Justin Roselt - Media and Design » Applications

Aviary, Creation on the Fly

JR — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:06:49 +0000

The thing I like most about it though is its integration into Firefox with a handy addon that lets you capture a selection or an entire web page and save to your desktop (or place of your choice) with just a couple clicks. You can just as easily open it within the Aviary online service, edit and save from there.

A little while ago I mentioned how much I loved the Page Capture widget, well Aviery can be used on both Mac and PC platforms and has a few more extras bundled in.

www.aviary.com

iPhone OS 3.0, Design and UI

JR — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:09:18 +0000

Apple has published a well documented list of some of the more popular updates and there are suppose to be over 100 of them. We’re not going to list them all here but the Cocoia Blog has covered them quite nicely.

No need to recreate the wheel!
Visit the Cocoia Blog for more details

Flock to the rescue

JR — Thu, 28 May 2009 02:22:08 +0000

At first I put it down to my Internet connection speed but then I started using Safari instead for a few weeks. There was a noticeable increase in browsing speeds and render times of websites I was visiting. It was a big change going to Safari from Firefox as there are no where near the amount of plugins available as there are for Firefox. Though personally I think it is a much nicer browser to use.

This changed again today when browsing my RSS feeds for the week I randomly came across an update to the Flock browser (powered by Mozilla Firefox). Now I had used this many years ago and at the time did not think much of it. Well a lot has changed over at planet Flock and the browser is now well advanced and contains many included addons and social networking abilities. Its load times seem to exceed Safari and its rendering of websites is very similar to Safari. It has now replaced both Safari and Firefox on my PC!

Page Capture Widget

JR — Wed, 13 May 2009 01:19:58 +0000

A simple to use screen capture widget that requires only the URL of the page you want to take a grab of. While on the PC I use the an addon for Firefox to take complete grabs of websites, however I have been looking for one to use on the Mac for a little while now and this takes the cake.

Some features from the website:

Captures entire web pages no matter how long they may scroll for.
Easy to use: type or paste a URL – hit Return or click the logo.
Uses Safari’s powerful and fast WebKit rendering engine.
Check for new versions by clicking the version displayed on the back.
Automatically resize the image (default is 50%).
Free!

Available form Apples Dashboard Widgets downloads page.

Design Credit

TweetDeck

JR — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 08:19:56 +0000

For me, this changed today when I stumbled upon TweetDeck. Utilising Adobe Air, it is a nice way to manage your Twitter service and comes with many integrate features. Looks the same in either Windows or Mac (thanks to Adobe) and is easy to navigate and use overall.

It also comes with Facebook integration. Still in Beta phase but really does not matter, it’s another top app.

TweetDeck website

Happy Easter!

DeskLickr: My new favorite app!

JR — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:04:36 +0000

So you all know I am addicted to Flickr… Well something else you may not know is I never understood why people get all caught up on the image they have on their desktop. When do you ever see it! For the most part I have always just had a boring color as the background on both the PC and Mac. Well that changed today when I discovered my new favorite application DeskLickr.

The app randomly rotates your desktop from a selection of Flickr groups or image sets of your choice. The thing I like most about it is it’s an easy way to discover new photos and inspiration, and you don’t have to do anything. I think it’s pretty cool!

Cooliris: Cool image browsing

JR — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 10:52:58 +0000

If you mix some RSS ideas with a nice interface and fluid interaction, you end up with Cooliris. Think of it as ‘RSS by pictures’. That’s pretty much how I got to know it. Really, it’s much more than that, particularly if you a fan of Flickr and enjoy getting your daily dose of feeds (RSS or other).

My first exposure to this was on the iPhone via the Cooliris for iPhone app. I must admit, I was a little lost as to its use and how to make the most of it. However it was not long after installing the Cooliris application on the PC that I began to see its power.

The key here is in two things:

How you navigate Cooliris, and
How you can use it from within your browser.

Imagine being able to browse all your Flickr favorites in the one window, or stumbling upon a website of photos and not having to click on every photo to browse them all. You can view them all in the same window, backwards and forwards and with one click view the image within the website it is stored on.

Now I could really go on for pages about this app but I think its best if you just try it and find out for yourself. So move on over to the Cooliris website and have some fun!

Remember The Milk now available on the App Store

JR — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:31:59 +0000

Easily accessible via a Firefox Greasemonkey script, RTM is more readily accessible via Gmail and now a part of my every day personal and professional ‘Getting To Done’ activities. I love this app and yes of course, I paid the little extra for the Pro access.

Favorite iPhone apps

JR — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 02:07:50 +0000

So after playing around with the new 3G iPhone now for a few months I thought I would put together a list of my favorite apps and some footnotes to my previous iPhone entry (how the iPhone changed the world).

