By Kelly Kilpatrick

While many of Google’s products have enjoyed loads of popularity, many may not be aware of the Google Gears application. It allows users to store Web-based information on their own system, making it possible to access and edit it even when you’re not online. This can be a great tool for those who travel often and may not always have connectivity to the Web but still need to get things done. Here are 50 fun and productive ways to use the program to keep you entertained, working, studying, or just occupied even when you don’t have the Internet.

Blogging and RSS

Check out these ideas on how to use gears to improve your blogging and RSS when you’re away from the net.

1. Read the news. Keep up on the goings on of the world by adding news feeds to your RSS and reading them later using Gears.
2. Keep busy on your commute. If you take a train or bus to work, chances are that it doesn’t have wifi access. Gears allows you to read RSS feeds or work on information for your blog even without the Internet so you can make the most of all your idle time during your commute.
3. Catch up on the latest gossip. If you’re like millions of other people you love to read gossip sites like Perez Hilton and TMZ, and Gears let you get the latest on all the good dirt without even being connected to the net.
4. Check your Google Reader feeds. One of the first programs to work with Gears, Google Reader makes it easy to keep track of your RSS feeds whether you’re reading them at your desk at work or offline using the Gears program. Gears is designed to work seamlessly with Reader, streamlining your RSSing.
5. Write new content for your blog. Those using Blogger to host their blogs can integrate their sites into Gears as well, creating content offline that can be later uploaded when an Internet connection is established.
6. Create future blog updates. If you’ve got the time, you can write several updates for your blog and postdate them so they’ll be ready to post while you’re busy or on vacation, keeping your readers interested and making the most of your time.
7. Get the scores for the game. If you’ve got sports news as part of your RSS feed, you don’t need the Internet to read the latest news about your favorite teams with Gears.
8. Cache your blog. Those using WordPress can follow these instructions to create a backed up cache on their computer of their blog to make it easily accessible and browseable even without an Internet connection.
9. Track your Digg account. Whether you use Digg to promote your own site or to read the blogs of others, this tool will allow you to create backed up versions of the sites you Digg and keep track of your voting history in an easily searchable manner.
10. Sync your online and offline RSS reading. With Reader and Gears, articles you read offline will automatically be marked as read once you get back online so you won’t be alerted that there are new articles when they’re just the same ones that you already read offline.

Business Management

Manage your business no matter what your Internet situation is with these Gears ideas.

11. Keep track of expenses. With the combination of Gears and financial tracking program Buxfer, it’s easy to work on updating finances without any kind of Internet connection.
12. Manage a budget. Buxfer also has the capability to allow users to create and manage budgets so overspending can be curbed and your business can be happier and healthier financially.
13. Make sure you get paid. Paymo is a great time tracking tool that lets clients know just how much they owe you, and best of all, it works even offline through a partnership with Gears.
14. Create a spreadsheet. Need to track a business project, run some numbers or chart your finances? You can do it offline using Gears in combination with Google Documents.
15. Come up with the next big thing. Brainstorm using the combination of mind mapping software MindMeister with Gears so you can jot down your ideas no matter where you are.
16. Create diagrams. Gears is designed to work with online drawing tool Autodesk Labs Project Draw, which can allow you to draw and design all kinds of things to represent your business or create a killer class presentation.
17. Access frequent flyer numbers. Use Gears to access the online app PassPack and you’ll be able to get all of your personal stored information including account numbers for frequent flyer and rewards programs in case you ever need them when booking a flight or making a purchase.
18. Jot down ideas. It’s easy to type up your ideas and have them automatically made accessible via the Web when you use Gears with Zoho Writer, Google Documents or MindMeister.
19. Store account information. Need to know your credit card information, business account numbers, or any other sensitive kind of data both on different computers and on your own? PassPack and Gears can help, allowing you to store your information safely and securely.
20. Work on a presentation. If you’ve got to put together a little presentation for work, you can work on it using the presentation creator in Google Documents and simply upload it to the Web once you’re in a wifi friendly area again.
21. Sync business accounts. Buxfer, both online and offline using Gears, makes it easy to enter information for multiple business accounts and credit cards and keep it up to date.
22. Send reports to clients. Create reports that you can later send to your clients to ensure you get paid on time and to the dime using the program Paymo.
23. Draft an email. While Gmail isn’t yet integrated with Gears (though hopefully this is in the works) you can easily draft an email and cut and paste later by using Zoho Writer.
24. Send tasks to employees. Use Remember the Milk to create task lists for employees to keep them busy all day.

