Fuser (Extra Credit)

Fuser is a tool that help organize a person's digital life. It allows you to view your mail and any social networking messages all in one location. Once you give Fuser access to your email and social networking accounts, this website will organize all of the messages in a way where you no longer have to switch between different windows or tabs. This gives the nice convenience of having an efficient window full of the all the messages you wish to view from your different accounts. Besides being able to read the messages you are also capable of responding to each message with any normal web mail client.

Fuser gives users a greater case of accessibility. It gives people a convenient way to view messages from all their different accounts. Considering the fact that most people today have multiple accounts on social networks and email devices this could be used by almost anyone. Another nice affordance is it allows you to view a leaderboard of all your friends so you can see who communicates with you the most. They are ranked higher on this board the more times they send you messages or posted on your wall. This gives you an easy way to find messages from the people you most often communicate with.

TokBox

I chose the program TokBox as my computer mediated tool. TokBox is a video chat application, which is we-based. This means you do not need to install it in order to use it. Users must simply register and they may begin using the program. This tool is very similar to Skype because it allows the users to video chat from different computers. TokBox is seen as a better than option than Skype because it offers group conferences without any membership fees unlike Skype. Also it is not downloaded to any specific computer which means it can be used at any computer away from a personal one. There is also a Facebook application for TokBox; this gives users something they can relate to and connect their friends with.

First off TokBox shows an excellent case for mobility. The program is not a software that needs to be downloaded to a specific computer. This gives users of TokBox the option of using it anywhere they need to go with a computer. They are never out of contact as long as they have a computer near by. Another affordance of TokBox, as I stated before, TokBox allows multiple users to engage in the same conference without any members fees. TokBox also helps build an identity because when setting up a profile people will be able to process all the personal info a user puts up. TokBox provides synchronous communication because there is no interference between users. This provides people the choice of face-to-face communication even when people are separated. This program allows users to communicate through audio only for any users that do not possess web cams. Another great reason to use this outstanding CMC tool.

FaceTime - Extra Credit

     The tool that I am going to be identifying is a feature for the IPhone, IPad, IPod touch or Mac computer called FaceTime.  FaceTime is a video chat feature that allows you to easily stay in touch with others with just a simple tap to your device.  FaceTime allows for you to feel as though you are there in person, even though you’re not.  This feature is strictly for the audience of Apple users and cannot be used among people who do not own any of these products.  I think this is one of the main reasons people many switch over and become Apple users.

     There are many affordances that FaceTime has to offer.  I have already touch a little about FaceTime allowing you to feel as though you are in person with others when you really are not, but this is one of its main points.  Where ever your friends and family are, you can be as well; whether it is talking with family in a different city, making an important meeting with clients or sitting with your friends at a huge baseball game, FaceTime allows you to still have that face-to-face interaction on portable devices.  You no longer need to be sitting at home in front of a computer screen in order to video chat.

     I myself own the IPhone 4 and I am obsessed with FaceTime.  Since I am a college student away from my family, I use it often to FaceTime with my mom and sisters back at home.  I even occasionally FaceTime with my grandparents since they have jumped onboard with the Apple products and purchased and IPad.  FaceTime has also come in handy while I have been away on vacations.  While making phone calls abroad can be expensive, it was absolutely free for me to jump on my IPhone and use the free Wi-Fi my hotel offered to chat with my family at home.  Plus it was great for them to feel as though they were in person with me in Cancun, Mexico!

Extra-Credit Post: Picasa Web Albums

Picasa is a computer mediated communication tool, which enables users to share, organize and store photos and videos on the Internet. I was asked to use this tool to share pictures for my job as a brand ambassador for the energy drink, Rockstar Energy Drink. The Rockstar offices are based out of California and this company hires students across the country to represent the brand and “College Brand Ambassadors,” thus this tool allows for supervisors to view pictures of promotional events that the brand ambassadors plan on their college campuses.

According to Picasa.google.com, “Picasa is free photo editing software from Google that makes your pictures look great. Sharing your best photos with friends and family is as easy as pressing a button!” ‘Picasa,’ according to Wikipedia, is a “blend of the name of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, the phrase mi casa for ‘my house’ and ‘pic’ for pictures (personalized art).” This site, which allows for users to view, edit and organize photos, was created by Idealab in 2002, however, was purchased and further developed by Google in July of 2004 and then began to be offered as a free download.

