Adobe Lightroom 4

Adobe Lightroom 4 now in stores!
Lightroom is a complete photo management and editing suite, and powerful organizational tool for your photographs. Check out the new features.

5 Ways to Print Directory contents

If you've ever wanted to print a list of the files in a folder or directory, here are some ways:

Directory Printer for Windows 7
Directory List & Print

Directory Printer for Windows XP
JDirPrint

Article with more ways...

Pogoplug - create your own cloud

Pogoplug is an inexpensive device that you can plug into your router, attach a bunch of external USB drives and create your own cloud. You can access your files remotely, FTP, and share photos in password protected folders. Check out Pogoplug for remote storage.

Adobe Creative Cloud & Luminosity video

This is a mixed post of two tweets:

Adobe Creative Cloud Offers Applications, Services, Community - read more.

Working With Luminosity Masks in Photoshop - check out tutorial video.

Google Boost > AdWords Express

When a Google rep contacted me back in November 2010 to introduce Boost, the product seemed positioned as AdWords for Google Places, or paid Places. Now they're re-positioning it as AdWords Express to simplify the AdWords process for small business owners. Read more...

ICANN going beyond existing 22 TLDs

LA Times article about ICANN going beyond existing 22 Top Level Domains (TLDs)
At $185,000, it’s pricey, but then all sorts of domains become possible.

Partition Tool

Back in the day, you may have used Partition Magic... or more recently, you may have bought Acronis Disk Director or... you can download Partition Tool for FREE!

Free PDF Creator - Primo PDF

An 'organizing maniac' told me about this Free PDF Creator that she's been using for a couple years - Primo PDF

Join.me - screen sharing utility

Ever need to share your screen with someone? Or, in the case of tech support, need to see the other person's screen to help them with a computer problem? Check out Join.me

Amazon S3 for hosting static websites

I hadn't considered Amazon for website hosting until a colleague mentioned they have redundant servers on both coasts and offer dedicated IPs. For more info, check out Press Release: Amazon S3 adds new features for hosting static websites.

Diagram Tool & Project Management Apps

Gliffy - online tool for creating network diagrams, site maps, wireframes of user interfaces (GUI), flow charts, org charts, and business processes.

While looking for an Open-Source substitute to Microsoft Visio to create such network diagrams, I came across this article 10 Free Project Management Applications.

Amazon Cloud Drive & Cloud Player

News Release
Amazon announced the launch of Amazon Cloud Drive, Amazon Cloud Player for Web and Amazon Cloud Player for Android. Together, these services enable customers to securely store music in the cloud and play it on any Android phone, Android tablet, Mac or PC, wherever they are. Customers can upload their music library to Amazon Cloud Drive and can save any new Amazon MP3 purchases directly to their Amazon Cloud Drive for free.

Google Advanced Search

Here are some Google Advanced Search Operators & Features

Features
http://www.google.com/help/features.html

Operators
http://www.google.com/advanced_search

Google Enterprise vs. Microsoft Exchange

Back in January, I posted about Hosted Exchange. Now considering Google Enterprise instead. All thoughts are welcome.

Here's a link comparing the two from Google's perspective:
Google apps

Mobile Powerhouse

ASUS G53JW-A1     video >>
Intel Core i7-740QM
15.6" 16:9 LED Backlit screen (1920x1080)
1.5GB nVidia Graphics Card GeForce GTX 460M
500GB Seagate Hybrid Hard Drive w/ 4GB SSD Memory 7200RPM
12GB DDR3 1333MHz
2X/4X Blu-Ray Reader + 8X DVDRW/CDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
Backlit Keyboard
Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit

ASUS eStore

Google changes Local Search Algorithm

Google changes its Local Search algorithm to favor Places, i.e. business listings.

This is a big shift, especially for local businesses looking to rank well in geo-targeted search results.

Full article at searchengineland.com. The adventure continues...

Tablet Wars

Tech round-up of some tablet contenders. The Blackberry Playbook's screen is smaller than I'd like, but the camera, RAM, and Flash support make it real nice!
Full article at Engadget.

HTML5 Rocks!

Check out this HTML5 experiment by Chris Milk set to "We Used To Wait" by Arcade Fire. Use Google Chrome, and your real address for maximum impact!

The Wilderness Downtown

WinDirStat

WinDirStat - free, open source, disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool for Windows. It provides a visual snapshot of your local PC or network server's drives to quickly locate which files (and type of files) are taking up the most space.

Read more in Maximum PC article, "32 Totally Essential and Free Apps for Every PC"

Color Palette Generators

Here are some great resources for creating color palettes and finding color harmonies for design projects.

25 Popular Color Scheme and Palette Generators

Color Jack

Color Hunter

CSS Drive image palette

Color Scheme Designer 3

BONUS
Article on the Psychology of Color

Online font tester: Type Tester

Bookmarklets

Great article and resource on Bookmarklets at Maximum PC.

I really like the Bit.ly url shortener.

