Web Crawler

Shoeboxed announced this week that it has improved the way it handles digital receipts sent to its online filing system. The company, which scans and hosts paper receipts, business cards and full-size documents, can now pick out specific information from forwarded e-mails containing purchase information, and put it into one of the system's 15 purchase classifications.

Like users would do with purchases on travel services like TripIt and Worldmate, simply sending the confirmation e-mail to your Shoeboxed address means that it gets filed along with the rest of your expenses. The goal is to make it easier for customers who are already using Shoeboxed's receipt scanning by mail service to blend in purchases they make online.

The company says the new technique is 95 percent accurate and removes the need for customers to enter in purchase information manually. This is a noticeable improvement over the previous system, which would simply paste the information into a blank message without giving it a title or a expense category. The new system also pulls in things like vendor names and the total amount spent, which can be compared and cross-referenced with other expenses it tracks from your paper receipts and scanned photos you've taken of receipts from your mobile phone.

E-mailed receipts are now automatically categorized, including how you paid for it and where you bought it from.

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I gave it a spin earlier today on 10 different receipt confirmations from different vendors and had a 100 percent success rate on it accurately figuring out where the item was from, how I paid for it, and its price. It also did a pretty good job on categorizing the purchases, getting seven of the 10, while leaving the remaining three blank.

One thing it doesn't pick up on, which is worth mentioning, is the actual purchase date. It only keeps track of the date it was sent into the system. This isn't a big deal, since you're probably going to be forwarding items the same day you're purchasing, and you can also see the source copy of the e-mail from Shoeboxed's interface. But it's something to keep in mind if you're planning to forward a bunch of old purchase confirmations.

The receipts by e-mail service is completely free, although other parts of Shoeboxed, like its paper scanning, and mobile photo transcription require signing up for a paid monthly plan.

Previously: Shoeboxed now tags scanned receipts for you

I'm always intrigued by backup tools for Web services that don't really need backup. TweetSaver is no exception. This paid service backs up (almost) everything you've ever posted to Twitter, along with private messages and replies from other users. It then adds an extra layer of utility on top of it, like a search tool that's limited to just your messages, simple sharing options for each message, as well as a way to assign a tag to each tweet for categorization.

Of course the usefulness of all of this hinges on Twitter being down and/or somehow losing all of your data. However, based on Twitter's uptime over the past year, you have to ask yourself if it's worth the cost of $20 a year. That's pretty steep considering there are some free Twitter backup solutions like TweeTake and TweetBackup that do many of the same things.

It's also worth pointing out why you wouldn't need this service for some of the features it's advertising. For one, Twitter's search tool can be limited to just your tweets if you use the from: operator. TweetSaver is also only capable of retrieving your last 3,200 tweets, so if you've got more than that, they're not going to be archived. This in itself is a limitation of Twitter's API, but should be noted if you have 40,000 tweets and think it, or any other service, is going to be able to grab them all.

I do like the idea of tagging tweets though. Crafty Twitter users have already found subtle ways to tag their Tweets by using hashes (#'s), although there's no way to go back to old messages and add them in. It can also be impossible if you're running out of space in an outgoing tweet. Below is a demo of how it works. I'm getting access later tonight and will update if it's got any hidden goodies that make it worth the price:

Music video slideshow tool Animoto is venturing into new territory Tuesday night with an upgraded tool that supports video clips. Alongside photos, users can now upload videos up to 200MB in size, including segments that are in high definition. These exist seamlessly beside the photo content, and get the same Animoto treatment with transparency effects, reflections, and other eye candy.

Unlike the way Animoto handles importing photos from third party sites like Flickr, Facebook, and SmugMug, the same cannot be said for videos. If you want it to grab a video you've already uploaded somewhere else you need to track down the source file and re-upload it.

Another caveat--and it's a big one, is that you can only use 5 or 10 seconds of a video at a time, in clip form. This limitation is by design, and serves a few purposes. One is to keep a slideshow from getting muddled down in long clips, while keeping rendering times down on Animoto's side. It also acts as an incentive to upgrade to Animoto's paid service, which bumps the possible clip size from 5 to 10 seconds.

To help make the time limitations a little more feasible, Animoto has a built-in clip editor that lets users choose the 1 to 10 seconds they want to use from an uploaded video. Users just pick the start point, and how long they want it to run, and Animoto's servers do the rest. You can also choose to cut out the sound, as well as duplicate any clip. Doing this several times over lets users string together a series of segments from a larger clip to go beyond the time limitations.

