Buxfer is an online application that allows you to maintain and manage your financial stability, along with monitoring any debts that you owe or are owed. The layout is appealing and Buxfer’s competition could soon be struggling. Following a recent alliance with the Apple iPhone, you can take advantage of what Buxfer has to offer, straight from your iPhone. This will allow you to access all of your transactions, tags, charts and even report transactions while you are on the go. Yes, you can access your bank account from your iPhone as well, but Buxfer offers more and has a simple, iPhone compatible layout enabling a more readable text size.

Venturebeat recently released a favorable article, claiming that Buxfer is giving Mint a run for its money. That is a strong statement considering that Mint was part of the Techcrunch 40 startup companies. However, I agree that Buxfer is an excellent new money management tools and seems to offer everything that its competitors offer, plus more. In addition, its super-fresh interface has much to do usability. Signing up is a breeze and importing bank information is as simple (and safe) as logging in.

TechCrunch calls Buxfer the “half brother of Billmonk” because of the product similarities. However, Buxfer does offer much more than Billmonk. TechCrunch explains that, “Buxfer is deeper than Billmonk, letting you track and tag out your expenses with friends and groups over time. Buxfer goes further, letting you analyze you expenses over time through a Google finance-style pie chart with adjustable time frame.” In my opinion, Buxfer does offer quite a lot of flexibility and even offers a peer to peer payment service. Backed by Amazon, you can collaborate with Buxfer to get the money back that your friends owe you in easy, flexible payments. While other private services are beginning to offer this, Buxfer is a well-rounded site that focuses on managing your money, income and debts as a whole.

Buxfer users are enabled to setup automatic bill reminders and repeating transactions. This is helpful for those who bookmark several bill paying sites in order to manually check bill due dates each month. Buxfer will keep track for the individual every bill that is entered into the private Buxfer account; reoccurring bills such as mortgage payments, electric bills and automobile payments.

NetBanker points out a weakness of Buxfer, claiming it has “no support for transactions”. When I signed up for the service, I did notice that I had to do a lot of manual data entering. NetBanker explains, “Other than being able to import transaction files that have been previously downloaded from banks and card issuers, it’s all manual data entry. Helper tools such as “copy”, “repeat entry” and “auto-tagging” help a bit, but to be an effective tool the service needs to integrate more closely with the actual bill and the payment.” I know that if the service is too cumbersome, then it will slowly decrease individual usage.

Overall, Buxfer made an excellent choice by making itself compatible with the iPhone. With the world’s current economic status, it is about time to take responsibility for our finances.

iPhone Fully Loaded

Debt Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About

Have you ever secretly wanted to be a comic hero?  Many of us grew up on reading the famous comics such as Peanuts, Dilbert & Calvin and Hobbes.  You can see these plus many more on comics.com if you are up for a flashback to your child or maybe young adulthood.  You can also subscribe to Marvel Digital Comics, however, money calls for true and crazy fans.  If you Google for comics – it is overwhelming how many suggested links you will get to people’s comic creations.

Yet, many of us are quirky, witty and creative.  There is a comic hero that lies deep inside most of us that is just waiting to be developed.  Maybe it’s our humanly self-righteousness that makes us prefer to tout our own work before others.  Whatever it is, we want to make people laugh, we want tools that help us waste our time and we want to star in our own comic for once!

Recently released Bitstrip, an online comic showcase, seems to be taking quite a center stage amongst users.  It contains a nice application for building characters, as you can see the one I created below.  It doesn’t look like me at all so the app isn’t exact but that’s ok.

Bitstrip is designed with the social networker in mind.  The main page features cool characters, top strips, recently discussed strips and allows you to make friends and build your own comic community.  Mashable recently talked about seeing the Bitstrip group at SXSW – check it out. 

I started searching for other comic making sites and there are several others that are equally as awesome.  The first one I clicked on, Toonlet, had their entire beginning overview and instructions in a comic and I found myself reading the whole darn thing.  It was addicting and fun.  And, yes, I am going to start making some comics – why not?  Toonlet is currently in beta form and offers several options to make your characters unique.

This is YeahMan – I made him on Toonlet.

Pixton is another interesting comic site that is relatively interesting.  Many of the comics that I have read on the site so far have been funny.  I prefer a bit more flexibility when choosing characters because sometimes the comics tend to look similar at first glance.  Pixton appeals to many individuals because if you can’t draw anything but stick figures, this is the best way to transfer your paper sketches into electronic copies.

Comiq is one site that I found to be very cool.  The site revealed itself as a way to use ‘comics as a communication tool.’  I think this can be beneficial to bloggers when trying to verbally illustrate a tool, site or application.  Comiq allows you to take any photo and add words to better describe or tell your point.  I often use Picnik for this, which I still love and just released a completely free version, but Comiq focuses strictly on this tool and does a good job.

