Archive for July, 2008
For those us who desk jockey, day in and day out, it’s tough to stay focused on work all day long. A few of us get sidetracked to read personal email or do personal web searches in order to break the monotony of the daily grind.
Here are a 4 Firefox plug-ins to keep track of that time and stay on task. Nothing is worse than realizing that you just blew an entire day on surfing rather than working. Keep these tools close at hand to prevent any effects on your job performance.
1. MeeTimer 
MeeTimer is probably one of the most effective plug-ins for tracking time that I have found. MeeTimer will not only time your time wasting, but also can provide you a report where you spend your time to give you a better idea of how to properly make corrections. The thoroughness of this plug-in can truly assist in correcting time wasting habits. Warnings have also been placed to warn you prior to going to a new address or loading a new tab.
2. TimeTracker
TimeTracker is a comparable plug-in to MeeTimer in terms of usefulness. TimeTracker is much simpler, and focuses more on tracking your time, as opposed to providing direct reports. Still this plug-in offers some attractive additions. TimeTracker allows you to input “work” sites that should not count towards the tracking, so your clock will actually stop as long as you are on those listed sties. Time also pauses when you are taking a break from surfing, and the clock will provide you a daily report as to where you are spending your time. You can reset your clock daily or track an entire work week, depending on your needs.
3. LeechBlock
The LeechBlock plug-in comes at you with an interesting approach. It asks you to type in all the sites you want blocked. That’s right, it will block from sites, and it even allows you to designate days and times to keep them blocked from you. An interesting approach, but I would have far too many sites to include on that list. I like the approach of TimeTracker much better by adding the sites that you actually need for work, as those are sure to be fewer and easier to remember. It also tracks your time to provide you with an accurate view of where you spend your time.
4. Procrastato
This plug-in cuts to the chase! No fancy reports, no time tracking, it doesn’t even care if you like the way it works or not. Procrastato does one thing, and one thing very well. Once you input the sites you spend most time on, the plugin will monitor you very effectively. Spending more time than you should on any of the listed sites and you get smacked down with a massive alert informing you that you are wasting time and they are watching (not literally watching you but the eyes they show you are creepy). If that does not disrupt your time wasting, then you are doomed to waste time forever!
Photo Credit, sugu
ReminderFox
This neat little plug-in goes for simplicity. While not necessarily an official “to-do” application, I find it almost necessary for those that seem to forget the important dates. People that forget birthdays, anniversaries, parties, and other date based events, ReminderFox will send out an alarm or an alert to remind you of what’s coming up. This plug-in has no aspirations to be a full calendar application, but rather makes its home at the bottom right of your browser ready to announce the days you NEED to remember!
ToDo Cue (experimental)
ToDo Cue unfortunately was very buggy in my use of this plug-in. It relies on the user creating simple, let me stress that again…simple, to-do lists. Once installed a side bar will appear in both your Gmail and Gcal accounts with the lists of things to-do in priority order. I was only able to get sustainable functionality with the older version of Gmail, which did me little good as I have updated it. There are a lot of other tools that do the same with better results. This plug-in needs more work, but remember, it is still labeled experimental, just not sure if it will ever be ready.
Todo Reminder
I found this to be the plug-in with the most potential. Currently the plug-in is very effective with event reminders. Things like parties, birthdays, get togethers, anniversaries, etc. What I loved about it is that alerts not only come via email, but you can set yourself up with SMS alerts. If more than one person is involved, take it further by setting up group alerts. This will make sure everyone is on task and aware of what is coming up. I especially found the one mouse click addition through emails and pages very effective when needing to list something quickly. The site says further development is needed, but I think this little plug-in has a great future in the productivity field.
Delegate to Remember the Milk
A lot of you have heard of Remember the Milk. If you’ve not, no worries, Remember the Milk (RtM) is simply another way to create your to-do lists with functionality with both web apps and mobile apps. There are a great number of power users for RtM, and as such, this plug-in is very popular. For starters, if you follow the GTD (Getting Things Done) philosophy, then this plug-in will be very effective. A “remember” button is added to all of your emails for quick task managing directly from you email. No bothering with cut and paste, simply click and the message is tasked into your RtM account. Yes, it’s that simple!
GTD Inbox
GTD Inbox is a plug-in that tries to do a whole lot. Unfortunately in this endeavor it tends to fail on a l
ot of fronts. This plug-in completely changes the face of your Gmail inbox by adding the functionality of GTD (mentioned above). For hardcore GTD’ers, the layout will be very familiar with intuitive clicks to productively manage all of your information. Similar to the RtM plug-in, you have a button that will take your emails and place them into your task list. You have the ability to create labels, ticklers, and build the productivity method that best suits your needs. This productivity juggaurnaut is definitely not an entry level “to-do” plug-in and may confuse first time users of GTD. A little buggy with newer versions of Gmail, but useful if you can understand it.