According to Picasa.Google.com, Picasa notes that one of their best features is ‘Beautiful Web Albums’ which “show your photos at their best. View full-screen slideshows, see your pictures arranged on a global map, enjoy playback, and more.” Picasa Web Albums (PWA) is a photo sharing website from Google, comparable to Flickr. Picasa allows for users to store and share 1 GB of larger photos for free. Smaller photos and videos less than 15 minutes long do not count towards this limit. This site is advantageous for users who want to share their photos via the Internet. According to Wikipedia, “PWA uses an ‘unlisted number’ approach for URLs for private photo albums. This enables a user to email a private album's URL to anyone, and the recipient can view the album without having to create a user account. This is done via an ‘authentication key’ that must be appended to the URL for the album to be shown.” In contrast, Picasa also keeps photo files and albums private if the user wants to be unsearchable and sets their personal settings to private. “The Picasa Help files say that private albums are not searchable by anyone except the user. Another visibility option named ‘sign-in required to view’ is available. This makes the album viewable only to those with whom the album is explicitly shared.”

Picasa offers many features for users who are looking to organize and edit their photos. According to the Picasa official website, this communication tool enables users to stay organized by “automatically [finding] all the photos on your PC, wherever they are, and will organize the, in seconds.” According to Wikipedia, “Picasa has file and tracking features, as well as tags, facial recognition, and collections for further sorting. It also offers several basic photo editing functions, including color enhancement, red eye reduction, and cropping.” In addition, for viewing your photos with ease, Picasa offers features such as slide shows, printing options and image timelines. Another advantageous feature that Picasa offers is adding text to an image, without altering the quality of the image.

Picasa uses keywords to keep track and organize images. This organization process is helpful for users when they are searching the site. According to Wikipedia, “Picasa has a search bar that is always visible when viewing the library. Searches are live, so that displayed items are filtered as you type. The search bar will search filenames, captions, tags, folder names and other metadata.” Finally, while searching and exploring this website, I learned something very interesting about this tool. According to Wikipedia, “Picasa also supports boolean operators for searching in much the same way as Google's web search. All search terms are required by default (as with the operator ‘AND’), and images tagged with specified keywords can be excluded by using the hyphen (as in the boolean operator ‘NOT’). For example, searching for family children -friends will cause Picasa to display all images with the keywords ‘family’ and ‘children’, but which do not include the keyword ‘friends’.” In addition, Picasa offers an experimental searching feature, which allows for users to search for images that contain certain colors by using the ‘color’ operator.

Another feature that Picasa offers is Face Recognition, which is technology that can be used by Picasa users to search for people or buildings in their photos. This feature was launched into Picasa Web Albums in 2008. A feature that is noted on the Picasa Official Website is the ‘focus on people.’ “People matter in your photos. Our technology helps you automatically organize your photos based on the people in them, and works in Picasa and Picasa Web Albums."

In addition, geotagging is a feature that was launched in 2007, which writes geographic coordinates to an image, using Google Maps. According to Picasa.Google.com, “easily add geo-tags to your photos so that you can remember exactly where they’re from using Google Maps.”

Finally, according to the Picasa Official Website, this computer mediated communication tool allows for users to be creative, “use Picasa to design and print beautiful photo collages, create fun video slideshows, add photo text or view your favorite photos on your desktop or screensaver.” They emphasize the ease of editing your pictures to perfection, “improve almost any picture with Picasa’s one-click fixes for common problems like red-eye, color, and lighting. Or use tuning and effects to make your best photos look even better.” And, lastly, sharing is made simple for the effective use for users of all technological skills, “publish your favorite photos online with one click. Create stunning online photo albums to share with friends and family, or public albums for the world to see. Get notified when you ‘Favorites’ post new photos.”

Resources:

http://picasa.google.com/mac/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasa

EduBlogs

EduBlogs is a new mode of communication that allows students and teachers to communicate freely on a secured network outside of the classroom. This website has grown into the world's largest and trusted provider of educational blogging in just six years. Using EduBlogs for school related communication purposes, clearly provides both students and teachers with efficient and effective ways for communicating.


What is EduBlogs? :

EduBlogs is a website that is designed to introduce students and teachers to the use of blogging. With EduBlogs, teachers can communicate to their students freely about assignments, class updates, discussions and any other type of information. Students can also access the blogs and respond back and provide feedback to their teachers and classmates. In addition to the creation of blogs, EduBlogs also serves as an excellent place to upload work portfolios and initiate group discussion with fellow classmates.

