I have some friends who do not like using bookmarks on the browser to read very long articles. I am often asked if it would be better for me to send them a PDF file of the article. Trouble is most automated tools do not simplify the design when converting from HTML to PDF.
With JoliPrint, which is a free online tool, I could create PDF file of content on any webpage within seconds.
Do try out JoliPrint, to download PDF files of your favourite articles online. This is specially useful to download manuals or tutorials. Do drop in your comments.
To remind myself of following up on certain tasks, I usually like writing things down on a white-board in my room, so I am constantly reminded about important tasks. This is a great way to remember things considering I am a tech blogger, I felt it is better to have a more technologically advanced solution. 🙂
As I spend most of my time online, I found Remindr quite helpful.
With Gtalk, you need to add the Remindr bot in your contacts and also follow the Remindr bot on Twitter.
Once done at the set time and date, you will get notified or reminded about what you needed to remember.
If you work online and use Gmail for your email, then you will know what it means to have many unread and unanswered mails.
Fact is someone might expect you to reply to them straight away but you might take up to 24 hours if not more. This is when you wish your clients or others knew about your email load so it sets realistic expectations.
Courteous.ly is a web service that allows you to publish your email load via a link.
The service works with Gmail and for first 12 hours after you sign up, it takes the email load as normal.
It also allows configuring and setting expectations like adding “[whenever]” in the subject line when the email load is light.
There is a link that shows people the email load. It is a good idea to show this link at “About me” page of your blog or with your email signature. It is also a good idea to share on Twitter or Facebook if you are really very busy.
Most times, a good strategy to deal with a lot of emails is to answer them as fast as possible within 24 hours. But sometimes, when you are back from a vacation it might be a good idea to use Courteously to set realistic expectations.
It also works with your Google apps accounts. Do try it out and drop in your comments.
A week ago, Yahoo! released their music app “Play” for Android based smartphones. The music player with features like song identification, smart shuffling, music sharing, etc. received mixed reviews from users. Some called it a hybrid of iTunes Genius and Shazam while some felt that the app lacked certain features that other players offer. Well, that’s the reason I decided to check out this app myself.
To start with, I was really impressed by the clean and simple interface of Play. It has a simple, easy-to-use interface and a homescreen with 3 basic options : Library, Shuffle and Identify. ‘
Library – As you all know, Library is the place where you will find your entire music collection. Like any other music player, this app too organizes your music collection based on artists as well as albums.
However, a unique feature about this player is that it integrates with Yahoo! Music news to provide you the latest updates about your favourite artists. Unlike most players, Play fetches missing album cover arts automatically.
Smart Shuffle – The Smart Shuffle feature of Play lets you create custom play-lists based on your mood. You can create a playlist based on a single song or even create playlists from the songs that you mostly listen to. The more you play, the smarter the song selections will be.
Identify – With the Identify feature, Play enables you to recognize the song currently playing on the radio, in a bar, a disco or even on TV. While there are many other Android apps available that enable you to do so, then why use Play? Well, compared to other apps in the Market, Play gives you an added feature. It lets you set the app in “Continuous” mode, which means it continuously listens to the music playing, takes samples every 30 seconds or so and builds a list of tunes. This can be really useful, if you want to know the songs that are playing in a club or at a party.
Highlights
Cover art – Automatically fetches missing album cover arts.
Artist News – Provides you the latest news about your favourite artists.
Built-in scrobbling to Last.fm – Automatically scrobbles the songs you listen to your Last.fm profile to track and analyze your listening history.
Social Integration – Easily send status updates about the music you’re listening to using Facebook, Twitter, E-mail or even text messages.
Identify songs – Identify a single song or a series of songs as they’re played.
Smart Shuffle – Automatically create custom playlists based on your mood.
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Disadvantages
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Insufficient music identification – Compared to standalone music recognition apps like Shazam, Yahoo! has a smaller library.
Lacks basic features – Basic features like equalizer and screen lock controls are missing.
Not suitable for Tablets – It is designed specifically for smartphones and doesn’t look good on a bigger screen.
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Conclusion
Well, looking at all the features, I personally feel that Play is a really good music player for Android. But it still needs to improve the music identification feature as well as include certain basic features. Other than that, it is really a complete music player for Android.