There are more I am sure, and even more being created for Firefox 3, but share your favorite To-Do Plug-ins here and let’s all get more done.
Google Knol has officially launched and some already say it may be the Wikipedia “killer.” Google has defined the “knol” as a unit of knowledge. How long before this little item become a staple in our society’s day to day vocabulary? Webster’s anyone?
Google Knol is where YOU get to create your own “wiki” like page based on your expertise. The site’s definition is “an authoritative article about a specific topic.” For starters I’m not quite sure how authoritative an article can be if it’s written by the common user, but credential aside, there are a few aspects that may bring writers into the light.
For starters every Google Knol user is identified by their google email login, secondly, their posts are only editable by the user. Unlike Wikipedia where multiple users can change the same page, Knol relies on one editor per created page, and thus cuts down on the randomness of changes from others. Still it begs the question how long will it take before someone can game this system, and unreliable articles start to appear at the top of search results?
Currently users can create knols, but there are only a few to speak of. Trying to search for topics may prove less than stellar due to the lack of substance on the page, but I expect Google Knol to expand very quickly. There are those that dislike Wikipedia simply because the “everyman” can be an expert on anything as long as they create an account and are willing to spend to the time to edit another’s page.
Can Google overtake Wikipedia? Give Knol a try and share your comments here.
Google has once again taken another step in the right direction. The company has done everything from managing our email, our documents, manages statistics, mapping the earth, and now provides us even more detail with regards to directions. Along with driving directions, you can now get walking directions to any of your destinations via Google Maps.
When you plug in your start point and your end point you can change from step by step driving instructions to walking instructions. The site assumes an average of 19 minutes per mile, and may alter the route due to you being on foot. For example, one way streets are not a problem because you are not on foot, and any walking trails that exist may not cut completely across areas that would have otherwise been inaccessible with a car.
I don’t really see this application useful for locals. Chances are anywhere you wish to walk you probably already know, and any further, you might as well take car or other form of transportation. These addition definitely seems useful for tourists. Perhaps you want to map the distance from your hotel to a point of interest, or perhaps you’re at a convention and want a place to eat off-site, this little addition can make a huge difference.
I find it funny though that the beta warns people to “Use caution when walking in unfamiliar areas.” Kinda creepy, but a justified warning I think.
This feature is new, so the beta version may not be perfect, but despite it’s flaws, the addition definitely seems worthwhile.
Not that long ago I wrote a review for Firefox’s Fireshot, and downloadable plug-in for the Firefox browser. It’s a great tool while surfing online to capture and save items that interest you, but most effective with sharing with others. Jing is similar in that it will do screen captures, but this capture software lies outside the Firefox browser, so you can capture items from your desktop.
Jing was created by TechSmith, creators of SnagIt and Camtasia. I found the name a little awkward, but the application proved it’s worthiness by being able to capture screen shots AND video from your computer, and even share them directly from the same interface with little to no problems at all.
To start off Jing installs and appears as a yellow half circle at the top of your screen, this is your interface. The options show up as tentacled spheres extending from the main half circle. Whether you’re surfing the net, trying to record motions on your computer, or remember how to do something, Jing will capture it. A grid will appear with an x&y axis being where your pointer is. Once you’ve selected a start point you simply drag and highlight the area you want captured. It’s that easy, and you’ll always know what you’ve captured. Once you’ve made your selection, you have editing options to the side that will allow you to markup your capture similar to the tools that FireShot offers with their app.
Capturing video is just as easy, only you don’t get a grid. What you do see is a play/pause button and the time elapsing. You can mute volume if need be, but the more you record, the longer it will take to share with others, due to file size.
Overall Jing was a decent application with it’s uses. If you don’t already like the settings, too bad, because changing settings is pretty sparse when it comes to the program. Other than making selections on the functions you want Jing to have, there is not much altering you can do.
Jing offers online storage, and in celebration of their one year birthday, they are now offering up to 2 GB of storage plus 2 GB of transfer. Premium versions of the application will be coming soon!
Portable applications on a key-chain drive makes the idea of a portable office a reality. Whether you have a 1 gig, 4 gig, or even 512 mb, you can carry your files with you everywhere you go.
App-Stick gathers as many portable apps as possible and houses them under one “roof”. With various portable app sites available, some of them may lack what you are specifically looking for. With App-Stick, the site breaks down into categories to make searching easier, and downloading is a breeze. Like something specifically? You are able to comment on the apps you like or dislike most, and even rate them for future users who come to the site.
