smsZap

smsZap is a Mac application which you can use to send SMS over the internet. The application is free, and comes with 10 free credits to start you off. It doesn’t need your phone to work, and sends the message so it appears to come from your phone. I sent a test message to myself to check whether advertising comes with the message and I am pleased to report that it does not.

Sometimes, there are occasions when I need to send an SMS even from home. This app makes it (sending an SMS) so much more palateable. I don’t know about you, but I am not especially adept at the keypresses on the phone pad and find them awkward to say the least… however, I do like the convenience of SMS in some circumstances, and this seems to fit the bill very nicely.

smsZap integrates your addressbook very nicely within itself so its quick and easy to access the number you wish to send to, and there is a report tab where you can watch the progress of your SMS move from Queued to Sent to Successful in real time.

In Australia, credit purchase works out cheaper if you buy in big bulk, and its probably wise to do so because most SMS within Australia these days will cost 20c or less, and 20c per message is around what you’ll pay on the 500 credit purchase. This is also what you’ll pay for most messages going to other countries as well, although there are a few countries which are more expensive to send to. Sending to Australia and most countries will cost you 3 credits a throw.

smsZap is worth a look, Macintosh only.

iTunes 4.9 released for Mac/Win, Features Podcast support

Apple takes Podcasting mainstream by building everything users need to discover, subscribe, manage and listen to podcasts right into iTunes 4.9, the latest version of its award winning digital music software and online music store. iTunes users can now easily subscribe to over 3,000 free podcasts and have each new episode automatically delivered over the Internet to their computer and iPod.

Learn more here: http://www.apple.com/podcasting/

Advertisement: Personal Budgeting Software

Simply Budgets is a personal budgeting software system, the like of which I have not seen before.

Consider this: When you draw up your budget (if in fact you do draw up a budget), you are trying to predict in advance, how much money you need to achieve certain ends. These may be to get the next electric bill paid, or set aside money for a holiday at years end with the family, or to get the mortgage paid off faster.

Consider also that most budgeting software isn’t. All it does, usually, is help you balance your books. Thats kinda like bolting the stable door after the horse has gone, to coin a cliche.

Simply Budgets does the lot. You give it the information it needs, on the day you start using it, and feed it all the information regarding your regular bills, and other expenses, like that McDonalds breakfast you have every morning, and the 3 monthly trip to Aunt Mary’s to take her out to the movies. You also tell it when you think you need to replace your car, your washing machine and so forth. You tell it everything. And then you set it to work. In just a few seconds you get a graph of your budget and how its going to look over the next 12 months. It will tell you if you are living beyond your means, and it will tell you how much money you need to achieve your goals. It could not be simpler.

The only problem I have with the software is that its Windows only which forces me to use Virtual PC on my MacOSX machine. However, it runs just fine.

Simply Budgets: The best personal budgeting software around.