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Sigh. I guess it was bound to happen. I found a low-cost screen capture tool that competes with Jing, which is one of my all-time favorites.

FastStone Screen Capture comes in as an unobtrusive toolbar. You can capture windows, the full screen, a scrolling screen and a video with audio (see my sample below — I don’t think the audio recording is as good as Jing). In addition, when you capture something, you get a whole host of editing options to add a little more flair and details — Jing simply lets you annotate and draw arrows. And FastStone has a couple of extra handy tools like a screen magnifier plus a color picker (similar to another Beth Favorite, Pixie).

FastStone has a number of ways to export your capture, but I still prefer Jing’s integration with Screencast.com, which allows you to simply toss your capture online into your library without having to actually upload it.

Overall, I give FastStone an A- and still give Jing an A. But they’re both pretty darn cool and are infinitely better than your “Print Screen” Button.

FastStone Screen Capture – The Best Screen Capture Software.

Now this is handy! Download iSpring Free, a little PowerPoint add-in to convert your PowerPoint presentation into Flash with a push of a button. Here’s a sample with my last presentation…. Warning… as a stand-alone without audio, it’s insanely boring. But the cool thing is it became a Flash movie in about a minute.

iSpring Free | Free PowerPoint to Flash Converter.

I just downloaded FileHippo.com’s Update Checker. In minutes it gave me a list of the 6 applications on my desktop that needed updating, along with links to do so. Handy!

FileHippo.com Update Checker – FileHippo.com.

Ok, I’ll admit it… I’ve contemplated dating an IT guy just to have someone to call when my computer is ailing. But my boyfriend might take exception to that, so I’m very grateful for CrossLoop.

CrossLoop is a network of IT specialists who are standing by to help you. Seriously. All you do is create an account, search for technicians who have experience with your type of computer issue, and let them take over your screen to fix the problem. You pay their hourly rate (which varies by technician), and you can get first-rate advice without having to have dinner.

I used them once and really enjoyed the experience and the results (he couldn’t fix my problem, but that made me happy because I KNEW it was a horrible problem that was beyond repair, and it was!). Highly recommended.

CrossLoop – Simple, secure screen-sharing and trusted experts for computer help.