Category: ProductReview

Pinterest Secret Boards and Instagram Web Interfaces

Let’s talk about how storytelling and a sense of shared experience can make a brand stand out and achieve success. Look at the letter below from Pinterest. This is a brilliant piece of outreach that I’m sure every person with a Pinterest account received just like I did.

Hi, Virginia!
I had two thoughts driving home from the hospital with my wife, Divya. The first was, “I can’t believe I’m a Dad.” The second was, “I hope I can get our new baby, Max, out of that new car seat when we get home.”
During the first couple weeks, we started to figure out all the little things that are second nature for experienced parents: changing diapers, swaddling a wriggly infant, and doing every household task with one arm. As usual, Divya was a few steps ahead of me. When our doctor suggested we buy a humidifier she said, “Oh, I already have one!” When I was getting Max ready for his first bath, she pulled out a neat homemade bath kit, complete with a tiny towel, comb and toothbrush. I felt like I’d forgotten to read a secret New Baby Instruction Manual. In an exasperated moment, I remember asking Divya, “How did you figure all this stuff out already?!” She looked at me and and cheerfully replied, “I just follow other parents on Pinterest!”
Over the last year, there have been so many ways, big and small, that the Pinterest community has made my life better. I’m happy to say that I’m not alone. We’ve heard from teachers who use Pinterest to plan lessons, chefs who share recipes, and museums that pin their archives. We’ve also heard from millions of people who’ve been inspired to pick up an old hobby or try something new. It’s honestly more than we ever expected when we started Pinterest. We’re humbled to be part of such a positive, warm and creative community.
Today, we’re excited to continue this tradition with a new feature we hope will make Pinterest even better—secret boards. Secret boards give you a place for things you’re not quite ready to share yet, like a surprise party, special gift ideas, or even planning for a new baby. We’re testing out the feature by giving everyone 3 secret boards. You’ll find them at the bottom of your profile. We can’t wait to hear what you think!
On behalf of our team here at Pinterest, thanks so much for pinning, inviting your friends, and sending us ideas for how we can improve. Most of all, thanks for sharing your inspirations. With your help, we’ll make Pinterest a little better every day.
—Ben & the Pinterest Team

For comparison, take a look at the way Instagram announced that the mobile app was going to have a web interface. What they have there is well written and friendly just like the Pinterest letter. But Instagram’s notice leaves out one very important fact. The web is merely a display – the guts of the display and the ability to edit what shows up on the web all still happens in the mobile app. For a Flickr user like myself, it was hard to wrap my head around the idea that I couldn’t do anything with the stuff on the web except look at it and share it. You have to go back to the mobile app to do more. Knowing that in advance would have saved me some frustration.

I know the Pinterest letter doesn’t tell me anything about how to work with Secret Boards. Maybe when I get in there are create my first secret board I will discover hidden snares and fume over unanswered questions. But right now, I’m feeling like Pinterest won the +1 for good user communications.

Useful links: rvl.io, Windows 8, NMWIT

rvl.io, which is pronounced “reveal ee oo” is an online tool that uses HTML, CSS and some JavaScript to allow you to create presentation slides with nice transitions. You can download your finished presentation for offline use, or direct people to it on their site.

The RNIB in the UK did a very thorough analysis of Windows 8 in terms of accessibility.

I’m attending a New Mexico Women in Technology event this week. This event honors women in technology. Since I was a winner last year, I get to attend and helped with the judging for this years winners. The speaker this year is Valerie Plame Wilson, but the real emphasis is on the fantastic women who receive recognition as women in technology during the event. The New Mexico Technology Council also gives several scholarships to high school girls during the event. All in all, an excellent thing.

Useful links: Hacker vs. Maker, Social Media, Prebooks

Hackers and Makers: Language Matters is from Curious for a Living. She said, “Yes, language matters. Especially when we’re inviting community. What feels more welcoming to you: A hackerspace or a Maker Faire?”

NIce summary of how the candidates are using social media in the 2012 election. Do you think it makes a difference?

CSS: The Definitive Guide, Fourth Edition by Eric Meyer is a post about much more than the latest edition of Eric’s CSS opus. It’s about how books are marketed, sold, packaged, distributed and even conceived of as entities. As far as I know, O’Reilly is the first publisher to do something like this. I don’t think O’Reilly will be the last. Even if you aren’t interested in the latest CSS book, you need to read this post.

