www.rickbjarnason.com » Applications

A couple of minutes with Google Plus

Rick — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 23:57:07 +0000

I have just started playing with Google plus, and I have to say the user interface is absolutely outstanding. Most people will not even notice this, which is kind of the point. You know you have a nice user interface when people don’t even notice it, because everything is so intuitive.

But what about the actual application?

Good question. What does google plus do that nobody else does? Well not much really, but it does have one killer feature that others may be missing. It gives you more control over the content you publish than any other platforms. In Facebook if you publish something it is not necessarily available to all your users but.. it is much harder to control who sees what. This comes back to the comment I made about the user interface.

Interaction

I am not sure if it is because it is shiny and new, but the interaction that I have seen on Google plus is amazing. At least, compared to all the other social media sites that I am part of. Admittedly, I am not a social media guru with a ton of friends and followers,(if you want to find me on Google plus, the link is here) but it certainly seems like people are interacting on Google Plus an awful lot.

Facebook killer?

Honestly, I have no idea, but it is certainly is very good, maybe even great. If I was forced to make a decision, I would have to say that this is not going to cause Facebook too much grief right now, at least if they are smart and “copy” some of the great ideas that the Google plus team has done, but if they rest on their laurels this is going to be a game changer. What are your thoughts?

Sharing files across computers

Rick — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:20:17 +0000

I have quite a few computers. 7 at last count, so sharing files is a big concern of mine. At my home office I have a pretty good network so sharing files there is really no big deal, but when I am not at home, things get a bit more tricky.

So, all I can say is thank god for Dropbox (this is not an affiliate link, but it will get me and you 250MB more of free storage). If you are not familiar with Dropbox and you have the need to share files across computers then you should definitely look into it. I actually think for the technically challenged that it is a lot easier to set up then a home network.

“Dropbox is software that syncs your files online and across your computers.”

Dropbox

Sounds cool doesn’t it?

It is and couldn’t be easier to set up either. Head on over to their website, and sign up for a free account. Choose your platform and just follow the install wizard. Dropbox will now show up as another folder on your computer, simply download and install on as many computers as you want to share with. That’s it.

Honestly, if you are just sharing regular files ( word docs etc..) the 2GB would be more than enough, but if you want a safe place to store and share pictures or videos you might want to look into one of their paid plans. Or get a lot of friends to sign up, for every friend that signs up Dropbox will give you and additional 250mb of storage, maxing out at 8GB.

I know there are other storage and sharing solutions out there, but this is the one I use. What do you use?

Seven Mac app’s built for speed

Rick — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:44:40 +0000

I am a Mac fanboy and proud of it, there equipment is made to last but even more important to me the community of outstanding application developers. This is a list of App’s that I use each and every day that speed up my productivity:

TextExpander

“TextExpander saves you countless keystrokes with customized abbreviations for your frequently-used text strings and images.”

I think the description really says it all, but if you are not familiar with TextExpander you really should look into it. Basically, here is the gist, we spend a lot of time each day typing the same thing over and over (think addresses, or simply email responses). With TextExpander instead of typing the whole block of text you instead save it as a TextExpander “snippet” with a shortcode to activate it. Now when you need that block of text you type the shortcode and voila your block of text appears.

Price: $34.95 – 90 day Money Back Guarantee

Snippets

Snippets is one of those apps, that I was not sure on. I already use TextExpander and Coda, which already has built in Clips. But, I decided to start using it, and was sold within 2 hours. It fits my work style perfectly.

Price: $39.95 – Free 30 day trial

Notify

I deal with a lot of emails in a day, they can be a huge distraction when I am working, but I do not have the luxury of simply ignoring them. So, I needed another solution, Notify fits that solution like a glove for me. Notify is a menubar application, it sits up there un-noticed until I get an email. Then it does two things, one it notifies me by a little pinging noise ( which is customizable of course) and second it sends me a growl notification of the email. Now I simply look at the growl and if it is something I can ignore.. I do.

