Once you load up the website, you are provided with two buttons and a lot of white space.  Just click anywhere on the webpage and start writing.  When you are done, you can either save your thoughts to the pen.io website or save it as a .pdf file.

Go give it a shot at pen.io/zen/ and let me know if you like this very simple way to jot your thoughts down.

The 3DS System Itself

The first thing you’ll notice, if you have had one of the other variations of the DS systems before is this one is a little ‘bit heavy in comparison.  It is nothing mind-blowing or anything, but it is a little noticeable.  I also keep wanting to pull the stylus out of the side, even though now it has been relocated to the back of the 3DS.  The buttons and controls feel really solid, not cheap at all.  Some people have said that the fact that it is a little ‘bit bigger than the regular DS Lite is an issue, but for me it wasn’t really noticeable.

The 3DS System Software Basics

Playing around with some of the basic applications and the system itself was almost as much fun as playing the games.  I am sure eventually the novelty of running around the house taking 3D pictures of things might wear off, but right now it’s just really cool.  I’ve also thought about using the 3DS as my defacto MP3 player too.  It does have all the functionality there – but not sure yet if I want to carry it in my pocket with me everywhere I go.  Right now it is more of a really expensive baby I am taking really good care of.

Here is a quick rundown of the built-in software:

• Nintendo 3DS Camera  – Not a replacement for your expensive digital camera, but it is fun to take both 2D an 3D pictures.  There are also a lot of interesting photo effects you an add too.
• Nintendo 3DS Sound – Your standard sound recorder and player.  Comes with a few audio effects you can add too – just in case you wanted to listen to yourself in a tunnel while talking into an electric fan.
• Mii Maker – Creating a Mii from your photo is really the draw with this application.  You also have a few more items to choose from in comparison to the Wii Miis, however facial hair is still rather wonky looking.
• AR Games – A great example of what the 3DS is really capable of.  I haven’t gotten around to playing with all the cards and features, but this one is great to use when you want to show the 3DS off to a friend.
• Face Raiders – I thought this would be stupid and I was surprised by how fun it was.  You pretty much turn around with the 3DS, shooting flying faces you input into the game.
• Activity Log – Here you can check to see how long you have played each game and some other interesting stats.  I really haven’t played with the 3DS long enough to get much to show up here.

I am sure over the next few days and weeks I’ll have more to say about the 3DS, as I get a chance to play with it longer.  Overall, I can sum up the experience like this.  It was the same sort of wow factor I had when I played the Wii for the first time.  You are kind of in awe of the technology – and then realize, they the games are pretty fun too.

Looking for a simple and shareable notepad on the Web?

Wrttn hopes to the the Web 2.0 service you have been looking for.  It has to be the most straight forward online notepad I have seen, but still brings home several features that make it really useful.

For example, if you don’t have your own place to blog about something you feel passionate about, you could write it on Wrttn and then share it with the world.

You can also easily embed YouTube, Flickr, and Vimeo content into your notes you create with this tool too.  Want to make things a little more stylish looking?  Drop in some custom CSS code by clicking the Options link, from the main page.

In what ways can you write your content up? Well, you can use markdown, textile,  plain text or html.  The choice is up to you.  To learn more about Wrttn.me, make sure you go check out the website.  If you find it handy, be sure to list some of your creations in the comments.

Having a timer can come in handy for all types of jobs.  Lets say you wanted to work on your novel for just one hour a day, or perhaps you needed to get up from the computer a stretch a little bit every 30 minutes?  The online tool, e.ggtimer.com is perfect for that.

An egg timer, for those who have never heard of such a device, is something that’s function is to measure a set amount of time.  Where do eggs come into the picture?  It is most commonly used to aid in cooking an egg in water.  What e.ggtimer.com does is it brings that classic idea to the Web.

The web site’s interface is simple.  In the text box, you simply enter your time you want to set it for, and hit the go button.  You can also set the time by typing in the time into the address bar, such as:

• http://e.ggtimer.com/2minutes
• http://e.ggtimer.com/1hour14minutes35seconds
• http://e.ggtimer.com/5years3months
• http://e.ggtimer.com/30 (when you just put a number it assumes seconds)

When the time is up, it will make a “dinging” noise to let you know your time is up. Filed in the bookmarks where I keep my other simple web application I love, e.ggtimer.com is possibly the best online timer around.

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!)

Facedesk, which sounds like a yoga exercise I do when I don’t get enough coffee in the morning, is that application.  Providing you with a stand-alone way to access your Facebook friends, this is the perfect tool to use if you want to stop using Facebook as a web site, and start using it as an online application.

Once you get it installed, it is just like any other time you’ve used Facebook.  You login, and do things as you normally would.  You can post updates to your profile, go visit friends’ pages, and interact with your little web community.

Using Facedesk in the place of another web browser tab or window will hopefully help you cut down on desktop clutter and keep your PC a little more organized. 

Are you one of those people who are just more interested in posts and articles on web sites if they are in list form?  If so, ListCamp wants you!  This new resource promises to be a new way to discover and share resources from anywhere in lists.

There is no real science here, it is a web site with lists.  Lists such as:

• Most Useful Firefox Add-ons
• The Best Beatles Albums
• Useful WordPress Plugins

Another nice features include the ability to vote a choice up and down, and also the ability to sign in using your Google account.  If you feel the itch to create a list (or just read one), visit ListCamp.com.

Want a new place to store your virtual notes to yourself?  Listhings looks to be your personal dashboard for storing notes.  The service is very easy to use and understand.  Click “Add” to add new notes and… yeah, that is about it.

Here is a little more about the web site application from the developers:

Back in the days, people used fridges to stick notes to. Nowadays, people are green and don’t waste paper on notes. Instead, they use Listhings – the free online tool for storing notes. You can use Listhings to store ToDo’s, titles of great songs, phone numbers, shopping lists, you-name-it. It’s very simple and straightforward. Everyone should be able to use it from any web browser.

It is a neat idea, and I am looking forward to seeing what they do with the project in the future.  If your looking for a place to store your notes, give Listhings a shot.

You can change the background color, add links, remove links, and re-arrange any links that are there too.  Want to sign up?  They use Google apps service, so you can sign in with your Google login information.  So if you are looking for a new way to keep a handful of links handy all the time – give SpeedyMarks a shot.

All you do is give it your login information for one of those three choices, give them your blog’s RSS feed and tell them how often they should look for an update to tell the world about.  Personally, I have been using Ping.fm a lot – to put my own work out there on all the various social networks I belong to.  This could save me the trouble of having to do so manually through Ping.fm’s web site.

You can sign up for free on Pingvine.com!