A while back I signed up for GrandCentral, which was bought up by Google and recently rebranded/upgraded as Google Voice. I’m going to talk about the SMS features, as that’s all I’ve messed with so far. There are plenty of other reviews of Google Voice, and you can request an invite here.

It appears the final goal is to have voicemails and SMS messages show up in Gmail, but for now you have to log in to the Google Voice interface. Sending text messages is dead simple, and if you have all your contacts’ info in Gmail (or synced with your OSX address book) you can simply click the SMS button and type the person’s name. Messages show up in a thread-like display, and you can archive and mark as read as you would a Gmail message.

There are a couple of things that I’m hoping will be improved with the SMS interface. One of those things is the SMS notifications. If you have your Google Voice number linked to a cell phone (as I do) by default you will receive any SMS messages sent to Google Voice on your cell phone as well as in the web interface. This is ideal if you’re not at your computer, but what if you’re sitting there with your browser open? It seems counter-intuitive to read SMS messages on your phone and in the interface. What I’ve been doing is disabling SMS notifications in the Settings > Phones > Edit when I’m at the computer. But what if you forget to do this, or don’t re-enable it when you leave the computer? You’ll either end up with double notifications or none at all.

Another item that is slightly confusing is, when someone sends an SMS to your Google Voice number, it shows up on your phone as being from some random 406 number. This is so that when you reply to the message it gets routed through Google rather than through your cell provider, and Google explains it here. Makes sense, but still confusing.

Overall, very promising, particularly from the SMS side. I like not having to get my phone out when I get an SMS…I can just stay at my computer and get to the SMS when I want to. I’m not going to port my number over just yet, but would entertain the idea if the features continue to improve.

Sure, you could just throw it away, but isn’t there a saying about this? Your trash, someone else’s treasure? Here are some options.

Craigslist is a great place to sell or give away pretty much anything, and you might be surprised at how much people are willing to pay. I have sold a car, furniture, computer parts, and various other items. I prefer Craigslist over Ebay because buyers are usually local, so you don’t have to deal with shipping.

If you have stuff to get rid of that you don’t necessarily want to sell, try Freecycle. Most major cities and a lot of smaller cities in the US have a Freecycle group, which is a Yahoo! group where you can post an item you want to get rid of for others to pick up. I’ve used this service several times and have gotten rid of everything I’ve posted.

Two sites I discovered recently but haven’t looked at in depth are Wigix and Ztail. Wigix (an acronym for Want It Got It eXchange) is essentially an online classifieds system with a pricing structure similar to but cheapter than eBay’s. Ztail lets users post and sell items and have other users determine their value or worth. There’s also Costco’s Trade-In program. I haven’t tried it yet, but it might be worth a shot.

Of course you could use most of these sites to acquire more stuff, but that would be defeating the point, wouldn’t it?

I recently began training for the Atlanta Marathon at Thanksgiving this year, and have been using a few tools to help me stick to my training schedule.

I have a “Workouts” calendar in Google Calendar, which I print out each month and put somewhere visible (i.e. the fridge!) to help remind me of what’s coming up, and have shared it here.  I have a few friends who have subscribed to it so we can work out together occasionally.

I use Joe’s Goals to keep track of my progress.  Joe’s Goals lets you set, yep, goals, and mark off each day you complete a goal.  It’s similar to Jerry Seinfeld’s calendar technique, and provides motivation by encouraging you not to break the chain.

For mapping out running routes I use Gmaps Pedometer.  You can save routes for future reference or for sending to friends.

There are plenty of other tools to help you keep a workout shcedule, and there are plenty of articles that discuss ways to motivate yourself to begin and maintain an exercise routine.

There is no lack of online word processors out there, from the now-fairly-standard Google Docs and Zoho Writer to the Writeroom lookalike Writer and the collaborative Writewith. Is there really any need for another online word processor?

Adobe’s Buzzword is completely Flash-based, which may be a deterrent to some, but in my opinion it has allowed Adobe to create a word processor that provides a richer user experience than is found in other online word processors.

When you first sign in to Buzzword, you are presented with an alphabetical list of your documents, which you can re-sort by author, role (author, co-author, reviewer, reader), date viewed, date modified, or size. You can select a document or select “New” from the Document drop-down.

The main document window takes a no-frills approach to getting the task done, but it provides just enough sleekness and eye candy to make the user experience a bit…dare I say…fun? Instead of describing each feature, I have provided several screenshots of the Welcome document that appears in your account by default.