Getting started with Edublogs is fast and easy. Many campuses and professors already have accounts with the website so students can access the blogs by creating a free account. Once a student creates an account, they will have full access to their class blogs and also the ability to post their own blogs.



Affordances of EduBlogs:
One affordance of the the EduBlogs website is the easy to use template and accessibility. The blogs are user-friendly and simple to follow format. Students can post their feedback or post their own blogs with effectively and efficiently. Although the website is relatively easy to use, if technical issues occur, the website also offers full technical and email support for their users. Having easy access and full help support enables students to engage with their teachers and classmates effortlessly.

Another benefit of using EduBlogs is the safe and secure environment that it provides for all of its users. Instead of posting class blogs all over the internet, EduBlogs offers students and professors a safe place to store all of their information. Teachers can provides students a private place to upload their work and assignments, without any privacy issues that can occur on other popular blogging websites. For example, students do not have to worry about their blogs and assignments being accessed by anyone of the internet. The only people who have access to their work is students and teachers within their EduBlogs network.

Why Use EduBlogs:
In all, EduBlogs creates a friendly and safe environment for students and teachers to access information and develop new work and ideas. The website provides an alternative to learning in the classroom, and gives students the tools to interact and communicate outside of school. With the use of EduBlogs, both students and teachers will have the ability to organize and transfer information on a reliable platform.

Resources: http://www.edublogs.org/

Basecamp

Basecamp is a free project management tool used by professionals. It’s main purpose is to have members of a project log in and post the progress being made on a message based system. The messages are displayed in a time-line manner. The can hold an unlimited amount of characters, and documents or other media features can be embedded or attached along with the message. It also allows people to keep track of what projects are being worked on, as there is a dashboard homepage for each member showing what projects are open, no matter what the amount.

As a managing tool, it is also popular among companies that have collaborated together for a project. All it takes is a login name, and companies can add each other to whatever project is that’s being worked on. This is a convenient way for all members to be informed of the progress of the task, and limits the opportunity for miscommunication among colleagues.

Other important factors of Basecamp are it’s features. There is a calendar, to-do list, time bar, and a Basecamp search engine. This allows for all professionals to be aware of expected deadlines, and the amount of time to be expected working on the project. Basecamp is a very popular alternative to communication via email for many companies. It is a way to mass communicate and organization.

Basecamp offers businesses a community of project management. It provides a place where all members belong. Virtually no one can be left out because everything that is posted sends notifications to all members working on the project. It can help strengthen ties between colleagues, both within and outside the company, purely based on the convienent way of mass communication (Ellison, Steinfeld, Camp).

Another important affordance Basecamp provides as a community is it is extremely accessible. Other devices such as skype can fail with poor Internet connections, but Basecamp is a place to communicate without having to video chat. There is even mobile application for the tool. It also provides a common place for members to work together if they are in different areas. Basecamp offers itself internationally.

During my internship this fall at a company called 721 Media Center, I became a member of Basecamp. I can personally say the Basecamp was my first means of communication with other members of the company on several projects. It provided me with organization and a way to keep up with what was going on. For businesses and professionals, Basecamp is a necessity. www.basecamp.com

Resources:

Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook "friends:" Social capital and college students' use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), article 1. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html

Dropbox: Community Building through File Syncing

Dropbox is the easiest way to sync your files over all of your devices. This includes your work computer, desktop, mobile phone, and any other computers you want to sync with. Devices always seem to break at the most inconvenient times, but with Dropbox, your files won’t be lost. The “cloud” is the future of Web 3.0 and beyond, where less and less is stored on your personal hardware. While cloud storage is not new, Dropbox offers one of the most developed, yet intuitively clean and simple cloud storage utilities. Once you install it on your computer, you simply drop your files into the new Dropbox folder found in the Favorites section of Windows Explorer, so you don’t have to go out of your way to open up any other program or log into an account.

File syncing can be used on a personal level, by having all of your files backed up and easily accessible on the cloud, but the possibilities for collaboration with friends, family, and coworkers make this software particularly exciting. In your Dropbox folder there is a Public subfolder. This makes it easy to share files with a broad group of people in one place, at the same time, instead of tediously sending out individual files to each person. This grants affordances of consolidation of information, as well as the affordance of easily broadcasting or disseminating your multimedia and documents. The Public subfolder allows for community building through providing a curated list of files which are as visible or invisible to others as the user wishes. In addition to the Public subfolder, you can create other folders and share these folders with specific people or groups of people. This allows the user to control the information that is available to any given person. Once a folder is shared, all files added to the folder are automatically synced with everyone connected.