Venturing into the realm of video editing is definitely an interesting move by Animoto. In a chat with me last week, CEO Brad Jefferson insisted that the tool was not headed in a direction that would let users control specific times on how long certain pictures were presented, or tweak things like total clip length--two things that are determined by how many photos (and now videos) users decide to use. "I don't like the idea of moving back to the timeline," Jefferson said. "The music is always going to determine how long (the video) is. We've always been about a really simple paradigm that doesn't get people thinking from a tool level."

That's not to say Jefferson isn't smitten with simpler ways for people to edit their videos before they're uploaded. Especially on the new iPhone, which lets users shoot a video, trim it, then send it in an e-mail, or places like YouTube. For now there isn't a way for users to send those clips to Animoto without first heading to their computers to download the file off the phone, but Jefferson envisions a future update that will take the computer out of the equation entirely.

If you're contemplating switching to another e-mail provider, but have been too lazy to do a feature comparison of the competition, there's a new tool that might be of assistance. Aptly named E-mail Service Guide takes more than 100 hosted e-mail providers, and lets you comparison shop by feature.

This is handled gracefully with a search tool that lets you plug in which options you want, like whether the service has POP3 and IMAP (Internet Mail Access Protocol) support, or customer service by phone or e-mail so you can talk to an actual human if something goes wrong.

It can also tell you how much each service will cost, by breaking down its price according to how many months you're planning to use it. This includes things from the fine print like sign-up fees or required contracts, all of which can be simply sorted by column.

Looking for the e-mail provider with the biggest attachment size? This tool lets you sort to see which one is the tops.

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Since the tool is focused on premium services, missing are consumer-grade options like the vanilla version of Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail, and Yahoo Mail. Instead you have providers like Zimbra, GoDaddy, and Rackspace--many of which have service license agreements, multi-user seating, and more generous attachment size limits.

See also: Wikipedia's chart of Web mail providers

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ScreenTunes is a free search tool that helps users find where a song has been played in any piece of professionally-produced video content. You just type in the name of the song and it tells you all the films and TV shows in which it's appeared. You can then listen to the track right from the results (using Grooveshark), or purchase the track on iTunes or Amazon's online stores.

Along with acting as a search tool for individual songs, ScreenTunes can be used to look up a track by its lyrics. This also works on entire movie titles, so you can type the name to get a quick track list.

I found the service to be a bit hit or miss, but when it works it's quite neat. Many test searches I did came up with zero results, often times because I had either left a word off the title of the song, or it simply wasn't in the database. Clearly you get better results if it's a mainstream track, but it's surprising to see how many places any one song can end up.

(Credit: CNET / Josh Lowensohn)

We're on the tail end of the summer vacation season, which according to the FBI is one of the peak periods of home burglaries. Chances are good you're about to head out of town, leaving your dwelling to fend for itself against intruders.

Got a house sitter or an alarm system? Good for you. If not, there are a handful of ways to turn a computer into a tool that will alert you if someone's there who shouldn't be.

For the sake of this guide we're keeping things simple and limiting our list to free apps that work on PCs, Macs, or both. A few simply use your browser. Later on we also have a section on specialty hardware that can take you beyond what most Webcams are capable of.

The software

Software can offer a definite piece of mind over browser-based solutions. Most of these apps can run quietly in the background, and can save footage to your hard drive for archiving. High-end Webcams often come with their own security software, so in the spirit of this guide, we're going with generic software that should work with any model:

Yawcam (PC)
Yawcam is free and PC-only. It's a complex program but not too complex to set-up. The app lets you set whether you want to capture all of the motion within the frame or just a part of it. I used it to track motion in a specific part of my workplace: CNET colleague Rafe Needleman's office door. Any time he came in or out of his office it took a photo. At home this is more useful if you point it toward something like a door or entry way, which can keep it from picking up one of your pets moving around.

The app does an exceptional job at letting you pick various ways you want to be notified. You can have it upload screen shots to an FTP site or as an e-mail. It can also play any sound on your computer, or start another program (such as a lock-down or keyboard locking application).

Yawcam can be set to snap and e-mail a pic whenever it senses motion. It was one of the easiest tools to set up.

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I set mine up with Gmail, which was a snap. You just have to have plug in the outgoing settings on Google's help page and it will send a high-quality screen shot of whatever motion it's captured just a few seconds after it happens. Using this with your phone's e-mail address will give you a live alert and a saved copy of all the shots in Gmail's sent folder.

