How to Shop Online Without a Credit Card

Yes, we understand, it may surprise you. But as ambitious as it sounds, there are definitely ways for you to make the most of an online purchase without resorting to the services of a credit card. Or is it more aptly called a disservice for some.

For consumers - which means virtually all of us - credit cards are like a two-edged Damocle’s sword. Sure, you may be jumping for joy when you get your plastic as it can be a glorious means to get the goods you need; on the down side, that boon can also turn into a sinkhole, siphoning your hard-earned cash and burying you in debt in the process. Then, you’d come to realize how did you ever got hooked into one.

So if you’re bent into buying some goods online, giving your i-tablet an elegant iPad keyboard case perhaps, without employing your plastic, read on.

Before we move forward, a caveat: Your ATM and your credit card are not that different after all since both carry a 16-digit number. Technically, your ATM is a debit card. So you can use it to purchase if cash is available. That is both an advantage and a disadvantage. If a con man gets your ATM number and pwd details, you’d be out of cash before sun down. Not so with a credit card, since you could still refute suspicious charges in your monthly bill.

Option 1: Secondary Account

Go to your bank and ask them to set up a secondary account for you specifically for online purchases. Make sure to keep only a small account in that particular account for better handling. Also, inform your banker to cut overdraft protection. This ensures money does not flow from your main account to your newly-set up one.

Option 2: Paypal

Though this global service is offered in many establishments, Paypal can give you a debit card that can be used for online purchases. To activate, you need to sign up for a Paypal account which needs but a legit email address. Yeah, it’s that simple. Most financial institutions can transact via Paypal and money can be forwarded to your account.

Option #3: Gift Cards

Yes, no kidding. You can even buy them the old-fashioned way using cash from many brick-and-mortar stores.

For instance, you could drop by at a local Safeway and pick up gift cards for major e-retailers (e.g., Barnes & Nobles, Amazon, Hulu Plus, Ebay). Mostly within the $20 to $500 denomination, you could use them to buy online. With a distinct advantage: you’re free from the dangers of splurging.

TOP WEDDING PLANNER APPS

If you are into the wedding planning business or is planning your sister’s wedding or for that matter your very own, these iPad apps could give you a lift like no other.
It’s easy to go the traditional way and do things without the use of technology. Don’t get me wrong,  the usual planning methods are still going to give you spectacular results. But just like the iPad mini keyboard case to the iPad, these apps could cut your down time in half.

1. Eversnap (Android, iOS, Free)

No need to create too much fuss about your wedding photos and how to let your best buddies enjoy them after the wedding. Eversnap will take care of that for you. Just get that photo album ready and invite your circle of friends via SMS or email and you’re good to go.

2. Wedding Plandroid (Android, Free)
This one’s truly comprehensive, it’s heaven-sent. From managing your budget to getting those needed vendors, this app will help put organization right where you need it.

3. Royal Caribbean International (Android, iOS, Free)

Take the hassle of planning a honeymoon off your shoulder. Make the most of Royal Caribbean and set yourself to the cruise of your life.

4. Bed Bath & Beyond (iOS, Free)

Fear you may not be able to keep up with  your wedding gift and registry. Then, here’s one you should employ - Bed Bath & Beyond. Browse through thousands of options and make your memory count.

5.Pinterest (Android, iOS, Free)

Inspiration may be a hard thing to come by when the pressure seems boiling you down. Well, with Pinterest, ideas could be flying in no time. The best thing is you could as easily share these to your circe by pinning your faves.

6.DavidTutera Live - My Dream Wedding (iOS, Free)

If you haven’t heard of David Tutera, it’s high time you should, now that you’re facing a wedding - be it yours or your friend’s. And get you closer to the wedding of your dreams.

7. Wedding Wire (Android, iOS, Free)

The Wedding Wire is such a comprehensive app, it’s hard to imagine getting married without giving it a peek. With tons of local wedding professionals, reviews and vital input (e.g., galleries for dresses, jewelry, invites), you get to fill those unseen gaps in your wedding planning in no time.

8.David’s Bridal (Android, Free)

Still fidgety over your dress? Stop worrying and get your dream dress David’s Bridal. Complete with stunningly beautiful gowns, dresses and accessories, you’d be surprise at how easily your choice will dawn on you. Plus, you get an expert consultant to put your choice down to your best shot.

