Utilities
Looking For Privacy On The Web?
Sunday, June 13th, 2010 | Hack, Security, Tools, Utilities | No Comments
If you’re like me then you probably spend more time working on your laptop outside of your office than inside. This also includes surfing facebook on your iphone while waiting in line at the coffeshop. By now you probably already know of just how insecure wireless really is, but how can you ensure that no matter where you are, you’re safe?
Simple answer: a VPN service.
It acts as a secure connection between your computer or iphone (or any electronic device for that matter, including your boxee, etc..) and them, sending out requests to websites, email accounts, etc.. all through THEIR secure connection. Stops people from being able to sniff your connection, stops people from stealing your data, most importantly, it can also enable you to use service like spotify which are currently only allowing certain countries to sign up. Don’t worry, VPN services are typically cheap, so what you need to look for when choosing a VPN provider is the options and level of security they provide.
How many different countries do they have VPN accounts available in? What level of security do they use?
I’ve used a few different services through the years, even attempting to run my own via openvpn, but so far the easiest (and well, cheapest without losing security features) one has been overplay.net. They’re widely known for their strong level of anonymous/secure surfing not to mention their ability to access location restrictive TV content. Anyhow, they’re worth at least checking out. The service is only $9.95 a month and you get access to all their vpn servers spanning 20 countries around the world. Not to shabby right? Ohh, and not to leave out – they accept paypal..
Tags: Transparent App Development – the Panic Board
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 | API, Business, Mashup, Project Management, Tools, Tracking, Utilities, WebApps, computer graphics, visual effects | No Comments
While there are probably a good number of apps that I use on a daily basis, there are only a few dvelopement companies behind these tools that I actually have a strong admiration/nerd-crush for. One of these companies is Panic, creator of my all-time favorite FTP client and Web Development tools Transmit & Coda. On their blog they typically show-off upcoming features, status updates on various projects and just all-around random shit that they find interesting online. Trust me, while it’s definitely a company blog they’ve got a loyal following thanks to the interesting posts that pepper the typical product/marketing dev. updates. This is a prime example. They just posted a pic/feature-list on a new project that they’ve been working on that’s an easy-to-digest project status-board, or as they’ve called it “the panic board.” Primarily using AJAX this status board will give any team member privy to their internal network a one-screen update on where in the development cycles any number of projects might be in. Not only that but according to the blog it also incorporates streaming twitter updates, email announcements, the company calendar and even the local Tri-Met Bus Arrival calendar for employees who rely on the bus to get to and from work (hey, they’ve got an API, why not use it?!). The blog post then goes on to make any data nerd squeal with the admission that they’re using a 46″ Samsung LCD Video Wall Display to keep the team within eyeshot of the status board. Very cool.
Now by no means is this the first or even one of the first examples of global ‘status board’ type pages that have been setup for both internal and external use. One of my favorite examples of a public project status page is the one featured on the right in the header image, found over on the Culture Code company website. These are the guys behind the OSX & iPhone to-do application called “Things.” They’ve created a project status page in the form of an airport arrival/departure screen. What’s cool about this is as the user you’re able to see not only the status on various product updates, but also see who in the company is working on that particular issue and when they last updated the sheet.
Other notable one-page project update tools is one recently put in place by the Boulder office of ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, shown below.
It’s a quick way of seeing how far along any given project is in the office, sorting by account, due date, job-type, Creative Director or Producer assigned to the piece. It’s also got a status bar so if you’re across the room you can see at a glance whether or not something has already started (or is about to be finished). They apparently have this sucker projected on the main wall in the inner-depths of the office. Having been forced to deal with so many archiac ways of managing projects at advertising agencies, this is definitely a step in the right direction (if you’re a project manager/producer/in the traffic dept.). I’m sure the creatives will hate this visual reminder of what work they haven’t done yet….so bonus points are awarded there. What it needs though is some color, maybe even little avatars/graphics to help people find specific types of projects without having to scan the entire board…just a thought.