Speaking of community building, Dropbox’s website fosters the development of the larger community of all Dropbox users. It does this in two major ways, one being the traditional method of hosting community forums. This allows for users to create and enter discussions with other users as well as receive feedback from forum moderators. It has a personable yet still comfortably anonymous method for posting, in that posters are labeled by their real first name and last initial. The second, more innovative method Dropbox uses to promote community building is their Votebox. Votebox allows users to raise issues about the current software or suggest new innovations for Dropbox. After an initial suggestion is posted, others can vote in support of these innovations.

So you can look at Dropbox as an intuitive, customizable file syncing and cloud storage tool. However you can also look at as a new way to easily communicate with individuals and groups through user-friendly sharing of files. Updating Public or shared folders are automatic and hassle-free, so you are keeping the people that matter to you in the loop just as easily as you would save a file to a folder.

Vimeo

Vimeo is a video hosting website. Users are able to upload, share, and view videos. Many people may compare it to another popular video hosting site, YouTube, but in fact Vimeo is different in many ways from other video hosting websites.

A major affordance of Vimeo is it’s highly reputable nature of being focused on “indie” videos-or videos not intended to be seen by the masses (also known as “viral”). This major aspect of Vimeo gives it an important reputation that differs themselves from other video hosting websites such as Youtube, where a user can find a video of seemingly nothing that could have millions of hits in a short amount of time.

Like many networking and hosting sites, Vimeo has a free membership and videos can also be seen without being a member. There is a comment space on videos that can provide feedback and allow users to communicate with each other. A major affordance of Vimeo as a hosting website is there is no time limit as to the length of videos that users want to upload, making it a popular choice to people that are serious about their videos being seen by other serious users. Users also have the option to sign up for Vimeo Plus. Vimeo Plus is not free, but it does provide opportunities for users to upload videos in the ultimate high definition and provide editing tools-another factor of being an attractive choice for people not interested in “viral” videos.

Users can also access the many features Vimeo has to offer, only adding to the computer-mediated communication. For example, Viemo hosts “groups” that members may join on the webiste. These groups are based on users interests or experience. Vimeo also has channels, so people can find their favorite users latest updates. Vimeo also offers links to products that can enhance user experience, such as video cameras.

The fact that Viemo is known for having “indie” video dominance, it is also a website that filters and curates video streaming. If a user wants to look for quality music videos without having to wait for advertisements or look through dozens of videos to find the one a user desires. Users are also able to tag their videos with relevant keywords, allowing for filtering by the user. You may gain access to Vimeo by clicking here www.vimeo.com/

Google Maps

When needing to get directions or locate something on a map Google Maps is the place to go for all of your location and destination needs. This application will help you get to any destination, no address needed. Being able to save your places, change the mode of travel and edit your routes are also useful tools when using Google Maps.

The point of Google Maps is to get you to where you need to go. Getting started is easy by just going to http://maps.google.com/. On the home screen you can type in an address, landmark, or destination and by pressing the search button you will be taken to that place on a map. This is useful if you need to find where something is on a map like a national park or a business. To find directions to a place just click the "get direction" button. Here you can type in your desired addresses/destinations in the Point A/Point B boxes to help you find where you need to go. One cool feature of Google Maps is it's ability to find your location for you, so if you want to find out how to get somewhere from where you are and location services are enabled, you only need to type in your destination in the Point B space. Maybe you just wish to roam the landscape of the world? Clicking and dragging on the map will take you anywhere you want. Zooming in and out using the + and - buttons will show more or less on the map.

Clicking on "my places" allows you to create places on a map, lets you star your favorite places, and you can also view places that you have rated or where you have checked in. Google Maps lets you be customize your experience as much as you desire. When finding directions you can change your mode of transportation from car to public transportation, bike, or walking. When driving somewhere you can also choose to avoid highways or tolls by clicking "show options" under your destination. Finding the reverse directions are also easy by clicking the up/down arrow button. There are also buttons that allow you to print your directions (with or without the map) and allow you to email or instant message a link.

Google Maps is a tool for everyone. It's interface is simple and will get anyone from point A to point B. It is one of the multiple applications to come from Google and may just be the most popular. Social interaction and communication is not the primary focus for this application however adding those functions would make the app more appealing and even more user friendly than it already is.

