Cory Watilo

I use a lot of online products and services in my daily life, many of which I now rely on. I thought I'd take a minute to highlight a few of my favorites.

YouMail

YouMail is my voicemail provider, and happens to be located right down the freeway from me. Even though I have an iPhone and could choose to use Visual Voicemail, YouMail is so much better. Not only does it transcribe my voicemail and send a text message letting me know, but it can also transcribe messages and email me the transcriptions or even the MP3 of the voicemail itself.

Youmail also has plenty of other useful features like personalized recordings for different people and you can even greet callers by the name recognized on caller ID.

The weakest part of YouMail is their web interface. It kind of looks like it was made in 2001 (hint hint: we should talk!). But the service is great and an outdated-looking interface isn't going to keep me from the great service they provide.

Check out YouMail →

Outright

Outright is service for small business owners that takes the hassle out of bookkeeping and figuring out taxes. It handles the collection of tax forms from contractors automatically and does all the expected stuff like connecting to bank accounts for easy record-keeping.

Check out Outright →

Shoeboxed

Shoeboxed is, without a doubt, the easiest way to manage receipts. They give you an email address that you can send digital receipts to. Their system automatically parses what you send them and figured out the total, payee, and category the receipt belongs in. You can also scan paper receipts into the system.

On top of that, they also have a mail-in service that lets customers send in receipts and lets them deal with the hassle of scanning. I plan on sending my first batch of gas receipts (among others) to them today. It also plays nicely with many accounting programs, including Outright.

Check out Shoeboxed →

Dropbox

I doubt the need to even mention Dropbox. Everybody I know uses them. I've written about them previously here. Dropbox is a service that backs up and syncs files on your computer between your other computers. When I save a file on one computer, Dropbox instantly backs up the file online and syncs the updates with my other computers. Wherever I go, I always have the latest versions of whatever I'm working on. Dropbox is one of the most important things to happen to computing in the last decade.

Check out Dropbox →

I'm a big fan of the internet show put on by Pat Gray and Stu Burguiere every morning. Once a week, they call random convenience stores around the country and ask the clerk 4 quick questions. If the person doesn't know the answer, Pat or Stu will usually make something up. This is one of the better dialogs between them a clerk. Last question is the best. (You'll find a transcription of the questions and answers below the video.)

Q: How much does it cost to run for President of the United States of America?
A: It costs you your entire soul.

Q: What is Social Security?
A: I'm not sure because I'll never collect it.

Q: Why do kids get participation trophies
A: Because they are losers.

Q: What is a star made out of?
A: Same thing as a politician: hot gas.

Politics aside, California is screwed. I'm not talking about how people vote. I'm just talking about people in general. I'm talking about the clear downward trend of quality people in our society. People are so incredibly selfish. Nobody thinks of others anymore. There was a time when people were genuinely kind, when people were courteous while driving, and when people were friendly in everyday encounters.

Today was a breaking point for me. I witnessed two people fighting over position in line for a gas pump. An oblivious person backed into me with his car. I was cut off by a driver while I walked through a parking lot (I guess pedestrians don't have the right-of-way anymore). I was almost hit by a guy running a red light. I was almost hit by another person making a right turn who failed to stop and look before turning.

Far too many people think the hands-free calling law means they can hold their phone on speakerphone. Nobody turns their head when changing lanes and nobody signals. People are so distracted by their cell phones that those of us who aren't distracted have to look out for them and guide them back into their lanes by the occasional honk of the horn.

I intentionally seek out stores with positive, friendly cashiers. It makes the experience exponentially better. There was a time when people waved to each other while driving through neighborhoods, and when strangers would engage in friendly small talk. I am disappointed that I never got to experience that culture here.

Of course, it's not like this everywhere. In fact most of America is still relatively friendly. The pace of life is just different.

But in terms of California, I don't see things ever getting better. It's still every man for himself. And unless people realize that we're all in this together and no one is so important that they can't be friendly, courteous and polite, California will continue down this spiral and continue to become a less and less enjoyable place to live.