Justin Roselt - Media and Design » Tools

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

Get Dropbox

JR — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:56:15 +0000

Well this changed recently when I started using Dropbox again. I had forgotten how simple and effective it is to use. Making syncing files between the Mac and PC very easy and painless. More effective then using the iPhone, making it one of my used daily apps.

Pricing goes as high as US$20 per month for 100GB but for your average user, the free Basic account with 2GB of storage would be more than enough.

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

My Memova, Free iPhone contact sync and backup

JR — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:56:42 +0000

Continuing on from the iPhone entries of late, Memova have release a handy contacts syncing and backup service – my.memova. It does not have as much packed into it as MobileMe but considering you may only want to back up your contacts on the Internet cloud and it is also free, I would say it’s a pretty good option.

There is an iPhone application to make the process simple and the interface on the web app is relatively pretty. Powered by phpBB, it is relatively similar to other web based contact syncing apps out there.

If you’re wanting something else other than a backup of your contacts on your PC or Mac and you’re using an iPhone, this one gets the thumbs up!

Take a look

One way ticket to Google

JR — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:13:16 +0000

So Google have just released the Google petrol price tracker, What a great idea! Not only did they design something we can all use on a daily basis but they did it first. There are more in the wind but still in development, this is the first and so easy to use. Being first on the market is essential in a product or service’s success. We’ve seen it before and have seen it again this week with the release of the Android Phone. An open relationship between Google and their partners. Will it come close to competing with the ‘first to market’ iPhone? Time will tell.

It was this that brought me to notice how much my online daily activities evolve around Google and their products. I spend about 10 hours a day online and outside the daily online duties it is predominantly spent using something designed by Google through the browser or its integration into Firefox.

What are they?

Google Apps account for my email, docs and calendar.
Google Reader for my RSS feeds.
Google Finance for all my market updates, and
iGoogle for combining them all in the one window.

It does not stop there at the computer either, the iPhone’s most used browser app is Google Apps and Google for the iPhone. read more on the iPhone setup here.

So what’s it all mean? Has Google entrenched themselves that deeply into our daily routine without us noticing that they are about to take over the world and buy out Microsoft next? Hardly! But who knows… What we do know is ‘they’re all over it!’. When somebody builds up enough market share and confidence, you listen and take note when they release something new and in some little way, take warning. As we have learnt from Google in the past, there may very well be bigger and better things around the corner. As usual, I am looking forward to their next big thing. If only I had some of their shares… “Now, where’s that Google Finance page?”.

Xoopit transforms your Gmail inbox

JR — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:20:22 +0000

Every now and then you come across an app, tool or something that enhances your day to day online life. This has certainly been the case this week when I discovered Xoopit.

Firefox extension Xoopit turns Gmail into a robust, searchable media management tool for every piece of media that comes through your inbox. By indexing every attachment as well as every link to photos and videos from sites like Flickr, Picasa, and YouTube, Xoopit allows you to easily search for and find any picture or video and view it from directly inside Gmail.

Discovered via Lifehacker

Tools of the trade

JR — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 04:42:37 +0000

Here’s a summary of what I use to manage all aspects of my online day to day life, personally and professionally.

CRM & Invoicing

Freshbooks: Can’t go pass this for simplicity and overall usability. Freshbooks encompasses everything the professional freelancer needs to manage customer information, invoicing, time tracking, estimates and even online payments. It comes with a free version but it did not take long for me to sign up for the minimum paid monthly access. In the past I had tried Blinksale but found it a bit rigid with its customisation and email formatting.
www.freshbooks.com

Blogging

Wordpress: Commonly used now for clients websites, it is the most popular Blogging and CMS app currently available for free. Movable Type comes a close second but it is Wordpress’ easy to use interface and customisation abilities that get this one over the line. A minute to install and setup and hundres of templates for inspiration. This Blog is powered by Wordpress.
www.wordpress.org

GTD

Remember The Milk: keeping the To Do list managable, this now easily integrates into Gmail with a Firefox extension. Work it!
www.rememberthemilk.com

Basecamp: A great online app for managing projects and team collaboration. Helps me stay on top of my work and tasks.
www.basecamphq.com

Google Calendar: I could not function without this! Goosync helps with those that don’t have a web compatible device and if you like you can publish your availablity via your Blog. I use it to assist with the To Do items and managing five calendars.
www.google.com/calendar

Email (and everything else)

Google Apps: Late last year I decided to move everything over to Google Apps. Mainly because I had a greater need for improved email management (including larger storage capacity) and a one stop location for all my online docs and calendar management. After trying Google Apps I don’t know how I got by before! Do yourself a favor, give it a go.
www.google.com/a/

Statistics

Google Analytics: I now use this for all my personal projects and find it incredibly powerful and dynamic. There really is not much more to say as it speaks for itself and if you need to know more than you probably not using it. I would have to as why not?
www.google.com/analytics/

StatCounter: For client statistics, emailed directly to them weekly or monthly. Data is exportable and access comes for free!
www.statcounter.com

Mint: Comes at a cost but is another highly rated stats and analytical tool. I personally use this with Do Not Bend and was initially comparing it to Google Analytics. It’s functionality and widget for the Mac is what got it over the line.
www.haveamint.com

RSS

Google Reader (RSS): There are plenty of RSS Readers out there but personally, I cannot live without Google Reader. Mainly because I spend a lot of time on three laptops at different locations. You can now store offline as well!
www.google.com/reader/

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