10 Amazing FREE Websites

1. College courses, no tuition

Class Central https://www.class-central.com/ lists hundreds of online class courses from the likes of Harvard, Stanford, and MIT.

2.  Self-destructing email addresses

With 10 Minute Mail https://10minutemail.com you can create a temporary email address that will automatically self-destruct in 10 minutes. This allows you to sign up for sites, lists, make comments, and sign up for deals without the unbearable spam you normally get.

3. Ambient Sound / White Noise

If you simply can't work/sleep/concentrate without some kind of comforting sounds, A Soft Murmur has you covered http://asoftmurmur.com/

 4. Learn another Language

Almost every language in the world is available to learn at Duolingo https://www.duolingo.com/ and you can take it on the go with their free app.

5. A massive documentary collection

There are documentaries on a wide variety of subjects and from award winning to amateur. Learn something new or simply be amazed http://documentaryheaven.com/

6. Automate Tasks

Do you want a message sent when you are on your way home? Would you like to get news stories on your favorite subject sent to your inbox? An automatic backup of your contacts to a spreadsheet? You can do this and a lot more with If This Then That https://ifttt.com/

7. New Fonts

Working on a document or a poster and you are looking for a font that would make it pop? Lost Type has you covered and they are all free for any use http://www.losttype.com/

8. Free Photo enhancement tools

The Adobe universe of tools is expensive and there is so much there that most people do not need. Pixlr https://pixlr.com is free and it has a light weight version called Express that allows for easy changes quickly. They also have apps you can download for your mobile device

9. Get Control over Your Finances

Mint https://www.mint.com/ helps you create a budget quickly and can automate tracking if you connect it to your bank and credit card accounts. It will send you alerts when you go over your budgeted amount, it has smart tracking of expenses, and has monthly summary of what you spent. The mobile app allows you to make corrections or view your progress quickly.

10. Create Graphics and Publications

There are expensive desktop programs that can allow you to create posters and graphics, but Canva https://www.canva.com/ is free and web based so you can use it without installing anything on your computer. The templates and free graphics and fonts make creating things a snap. There are items that cost money to use but you can import your own materials.

Emerging Technologies

Opera Open VPN – Available for Apple mobile devices and soon to be available for the desk top web browser Opera has created a free VPN. If you are unfamiliar a VPN is a Virtual Private Network which allows a user to connect to a computer network to either have access to network assets (files or computing resources) or mask their online activities and location. There are a wide variety of reasons to use a VPN but the main use that concerns most people is protecting their personal information while on an open / unsecured Wi-Fi connection such as our Library Free network or hotspots at businesses. I have used it for two weeks and have found it to be quick, gives you the option of which country you would like your location to be connected in, and it blocks some ads and cookies. Opera is continuing to work on it to make it faster and more secure. Right now it is a very nice free VPN option for mobile devices.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/opera-vpn-free-unlimited-ad/id1080756781?mt=8

Opera Browser – Available for Android, Apple devices, Linux, and Windows devices this web browser uses several techniques to reduce load time and power usage while surfing the web. If you make a change to the setting you can take advantage of built in ad blocking. Users that download the “Surf Easy” extension can use Opera’s free VPN. In my use of both the mobile and desktop versions I have found decreased RAM usage, faster load time, and less battery usage compared to Chrome or Firefox. http://www.opera.com/

Aioply Vision – an app created for the blind and visually impaired that says what items are in real time or what color it sees in real time. It doesn’t know everything it sees but users can tell it what it is pointed at helping it learn. http://www.aipoly.com/

Hound – You may be familiar with Siri, Alexa, Cortana, or Ok Google’s digital assistants. This one is faster and does a lot more. For instance you can say, “Find Asian restaurants near me”, you can then say “exclude Korean and Chinese”, and then say “open after 9pm”. Each time it remembers your previous statements and continues to give you results. It does a good job of looking back in time or ahead at weather information, like asking, “What’s the chance of rain next Tuesday in Potland Oregon”. It does a bunch of things, available for Android and iOS http://www.soundhound.com/hound

New York Times article about Windows 10 upgrade problems, why they happen and how to avoid them http://goo.gl/Z9VPcB

IFTTT Recipes and Do Button – If This Then That has a lot of new recipes that can automate tasks between apps and home automation equipment. The Do app has some new recipes that you can tap on a button and it can do things like send preset e-mail, open a door lock, change thermostat, or turn on lights (of course this all depends on the equipment you have).