Enjoy the Net

Have fun on the Internet even when you’re not connected to it with these Gears uses.

25. Read messages from friends on MySpace. MySpace has created an offline version that works with Gears that allows users to read their archived messages while offline so keeping in touch is easier than ever.
26. Check out articles on Wikipedia. GreaseMonkey has teamed up with Gears to create a program called GearsMonkey. This allows users to archive just about any site they look at for later offline reference. So you can use a site like Wikipedia both online and off, making it doubly useful, though the script only saves pages you have visited.
27. Check out what friends are up to. Additional uses for GearsMonkey can include creating archives of pages like Facebook. You can read your friend’s Facebook updates, walls and more even when you’re not online.
28. Read old emails. Someone with a little Java knowledge could use GearsMonkey to back up their emails, allowing those using Gmail to access important emails even without an Internet connection.
29. Save pictures to look at later. Picasa, Google’s addition to the photo sharing sphere, allows users to work at sharing their photos not only when online but during the time they’re not connected to the Internet as well.
30. Illustrate anything. Use Project Draw to create simple illustrations that you can later add to your blog, send to friends or even set as your desktop background.
31. Share your ideas and thoughts. Create a mindmap using MindMeister, and later when you’re on the Web, you’ll be able to share them with coworkers or classmates.
32. Get photos over a mobile phone. Picasa also allows users to use Gears to access photo albums using their mobile phones as well, meaning they can share their photos on the go easily.
33. Create flyers. Put together a flyer for your yard sale or party to post or send to your friends using Project Draw.
34. Keep your private information safe. Buxfer stores information offline, keeping it safe from prying eyes, even when you’re using it online.
35. Reply to messages. Type up your replies to emails using Google Documents and mail them once you get back online.
36. Share stories, poems and more with friends. With offline access to programs like Zoho Writer and Documents, it’s easy to create documents when you’re offline that you can send and share with friends when you sync up with the Internet later.
37. Remember birthdays. Remember the Milk can help you remember more than the Milk, it can also help you remember your friends’ and family’s birthdays as well so you’ll have time to swing by to pick up a card and a gift.

Be Productive

Keep yourself productive even without an Internet connection with these Gears applications.

38. Create a to-do list. Give yourself a daily list of to-dos while you’re making your commute or eating your breakfast, whether you’re connected to the Internet or not using Remember the Milk in combination with Gears.
39. Keep track of shared expenses. Sharing expenses with a roomie or a friend? Keep track of who owes what with Buxfer and Gears.
40. Pay bills online. Set up payments on Buxfer when you’re working offline that will go through once you connect to the net: that way you’ll be caught up on payments whenever you have a free moment, not just when you have the Internet.
41. Do your homework. You’ve got no excuse not to write that paper for class with Gears. Even if you don’t have Word at your disposal, you can type up your work in Zoho Writer or Google Documents and make sure you have it anywhere you need it once you connect to the Internet.
42. Manage your passwords. Don’t spend time trying and failing to remember your passwords for every site, program and rewards program you use. Combine Gears with PassPack and store your passwords on your computer with ease.
43. Collaborate with others on ideas. Use MindMeister to create mindmaps that you can later share with your friends once you’ve hooked up with the Internet again.
44. Brainstorm. Get busy brainstorming new ideas with the mind mapping tool MindMesiter, so you’ll never miss a chance to connect and expand your thoughts.
45. Use Gears on the road. With the mobile capabilities of gears, you don’t even need a computer to access all kinds of programs offline. Just a mobile phone, the application and whatever time you have free to work or read.
46. Keep busy anywhere. Because you don’t need the Internet to use Web-based programs, Gears allows you to stay busy even when you’re not somewhere you can hook up to the Internet, and you won’t have to settle for using other programs you’re less familiar with or don’t use on a regular basis.
47. Edit writing. Use Google Documents or Zoho Writer with Gears to easily edit and share documents no matter where you are, allowing you to get work done any time.
48. Track your time. Make sure you’re tracking every minute you’re working, even if you don’t have a handy Internet connection with Paymo.
49. Plan out your day. Pair up the productivity capabilities of Remember the Milk with Gears to create plans for the whole day, week, month or year, save them and have access to them from anywhere whether you’re online or off.
50. Remind yourself or others to do chores. Use Remember the Milk through Gears to create to-do lists not only for yourself but for others as well. Once you’re online you’ll be able to send those lists right over when the program syncs.