save everything by moving the email into a specific folder “just in case,” or you simply are too busy to worry about what happens to it after you are done reading it. Are you one of those that just click on it to close it up and then go about your merry way, or are you a hoarder? If you are not one of those that “take’s care of business” and keeps their in-box, sent-box, old mail, and general folders in order, well then expect a visit from your friendly email police from the IT department someday.

Many are caught-up in the fact that computer memory continuously seems to get cheaper and cheaper so they don’t worry about how much space in memory their emails are taking up, but with hundreds or thousands of employees, larger corporations do. With internal and external communications happening at lightning speeds today, if one does not stay on top of managing and properly deleting and archiving their email, the situation can run amok very quickly.

Poorly managed individual email accounts housed on massive corporate computer systems that are also supporting a wide variety of business critical applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) software systems, memory intensive computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) software systems, and very complex databases fill up much faster than many fully comprehend. When it comes right down to it having the ability to store critical customer order information or your emails from 2008, this is a “no-brainer” for the IT people, and they are going to come after you to either clean-up your mess or lose it.

Email archiving takes some time, some effort, and some thought. No one in your IT department is going to ask you to delete critical communications that may be necessary for future reference for legal, customer service, developmental, or strategic reasons. They will however expect that you will not “bog down the system” by keeping emails from your buddy Bob in shipping who is on your company bowling team talking about last weeks outcome from two years ago.

With the power to wipe out all of your email archives with a couple clicks of a mouse, or to freeze your account so you can no longer participate in the email program, arguing with the IT group about why you need three times more email archiving space than any other employee in the company is just not going to cut-it unless you are the CEO. Prudence and persistence are needed by every individual to monitor and maintain their emails to make sure that things do not get out of hand.

Being too busy to take care of your email archiving responsibilities may in a small way be harming your company as your lack of diligence could be playing a small role in reducing overall system performance for hundreds or thousands of other employees. A gigabyte here and a gigabyte there, and pretty soon we’re talking real memory. Take the time to stay on top of your email archiving and only keep what you really need. Your friends in the IT department will appreciate it.

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Hello World

by Posted on September 12, 2011

Nobody said starting was easy. In fact, starting might be the hardest of all, specially when you are starting your own business.

How does it all start?

It all sparks when you are very young, usually by realizing you have a different nature to everyone else; If you were the one who:

  • Organized parties at school,
  • Join everyone for a football tournaments,
  • Fund raise for the prom dance
  • Found side projects to keep you busy on the weekends

and anything that required some creativity and a few hours outside of class, then you might be part of this breed.

College Stage

While in university, things for you don’t get better. Where your friends see yet another boring assignment in programming class, you see a new business idea that could change the world. Your parents never stop nagging you to keep on studying, and the little daemon on your shoulder tells you to leave everything behind and follow your dreams. At some point you just need to accept it and deal with it. You are a different breed, you are an entrepreneur.

During your life you will probably meet a lot of people. People you learn from, people you admire, people that help you, people you rather haven’t met… but the important thing is that you get to meet people in your same wavelength (really, they do exist), and when that happens you will have to work hard not to deny the truth and let the inevitable happen; you will start a company together. And there’s where we are now.

The Leap

WaDoMo is created by four entrepreneurs, whose life’s crossed to decide they WAnted to DO MOre. Our objective is to develop all those ideas that we think can change people’s lifes, with an agile and realistic approach. Stop wasting our time doing things that have no use. Let’s start doing more. And that is exactly what this blog is about.

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Parenting

by Posted on September 12, 2011

This web site is designed to help you understand:

  • important milestones in your child’s development
  • what you can do to nurture the strengths your child will need
  • how to prevent problems as your child grows and develops
  • where to go for more information or resources

This information is divided into three short term housing categories:

  • Social and emotional development is the nurturing of strengths and capabilities within the child that strengthen a sense of self and connection to others.
  • Cognitive development is the ability of a child to grow intellectually, to foster thinking, and the development of the brain.
  • Physical health and safety is the optimal growth of the body, which is fostered by a number of good health practices and by providing an environment that is safe and creates a sense of security.

These categories of development have a great impact on each other. For example, good nutrition has a big impact on the development of the brain and the child’s ability to think clearly and concentrate.

Throughout the web site, we will help you understand how these different aspects of growth and development contribute to your child’s overall well-being.

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The Different Types Of Lanyards

by Posted on August 17, 2011

There are many different types of lanyards. They can be made from a variety of different materials, and the attachment hardware, or clips, can be a variety of different products. Lanyards are pretty much anything that can attach and secure something to something else. They have been used throughout history, in many different ways. The first lanyards were made from natural fiber materials, from woven vines, to hemp, and just about anything that could be made into the lanyard. At first they were used to secure ships and boats to docks, these were large ropes with one end attached to the vessel and the other with a simple loop to hook on dock posts. They were coiled around the post to keep the ship from drifting away.

Other types of lanyards were used to keep weapons and other equipment secure for military, especially for cavalry. When riding a horse, it was important to keep weapons from getting bumped around and losing them of the field. Some were also used, worn on the shoulder, to keep whistles and other signaling devices close at hand, without having to hold them all the time. They were also made from different materials, and adorned with decorations that related to the soldiers rank or branch of service.

From here, there have been many different types of lanyards. Some types of lanyards are secured to the tool or weapon to make holding it easier. A lanyard can be attached to the handle of a hatchet, for an example, and wrapped around the wrist to keep from losing control of the hatchet. Some types of lanyards are worn around the neck, for signaling whistles, to keep compasses and fire starting devices close at hand, as well as to keep hands free.

Some types of lanyards are simple, with a hook or clasp at one end and a full loop, others have a clip at both ends. They can be a simple piece of leather, or a woven or braided material. Braided or woven lanyards are far stronger than single strand lanyards. There are even some types of lanyards that instead of a cord or loop, they have a chain, and these can keep keys and wallets from being lost or stolen.

