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Weekly Kickass Web App – Windows Live Mesh

Megalongcat — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:53:52 +0000

After this week, the weekly kickass web app will be put on hiatus, and you will merely be bombarded with them when the time calls for it. This week I’ve decided to write a review about Windows Live Mesh. It’s hard to find good reviews on anything related to Microsoft or MSN, but I hope to change that tonight.

Windows Live Mesh is an online web application which allows the sharing of files between multiple computers, and what makes it different than other online storage applications is that it allows the syncrhonization between multiplie media devices. For example, you can sync up files between your PC, Mac, iphone, Blackberry, and almost any other media platform. Windows Live Mesh prides itself on being the best web application for:

”Unified Device Management” – enabling your devices to report into a common service, for status, for health, or to report their location.
”Unified Data Management”- or the transparent synchronization of files, folders, documents & media, the bi-directional synchronization of arbitrary feeds, of all kinds, across your devices and the web.
”Unified Application Management” – for centralized web-based deployment of apps across the devices you own.
“Centralized Management” – where you could configure and personalize your devices and remote control into them from just about anywhere.

And from the moment I started using it, I found that the software wasn’t that far off from its ideals.

When you click the large call to action button in the middle of your screen it brings you to a desolate page devoid of..well..anything. You start yourself up by clicking “Creative New Folder”, name it, and right away you can start loading files. If you have Vista or a Vista knockoff you’ll notice that it looks a lot like its File Browsing system. And since it looks just like it, you assume that it can operate the same. To test this out, I went ahead and tried veiwing the fules I uploaded as thumbnails. However, to do this I had to install Microsoft Silverlight.

I had been hearing a lot about Silverlight but I never paid it much attention. Upon installing the software I found something interesting:

It functions just ike Vista! I was particulary excited because I can easily upload videos, flash movies, and other animation files and view them right there on the web without installing anymore software. I also didn’t have to wait for a conversion time of the video, it would just play right there the moment I uploaded. (If only Vimeo could learn how to do that). If you’re looking for a way to keep lots of files between you and your fellow bloggers, try Windows Live Mesh out, it makes for a great online content management system and it’s easy to use.

Weekly Kickass Web App x 2! Backboard vs Bento

Megalongcat — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:49:51 +0000

Creative Fluff is coming at you with a Holiday Special: We’re tossing out two weekly kickass web apps in just one week! That’s a lot of awesomeness, I know, so just calm down and bear with me. I’ve made things easy by finding two web applications that are similar enough for comparison. No need to thank me now, just sit back and lets examine BackBoard and Bento. The first application we will discuss is Backboard, which at first seems like any other online project management software, but on closer inspection it’s actually a tool for people to review your work, leave comments, and offer advice. The second unique web app is Bento was is a great tool for freelancers to keep track of projects and invoices.

Backboard is a relativily new application which sets itself out to be an: ”easy [way] to securely collect feedback and approval on documents, presentations, graphics, and websites.

Use it with your team in the office or around the world. There are no meetings to schedule and Backboard handles all of the coordination for you.” Backboard makes a great place to have virtual meetings and get feedback and I figured the best way to see just how great the software was would be by testing it out. As most of you know I launched Megalongcat.com about a month ago so that Creative Fluff would be spared of my rants; so I decided lets test out how good it is at managing my super awesome game-plan for marketing Megalongcat.

There are some issues that are easily overlooked. You can set Backboard to take a screenshot of a website if that’s what you’re designing, however the script that takes the picture can sometimes mess up and it reads the code on the page wrong and re-creates the page wrong. Notice the two “feedback” buttons in the screenshot. There should only be one. Aside from the simple quirks of any online application, I found Backboard to be really streamlined and efficient. I could add a list of people via email addresses to review my work and leave comments. There was even a pen tool so that a person could mark up the page (with a red pen, get it?) and leave comments on why they did. However, all of this falls apart if you don’t have the proper personal file organization to even get work up on BlackBoard to review. That’s where Bento Comes in.

