UsingMiles – If you’re a frequent flyer, you probably have multiple accounts in different companies by which you earn program miles and awards. Although all of these keep you up to date with your latest balance, special offers and more relevant info, it’s hard to keep track of all the different accounts. UsingMiles is here to simplify the process by offering “the best free way to manage your air and hotel loyalty programs and book cash-and-award travel. UsingMiles helps you manage your frequent flier accounts and hotel rewards.”

Fitango – Although the name suggests fitness support and inspiration, Fitango is here to help you reach your goals, whether in health and fitness, self development, finance, even your love life. Once you’ve signed up (use Facebook connect if possible – saves you the time of registering), go the the Plan store – the program collection neatly listed by categories. There you will find tens of action plans, many of which are free (paid plans range between $1.99 to $7.99).

Once an Actionplan has been selected, the Fitango site and expert team will guide you through the different steps toward your goal. In addition, the Fitango system allows you to connect with other Fitango community members and designate motivators to help you stick to your path. I decided to get in shape and explore the 8-Week 5K Training Plan for Beginners. What’s your goal? Try Fitango and you’ll find how easy it is to pursue it.

HelloFax – As this site claims right on its homepage, you can throw away your fax machine (actually donate it so it doesn’t end up in the trash), because sending fax is now easy and painless. HelloFax lets you send faxes electronically, and also sign documents and fill out forms. The bottom line here is you don’t need any machines or paper for numerous online paperwork processes.

You can try it for free – simply provide your email address and start sending docs (attaching files is included). For the complete list of price plans, click here. This service will save you time and money, and its simple yet sleek design makes working with it a no-brainer.

What’s App – This cash saving mobile application lets you send and receive messages for free as long as there is an Internet or Wi-Fi connection available. The What’s App Messenger service works on and between various mobile devices including the iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Nokia. This means you and your friends don’t need to have the same device to use this service as is the case with many other free SMS apps; it’s a cross-platform tool that gives you lots of freedom and productivity. Another cool option What’s App offers is sending images and videos as part of the chat/SMS platform (available only to iPhone, Android and Blackberry users). In short, if you haven’t downloaded this super cool app, you should. Right now.

Flow – Using ‘cloud’ technology, Flow is a productivity app that makes task and and team management a no-brainer. This app prides itself in offering super-organized tools to make sure you stay on top of all your projects and to-do lists, and in offering a work from everywhere approach. Since the cloud plays a central part in Flow, that means different people can access the same content in different locations using different devices, while still being able to collaborate with each other in real-time.

If you feel Flow is just the push your team or work environment needs to reach higher and better goals, I encourage you to give Flow a try; they currently offer a free 14-day trial, no credit card necessary. Sign up here.

Grovo – This online video hub is, simply put, an efficient site discovery tool. Intended for the amateur, average and savvy Internet users alike, Grovo offers video lessons that show you the exact how-to when it comes to searching for websites of your needs and areas of interest. How does Grovo produce its content? Their content is “professionally produced, in-house, by our staff of writers, editors and voiceover talent. All content is extensively researched and crafted prior to production; once produced, content is regularly updated to maintain relevancy.”

How does it work? You can dive right into the site’s colossal video lessons section, or you can consult Grovo’s glossary in case you’ve stumbled upon an unfamiliar Web term, and then proceed to see a relevant video. Another option to test your Web knowledge is to explore Grovo’s Quiz section. Grovo is a terrific service, although currently only a part of its video collection is open to free viewing  – there’s a 7-day free trial after which you will have to pick one of their paid subscription tracks (annual, monthly and enterprise) if you wish to have access to all of Grovo’s content.

Despite the payment hindrance (hey, sometimes high quality things will cost you), Grovo is a great Web search aid worth exploring. See this video showing how to block pop-ups for example.

Carbonmade – Those of us working in the creative industries such as design, graphic design, styling, photography and other visual mediums will appreciate this free online portfolio service. As a visual professional, you need to provide solid work examples to lure more potential customers and to make a name for yourself. And what a better way to do so than by creating an online portfolio of your own, one that looks amazing and presents your chosen works in an easy, nice-to-look-at place. Carbonmade offers just that.

