J'z Place

Today I wanted to share with you how I organize my desktop. If you are are like me then you might have a ton of program icons all over your desktop. I found a solution that I can not live with out. The program is called Fences by Stardock.com. Fences allows you to group different icons together. Since using Fences I have been able to find stuff a lot quicker.

Here is a list of features for the Free version:

1. Create an unlimited number of fence areas on your desktop
2. Hide/Show Icons quickly by double clicking your desktop
3. Customize the color and transparency of fences.
4. Auto scaling for screen size changes
5. Store unique fence locations for different monitor configurations
6. Program runs with low impact to your computer

The paid version is only $9.99 and comes with even more features.

I personally use the free version and love it. Like I said before this is one piece of software I can not live without. If you have to have things organized, then really take a look at Fences. Make sure to let me know what you think by commenting below!

I just recently signed up for Cathy Stucker's BloggerLinkUp.com. You can connect with other bloggers for guest posting. Either you can write posts for other people or you can find guest bloggers for your own blog. Basically what Blogger LinkUp does is it allows you to submit your requests for guest posting and then Monday through Friday you will receive an email or two from Cathy letting you know what everyone is looking for. There are a wide variety of topics to choose from. And when I get a few extra moments I will be taking advantage of this great opportunity.

You can sign up for Blogger LinkUp Here

I wanted to share with you different ways you can web chat with multi users. When doing this research I realized that there really isn't too many sites that offer this service for free. Most sites either charge for using there service or limit the amount of users that can be online at one time. Here are a couple that I would recommend trying out:

TokBox – Invite up to 20 people to a chat. Share presentations, documents and videos. Send pre-recorded video messages. Instant message with contacts from Gmail, AIM, etc. TinyChat – Tinychat is a dead simple, free to use video/audio/desktop chat system. It is entirely web based, requires no downloads or plugins (aside from Flash) and works on all browsers and operating systems. I have used this before and is pretty easy to use.

I hope you find these resources as helpful as I have.

I know that there are a ton of different options in collaborating online with others. Since most of the options are paid services I decided to share with you some of the Free options available.

1.   Spicebird is open source software that allows others collaborate from the comfort of their own home via the internet. You can use Spicebird to email, calendaring and instant messaging.

2.   Drop.io is a simple private real-time sharing and collaboration tool.

3.    Kaplink is also synced with ifolder which gives you a ton of power to share and collaborate with online teams and workgroups.  You can also have an online meeting using this software.

Hope these help you with your online collaborations…

What is Mind Mapping? According to Wikipedia:

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Mind maps are used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing.

You can read the full definition at Wikipedia – Mind Map

Mind Maps are a great way to share the process or steps of how something works. You can design any type of Mind Map and share it with others.

Learn How To Draw A Mind Map HERE!

Here are some FREE Mind Mapping Tools that I suggest checking out:

FreeMind is a open source mind mapping software that runs on java.

MindMeister – Allows you 3 Free Mind Maps

Xmind – This tool is free for home use, but you can upgrade to Pro which is for businesses.