TypeWith.me: Easy Online Document Collaboration

One of the most popular categories of free and low-cost online tools is online document collaboration. TypeWith.me is one of the easiest, fastest solutions to share documents with colleagues. You simply visit their URL, click to create a new document, and you’re on a new site that you can share right away.

You can upload your own Word, text or HTML document to work on, or you can start with a blank document. When you invite collaborators, each reviewer has his own colors. I like that you can export straight to PDF or keep it in the original format. Another cool feature allows you to watch a quick movie of all the changes that were made and by whom.

TypeWith.me doesn’t require any type of registration, and it’s free, free, free.

NEW! The Cheapskate Freelancer is going multimedia. Watch this 61-second video for more details about TypeWith.me, and favorite the new Cheapskate Freelancer YouTube Channel for more videos (coming soon!):

TypeWith.me: Live Text Document Collaboration!

LogMeIn: A free (and reliable) remote desktop tool

I’m in Orlando this week, teaching a series of sessions on Free and Low-Cost Social Media Tools. Ordinarily I remote in to my computer at the office using Live Mesh from Microsoft, but the software is misbehaving.

So I returned to an old standby, LogMeIn. I abandoned LogMeIn because it didn’t have all the cool features that Live Mesh does, most notably that I can store the files I need on the road in Live Mesh folders, so when I update them on either computer, all copies of the files are updated. Plus, Live Mesh lets you drag and drop files across the computers, and LogMeIn makes you upgrade to the Pro version for that.

But I just tried LogMeIn again, and I am impressed. I can’t do the file sharing, but now LogMeIn allows me to copy something on one computer and paste it to the other, so I can copy a whole file to transfer. Plus, I use multiple monitors on my desktop, and LogMeIn lets me switch between them with the click of a button.

The biggest thing I like about it today is that it works, and, of course, it’s free. The professional version is quite reasonably priced as well ($70 a year for one computer), plus they have other services such as backup.

LogMeIn – Remote Access and Desktop Control Software for Your Computer.

Live Mesh: A great tool when you’re on the road

I spent this past weekend in Denver with the family, and I would have been lost without Live Mesh. You create an account and add computers to your network. When I worked on my home computer, any file in my shared folders was updated on the Live Mesh site. When I signed onto my laptop computer, the files were automatically updated.

While I was on the airplane and working offline, the new changes were stored, and as soon as I connected to the internet again, all the files were updated on all the connected computers.

In addition, I used Live Mesh to remotely control my home computer. I could even copy a file from home and paste it to my desktop.

It rocks. And it’s free!

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