Some of the tools I’ve come to rely on are web based lets me have quicker access to stored information while, also providing a safe and secure of storage for other information. Other tools I love are desktop applications that help me organize my writing, projects and passwords.

In case you are wondering…I don’t get anything from these folks, I  just like using their applications, also I wouldn’t spread the word about them if I didn’t think there were useful.

One thing you should know is I’m a Mac guy so other than the web based apps most of these are for that OS. If Windows users have their own favorites please feel to post them in the comments below.

Evernote

Without a doubt hands down my favoritist of favoritst applications of all time!! The funny thing is.…I didn’t get how this application could be used until I realized it eliminated my need to hunt around on one of my many hard drives for everything from code snippets to links to pages within the blog.

Evernote is an on line application that is  available wherever you go, eliminating in some cases the need for those annoying USB micro drives, that seem to end up in a pocket of a pair of jeans that just went through the wash.

Simply put Evernote is like having an organized “junk drawer” on line. It has a handy-dandy desk top application that continually synchs with your on line account. See a web page you want to save for later, just click the browser or the desk top icon and a copy of the page is instantly in your account.  Want to save a receipt from that on line purchase? Again just click the icon and in it goes.

When you subscribe for $45/year you get 500 MB of monthly storage for pretty much any file type. It does have a free version giving you 40MB of space and limited file type. If you have a lap top and or smartphone or more than one computer you’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll start using this app.

Dropbox

Next to Evernote this app is almost a tie as a favorite, Dropbox is like having another hard drive always ready and available anywhere you go. With it you have secure off site storage for things you might not want to lose, like that artists’ statement you’ve been working on but haven’t quite finished. Store it in Dropbox and you can keep revising to your  content to your heart’s desire knowing that it will always be there.

I use Dropbox for drafts of blog posts, code I don’t want to have to restart from scratch, work in progress that I want available regardless of where I go, backups of this blog etc.

Drop box is free for 2GB of storage and I have yet to come close to that limit, you can upgrade to 50GB for $99/year or if you really need space 100 GB for $200.

Both Evernote and Dropbox allow you to easily share files across the web without risking the security of your other files.

OmniOutliner

This program generally comes, in its’ basic version, as a standard application included with most Macs, that’s how I discovered it. It does just what its’ title says… It lets you create extremely flexible and editable outlines for anything you want to write. Every article I write on this blog is first outlined using OmniOutliner.

I also use it to set up my posting schedule, brain storm ideas, capture and hold content from other files so I have references readily available. If I think I’m going to be referencing something from a web site I can copy in the quote as a clip.

OmniFocus

Last year I went on a search for a task management system/program that could really help me keep things organized in a way I would do on paper. I tested several programs but none had the flexibility of OmniFocus.

OmniFocus is organized around David Allen’s Getting Things Done (GTD) framework and methodology. The concept is to get things out of your head and then organize them according to projects, so all the tasks related to a particular “to do” item can be included with it, given a start time, deadline, flagged or grouped by context as in office, studio etc.

You can create repeatable projects and or tasks, for example I set up a folder of projects associated with spring clean up of my yard. Just as in a paper list when a task is completed it gets temporarily crossed out, so the next spring all I have to do is click the crossed out tasks I need to do for that year and I have  fresh list.

A real time saving benefit of this program is that it syncs across all of your gadgets including the iPhone. So, for that spring clean up, I just pulled out my iPhone and crossed of tasks as I completed them. Their status was automatically updated to match my desk top and lap top.

1Password

This program is an absolute life saver…that is for Mac users. It lets you take those thousands of different user names and passwords you have for all those sites you log into and keeps them safe in one easily accessible place. When you, come to a site that requires a log in, instead of running all over checking drawers looking for that piece of paper or notebook that holds your passwords, all you have to do is right click to open the browsers context menu. From there, click on the 1passord menu item and “open sesame” the program automatically logs you in.

If you have an iPhone you can synch with it and for example sign into Facebook right from the 1Password app without trying to remember your sign in info.

 

Twitter is one of the best and easiest tools to use to crete a network for your business…but many artists I talk with either a) see it as a time suck b) see it as a toy for kids or c) don’t see it as part of their job description.

The biggest of the three objections seems to be time suck but I think maybe they are all wrapped into one giant apprehension based on lack of knowledge with maybe a little fear mixed in. Just because you are afraid of being sucked into a day of twittering and tweets doesn’t mean it will happen…yoiiu do have control over how you spend your time! So today lets take a look at how you can build a viable network with out making it into a time suck.

