Invotrak is a simple to use, online invoicing tool for small businesses or freelancers produced by Draconis Software. While we have covered it before some new additions make it worth another mention.

Basically this is a simple invoice app that you can use to create and track invoices and time sheets for yourself or your small business. You can use limited services for free or pay for three levels of account depending on how many invoices you plan to send.

Updates features include: the ability to upload invoices you have created yourself, add line items from time sheets to the invoice and adding reports to your invoices. You can also save your invoices as PDF or TXT files.

You can also read the Invotrak blog to get tips on using the new features and general small business tips - like how to get paid on time.

We're willing to bet radiologists in Shanghai like to listen to music -- who doesn't? -- but that's not how they're using iTunes. At Renji Hospital and Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, they're using it to organize PDFs of important medical research and images that they say are more useful than many textbooks.

You can drop a PDF into iTunes and sort it just like you would with music. That means that the medical documents in Shanghai are searchable, ratable, and can be given multiple different tags. Before iTunes, they were keeping redundant copies of PDFs in directories by category. Now, they only need to keep one of each. So, if you've been looking for software that can organize your PDFs, think about an app you likely already have: iTunes!

[via Dr. Dobb's]

Louis Suarez-Potts, the community manager for the open-source Open Office project, says software piracy also hurts the open-source community, and though it can be argued that open-source is bad for innovation, most of us love the open source community. So does the occasional pirated piece of software really hurt our beloved open source projects?

Suarez-Potts thinks it's bad for everyone including the open source community since pirated software theoretically takes "customers" away from open source projects. For example, a college student may never end up downloading Open Office since he copied Microsoft Office from a friend, but that's not to say it hurts the money-makers like Microsoft at all. A little bit of piracy helps to establish big company's products as "the standard", hurting open source projects even more and making it harder for them to get their foot into a user's door.

Now we'd like to pose a question: Like the college student used in the example above, does pirating software generally prevent you from trying Open Source software or would you have put the cash down anyway even if you couldn't get it for free?

The clock just turned 5pm, and if you are like us, everything you have worked on all day has instantly evaporated from your mind (yes, this just happens, we don't need alcohol). Luckily, we left all those papers on our desk, the scribbled whiteboard, and a monitor-o-sticky notes to help us figure out where we left off.

5pm by QG | Software is a web-based project management suite that provides us the tools needed to get back on track at 8am.

The underlying features of 5pm are fairly standard in the project management world. You create projects and assign them to one or more users or groups. The project can have a deadline, a client, and a priority level. Once you have created a project you can add items such as tasks and files. Tasks can be assigned to individual team members and emails can be sent to the group when tasks are completed. etc...

To help visualize your project over the course of its life, there is a timeline feature that shows your projects and tasks in a "Gantt" style chart. In addition, there is a reporting section that can help determine who is completing their projects on time and who isn't.

A lot of desktop word processing and text editing apps feature templates you can use to jazz up your documents -- or make them look terrible, depending on your opinion. Now Google Docs gives you the same option, with a new template gallery. There are over 300 templates, featuring everything from resumés to cards to calendars.

The selection of different templates is impressively versatile. Expense reports, presentations, invitations -- it's all there. Styles range from minimal (basic blue bars) to ostentatious (robots!). Something that immediately struck us as clever is the selection the Avery Dennison-sponsored themes, so you can print to those Avery labels and business cards that every office seems to be up to its ears in. If you use templates in your desktop writing app of choice, you'll probably also find a use for them in Google docs. Although the designs are hit or miss, there are enough of them that you should be able to find what you're looking for.

[via Lifehacker]

MoFuse is a service that makes a mobile version of any web site in just a few seconds. We first covered MoFuse last year, when the company was offering a two-tiered service. But last week MoFuse decided to do away with pro accounts and offer all the features to free account holders.

So what do you get with a free account now? You can still create free mobile web pages with URLs ending in .mofuse.mobi (for example, downloadsquad.mofuse.mobi). But you can also use a custom domain, use your own logo in an SMS widget, create up to 5 different mobile sites with one account, and receive up to 50 free SMS messages a month.

MoFuse allows users to place ads on their mobile web sites. Previously free account holders split the revenue from those ads with MoFuse while paid account holders would retain 100% of any revenue generated. If you previously signed up for a paid account, you will no longer be billed, but you will also get to keep 100% of your revenue, while all new MoFuse users will have to share their profits with the company.

[via ProBlogger]

Document-sharing site Scribd and online self-publishing service Lulu have teamed up to offer Lulu's free ebooks in Scribd's iPaper format. iPaper is designed to be a versatile cross-platform means of displaying different document types online. Key draws include the ability to embed docs in any webpage, including your manuscript in Scribd's library, and adding ads to your document.