Bento is a file organizational software platform that has it built in to pretty much organize anything you might need, here are some examples:

Address Book
Animal Stats
Article submissions
Artwork
Assets
Book Characters
Buddies
Chat Dictionary
Classes

The only gripes that I have with Bento are that it is only available MAC OS platforms, and that it’s a solid framework which doesn’t allow for excessive amounts of custimization. However I strongly reccomend Bento for Mac users who don’t want to bother with the nuts and bolts of a program and just get the files in order. If you haven’t looked them up already check these two programs out at:

http://www.getbackboard.com/

http://www.filemaker.com/products/bento/overview.html

Weekly Kickass Web App – Action Method

Megalongcat — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:49:23 +0000

Action Method – Online Project Management software for when Sticky Notes aren’t Enough.

That’s what the tagline for Behance’s online project management software called Action Method. The software claims to be a “radical approach to productiviity and project management”(ActionMethod.com) both online and offline. Therein lies one of the most interesting features: the fact that whether I’m on the go or at home toiling away, I can access my projects at any given time and update them with where I am on a project. Let me tell you being a designer means at any given moment there’s 1000 projects that you have to keep track of.

After making a free account you set up your project based on the following factors:

ACTION STEPS are tasks that need to be completed. Each Action Step should start with a verb: “Call Y,” “Follow up with X,” “Buy a gift for Z.”

REFERENCES are notes, links, files, sketches – any information related to a project that gives context to your Action Steps.

BACKBURNERS are the brilliant ideas that you want to come back to later, but are not yet actionable.

DISCUSSIONS enable you to manage ongoing conversations across all of your projects with anyone that works with you. All relevant communications (shared documents, solutions to problems, feedback, decisions) are in one place.

EVENTS are the key occasions/meetings/milestones/etc toward which you (and your team) are working. Events can be used to coordinate deadlines for Action Steps. (ActionMethod.com)

After making my own account I found that although very useful and true to the name of being creativly functional project management software, Action Method falls prey to the learning curve that is sure to plague less tech-savvy designers or business people. Despite the learning curve, Action Method has enough foresight to provide plent of information via text and video based tutorials and an extensive FAQ section. If you need new software, or you are just starting out with project management, give ActionMethod a shot.

Weekly Kickass WebApp: Friendfeed & Twirl – Twitter’s Stalker Replacement

Megalongcat — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:43:45 +0000

Before even talking about this week’s kickass web application, lets talk about what makes it so especially awesome. Most kickass web apps come not from invention, but from innovation and FriendFeed is no different. Twitter, perhaps one of the most widely used microblogging tools has indefinitely been filled to capacity and we’re starting to see scene girls from Facebook (who came from myspace) pour into our tweets and @replies leaving us designers and creative individuals with a bitter taste in our mouths. In order to make life easier to deal with in regards to Twitter, there was an amazing innovation. Why not just let us just have multiple microblogging and social networking streams flowing through one application. Twirl and Friendfeed do exactly that.

Twirl is actually a program developed on the Adove AIR Platform (Guess adobe is getting pretty serious). Twirl describes its main features as such:

runs on both Windows (2000/XP/Vista) and Mac OSX
connects to multiple Twitter, laconi.ca, Friendfeed and seesmicaccounts
notifications on new messages
shorten long URLs (using snurl, twurl or is.gd)
cross-post twitter updates to Pownce and Jaiku
post images to TwitPic
search tweets using Twitter Search and TweetScan
timeline filtering
color schemes

As you can see it’s got what it takes to make stalking easier and Twitter a little less trendy. The only gripe I have with Twirl is that it’s directly related to Twitter. Friendfeed on the other hand, is something new unto itself.

FriendFeed talks about itself as a place where you can:

“invite some friends, and get a customized feed made up of the content that your friends shared — from news articles to family photos to interesting links and videos. FriendFeed automatically imports shared stuff from sites across the web, so if your friend favorites a video on YouTube, you get a link and a thumbnail of the video in your feed. And if your friend likes a news story on Digg, you get a link in your feed. FriendFeed makes all the sites you already use a little more social.”

