Filed under: Utilities, Productivity, Web services, Social Software

iBreadcrumbs is a browser toolbar you can use to record the websites you visit while you’re working on a particular project, so you can find your research again or share your sources with someone else. Sure, you could do this manually, by posting your finds to del.icio.us or a similar bookmarking service, and giving them all the same tag, but iBreadcrumbs makes that look like way too much work. All you’ve to do is click start, and everything gets saved automatically.

Your sessions (Breadcrumbs) each get saved to their own dedicated page, where you can organize them and add additional notes. You can combine a new Breadcrumb with an existing one, which makes the service useful for longer research projects. There’s also a social aspect to the site: you can add friends for simple collaboration. iBreadcrumbs is flexible enough that we’re sure it can be applied to all sorts of non-research functions. Don’t be put off by the “University” field in the sign-up process - this service isn’t just for academics.

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Filed under: Blogging, Google, Social Software, Beta, web 2.0

It’s been about a month since Google announced its new Friend Connect platform which lets you add social widgets to any blog or web site. If you’ve been waiting patiently to see these widgets begin popping up on the wild, wild web, it looks like the wait is over. Tech blogger Orli Yakuel has added a widget to her blog, Go2Web20.

The widget looks a lot like the recent readers widgets you find from services like MyBlogLog. But Friend Connect offers users the chance to interact with their contacts and communities more deeply without leaving the current web page. For example, Yakuel has added a comment widget that lets FriendConnect users who sign up to be members of her blog to leave comments that are visible to other members.

When you visit a site with a FriendConnect widget you can invite your Google contacts or friends from other sites including MySpace, Hi5, Orkut, or Plaxo to join the community.

Yakuel states there are only a handful of Google gadgets available at the moment, but states there is a section where you can grab gadgets from third party developers, much like the gadget gallery for iGoogle and Google Desktop.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

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Filed under: Debt, Relationships

A reader asked me whether or not her credit score would be impacted if she married someone with a very low credit score. She had excellent credit. I told her it depends upon whether or not she took out joint credit and bank accounts. Once you take joint accounts as a husband and wife, your credit scores do tend to meld.

If you’re planning to get married and you have an excellent credit score and your fiance does not, you may want to keep your finances separate for a while. You can each have your own savings account and open a joint checking account for paying the household bills. Determine in advance how much you each will contribute to the joint account each month, so you don’t end up with fights later about someone not contributing enough.

If you’re thinking of buying a house, the person with the excellent credit score is the one who should put in the application. Don’t put your spouse or fiance as a co-borrower if they’ve a low credit score or you’ll end up with much higher interest rate. This could mean that you’ll need to purchase in a smaller house until your spouse or fiance gets his credit score up, but at least you won’t ruin your own credit score or pay outrageous mortgage interest rates.Sometimes you may decide that it’s worth it for your future spouse to file bankruptcy if his or her debts are beyond what he or she can reasonably pay off. If your future spouse does decide to do this, ask your future spouse to do it before the marriage to avoid tainting your own good credit reputation. Your spouse will have a negative mark on his or her credit report for seven to ten years, so you’ll need to be ready to take out all credit for the marriage in your own name for at least four to five years. That’s how long it will take for the credit score to rebuild to a decent level as long as your spouse pays bills on time after the bankruptcy.

You’ll need to check your credit report at least once a year to be sure none of your spouse’s bad credit history creeps onto that report. If you see an account listed that is not one on which you’re a co-borrower, ask to have it removed. A couple can avoid this problem if they each keep their own names after the marriage.

Lita Epstein is the author of more than 20 books including the “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Improving Your Credit Score.”

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Filed under: Budgets, Debt, Home, Relationships

It’s wedding season and couples across the country are spending all their time planning pricey weddings and honeymoons. That’s all well and good, but once you get home, it’s time to put the lavish spending aside and figure out a plan for your financial health as a couple.

Here’s my five step plan for how newlyweds can get their finances on track right from the start:

First, figure out how you’re going to pay the bills (both where the money is going to come from and who will actually do it). It may make sense for one person to take it over (whoever is ideal at dealing with paperwork) and the other to contribute funds to a joint checking account.
Cap discretionary spending (but not so much that either of you feels hemmed in). Here’s an easy way: Set a limit for how much you can each spend on an item without consulting the other. $100 is probably a good number for starters. That way, you can buy a new shirt without ‘permission,’ but you can’t go buy a $600 flat screen Television without you both agreeing it’s a good idea. It will prevent many a fight.

Strategize on debt. Disclose all debt to each other and figure out how you’re going to pay it off. That may mean one spouse covering the other’s past debts for a while, but it will serve you both well if you can get rid of high interest payments and improve your overall credit score as a couple.

Save for retirement. Believe it or not, you probably have more free cash now (before kids) than you’ll have in the future, even if your income goes up. Try to save as much as you can in a 401(k) or Roth IRA now. It will give you a great cushion that you’ll appreciate when times get lean.

Plan for the future. Everyone starts thinking about buying a home. But here’s a few things you might miss — Will one of you want to go to graduate school in a few years? Begin thinking now about an equitable way to cover the expense. If you plan to have kids, even if not for another five years, move to a neighborhood with great schools. Finally, don’t get saddled with a time share, even if it seems like a great idea while you’re enjoying your honeymoon.

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Filed under: Business, Web services, Microsoft, Social Software, web 2.0

We mentioned Microsoft TownSquare today, the new offering from Microsoft for internal social networking and document sharing, and we’ve a screenshot for you to check out.

From what we can see it looks like you get a steady stream of activity based on employee which is really, really cool and helpful, along with an RSS feed to track the activity. From a project management standpoint, this is a large.

We’ll keep an eye out for more info and keep you up to date. Is this something you would want to use at work, or would it creep you out?

Be sure to check out Microsoft Office Labs too.

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Filed under: Raising money, Engagements, Private equity industry, Investments

Back in May, there was word that a new commercial finance company called Tygris Commercial Finance Group was going to set a record with a $1.75 billion capital raise.

This morning, I received an email from a PR firm and then saw the press release. On June 6, Tygris closed with more than a $2 billion raise, setting an even higher record than expected.

Tygris is a commercial finance company that provides liquidity and growth capital to middle market companies throughout North America. Tygris has three commercial finance businesses: corporate finance, equipment leasing and asset finance, and small ticket leasing. Tygris has offices in Chicago, Stamford, CT and Parsippany, NJ.

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