accounts

Productivity Apps

I clearly have far too many Productivity and To Do List type apps that I have used or am still using. I like to try out apps and I have to say that these productivity type apps are among the most frustrating for me. Some appear useful and I try them out, only to find that they develop no further and their usefulness is very limited. There are others that I like, then they fail and are shout down or sell to another company (who then closes them down). It is very difficult to find a truly great app that suits my own very specific needs.

I have been going through the ones I have used or still had accounts with and discovered that a good number of them simply no longer exist. Now that can be annoying!

Still, I have settled for various apps that I use on a more-or-less daily basis, so I expect I’ll be closing several more accounts very soon and sticking with those that have their usefulness in my own little world of value. These will often serve a specific function, while not meeting every single function I would like them to serve. Yet, that doesn’t upset too much.

In truth I find myself often returning to Google and the various apps they have available. Google Calendar is a very powerful web app which has become even more useful when using the iPhone app associated with it. I have about four calendars that serve various purposes. Using all the bells and whistles that come with the calendar app has made this a great tool for me.

Using Google Calendar along with apps like the new Lift app on the iPhone, and several others just about covers my needs in productivity apps these days. Still, my inability to say no to a new app I come across will probably always have me trying out more new ones.

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Movies & Social Networking

I have spent a goodly amount of time this evening trying to find a social networking/web application experience that will allow me to share what DVDs and movies I own, as well as sharing my reviews, ratings, etc. Try as I may (and have), I am yet to find a place that will allow me to do all of this in one place and that will share all that experience to my Facebook timeline. There must be a place – but I can’t find it.

I have tried Keepio and Bagcheck, but these don’t really do what I want. They are probably good for listing your items (not just DVDs and movies), though Keepio is not allowing me to add any more than one item at the moment for some reason. Bagcheck is way too public for my liking. So I have accounts at both, but I’m not likely to use them for this particular purpose.

I use Flickchart and Flixster, which have proven to be very good for rating and reviewing movies, but not so good for listing the DVDs and movies I own. I do like both of these sites and will continue to use them. I will probably use something like Listgeeks (where I also have an account) for listing what movies I own, unless I find something else.

One other avenue I haven’t really explored at the moment are the various iPhone apps, so I’ll do that next.

Anyone got any ideas – I’ll be grateful for that ‘place’ that will do it for me. Someone? Anyone?

So what started all of this off? It was buying and watching ‘The Grey’ last night – it got me to thinking that I should get around to doing this part of the social scene. My review can be found at Flixster – http://www.flixster.com/movie/the-grey-2012/ .

FriendShuffle

Friendshuffle is somewhat like StumbleUpon, except Friendshuffle is for following what your friends on Facebook or Twitter have been looking at via their links and likes. It allows you to share in the web surfing activities of your friends, via what they post on either Facebook and/or Twitter. Whereas StumbleUpon learns what you like by what you click on as being liked, FriendShuffle merely adds what you like to your profile, so that you can share it with further friends.

Friendshuffle can be a fun way of entering into what your friends are discovering on the web and then sharing that with others. It is also an easy tool to use. You simply log in with your Twitter/Facebook accounts and you can then start shuffling through what your friends have been looking at.

For more visit FriendShuffle at:
http://www.friendshuffle.com/

skinnyo

As I try to get back into Blogging on a regular basis again (yeah, I seem to be struggling with that at the moment), I thought I might use my daily posts on this Blog to offer up some links to some more web applications and social networking sites. I generally think that most of these are applications of some type or another, even though some of them will have a social aspect to them.

The first is skinnyo. Skinnyo, as the name probably suggests, is about getting ‘skinnier.’ It is an application to assist the user in loosing weight. Skinnyo gives you a personal weight loss diary that includes embeddable graphs and a photo history for tracking weight loss – which also includes a target goal that you can set and aim at.

If however you are unable to find the motivation to stay on track by being a private user of the application, you can also pull in friends and other users to assist in your weight loss efforts. This is done by setting challenges and/or joining other challenges set by others. This is where the social side of the application and community comes in. Of course there is also a status and news feed of others within your circle of skinnyo friends, so you can keep track of your friends weight loss efforts and share your own with them – setting up something of a support network.

As for showing others your weight – that doesn’t happen. Skinnyo will only show your differences in weight (that which has been lost – or perhaps gained). So no need to be too embarrassed by it all.

There is interaction available with both Facebook and Twitter accounts as well – should you wish to do so.

There is also a widget that is available allowing you to embed your weight loss efforts in a website or Blog (only showing the weight loss – not your weight).

Did I mention it is free to use?

Me? Well, I’m on my way loosing weight and to reaching my goal.

Check out the site at:
http://www.skinnyo.com/

A Ning Alternative

With Ning ending free social networks to focus entirely on paid accounts, many are looking for alternatives. Jabbster is a possibility. Check out the Jabbster site at:

http://www.jabbster.com/main.php

Evernote: Changes to Premium Accounts Make Evernote Even Better

I use Evernote and have a premium account to which I save all manner of files and notes that otherwise would clutter my life. I use Evernote as an archive to which I can turn should I ever need something that I have stored digitally there. It is a great service which I will be using more and more as time goes by. This is why I am very impressed with the latest improvements to the Evernote service and why I have decided to post on Evernote for my post today.

Evernote now has a ‘history’ feature, allowing premium users to view a file over time as it develops. A past version of a note can be downloaded just as easily as the current version of the note. These historical views of files are not added to the monthly upload limit that premium users have for their accounts.

Another upgrade to the premium service is that individual note sizes have now been doubled from 25 Mb to 50 Mb, which certainly allows for much larger notes to be saved and uploaded. The current monthly limit of 500 Mb of file uploads a month may soon be increased also.

It is great to be a premium account holder at Evernote.

http://www.evernote.com/

Great Free Web Host

For today’s ‘daily,’ I have a link to a great site that offers free web hosting with no advertising. It also gives you 5000MB of space and 50 000MB of free bandwidth a month. But it gets better still, as you can also have as many accounts as you like.

So if you have always wanted to have a go at building a web site, what a great opportunity to do so. If you want to have a look at a free site, I have set one up as a ‘portal’ for my online presence on the World Wide Web. View my site at:

http://kevinmatthews.zxq.net

Visit the free web hosting site at:

http://www.zymic.com/free-web-hosting/