Price: $9

Alfred

I am a relatively new user of Alfred, but I honestly don’t know how I worked without it before. Alfred is an application launcher (to the haters, yes I know you can do this from spotlight). If you don’t know what an application launcher is , it is an application that allows you to launch other apps quickly and only using the keyboard.

Price: Free

Dropbox

I really don’t know how I worked so long without Dropbox. I guess technically if you are always working alone and from the same computer than you wouldn’t need to share files. But, even then Dropbox is a great cloud storage.

Price: Free

Skitch

Skitch is the app I use to take screenshots (pictures of my computer screen). I admittedly don’t use all the fancy features it has, I keep meaning to, but I find even as a standalone screenshot application it is top notch.

Price: Free

Coda with Zen Coding

I love Coda! But, Coda with Zen Coding is UNBELIEVABLE. Zen Coding is a plugin for Coda that allows me to write code by CSS selectors so:
h1#logo>a
becomes

less keystrokes = faster coding

Net.tutsplus.com has a great screencast on it here

Price: Free

Summary

So this is what I use to make my life faster, what do you use?

Top Wire-framing apps

Rick — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:13:37 +0000

When I am building a website wire-framing is an important part of the design process and leads directly into the IA (information architecture). I know not every developer works this way, but this is what works for me and allows me to build the best possible website for my clients.

I used to do wire-framing in Photoshop, and until recently I did not see a large need to have a stand alone application for this, but since my Web design company recently expanded, I have found a need to be able to do this in the cloud while collaborating with a co-worker.

So since I have had limited experience with wire-framing apps, I began my search. There were a few thing that I was looking for specifically, first I wanted to find the best value for the money, second it absolutely had to have a cloud based platform. That’s it.

Axure

Click for Video

My search began at Axure, mostly because my co-workers have used it and loved it. I have to say they have an impressive list of features

Use features like built-in widgets, shapes, and annotations to quickly create gray scale, annotated wireframes for evaluating concepts early in the process. Add color, images, and a wide range of interactions to your design from basic linking to expanding and collapsing content and conditional flow for client presentations and usability testing. Generate a detailed specification of your design with screenshots, interactions and annotations for approval or hand off to development. Axure RP can support you and your team throughout the various stages of the design process.

Axure.com

Pros

Super fast with drag and drop components
With the newly release Mac version it is now cross platform
Pretty much any interaction you can think of
Exports in multiple versions including HTML.
Collaboration
Amazing customer service and a really active community

Cons

Price – this is a serious application but it comes with a pretty hefty price tag

Price: $589/license

Hotgloo

Hotgloo is a relatively new entry in this field having come out of beta back in February 2010. I think they have a really nice interface that is a breeze to pick up

Pros

Super fast with drag and drop components
Custom components- works real nice for include like features, think header, footer etc..
Layering
Online Collaboration and Real-time chat (sweet!)
Overlaid Graph and 960 grids are provided for layout
Some interactions can be added to mouse click and initialization for firing events like showing message, changing visibility of components.

Cons

Limited number of components
Processes can get pretty complex
No traditional sitemap view
A touch pricey at $14/month

Price: $14/month

Mockflow

Mockflow markets themselves as “super-easy Wireframing” and from what I have seen that is definitely the case

Pros

Super fast with drag and drop components
Real-Time Design Collaboration with Team Chat
Layering
Overlaid Graph and 960 grids are provided for layout
Versioning
Price – at just under $5/month the clear winner
Mockstore- where user can share there custom built components with others

Cons

There is no navigation built from lists

Price: $59/year

Pidoco

Another cloud based app is German engineered Pidoco

A GUI Design Software for clickable Wireframes!
Fast and easy like Rapid Paper Prototyping, but completely web-based and with many more features!

Pros

Super fast with drag and drop components
Real-Time Design Collaboration with Team Chat
Layering
Fully interactive and clickable Wireframes
Versioning

Cons

Price at $29/month
Fairly steep learning curve

Price: $29/month

Flair Builder

This is another app that I stumble upon, it is built in Adobe Air so it doesn’t quite fit my model of a web based app, but I found it interesting enough to include.

