EmigrantDirect.com

I've been an ING Direct customer for over a year. They've been a great online bank and I have no complaints with them. I've always felt that my money was secure and getting a lot better interest in that account than my Credit Union's account.

With that being said, I'm no dummy. When I see another online bank offering an interest 0.8% higher than ING I kind of take notice. My concern with these other online banks is if they offer the same features and is my money safe (obviously not in that order). After hearing about EmigrantDirect.com, first thing I did was google it. EmigrantDirect's interest rate is quite a bit higher than most online banks. Most places say that they have had no problems with EmigrantDirect. So that satisfies my money's security concern.

My second concern is if EmigrantDirect.com offers the same (or even better) features than ING. The main things that I was looking for were:

• Ease of getting money in and out
• Time to get at money after money has transferred into account
• Allow me to have multiple accounts tied to the same login (I use this for helping with budgeting)
• Automatic or recurring transfers

To try this out, I opened a single account with EmigrantDirect and funded it with $1 (the minimum for opening an account). Setting up the account was pretty painless (which included setting up my account to pull from my Credit Union's checking account). It took about two days for the $1 to show up in my new account. So getting money into the account was pretty easy (√ that one off). I haven't had a need to pull money out but I'm pretty sure that it is just as easy.

During my research, I found one site (can't remember where I found it) that said your money becomes available to transfer again five days after it arrives in your account (same as ING). So this one isn't a factor when comparing the two. √

My favorite feature of online banks (besides the higher interest rate of course) is that I can set up multiple accounts and tie them to the one login. This allows me to have several different savings buckets. So I have a savings account for my Christmas fund, my girls' weddings, etc. It works very well for helping the budget. At ING I had about 15 accounts. I only have 4 with EmigrantDirect right now (still in the process of moving everything over) but I see no sign of them limiting my accounts. So one more √.

And last of all, EmigrantDirect.com does allow you to setup recurring transfers to your accounts. It takes about two days after you create a new account for it to become available for any kind of transfers. So √ that one off too.

Overall I'm very pleased with EmigrantDirect.com. Their site does not seem as polished or styled as ING but it offers all the features that I want plus it gives me more money. I definitely recommend EmigrantDirect.com.

ZOMBOCOM

This is one of the funniest websites. Make sure you stay on the homepage for awhile.

ZOMBOCOM

VPN Evolved

A coworker found this very neat app. "It allows VPN functionality in a easy, secure and simple way." Travis.Net.Blog: "VPN Evolved"

The only thing I don't like is that you have to install the client on each end, which might be a problem in a corporate environment.

emurse.com - resumes improved

This is a very cool resume site. emurse.com - resumes improved It's very easy to input your information (even lets you import your resume). They have lots of options for sharing your resume with others. This is a very well done website.

I'm Naturally Cautious

I am a naturally cautious person. I'm always trying to back-up my stuff on my computers to other computers in my network just in case a hard drive fails. I also routinely backup stuff to DVD disks. But I always have in the back of mind, 'What happens if a fire happens'. Of course my data would be on the lower end of my worries but I have some important data that I would like to protect.

Thus enters Mozy. Mozy is a backup utility that stores your data (encrypted) to offsite storage at Mozy's servers. Mozy has a free plan that will allow you to backup up to 2GB of data. They have plans that you can pay for that allow more storage.

I've been using Mozy for several days now and it has been a breeze to get configured and to use. The only annoyance that I have with Mozy is that it currently only supports Windows XP (so my server downstairs is still not protected) but Mozy is only in beta. I'm hoping they'll add Win2003 support in the full 1.0 release.

This is a great tool to add an extra layer of protection to your data. Plus it has the magical word tied to it, FREE.

Travis.Net.Blog : Tagging Control

Here's a good find by one of my coworkers:

Travis.Net.Blog : Tagging Control

FreeConference.com - Free Telephone Conference Call Service

After researching the vyew.com site that I blogged earlier, I found that the free teleconferencing services that they use is provided by FreeConference.com . They have more advanced options than the one provided by vyew.com. Their middle tiered service (also free) lets you setup security and manage/schedule teleconferences online via web web browser. Could be very handy for distributed teams that don't already have this capability.

Vyew. Share your view.

This is probably one of the coolest finds that I've found in awhile. Vyew. Share your view. Vyew is a browser-based conferencing and collaboration tool. They allow you to share viewing of presentations (PowerPoint), files (any you can think of) and even your desktop. You can share a whiteboard and chat. They even provide a phone conferencing number (beware of long distance charges, they don't offer a 1800 number). The best part about vyew is that they're free and always will be free (according to them).

Here are some useful things that you can use vyew for:

• Share an Office document (PowerPoint slides, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, etc.)
• Look and talk about a map (going on a trip?)
• Load photos from your favorite photo site (ex flikr)
• Shared Google search
• Share your desktop
• Help troubleshoot/train a friend or family member

It's all so cool!!

Update: I just found out that vyew meetings are persistent. Meaning that all your meeting stuff will stay long after your meeting is over. So if you need to review or update your meeting stuff, you can.

Social Networking of a different sort, from Fon | News.blog | CNET News.com

This would be way cool if enough people in Utah used it. I might actually start using once they upgrade their firmware to support the idea of internal wireless users and external wirless users. Social Networking of a different sort, from Fon | News.blog | CNET News.com

Way Cool

This is a way cool demo that I found. It would be neat to play with but I'm not sure it would be really useful. UI Amazingness at Pixane.net