PDFsam – Split and Merge PDF files
Qik – Stream live video from your smartphone
PDFsam
There are free tools to create PDF files from other applications, but there are times when you need to combine PDF files or cut pages out of them. The PDF creation tools do not extend to editing, but you can always download and use PDFsam to handle you “editing” needs for splitting and merging PDF files.
http://www.pdfsam.org/?page_id=32
Qik
This is a free service and application that allows you to stream live video and audio from your Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Android, iPhone or other smartphone device. You can stream the content for all to see or make it private. The service will even keep a recording of the video stream. There are a lot of situations where live video streaming could come in handy.
It works well, albeit the video stream is choppy at times when someone views it live. This is definitely something that will be more pervasive once the cell carriers increase bandwidth and the smartphones get more powerful. If you use the application, make sure that your data plan can handle the amount of data since this will consume a lot of bandwidth.
To install the app and sign up for an account, just browse to the url on your phone and it will prompt for you to download the client. Once the program is installed, you can setup an account directly on your phone or you can do it from the website. On the recipients end, they can go to the Qik website and tune in to your stream using the main site page or your specific url that is created when you sign up for an account.
I must admint that I see more non-business related uses for this at the moment, but I do envision some work related ones to try.
- Remote support
- For supporting a user or technician who does not have internet access – Have a user stream their desktop or server screen for troubleshooting.
- Have someone attend an industry event and stream it back to others in the office.
- For fun
- Stream your kids school event to family members who are out of state.
- Say hi to everyone out of state at your next family holiday party.
Go out and give the application a try and let me know if it was useful for you and what creative ways you figured out to use the system.