Lulu is a popular self-publishing site, handling print versions and ebook versions of manuscripts, so getting them to start rolling out iPaper is a big win for Scribd. It's not going to be available for all Lulu books at first, just the most popular free ones. If this catches on, though, the two companies will have all the publishing bases covered, from printed books to iPaper ebooks.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

If you run a small business, odds are you've got some sort of system for tracking income, expenses, and tax payments. But we're going to bet it's not as simple as the system offered by GoBootStrap. The web service offers a sort of accounting for dummies style interface. To enter income, just click the income tab, describe the client, assignment, and amount, and you're all set.

The expenses tab is slightly more complex, in that you need to select from a list of categories like travel, supplies, or rent. But the category list is relatively short, and there's absolutely no way to add your own clutter with custom categories. While that might seem like a severe limitation, it actually makes sense when you consider what GoBootStrap offers behind tab number 3: Tax estimates.

GoBootStrap examines your income and expenses and lets you know how much you will likely owe on your quarterly estimates taxes. Right now the site only offers estimates for federal taxes, but eventually state taxes will be supported as well.

ScribeFire is a Firefox add-on that lets you write blog posts while surfing the web. It provides a WYSIWYG editor that works with most popular blogging software. And it's free. We've always wondered how ScribeFire plans to make money, and now we know. The team recently launched a private beta of ScribeFire QuickAds, a service that makes it easy for anyone to monetize their blogs.

All you have to to place ads on your blog is click an ad size and then choose a location on your blog where you'd like the ad to appear. When you first register your blog with QuickAds, ScribeFire will automatically add a bit of code to your blog template allowing the program to place ads in your page.

Right now ScribeFire will pass all the earnings on to web publishers, but we expect we'll eventually see ScribeFire take a cut of the action. Ads will come from a variety of networks, and ScribeFire will attempt to determine which ads will generate the highest payouts. You can also keep track of your ad impressions, earnings, and other statistics online by viewing your ScribeFire Dashboard.

As we mentioned, ScribeFire QuickAds is currently in private beta. But the first 100 people to send an email to l downloadsquad@scribefire.com will get a registration code. Everyone else can request an invitation online.

You can find out more by checking out the video after the jump.

Online auction site eBay may have started as a marketplace where anyone could buy or sell used books, toys, computer parts, or other junk, but over the last decade the site has turned into much more than that. Many power sellers depend on eBay for their livelihood, whether their running a bricks and mortar store and selling excess inventory online or selling handmade goods or items rummaged from yard sales.

So when eBay comes along and strikes a partnership with online superstore Buy.com, some independent sellers were a little ticked off. The Buy.com eBay store features hundreds of thousands of items. While the terms of Buy.com's deal with eBay haven't been disclosed, many eBay sellers assume that the auction site has waived the listing fee for Buy.com, only charging the company a commission when items actually sell.

From eBay's standpoint, this makes perfect business sense. How do you make sure your online marketplace always has a steady stream of goods that people can order? Partner with a large company that offers everything from electronics to sporting goods. But some independent sellers feel that by flooding the marketplace with cheap Buy.com items, eBay is effectively killing mom & pop stores.

What do you think? Do you use eBay to buy or sell items? Would you rather see an eBay populated with bargains from major online retailers, or are there enough internet commerce sites that already offer this service? Would you rather eBay remain a place to buy new and used items from independent sellers?

Friday amidst the fury new iPhone application releases, Pandora released an application for iPhone and iPod touch that allows users to take their personalized radio stations with them. Existing Pandora users can download the free app and instantly have access to all their current radio stations as well as add new ones. If you're not already a Pandora user then the process is slightly more difficult to get started and involves authorizing your mobile device on Pandora's web page.

Pandora for the iPhone offers the same features as traditional Pandora for your PC. Stations can be easily created around a particular artist or song that you enjoy. As you're listening to a song you can give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down to help customize the station to your preferences. Songs can be skipped if you really don't like them, bookmarked if you do, or immediately purchased through the iTunes store if you can't live without them a moment longer. The app also has an information button where you can read about why a particular song was selected to play on your radio station.

We gave the app a little test drive last night. We were really impressed with the app's interface and love that looks a lot like traditional Iphone music player, complete with full screen cover art. If you're still rocking a first gen iPhone and live somewhere where your EDGE data tends to be a little hit or miss, then so is your Pandora. We drove around town and had a few instances where the music would skip, or in some cases stop entirely which is no fun when you're trying to rock out. Most of the issues seemed to happen in-between songs so the app may be designed to work a little ahead of itself to compensate for passing through areas that aren't EDGE friendly.

There have been reports flying around Twitter and several prominent blogs that Twitter is making a move to acquire Summize, a popular Twitter search engine. In case this is the first you're hearing about Summize, here's a rundown of what it does. It can search Twitter for any string -- most importantly, an @name -- which makes it indispensable when Twitter's tracking function is down. Second, it aggregates and lists the most popular search terms, so you can get a sense of the Twitter zeitgeist.