HomeCamera (PC)
This software runs a streaming video client that can be accessed from any computer with a browser. You can view either live video or snapshots that can be taken at intervals or on-demand. HomeCamera's secret sauce is... Read more

Comcast's Web-based broadband meter, which was rumored to be released back in January, is still not available to consumers. According to a Comcast representative whom I spoke with earlier Tuesday, it's still not ready for prime time, and is undergoing further employee trials before being released to the public.

Once released, the meter will let customers of Comcast's high-speed Internet service monitor how much of their 250GB monthly bandwidth quota has been used. This will help keep them from going over that limit--something that results in a termination of their service upon the second offense.

Comcast imposed the monthly usage limits back in October as a way to keep network hogs from slowing down speeds for other customers. However, the only tool that was provided to help customers keep an eye on how much they were using was McAfee's Security Suite. While free, the software tool could only track bandwidth use on the machine it was installed on, and not from networked mobile phones, game consoles, or other household computers.

Comcast's monthly bandwidth cap for consumers is 250GB.

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Back in December, DSL Reports posted leaked screenshots of what the online meter looked like at the time, along with specifics on how often the reports were being updated to reflect recent usage. Their sources noted that it not only tracked the past three months of use, but also let users break down where use was coming from, right down to the device. This could be used to help track down devices that may be using more than their fair share, be it computers or other networked home electronics.

Comcast would not provide any further details on the unreleased utility, but given the fast-approaching one-year anniversary of the cap, it's fair to expect its release sometime this fall. In the meantime, there are several ways to keep an eye on household bandwidth using a variety of software tools, which we've listed in this handy guide.

Like death and taxes, another one of life's inevitabilities is moving. Unless you're a wealthy agoraphobic, chances are you've either done a move all by yourself, or hired outside help. The process for the latter can be expensive, which is where CityMove comes in. The free service lets you post a job for movers who can then offer you a bid, allowing you to choose the best deal if there are multiple offers.

It's the same idea that was popularized with bank loans by LendingTree in the 1990s, although in this case you're the one doling out the cash. You can select to pay your movers on a flat rate for the whole move, or by the hour. Either way, everything short of the transaction is managed on the site using a simple, but detailed wizard.

As the person who's moving, there are a few prerequisites. For one, you have to estimate how many people you'll need to help you out, as well as what kind of transportation they should bring. You can also leave it up to the movers. In either case, you're required to provide a detailed of estimate on how much stuff you have, right down to how many boxes are being moved, what size they are, and how much they weigh. This can be difficult if you haven't started packing yet.

Just one part of the lengthy moving preparation involves guesstimating how much space you need, and how many people you need to help you move it.

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This level of detail can be helpful though. It shows you what you have to do to get ready for the move, such as breaking down a dresser, or ordering supplies to package delicate items like glass or artwork. For first-time movers this can be a good gut check, although having to go through these motions on every item you own is a big pain if you've got a lot of stuff.

Once you choose the company you want to hire, and finish the move, the site lets you review those movers for future customers. These are called "verified" reviews, and can only be done if the move is organized through CityMove's system. However, if you've used one of the movers previously, you can also review them--it just isn't weighted as heavily. CityMove also lets the movers respond to bad reviews, which can give you the heads up on whether that particular company is paying attention to feedback.

CityMove is currently available only in the U.S. and Canada. See also our two guides that help you use various Web services to do a move: Your online guide to moving, and Moving 2.0: More than 30 services to help you relocate.

(Credit: JaJah / eHarmony)

Online dating services eHarmony and Match.com on Thursday plan to begin using a special version of JaJah that lets users make anonymized voice calls to people they're interested in.

Unlike streaming video, which is a hot trend in online dating sites, users are limited to standard telephone communication like voice calls, SMS, and voice mail. Both sites are using a version of JaJah that's focused specifically on privacy permissions. Users can't just call someone without the person on the other authorizing it first. The same goes for both voice and text messages. Also, neither party gets the other person's real phone number, meaning you can safely use your regular phone without worrying about your number getting in the wrong hands.

Along with the security features that let people connect for the first time, it's also simple to cut off communication entirely. If either party decides that they no longer want to talk to the other person, it's as simple as de-authorizing them. This keeps them from being able to call again, and relegates them to using the dating service's standard messaging tools.

JaJah says the service has been in limited beta testing on Match.com since early March. Several other dating sites are also providing it for some of their members, although those sites have not yet been announced.