Keep and Share

Keep and Share is a collaboration tool used to keep all of your information in one place. It is an application that provides online calendars, word processing, file storage, photo sharing and to do lists. It is also very easy to work with people on Keep and Share. You can easily collaborate with other people on shared projects and more. Your information is private and you can control who see’s it. This is how the website got it’s name – you can keep or share the information. What I found interesting is that your friends do not need a Keep and Share account to view your files, calendars, etc. All you have to do is input their email address and email them the secure link and password to your information and they can access it.

When you go to the Keep and Share website, before you even create an account, there is a trial calendar/notepad right on the main screen. It seemed fun and easy to type and create events, etc., but I was still unsure if this website was user-friendly since I do not have an account myself. After reading dozens of reviews, the majority of people said that this site is completely user-friendly and great for people who need an easy way to work in teams or share images/documents. Everything on the Keep and Share website is organized under tabs so you can very easily view your photos, documents, to-do’s, addresses, calendars, and who has visited your page.

The one downside I found to Keep and Share is that there are no mobile apps for it. In today’s world, most people are using Smartphone’s and iPhones, that allow for application downloads. Although Keep and Share has a webpage that can be accessed from a mobile phone with Internet, it is not as efficient as having an app for it.

Aside from the one downside, this site proves to be a very useful tool to communicate and collaborate with others efficiently and effectively online. Hopefully as technology becomes more important in todays world, Keep and Share will create an easy mobile app for people to use. I would definitely recommend this site for anyone who needs an easy way to work with others, share files, and organize their days/weeks.

http://www.keepandshare.com/

MyEdu- A new way for college students to communicate online

I recently heard about this campus connection website entitled MyEdu.com through an organization affiliated with The University at Albany. This week, Lambda Pi Eta, the communication honor society at our school, asked all of its members to create a free account on the MyEdu.com using the special link (www.myedu.com/free/lph). For each individual who signs up for a free account, using the unique link, MyEdu donates $1 to Lambda Pi Eta. Through the MyEdu Campus Connection Program, MyEdu.com promotes involvement on campus by giving back to student organizations in this way.

MyEdu is a website dedicated to campus connection. According to Wikipedia, “MyEdu was founded in 2008 by Michael Crosno, Chris Chilek and John Cunningham. The company formerly known as Pick-A-Prof, officially changed its name to MyEdu in the summer of 2009.” This campus connection website is an interactive site that “works by collecting data from college students, as well as official academic data from universities, to identify patterns that lead to unexpected costs.” In addition, “MyEdu also provides interactive web applications to aid those seeking a college degree, including services that focus on college decision making, such as degree planning and requirements, class schedules, courses, and professors.” Tabs or resource categories on the main page of this website include, class schedules, professor grades, professor ratings, course booklists, course catalogs, degree requirements, transfers & APs, degree timeline, careers & salary, time management, and, finally, data, stats & graphs. The main objective of this website is to “concentrate on helping students organize their academics.” CrunchBase.com asserts, “MyEdu is the definitive online source to increase success and save money in college. Combining the largest warehouse of academic information in the US with easy-to-use web applications, MyEdu helped students to create a personalized graduation plan and make informed decisions about their courses, schedule, professors and major.”

On the official site, MyEdu contends that they are “the leading students academic platform for completing college.” Something that I found out while exploring this website, and the ‘About MyEdu’ tab is that, “with only 56% of students nationwide achieving a degree in 6 years, too many students are saddled with the burden of college investment without the benefit of a college degree. [Their] mission is to help students improve their return on education by raising graduation rates, decreasing time to graduation and supporting career readiness goals.” In addition, “MyEdu provides millions of students attending US colleges and universities with information and tools to better plan and manage their college experience.” On their website, they contend, “We provide students information on over 7,000 institutions and detailed degree planning, graduation roadmap, schedule planning, grade histories, faculty ratings and credit management information at over 800 institutions and growing.” The website is a very beneficial tool for students who are trying to get statistics and detailed assistance about their university or a university that they could potentially be attending.

In addition to providing statistics and information, MyEdu also is a beneficial tool for student networking. When I created an account, I was automatically prompted to both tell friends from my other social networking accounts to join, as well as to meet my ‘schoolmates’ who are other people who have accounts on MyEdu who attend The University at Albany. Additionally, there is a ‘Ask A Question @ SUNY Albany’ section, that is similar to Twitter, where students can post questions, comments and concerns where other Albany students can see postings from their ‘schoolmates’ and have the opportunity to answer or respond to the postings.