To get started, I suggest exploring some samples – my favorites are Bódis Árvai Tünde Photography and Bunny Pirates by the illustrator Meghan Stratman, respectively shown here below.

The free Carbonmade bundle allows a maximum upload of 35 images (which is more than enough for the average professional), and a paid track of $12 a month for those interested in showcasing photos, videos, flash projects and more, all ad-free. What are you waiting for? Sign up now!

Memolane – This most inspiring and exciting service offers an interactive, ongoing audio-visual timeline of your life, with the option of adding your friends as collaborators. Create your own Memolane made up of photos, music, video, tweets, status updates, blogs, and many other content tools and you will be pleasantly surprised at how rich your seemingly ordinary life really is.

Click the image below to see what a Memolane timeline looks like, this one -rather, only a fraction of it- by Jeff Hester.

To learn more about Memolane and how it works, see this video:

phraseup – If writing is not something you find easy to do, phraseup is a tool you should consider. It is essentially a sentence completion service that comes to the rescue when you have only a fraction of a sentence ready in your head. How does it work? Simply type in your incomplete phrase or sentence and put (*) where you’re short on inspiration. Hit the Complete button and see the magic happen before your eyes. Here’s an example:

For those of you interested in how exactly phraseup manages to offer appropriate completions, here’s an explanation: “Using a patent pending algorithm, phraseup* assists you with writing, by suggesting possible combinations to fill-in the words you can’t remember. Each suggestion is accompanied by definitions, synonyms and translations to other languages.” What an innovative concept! Writing just got a bit easier.

Sockroll – RSS. We all have it and read its feeds on a daily basis. Readers are great in terms of keeping us up to date on the latest posts and news from our favorite sites and blogs. But there’s no escape from telling the truth; most readers give a one-liner and stick to it, often at the expense of a fluid read. Sockroll counterattacks this issue, and I’m seriously considering ditching my Google Reader for good.

Presented in a newspaper-like layout, Sockroll offers a designated page for each of its categories (over 60 categories to choose from, including some non-mainstream ones such as Guy News, Programming, Religion, Weddings and loads more), listing posts in the order of publication time (most recent on top), and always including a visual item to accompany the post. Look for instance what Sockroll’s Fashion page looks like:

Another cool aspect of Sockroll is the interface’s appearance when reading a specific post. A semi-separate window opens up, showing you the full post in its respective site/blog page while keeping the Sockroll’s category page in the background. You can quickly close this window once you’re done and then go back to your main Sockroll page for more reads. Here’s what reading an Apartment Therapy post on Sockroll (on Home Design) looks like:

The end result is a pleasantly looking platform offering fluid reads and flexible skipping between topics. Plus, Sockroll takes the RSS subscription burden off of you and centralizes all the hot news of your chosen category in one place.

Room 77 – Reserving hotel rooms seems like a no-brainer. You look at some pictures, check out the rates, maybe even read a few reviews and make the reservation. But more often than not, once you get to your hotel room, you realize your scenic view is the neighboring building, a parking lot, or worse, a brick wall. Room 77 is here to make sure your next hotel room suits all your preferences but remains within budget limits.

Room 77 uses the forefront of technology to deliver the best room options for you in hundreds of different hotels across the country. Using the Google Maps 3D platform, Room 77 shows you the actual view of different rooms in each listed hotel so you can see for yourself which rooms to avoid, and which to request for when making the reservation.

To see an example, click the image below, the screen shot of the Churchill Hotel in Washington DC page, showing maps, street view and including tips and expert advice.

Room 77 changes the entire concept and experience of hotel room reservation. Thanks to this terrific free service, you can make sure your stay at the hotel is as enjoyable as possible.

Advanced Riskology – Tyler Tervooren is an ambitious and creative young man who writes about taking smart risks in the pursuit for a better, more fulfilled life and mind. As Tyler claims, “Life’s most important lessons are learned from the risks we take, but we only learn when we actually take them.” Tyler might seem too ambitious to some (see his quest for being included in the top 1% of the world club). Either way, this blog is his canvas for sharing his own risks and decision making, and his tips on ‘smart risk taking’ (yes, there is such a thing).

As Tyler suggests, start with this post, which is a nice introduction to what this blog is about, and who Tyler is. My personal favorite is The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Inception.