The right stuff…will make the difference
To really make this work you’ll need a good third party application like Tweetdeck, twirl or the new one. Why not use the web? Because it sucks plan and simple, to much clicking,to much time waiting for page loads or re-loads. What makes these third party apps great is that you can speed tweet with them very easily by customizing the interface to how you work and you can make your twittering count in more than one way.
Since I use Tweetdeck and Nambu I’m going to frame everything in that context.

My priorities

• Find content worth sharing with my followers
• Support my peeps by spreading link luv through RTs and #FF
• Reply to my peeps with encouragement and support
• Share my own content

The when and what

Pick a time of day you are the least productive in what you normally do, for me it’s my morning cup/s. I’m normally not worthing of doing anything productive much before 10 am so I use that time to for twittering and no it is not 3 hours. So… I settle in with my java at my side and skim my twitter feed looking for interesting content first from folks I have come to know. I keep an eye out for tips, retweets, references to web content. When I find good tips I’ll click the link to save it to my browser, then retweet it so my friends get some twitter luv. Time spent 10–15 minutes

If you have a smart phone like an iPhone and you find yourself sitting in a doc’s office or waiting for your lunch date just fire up the appropriate twitter app and get to it. I use Twittalator Pro and Nambu and what I mostly do is mine the feed for useful info which I then add to my favs to check out later on Tweet deck.

You can spend even less time by limiting your self to  no more than 3 re-tweets and save the rest for another session.

Make your tweets multi purpose

Now that a lot of “connect” type things are surfacing almost on a daily basis  there is no reason not to use their connective power to spread your network wider. Tweetdeck now offers Facebook status updates simultaneous to your tweets and if you are on Friend feed your tweets will also be picked up and spread through that network.

Focus on folks who  are useful to your network

Don’t spend time RTing or following tweeps who have nothing to contribute to your network or to that you care about. You don’t have to follow everybody who decides to follow you…let attrition take care of the spammers, money marketers and other unsavory characters who bring nothing to your table. Focus on the tweeps you’d like to hang with.

Share good stuff

A couple of times a week share something you have done or find interesting, something you know your peeps would like. It could be a blog you just read, or that piece you are working on… Go ahead you know you are interesting otherwise you have a follower count of “0”!!

Here’s the drill again

• Get Tweet Deck or other 3rd party app
  
• Skim the feed
  
• RT good content to your peeps
  
• Do interesting stuff off of twitter
  
• Share that interesting stuff
  
• BE YOURSELF

 

A couple of days ago I was alerted to new Twitter client thing to help you with your twitterings  the big whoop about this is that it is exclusive for Mac users and designed to work like a normal Mac applications. While I still have a lot of affection for TweetDeck it does have some issues that I don’t like…mainly its’ resource vacuuming tendencies and unwillingness to let go of memory. The latest release addressed the memory issue and seemed to have improved its’ ability to play with other applications.

Anyway, this new Mac focused app is called Nambu and while it is in public beta ( which means it is still being tested) is promising. The primary thing I like is that it  lets me manage more than one Twitter account without logging in and out. So here is the skinny on it from my current use.

Multiple views

While Tweet Deck offers multiple column views using them has always semed clunky no the case with Nambu. A click of the Mac like interface button will change to another view.  The views are:

Combined view
This is basically a column showing your stream. You can use this to keep it open stuck in a corner of your screen and ready ffor you to check at a glance. This view shows you the feeds from all accounts you have and can be just a little distracting…

Outline or sidebar view
This view looks alot like the finder view in that it shows two columns, the first of which is similar to your folder Finder folder structure which allows you to click on and open folders. The outline view lets you change between Mentions (@replies) private (DMs) sent tweets favs etc. Without opening up the shebang.

Multi-column view
Just as the name sugggests you can have as many columns open as you like and you can create your own by segmenting your followers into business, family and friends. This view takes up the most screen real estate. This view would not be good for a 13″ Macbook screen!!

Multiple twitter accounts

As I mentioned it lets you easily move between multiple twitter accounts. Since I manage another Twitterr account this feature is worth its weight in gold for me. ..no more logging in and out!!

Multi service management

Currently you can manage your friend feed account and Ping.fm account along with identi.ca.. For artists having Ping.fm available within one twitterr client will save time by letting you set up and schedule tweets without going into your browser.

Screen updates using Growl

If you use the FireFox facebook plug in you know how handy it is to have status updates appear on your screen without having to be in Facebook. Nambu offers a similar experience by showing follower updates in a corner of your screen…not sure I like this but it can be toggled on/off through the preferences panel.

