There’s still no Firefox browser for the iPhone but the folks at Mozilla have made a handy app that allows you to sync your bookmarks, recent browsing history and open tabs from your desktop, right to your iPhone. It’s called Firefox Home and it’s a free download.
After you install it on your iPhone you’ll need to create a Firefox Sync account by installing the add-on for Firefox on your desktop. Once the sync is complete you’ll have quick access to tabs that you have open on your desktop, on your iPhone. You’ll also be able to view your recent browsing history and all of your bookmarks.
To see Firefox Home in action, watch the screencast below:
MobileRSS syncs with your Google Reader so you can keep up with all of your favorite blogs and websites at all times. There’s a free version and a pro for $2.99 (iTunes links) which I’ll show you in the screencast.
After you install it and sign in with your Google account it will automatically sync up. All of your folders, tags, shared and stared items will be in place along with people who you follow. MobileRSS works a lot like Google Reader and you can also share items via email, Twitter, Facebook, Instapaper, and more.
I installed both the free and paid-for versions and am happy with both. If you’re unsure about spending the money then install the free version, it works great and will give you a feel of what you get for your money.
To see MobileRSS in action, watch the screencast below:
I finally got my invite for Pinterest this week and I’ve been having so much fun exploring all of the beautiful pinboards that early users have created. It’s easy to create your own boards — when you come across something that strikes your fancy simply use the bookmarklet to “pin” it to your board.
If you find something you like on another person’s board (there is plenty to like) you can let them know by “liking” the item or “repinning” it to your own board.
I’m thinking Pinterest is going to be a great help for me in planning Molly’s upcoming bridal shower:)
I do have 10 invites — so let me know if you want one.
ZipList is a service that helps you quickly throw together your shopping list in a seriously organized manner. You can use it at home on your computer or on the go on your mobile phone.
You can create many lists and each item that you add will automatically be placed into the correct category of where you can find it in the store. For example, typing in “milk;cheese;bread;tomatoes” will result in 3 categories: dairy, bread, and produce. Each item will go into the correct category for you – preventing you from having to run back and forth around the store.
You can use the ZipList bookmarklet to easily add recipes to your recipebox and add items from that recipe to your list. You can also choose to send your shopping list to a mobile phone or email address.
To see how I used ZipList, watch the screencast below:
Remember the days of sending out real paper invitations to your friends and then waiting patiently by the phone for them to call with their response? OK, so some of you are probably too young to remember those days, which is unfortunate since it’s a much more personal way to introduce your event to your friends and family. Evitations are the norm these days and, sadly, the chance of actually receiving an invitation in the mail is very rare.
RSVPhere is a site that wants to blend the convenience of online party planning with the ever-so-rare paper invite.
All you need to do is create an RSVPhere account and add all of your event details. You can even ask questions of your guests that they’ll need to answer when responding – Things like, “What type of wine do you prefer” or, “Do you have any dietary restrictions” are extremely helpful when planning an event. After you’ve added all of your info you’ll create a code that guests will need to respond to your event online. This code, along with an event ID, will be printed on your paper invites that you send to your guests. Instead of sending out a response card (and hoping that nobody loses it or forgets to drop it in the mail) your guests can simply enter the code into the RSVPhere site and respond with a few clicks. They don’t need to sign up for anything and it just takes a minute. As the party planner, you also save some cash on stamps.
To see all of the great features of RSVPhere, watch the screencast below:
When I logged into Gmail this morning I finally saw what I really wanted to see yesterday afternoon – “Buzz”. It was right where everyone said it would be, under my inbox tab.
After spending a few hours poking around and (unsuccessfully) searching for some help topics on exactly who can see what, I think I finally got the gist of Google Buzz. Oh, and just in case you’re wondering, I like it. I like it a lot.
To learn how to get started using Google Buzz, watch the screencast below:
1DayLater is an application that allows you to track the hours you work on projects, the distance you drive everyday, money you spend on groceries, hours you put in at the gym, and anything else you can squeeze into a day.
Using 1DayLater is extremely easy – Enter in hours, mileage, or money spent and then a project/client name and description. A project/client name could be for anything you want to track, so if you’re tracking how much you spend at Whole Foods every week you would put “Whole Foods” into the project/client field. Lastly, add the date and click on “Go”. This activity will be placed into your activity stream for that day and the amount you entered will be added to any other day that you created an activity for that project.
You can view a graph that shows just what you’re spending your time on and export your data for further use. Future features include invoicing information and mileage calculation.
To see how 1DayLater can help you track your life, watch the screencast below:
TabJump is an extension for Google Chrome that helps you manage your tabs. After you install it you’ll see all of your most used tabs that are open, related tabs, and recently closed tabs. You can also lock tabs – but since you can find recently closed tabs, this feature doesn’t seem all that necessary. It’s a really handy extension that doesn’t take up a lot of browser real estate, much like most Google Chrome Extensions.
To see what TabJump can do, watch the screencast below:
First of all, let me say that I will try to make this my last post (for a while) about anything wedding related. It just so happens that I received a note from the founders of MyWeddingBinder yesterday and after using it a bit today, I really feel that it is a very useful tool. Since I spent so much time testing it out I figured it would be worth my time to go the extra mile and share my experience with you.
Disclosure: I am currently planning a wedding so please excuse me if I get over excited. I can’t help it.
MyWeddingBinder gives you a space to plan and organize the details of your wedding. Everything from your guest list, to your vendors, to the seating chart, to your budget – it’s all there to help you keep track of the madness that lasts just one day.
Now I know that there are a lot of sites out there that can be used to help you plan your wedding. The problem with most of these sites, however, is that they do not focus just on your wedding day – they focus on shoving ads down your throat (a bit extreme, but it’s pretty much true) for things like dresses and floral arrangements that most people can’t even afford. What I’ve found (and believe me, I have looked and looked) is that most wedding planning sites put your actual wedding planning in the background and pictures of extravagant ceremonies and merchandise in the foreground. And that’s why they’re free. So fine.
MyWeddingBinder is not free. In fact you can’t even set up a free trial account to test it out. There’s a fee of $29.95 to create your account, but once you’ve paid you have an ad-free, clean and organized space to plan out your special, and costly, day. At first I was a bit turned off by the fact that I couldn’t test the site out before handing over my credit card but then, after they were kind enough to let me use a test account for free, I realized that this is something that’s worth paying for. I’m not sure if it’s worth $29.95 yet, but it definitely made an impact. I think some additional features are needed to warrant the price tag. This is my wish list:
I want a way to customize the table set-up. As it is now there are only round tables available to create your seating chart.
Adding guests is a pain. You have to add them one at a time, click on “save”, and then click on “add guests” again. Maybe add an “Import your address book” feature.
How about a blog to keep your guests up to date on wedding day details?
A section to upload your inspiration photos
If you want to see all of what MyWeddingBinder can do, watch the screencast below:
Thinkmeter gives you a way to quickly get opinions and advice from friends, family and co-workers. You can ask for opinions on anything from what color to paint your kitchen to what to buy your Mom for her birthday – and you don’t even need to sign up to use it. If you do sign up you’ll be able to track responses and comments left by the people included in your decision campaign.
To see Thinkmeter in action, check out the screencast below:
