Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Useful Web Tools
Have you ever quickly needed a ZIP code or wanted to figure out what city an area code belongs to? How about finding out if your friend who is flying in from another city is going to be on time? What about finding out what time it is in Osaka, Japan? Well don't worry, there are free tools on the Internet to help you with these and many other needs.
Over the years I've collected a bunch of these online tools and I've summarized the ones that I think are most useful. I highly recommend creating a bookmarks- or favorites-folder in your web browser for all of these. That way, you will have quick and easy access to them.
While there are many different tools available on the Internet, the tools that I've collected here all have one thing in common: They are usually just one form and they don't require any sort of login or registration. They are simple to use and just waiting for you to enter a few fields of information and press a button.
Mapquest - www.mapquest.com
Enter an address and print a map. I use this one all the time. You can also get get driving directions and find out the mileage between addresses. Some people even use the mileage function for documenting mileage expenses.
Area Codes - www.bennetyee.org/ucsd-pages/area.html
Ever get a phone number and area code that you didn't recognize? This web page is a list of all area codes.
Calendar - www.timeanddate.com/calendar/
This one shows all 12 months with common holidays.
World Time Server - worldtimeserver.com/
Find out what time it is in any city or country in the world. The left side of this web tool lists hundreds of cities and countries around the world.
ZIP Code Finder - zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp
The US Postal Service provides this simple tool to find a ZIP code by address.
Translation - world.altavista.com/
If you ever get an email (or document) in a language you don't quite understand, this translation tool can translate it well enough for you to get the gist of the email.
Flight Tracker - www.flytecomm.com/cgi-bin/trackflight
Track airline flights to see if your friend is on-time or delayed.
Tiny URL - tinyurl.com/
Take a long web page link and make it tiny. Why would you want to do this? Well, suppose you are shopping online and find a bargain that you want to tell a friend about. Problem is, the link is very long and when you copy and paste it into an email, it might wrap across several lines. The Tiny URL tool will convert the long link into a very short one that you can email with ease.
Geocode - www.geocode.com/modules.php?name=TestDrive_Eagle
Enter your address and find your latitude and longitude. Hey, you never know when someone might ask.
Billboard Sign Generator - www.sparesomechange.com/funny/billboard.asp
Just for fun - create your own billboard.
I hope that you liked these tools and find them useful. If you use some tools that I haven't listed, I'd love to know about them. Drop me a line at thomas@techcoachtom.com.
Have fun!
Thomas "Tech Coach Tom" Beutel
Last modified on Thu, 30 Sep 2004 00:33:49 GMT
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