Mac Mail - 5 Plugins That Will Rocket Your Productivity
I have previously covered timesaving features in the latest version of Apple's Mail client, but despite its improved user interface, search features, favorites bar and VIP folders, there are still missing features Mac power users could use to be more productive in Mail. Fortunately, there are several third-party plug-ins that enhance Mail and address some of its annoying problems or missing features.
Access, Create, and Share Your Google Drive Documents On the iPad [iOS]
Google Drive is similar to the popularly used cloud storage service, Dropbox, but Drive includes built-in document creation features that are missing in Dropbox. And though Dropbox integrates with dozens of third-party applications, Google Drive contains convenient document sharing and collaboration features that Google and iPad users should be taking advantage of. Chris Hoffman has already reviewed Google Drive for Android, and in this review I will cover the iPad version.
Be More Productive With A Powerful Clipboard Manager [Mac]
If you routinely copy and paste text and other items on your Mac and iOS devices, you will no doubt agree that Apple's default clipboard features are extremely lacking. Both the iOS and OS X clipboards only allow you to save one clipping at a time. Each clipping you make gets overridden by a new one. As a writer, I rely on a couple of third-party clipboard managers that help me stay productive in the work that I do.
How To Create Your First Workflow System In Alfred 2.0 [Mac]
Computers should be about getting things done faster and more efficiently. This is where the award-winning productivity Mac application, Alfred comes in. Using a few keyboard shortcuts, and/or keyword commands, Alfred enables you to quickly, among other things, find and launch applications and files, do various types of web searches, access text you saved on your clipboard with a simple keyboard shortcut, and more.
A Beginners Guide to Advanced iPhone Camera Features
A few weeks ago, we published a Beginners Guide To Using the iPhone Camera, which explains how to use the default features of the camera app, including the how to frame, expose and focus a shot, as well as how to use the flash, review your photos after taking them, and even how to snap a photo while shooting video. While there are lots of third-party photography apps for the iPhone, for many users the iPhone camera app is about as advanced as they want to get.
Slice - The Best iPhone App For Tracking Your Online Purchases & Packages
Keeping track of our expenses and purchases is easier when we shop online and use debit or credit cards, instead of checks and cash. No matter our best intentions, it's a pain to keep up with receipts and record purchases in a checkbook. Plus, based on my experience, I think we tend to spend our money more wisely when we keep a weekly track of where and how much of our discretionary money goes to non-essential items and services.
Create a Stylish Personal Profile Page For Videoconferencing With Meetings.io
I'm a fan of the online video conferencing feature Google Hangouts, not only for social gathering, but for nearly hassle-free online meetings. However, in my research for other similar services, I stumbled upon a perhaps even better, more elegant service found in Meetings.io. Meetings.io allows you to meet face-to-face with anyone from around the world within your web browser.
Beginners Guide To Using The iPhone Camera
If you haven't used the iPhone Camera app much, or if you’re a new user of the device, you may not realize just how close the app is to literally being a point-and-shoot camera, and it includes enough features for average shooting situations to make it nearly unnecessary to need a separate and dedicated compact camera.
If You're Not Using Siri By Now, You Should Be
Most of the commercials, jokes, and media hype about Apple's iOS voice assistant, Siri, have subsided, but I still run into iPhone users who don't take advantage of this powerful feature. Just the other day I had to actually try to convince my 15 year-old daughter about how she could set a reminder on her iPhone, by simply raising her iPhone to her ear, and telling Siri to remind her to read chapter 12 of her philosophy textbook, on Thursday night.
Create Elegant & Cool Multimedia Presentations Using Apple's Popular Keynote [Mac]
The best demos of Apple's multimedia program, Keynote, are the ones co-produced by the legendary Steve Jobs. Watch nearly any of his keynote presentations on YouTube, and you can quickly see how if used effectively, Keynote can help you create powerfully clean, well designed and animated presentations. Keynote can be as easy or advanced as you need it to be, enabling you to create simple and straightforward photo slideshows.