You can also upload your schedule to the website and request to see your friend’s schedules. This site is a way to keep track of your courses, grades and textbooks throughout the semester. Finally, “Working closely with students and universities over the last decade, MyEdu has assembled the richest academic warehouse of course, professor, grade history, student review, and degree information – sourced directly from universities nationwide. This data is the foundation of the MyEdu approach, which arms students with customized and relevant information so they can make better decisions at critical academic milestones – such as choose a major, plan a degree, build their schedule, select the right courses, balance their workload and map out their path to graduation. Students using MyEdu to manage and plan the process of earning a college degree can realize up to 20% savings on the cost of college.”

MyEdu also uses other forms of social media in order to gain publicity. MyEdu currently takes advantage of social media sites, for example, they have a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube channel, just to name a few in order to get their name out there and increase visitors. By using multiple channels, MyEdu increases the traffic that they could potentially receive, by making the website more visible to others. They also have a blog affiliated with the site and a pressroom to keep users up to date on their current events. Through these tools for increasing traffic, the website uses labels, tags and keywords, hash tags and links in order to increase their users.

You can also access this website from any mobile device, which is Web 3.0, to ensure access to this information when you are on the go. This website is a great resource for computer mediated communication; students can access information, as well as, communicate with other students concerning more personal questions regarding their education. This website is a great tool and should be taken advantage of by all students.

Finally this website is visibility stimulating and user friendly, ‘Appappeal.com’ contends that MyEdu “does its best to avoid intimidating new students. Visitors are welcomed by soft, pleasant colors that add variety to the modern user interface. Each area is very clean and contains no clutter, just the information the user needs. Stylish icons add even more personality, giving the site a very upbeat feel as the user navigates to the tools they need. The application makes it easy for anyone to compile all of their basic school details and planning resources in one convenient place.” Because this website is accessible and easy to use, the user traffic will increase and users will be more likely to visit again. All in all, this website is a great resource for students and extremely user friendly.

YouSendIt.Com- A New Way To Send Attachments- A Computer Mediated Communication Tool

YouSendIt.Com- A New Way To Send Attachments- A Computer Mediated Communication Tool

The past summer, I interned with PepsiCo in Purchase, NY. There were various tools that were used to ensure easy communication throughout the office and the myriad of other locations where PepsiCo employees operate, both nationally and internationally. One of the computer mediated communication tools that was frequently in use in our office, was our YouSendIt.com account. Have you ever had a file to send that was too large to successfully send over your regular email account? Did you ever have to disfigure your projects or presentations and send them in smaller parts in order to successfully send the materials to your desired recipient? If so, then this is a computer mediated communication tool that would be extremely useful for you.

What It Is?

YouSendIt.com is a Web-based digital file delivering company. One of this tool’s many assets is that it lets users securely send and receive large files and, also, track pending files on demand. According to Crunchbase.com “YouSendIt, Inc is the first cloud collaboration service to offer an integrated approach for sending, sharing and signing documents online.” YouSendIt highlights its assets using three categories on it’s ‘features’ page. It claims:

- Send Files: easily send and receive content with the comfort of email without the hassle of inbox limits. Simply send it- its ‘email easy’ from the web, desktop or mobile device. Big files no problem- send your big ideas without email limits on file size. Upgrade to business class- online tracking, access control and security features included

- Share Folders: Wherever you go, there they are… cloud based folders for you and your team, at work and on the go. Simply save it- straight to your cloud folders, as you work, with unlimited storage. Work where you need to- sync your files and folders for access offline and on mobile devices. Share the goodness- easily invite colleagues and customers to share and collaborate

- Sign Documents- get business done online. Sign documents online with your keyboard, mouse or mobile touch screen. Simply sign it- sign right from your Smartphone, tablet, web or desktop. Forget the fax- sign the deals wherever you are, without the print and fax-it slowdown. Fill it out- preview documents and fill out forms with typed text inserts.

This file-sharing tool is an alternate to sending attachments using FTP (File Transfer Protocol) or sending CDs, DVDs or USBs via ‘Sneakernets’. A sneakernet is an ‘informational term describing the transfer of electronic information, especially computer files, by physically couriering removable media such as magnetic tape, floppy disks, compact discs, USB flash drives, or external hard drives from one computer to another.’ This company ‘operates on a freemium basis, with basic features being offered for free and more advanced features for a fee.’ Freemium is defined according to Wikipedia, as “a business model that works by offering a product or service free of charge (typically digital offerings such as software, content, games, web services or other) while charging a premium for advanced combining the two aspects of the business model: ‘free’ and ‘premium’.” For example, sending a 50MB file is free, however with a paid account, the user can send files up to 2 GB.