Just as there are many different types of lanyards, there are many different retailers offering them. In addition to both local as well as online retailers, you can also make them yourself, from craft kits or from the basic materials. There are a number of free websites that can teach a person how to make a variety of different types of lanyards. Some of these are free sites, others you have to pay for an Ebook or a course. You can also see many different types of lanyards at fairs and craft shows, because many make different types to sell. These are usually decorated with beads or other things, and prices can range from a few dollars and up, depending on the intricate designs, and the time it takes to put them together.

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What Is Money Management?

by Posted on August 11, 2011

There are many different types of money management, from investing, to savings plans, as well as putting your finances in order. For the purposes of this article, money management will be related to personal finances. Personal money management covers many aspects of your everyday life. Setting up a budget, sticking to it, and not over spending. It also means keeping track of your credit, and for those with a poor credit rating, improving it as well as the quality of life.

For many, money management is difficult. Some people just weren’t taught proper money management skills when they were growing up. Their parents kept financial matters to themselves, and while children don’t need to know about everything, it is important they learn budgeting skills at an early age. Children that are given an allowance, for the chores they do around the house, tend to have better skills. Parents that work closely with their kids, teaching them the importance of saving money, spending wisely, and not spending their whole allowance on junk food and candy, are making the way for their children to grow into adults with the skills they need to keep on track when it comes to finances.

Proper personal money management starts with a budget and sticking to it. When you are doing a budget, the first place to start is with bills that are constant. These should include house payments or rent, and your car loan. These bills are the same every month, and should be your priority every month. Next are other necessary bills, like utilities, credit card payments, etc. Next are other bills, gas for driving to and from work, food, etc. You have to really sit down and look at your income, and expenditures, and write down a realistic budget you can stick with. Only when you have a budget, will you really know where all of your money is going.

The next step in money management is taking control of your credit. Having good credit is important for many reasons. Your credit is checked when you apply for a job, want to rent or buy a home, and can affect your interest rates. The first step to getting a handle on your credit is to file for a credit report. Once each year, you can request a credit report from all major creditors for free. You want all three reports, and you can either request these personally, by sending in a request, but there are some websites that allow you to file for your credit score free.

Credit cards are a double edged sword, and should only be used when needed. It is too easy to overspend with a credit card and people go over their limit all the time, resulting in over the limit charges, which can be extremely expensive. Also, many credit cards target people who shouldn’t have them, such as college students and other young people that are just getting away and living on their own. Another tactic that credit card companies use is low or not interest for a set period of time, after that they can charge 21% or more each month. Before you ever apply for a credit card, stop and take the time to read all the fine print. Don’t get credit cards that have high interest rates, or ones that charge other fees like annual renewal fees. You HAVE to read the statements and conditions carefully, so you don’t get a credit card that is going to put you in the hole.

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Legal

by Posted on July 14, 2011

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Starnes Genealogy

by Posted on July 14, 2011
STI200
Starnes Genealogy
  • Introduction
  • Current Projects
  • Future Research
  • Pictures
  • Gedcoms
  • Genealogy Links

 

Introduction

Welcome to STI200. Here you will find a collection of genealogical resources that have been carefully put together over months of research. Within the genealogy section, you will find links to resources, company links, and, of course, my own family page. In an effort to make this a little different from most genealogy sites, I am also setting up a massive pictoral database with images of each of my family members, copies of marriage transcripts, and much more. A listing of Surnames can be found below, or by clicking here. This site will constantly be changing, so please check back often.

I have just begun copying tombstone pictures from various cemeteries in Lafayette County. Check them out at the Tombstone page. Currently I only have my own family tombstone pictures there, but I would be more than happy to post some others. The Bible transactions are taking a little longer than I thought, especially with the handwriting. Cursive in a 110 year old bible is hard to read, even with a magnifying glass. I have also changed the basic look and feel of the site. I will be changing the other pages over soon, so bear with me, and thanks for coming back!

Finally I have made some additions. I have re-vamped the images to a more friendly and utalitarian look using a nice tool called the Web Gallery Wizard Pro. An excellent program, and I highly recommend it. I have introduced additional information in the bible records, obituaries, and USS Hornet Pages. Currently the USS Hornet pages only contain images, as the history, purpose, and duty history are more adequately defined elsewhere. Thanks to the US Navy Archives for some identification on some items I am still cleaning up for scanning. Most of the images still remained without proper naming convention, but I am working on that. At the same time I am trying to complete an even larger project at www.scmastergardener.com. This site is being built in conjunction with my father, who is a Master Gardener, and will contain quite a bit of data once the planning and development stages are complete. A slightly smaller project is almost completed to honor my two best friends in the world, my West Highland Terriers GT and Kenzo. Look for a website and link soon!

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Current Projects

These are some of the projects that I’m currently working on:

  • Tombstone transcriptions
  • Obituaries
  • Bible Transcriptions
  • Cemetery Mappings
  • Marriage Bonds
  • Master Gardening
  • Ancient Legends
  • Draft Registration Cards
  • Civil War Records
  • USS Hornet

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Future Research

The following are contingent upon my completing my current projects::

  • Land Grants
  • Death Records
  • Ship passage
  • Research Sources

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Picture Gallery

Follow these links to see some of the pictures I’ve been able to gather during my genealogical researches (click on thumbnails to see full images):

  • Starnes Album
  • Tooles Album
  • Tombstones

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GEDCOM Files (HTML format)

After some painstaking hours trying to figure out my own notes, my gedcom is almost complete. I am still working on indexing reference sources and such, but am diligently working on it. .

  • Starnes Gedcom

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Genealogy Links

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