Unlikely use for Cha-Ching
Posted in Productivity on the October 9th, 2006
A few weeks ago a new financial program named Cha-Ching caught the attention of a few people, including me. With tax time coming up in April I was in the market for a simple app to help me catalog receipts, invoices, and write offs for both a Canadian and US tax return. Cha-Ching is a great fun tool for me to play around with - plus at $14.95 in the beta stage it’s definitely a better price point that two versions of Quicken.
The cabinet and drawer metaphor gives meaning to the folder structure. The “smart drawers” and keyword tags help keep things organized. For example, I have a “current month”, a “write-offs” and a “Apartment furnishings”. More on that below.
A trip to Barrie this week and some horrid temperatures reminded me that the holidays are fast approaching. I found that with Cha-Ching’s photo features and keywords it’s just as useful as a wish list as a financial tool. I made a smart drawer for some frugal new apartment furnishings. I love how I can import a photo, put in a price, and the tally at the bottom of the screen tells me how much my plans are going to cost:
The program is still in beta and there are some quirks, but nothing that should stop you from trying out the demo. Visit the product site and give it a try. If you find any other uses or handy smart drawer rules let me know.
Office Obsolescence
Posted in Productivity on the August 1st, 2006
This post was written in Writely, an online collaborative word processor and a recent acquisition of Google. With a Writely as a tab on my Bookmarks I officially have no reason to open Microsoft Word ever again. With the Google Spreadsheets to take care of quick formulas and calculates I’m also covered when it comes to Excel. Is there any real reason that I still need Office? Should Windows Live be worried when it’s web version of Office offers no core document features and will charge $29.95/month after the beta?
I think that for you - the designer, developer or any other casual user of Office - these two web apps can take care of your basic needs. You can write, make formulas, invite others to view works in progress, and save out to typical Office and online formats. If you’re like me and you use multiple computers over the course of the day you don’t have to worry about licensing multiple copies and spending hundreds of dollars each time - both tools are free. And since your documents are stored online you never worry about files or versions - your current work travels with you.
Google Spreadsheets are available to anybody with a Google or Gmail account. Writely is giving out beta invitations but if you know somebody with an account you can be invited instantly by sharing a document. Both projects are currently listed as beta.
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