I tweeted about Eric’s post yesterday. He doesn’t completely share my opinion. Here’s a part the conversation Eric and I had then. (By the way, have you noticed how impossible it is to embed a complete conversation from Twitter? Twitter decides for you what tweets you want to include. This is a patchwork and not complete.)

 

 

 

Apple Product Rumors

On September 12, Apple is staging another event to announce the release of the next version of the iPhone – and possibly an iPad mini. The rumors are flying about the big reveal, but the thing I’m most stoked about is the possibility of an iPad mini. According to Apple Insider such a device would come with a 7 inch screen and be considerably thinner than the 9 inch iPad. Plus, it would be less expensive!

A new iOS release always brings with it a ton of cool new features. The way Apple’s system works is to make the new iOS available on all iOS devices such as iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. So even if there are no new devices like the rumored iPad mini or the rumored new iPod Nano, there will be exciting changes to current iOS devices as they upgrade.

To get ready for the newest Apple gadgets, you can find advice about when to buy a new iPhone at TechCrunch. Geek Sugar provides advice on how to prep an old iPhone for sale.

iPad Mini, Please

There are so many tablet devices competing with the iPad – Kindle Fire, Nook, Surface, Nexus, and more. Like anything that isn’t Apple, all the competing devices are less expensive. I’m crossing my fingers in hopes that predictions like Mashable’s statement that, “a device around $300 would hit the sweet spot for customers,” are true. Even better, Apple Insider is talking about a price between $200 and $250.

There are mockups and concept designs (such as the one in the image above) and much discussion about how an iPad mini would look. Is it going to look like an iPad, only smaller, or like an iPod Touch, only bigger? Daring Fireball parses each detail of the potential design. I want smaller, lighter, and cheaper.

Have you tried holding a iPad up in front of your eyes at a distance comfortable for reading a book? Those suckers get heavy quickly – much like the way a 10 pound baby parked on your hip can start to feel like a ton after a few minutes. Even my iPhone, which I use to read books, starts to get tiring to hold up. I like the bigger format, but not the weight. An iPad mini would be just the right compromise. And a much more affordable price.

Other Rumors

Other rumors talk about a taller screen on the iPhone, and about the possible resolution of the new devices. The rumors about a new iPod Nano are simply that there may be one.

Which rumors are you hoping turn out to be reality? Is an iPad mini on your wish list, too?

Cross-posted at BlogHer.

What’s in YOUR Address Book?

I subscribe to a daily newsletter from Netted, where I frequently find great apps I love. Sometimes the newsletter mentions an app I’m not interested in, which is fine – I don’t have to love and use every app out there. This week an email was titled Call Me, Maybe and was about two new address book apps. The two address book apps definitely interested me. More precisely, what interested me was how others would feel about them.

Current Caller ID screenshots
Current Caller ID screenshots from Google Play

The two apps are Current Caller ID for Android and Brewster for iPhone and iPad. They both do approximately the same thing. They aggregate all the information on a contact in your address book to include data from sites such as Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Foursquare.

Netted explains Brewster,

Brewster corrals everyone you know from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Gmail, and your phone’s contact list and creates a universal entry for each person, including all contact methods and a photo.

Besides putting a face to a name, Brewster uses information culled from social networks to help you use your contacts in a whole new way. It can remind you to call Dad on his birthday, compile a list of people you’ve lost touch with, and even search by hometown or occupation.

Netted describes Current Caller ID,

Current Caller ID takes that same information — like the caller’s latest tweets or their location’s current weather — and flashes it on the screen when you receive a call. The app also creates infographics showing how you communicate with each contact and what’s the best method and time to reach them — or avoid them.

The two apps received good reviews from users, from the folks at Netted, and from the press.

Call me old-fashioned, but when I put someone in my address book I want to call them, text them or email them. For good friends and family I may have a photo connected to the contact. My address book contains a lot of business contacts – some of them are not even real names, but a blog name with an email address, and definitely no phone number or photo.

Okay, fine. If I don’t want all that extra information on everyone in my address book, I don’t have to download the app. Easy peasy.