Google URL Shortener

1. Using Google's browser, Chrome, go to goo.gl URL Shortener

2. Install extension, which will new icon to Chrome for 1-click url shortening.

3. Go to any website w/ long url. Click on icon and Presto!
http://brendanbowie.blogspot.com/ becomes
http://goo.gl/X9N0

BONUS: To generate QR Code for camera phones, just add .qr
http://goo.gl/X9N0.qr

More on QR Codes

Google Cloud Print

Google Cloud Print - an interesting & ambitious goal "to build a printing experience that enables any app (web, desktop, or mobile) on any device to print to any printer anywhere in the world.

Trend Micro virus clean-up tools

Free virus clean-up tools by Trend Micro
HouseCall, CWShredder

Followed by System Information Collector (SIC) Tool

Thunderbird shortcut > Grouped by Sort

Email client shortcut for "Grouped by Sort"
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/2299

Sure beats beats View > Sort By > Grouped by Sort

Chrome - Open Link in New Tab

In Firefox's preferences, you can "Open a new tab and switch to it immediately." Here's how to do it in Chrome. "How to open new tab in Chrome."

Specifically, I like the tip about dragging link to tabstrip.

Total PC Defender virus

Total PC Defender is a fake anti-malware application that infected a client's computer. To remove, just follow the instructions by Michael P. on this Yahoo! Answers article.

To get the "bug" out of memory, I used Eset NOD32 Antivirus. Then finished the job with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

Memory upgrade

If you ever wondering if your PC or laptop needs or can support more memory, check out Crucial System Scanner tool.

Skype - conversation recording

Need to record a conversation on Skype?
Pamela is the "ultimate Skype add-on tool" for recording conversations for re-listening and catching all the details.

Convert videos for iPod and iPhone

Here are a couple of FREE transcoding utilities I use to convert videos for iPod and iPhone:

For PC, MediaCoder
For Mac, HandBrake

Virus & Spyware Protection

Single PC solution
AVG Free

Network/Enterprise level
Trend Micro
AVG Business Edition

File Sharing Services - how to send big files

MailBigFile
DropSend - Pete rec'd
YouSendIt
Rackspace
Rapidshare (integrates w/ Outlook)

Hosted Exchange

If you need to host Microsoft Exchange off-site, here are some solutions that Tom at Capital Computers mentioned:

Intermedia

GoDaddy - best pricing for Hosted Exchange

How to Create Content That Ranks Well in Search Engines

Read this article on Copyblogger, "How to Create Content That Ranks Well in Search Engines"

A/V Studio in Nepal

Jiggy G. leaves corporate cubeville to start Phoenix Studios in the foothills of Himalayas. Read about him in Nov/Dec 2009 issue of CreativeCOW magazine "Non-Linear Creativity". Here's a blog post by him.

The Evolution of Web Browsers

Here's an in-depth article on the Evolution of Web Browsers by Maximum PC.

Nikon D300s

Nikon adds HD video in the D300s. Check out the article at Popular Photography.

Photography Books

Nothing like enjoyable reading about photography! Just finished "Annie Leibovitz at Work" and I'm most the way through Scott Kelby's latest installment of "The Digital Photography Book, Vol.3" - totally indispensable!

Nikon flash SB-900

Bought Nikon's latest flash, SB-900, to go with my SB-800 for multiple lighting set-ups. Here's an image and article from Strobist about the SB-800 and SB-900.

The Candid Frame

My new favorite photography podcast The Candid Frame. Instead of focusing on gear, the host, Ibarionex Perello, interviews other photographers and asks them about their process. It's a wonderful insight into how they think and see the world.

Revo Uninstaller

Here's a great piece of freeware to uninstall software, remove programs and solve uninstalling problems. Revo Uninstaller works better than Windows Add/Remove Software, even scourging the Registry.

Post Notification

Wordpress has a plugin where people can sign up to receive posts via email called Post Notification. With it, you could turn your blog into a free email marketing machine!

Tyler & Partners - Jeweler's Block insurance

On May 27th, I launched a new website for Tyler & Partners USA - Special Risks Insurance agency that just opened offices in Florida and Virginia. They've been in the insurance business for over a hundred years, so it was a privilege to design and develop the site for Graeme Wright, Christopher Isitt and Christophe Rochelle.

Ultra Portable Multimedia Projectors

Need an AV Projector that will fit in your shirt pocket? Check out this article at B&H about Ultra Portable Multimedia Projectors.

Cross browser testing

Adobe releasing a service called Meer Meer for cross-browser testing that could put services like Browsershots.org out of business.

Meanwhile, check out Xenocode.com

HP's new workstation: Z800

Here's a press release to the new workstation from HP: Z800.

Professional Portrait Retouching

It's scary how prevalent and easy retouching has become. It used to take an expert like Greg Apodaca using advanced Photoshop techniques. But now with products such as Professional Portrait, retouching makes its way to the masses.

No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted. Check out Dove's campaign "Evolution" to see what I mean.

Tutorial on FTP set-up using Firefox

Here's a good tutorial on how to use Firefox's FTP client for publishing to your website.

Thievery Corporation on NPR

Rob Garza and Eric Hilton talk to the folks at NPR about the release of their latest CD, Radio Retaliation.

World Cafe - Jan. 8, 2009

Tell Me More - Dec. 4, 2008

Cool music player by Yahoo

Check out this music player by Yahoo: www.rollogrady.com
(lower left, click play).