GeekSugar

Send Emails - The Old School Way

GeekSugar — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:09:43 PDT

For someone like my dad, who still calls his email his www, nothing beats a good ol' back to basics pencil and paper email. Thanks to ThinkGeek and their paper email pads, my dad can send fifty handwritten emails for only $4. No navigation to your email client, no mind-boggling passwords to fill in, just simple To:, Date:, Time: and Subject: fields to fill in. Done and done! Now for the hard part. . . sending it effortlessly like real email!

You're Fired! 20 Signs That a Pink Slip Is Coming

Wise Bread — Thu, 10 May 2012 10:54:53 PDT

If something feels off at the office, you may want to brace yourself for the worst. Wise Bread shares signs to look for when a pink slip is coming.

There are two types of employees. One has a good idea of what they do, who they are, and what position they play in the company. They are savvy. They know the score. They are under no delusions, and will no doubt leave for another job long before they are ever considered as cannon-fodder.

And then there's the other kind. The guy who could get Gandhi to hate him. The woman who spends most of her day chatting on the phone to friends or doing online shopping. Or the nice chap in sales who is completely oblivious that the recent merger means his job is now obsolete. They all have Ostrich Syndrome. They couldn't see a pink slip coming if it was 8ft tall and glowing in the dark, screaming "you're fired!"

You want to avoid being in that second category at all costs. So I've compiled a handy list. If you can answer yes to THREE or more of these questions, you may want to think about sprucing up your résumé and dry-cleaning your best interview attire.

1. Are you no longer in the loop about, well, anything?

This is a huge telltale sign. Suddenly you're finding out about company news from the cleaning lady or the new girl in accounting. If you were formally in the know about all things business related, but now suffer from "the company's doing what??!" disease, the writing is probably on the wall.

2. Did you recently screw up big-time?

We're not talking a minor faux pas here. Did you lose money on an account that was previously bulletproof? Oh dear. Were you caught having sex on the boss's desk with the boss's spouse? That's probably not a career-enhancing move. Unless you're a real dope, you know if you have screwed up. And if you know, HR knows. It may not be the final nail in your coffin, but it's a nail in the coffin nonetheless.

3. Are people avoiding you at all costs?

Eye contact is difficult to make with someone if you know his or her head's on the chopping block. Small talk is just as tough. It's best just to avoid that person altogether. So if people are no longer doing that fun "stop 'n' chat" in the hall, or the coffee room empties when you arrive, then guess what . . . you may be a marked man or woman.

Read on for more.

Ecard Save the Dates - Cool or Tacky?

Anna Monette Roberts — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:17:17 PDT

Ecards have come a long way, but is it a faux pas to send wedding correspondence via email? While most couples still opt for paper wedding invitations, many are choosing to send save the date cards and invitations to less formal wedding-related celebrations via online services like Paperless Post and Evite, pictured.

Sending ecards is cheap, requires no postage, and saves paper; plus, you get an automatic count of the RSVPs. But guests still love opening wedding-related mail, just as handwritten thank-you notes seem more authentic than emailed ones. What's your take on email save the dates?

6 Top Web Tools Small Business Owners Should Rely on

Emily Co — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:31:14 PDT

Starting a business ain't easy, especially if you're working on it alone. Thankfully, there are a lot of handy tools on the Internet that will make your work life easier. Here are a couple you should check out:

BookFresh: Referred to as the OpenTable for small business owners, this online scheduling website lets customers schedule their appointments on the web and even make payments online. Using this tool will help you keep track of other details, such as client history and calendar syncing, and it will help you customize emails for customers.

Dropbox: Dropbox lets you store files such as photos, docs, and videos online, which means those large files won't take up space on your computer. It makes it easier for you to share files with others as well. Other benefits include accessing the files from anywhere in the world and the ability to access it when you're offline.

FreshBooks: Not to be confused with BookFresh, FreshBooks offers up a different service. The site helps manage invoices and automates several steps in the record-keeping process, making it easier for you to keep track of and create professional-looking invoices.

Read on for more helpful tools.

3 Savvy Things to Do This Weekend

Emily Co — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 03:05:05 PDT

We usually come up with plenty of fun, social activities for you to do over the weekend, but let's get savvy and down to business this weekend. It may feel like a chore to complete these tasks, but you'll feel so much better after you're done with them!