Sharing is unique with this app, because there are really two option. You can email the saved file to the client and tell them to open it using the Flairbuilder online viewer or alternately you can upload it to your own server where it is available via the Flash player. I personally like the branding opportunities this provides.

A cross-platform prototyping tool that helps you create interactive wireframes & prototypes faster, easier and with better results.
We put a strong emphase in interactivity as this is the best way to show your clients something closer to the real product.

Pros

Super fast with drag and drop components
Show and hide elements
Build working tabs
Fully interactive and clickable Wireframes
Insert usable accordions/li>

Cons

Slows down with large wireframes
Is Flash based

Price: $99/year

Summary

To be honest this is just a drop in the bucket when it comes to these types of apps, these are the ones that I thought were the best at this stage in the race. There are loads of other ones out there and I highly encourage you to look at them all before you make any type of decision.
Here are a few resources:

So which one did I decide to go with? Well for once I don’t have an exact answer, I am fairly happy with Mockflow and Hotgloo at this point but I will probably upgrade to Axure before the year is out.

Gravity Forms for WordPress

Rick — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:07:24 +0000

As a web developer we all end up working on one type of project more than other, whether it is PSD slicing or application building. I have found myself doing more and more WordPress work these days, so I have done everything that I can to streamline the process.

If there is one common denominator about all websites is that they pretty much all contain some kind of form. Up until recently I have used cForms for pretty much every site that I have built, it seems to work fairly ok, but I have been finding that I am needing something a little more robust. That’s where Gravity Forms comes in.

Gravity Forms is a premium plugin (meaning that you will have to pay for it), it is very well coded and the interface is very intuitive. But, with cForms being free, do you really need the extra oomph that Gravity provides? This video does a better job of showing you the power of Gravity Forms than I can:

That all depends on your needs I guess, if you are like me and work with a lot of clients being able to deliver to them a product that they can just use and not need me holding their hands is a huge bonus. But, if you are a casual blogger that just wants to have a simple contact form on their blog then the $39 would seem a bit steep.

I guess you will have to make that decision, but my personal recommendation is that once you have the ability to create forms whenever you want, than you will find so many uses for them that you will wonder how you possibly lived without them before.

If you are thinking about checking Gravity Forms out here is an affiliate link that will help keep this site alive.Click here to visit Gravity Forms.

9 Apps to help you get active.

Rick — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:21:55 +0000

Living in the Great White North, I am always looking forward to Spring and being able to spend some more time outside. Being a self proclaimed geek and technophile, I am always looking for fresh ideas to get me outdoors and active.

Technophilia refers generally to a strong enthusiasm for technology, especially new technologies such as personal computers, the Internet, mobile phones and home cinema. The term is used in sociology when examining the interaction of individuals with their society, especially contrasted with technophobia.

Wikipedia

Admittedly, a lot of these apps are iPhone heavy, since it is the one thing that I carry with me at all time I was, and am, looking for ways to make these apps portable. (no excuses that way)

NatureFind

NatureFind is a great website that will let you find outdoor activities to do. From floor gardens to zoos, hiking and fishing there is a lot of really good information here. Unfortunately the Canadian section is non-existent. Sigh…

DailyBurn

This is hardly the only calorie and exercise log, out there but I really like their interface. I am not sure that I would ever need the professional package, but it is nice that they offer that. The one thing that really stood out for me here is there excellent iphone app, not so good if you don’t have an iphone, but it you do there are some really great features here.

RunKeeper

Ok this one is completely for the iphone, but if you are an avid runner you are going to pop when you see the features you can track with this. Basically the app, will use your iphones built in GPS to track your runs, the nice thing is that it will tell you elevation and speed as well. I have never analyzed my runs so much. And that says a lot because I also own the Suunto T3 and a Garmin, I just find this so much easier, I can have my phone, music and run tracking all in one device.