9. Wedding Countdown Widget (Android, iOS, Free)

Here’s putting things in perspective. Wedding Countdown gives you the exact number of time to your walk in the aisle, counting down the hours, minutes and seconds to its most precise value. This could be very helpful once shared with your wedding planner team.

10.The Knot Ultimate Wedding Planner (iOS, Free)

For functionality, this app could be in the running for the best app in the list. The big advantage is you get to access your wedding planning details right when you need it - anytime, anywhere. Meaning you get to stay in tip top shape and manage your hard-earned cash with an easy-to-use budget tool.

Top 10 Apps for the Blind

Thanks to the magic of touchscreen and Voice Over, iOS-powerd devices (iPhone & iPad) are fave goto-devices for the blind and the vision-impaired. Perhaps  a little more than most technologies available on the market today - at the given the price. Making another strong case for the visionary in the late Steve Jobs. 

However, if you’re scouring iTunes for the best app for the vision-challenged, you may be walking into a surprise as there are hundreds of them, if not thousands in store. To cut to the chase, here are 10 of the best.

For a better feel, we strongly recommend you have your i-tablet propped on a dependable iPad mini keyboard.

1. Sendero LookAround

This one helps you explore the world outside when you’re out and about. With Sendero, you get to choose from the “Lookaround” button, “Nearest Cross Street” button. Additionally, you can get the nearest 5 points of interest (ATM’s, restaurant or entertainment) and program the app to say the location detailing the street or shake the phone in a figure eight for a compass direction. 

2. Google Translate

Best for conversation to just about any citizen from all over the world. With its capacity to give translations to just about any language and voice over and speech to text program, you can be enjoying the fun part of a conversation without any language barriers. Google Translate have your back and the best part is it’s for free.

3. Papa Sangre

Who says you can’t have fun haven’t met Papa Sangre! Here’s an audio-only horror adventure that’s bound to give you the entertainment you need ushering in a new era of exciting audio games for the blind and the vision-impaired. 

4. Dragon Dictate

With a proprietary speech recognition software, Dragon Dictate is a treasure find helping you put your spoken words into writing. With this app, writing a book may not be that far off.

5. Audible.com

Being blind should not condemn you from a book-less life. Thanks to Audible you can play any Amazon-bought audiobooks or from iTunes Store. With stellar features (e.g.,voiceover, chapter selection, speed controls), you’ll easily fall in love with this app - in no time.

6. Learning Ally

Formerly Recording for the Blind and & Dyslexic is an app that is designed specifically for the sight-impaired with the aim of giving access to thousands of learning books - from kindergarten to post-graduate. And with more than 80,000 titles available, all that one needs is to present a certificate of disability and the treasure’s all yours for personal pleasure and perusal.

7. Digit Eyes Audio Labeler

Digit-eyes is a remarkable AT (assistive technology) app for the blind and the visually-impaired. Via a built-in camera, it identifies UPC and EAN codes found in most every product today. Searching its database, it reads the results to you. Of course, you would need internet to access database which could be expanded to include Google. The best function this app can give you, however, is creating text labels which can then be printed and stuck to your everyday things for easy sorting and ID.

8. BlindSquare

This is like having a walking companion with you though for starters this may cost you a burger or two. Using GPS and Wi-Fi this app locates you and with the help of FourSquare finds people or places of interest nearby. 

9. TapTapSee

Like a virtual third eye, this app allows sight-challenged people to see the world around. With a simple double-tap onscreen, a photo is taken then uploaded to its servers for subsequent processing. After a second or two, a voiceover assistant details things around (e.g., keyboard on white desk and glass mug). Smart!

10. iBlink Radio

This app’s tailored specifically for the needs and wants of the blind community and usher in the world of radio stations complete with reading services and podcasts as wide as any - technology, economics, travel, music and a lot more. 

How to Keep Your iOS and Android Data Synced

With all the bad blood going on between iOS loyalists and Android fanatics, it’s easy to think these two camps are out to start WW III. Practicality dictates otherwise, however. Especially when you’re in the office or out with a friend. The difference in phone/tablet architecture should not be a stumbling block in your office effectivity or to your dwindling social life, for that matter.