Organize Your Receipts: Dump all the receipts out from your bag, wallet, and pocket, and put them in a designated box or folder. You can also test out Shoeboxed, which is a free online service that can automatically track and organize your online and offline purchases. All you need to do is snap pictures of receipts on your cell and email them to Shoebox or mail in paper receipts to the company, and they will organize the information for you.
Plan Your Work Lunches: If you're resolving to bring your lunch to work every day, you need to craft your meal plan on the weekend so you won't be rummaging around your fridge for scraps during the early mornings.
De-clutter Your Home: Spend the weekend de-cluttering your home and getting rid of the excess things that you don't need. First figure out what areas you need to tackle and take a look at a list of my suggestions.

Easy Way to Go Green: Pay Your Bills Online

GeekSugar — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 07:07:11 PDT

I'm sure SavvySugar would agree with me on this one: paying your bills online not only saves you time, but also helps you save the planet. With just a few clicks of your mouse, you can fulfill your monthly requirements, set up automatic payments, and help mother earth by reducing the amount of paper being used for monthly statements if you opt to have your bills delivered to your email inbox, instead of your mailbox.

I've been utilizing my creditors' online bill pay functions for some time now, and I've noticed a dramatic reduction of paper being shredded and recycled, not to mention stress from scheduling time to write checks every month. Plus, there's a lot of money to be saved from not buying stamps! Do you pay your bills online?

Eco-fy Your Wedding!

GeekSugar — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 03:17:14 PDT

In honor of Earth Day (and wedding season here on PopSugar Network) we're serving up some easy and simple ways to make your wedding just a bit more earth friendly from a geek's perspective. These days, getting down with protecting Mother Earth can be simple.

From your wedding shower, to the big event and to all the details in between, little changes can certainly help our planet and our pocketbooks! Making your wedding eco friendly has never been more simple (and surprisingly) cost effective. Besides, wouldn't you rather spend all that extra cash on the honeymoon, or better yet? That flat screen HDTV you've been eyeing? Go, Earth!

Invites - We've already talked about how a wedding website can save you time, money, and the planet, and since all of your ceremony and reception information is in one place, no one will be losing the details on your big day. Allowing your guests to RSVP directly on the site at any time can reduce or negate the need for paper invites. However, if you are a traditionalist and want to send out your dream monogrammed paper invitations, make sure your paper is 100 percent recycled.

For a few more tips, just keep reading.

7 Reasons Why You Need a Wedding Website

GeekSugar — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 11:07:20 PDT

How do you feel about wedding websites? Some people find them a good outlet for narcissism, while others find them to be a helpful guide during modern digital times. Sure, tossing 600 photos of yourself on your wedding website with an accompanying story about how you met is a little extreme (and totally unhelpful), building a simple site to share important event details and anecdotes from your relationship is not. Here, 7 reasons why you need a wedding website, and what your site should include to be at maximum benefit for your guests.

Save on printing costs. If you're having invites printed, you know how quickly the price will rise by just adding another piece of paper to the mix. By directing everyone to your site in any engagement party, shower, or wedding correspondence, you'll save time, money, and effort on printing costs.
Easy registry access. You're probably already refreshing your gift registry to see which items have been purchased; why not give guests easy online access, too? In most cases, you can link directly to your registry info, which makes it easy for guests.

Keep reading for more reasons you should create a wedding website

31 Days of Spring Cleaning: Monitor Your Finances Online

Kristy Korcz — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:30:00 PDT

Keep the paper and junk mail in check - start tracking your finances and paying your bills online instead. Opting to get your statements via email (for your bank and other utilities) can keep clutter and paper waste at bay. Plus, online monitoring services allow you to set budgets, get alerts when you've gone over your limit, and track where your spare cash is going so you can save a few bucks. Get your financial life organized with help from the free websites listed below!

Mint - The leader of financial management sites, Mint charts every expense, transaction, and asset with easy-to-read charts, budget progress, and weekly financial summaries.
LearnVest - Similar to Mint, LearnVest presents financial planning from a woman's point of view. Beyond budget and finance tracking, the site provides editorial content such as money tips and the option to connect with in-house financial experts.

See the rest of the list after the break.

Website of the Day: Notey

Kristy Korcz — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:43:30 PDT

Passing secret notes on paper is a thing of the past with Notey, the website that lets you type in a secret message and password-protect it so that only your intended recipient(s) can open it. An interesting alternative to texting and email (and way more fun for secret agents), your message is stored for up to 30 days before it will self-destruct (or Notey purges it from its system). Take note though - you can't change the text once you save, so you'd better get it right the first time.

Do you have an interesting website you want to share? Join the Website of the Day group and blog it for a chance to be featured on GeekSugar.