Create a Custom Homepage in Seconds with ShinySearch

07Dec09

ShinySearch allows you to create a customized homepage with almost zero effort.  It comes loaded with links to most email services, social networking sites, news sites and popular Web destinations.

All you need to do is go to ShinySearch.com and select a theme and give it a name.   There’s no sign up and no need to enter in links to all of your favorite sites.

ShinySearch does have quite a few themes to choose from, but I want to note that I use the term “customized” loosely.  It appears that the only thing you can customize is the theme – which isn’t necessarily bad because it seems to have links to most sites that I visit regularly.  With that said, I would like to see the ability to remove sites that I don’t use and add ones that aren’t listed so that it is truly customized to my needs.

To see ShinySearch in action, watch the screencast below:


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Never Lose a Note Again with Scribbly

07Dec09

Scribbly is an application that runs on Adobe Air which allows you to quickly take notes and then email them to yourself with one click.  Its feature set still leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s still a useful little tool and worth a look.

After you install it you just need to click on the icon located in your system tray and add your email address to the settings so Scribbly will know where to send your notes.  You can jot down notes, copy and past links and even quickly add a time-stamp by clicking on the clock icon.  That’s really about it.  I do have my own requests for features, of course:

  • - The ability to add multiple email addresses so I can send my shopping list to my boyfriend fiance :) .
  • - A button so that I can clear the list – right now it seems that I have to delete items myself.
  • - More control over how Scribbly behaves.  I’d like the option to have it go away after inactivity instead of having to hit the Esc key.

To see Scribbly in action, watch the screencast below:

[via Digital Inspiration]


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Rootein Helps you Establish and Track Healthy Habits

04Dec09

With the New Year quickly approaching (less than a month away!!) I decided it would be a good time to find a new tool for establishing healthy habits – out with the bad and in with the good!  That takes us to Rootein (pronounced “routine”), a service that allows you to create and track tasks, or Rooteins.  The premise behind Rootein is that it takes 21 days for something to become a habit so, hopefully, after using Rootein for about a month you’ll begin to effortlessly perform these tasks, thus forming a healthy habit.

After you sign up for a free account you just need to enter in a Rootein – anything from running 2 miles every day to remembering to call your mom.

You can create as many Rooteins as you’d like and then simply select the one that you’ve done and mark the date on the calendar.  Every time you perform one of your Rooteins just check in and then continue on with your day.  You can create reminders so that you never forget to, say, water your plants.

To see Rootein in action, watch the screencast below:


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Pingg.com Launches eCards for Business Just in Time for the Holidays

12Nov09

If you’d like to send holiday cards to your clients but don’t have the time or the money to buy, customize, and mail out plain old greeting cards, then eCards for Business may be just what you (and the happy little trees!) have been looking for.

 

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Pingg.com, an online invitation and party planning service, is behind eCards for business and they were nice enough to set us up with our own account to try out the new service.

In short, eCards for business allow you to create eCards that are branded with your company logo, which you can provide to your employees to send out to their clients.  The eCards can be viewed on a Webpage with a custom URL, via email, text message, and/or you can opt to have pingg print out and mail the cards to your chosen recipients.

A really great feature of eCards for business is a customized Splash Page that pingg will create for you.  You can add a logo, choose specific card designs that you want your employees to use, and add notes.  After your Splash Page has been created you’ll just need to point your employees to the URL and they can simply click on a link to create eCards for their clients with your companies branding and specific designs.  You can also encourage your employees to use your company eCards to send their family members holiday greetings.  Your eCard Website is also completely ad-free. (In my screencast I don’t make this point clear – note that if you sign up for eCards for business, there is no additional charge for removing ads). You can find pricing information and learn more about how pingg will create your customized Splash Page here.

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To learn more about eCards for business and see it in action, check out the screencast below (best viewed in HD in full screen):


Filed under: Tools, design, email, events, screencast, task management   |  3 Comments
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My Take on the New Twitter Retweet Button (Screencast)

11Nov09

(Update: As of now, I no longer have the new Retweet function. Hopefully when it comes back it won’t render my screencast completely useless…)

Over the past few days Twitter has been rolling out the new Retweet functionality and I was finally graced with the controversial feature last night.  My first take?  I don’t get it.  But after spending some time reading about it and clicking various links in my Twitter account, I think I figured it out.  Of course, when something takes me a bit of time to understand I immediately realize that there are probably more people like me out there…and that makes it screencast material.

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When you opt to click on “Retweet”, the next step is to just select “yes” and that tweet will be forwarded to your followers.  I say forwarded because it will take the original users tweet, with their twitter icon and all, and place it in your followers Twitter streams.  You’ll be given credit underneath the tweet, but the person who originated the text will get the credit.  There’s no more need to alter the original text so that you can fit in, “RT @molzy RT @maureenmcd,” and the content will be delivered to your followers as it was meant to be seen, by the original author.  If someone you follow tends to Retweet nonsense that you have no interest in then you can simply visit their profile page and opt out of receiving their Retweets.