A Twitter Power Users Top Tricks
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 | API, Hack, Tools, Twitter, Unusual, Utilities | No Comments
Here are some twitter tools/tricks that you’ll probably never see in 99% of those ‘twitter lists’ out there. When you have so many applications that do either the same thing but with a different face or don’t really do anything at all, these are some tricks/tools that will actually help you stay productive…especially if you’re a Twitter/data junkie.
TweepML
Before there was twitter lists, there was TweepML. The funny thing is I still use this more than twitter lists because you can easily import/export your lists in csv format. Essentially its simple format designed to help share lists of twitter users. Plus you can auto-follow part or all of TweepML lists directly from within the site. two thumbs up.
TwitPic JSON API
This app was released upon the world by Remy Sharp when he wanted an easier way to pull out all of his uploaded photos from TwitPic (Their API only allows you to upload to the site, not download from your account).Source is available on GitHub.
Twavatar
If you’ve ever developed a twitter app that pulls a users profile picture you’ve undoubtedly run into the problem that occurs every time that they change it, all of a sudden the link doesn’t work and the photo’s gone! Well, fret no more because Damon Cortesi (@dacort) put out an appspot hosted permalink to be able to grab anyone’s updated twitter profile picture. Very useful.
Amy Iris – An AI chat bot for twitter. This one’s a very easily adaptable AI chat bot for twitter. The possibilities are endless for adaption into your projects. Check it out, it’s really a cool framework that they give you.
Now the last one isn’t a tool but rather a Twitter trick:
Want to download ANYONE’s previous 3,200 tweets? Easy! Just fire off the following curl command replacing where it says username with the desired tweeter’s name and you’ll soon have the last 3,200 tweets of theirs all to yourself. This one is also courtesy of @dacort.
curl -O “http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/username.xml?count=100&page=[1-32]“
TweepML – Share Lists Of Twitter Users
Thursday, September 10th, 2009 | Open Source, Tools, Twitter, Utilities | No Comments
Just came across a new service that’s been officially approved by Twitter.com: introducing TweepML, an XML based format for sharing lists of twitter user accounts. If you know what OPML is then you already know the concept behind TweepML, it provides a free universal framework for importing, exporting and creating twitter ‘groups’ that can be shared or even stored as a backup of important accounts. The main website, www.tweepml.org, also includes a free follow tool that helps streamline following lists of users via your twitter account.
On the site it has various libraries and examples available to aid developers in implementing TweepML into new or existing apps. Currently the most popular lists seem to be the ones with the largest number of followers. I’d be willing to bet good money that this is already being used by spammers and/or marketers to cultivate their own twitter accounts targeting various ‘groups’ featured on the site…but then again, almost every tool or platform that is useful has the potential for grey/blackhat usage.
Interesting new format, it’s definitely going to make twitter account sharing (not to mention account duplication) a lot easier!
found via mashable
Send out your business card via SMS with Contxts.com
Monday, March 30th, 2009 | Beta, Business, SMS, Unusual, Utilities | No Comments
Here’s something cool a came across the other day, it’s a service that will send out your business card via SMS message on demand. That’s right, for any time when you’ve either been caught without a business card or just want sure your number got entered correctly into their phone, this is for you. It’s still in beta so features like having your own user profile are not yet enabled, but the good news is that it’s free while they’re still working out the kinks.
Here’s how it works, you setup whatever information you’d like to be part of your digital ‘business card” and then you’re done. Really, that’s it to participate in this program. And it’s free.
To send someone your business card via SMS, you either tell them to send a txt with your username to 50500 or you can do it yourself by texting “send 3034759204” to 50500 with the 3034759204 being the your new friend.
I can’t imagine sending a potential client or business partner this as a way of contacting me after our initial meeting, but as far as getting your phone number and a brief self-written bio into someone’s phone, this could be great for any after-hours networking.
go check it out for yourself while it’s still free – http://contxts.com
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