I continually find myself in situations where I need to do something on a machine that doesn’t have the software I need and I don’t have admin access to install some freeware to perform the small task. Therefore, I always do a Google search with the word "online" in it. E.G: DOC to PDF online or convert PNG to GIF online. Well, here is a new section in my ever grown Toolbox page which will focus on free online tools/services.

Online Tools & Services

• DOC to PDF - On this site, you upload your document and its gets emailed to you in a few minutes when it is ready. I used this allot in college when handing up my project documents because PDF looks more professional than DOC. NOTE: I would advise not using this with any confidential documents.
• Image Optimizer (GIF, JPG, + PNG) - This site will convert and optimize your images online for free. Very useful when you want to display transparent PNG images in IE without using the CSS filter hack so I convert them to gif.
• Image to Icon - I used this site to create my URL icon that you can see in the address bar. I created a quick tutorial that can be found here that will quickly show you how to add it to your site.
• Monitor your website - I use the free version that pings my sites every hour and gives me daily reports on the uptime. I have changed hosting just because of this site. Would recommend the paid version if you have a critical application and want it monitored every minute and want an SMS alert when it is down.
• Stat counter for your website - If you have a site and you want to track your visitors then this site is great. All you need to do is create an account + then add some JavaScript code to your site. Fast, easy and effective!
• Validate CSS - If you have done work with CSS then I would be disappointed if you haven’t already used this site to validate your CSS code to make sure it is compliant on all browsers and so you keep your IE hacks in a different CSS file.