Are you bored with regular calendars? Diacarta, a new app for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, has come up with a different way of visualizing your schedule. When you open the app, instead of the usual grid of hours, you’ll see an analog clock face. Read more »
Are you the kind of person who has to have the latest versions of hardware and software? If so, don’t bother to read on; for the rest of us, it’s worth considering if and when to move to a new version. Read more »
Now that Google’s free telephone forwarding, screening and voicemail service Google Voice is open to anyone in the U.S., web workers are finding many creative ways to use it. Google Voice has an extensive list of features; here’re a few ideas on how to use them: Read more »
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My recent cross-country train trip was a lot of fun. I got to see family and some old friends, and came back relaxed, which is hard to do when flying these days. Here are some suggestions for a good vacation. Read more »
Google Reader’s native mobile interface is OK, but it isn’t optimal for downloading items to read offline. So I was interested to try FeedsAnywhere, a new service that promised to improve Google Reader’s own mobile experience. Since it’s HTML-based, it works on lots of mobile devices. Read more »
Goober, which is now in beta for version 3.0, is a tool that aims to put all of your communications streams in one place. It’s a busy space. Goober competes with desktop multi-IM programs; web-based services; mobile apps; social networking tools and VoIP apps. Read more »
It won’t be possible for me to disconnect entirely; I’ll need to be on call, and to have access to my work. But I want to carry as little as possible, and make the transition from the office to the train as painless as I can. Read more »
I’m often asked to help new businesses get set up with the software tools they’ll need to be successful — from financial programs, to CRM systems, to project management, and so on. Soho OS aims to provide all of these services, and more, in one place. Read more »
Adobe has had a system for signing documents electronically built into such products as Acrobat for a while, but it is now offering Adobe eSignatures, a free cloud-based alternative. Just provide your name and an email address, and you’re ready to go. Read more »
Silentale is a service that works to unify your address books, and gives you one place to archive your messages. It’s similar to Threadsy, which aims to bring together your email and social network inboxes in one place, although you can’t compose messages directly in Silentale. Read more »
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Web-based communication systems for companies and groups seem to be all the rage these days. Such systems fall into two groups: the ones that are built around projects, tickets and the like, and enterprise microblogging platforms that are more like Twitter and Facebook. Read more »
Like a lot of you, I have way too many email and social network accounts. Threadsy, which has now entered public beta, puts them all in one place. I hadn’t tried Threadsy in a while, and was pleasantly surprised at how polished it has become. Read more »
Formstack makes it very easy to set up forms, and they can be embedded in existing websites by copying the HTML code that it creates. And with a little more knowledge of HTML, one can do some surprisingly complex manipulation of those forms. Read more »
Laptop computers are awfully useful, but they’re not easy to use ergonomically. The new LapDawg Pug is a portable table that’s designed to help us use laptops more comfortably. Read more »
Since I now have an iPod touch that can get a Wi-Fi signal from my Overdrive hotspot, when I lost my venerable Treo 755p, I decided to see if I could do without a smartphone — and the expensive monthly plan that most of them require. Read more »
Such eye-tracking research is not cheap, however. For teams who don’t have the research budget to do full usability studies, Trailhead provides a way of creating limited heat maps inexpensively. Trailhead can’t track users’ eye movements, so it tracks mouse movements and mouse clicks instead. Read more »
Now that I regularly carry a cell phone, an iPod touch, an Overdrive mobile hotspot, a camera, and an e-book reader, I’m beginning to see how having a lot of pockets can be useful. Read more »
The concept behind Socialwok is a good one: leverage the power of the Google Apps mail, documents, calendar, and instant messaging functions to let companies and organizations create interactive discussion timelines. Read more »
If you’re always looking for a Wi-Fi connection while on the road, Sprint suggests that you make your own Wi-Fi network with the Overdrive 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot by Sierra Wireless. The folks at Sprint kindly lent me a hotspot to try out, and I was impressed. Read more »
There’s probably not much that’s new to you in this book. But it’s well-written, and at just over 50 pages, it can be read in a hour, and it provides a good introduction to some useful techniques for improving the visibility of web sites. Read more »
