Time means money for every freelancer

As a freelancer / small business owner time is everything! For a long time, I've been using Kronos to keep track of the jobs I do, the total time and the cost of the job. Kronos is not bad but I've always wanted a way to export my data and change the currency from € to $.

The developers of MAMP have an application the call TimeEdit. Though I've been using MAMP for a while it never occurred to me to try TimeEdit until now.

TimeEdit is great! It helps to streamline my workflow and to be more effective. With TimeEdit I can add clients, and regular tasks and attach my hourly rate to each task. As if that wasn't enough, I can TimeEdit it to my Google Calendar or iCal and once I've completed a task it makes an entry into the calendar.

At the end of each month, I can look at a report showing how many hours I've worked and how much I should have earned. I can also export the data as a Microsoft Excel file.

TimeEdit has tons more features to make job tracking easier. It works on both Windows and Mac OS. I love this application because it doesn't require internet access and the best thing of all is that TimeEdit is FREE.

Get DropBox

My friend and I work in the same field as Graphic / Web Designers and have worked on a few projects together. Our biggest challenge is location. He's located at one end of Jamaica and me at the other, so I'm always looking for ways to improve our virtual work relationship.

Over the years we've used several applications to aid us in our collaboration, BaseCamp (free), YouSendIt, Hamachi along with others. Hamachi was the last one we used and it was a lil difficult to get it to work seemlessly between a Windows Vista Laptop and iMac (running OSX 1.5). Plus there was no official interface for mac users ( I had to type commands in the terminal whenever I wanted to use the application). As a result I went looking for an alternative and I found it - DropBox.

Now dropbox was a term I first heard being used at a advertising agency my wife worked at and was only available to macs. Once all the macs are on the same network users could add files into a default shared folder know as a 'dropbox.' But I came across another DropBox that was available for the specific platforms - Window, Linux & Mac (Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! As the choirs of angels sing and the beam of light shines done upon my ignorance :-) ).

In no time I had DropBox installed on my mac and my friend and I were able to share files, it was sweeeeeeett!

DropBox Features
DropBox initilally gives you 2Gb of storage for free, which you can upgrade if you want. It allows you to see the various versions of a file once changed or updated, restore deleted files, see previes of images and share specific folders with anyone you desire.

The lovely thing about DropBox is that it's linked to a physical folder on your computer, has a web interface to manage your account and shares files over an SSL connection. If you have growl installed on your mac you'll also get a notification everytime I file/folder is updated.

DropBox is a great collaboration tool, you should get it!

Inquisitor for Firefox and IE

Some time I wrote about Inquisitor which at the time was only available to Safari. But now they have released beta version for both Firefox (mac or pc) and Internet Explorer 7. That's awesome.

I use my Firefox browser more than I use Safari and when I installed the plug-in I could tell that Firefox was most disappointed. But now my Firefox rejoices!

Truth is! It's really nice 'eye candy' that functions well. It allows you to choose your preferred search engine - Yahoo or Google, and auto completion for words or phrases. My only regret is that when you use Google as the search engine it cannot do basic mathematics which can be done if you use Firefox without Inquisitor. Apart from that I love it!

If you want to learn more about Inquisitor before installing it you can watch this video.

Joost Away

Joost recently announced that they will be discontinuing their standalone application, for Windows based PCs and Intel Macs, on December 19, 2008. This is a result of their new website - created in October of this year - which provides user with all they need to watch programs on the P2PTV network.

Font Conference

I saw a friend of mine with a link to this YouTube video this morning and thought it was really funny.

Google rolls out themes for Gmail

Today while checking my mail I noticed the interface of my inbox changed so I refreshed thinking it was an error with my browser. Only to see a link, after the page loaded, telling me I can change my theme by going into the settings area. I was blown away.

This new themes feature was released today Nov.19.2008 and Gmail now has 25 themes (Classic, New Blue, Cold Shower, Steel, Minimalist, Green Sky, Bibblegum, Cherry Blossom, Night Shade, Marina, Dusk, Sunset, Silver Lining, Contrast Black, Shiny, Desk, Tree, Summer Ocean, Phantasea, Zoozimps, Candy, Bus Stop, Ninja, Tea & Terminal) excluding the default and you can expect more to come.

Three of the themes were designed by external designers. These are Phantasea Renewal - Matthew Ferreira, Summer Ocean - Jim Honeycutt, and Cherry Blossom - Vania Sofandi. The rest were done internally.

Go ahead and customize your Gmail!