Except what about the other people who are using the app and seeing all that information about YOU in their address book?

I’m wondering what your thoughts are about these two apps. Have you used them? Are you excited to give them a try? Do they seem invasive or do they seem harmless? Are they too much information or just what you want to know? What do you think?

[Note: Cross-posted at BlogHer in a somewhat different form.]

Travel Productivity Tip: 8 Ways To Save Pages As PDF Files To Read On The Go

When you go out of town you might think you have to give up your blog and website reading until you get back. With the entertaining, helpful or interesting content out there these days, you might not be so eager to do that. I know that I personally like having something to read while I travel, and while I usually stick with books it might be nice to have a few blogs to go through. Just for those shorter trips or waits that wouldn’t give me enough time to really get invested in my book.

Not only is this a pleasant thought for traveling, but just for those waits that are part of daily life. Waiting for a prescription to be filled, or to be called in for a meeting. Even just sitting outside enjoying the sun while your kids play at the playground.

This is a reality these days, thanks to mobile technology like tablets and smartphones. You can take advantage of this by turning website pages into PDF files for reading on the go. This is a great way to increase your blog reading productivity and keep you up-to-date with Internet marketing news.

Here are eight ways to do that.

1. Google Chrome

Digital Inspiration PDF Converter

I have never tried this myself, as I don’t use Google Chrome. But Digital Inspiration created a quick tutorial that shows you how to do it. The gist is that you go to the page of your choice, click CTRL+P, and it will open the printing dialog box. From there you will be able to hit “Save as PDF” and it will create the file on your computer. It will also allow you to select the pages to do this with, which is convenient.

2. Print Friendly

Print Friendly

This is a simple to use tool that lets you put in a URL for what you want to have included in the PDF. From there you can delete portions, change the text size, remove or include images and even email the result to yourself or anyone else.

3. Readability

Readability

This app works by making a clean version that is easy to read of any web page for your mobile device. You can remove clutter and set it up so that it is easier on the eyes, all set to your specifications. Plus, you can save it for reading later.

4. Print What You Like

Print What You Like

Here you are able to cut out large chunks of content so you can put just what you want into a readable file. It is mostly for people to print, but you can save it into a PDF as well. It is great if you want a collection of prints that would otherwise be unrelated to a single web page.

5. Web2PDF

Web2PDF

A super simple program, this is similar to a lot of others. You put in the URL, it creates an editable file which can be saved as PDF. You can then save it to your desktop and email it to yourself. It is a bit more bare bones than the others.

6. PDF Newspaper

PDF Newspaper

One of my favorites, this is an opensource project from FiveFilters. It easily creates large PDF files by cleaning it up for you and making it into something easy to read. It has both a bookmarklet and a WP plugin for efficient use.

7. Aardvark

Aardvark

A quick to use cleanup plugin that works more quickly than perhaps any other similar tool I have found. It works with Firefox and I have never found anything that is higher rated for that purpose.

8. Anthologize

Anthologize

I use this one all the time. It is a standard conversion tool that allows ypou to put in the URL to make a PDF. However, you can select each post you want included, so you can more quickly edit content for the perfect reading experience. You can also add in other blogs to select more posts. It is one of the most popular tools on the web.

Conclusion

When on the go, it is nice to be able to read what you like. If you want something quick and interesting, try turning your blog or web favorites into an easily created ebook. These tools will make PDF files that are perfect for reading out of your home.

Guest Author Jessy is the travel blogger for Luxury-Hotels.com, the ultimate travel tool for picking luxury hotels on your next business trip.

At quick look at CheckThis: UPDATED

In the universe of single purpose pages, there’s a new site called checkthis.com that gives you a series of choices to check off and you end up with a web page which you can send people. The very simple tool allows you to either “tell, sell, ask, or invite.”

Here are some examples of what can be done with the tool:

check this

How is this different from Facebook events or Tumblr or Craigslist or PayPal or eVite? Well, you end up with a unique URL that isn’t part of Facebook or some other site.  As you can see from the examples, if you’re good with images, you can tell a good story or make a point in one page. You might find checkthis.com useful at some point.

UPDATE: Since posting this, a friend told me about Mozilla Thimble. If checkthis caught your eye, you may like Mozilla Thimble, too.