We Endure

This is a really useful website if you are into endurance sports (eg.running, biking, swimming). It lets you track all sorts of things as well as connect with other like minded people.

Diddit

I like Diddit a lot. From their website “Diddit is a community of people exploring millions of things to do on checkable lists across more than 20 channels of interest. ” I think that pretty much sums it up.

EveryTrail

EveryTrail is really cool. Yes, it is best if you have an iPhone, basically as you walk around a place, usually some place you are visiting, you can record all the things you see and do. The built in GPS will create a Google map and any pictures you take will be pinned in their correct position. What makes this really nice is you can share the ‘trail’ with your friends on social media sites like Facebook. Another great feature, is you can search the EverTrail site for trails, so if you are planning on visiting a new destination there will be trails of stuff for you to do.

Yoga Today

If Yoga is your thing, or you are thinking about taking it up, you will want to check out Yoga Today. Yoga Today teaches you new yoga positions every day. Whether you choose the free or paid memberships, you’ll have access to yoga classes that you can both stream and download.

NoFouls

Looking for a pick up basketball game? Then NoFouls will come in handy. You do have to sign up and enter your zip code. Sorry Canadians you are left out on this one too, maybe someone should do pickup hockey?

Golf Card

If you golf, you need to check out this iphone app. It pretty much does everything that you could want. I know that there has to be some other really good sites out there. But, I did not have the inclination to wade through all the ‘junk’ that currently overwhelms this market. I mean seriously, how many ebooks on Golf is there? Anyways if you have one that is good, please add it to the comments.

Summary

This is just a small sampling of what you can find. If you know of any great resources that I may have missed, please add them to the comments.

Evernote or ever not??

Rick — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:29:25 +0000

Evernote was first recommended to me about a year ago, I gave it a quick perusal and promptly put it on the back burner as something that may be useful down the road. Well, that road has finally ended and I have decided that I should give Evernote another look over as a useful tool to use in my day to day life.
Evernote has been around for awhile now, Wikipedia lists that their web service launched into open beta on June 24, 2008 ok they have been around for a couple of years but …

What the heck is Evernote?

Their website states that you should “Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device you use. For free.”
Sounds promising so far but a little vague.

How do you use it?

I guess that all depends on how you work, since I am on my computer all the time (at least it feels that way!). I have added the Firefox extension to my browser.That way I can use it as a basic book marking tool, but this is where it starts to get cool. Say, I don’t want to just bookmark the page, all I want is a small section of the page like a certain color or font. I could simply add a ‘clip’ of the page to my evernote notebooks.

Which brings me to notebooks. Notebooks are the categories that you are creating notes for. For me I use them for client designs. So I would create a new notebook for every design that I am working on, if I stumble across something on the web that I want to remember than, I just add it to my notebook. When I am ready to work on that site the first thing I open is the Evernote notebook I have already created for my client.

To be honest, this is where Evernote lost me the first time, I simply did not see how this would be much better than xmarks or any other bookmarking tool. And then I realized that there was Evernote for the iphone (and others) in fact it works on all types of devices. Check out the list here.

This is a deal Maker for me, so many times I am out and I see something really cool that I want to remember. Now I can simply take a picture on my iphone and add it to Evernote, they also support text and voice notes for the iphone.

Good for design, but what else?

Ok so admittedly not everyone cares about design or has client projects that they need to keep track of. How can Evernote help them? Well here are a few ideas (from Evernotes site)

Snap a photo of a business card with your phone, and have an easy way to store and access contacts.
Capture plane tickets and confirmation numbers, hotel invoices, and receipts for your expense reports.
Get inspired. Keep a file of anything cool you want to buy for yourself or as a gift, whether it’s online or out in the real world.
Keep notes from your meetings all in one place. Take a picture of a whiteboard and you’ll be able to find it later.
Plan your next trip. Clip web pages, maps, and itineraries. Capture sights, sounds, tastes, and anything else.
Research web sites and clip pages directly from your browser
Keep a record of your favorite wines by snapping a photo of the label when you find one you like
Remember the things you were supposed to remember. Create to-do lists, jot down random thoughts, leave a voice memo, and more.
Create notes right from Twitter and save tweets that you like by following @myEN on Twitter.