Apparently, one of the immediate grounds of concern is data sync ability. For instance, it would be a lot easier for you to finish on a word document coming from your iPad-wielding boss if you just can edit it on your Samsung Galaxy Note.

To note, syncing from one Cupertino-made device to the other, is not an issue with iCloud. Nor is it on the other side of the fence, from one Android gadget to the other. However, full integration between these two giant ecosystems still leaves a lot to be desired and may take years - if at all.

But this is not a hopeless case (though getting irritated may not be a surprise), here are some tricks and treats that should get you started in that direction. 

Basics: Email, Contacts, Calendar

In any business or friendship, contacts is most essential. There are various ways to keep your contacts together even on different devices.

One way is to utilize an account that is powered by Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. Outlook.com,used to be hotmail.com, is capable of replicating contact data and make them available across multiple devices. Not much of a problem for iOS, importing these data into the right designated area (e.g., calendar, contacts, stock mail).

What may be a little challenging is with Android. Although the Google world is supportive of ActiveSync. You may have to make do. Use the feature slim email app, for instance or maximize a 3rd-party alternative choice found in the Play Store - like Touchdown,     for instance.

When you talk about Android to iOS, the set-up’s slightly different. Android devices gets all integrated via a Google account as many users will know. So setting up your Google credentials in your devices via your Gmail account ensures data connectivity between these electronic gadgets, be it a tablet, a smartphone or something in between (phablet).

However, getting your Google account connected unto that fave iPad on its iPad mini keyboard case gets a little bumpy. CalDAV and cardDAV are your best bet to migrate contacts and calendars. For the more sophisticated Google accounts however, be it Business, Education or Government you will have to utilize Google Sync to facilitate the exchange.

More Productivity

For starters, use Google Drive for data-syncing. Though the iPad version is still not as robust as the original app in terms of sophistication and features, the gap is closing fast. With that said, it would be easy to work on cross-platform devices with this cloud-based app, Google Drive.

Another alternative is to use other popular cloud-based services (e.g. Dropbox, Box). Just save your Office or other word files in these internet-based services. With these, at least getting your documents read is not a problem whether you’re utilizing an iOS or an Android-based device.

And if you want to some editing which is most likely, installing Quickoffice and Documents to Go are great choices. These two apps will work in across both OS platforms, allowing you greater latitude in work.

Increasingly, there are more and more apps that can be utilized in both giant ecosystems, Android and iOS. It seems that this is becoming some sort of a trend. You may have to dig a little deeper to find these cross-platform tools but it’s a small price to pay.

How to Best Increase Productivity

Increasing productivity is a tall order, no doubt. Especially if you’re just starting out, having less hands to share the burden can truly bite. Fortunately, whether you’re growing a business or wanting to achieve more in the workplace, there are effective ways and means to get the job done. Bringing you outstanding results, in the process.

However, it’s easy to lose your way in your search towards greater productivity. For instance, you may choose to get on the high road and contemplate on the best methods - like a Tibetan monk. But it may take you ages to arrive at practices that have already been in use for years. Same thing if you’re an internet-savvy professional - devouring information on a daily basis. Take a stand. It’s about time you separate the unpredictability of theory from things that actually work.

Below are timely productivity tips. Combine them with tried-and-tested tools provided and you have a potent potion that should pull your productivity a notch higher - way higher. Now, all you have to do is give them a shot to realize the wisdom behind.

1.    Maintain a place to take down notes.

Note-taking can easily be misconstrued as trivial. But it stands at the heart and soul of greater productivity. As
Albert Einstein famously quips, “I write so I free my mind.”
Don’t get caught up in the jungle of the details, write the essentials. Only then can you truly enable your mind to reach its best working potential: to come up with solutions.
In this regard, your smartphone - Android or what-not - or your i-tablet (complete with an iPad mini keyboard) could be your best ally. Put on Google Keep, Zoho Notebook or Evernote.

2. Shorten your To-Do list.

Five would be a good number on a daily basis; more than that and your to-do list would border into the insurmountable. When your energy is focused on too many things, you end up tired, unable to finish anything.