Here’s a list of some of the things that have caught my attention while using Buzzword

• Page numbers in the vertical scrollbar
• Document ruler
• Clean inline commenting system
• Paragraph alignment feels like a feature rather than an afterthought
• Ability to add headers and footers
• Dropdown menus have “native OS” feel
• Unobtrusive auto-save/synchronization
• Ability to save as Word doc, docx, xml, rtf, plain text, and zip

You can sign up now for Adobe Buzzword as they are in public beta phase.  Also, check out these other reviews, a video review, and an article about Adobe’s acquisition of Buzzword from the original developers.

* Note that Buzzword currently “supports” certain browsers, but I have not run into any issues using Firefox 3 which is currently my default browser, except the lack of paste support, which apparently is available when using other browsers.

In a previous post I talked about the online to-do list manager Remember The Milk.  The folks at RTM have teamed up with Jott which means you can call your tasks in and they’ll show up automatically in your RTM inbox.  This feature is only available on RTM pro accounts, but in my opinion it’s well worth the $25/year for this feature as well as the iPhone app.  And of course, supporting the developers.

Google Apps for Domains is an incredibly powerful and free set of tools that lets you set up Gmail, Calendar, Docs and Spreadsheets, and many other Google Apps for your own website. Sure, you could open a separate email account for your website mail, but why not harness the power of Gmail for all your email needs? Not a plug. Well maybe. For example, I have robert@robertdyson.com set up so I can use the Gmail interface to do all my emailing. Look out for a post reviewing Gmail and Google Calendar soon. In the meantime, they rule.

Knowing keyboard shortcuts is a great way to boost your productivity.  I’ve put together a list of a few keyboard shortcut cheat sheets.  There are cheat sheets for just about every common program out there…Google is your friend.

• Mac OS X
• Firefox
• Word for Mac
• OpenOffice.org for Mac
• iTunes

Being an efficient typist will help out a great deal, too.  Check out these typing games and apps:

• Word Shoot via Lifehacker
• Typer Shark on Yahoo Games
• CueType by DL&DS Software
• Bubbles Typing Game on TypingMaster.com

Check out your typing speed at www.typingtest.com.  I got 88 wpm!

WriteRoom from Hog Bay Software is the perfect tool for doing a bit of distraction free writing. Fire up the app and you’re immediately greeted with a full-screen black window and a blinking cursor. That’s it. Type away! WriteRoom has an auto-save feature, spell-checking, and the ability to save files as plain or rich text. You can also set WriteRoom up to be your default text editor and even use it to compose your emails if you’re using Mail.app. Change the font, colors, scale, and margins to suit your taste and get on that novel. WriteRoom is $25 but there’s a free download to try it out.

A couple of links to reviews of WriteRoom:

• on Lifehacker
• on The Unofficial Apple Weblog
• on The Apple Blog
• on 43 Folders

For a Windows alternative, check out Dark Room. There’s a web-based version too, called Writer.

BillMonk is a free service that keeps track of shared bills and money lent or borrowed. Let’s say you go out for dinner with a couple of friends and decide you will pay the whole bill and have your friends pay you for their portion later. Log in to BillMonk, enter your friends’ email addresses (no spam!) and the amounts they owe you. They’ll get an email with the details, and have the option to settle up in person or by using Obopay, a service that lets you send money using your cell phone, similar to Paypal.

I have not tried settling up using Obopay yet, but have been using the rest of BillMonk’s features for about four months now. It’s a simple way to keep track of who owes what without having to do any hounding. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that settling up at the end of a meal is no fun.

Some other neat BillMonk features:

• Itemized bills
• Recurring bills (rent, for example)
• Ability to add comments and tag bills
• “Library” feature which provides a way to keep track of things you’ve lent and borrowed
• Add bills by phone

Zen Habits is a fantastic blog about productivity, finances, and “implementing good habits”. I’ve been reading Zen Habits for about a month now and have found lots of interesting posts:

• Become an Early Riser (setting up a morning routine)
• Zen to Done (twist on Getting Things Done)
  
• Purpose Your Day (setting a goal for your day)
  

I’ve tried each of these and can say they really do help. Though I can’t get up before 5 a.m. as is suggested. That would leave me no zen left for the day ahead. Thanks to the author (Leo) for the great work, and for inspiring me to start my own blog.