New York SBDC Research Network

The U.S. Small Business Administration is using November to celebrate entrepreneurship in a number of ways. It launched the Student Startup Plan to help more college graduates learn how to lower their loan payments in order to get the “breathing room” they need to start a business. It is hosting a Young Entrepreneurs Series (YES) to help more young people come together, exchange ideas, and get on a path toward building a viable business. It is kicking off the Apps for Entrepreneurs Challenge , which runs through Nov. 20. It has $20,000 in prizes for the best mobile apps that help America’s entrepreneurs tap into federal programs to help them grow a business and create jobs. More info .

My work keeps me in one place but even between work and home, I like the flexibility that web applications allow. I was frustrated by the tempermental ways of my ISP mail account so I stick with Gmail knowing I can always get to it. Sync your calendars with Yahoo! or Google , share documents and speadsheets with Google, and you are pretty much set to do most things wherever you are. With online storage available and even remote access to your PC, the business-owner is rarely helpless. I find it much easier to upload photos onto Snapfish or Flickr in order to share them with family, then to send them any other way. We will see more and more applications we know from their desk-top versions moving to the web. Combinations of these tools will create the project management software in the future. It pays to check these things out because in many cases they are free to use. For anyone, the price is right. www.4shared.com Iomega iStorage www.gotomyPC.com www.basecamphq.com