Firstly, a few criticisms

Not being a phone for everyone, there are a few things the iPhone cannot do which we would all be accustom to in our everyday handsets.

You cannot forward SMS messages. Not a big issue but one just the same.
Cannot send and receive MMS messages.
Cannot connect to computers via Bluetooth (other options available though)
Cannot use phone as modem.

It is worth saying though, in my opinion the pro’s far out weigh these cons. Plus there are also some sexy accessories available.

Now onto the applications.
Unless you want to jailbreak your handset, you are limited to installing applications via iTunes. Personally I do not see this as as issue at this point and there are some great applications available from the iTunes Store. Here are some that I have installed and have lasted the last few months on my iPhone and use regularly – and they’re all free!

Sodasnap: Send postcards from handset vie email.
21 Pro: Addictive Blackjack game.
Palringo: IM client.
Google Mobile App: Google apps and more.
To Do’s: To do list organiser.
GPS Tracker: Exactly that, just for the hell of it.
Speedbox: Uses GPS to estimate travel speed.
Currency: Currency converter.
MiGhtyDocs: Downloads your Google docs.
ZIPcodes: Directory of ZIP codes.
Spend Lite: Tracks spending and can email report in CSV format.
3in1 Mortgage Calc: Estimates mortgage repayments.
Digital Clock: Digital clock, surprise!
Speedtest: Measures bandwidth speed.
AirSharing: Transfer files between computers and iPhone (very handy!).
reMovem: Addictive bubble game.
Flickup: Send your pics to Flickr.
Bloomberg: Financial analysis and stock information.

The final word

If you’re after a phone/device just to make phone calls, the iPhone is not for you. If (like me) you lead an ‘always online’ life and want an all-in-one device (and are a Mac fan) then the iPhone is definitely for you. It is certainly different to the devices of old we are all used to but its ease of use and overall functionality make it a device to take us into the future of IP telecommunications.

Gallery round up

JR — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 05:22:19 +0000

At an ever increasing rate the big cloudy world on The Internet is becoming welcomed by both older and inexperienced users who want to share their beautiful images with the world. Well there is plenty of ways to publish your photos online, here is a summary of my suggestions.

So, Which one’s right for you?

Flickr

Straight off the bat, this is without question the best and most popular social photo sharing method on the Net today. Only takes a minute to register and is available as a free registration or for a small price you get a whole lot more. Create groups, comment on other peoples and friends photos, make notes, add photos to your favorites and even create your own public or private albums.
www.flickr.com

Picasa Web Albums

Google’s answer to Flickr, search and become part of online communities. It is a little less social then flickr but very Google.
www.picasaweb.google.com

4images

An old favourite, I used this for many years before moving to Flickr. 4Images is a terrific gallery but you need to do one thing, provide your own database. So you will need a hosting account. Once setup visitors can register, upload their own photos and comment on pictures. I love this app!
www.4homepages.de

Zenphoto

A nice PHP script with an easy to use and manage gallery setup. Easily inserted into an existing website or page. Also requires access to a database so a hosting account is also required. I love the back end to this, it is easy to use and simpe to upload and manage photos.
www.zenphoto.org

Minishowcase

Powered by AJAX, minishowcase is a small and simple php/javascript online photo gallery. Simple to setup and looks nice too. Is in my opinion, more of a image management tool than a way of showing off photos. Definitely worth a look though!
www.minishowcase.frwrd.net

Imagevuex

Now this is just damn sexy! If you want a flashy way to display galleries than this is the way to go. A great back end and a very sexy interface. Along with more customisation options than you could ever think of. I have used this many times and absolutely love it! The great thing is, no database needed.
www.imagevuex.com

PhotoStack

Another easy to use image organization system featuring nested albums, template driven layout, smart caching, automatic thumbnail creation, RSS feeds, picture level EXIF date extraction, and picture level descriptions, all without the need for a database. Plus it’s free!
http://photostack.org

Slideshow Pro

I have used this for clients websites on a few occasions. It provides a simple to use and navigate Flash image gallery that can be inserted into pretty much any page or website. A simple to use back end setup and yes, this one requires a database. View a sample of its use at Stuart Hale’s website. Small fee for a nice gallery management system!
www.slideshowpro.net

Simpleviewer

This is great! No need for a database and comes with a heap of features and it’s free! I have used this plenty of times and it is now used for most galleries for another project of mine, My Event Photos.
www.airtightinteractive.com

iPap

This is where my interest in having an online image gallery all started. You need a database and only a little bit of time to get it configured how you want. You can bulk upload images and tweak the layout to just how you want it. This is also used at My Event Photos. A terrific PHP–based application from Rebel Pixel Productions.
www.rebelpixel.com/projects