Summary

I know there are probably a million other things you could use Evernote for with a little creativity, so how about it? What do you use Evernote for?

9 Apps editors for Web Development

Rick — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:46:55 +0000

In order to build a website you are going to need some tools of the trade. All web developers use a Web Development application to help them build out the code for their websites. Whether that application be a simple text editor or a complex What you see is what you get(WYSIWYG) app.

So what do I use?

Unfortunately, I can’t tell you [coda] what the best application [coda] is. You are going to have to work that our for yourselves [coda]. I can however point you in the right direction.[coda]

Panic’s Coda

OS: Mac

What can I say about Coda that has not already been said. From within Coda you can use FTP, terminal, preview, a CSS editor, and of course live edit your remote files on the fly. I personally use Coda everyday, and it is my favorite development tool ever
Motto: Text editor + file transfer + svn + CSS + Terminal + Books + More = Whoah.
Price: Free trial, $99 for license.

Adobe’s Dreamweaver

OS:Mac, Windows,Linux

I still remember when Dreamweaver was the ‘it’ application for web development. Those times may have gone but this still is an amazing application. If you are an Adobe suite user the cross application integration is really amazing. For developers just starting out, or who are on a Windows box, this is still the application that they should use.

Dreamweaver also offers numerous helpful tools such as the library of code snippets, ftp management, server debug and an integrated coding development.
Motto: Preview and test web content in half the time
Price: $399 for license.

Kompozer

OS:Mac, Windows,Linux

Kompozer is not the smallest,fastest or robust app. Although it generally is ok at just about everything it does do making it a feasible solution for users who want to create sites without obtaining technical knowledge.If you are looking to do web development for a living, Kompozer is not for you.
Motto: Easy web authoring
Price: Free

Aptana

OS:Mac, Windows,Linux

Aptana is relatively new to this application set but it is gaining favor fast! In fact, if any of these apps is likely to knock off my beloved Coda, I think Aptana has the best chance. Aptana offers coding assistance for JavaScript, HTML, DOM, and CSS. The editor is highly customizable and extensible. You can also use a number of Aptana plugins which offer comfortable tools for developing with Ruby on Rails, PHP, Adobe AIR, and Apple iPhone.
Motto: The leading IDE for Wep App Development
Price:Free and Open Source!

Notepad ++

OS: Windows

This free editor is extremely powerful with tons of useful add-ons, with support for simple things—like syntax highlighting and folding—all the way up to FTP. when I fire up the old “Bill-box” this is what I generally use.
Price:Free and Open Source!

Rapidweaver

OS:Mac

Rapidweaver is an interesting WYSIWYG app. It hides a lot of power under it stylish hood. It also has many powerful features such as modifiable themes, live php rendering, mix and match WYSIWYG and HTML, smart publishing, XHTML and CSS based site output, viewable source code, built-in error checking. All templates are XHTML and CSS based. What is remarkable is that all the code RapidWeaver generates is valid.

Price: Free trial,$80 for license.

Espresso

OS:Mac

From the makers of CSSEdit Espresso is a relative newcomer. With options to rival Coda and Dreamweaver, this app is ready to make a big splash.
Motto: Mac web development, more productive than caffeine
Price:Free trial, £59.95 for license.

Komodo

OS:Mac

If you are looking for a powerful editor, that will run on any platform and that won’t break the bank. Komodo is probably for you. Komodo Edit supports PHP, Python, Ruby, Perl and Tcl, plus JavaScript, CSS, HTML and template languages like RHTML,
Motto: Free and open source multi-language editor that makes writing code easy
Price:Free and Open Source!

TextMate

OS: Mac

This is the Mac version of Notepad ++. It is super lightweight and fast. I have used it on occasion and I have to say it is really good.
Motto: the missing editor
Price: Free trial, $55 for license.