Fast.com – a webpage created by Netflix that quickly measures your internet connection speed

This week was Google’s Developer Conference, Google IO, they released information about new products, updates, features. You can read about them here: http://goo.gl/Ha4zop

Wired Magazine had a very thorough article about virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality in which it featured one of the most promising and mysterious companies Magic Leap. Funded at 1.4 billion dollars it has the backing of some of the biggest names in technology. It’s a long article but if nothing else, skip down to the video of what it looks like looking through Magic Leap glasses http://www.wired.com/2016/04/magic-leap-vr/

Organize Your Life with Apps

Evernote (Free) iOS, Android, Web - Evernote is one of those apps that is hard to describe because it can do so much. It will take a while to truly appreciate all that Evernote can do. At its heart the app is a basic word processing app that you can use to take notes or create documents. Beyond that you are not limited to text, you can also save pictures and music as notes. It syncs your notes across all devices and can be accessed via the web or mobile app. Evernote's Pennultimate app is an iPad (or iPhone 6) app that allows you to sketch or take hand written notes and by pairing it with your Evernote account it automatically saves and syncs as a note in your Evernote account. Evernote Food allows you to find recipes and automatically save them in your Evernote account. The Evernote Scannable app allows you to take a picture and make it a scanned copy, which means the text can be searched within the Evernote app. Scanned items can be saved as notes in your Evernote account or sent to others. Last but not least, Evernote makes a Chrome extension called Evernote Web Clipper. It allows you to save web pages as an image or select text that you can import to read, edit, and use as you wish.

Sunrise (Free) iOS only - There are a lot of great calendar apps for iPhone but Sunset seems do to what matters best. It syncs calendars from Google, iCal, Facebook, and Outlook. If you use the Reminders app or set a reminder using Siri it will be added as a calendar item in the  app. Users can include people in the calendar item so that they get an invite to add it to their calendar. Through the use of the "Place" feature get directions through Google Maps. The app has a widget on iOS 8 that allows you to see scheduled items for the day at a glance. The reminder feature can be customized to remind users from 2 days before to 15 minutes before. The color coded calendar items alert users to what calendar the item comes from. The clean platform and easy to use interface make this a great calendar app.

Jorte (Free) Android and web - This app considers it self more of a personal planner than a calendar app, but that's where its strength lies nonetheless. Extremely customizable calendars, users can color code their events, change background and fonts, and start their week on the day of their choosing. Event calendars include lunar, professional sports, weather forecast, news, and food recipes. Jorte will give you countdown clocks for events. Sync Yahoo!, Facebook, Google, Outlook, and many other calendars using Jorte Sync app. Jorte Cloud website allows for multi-device synchronization and cloud backup. The widget gives today's events at a glance. Users can import or export calendar contents using a CSV file. In addition to the calendar there is a diary that allows you to include photos and a to do list manager. There are in app purchases for special backgrounds and some advanced features.

IF (Free) iOS, Android, and web - One of the basic concepts in programming is that you create a condition if this happens then this happens. IFTTT means "if this then that" they shortened the phrase to an acronymn and then to just IF. Users can create "recipes" that allow for automated processes to occur such as if I post a photo on Instagram THEN share it on my Twitter account (or save to my Dropbox or Google Drive). If I favorite a tweet THEN copy it to my Evernote notebook of "Sweet Tweets". Users can automate Fitbit info into a Google Spreadsheet. There are hundreds if not thousands of possible recipes and the website now has categories of recipes to suggest for users recipes for: school,parents, photographers, social media users, news followers, road trips, and so many more. Take a look and you might be surprised at a recipe that can help make your life easier, keep track of something, or help you communicate better.

Any.do (Free) iOS, Android, Chrome, and web - Any.do is one of the most popular organizational apps available, users create projects / to-do lists that they can create tasks and subtasks that can be crossed off and have the ability to collaborate with others. The app allows for notification, automated messages, commenting, pictures, file attachments, recurring tasks, reminders, and subtasks, On top of all that it has a  planner. You get five lists / projects, limited file sizes, and limited collaboration unless you pay either $2.99/mo. per month or $2.50/mo. for a year commitment. With that premium payment you get several additional perks: color themes, support, and custom tasks. The app has a clean minimalist display, has some fun gestures, and a how-to walk through when you first use it.

Dropbox (Free) iOS, Android, Amazon, Windows, web. There a lot of cloud storage options available but Dropbox has its charms. Users can share folders with others which is great for collaboration or sharing resources with out the hassle of setting up a server and a network. Files are available on almost any device imaginable and there are numerous apps that integrate with Dropbox as the primary option of cloud storage. In many cases you can automatically backup files to Dropbox. There have been concerns about security but Dropbox states that no users' information has been accessed. By inviting others, sharing your experience, and other tasks Dropbox will increase your storage capacity.

LastPass (Free or $12/yr) iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry, and most web browsers. Creating secure passwords can be tough and then remembering them, changing them when there is a security breach, and all the related hassles. LastPass will remember your passwords for you and it will generate secure passwords. It will alert you if you are using duplicate passwords and give you an assessment of your password security vulnerability. Users can create form fill profiles that will fill out online forms when you prompt LastPass to fill them in. With secondary verification and sesame encryption if you desire it is extremely secure. LastPass for your web browser is free but to access it on your mobile device and use some of the advanced features require the $12 yearly fee.

Pocket (Free) iOS, Android, Amazon, Kobo, Blackberry, Chrome, Windows web. When you want to save a recipe, article, tweet, picture, or anything else you see online or in one of the 800 apps Pocket integrates with you can save it for offline (or online) reading across multiple devices. A premium account $4.99/ mo. or $44.99/yr. saves your items forever no storage maximum and even if it disappears from the web you have it, custom tags that can be selected with a tap, and a powerful search for all that stuff you're saving forever.