Mac  OS X like interface

As I mentioned ealier the interface is very much like a normal Mac application and responds similarly to some of the Mac mouse commands at least I’m used to using.  A right mouse click over tweets will open a contextual menu that lets you select from a list of choices including follow/unfollow, retweet, reply, groups, favorites etc.…very handy indeed.

The menu bar icons also reflect the Mac interface making it more intuitive for us die hard Mac users. Finally, the dock icon regularly keeps track of the number tweets in your stream.

Real-time updates

A feature that is lacking on many Twitter client apps is real time updates, most up date periodically resulting in a time lag. I have to say that while the real-time update is cool, the speed of updates and resultant shift in tweet positions are just a little trying on these old dyslexic eyes. On the up side, it does force me to keep moving thereby reducing the time spent twittering.

Photos

Another of the cool features Nambu has is the ability to pull photos from anywhere on your computer and not just Twitpic other web based apps. The time savings here is obvious since you don’t have to upload a photo to an online service.

Url shortening

One of the things I like about TweetDeck is the built in URL shortening just copy paste and click the “shorten” button and your have a shortened URL automatically added to your tweet. Nambu eliminated the extra paste step by inserting a link button which automatically shortens any URL in the tweet. Also very nice is the ability to see the base URL, just mouse over the clipped one and you’ll be shown a bubble (see below) that reveals all.

Comment threading

Nambu also offers a way to see the root URL when you mouse over a shortened URl and a tooltip bubble shows up listing the entire URL.This feature is really nice if you can’t remember who you replied to and what it was about, when that person replies back you can now know what the @#!! they are talking about!!

What I miss that tweetdeck has is the ability to click on a user name and see their profile and listing of most recent tweets along with the option to follow/unfollow. Add this feature to Nambu and I’d use it everyday!! Likewise add multi account and service feature to Tweet Deck and I wouldn’t hesitate to jumpship.

Update &correction  from Nambu

Shortly after this post I received a comment from Nambu pointing out that indeed one could access a user profile and after playing with it discovered another way to quickly get the info. First to get it quickly just mouse over the profile photo and a text bubble pops up to summarize the user’s profile (see below).

If you want more info just click on the photo and the following dialog box opens so you can snoop around more.

Need I mention the value of as representative of the software caring enough to correct me!! That in itself speaks volumes.

Remember:

Since this application is in Beta use it at your own risk, and expect bugs, & crashes. Nambu is making regular improvements that promise to morph into a great Twitter client.

 

I generally buy the bundle for two reasons: 1. It’s a good cause and 2. It is a really good way to get some higher priced software at a much discounted rate. Every bundle I have purchased has included at least one app that was well worth the purchase price of the whole bundle. However, and this is a BIG HOWEVER I work on my computer all day and use lots of different apps to do what I do, so I know my needs. This bundle offered several apps that are promising for making my life easier…so I snatched it up.

Since I am focused on helping artists and one of the things that seems to be hanging many folks up, is the whole Zapplication process as in resizing images, I have been on the lookout for simple inexpensive graphic programs that help artists.

So..with artists and the uses of the applications in mind I have put together a little guide here to help you decide.

Graphics/Image manipulation

Picturesque

This app is great for creating quick and easy presentation formats for images, but not much more. You can use it to create those funky perspectivezed images that are part of OSX Leopard.

Acorn

This app is really like a very tiny version of some of Photohop’s best tricks, you can apply layers, add text, apply some cool filter effects that Photoshop doesn’t do easily and as with Picturesque you can do all of these likety-split. BUT you can’t do the canvas resize, make square, with black ground thing demanded by Zapp.…Bummer!

Audio

Wire Tap Studio

This is an audio program that has had pretty good reviews, I’ve been looking for one that is easy to use, so the price was right anything is better than  Garage Band. I haven’t had a chance to really jump in to it but it does look promising so far and a lot less counter intuitive tha either Garage Band or Audacity.

Video/Animation

Kinematic

This a 3D animation software and once you figure out how to use it you’ll be able to create some pretty cool stuff. The learning curve on this one looks to be pretty high even for a geek like me. Once you learn it though you’ll be able to pretty easily make some slick effects for videos especially if you want to use them on your blog.

Boinxtv

If you always wanted to have your own TV show this is the way to go. Say you want to record a video cast for your blog or site that shows you doing your thing, just connect your cameras, find somebody to man the keyboard and mouse and off you go. It is really designed for Podcasters and on-line video production that is done live and be edited in real time. Seriously…this could be fun to use and definitely add a touch to your blog that few other artists will have.