There is no special software UI to install as with the original Portable Apps program. Still the UI is not what you really want, though a nice touch, the real need is the apps themselves.
Visit App-Stick and get what you need for business on the go!
Twitter seems to be all the rage. I used to be a naysayer, but have found great uses for it, both for internal business and personal marketing and networking. Despite the scaling issues that plagued the program a month ago, Twitter seems stable thus far and gaining support in terms of users.
Here is a list of the top Twitter add-ons for Firefox:
TwitterFox: The most popular for a very large margin. The add-on places a Twitter icon at the top of your browser which can alert you when your friends update their stream. There is also a field for you to type your latest updates, preventing you from having to visit the site itself. Very handy for the busy Firefox user!
Twitterbar: An interesting add-on. Rather then take up valuable browser real estate, this add-on places a gray Twitter icon in your search and become active when you click on it. You are then able to post your message directly to your Twitter account. If you leave your cursor over the icon your letter count appears giving you an idea of how much more you can type. Does not give you status updates for your friends.
TwitKit 1.0: TwitKit places a side bar onto your browser which can be opened can closed at your request. This add-on offers tabs which breaks down your account by various categories to few specific information. You can type your updates and submit through the window, as well as view all recent updates by your friends. An aspect of this add-on is that you can customize it, though it’s a little restrictive.
Twitzer: Tired of the 140 character limitation? No worries, Twitzer offers you an opportunity to type what you want and post it. The add-on will take your text, summarize it, offer a link for your friends to click on so they can read the full text version. If you want to share more with less, then try out Twitzer!
I am an avid user of Firefox’s add-on Fireshot, especially since most of my work is design related. In my search for a Skitch like counterpart for the PC, Fireshot was the answer.
Fireshot is simply an add-on, not an entire program, which makes it’s ease of use appreciated. Once added to the Firefox browser, a Fireshot symbol is placed next to your search bar. Unlike other screen capture software, Fireshot allows you a multitude of options the first two being whether to capture just the viewable portion or the entire page.
Once captured Fireshot offers a bevy of tools to make edits to the screenshot. This advantage sets it apart above and beyond the competition. The capture can be edited to include highlighting, circling, adding text to point out information, and other such annotations. Numerous file formats are available when saving the captures (PNG, GIF, JPEG, BMP)
This add-on is most useful for testers and designers, but even more useful for those writing instructional copy. Photo inserts can now be marked up and labeled to further increase the effectiveness of the material.
Fireshot can be downloaded here!
It seems like blog directories are becoming rather numerous. I just recently did a review of BlogCatalog here, and now I am taking a look at Blogged.com.
Registration was easy, but not instantaneous, someone actually reviewed my site and then decided whether I should be added which is what I prefer. After placing some code on my site I was official, and in the first day my site was listed I received traffic. Google Analytics does a great job breaking down where I receive my traffic and I was shocked that Blogged.com worked so quickly. Definitely a place I recommend bloggers list their site. No promises that the same will happen, but what have you got to lose?
What struck me the most about blogged.com is the immediate breakdown of the sites in the directory on the front page. Users are provided well labeled categories to label their own site, but also to find others similar to it. As a registered user you can click on your profile and aside from seeing your site, you are also listed sites that blogged.com recommends you to view. A great way to network and find others like yourself.
Ranking was the most interesting 
to me. I don’t necessarily find their method to be accurate of a sites worth, but it’s a nice way to see if a site is active or has been dormant for some time. What blogged.com apparently looks at the frequency of the updates on your site and ranks it with a number. The higher the number the more active the site is, but the question becomes is the information worth my time? Is it relevant and well put together. I have friends that update their site three or four times a day, but their efforts are nothing more than to keep a diary of their day, not necessarily hard hitting information so to speak. Just my opinion though.
Users are allowed to write reviews and over time, as reviews are written and enough people have given their thoughts, a new rating is given to replace blogged.com’s rating. Seems a bit arbitrary, but I’ve not been with blogged.com long enough to really see this through. I’m curious to see how others rate my own site and furthermore, what the final outcome will be in terms of a ranking.
A social aspect of blogged.com is present, but does not differ than any of the other offerings from competitors. You are able to invite friends to your circle of favorites, share information through the site, and build a community around your own site.
The underlying factor in all this is simply to drive traffic to your site. Blogged.com does a great job of this, as noted in my own personal experience. Even if you are registered with other categories, it does not hurt to join this community. You might even find yourself enjoying the offerings of this well put together site for quite some time.
