Feel Alerts Instead Of Hearing Them: Set a Custom Vibration For iPhone Alerts
From experience, not an awful lot of people seem to realise it but the iPhone has support for custom vibrations. It might not be the most groundbreaking of features, but if you’re hard of hearing or just a sucker for silent mode then custom vibrations are a nice feature to have access to. In addition to the selection of inbuilt vibration patterns to choose from, there is also the option of creating your own from scratch.
How To Setup Free SMS Alerts When Your Website Is Down
Many services offer website uptime monitoring and SMS alerts when your website goes down, but most of them charge money for this service. Using a clever Google Docs trick and the SMS capability built into Google Calendar, you can quickly set up free text message alerts when your website goes down. This script will try to connect to one or more websites every five minutes. If it can’t connect, you’ll receive a notification by email and text message so you can deal with the problem immediately.
FollowShows Helps You Keep Track Of Your Favorite Shows, Offers RSS & iCal Feeds
Find out when the TV shows you care about air. Whether you want to know when to tune in live or or know when your shows have aired so you can find them online, FollowShows is an aptly-named website where you can quickly check to see a schedule of only shows you choose to follow. Even better, FollowShows offers you both a custom iCal calendar and RSS feed for keeping track of your favorites.
See New Gmail Messages In Your System Tray With Google Notifier For Gmail
While Google’s official Gmail Notifier for Windows is a bit old these days, it’s still one of the email programs we list on our Best Windows Software page. Many of us live in the browser and can get by with a browser extension for checking Gmail, but Gmail fans that don’t leave a browser open all the time will find a lot to like in the Gmail Notifier. As our Best Of page says, it’s just “simple and handy.”
8 Tips For Making Great Use Of The OS X Notification Center
With Mountain Lion came the introduction to the desktop of the familiar Notification Center, ported from its iOS origins. It’s brought even more unity between the desktop and mobile OS, and essentially replicates functionality that’s been available with third party applications for a few years now. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s surprisingly customizable (for an Apple product).
4 Handy Services To Get Your Online Life Under Control
We're subscribed to so many newsletters, and are members of a countless number of services and social networks, and usually our email accounts are always the first ones to get bogged down with a flood of messages we tend to ignore. Add to that the way we grant third party apps permission to our social media accounts left and right, without really keeping track of who has access to what.
Indicator Remindor Lets You Set Up Reminders For Anything [Ubuntu]
Set up regular reminders to do things on Ubuntu, or set up an alarm for later today. Whether you want to remember to let your cat out of the swimming pool today around 3 or pick up the dog from his job every weekday at 6, the oddly-spelled Indicator Remindor (yep, with an "o") can help you out by playing a sound, displaying a notification or even running any command.
Facebook Tip: How To Disable Close Friends Notifications Or Remove Friends From The Close Friends List
Facebook makes it very easy to add friends to the list from the top of the news feed, but it’s not as easy removing them. After you’ve figured it out it’s not complicated at all, but finding it among all of Facebook’s different features can take some time.
Why Do Apps Nag Me to Update & Should I Listen? [Windows]
Software update notifications seem like a constant companion on every computer. Every app wants to update regularly, and they nag us with notifications until we give in and update. These notifications can be inconvenient, especially when apps pester you with them while you'e busy, but keeping your installed applications updated is important for a variety of reasons – especially security.
How To Be Warned Of Impending Hard Drive Failure
Don't let a dying hard drive on your Mac catch you by surprise. Be warned before anything happens to your precious data. SmartReporter is a free application for your Mac that can warn you of hard drives problems, thanks to S.M.A.R.T. data. This gives you a heads up, because errors on a hard drive can mean problems are coming soon.
Review All Of Your Notifications On Your Ubuntu Desktop [Linux]
Do you think you're missing too many notifications on your Ubuntu computer? Then keep a running list of them all in your system tray, ensuring you'll never miss a single one. An easy-to-install applet gives you a list you can look over and clear whenever you want, similar to the tray on Android devices and the notification center on Macs running the upcoming Mountain Lion version of OS X.
Use These Websites To Save Ridiculous Amounts Of Money On Your Next Outdoor Equipment Purchase
This time of year is when you can pick up some of the craziest deals on the best gear. Retailers are looking to unload last year’s merchandise to make room in their warehouses for new clothing and equipment. The best place I know of to get deals is through the network of sites owned by Backcountry.com.
Follow Your Favorite Teams With Score Alarm [Android 2.2+ & iOS]
You have to admit, some of us are die-hard sports fans. Nothing is wrong with this, and there are plenty of tools to help out with your sports cravings. However, not all apps are easy to use, and others are plainly not worth your time. So what app is? Give Score Alarm a shot.
5 Facebook Notifications That I Can't Stand
We recently talked about an easy way to clear up email notifications, but that doesn't mean Facebook notifications themselves aren't still a problem. These notifications are great when they actually pertain to you and are relevant to what is currently going on in your life, but sometimes they simply don't. It gets really annoying, and yes... this is all silly.
Get Desktop RSS Update Notifications With Feed Notifier [Windows]
I work online, and when the Internet is your workplace then you know things move fast. You've got to keep up with trends and you've got to be on the ball or you might miss out on opportunities, excitement, or (in my case) money. Feed Notifier does a fantastic job of delivering RSS notifications more effectively than any software I've used. It doesn't matter if you're an entrepreneur or just someone who likes to keep up to date with the news.
5 Distracting Desktop Notifications & How To Turn Them Off [Windows]
When you are working on a computer, it takes a fair bit of will power to resist the attempt to multitask. But even if you manage to restrain yourself, many programs manage to throw in distracting notifications that will divert your attention. Especially after setting up a new computer or re-installing, it can be a pain to track down the common offenders and turn off annoying focus killers.
Facebook Messenger For Windows Leaks & Then Released Officially [News]
Facebook Messenger for Windows, which has apparently been in the oven for some time, has leaked to the web earlier this week. Facebook’s way to deal with this crisis was to officially release the app for download without further delay. Available for Windows 7 only at this time, it is a way for you to stay connected to Facebook chat, updates and news ticker, without having to leave your browser open.
Google+ Receives Stream Control, Improved Notifications & More [News]
The holidays are here, and that means a lot of people are spending time on social networking sites spreading holiday cheer - and desperately trying to avoid relatives. If Google+ is your network of choice, you’ll likely notice that they’ve added a couple new features. Perhaps the most important is the new “volume control” added to your streams.
8 Top Hurricane Tracking Websites on the Web
Hurricane tracking websites are especially important during the hurricane season. For individuals, it could serve as a caution when planning vacations or packing up with essential supplies. For example, the vacation hotspot of The Bahamas fall slam bang in the middle of a few hurricanes now and then. Keep an eye on the storms with the help of these hurricane tracking websites.