The Matrix Runs on Windows

I came across this video today and I think it describes the Windows experience perfectly...

Voice & Video Chat with GoogleTalk

Yesterday, November 11, 2008 Google launched a new feature for Google Talk - Voice & Video conversations. I was elated when I discovered this ant the greatest thing of all is that it's free!

Not all my colleagues have a Skype accounts but a lot of them use Gmail and this new feature with Google Talk will allow us to keep in contact. I also have clients I meet with frequently and this is a way to cut down on my traveling expenses. We can now talk face to face or call each other.

To enable this feature though you have to install a plugin after which you will restart you web browser and should notice a video icon when you login to your Gmail account. Simple start the Voice & Vide conversation by selecting video & more the invite to voice/video chat.

The beauty about this new feature is that it's compliant with internet standards such as XMPP, RTP, and H.264. This means that third-party applications such as iChat can be used to manage and access these new features. Unfortunately there is no version for linux users just yet.



I predict that some where down the line Google will add features that allow users to do presentations and share documents similar to the features of Mac OS X - Leopard, integrating Google Docs.

Dell's Studio Hybrid

Recently my friends were trying to figure out what type of pc to buy after the motherboard in the clone died. I suggested the Dell Studio Hybrid with a pitch that it would help reduce the clutter and they were loving it.

I must say that I admire Dell's ingenuity! But I must confess that when I saw the device I thought about Apple's Mac Mini except that studio hybrid as several other flavours. Dell's Studio Hybrid cost USD$499.00, a $100 dollars less than their competitor - Apple, and you get 2GB of memory (DDR2), CD/ DVD Burner, 160GB Sata Hard-drive, an Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor (1.86GHz/533Mhz) and Windows Vista Home. Customization is always an option for those who want more from Dell's PC in a lil box, including the addition of a monitor.

Though Dell's Studio Hybrid has the capacity to take up to 4GB of Memory, 320 GB Hard-drive and an 8x CD / DVD Writer, seemingly giving it superiority over it's competitor, it will always fall prey to it's OS and that was what aided my friends in their decision.

Pormotional Video

ThinkFree Office - MS Office Knock Off

I was looking for an alternative to Neo Office recently, after getting frustrated with trying to find features similar to Microsoft Office, using the GUI. That was when I discovered ThinkFree Office and I tried a demo version.

ThinkFree has several products but somehow I was drawn to try their Office product, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. When I installed the product I noticed my iMac was moving a little sluggish but I ignored it because I had several adobe photoshop files open. Once the installation was done I launched the application, after closing my photoshop files, and my computer was still sluggish only to be greeted by a screen encouraging me to sign up for an account. I ignored the screen continued but was surprised by what came next, an exact replica of MS Office 2007. I was thoroughly disappointed.

As if that initial disappointment was enough I created a document and tried saving it but was forced to create an account and store the file online. If I wanted to store my files online I would use Google Docs.

Unfortunately, I didn't see the need to have a desktop application that requires me to save my files online and as a result of this, I'm back to Neo Office with plans on getting iWork.

Songbeat - Seach, Play and Download Music

I came across this application Songbeat which is a web based music player that runs on your desktop. Songbeat searches for songs that are leagally available on the internet and allows you to play them and even download them.

Is it safe? Is it legal? It is and the Songbeat doesn't need access to your hardrive or music folders. With the free version of Songbeat you get 50 downloads and it's supported by ads but you can get Songbeat Pro by paying €10 for the whole year.

Currently there is only a pc version but a mac version is in the pipelines.

Download: Songbeat

ScribeFire - Another Great Firefox Addon

So I've always loved Firefox, it's a web designer's dream and now that I've been blogging I've found one more addition to make Firefox that much better - ScribeFire.

With ScribeFire I can blog without having to go to my Blogger home page. It intergrates beautifully with Firefox so I no longer have to bookmark websites before I blog about them I can do it right there.

ScribeFire also allows bloggers to monetize the blog using various ad services such as Google Adsense.

What I also like about ScribeFire is that it gives the user the opportunity to add custom tags and promote your blog on websites like Technorati, Facebook, Del.icio.us and others. All in all, its a really nice addon!

* This post was made with FireScribe

Hamachi - All on 1 Big Network

As a freelance graphic/web designer I have the opportunity to work from home but I also have associates I work with closely on project from remote locations. Therefore I had a challenge, sharing files. With this challenge hovering over my in tray I has a desire to create a secure virtual network like many of those big corporations use as a soulution, for little or no money. So I went searching!