Basically, this comic world is really gaining momentum.  I never read comics and I enjoy these sites.  With as many unearthly creative artists in this world, I don’t think we’ve truly seen anything yet.  I look forward to seeing what users create on these various sites and I think there are many hours of laughter to come as well.

If you are a comic book fan, this is an excellent YouTube video

‘Heroes? Countdown? The WORST of 2007 in Comics “

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=JkY834hg2o4[/youtube]

Marvel Comics multicolor polyester ties

  Amazing Spider Man Complete Comic Book Collection

It’s February, how many of you have already given up on your New Year’s resolution?  Or, if you are like me, you didn’t bother making a resolution because you knew you wouldn’t stick to it.  ExpertClick.com reports that ‘somewhere in the vicinity of 97% of New Year’s resolutions won’t be kept.’  That is a pretty staggering statistic, considering that MSNBC reports that nearly half of all American’s are making these resolutions and apparently giving up on them.  Some of us feel that it is noble enough to even take the step in making a resolution at all but most importantly, what resolutions are we making and is it important to do everything within our means to make sure that the resolution is eternally upheld?  Kimberly and Albrecht Powell published an interesting article on About.com that highlights the ‘Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions’, including some curiously new tasks such as enjoying life and getting out of debt – as well as the ever-popular losing weight and quit smoking resolutions.  Medical New Today states that in 2006, losing weight was actually the most popular resolution among women. 

StickK is a new Website beta that allows you to create “Commitment Contracts” that legally bounds you to sticking to your goals, whether they are for the New Year or for your lifetime.  StickK was founded by two Yale University economists that came to this interesting idea by a “deal” that they made amongst each other around their graduation date, by betting money against finally taking the weight off.  They founded StickK on the premise that people are more likely to continue working on their goals if something is wagered on a successful outcome.  Stick is pretty easy; you simply pick your goal, add your incentives such as money or your reputation, designate someone to be your “hall monitor” and choose who will be notified of your new venture and stand by your side to reinforce you.  Several users have already created a multitude of goals for you to easily choose from or you can start your own.

The most interesting aspect of StickK is that you are serious about sticking to your goal; wagering money on your goal is the way to go.  You put the money in your StickK account upfront.  As you set the timeline for your goal, if the goal step is not met, money is deducted from your StickK account and immediately sent to the organization, charity, political party, etc. of your choice.  The idea is to select an organization that is the opposite of what you support – so the thought of sending funds to them will be an inhibiting factor to your success.  The New York Times Freakonomics Blog gives an interesting point that you can make it a stronger contract by appointing a friend to tell StickK when you have failed, ensuring that you hold up on your end of the deal.  You are able to do it alone, however, you can’t cheat or you are just wasting your time.  Supporters are also a nice addition, allowing your friends and family to enter in nice messages cheering you on.

Oddly, StickK doesn’t cost a thing!  Economist.com reports that StickK plans to generate revenue through online advertising, goal-assisting products and health program companies.  “Over 1,000 contracts have been signed and over $50,000 has been put to stake.”  Frank Gruber from the Somewhat Frank Blog thinks it’s worth giving a try.  However, someone on Marginal Revolution thinks that the population doesn’t really want to change and/or give up control.

What do I think?  I keep saying to myself, I should start exercising.  Yet, when I think about creating a StickK contract and tracking it online, I can’t help but to tell myself that I should be out exercising instead of tooling around on the computer.  Right?  I know this may work for some people – after all, we have noticed people lose weight on The Biggest Loser with just diet and exercise – despite all the claims from drug companies that you need more than that.  Therefore, I give my thumbs up to StickK for a unique idea and a contribution to society.

 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Kaosjwbe1c[/youtube]

The Secret

Do you have a website? Do you have a blog. Do you own both? A good majority of people have either a blog or a website. If you don’t, now is the time to learn about them and start your own. It is super simple and there are companies out there that practically do all the work for you. We have covered a few options for building a website and if you are looking to create yourself a blog, WordPress and Blogger are just a few good options. Of course, once you start your blog or website, you are probably going to want some traffic, right? I am going to point out a few good ways to help you generate some traffic to your new page.

The term “content” when used by Internet Marketers refers to written words, audios, or videos. Incorporating high value web content in your website can help you generate more traffic in a number of ways.

How exactly does valuable website content help you get more traffic?

FACT: Search engines love website that offer high value web content. No matter what type of site you have, you can leverage this to increase the traffic to your website. Whether you have an online store, a forum, or a blog, you can add content to generate traffic.

Some example would be:

• Adding valuable articles to your website
• Archive your posts or content on the site.
• Add audio. Not many users do this, but if you include maybe an interview, readers will love it.
• Frequently Asked Questions. Everyone has questions. Why not answer some of the most common questions and post them to your site. An “About Us” page would also be helpful to a user.

