Productivity and business

It's hard to strike the right balance in the technology business between change that's too fast or too slow--in part because different customers prefer different paces. To try to better match those preferences, Google Apps now will come in two varieties.

The "rapid release" track will get new technology into customers' hands as soon as it's passed quality-assurance testing. The "scheduled release" track will issue updates once a week, with at least a week's notice to let administrators learn about the upcoming changes, Google announced today.

The dual-track approach applies to Gmail, … Read more

You can listen to Google Voice messages from your smartphone, can dial out using your Google number on an Android phone, and can finally port your own cell phone number to Google Voice. But if you're not quite ready to cut the cord with your carrier, you don't have to.

Google Voice has a vast number of benefits, from managing voice mail in an inbox to placing free texts. However, there still are some flaws--barely legible voice transcription and mobile app SMS delays to name two (I know, I know, not everyone experiences the same issues)--and the … Read more

Google is betting on a future with ubiquitous, affordable, wireless, high-speed Internet access. That may be smart in the long run, but last week that philosophy drove me straight back into the arms of Microsoft.

My technology choices generally come down to pragmatic rather than religious choices, and it was pragmatism that led me to embrace Google Docs last year. I like the fact that I can work simultaneously on multiple computers--indeed, even on mobile phones these days--and that multiple people can easily collaborate. My requirements for advanced formatting and formulas are low enough that I generally can put up … Read more

We've all heard the famous quote before: Nothing is certain in life but death and taxes. And while you could try to avoid your taxes, Uncle Sam is probably going to make your life even more miserable if you do.

Rather than suffer the consequences of illegal action, we suggest you get a jump on your taxes with one of the four tax prep solutions we have thoroughly tested out for you: TurboTax (Web|Windows|Mac), H&R Block (Web|Windows|Mac), TaxAct (Web|Windows), and CompleteTax (Web-only). Oh, and--by the way--in the course of our testing, we … Read more

"We're doing to service industries what China did to manufacturing," CloudCrowd CEO Alex Edelstein tells me.

That's not exactly a warm and fuzzy concept for a journalist, as the particular service industries that CloudCrowd affects are in the writing and editing space. CloudCrowd collects tasks from clients--currently translation and proofreading jobs--via its Serv.io site, and then distributes them to waiting workers via a Facebook app.

Unlike the content farm Demand Media, where a computer assigns writing jobs to waiting workers based on popular search engine queries, CloudCrowd creates work when paying customers ask for it, … Read more

This afternoon, an e-mail popped into my inbox that--at first glance--looked ripe for immediate deletion. The word "Wal-Mart" in the subject was what set me off. But in that split second before my finger went down to send the message into oblivion, something else caught my eye. And, well, I'll let the e-mail do the talking:

Coming upon this note today--in January 2011--made me chuckle, sigh, and shake my head all in the span of about 30 seconds. Really, it's quite depressing to be reminded that there are still people out there who are stuck dealing … Read more

Back in November, I tested out NudgeMail, a program that could come to the rescue of any swamped-but-purportedly-organized individual. The beauty of the service is in its simple and straightforward ability to turn any e-mail client into a reminder system, without any registration, plug-ins, or widgets to toy with. Today, NudgeMail is attempting to take easy organization to the next step by pairing up with Google Calendars.

So how does it work? Again, simplicity is key in this relationship. Just send an e-mail to a date (and time, if you so desire) @nudgemaul with the activity in the subject line. … Read more

Amazon Web Services is taking aim at the business world with e-mail.

The new Simple Email Service integrates with the company's existing Amazon Web Services tools and is designed to make it easier for companies to manage e-mail in their operations.

The focus of Simple Email Service is "marketing and transactional messages," Amazon said today. The platform scans outgoing messages to ensure they meet ISP standards and won't get caught up in a recipient's spam folder. The service also boasts a notification system that alerts customers to "bounce backs, failed and successful delivery attempts, … Read more

Mozilla has barred a Skype extension for Firefox, accusing it of causing 40,000 browser crashes a week and of dramatically slowing page-load times.

"We believe that both of these items constitute a major, user-facing issue, and meet our established criteria for blocklisting an add-on," Mozilla said in a blog post yesterday. Because the extension is installed by default when Skype's main software is installed, a "large number of Firefox users who have installed Skype have also installed the Skype Toolbar, knowingly or unknowingly," Mozilla said.

Mozilla is in contact with Skype programmers and will … Read more