3. Learn to type faster.

Many a-budding entrepreneur have spent hours finding their way on a keyboard - wasting precious time in the process. Get over it.  Improve your typing skills. There are a lot of free typing software available (e.g., keybr.com). A few minutes each day is all you need and you’d be on your way in no time. Beep! Beep!

4. Maximize on the hi-tech.

Why spend so much time fiddling through numbers for instance when a free iPad app can do it in record time?
Don’t let the routine take your precious hours away - hours that you could spend on other more important matters like business development or sales for example. Instead, use apps like Shoebox to do your receipts.

5. For time-driven projects, employ a tickler file.

You can’t overemphasize a tickler file. It may not be super hi-tech but the organization by tasks is heaven-sent. And using them is a cinch, just make sure you put your projects under the right file.

6. Store inspiration well.

At times, articles may catch your interest but your hands are full. The solution is to store them for later. Making a habit of doing away with inspiration could be disastrous.  All enterprise - tech giants or start-ups - started as an idea in its infancy. So buckle up. Apps like Pocket or Instapaper for instant storage could be your best bet towards that million-dollar break.

7. Take time to evaluate your performance.

Stop. Take a bird’s eye view on the things that you do on a daily basis. Evaluate areas of strengths and weakness and come up with solutions to get things better. Do this once a week, and you’ll see the wonders of continuous improvement unfold before your very eyes.

Top Smartphone Apps for Salespeople

Since productivity is the mantra of sales, you may want to gear up and get yourself the best sales apps for your smartphone – be it of the i-series or those of the Android kind. Assuming you are one of those salespeople who “works doubly hard” to achieve quota and enjoy the price of success: your commission.

Surprisingly, many of these apps do not come at a hefty price; but these can definitely get you going – granting you make them available on your fave smartphone. Perhaps in the near future, tablets will be the ultimate method of staying connected for a salesman and putting your iPad on one of those suitable ipad keyboard cases may be more popular than ever.

For those who may be wondering, these apps are also available for the recently-launched, most sought-after iPhone. We wish we could say the same for those Blackberry gadgets.

1 and 2. Kindle and Cloud Player. Improvement is the name of the game. For a trusted salesman, getting yourself in top form  could invaluably mean feeding your mind. Not a problem with these two apps. Kindle gives you access to throngs and throngs of books. While Cloud Player gives you unlimited access to your cloud drive. Information when you need it most.

3. Hopstop. If you travel from city to city, these app will get you to your destination fastest. Giving you needed transportation details (e.g., train stops) can save you time to do what is most relevant: filling orders. Be it in the subways of New York, which can be the most challenging, to any major city in the U.S., Hopstop guides you step by step.

4. Xpenser. No need to pour yourself on weekends trying to reconcile all your expenses. Xpenser does this for you – on the go. The good thing is the app stores the data in the cloud, which can then be integrated into your company’s accounting systems. Of course, it is wise to drop a visit to the finance department before you get your thing going for best results.

5. Square. If sales is like mining gold, the Square app could be your magic tool. No need of the long process of invoicing, collecting and all the unnecessary paper work or waiting. Get the payment ASAP via Square. With this app, your customer can swipe his/her credit card right then and there. Imagine all the hassle that it takes away: no need chasing down the dough. It’s heaven-sent, to be honest.

6. Evernote. Here’s a convenient way of taking down notes when it matters most. Just tap your smartphone and get those vital info on record. The good thing: in seconds you can view it on your PC, make changes and view these changes on your smartphone. Everything is saved online. And if you feel wary of tapping your phone, just activate your smartphone’s voice recognition and get those important conversations recorded.

7. Google Maps. Don’t underestimate this app, this guy gets you around. Just a tap on your phone and voila you’d know the whole countryside in seconds. This is very useful for sales people who do not want to waste time to get around and get to the decision-maker in record speed. From the swamplands of Florida to an ice cream bar in California. Right on the dot.

8. Companion Link. Information is power. And Companion Link makes sure you get vital information when you need it most. Companion Link synchronizes data from one CRM or contact manager to another in your smartphone. Very useful when you need to pull out a phone number or check those appointments out. Of course, getting you more updated with your client’s data gets you closer to a closed sale.
Truly, effectivity is the name of the game. And though these may still be far from replacing the mouth as a salesman’s primary tool, these apps do make sure your message gets across faster, and is absorbed better – like water to dry ground.