It's too early to speculate about what effect the acquistion could have on Twitter itself, or how the resulting service would look with Summize's features integrated. We do love the idea of combining two services we use every day, though. Basically, we're keeping our fingers crossed that these rumors are true.

No more excuses: let's get your small business Website whipped into shape. People who are moderately online use the Web as their first search source. Phone books are dead trees; if your business is not online with an easy-to-find phone number, I'm clicking elsewhere. People spend money in browser-based shopping sprees and your Web site has to compete.

Let's whip your site into shape. We've already discussed how you can grade your own site; offered tips for upgrading your site; and suggested ways to increase your search-engine ranking. Let's take the next step and whip your small business Website into first-class shape.

What do your site visitors want most of all from your site?

LET ME SEARCH!
I want a search box, plain and visible, preferably at the top of every page but definitely at the top of the homepage. If you don't have a site search, you can get a great free search tool in phpDig but you'll probably have to pay someone to make it work. It's worth your money. Put it at the top of your list.

TALK TO ME!
Company contact information belongs on every page, preferably in the footer. The footer area should also tell me a mailing address, a fax number and not merely supply a link to a contact page. Think: single-clicking! One click to get where you most want to go should be a navigation goal.

HELP ME!
You can add online help to your site through volusion's Live Chat (free edition) or through the Open Source PHP Lively at Sourceforge (the holy grail of Open Source apps to try). Of course, you have to make an employee available to respond, even if only a few visitors click the icon. Surely, someone sits at a desk during the day. Think how important they will feel!

FEED ME!
I want to know what your company is up to and what new products you have that will benefit me. Send out an RSS feed of new information or products. The nitty-gritty of RSS is here and if you're not into coding, try one of several free Open Source apps to generate RSS from your Web site.

Pheeder claims to be easy to implement and has loads of documentation. RSS Genesis works on any type of server and is PHP4/5 compatible and RSS Feed Creator claims simply to generate RSS feed.

While you're at it, how about offering RSS feeds for companion products that might interest me? There are some free RSS services that enable adding feeds to your site relatively easy and, of course, FeedRoll.

While you're RSS'ing, you can create a feed of any Web page that interests you. Feedity is a free service that will create a feed for any page and alert you to changes or updates to any site's page. Keep on eye on the competition or sites of businesses that impact what you sell through easy RSS reading.

WHOLE PACKAGE ME!
Robert Scoble, an online evangelist, lists his best practices for your business cards. Why not incorporate these ideas into your small business Web site?

1. Start the conversation – make your site engage the visitor.
2. Make it a standard size and shape but be different – that's why you need a Web development firm with creative builds in their portfolio.
   
3. Make sure the basics are easy to find.
4. Tell us what you do. Unless your business is globally recognized, we need to see what you're selling in clear language on the home page.
5. Break some rules but stay on the good side of obnoxious.
6. Highlight your corporate tag line. Don't have one yet? Get one.
7. Use language options if appropriate.

Use the rest of 2008 to build a plan for your small business Web site to move toward as many best practices as possible. A site re-design isn't free and is also not a silver bullet that will increase sales dramatically in the first week. You still have to market your Web site. Stay tuned.

Ever created a PowerPoint that everyone in your organization wanted a copy of? Sure you could go ahead and clog up your corporate email server with the 200MB + file or you could just convert your PowerPoint to a smaller flash file with iSpring and publish it to an internal or external website (slideboom account required) for others to view.

Converting your PowerPoint presentation to a flash movie couldn't be any easier as the iSpring installation puts the conversion buttons right in your PowerPoint menu bar. In addition to the one click conversion iSpring also allows for some customization such as generating HTML codes, looped and automatic playback, slide advance via mouse click as well as changing the duration of the slide.

iSpring comes in 3 flavors ranging from the free version which we tested on up to the Ultra version which allows the creation of E-learning content to additional playback controls. In our testing we found the free version more than adequate for most PowerPoint presentations.

So before you send that PowerPoint thru your company email, try converting it with iSpring instead.

Windows 7 cannot come fast enough! The New York Times is reporting that Intel has decided against upgrading its 80,000 employees to Windows Vista. An Intel spokesperson told the Times that Vista is being tested and deployed in certain departments, but not company-wide.

Although the enterprise push to upgrade to Vista has fallen short of expectations, this is a particularly brutal blow. Intel is one of Microsoft's oldest and most important partners; both companies became industry leaders in large part because of that partnership.

Although the Times' Intel source made efforts to say that the decision wasn't about "dissing Microsoft," we doubt that will make Steve Ballmer feel any better. Can you imagine what that conversation is going to sound like?

Despite the lack of widespread corporate adoption, the install base for Windows Vista is 140 million worldwide -- hardly peanuts. Still, with large corporations declining to upgrade their systems, Microsoft has had to extend support for Windows XP through 2014.

Thanks Mike!