I came across a lot of techie jargon explaining Virtual Private Networks (VPN) and the need to have a VPN Server to facilitate this. Obviously I can't afford a VPN Server so I searched some more and I came across Hamachi, 2Peer, TeamViewer, Leaf and Wippen. Though I found these solutions I still had a problem, only a few had versions for macs, as a result Leaf and Wippen were eliminated.

Out of the 3 remaining solutions I found Hamachi to be the best but with one draw back. I had to install a third party application, Hamachi X, on the mac to manage my networks. I found 2Peer was web based and restricted to e-mail accounts, while TeamViewer was primarily for customer support but Hamachi was ideal.

Hamachi on the mac is designed for those users who don't mind getting their hands a lil dirty - running commands from the terminal. Hamachi has no actual GUI like the pc version but is a powerful tool in the arsenal of those who work from multiple locations, not to mention gamers.

Download Hamachi: Linux | Mac | Windows

Run OS X on your PC

I came across this video today. It is highly recommended that you don't try this but it doesn't hurt knowing ;)



Here are some of the links mentioned in the video:

• OS X 86 Project
• MacDrive
• UltraISO
• Forensic Acquisition Utilities
• WMI Adminstrative Tools

Ubuntu Remixes OS for Netbooks

Canonical Ltd. has remixed on of their major products, Ubuntu for netbooks. The operating system is known as Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

The video found here shows how effortless it is to use and customize the desktop of the OS.

On instillation the OS is outfitted with following apps:

• Firefox 3 (web browser)
• Thunderbird (e-mail client)
• Pidgin (instant messenger)
• Rhythmbox (media player)
• FBReader (pdf reader)
• Lifrea (rss reader)
• F-Spot (image viewer)
• OpenOffice (office suite)

gOS for your Netbook

With the growth in the use of netbooks software developers are capitalising on creating operating systems that are ideal, using less resources and providing maximum efficiency, gOS is on such operating system.

gOS, which is linux based, recently launched a beta of gOS 3 Gadgets Beta. This version integrates seamlessly almost all of Google's services - Google Docs, Google Calendar, Gmail - with access to many Google gadgets. The previous version, gOS 2.9 Space, was geared towards social-networkers, primarily myspace.

The interface of gOS is very simple eliminating clutter and allowing users to be most proficient.

Ubuntu for Mobile Devices

Ubuntu has done it yet again and this time in collaboration with Intel. Ubuntu has been making some headroom for linux distributions and now they have taken it one step further by making their distribution suitable for mobile internet devices with a Ubuntu MID (Mobile Internet Device) Edition.

Ubuntu MID Edition supports touch screen devices, eliminating the need for a stylus. With a simple tap applications can be launched and you can use a swipe motion to go through web pages, images or videos. The OS is optimized to run devices with atleast 2GB disk space and 256MB of RAM.

Palringo - Stay connected in or out of office

Palringo is wonderful IM client that allows individuals to stay connected with contacts whether on the pc or on mobile phone. With this one application connecting to any preferred messaging service is a breeze, be it MSN Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger or Google Talk.

The beauty about Palringo is that it works on 3 major operating systems Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. It also works on several mobile platforms such as windows mobile, symbian 60 and iphone's osx.

To unleash all the features of Palringo you must first sign up for a Palringo account and in no time you'll be able chat, send photos and even voice clips to indiviuals on your contact lists.

Website: www.palringo.com

Leaf - Setup your own VPN

Have you ever been at work and wished you could access files on your PC at home? Well now you can with Leaf.

Instillation of Leaf is simple and requires no additional configuration of firewalls. Currenly there is only one version available for MS Windows but there are promises of a version for Linux in the pipelines.

By creating a Virtual Private Network (VPN) users can access files, music, printers and other network devices on their home network from work as if they had never left home with Leaf. Invite family and friends to join your network and share files and resources with them as well. Even play Xbox games together. Managing group members is a sample as using messenger.


Download: Leaf Network

AnyVideo Converter

There are many video formats out there but some media players are limited. AnyVideo Converter (free version) bridges the gap converting formats like mov, rm, rmvb, flv, mkv, 3gp, m4v, and vob to avi, wmv, mp4 in just one a few minutes.

Youtube and Google videos are also a breeze to download and convert using AnyVideo Converter. With AnyVideo Converter you can have your favourite videos on your portable media player in the blink of an eye.

Download: AnyVideo Converter (free)