Archive | Desktop Apps

Sort and Reorder Your Taskbar Tabs

Dec/03 in Desktop Apps

Sort Your Taskbar TabsSince I have to stare at my desktop for several hours of the day, I like to make sure everything is nice, neat and organized.  Taskix is the free and lightweight program I use to sort my Windows taskbar tabs, so that they are exactly in the order I want them in.

Once installed, all you have to do is start the program up, click the check mark box for “Always Start with Windows” and “Drag Tabs” then click the button labeled active.  Now you can drag and drop to arrange your Windows taskbar the way you see fit.  This program is a blessing for anybody who has multiple windows open throughout the day.

It also comes with several other options such as:

  • Scroll through tabs with your mouse wheel
  • Show the desktop or restore all maximized windows when you middle click the taskbar
  • Maximize the current window when you middle-click on it’s tab

The program is free to use, although the creator would like it if you could register and possibly give a little cash in appreciation. Taskix is simply the best lightweight Windows taskbar tab reordering tool.

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Build Your Own Awesome Apps Installer

Nov/02 in Desktop Apps, Online Apps

Grab Only the Software You Want!

Ninite makes installing a plethora of new applications really simple. With Windows 7 coming out, or those who feeling the urge to clean out Vista or Windows XP, we are all looking at simpler ways to install a lot of great programs out there.  That is what Ninite is all about. 

All you have to do is visit their web site, click the check marks for the programs you want to bundle together, start the customized installer, and presto – you are done.  They only install the programs you want (no hidden toolbars or spyware).  Heck, they don’t even install their own program – they only install the programs you want and need. 

Ninite definitely offers a cool way to grab your own bundle of software solutions to install.  For more assistance on how to get up and running with your own customized install, check out these articles from Simple Help and the How-to Geek. (also big thanks to Todd for showing my this great free service!)

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Create CS3 and Web 2.0 Style Icons with Ease!

Sep/03 in Desktop Apps

Need to create some badges in a hurry?  The Clockmaker Icon Generator, which funny enough has nothing to do with clocks, is a great Adobe Air application that will dynamically create you an icon to use to spice up your latest project.

You can make two different styles of icons.  One is based around the CS3 look and feel and the other is your basic Web 2.0 style star badge.

CS3 Icon Example Web 2.0 Icon Example

To save your simple creation, just use the “Create icon” button, and you are good to go.  This is perfect for any webmaster who has been looking for a quick and easy way to make some stylish graphics for the web site they are working on.

You can pickup the Clockmaker Icon Generator on the Adobe Marketplace web site.

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HTML Validation Made Easy

Mar/09 in Desktop Apps, Web Development Tutorials

While looking for an easy to use desktop application to do some HTML validating on a layout I was working on, I ran across CSE HTML Validator Lite.  This tiny program does a lot when it comes to checking HTML syntax.

CSE HTML Validator Lite Preview

Some of the other features that CSE HTML Validator Lite provides are:

  • Check spelling.
  • Quickly change all tags and attributes to lowercase.
  • Automatically place quotation marks around all attribute values.
  • Strip HTML tags from HTML documents, leaving only the text.
  • Quickly change all the headers and/or footers of every page of your web site when you design your pages using the template tool.

Now it should be said that this program is the little brother to CSE HTML Validator Professional, which comes with a few more bells and whistles, however CSE HTML Validator Lite has enough features without feeling the need to upgrade to the “pro” version right away.

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Split Your Desktop into Virtual Work Areas

Mar/06 in Desktop Apps

maxto-screenshot Short of taking a chainsaw to your monitor, all Evil Dead like, there aren’t a lot of good ways to split it up into multiple regions to make working an organized experience.  Thanks to Ryan over at Cybernetnews.com I can put my chainsaw away, and get to using MaxTo.  MaxTo will help you split your current monitor into virtual regions, that can serve as a constraint when maximizing windows.

Once you install it, the setup is pretty easy to understand.  You just setup how you want you desktop to be split, hit the OK button and it is done.  If you find yourself overwhelmed by having too many programs or windows floating around your desktop – give MaxTo a shot.  Previously I had been doing this same type of desktop reorganization on my own, but MaxTo does it for me – and in turn saves me a lot of tweaking time.

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Twhirl, the Best Twitter Client Around?

Feb/27 in Desktop Apps, Hot Web Topics

Twirl in Action! After trying out several different Twitter clients, I think I have found the one for me that gets the job done.  I decided to go with twhirl, because it is one of the most highly recommended Twitter clients out there.

Here are the key features that I enjoyed the most:

  • shorten long URLs (using bit.ly, snurl, twurl or is.gd)
  • search tweets using Twitter Search and TweetScan, and follow topics in near-real time with saved searches
  • automatically find tweets mentioning your @username

Another thing I really needed, which from what I could tell TweetDeck didn’t provide was multiple account support.  Since I am now working on my own Twitter account and the Lunarpages Twitter account, I needed a way to keep them both separate but running at the same time.

The only annoyance I have found with twirl is that when running multiple clients for multiple accounts, you can’t have one be a different color than the other.  If any developers are reading this, that would be a handy feature to toss in there.