There are millions of sites out there and massive amounts of information that could quite possibly be related to your blog or site and one cool way of getting some traffic is simple marketing; Article marketing. Article marketing is writing content for other websites. You write a useful article on a topic related to your website, and offer it for other website owners to publish on their websites, blogs, or in their newsletters. This can also work the other way as well. Not only do you receive links to your website each time your article is published, but also other website owners begin to seriously consider you as an expert in your field and may contact you for more opportunities.

Swapping can be one of the easiest ways to generate traffic, if done correctly. I am not very knowledgeable in ad swapping, but that can be tricky (from what I hear). Blog recommendation swapping is nice. Recommend a site and send them the link and if they are nice, they will do the same in return. It is a great way to share, or network rather.

Contests are great and everyone loves free items. One of the easiest ways to get a quick burst of traffic to your website is by offering a hot contest. The chance to do something small and win something big is appealing to the human psyche. So, use that to your advantage.

Podcasting/Vidcasting is a growing trend. If you can do it, do it. It is a lesser-known way of generating traffic . Podcasting is simply broadcasting audio via RSS feeds. This means that someone regularly records audios and has them fed via RSS to subscribers who are waiting for updated audios. It is not as hard as it sounds. There are so many podcasts these days they are hard to keep track of. One I listen to (or watch) regularly is Geekbrief.tv. To begin podcasting, you will need to ask yourself a few questions: What exactly is your message that you wish to share? With whom would you like to share this podcast?

You can generate traffic by posting on forums, if you do it right. There are spammers everywhere and there is software now to cut through those spammers and if you look like a spammer, you will probably be blocked, and your efforts to generate traffic have not increased. Read a message board or forum and post accordingly. You won’t want to post (with your link) on a message board or forum about the iPod in a Health forums page. Not cool.

Lastly, I want to mention Logos. If you have not noticed, we were fortunate enough to finally get ourselves a nice logo. The people over at TheGraphicStaff astounded us with our great new logo. You would not think a logo is that important for generating traffic, but it really helps. It establishes who you are. Go to any website and you will more than likely see a logo that identifies who they are. A calling card, if you will.

 Now that I have helped you out a little by giving you some ways to increase traffic, I hope you will see a difference in your own results. Here at The Tech Brief, we certainly have, using most of these methods I share with you above. Of course, there are a million other ways to generate traffic, and I would like to point out that although it may be fast to try every single method you find out there at once, you should try each of them individually and find the one method that you are most proficient at on your site.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us, but another good site to find how to do just about everything (including running a website) is eHow. Enjoy, and good luck!

Gmail is hands-down the best web-based email service on the net. Gmail has completely revolutionized the way I look at my inbox. I manage all of my email from my personal Gmail inbox, including the many TTB emails I receive almost daily. At this point, I cannot imagine a program I could use to manage my email any more efficiently.

Perhaps you are the Gmail master and maybe you can share a little more than what I can, but I have put together some tips and tricks to help you love Gmail even better…and get the ladies—–>

I am going to start off with two Firefox plug-ins that I find a great help:

• 1. GmailThis is an excellent browser bookmarker that lets you quickly forward highlighted text on any webpage via Gmail. Very simple!
• 2. Gmail Search – search your Gmail account directly from the Firefox search bar. This can be of great help for people who search for messages, like myself.

Some of these, I am going to recommend GreaseMonkey that allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript:

• Google Reader Integration is a complete integration of GReader into Gmail.
• Label Colors changes color menu labels to make them stand out better. Absolutely love it!
• I cannot tell you how many times I have actually “attached” something, but didn’t actually attach it. Attachment reminder helps reminds you to attach a file to your Gmail, based on whether you have the word attach (‘ed’, ‘ment’, PFA, etc) in the body.
• GmailTo is a code that forces all “mailto” links to open in GMail. This is great if Gmail is the only solution you are using. It is not recommended if you use an email client on your machine to send mails.

I am also going to let you in on some things you might now know. It took me a while to find out about these features, but I have a small excuse. I was using a client for a good while, until I got tired of using an email client that did not give me what I needed. Take a look at these:

• If you are sending a Word document or Excel file as an attachment, Gmail lets you easily open it in Google Docs & Spreadsheets.
• If you use iGoogle, try Gmail gadget. I use iGoogle to bring together a lot of the information I care about on the web. I’ve added the Gmail gadget to my page to get a preview of my Inbox, which never seems to be empty.
• Most people know that you can chat with your contacts in Gmail if they’re using Gmail too. But there are some features that make chat particularly useful in the context of using your email, like replying by chat. You know that dot beside the sender’s name? If they are online and they have sent you an email, you can reply by chatting with the person. The neat thing is that Gamil actually archives the conversation as an email so you can look it up later.

There are so many more tips and tricks and I hope I have given you some that you didn’t already know about. In other words, I hope this was helpful to you. Feel free to educate us on others that were not mentioned above. We are always willing to learn more here at TTB!