I’ve long been looking for a Windows-based Twitter client that can delight me as much as its native Mac counterparts. Too many clients for Windows depend on Adobe AIR, something which isn’t an ideal arrangement, in my opinion. TweetDeck and Seesmic are both powerful tools, but why can’t someone make a Windows-native app that works just as well?
Seesmic apparently saw the wisdom in that idea, because it recently revealed a new Windows-only Twitter client that doesn’t require AIR to run. I jumped at the chance to take the software, which is currently only available as a preview edition, for a test run. Read the rest of this entry »
Generally speaking, a worthwhile project isn’t easy. That said, the process can be made a little easier by using good project management software. EasyProjects.net certainly sounds like a good bet for some PM software that makes things easier, but can it live up to its own moniker? Read the rest of this entry »
In what could only be seen as a coincidence, I recently stumbled upon a brand-new web app for creating surveys and questionnaires. It’s coincidental because I’d just finished writing an article about how to create a feedback form for freelance workers to use to evaluate the success of a project. In that article, I suggested Adobe PDF forms (adbe) or HTML as possible formats for your feedback survey, but Mineful presents yet another alternative.
Like Wufoo and SurveyMonkey, Mineful provides an easy way to generate online forms and surveys. First things first: Mineful’s interface might turn off some users. It’s meant to resemble a Windows desktop. I’m not thrilled about it, either, but the last thing I want to do is throw the baby out with the bath water. So I figured I’d better check out Mineful’s function before I condemn it based on form.
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Facebook only just announced that it would be making its stream API public, and now it’s following up with the launch of a new Adobe AIR desktop app that takes advantage of those capabilities. Yes, it’s an AIR app, which makes it slightly icky right away, but native desktop clients will no doubt follow in short order.
AIR app or not, the real question is: Will this bring Facebook back into my daily professional life? Read the rest of this entry »
At this point, regular WWD readers might now about my distaste for all things Adobe Air, but I try to look past my personal platform preferences and focus on the function of productivity apps, instead of the form they choose to take. Over a year ago, we previewed an app called KonoLive that aimed to bring collaboration to Getting Things Done (GTD) software. Now that it’s finally available to the general public, we wanted to take a look and see what it brings to the table. And I promise to put aside my Air prejudice for the time being.
First, KonoLive does require registration, so if you’re partial to services that are more pick-up-and-play, it might not be your first choice. One nice thing about the sign-up process is that it automatically signs you up for a box.net account if you don’t have one, since you need it in order to use KonoLive’s services. As a consequence, however, whenever you start KonoLive, it redirects you to the box.net homepage to sign in. I’d really appreciate an option to save my login and do this step automatically. Read the rest of this entry »
Today marks the highly anticipated release of Tweetie for the Mac by atebits, developer of the iPhone version of the same app. Tweetie has enjoyed tremendous success on the iPhone, and for my money is far and away the best mobile client for my web workflow. Which is why I was first in line to download the new Mac client it this a.m. and see if it might be an improvement over Nambu, my current desktop Twitter solution. Olly Farshi over at our sister site TheAppleBlog has a full review, but I wanted to look at it specifically with web work in mind.
Things started off well, since Tweetie offers a full-featured, ad-supported free version in addition to a $19.95 (currently on sale for $14.95) ad-free version. I can live with one ad per hour in my tweet stream in exchange for a great free program. Heck, half of the tweets of those I’m following are probably ads anyway. Read the rest of this entry »
It was already one of the better options available for bloggers who were looking for a desktop solution for their Mac, but now Blogo is even better thanks to a recent update which brings it up to version 1.2.5. The new version brings support for custom slugs, Movable Type tags, and universal support for any kind of Ping.fm accounts.
That’s good news for most bloggers, since very few people I know use the default slugs offered by services like WordPress, and prefer to set their own custom slugs.
And its great news for Movable Type users, who until now haven’t been able to tag posts from Blogo, which is kind of a big deal when it comes to blogging software.
Full Ping.fm support means being able to update more than 30 social networking sites from one location. That and Twitter integration definitely give Blogo at least one advantage over MarsEdit, which also recently rolled out an update of its own, albeit a beta release. If you’re a MarsEdit fan, you can check out more about that over at TheAppleBlog.
As a blogger, I’m curious about the usage statistics of programs like this. Personally, I tend to check them out, use them for a while, and then switch back to web interfaces because I’m ultimately more comfortable with those, even if it does mean having to keep track of a bunch of different admin backends instead of one central app.
Is anyone out there a dedicated Blogo/MarsEdit/other convert, and if so, what’s the appeal?
Screen sharing can be one of the most daunting tasks for online workers. Granted, if you’re working with someone as knowledgeable as yourself, there’s generally no issue, and any number of solutions that will work. But in many situations where you need screen sharing, like tech support sessions, that’s not the case. Being primarily a Mac user, I generally just go for the built-in feature in iChat, although I’ve also used Windows Live Mesh a few times, among others. New startup Oneeko actually boasts “The World’s Easiest Screen Sharing,” though, so I wanted to test the claim and see if it wouldn’t solve the problem of an ability gap between users.
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Web Work 101: How To Escape The Cubicle