So, twhirl gets my geek candy seal of approval.  Come follow me and see what I am doing throughout the day @mitchkeeler and @lunarpages.

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9 More Time Saving Apps

Jan/06 in Desktop Apps, Online Apps

Better Time ManagementMaybe the problem is not that we do not have enough time, it is we don’t know how to manage it better.  Here are nine more applications, both free and paid, that will help you with your time management problems so that you can start the new year off right.

RescueTime – It is a web-based time management and analytic tool for knowledge workers who want to be more productive.

FreshBooks – One of the best tools to easily and quickly track your time and invoice your clients.

Cashboard – Time tracking, invoicing, estimates, and online payments done your way. Cashboard does it all, and does it for free.

Motismo – a simple time tracking solution for creative professionals.

LiveTimer – This is a flexible and easy to use online time tracking service. It can be used by anyone on the Internet to track time for billing purposes or to improve accountability and productivity.

TrackMyPeople -This system is entirely web based meaning you can access your teams data everywhere in the world allowing you to easily track your employees time spent on a project or just analyze a graph for optimization.

Torch – This application allows you to communicate simply with your colleagues, clients and suppliers.

FreeTimeManager – FreeTime was conceived and developed by a team of designers who were looking for a simple yet logical real-time management solution.

BubbleTimer – A personal time management solution that helps you spend your time on what’s most important to you.

If you are looking for more time saving solutions, be sure to check out the previous list of ten application to help you get more time back.

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10 Applications to Help You Get More Time Back

Jan/05 in Desktop Apps, Online Apps

Better Time ManagementWith the start of a new year, you are wanting to try new things right?  One thing we all don’t have enough of is time – so why not manage your time better?  Here are ten ways to get more of your time back in 2009.

tick – Want to focus on hitting your budgets?  Tick is a simple and friendly time tracking application that will help you do just that.

1time – this tool is a web-based time and expense tracking application that allowse you to easily keep track of projects in real time.

tempo – another time tracking tool, this one also comes with powerful reporting and mobile access.

Santexq -  here is the answer to the time reporting, task managing and billing needs of your dynamic business.

toggl – the time management tool you want to use.

Klok – this app is a little different because it is a personal time tracking tool.  It can tell you how much time you have spend on past projects, which in turn can tell you how much time you might spend on future projects too.

Paymo – this tool acts as an assistant for anybody working as a freelance adgent out there as well as a time manager.

SlimTimer – time tracking, without the time sheet.

Harvest – this tool lets you and your staff track time, log expenses, and create invoices in one simple, integrated workflow.

Clocking IT – this keeps track of all your tasks and the time you spend on them.

Have another suggestion, tip or application that is helping you get more of your time back this year?  Let me know about it.

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9 Google Reader Add-ons for Firefox

Nov/03 in Desktop Apps, Online Apps

google-reader

Looking for an easy way to get through your Monday morning feeds?  Use these add-ons for Firefox, mix them up with Google Reader and then recover the rest of your morning.

  • Google Reader Notifier – This shows you how many unread items you have in your Google Reader account.
  • Google Reader Watcher – Afraid your updates are getting away from you?  Google Reader Watcher will check your Google Reader for unread news.
  • feedly – Feedly is a new kind of RSS start page which weaves Google Reader, Digg and Delicious into a more fun, magazine-like user experience.
  • Better GReader – Preview web pages inline in Google Reader, collapse the header and sidebar for more reading area, get a Mac OS X like skin, add favicons to feed subscriptions and more with Better GReader.
  • Shareaholic – Shareaholic allows you to quickly share, bookmark, and e-mail web pages via a very wide array of your favorite web 2.0 social networking & bookmarking sites such as Google Reader!
  • IntenseDebate in Google Reader – Add IntenseDebate comments to Google Reader.
  • Google Reader Toolkit – Adds a few more browser utilities for use with Google Reader.
  • Integrated GMail – Allows you to make the Inbox Collapsible and loads your choice of Google Calendar, Reader, Notebook, Groups etc… seamlessly into the gmail interface. Works w/Google Apps Accounts.
  • gReader Comments – gReader Comments is a Greasemonkey script-turned-extension for Firefox that brings all Disqus conversations into Google Reader.

Know of anymore good ones?  How have you super-charged Google Reader?  Be sure to share!

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10 More Paint.NET Tutorials

Oct/29 in Desktop Apps, Popular Posts

As I learn to use Paint.NET more and more, I seem to be running across even more great tutorials to share with all of you.  Last time around, I covered the 10 best Paint.NET tutorials – and this time I have 10 more for you to enjoy.  Which is your favorite?

Wormholes

Exploding planets

Draw in Three Dimensions

Poker Set – Playing Cards & Chips

How to Make a Glass Cube

GEMSTONE V2 !

Blowing Bubbles

Spacescape tutorials

Make a “Wave” with Paint.NET

How To Make iPod Ads – Rewrite, with images!

Paint.NET continues to be an inspiration for my creativity.  The more tutorials I find, the more things I want to try out myself – or tweak to fit my own needs.

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