Web 3.0

YouSendIt.com has reached the Web 3.0 level, building upon the advancements of Web 1.0 and 2.0, YouSendIt.com can now be accessed on mobile devices, allowing for users to access the content on the web while they are on the go. According to Crunchbase.com “with over 20 million registered users in 193 countries, YouSendIt helps enterprises and business professionals streamline collaboration by enabling them to instantly sync and access content in the cloud and easily send files, share folders and sign documents from anywhere- the desktop, Web or mobile devises. YouSendIt offers a suite of productivity tools that integrate seamlessly into common desktop and mobile environments.”

History

YouSendIt.com was “founded on July 7, 2003 by Amir Shaikh, Khalid Shaikh and Ranjith Kumaran with the goal of finding a way to send files from one entity to another. In the beginning stages, YouSendIt was using HTTP-Tunnel Corp resources, including equipment, data center and R&D to build the company.” Their funding and user following has grown massively since this website’s launch. “YouSendIt received their first round of funding due to giving presentations at TieCon 2004 in May. At this point, YouSendIt had about 300,000 transfers per day. Most individuals were sharing files through YouSendIt and it created a viral growth.”

YouSendIt has enormous funding growth as well. According to Wikipedia, this website’s funding grew massively from it’s foundation in 2004:

§ YouSendIt sold equity for $250k (Cambrian Ventures) - August 1, 2004

§ YouSendit sold equity for $5 million (Alloy Ventures, Sevin Rosen, Stanford Venture Fund, Cambrian Ventures) - SEC filing October 7, 2005

§ YouSendit sold equity for $4.7 million - SEC filing October 25, 2006

§ YouSendit sold equity for $10 million - SEC filing April 23, 2007

§ YouSendit sold equity for $14 million - SEC filing July 15, 2008

§ YouSendIt Inc. secures $15 million in Series D Financing - August 3, 2010

How It Works?

When sending the desired files, the sender can enter the recipient’s e-mail addresses, attach the file and send it. It is extremely simple and easy to navigate. When the recipient receives the e-mail, there is a URL inside, once they click on the URL it lets them download the file. “Although YouSendIt” links are frequently posted to blogs, forums and other websites, the company has recently marketed itself as a method of business communication.” This file-sharing tool offers, four kinds of plans for varying users:

- 1. Lite: free service for sending files to friends and family; supported by advertising that appears on the upload and download pages

- 2. Pro: paid service for important documents, with basic file delivery tracking

- 3. Business Plus: paid service for businesses, with advanced file delivery tracking; provides branding and password protection

- 4. Corporate Suite: paid service, allows addition of multiple users, administrative controls, reporting, payment-by-invoice, etc.

“YouSendIt also offers application plug-ins (Software plus services) for Microsoft Outlook, Adobe Photosho[, CoreIDRAW, Apple Aperture, WinZip, PaperPort, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office, iPhoto, Final Cut Pro, YouSendIt Express and other programs. To deal with files larger than 2GB (a browser limitation) it offers a desktop client that lets the users send files up to 10GB in size.”

Recently In The News

On May 26, 2011 Fast Company showcased YouSendIt.com in an article entitled ‘YouSendIt Hits 30 million Users, Bests Dropbox.’ This article contends that “the Campbell, California-based company surpassed 30 million unique users in the past 12 months… the goosed growth comes on the heels of YouSendIt’s partnership with Yahoo Mail, which helped add a million users in roughly two months.” The article continues to boast about this file-sharing tool, “with 60% revenue growth in 2010, however, it appears YouSendIt is defining its market position well in the wild, wild, west of the cloud industry. Still, while YouSendIt has chosen to highlight total unique users, the real proof of a company’s success is its registered and premium usership. Currently, YouSendIt has 400,000 paid subscribers and 18 million registered users.”

Finally, I believe that YouSendIt.com is a great way to simplify communication between co-workers, friends and family. This company has advanced and evolved greatly since it was established in 2004. I believe that there are various benefits to using this website and if you find yourself sending large documents frequently than this website could definitely help you to send your attachments in one piece.