Web

Espresso

This a very basic web site builder and editor, and it is made by the same folks as CSSedit a great app for editing CSS on or off line. Espresso will be a good fit for someone who knows just enough to be dangerous and wants to know more about web development. By focusing on crisp workflow that makes sense it looks promising both as a regular tool and a learning device.

Odds & Sods

Little Snapper

a screen grab app but to be honest it kept crashing, anyway for what I do I prefer Skitch which is FREE!!

Hit List

a basic task manager (todo list manager) I use the Omni-Outliner which comes with most Macs.

Remember…

Now… don’t get me wrong these are all outstanding apps …just make sure you need what they have to offer, If so then put your money down and hit the download button!!

 

Software

One of the best software bundles released for Mac users over the years has been the MacHeist Bundle. Pretty much on an annual basis MacHeist pulls together the best and most user friendly applications for the Mac for a “Fire” sale which really isn’t one but it seems like it. You can always count on at least one extremely saught high priced app to be included. This time around they have out done themselves by including six applications over $50.00, the total actual cost of the bundle if bought separately is $930.00. The bundle cost is $39.00…not a bad deal. The really great thing is that they donate 25% of every purchase to the following charities:

• Action against Hunger
• AIDS Research Alliance
• Alliance For Climate Protection
• Direct Relief International
• Humane Society International
• The Nature Conservancy
• Save the Children
• Save Darfur
• Prevent Cancer Foundation
• World Wildlife Fund

Here are some of the applications that I think will really be useful especially for artists

Picturesque

A simple photo editing software that is almost like a scaled down Photoshop. While its’ tool set is limited it does seem to give you the ability to make your photos pop and it includes some batch actions that allow you to apply the same treatment to more than one image. I’ll be testing the software so check back for my full evaluation.

Acorn

Is another very promising graphic editor that goes a little further than Picturesque.  Acorn’s feature set includes many of the same tools in Photoshop but much more oriented to the non-photoshop user.

Kinematic

If you have ever wanted to make a really cool presentation that screams professionalism this is the tool. Kinematic gives you 3D animation tools that can turn any 2d presentation into something extremely unboring!

Wire Tap Studio

If you have ever had a hankering for recording well…anything you can hear this is the tool. Audio clips are extremely important for anyone who blogs or has a web presence because they can easily become viral, meaning lots of traffic back to your site. Of course you can use Garage Band but I find it extremely counter intuitive and not very user friendly and I’m kind of a Geek!

BoinxTV

I haven’t tested this application yet but it looks promising if you want to easily make professional “how-To” videos of your work, or if you just want to show a tour of your studio.

Espresso

For the Code Geeks or “I know enough to be dangerous..” types this application helps you create,find and save code for web applications.

The bundle has only 8 days left before it goes off the market, to read more and purchase the bundle go to http://www.macheist.com/

Tips & Tricks

Favicon

How do you get that little image thingy to show up on your browser, you know the one that always shows up for most web sites? What’s it for anyway..?

Well that thing is called a favicon and is basically an image that is sized anywhere from 16x16 to 32x32 pixels.

Having a favicon is very important because it shows up in bookmark lists and helps identify a site if you use tabs in your browser. More importantly it is one of those small things that lets people know you are serious about what you are doing. As artists every little thing that can help us be seen as professional is one more thing that moves us up a notch in our buyers minds.

Anyway, before I show you how to do it there is one caveat, you will need to be able access the root folder that holds your site or blog. If you are using a service like TypePad, you will be able to access this folder in the “files” tab of the control panel.

If you are using a self hosted Word Press site like this one, you’ll need an FTP program or other back end access to your server.

So to make your favicon first create a square image using a photo or other graphic then go to one of the favicon creating sites like this one  favicon maker. You can upload your image and the site will generate the appropriate size choices which you can then download.

To upload access the first level directory that holds your site and upload the generated favicon into that directory.

Important:

Make sure that the file is named “favicon.ico” otherwise it won’t work. Next just sit back and wait it can take a few hours before the image starts to show up.

There is another way for self hosted Word Press sites to get a favicon and that is by using the MaxBlogPress Favicon plugin it pretty much does it all for you.

Universal Avatar

With so many sites asking for your mug shot one of the easiest ways to only do it once is to use Gravatar a service similar to OpenID. Gravatar allows you to upload you mug shot or avatar image and then autmatically distributes it to when you make a comment on a blog, sign up for a social networking site or anything else that is linked up with Gravatar.

Here is what you do:

Go to the Gravatar site sign-up and Select the location of your avatar

Upload it or insert the requested info

Crop your image

Select and confirm it

That’s it and your mug/avatar will be automatically used wherever it is needed!