FaceTune Puts Photoshop-Like Editing Tools On Your iPhone
Thanks to a new app called FaceTune ($1.99, currently priced at 50% off), you just may be able to use many of the advance portrait editing tools in Photoshop on your iPhone. FaceTune is not a single-click solution to editing and enhancing portraits. The editing does take some time and skill, but if you're looking to do some major editing to a portrait, you may find most of what you need in FaceTune.
Take Your Group To The Next Level With Wiggio For Getting Things Done
I dread working and collaborating on a group project in which the team members insist on mainly using physical face-to-face meetings, paper handouts, and countless email exchanges. There are so many online resources that can make team collaboration easier and more productive, especially when a group or committee needs to create and agree upon scheduled meetings, share documents, and make important decisions.
How To Use ReadQuick To Speed Read Through Your Read Later Articles [iOS]
If you're like me, you probably pile up a long list of articles in your Instapaper or Pocket accounts that you intend to read later. But keeping up with the books I want to read, and job-related reading requirements, I have nearly given up on reading anything later. But I also know that I tend to be a slow reader, because of my habit of subvocalizing and highlighting text as I read. I have always been aware of speed reading techniques, but I have never got around to practicing them.
Easily Create Meeting Agendas Using Meeting Expectations [iPad]
Though none of us look forward to attending meetings, there are fortunately a number of useful online and mobile applications, such as AgreeDo, that make the task of planning meetings easier. All successful meetings start with a well thought-out agenda which includes a clearly defined goal and purpose for each agenda item. A well developed agenda can help you and your team members stay focused, and perhaps reduce the amount of time you meet.
Write & Publish Blog Posts With The Stylish New PixelPumper [Mac]
I've been a long time user of the Mac text editor, MarsEdit for writing and posting blog posts to WordPress. In fact, I'd fall to my knees in tears if I had to use the online WordPress editor to write posts. While MarsEdit does pretty much everything I need, a new Mac editor called PixelPumper looks like a very stylish alternative that is available for free in the Mac App Store (note - the app is free while the developers of the application are ironing out the bugs).
How To Create a Video Of Your Life One Second A Day [iPhone]
For the last several years, I've committed to completing at least one year-long project that requires only my time and discipline. Such projects include completing a daily creative self-portrait project, keeping a private online jazz music appreciation journal, and reading 50 books in 52 weeks. My project for this year is based on an app called 1 Second Everyday, which consists of capturing a second of my life for an entire year.
FlickStackr: Our Selected Best Of iPad For Browsing & Managing Photos On Flickr [iOS]
Though the photo and video sharing site Flickr.com has been overshadowed by Instagram, it is still a powerfully popular and useful site for photo hobbyists and professional photographers, as well as a worldwide gallery of some of the most beautiful photos ever taken. Flickr was launched and became popular as a website back in 2004. But now, probably the more convenient way to access and browse the site is on mobile devices like the iPad.
PDFStacks: Managing, Reading, and Searching Your PDFs Made Easy [Giveaway]
If you have amassed several hundred or thousands of PDF documents like I have, you probably have experienced the challenge of managing and accessing them in various folders on your computer. Since I have gone practically paperless in my day-to-day workflow, an application like PDF Stacks ($39.00) is one I should have started using a long time ago. We're giving away 25 copies of PDF Stacks for both PC and Mac. Find out how you can win one after the review.
Send Self-Destructing Risqué Photos & Videos With Snapchat [iOS & Android]
So you want to text someone a private flirty or goofy photo or video of yourself, but you know that images and videos can be shared and circulated on the Internet very quickly. Well it seems that a very popular iPhone and Android app called Snapchat might be a simple solution for texting your kinky photos without them being released to the wider public.
Reeder - A Classy RSS Feed Reader [iPad]
RSS feed readers are still the best way to access and manage your favorite website article updates and topical interests. And while I recommend Google Reader as the best baseline RSS feed manager, attractively designed Mac desktop and iOS mobile applications like Reeder for the iPad ($4.99) make the browsing and reading experience even better.