LinkedIn - Professional Networking Online- A new way to communicate professionally

LinkedIn is an extremely beneficial website that professionals, in the past couple of years, have learned to take advantage of. This website is an excellent way for professionals, individuals looking for new business ventures, as well as, individuals who want to connect with past co-workers and business partners to network and share their personal experiences. This website, unlike other forms of networking and social media sites, highlights the users professional skills and practices, in order to enhance the user’s business opportunities. However, like many social media sites, it has grown tremendously from when it was created. According to the LinkedIn Press Center, “The site officially launched on May 5, 2003. At the end of the first month in operation, LinkedIn had a total of 4,500 members in the network,” and, astonishingly, this website’s growth continued; “as of June 30, 2011 (the end of the second quarter), professionals [were] signing up to join LinkedIn at a rate that is faster than two members per second.” In addition, the growth of this professional network continued on their path on a steady incline; “As of August 4, 2011, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet with more than 120 million members in over 200 countries and territories.” Moreover, “more than half of LinkedIn members are currently located outside of the United States” and is “currently available in nine languages: English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Turkish and Romanian.”

The sole purpose of the site is to form ‘connections’ with people whom the user has had some sort of professional business relationships with. When you enter this website, you are prompted to create a profile. With each step, in creating a new user profile, the user is asked a question that is tailored to help the user create the best profile possible, with as many details as the user is willing to include. Once current and past education, employers and extracurricular activities and interests are added to the profile, the user has many different options, including uploading their resume and a picture of yourself. The success of the website stems from the opportunities and exposure that the users gain from having a profile on this specific site as opposed to others. “There were two billion people searches on LinkedIn on 2010.” The publicity that each user receives by having a LinkedIn profile can extremely elevate the users professional experiences, a person can be recruited for a job that he or she doesn’t even know is open, simply because they have a professional profile and a recruiter sees their assets and matches them up with the open career opportunity.

One of the attributes that I like the most about LinkedIn that is extremely different when being compared to other networking pages is that you are mandated to cite how you know the individual that you are trying to make a ‘connection’ with. When you find a person that you want to add to your network, you are asked, “How do you know this person?” and you have to pick from the options colleague, classmate, we’ve done business together, friend, other or I don’t know ‘this person.’ Also, another aspect that I learned while researching this website is that “if the recipient of an invitation selects "I don't know", this counts against the person inviting them, and after five such "IDKs" a member cannot invite another to connect without first supplying their recipient mail address” (Wikipedia.com). This asset allows for users to feel a sense of safety and privacy and allow only individuals that they truly know to potentially benefit from their connection.

As I previously explained, there are many professional beneifts for users on LinkedIn. Wikipedia cited numerous ways in which individuals could use their connections:

§ A contact network is built up consisting of their direct connections, the connections of each of their connections (termed second-degree connections) and also the connections of second-degree connections (termed third-degree connections). This can be used to gain an introduction to someone a person wishes to know through a mutual contact.

§ It can then be used to find jobs, people and business opportunities recommended by someone in one's contact network.

§ Employers can list jobs and search for potential candidates.

§ Job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers and discover which of their existing contacts can introduce them.

§ Users can post their own photos and view photos of others to aid in identification.

§ Users can now follow different companies and can get notification about the new joining and offers available.

§ Users can save (i.e. bookmark) jobs, which they would like to apply for.

From personal experience, I have seen, firsthand the benefits of having a linked in profile. About two weeks ago, I created a LinkedIn profile because I am a senior now and I will be potentially be looking for career opportunities in the near future. After creating my profile and adding my personal education and internship experience, I looked to make connections with my previous employers and co-workers. After I created the profile, I realized that I could track my connections and exposure. My unique profile told me that 5 people have viewed my profile in the past 90 days, I have shown up in search results 20 times in the past 7 days, my 9 connections have linked me to 69,204+ professionals and, finally, there are 1,027 new people in my network since September 22.

Furthermore, the exposure and potential for professional development for individuals on LinkedIn is numerous. Computer mediated communication is Web 2.0, because of the two-way communication, as well as, and 3.0 because of the availability of connecting to the website on the go, such as on the mobile version which was launched in February 2008 in 6 languages. Additionally, according to Wikipedia, “In January 2011, LinkedIn acquired CardMunch, a mobile app maker that scans business cards and converts into contacts. LinkedIn plans to integrate this functionality into their services in the near future. In August of 2011 LinkedIn revamped its mobile applications on the iPhone, Android and HTML5. Mobile page views of the application have increased roughly 400% year over year according to CEO Jeff Weiner.” Finally, proven through all of the assets that I previously explained, this website is extremely beneficial to all users for varying reasons and I recommend that professional individuals worldwide take advantage of all this unique networking site has to offer.