Month: February 2010

Whether you’re a tech guru who knows your way around your computer better than the company that built it, or a novice just getting acquainted with your system, LookInMyPC is a free app you’ll want to download and run at least once, even before you need its diagnostic help. It’s like a big verbal X-Ray of your PC, detailing everything from the brand of network adapter you have to the number of user accounts on your system.

Data Crow doesn’t just catalog your movies with IMDB look-ups, organize your MP3s and CDs with discographies, or handle pictures. It handles all three, plus contacts, software, books, and much more, and runs on any system.

Data Crow is huge, and can be very intimidating on first boot-up—there are menus upon menus, and it’s not immediately obvious how you drop your stuff into this app. Thankfully, there’s a beginner’s wizard that pops up on first using the app—which can be re-launched from the Help menu if you lose track of it—that walks you through adding, tagging, and managing your media.

Once you get the hang of adding your stuff, you’ll start seeing some of the cross-indexing and search powers that Data Crow provides. There are lots of web hook-ins to help you grab cover art and details for your media off Amazon.com and other online sources, and a good number of import tools to save you time if you’ve already done some cataloging in another app.

You’re pinging somebody over email right now, but they’ll probably need a reminder or follow-up in two days. CC twodays@followupthen.com, and if that person hasn’t responded yet, they’ll be automatically re-pinged 48 hours from now. It’s a neat service, and it’s free.

That’s the main way FollowUpThen works: CC a message that needs a second push to an address like 5hours, 2days, 1week, or even 10minutes@followupthen.com, and if your recipient doesn’t reply (with FollowUpThen as one of the addressees) before your time period is up, the original message is re-pushed by FollowUpThen.com, with a little email graphical tweak, seen above, and a notice that FollowUpThen is acting on your wishes.

If you want to handle the second notice yourself, add the @followupthen.com timed address to the BCC field, and it will only get back to you, with a reminder of what you sent. You can also send a message directly To: followupthen.com, and your reminder is pushed back to you at the time you specify.

Career blogger Penelope Trunk carries a 2007 article from the Harvard Business Review with her everywhere she goes. The article, called The Making of an Expert, discusses the reality of expertise, which, simply put, is this:

Being an expert takes time, not talent.

Chrome/Firefox/Safari/Opera: Want proof that HTML5 is the way of the future? Try Sketchpad, a surprisingly robust online painting app that doesn’t require Flash, Shockwave, or any other plug-in—just a modern browser and your fingers.

Run by a team that dubs themselves Colorjack, this “Sketchpad” demo shows off the capabilities of modern JavaScript and HTML5 support. You can paint any color in any shade or opacity, take on patterns and “Spirographs,” and use all the tools you’re likely familiar with from Microsoft’s older versions of that old Paint standby.

Whether you’re putting together a portfolio web site or just slapping together some slides, knowing how colors affect the minds of your audience makes your message more appealing. Smashing magazine offers a post that serves as Color Psychology 101 for would-be designers.