A collection of tips, ideas, and links to help missionaries
Trip-it is a free web-based service that organizes your travel details for you. Just forward your itinerary email to plans@tripit.com and they build organize this and send you a link to your on-line itinerary. You can add flights, rental cars, maps, weather, and more. You can share these details with family or co-workers and they offer off-line access for the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices. The premium version offers advanced features. Trip-it.com
Do you wish you could have your important computer files on your different computers and backed up online? Dropbox is a service that places a special folder on all your computers and synchronizes the contents of that folder constantly so you have your files regardless of which computer you use. You can also access your Dropbox files online as they are stored securely on Dropbox’s website. Dropbox works on Windows, Mac, and Linux computers and Apple, Android, and Blackberry mobile devices. Another feature is the ability to easily make a file or photo album publicly viewable on the internet for family, friends, or co-workers to view. Your files are actually on each device and on the internet, so this works great in situations where you are offline and need access to your files and when you are away from your computer. The free service is limited to 2GB, so you will not be able to store everything on Dropbox for free. Premium accounts start at $99/year for 50GB. Visit Dropbox.com to learn more and sign-up for free. More ways to use Dropbox.
Are you looking for a simple free calendar that you can print? The sites below allow you to download, customize, and print a calendar for free.
Here are two tools to help you draw things online. FloorPlanner.com helps you draw furniture layouts, office renovations, new construction, and shipping container layouts. Just measure the room and then drag and drop walls, doors, furniture, plants, and more to see 2D and 3D views of your project. AccidentSketch.com helps you draw a nice picture of your vehicle mishap. This can also be used in accident reports and driver’s training. Both tools are free, fun, and easy.
Does your home church’s missions conference not coincide with your furlough? Do your supporters want to talk to you after a major event on your field? Skype can help bridge the gap between you and your supporting churches. It is not high quality video conferencing, but it is easy to do. Here is what you need to get started.
The church needs: (this may take some time for the sound technican to set up)
You need:
Tips:
More:
If you are a basic user of word processing and spreadsheets and want to save money, you may want to consider the following alternatives to purchasing Microsoft Office. Both are free, easy to use, and work with the common file types (doc, xls, ppt).
OpenOffice.org is a free application that offers similar features to Microsoft Office. You can run it in Windows and Linux and even from a USB drive. It is easy to install and use. You will probably want to change the default file format for saving your documents to the familiar Microsoft extensions for compatibility with other users. This will work for both basic and intermediate users.
Google Docs is a free online application that allows you to use a word processor and spreadsheet. It is web-based, so there is no software to install to your computer. However, you can use it offline with Google Gears. The key features include the ability to store files online, access them from any computer, and collaborate with others. You can choose to share a document or spreadsheet with a friend and collaborate in real-time. This will work for basic users and those who wish to collaborate with colleagues.
Do you want to use web-based applications to share files and save money on expensive office software? You should try Google Apps. If you have a Gmail account you can click the Documents or Calendar top at the top of the page. Google offers a free web-based word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation application. You can create, modify, upload, download, and share your doc, xls, and ppt files. You may also store your pdf files online. This is useful for collaboration with teammates on a document. If you have your own domain (i.e. yourname@yourname.com or www.yourname.com) you can have Google host your email. You can keep you personal or corporate email address and use the innovative Gmail interface, as well as their POP, IMAP, and forwarding. You can share a contact list, send meeting requests, have a common iGoogle-type start page and host a private intranet. With Google Docs and Google Calendar, you can have a poor man’s Microsoft Office, Exchange, and Sharepoint. When you compare the total cost of ownership associated with a typical small office setup (servers, software, staff) you may find Google Apps to be an attractive alternative You can signup now for free and if you do not have your own domain, you can get one for $10/year.
Does PayPal limit the amount of money an individual can transfer? Yes, transactions are limited to USD $10,000. In addition, monthly withdrawals are limited to $500. This can be removed by authenticating your identity.
How much does PayPal charge to send funds from the US to Kenya, you might ask. PayPal, the online money transfer service, charges two fees. First, they access a fee on funds withdrawn to a to non-US account. Second, they access another fee on funds received in different currencies. See the fees for each country on the pages linked below.
