Read it Later

When I'm surfing the web, I find that my ADD takes over! I'm reading one article, click a link that takes me to another article then click a link that takes me to a new website. I start chasing bunny trails all over the web and lose track of my original article that I was reading.

A couple years ago, I found a service called ReadItLater that does a remarkable job of keeping that ADD at bay while still allowing me to follow my bunny trails, just not right at this moment.

Like Evernote, ReadItLater syncs to all of the places where you might read online content: your browser, your phone and your tablet. You can even download your content so that you can read it without an Internet connection on your device.

The service is easy to use. Create an account, download the bookmarklets and, as you read and find a link that you want to read later, right click on the link and choose the option to "Read It Later." That link is now added to your list of items in ReadItLater.

Also, in Firefox, I have a little yellow arrow that sits in the address bar that I can click to read a link later.
 
I love this service! When I'm standing in a long line or waiting at the car dealership or can't fall asleep at night, I love catching up on my reading quickly and easily.

http://readitlaterlist.com/

Google Translate on the web and on your smart phone

Online translation tools have come a long way in the last several years.  Though they still aren't perfect, they do a much better job than in the past.  My favorite tool for translation is Google Translate and is available online so it can be used on several different platforms...PC, Mac, smart phone, inside email, etc.

Google Translate does a great job of translating for you as you type on their site, and it remembers the last languages you used for translating, in case you frequently translate between the same two languages.

Google suggests downloading their own browser Google Chrome for automatic translation, but I haven't used it yet.  I do use Gmail for my personal email and love the integration of translation into email.  If I open an email that was written in Spanish, Google automatically translates the email to English for me.  And I can switch back and forth between English and Spanish with one button click. 

Google highlights words in both languages as you roll over them with your mouse to better understand which words coordinate in both languages.

Google will even read your translated text to you with a "Listen" link!


Try out Google's free translation tool and let me know what you think, or let me know if you use another online translation tool that I have missed.

http://translate.google.com/

Update: Google Translate now has its own iPhone app.