by Scott on March 3, 2009
The Adobe Air runtime allows developers to create rich Internet applications that run from the desktop on Windows, Mac OS X, as well as Linux.
From the Adobe Air Wikipedia entry:
AIR is intended to be a versatile runtime environment, as it allows existing Flash, Actionscript or HTML and JavaScript code to be used to construct a more traditional desktop-like program. Adobe positions it as a browser-less runtime for rich Internet applications that can be deployed onto the desktop, rather than a fully-fledged application framework.
Adobe provides a marketplace to find applications that have been developed using this framework. Here are a few of the applications that I found looking through the productivity and creativity sections of the Adobe Air Marketplace. All of these applications are free.
1. Vertabase Timer
Vertabase Timer is perfect for anyone that has to track their time spent on specific projects. To use this application you simply enter the projects name in the Track Time On entry box (or select a previously entered project) and press the Start button. When you press the Stop button an optional note can be added to the recorded time.
Clicking the Show Time button allows you to view a breakdown of your time spent on each project. The time can then be exported to XML and CSV.
2. Color Browser
Color Browser is useful to anyone that develops webpages as well as other creative types that need to keep track of color palettes that they currently use or get inspired by. This application allows you to create a color palette as well as import palettes from outside sources.
The first palette shown in the screen shot below is the palette that I based my website design on for Smart To-Do List. I found this palette on ColourLovers.com. Colour Lovers allows you to export the palettes in a variety of formats, one of which is the ASE format which this application uses.
If you know of any other useful Adobe Air applications, I’d love to hear about them.
Updated on 7/9/2010
Removed an application based on feedback in the comments below.
by Scott on February 22, 2009
Recently I was given the opportunity to 
review the book Blog Blazers, by Stephane Grenier.
Stephane Grenier is a successful blogger as well as the founder of LandlordMax property management software.
The purpose of the book is to share the secrets behind the creation of a successful blog. The contents of the book were gathered by interviewing 40 bloggers. The bloggers were each asked the same group of questions. Here are a few sample questions found in the book:
- What are your main avenues for marketing your blog?
- What’s the most common mistake new bloggers can make?
- What’s the best way to make money from your blog?
- Which five blogs do you regularly read?
[click to continue...]
by Scott on February 9, 2009
I’m loving the new version of the Amazon Kindle. Here are the highlights of what I’ve read on the Kindle 2.0 so far:
- Released date: February 24, 2009.
- Price: $359.00
- 25% longer battery life than the previous version
- 2GB internal storage (approximately 1.4GB available for user content).
- Just over 1/3 of an inch (thinner than an iPhone)
- Weighs 10.2 ounces
- Can be charged from a USB port (this was not available in the first version)
- Wireless access to Wikipedia
Other Features:
5-Way Controller
- Used to select menu options or tho highlight text
Next Page Button on Both sides
Text-to-Speech Capabilities
- Reads aloud books, newspapers, blogs, etc.
Includes The New Oxford American Dictionary:
- Look up a word from a document you are currently reading. Just navigate the cursor to the word with the 5-way controller and a definition will appear at the bottom of the screen.
Auto Delivery:
Items such as periodicals are automatically delivered via the Whispernet network as soon as they are published. For instance, if you read “The Wall Street Journal”, the latest edition will be delivered overnight so you can read it with breakfast!
Clip Your Favorite Passages:
You can select “clips” from what you are reading and save it for later referal. The clips will be saved and can be transferred to you computer. It looks like this is only available for text (not images).
Add notes:
Take notes and make comments while you are reading. Any content on the Kindle can have notes added.
Convert Your Documents:
It doesn’t appear that PDF is natively supported yet. You can email your documents to an asssigned Kindle email address and the document can be converted. The file types include Microsoft Word, TXT, HTML, PDF, JPEGs, and GIFs.
by Scott on February 8, 2009
by Scott on February 3, 2009
A few weeks ago I signed up for a free account at Are My Sites Up?. I then promptly forgot about it. Today I opened my gmail account and found the following message:
I promptly emailed support at 1and1.com and it was back up within 15 minutes. What a great service Are My Sites Up? provides and for free! They also provide a premium version as well that adds a private RSS feed, Twitter alerts, and monitoring of up to 60 websites.
The screenshot below shows how easy and intuitive it is to use:
Oh, one other thing, when my site came back online I received the following email:
This service is so easy to use, there is no reason not to use it if you own your own website(s).