Friendfeed is nice because it allows for direct embedding into things such as iGoogle so there’s no need to install any sort of software to your desktop. It just needs access to your other social networking applications and you’re good to go. Imagine it as a combination of Feedburner, Wordpress, Twitter, and Twirl. You end up with Friendfeed. Give both of the applications a go if you’re looking for something different ot manage your blogging or social bookmarks. Enjoy!

Weekly Kickass Web App – OpenFilm

Megalongcat — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:36:51 +0000

“Openfilm is changing the world of online video entertainment. Whether it’s an animated short, comedy, documentary or other type of film, we are THE source for the highest quality video content on the Web!”(Openfilm.com)

Didn’t even have to stumble this website; as such I’m not even sure how I came about it but I’m elated that I did. Open film is online video sharing website which gives talented animators, filmmakers, and directors a voice in the social media sphere. The word talented is highlighted because places like YouTube promote repetition and idiocy whereas OpenFilm creativity, innovation, and community.

“Openfilm is focused on ‘user-generated films’ – original, high-quality live-action and animated videos with high production values and artistic merit, from shorts and web series to feature-length films. The site is closing the gap created by sites where anyone can upload anything and sites that primarily showcase Hollywood studio productions.” (Openfilm.com)

OpenFilm opened officially (though it still says in Beta like Google does) and since then has accumulated over 1,300 high-quality creative videos and animations. OpenFilm prides itself on the resolution and quality of all of the videos on their website and not only implement a high-definition video player but also give each video a thorough screening process before posting videos to their website. OpenFilm offers users visually appealing profile pages where users can connect with one another and keep updated with videos as authors add them to the website.

The website showcases a series of Channels based on categories created by the website publishers. The website is broken down into subject areas based on the people uploading the videos: animators, comedians, directors, film festivals, film schools, and musicians.

The site showcases a fast-growing collection of high quality live-action and animated films displayed in high resolution. Openfilm provides a venue for users to watch premium video content, as well as for filmmakers to exhibit their works, and to enjoy a full-featured, social networking forum between viewers and creators.

OpenFilm offers its users the ability to take their videos on their website and send them to employers, contests, and contests without worrying about any judgment being based on the quality and resolution of the video (like they would with Youtube or any other low-resolution flash based video sharing site).

“Openfilm is focused on ‘user-generated films’ – original, high-quality live-action and animated videos with high production values and artistic merit, from shorts and web series to feature-length films. The site is closing the gap created by sites where anyone can upload anything and sites that primarily showcase Hollywood studio productions.”(Openfilm.com)

If any of you reading this article are into MotionGraphics, Cinematography, or Filmmaking, check out OpenFilm.com , make an account and upload your work!

Weekly Kickass Web App – Mix Turtle

Megalongcat — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 06:03:40 +0000

Megalongcat reporting in for /b…hello everyone! It’s your favorite writer at Creative Fluff who’s decided to drop the weekly kickass web app. And for those of you that constantly read our blog, I know that we’ve never done a weekly web app but we’re starting tonight! The web application we’ve chosen tonight based on a personal late night bias that I have while drinking coffee, and that bias is anything that provides me with good music to keep me company. And since Songza is becoming a little too crowded I’ve made it a point to provide you guys with something better: Mix Turtle.

Mix Turtle is an online Music search engine that was released (I believe) in October and provides a web/browser based system for users to peruse their favorite songs and create relevant playlists according to their personal preferences. Where Mix Turtle succeeds and what sets it apart from something like Pandora and Songza is that not only is it free to use, it doesn’t suffer from the same server hiccups as Songza (youtube always seems to crap out when Songza is querying it for songs for reasons I can’t fathom). It’s managed to deliver high quality streaming music at relativily quick speeds on top of providing me with diverse song results. For anyone who listens to music and hates dealing with copyright laws and downloading issues, give it a go. You can check out the website at: Mixturtle.com