The folks at Ribbit Mobile have taken Google Voice’s “one number for life” concept and expanded upon it. The service is still in beta, but it already offers many sophisticated features. Read more »
WebWorkerDaily has learned that a new service is being added to the Google Apps suite of business tools, which is designed to help entrepreneurs come up with names for their startups. Read more »
The folks at CLEAR (formerly Clearwire) kindly sent me their latest 4G WiMAX modem to try out, so I’ve been testing it here in Seattle and on a weekend train trip to Portland. Read more »
At first glance, 5050biz.com looks a lot like LinkedIn. So I asked the folks at 5050biz the obvious question: if I’m already on LinkedIn, as a lot of web workers are, what does 5050biz have to offer me? Read more »
Like a lot of web workers, I spend a fair amount of time traveling. I like to read books and catch up on the news while I’m away, so it seemed like a good idea to try reading electronically. Read more »
While some web workers have made a niche for themselves by working exclusively with organizations representing one political point of view, most of us don’t have that option. And quite frankly, I’d get bored talking about the same issues, and presenting the same point of view. Read more »
Today, we’ve become dependent on multimedia, which, in many cases, are a crutch for those who don’t have the time or just don’t want to bother to write effective site content. This is a bad idea. Read more »
“Open Government” is an interesting compilation of essays discussing the problems that governments and citizens face as they struggle to catch up with the openness that we’ve come to expect in the era of social media, crowdsourcing and user-generated content. Read more »
I do a lot of my correspondence electronically, but sometimes I still need to mail a letter. I know where the blue USPS mailboxes are in my neighborhood, but it’s getting harder to find pickup locations when I’m on the road Read more »
There are lots of reasons to like Buzz; there have already been some great tips published on how to use it. But I’m feeling frustrated, not only because of the privacy issues, but for a more basic reason: it feels slow and not very usable. Read more »
The early morning hours are a great time to do projects that require uninterrupted effort. But I find that it’s way too easy to get sidetracked. I’m tempted to sit down at the computer first thing in the morning to “check my email.” Read more »
As of today, according to the LinkedIn Blog, users of the popular career-oriented social network can rearrange the order in which elements appear in a member’s profile — the page on the site that displays information about one’s background. Read more »
When I upgraded from Firefox 3.5.7 to 3.6 the other day, I discovered that a few of the add-ons that weren’t yet compatible were important to me. In fact, they had become such an integral part of my daily workflow that I was significantly slowed down without them. In this post I’m going to share the add-ons that I find it hard to be without. Read more »
When two hundred journalists got together recently for an “un-conference” on the future of journalism, it was hardly surprising that the results were documented, minute by minute, through notes, wikis, photos, audio, video, blogs and an amazing number of tweets. The organizers approached me to develop […] Read more »
“What is Twitter, anyway?” I’ve been asked questions like that many times, as I’m sure most web workers have. “The Social Media Marketing Book” by tech writer Dan Zarrella, attempts to explain Twitter, blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Second Life, Yelp, and even such sites as Rate […] Read more »
My three-person web development company is celebrating. We’ve survived 2009 — a very tough year — thanks to some good planning, and a bit of luck. As I look back, I realize that our success was based not just on our technical skills. After all, anything […] Read more »
The remote access tools provider RDM+ is having a sale, with its iPhone/iPod touch app available for $1.99. This is a significant reduction from the normal $20 price, for a tool that lets you control remote computers from your mobile device. Read more »
Liaise, the project management system I looked at recently, has today entered public beta with several new features. Liaise stakes its niche in the crowded project management field between personal information managers such as Gist and Threadsy, and full-blown group project management tools like Microsoft Project, […] Read more »
“Excuse me, I have to run to the bank to make a deposit.” How many times have you had to interrupt your day to make sure that checks get into your account quickly? My company accepts credit cards, but many of our customers still prefer to […] Read more »
Google Apps, the suite of productivity applications that’s a favorite of WWD, has had Groups, a discussion group application, added to its array of tools. In addition to providing email using your own domain, Google Apps offers a number of ways for businesses and organizations to […] Read more »
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