I’ve noticed a lot of grumbling about the new Retweet feature and frankly, I don’t see why.  You can still Retweet the old way (RT @someone RT @anotherperson RT @thisisgettingconfusing) and you won’t be punished for it.  Personally I don’t see why adding unnecessary text to another persons tweet is beneficial.  If you didn’t originally write the text, but you think it  would be useful to your followers, why not just forward the authors work and be done with it?

If you’re still on the fence about the new feature, or if you simply don’t get it, then check out the screencast below to see my take on the new Twitter Retweet (best viewed in HD in full screen):


Filed under: Tools, screencast, social networking, twitter   |  2 Comments
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Kikin Adds More Personality to Your Search

10Nov09

Kikin is an add-on that puts relevant search results for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, eBay, and iTunes above your regular search results from sites like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.  It works with Firefox, IE, and Safari.

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After you install it just perform your searches like you normally would.  Kikin will appear on the results page at the top, and there will be tabs for each service (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc) with relevant search results. If you connect your Twitter account you’ll also see all relevant tweets or just tweets from people you follow.  You can also reply and send out tweets right from the results page.

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If you’re viewing the YouTube tab, you can watch the videos without leaving the page.  If kikin gets in your way, you can easily minimize it.  To see kikin in action, check out the screencast below (best viewed in HD in full screen):

 


Filed under: Firefox, Google, YouTube, eBay, facebook, search, twitter   |  Leave a Comment
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Duffel is a Wish List for Trip Planning

05Nov09

Duffel is a trip planning tool that allows you to clip and save ideas and links for places you are planning on visiting or for a vacation that you dream of someday taking.

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Creating a Duffel is simple:   Select the location of where you want to go, give your trip a name such as, “When I win the lottery,” and then choose to make it private or public.  Your Duffel will then be created and open preloaded with suggestions of where to stay, sightseeing attractions, and notes that can be edited.

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If you added dates to your Duffel (you don’t have to add dates, which is helpful since most of my trips are wishful thinking) then you can drag and drop notes and activities under each day that you’ll be in a location to create an itinerary.  You can also invite friends to join you on Duffel and allow them to collaborate with you.  You can add other Duffel users as contacts so that in the future you can easily invite them to collaborate on a trip.

Probably the most useful aspect of Duffel is the bookmarklet.  It allows you to add any Web page that you’re viewing to a Duffel and add notes, phone numbers, and addresses.  So if I find myself on a Website for a luxurious hotel in Paris, I can simply click on “Add to Duffel” and add it to my “When Pigs Fly” trip.  To see Duffel in action, check out the screencast below (best viewed in HD in full screen):


Filed under: Tools, bookmarking, collaboration, events, organization, screencast, social networking   |  1 Comment
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Stereo8 – Internet Radio Powered by the Users

03Nov09

Stereo8 is an Internet radio station that puts the users in charge of the music.  It’s completely free to use and there’s no sign up needed in order to listen to music – only if you wish to add your own and vote for songs.

stereo8_logo

There are currently 5 stations available:  Hip hop/Rap, Pop/Hits, Video Games, Dance/Electronic, and Rock/Alternative.  Just choose the station you want to tune into and then vote on the songs that you think should be played next.  The more votes a song gets, the better chance it will have of being sent up to “upcoming” songs, which will guarantee that it plays (I think).

You can add your own music to Stereo8 and it will remain there until it’s played or for 48 hours, whichever happens first.

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I really like the clean, no-nonsense approach of Stereo8.  As of now there doesn’t seem to be a way to create a personalized profile and add friends – and that’s what I like.  It’s just a place to listen to Internet radio and occasionally vote on what you want to hear.  It allows you to discover new music and share what you love. Check out the screencast below to see Stereo8 in action:


Filed under: cool, music, radio, screencast   |  2 Comments
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How-to: Use Twitter Lists

30Oct09

Last night I was pleasantly surprised to see that I finally had Twitter Lists enabled in my Twitter account. Of course, 5 minutes later I realized that Twitter had opened up Lists to everyone and I was quickly reminded that I’m really not all that special.

If you haven’t given Twitter Lists a try, this screencast should give you a quick overview of what they’re all about and how to use them properly. On an unrelated note, Happy Halloween!


Filed under: organization, screencast, social networking, twitter   |  6 Comments
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It’s New to Me: Free Diet Management Tools at SparkPeople

22Oct09

I’d like to get rid of an extra five pounds that have been stalking me lately so I went in search of some free help.  My search led me to SparkPeople — a diet-management site that has apparently been around for a while.

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The first thing I noticed when I went to the site was the word “free” — not just a  trial and I didn’t have to enter my credit card information anywhere.  After entering a few tidbits about my weight and goals I was welcomed into a community  of people who are trying to do the same thing as me.

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There are loads of tools that help you track what you are eating and what your caloric and fitness goals should be.  You can contact other SparkPeople members through SparkMail, or set up appointments with their calendar. SparkPeople also offers various teams and message boards to help you stay motivated, and you can set up a blog to write about your progress.

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I apologize if all this is old news to you… but for those of you who haven’t seen SparkPeople yet, check out the screencast below:


Filed under: Nutrition, Tools, screencast   |  5 Comments
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