You can download Play for your Android device by searching for “Play by Yahoo” in the Android Market or from the link below.
We have contacts on Gmail, Facebook, Yahoo, MSN Live and more. There are many instant messaging software which allow users to manage these accounts from a single place.
Unfortunately not a lot of messaging services support Skype and that means we need to download the Skype application on our computers.
IMO.im is a nice messaging website which allows using Skype online without any need of downloading the application. It has even recently included support for using Skype Groups while chatting.
This is a great help if you have changed computers and need to quickly catch up with your Skype friends. Users do not need to download Skype application but can simply use it via IMO.
IMO does not require creating an account and we can simply visit the website and use Skype credentials.
Chromebooks which will run on Chrome OS, where all services will be via web apps without the need of software. In such cases, imo.im could be ideal for Skype fans as it also supports Facebook, Gmail, Yahoo messaging.
Do try out imo messaging service and drop in your comments.
Every one interesting in marketing to even design, likes to look up print advertisements online. I too find it useful and educational to learn how advertisers give out a powerful message from just a message.
The problem with searching for such print advertisements is that it is difficult with Google or other search engines. With Moat, I could search only for advertisements.
Moat search can be used only to search for advertisements online. Many of them are print versions which can be found on the internet.
It may still not have some local brands but it is quite good at searching for popular international brands.
If you are following a couple of brands and their marketing strategies, then it might be a good idea to search with Moat to keep up with the latest ads.
It also can be used just as entertainment, as advertisements always fascinate us.
Have you ever wished to write down a list or a paragraph and share it anonymously? Everyone loves to share a blog post but sometimes it is just about sharing something you write which is interesting but not significant enough to go on a blog.
Hashifyis web tool which allows writing quick notes and sharing them via Twitter.
Users can also share the link via a short URL from bit.ly on other platforms with friends. It also supports QR Codes sharing via QR Codes.
It also allows the person you share the link with to go ahead and edit the note. Once the note is edited, it can be shared as a new note. 😉
Next time you want to share a quick note on Twitter, use Hashify. Do drop in your comments.
Privacy concerns are gaining a lot of momentum recently with people being a little uncomfortable, about how most websites can retain and identify your IP Address. Many times a IP Address is used to show you relevant geo-specific advertisements.
I came across New IP Now, an online service that allows you to change your IP address while you one browses the internet.
Before using New IP Now, I looked up my IP details and got my usual IP address along with location being Mumbai, India.
Now visit NewIPNow.com, and look up your IP address and select one of the free IP Address options there.
So incase you are looking for a quick way to change your IP Address while surfing a website, use New IP Now. Do drop in your comments.
Cleaning up your Twitter follow list can be a tedious and boring task. There are many ways to clean up your Twitter profile so you can keep the timeline of tweets in check.
Most times we end up using Twitter lists so we can catch up tweets from account we really care about, but it is a good idea to curate who you follow from time to time.
GrimTweeper is an online service which shows up your followers one at a time for you to “Kill” or “Keep”. 😉
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GrimTweeper Features
The idea is pretty simple. Once users login with Twitter credentials, they can look up the people they follow one at a time and decide if they truly want to keep following them.
This way users can keep unfollowing every follower who spam their timeline. Sometimes it could be someone who does not tweet at all either.
This is not a group unfollow and hence might be useful to take a few seconds before pressing the unfollow button. I also think Grimtweeper is useful if you are following a limited number of people and not really useful if you are following thousands on accounts.
I wish there were a few more controls to filter the accounts being shown, which might have made it more efficient.
Have your ever wondered about a Facebook conversation or tweet you shared on Twitter, many months ago? I sometimes do wish I could look up old updates and tweets.
Searching for the link of a status update of mine or a friends from months ago is easier said than done. With Twitter, it does not even allow searching for tweet older than 2 weeks.
Social Searching is a service which allows users to search for old updates on Twitter and Facebook.
Features of Social Searching
Users need to authorize their Facebook or Twitter account with Social Searching, to enable search.
The Search is with done by a combination of your name or your friend’s name along with a search query to look up old updates and tweets.
Rahul Bansal, had once shared a nice update about the book “Art of War” on Twitter and I could easily look it up within seconds (image below).
If you want to look up old updates from your Twitter and Facebook friends then try out Social Searching. Do drop in your comments.
