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PEN.IO - Distraction free writing
Are you a die-hard novel writer, looking for a distraction-free way to crank out your next story?
Many types of writing applications exist out there on the web, including “WriteRoom”, an excellent application for writing on a Mac. But what if you’re a little tight on cash, and don’t want to spend $5 or more on an application for writing novels?
Enter “Pen.io”. Pen.io is a web application that is the simplest, no-brainer writing application in existence. It takes literally 5 seconds to create a webpage and get writing. It couldn’t be easier! Pen.io is the simplest webpage you have ever seen, and it supports most HTML tags. Get writing!
A Victim of Apple’s “Set Completion” tactic
Darn you Apple!
The “post-pc” product marketing juggernaut has hooked me into their products, by following a simple UX (and therefore, Psychologically-based) human tendency, called: “Set Completion”.
Darn you Stephen Anderson! Stephen Anderson, UX Designer who created “Mental Notes”, which is a deck of cards that describes our natural human tendencies, has truly hit the mark with “Set Completion”.
Set completion is Stephen’s naming of a human tendency to want to “collect”, and more specifically, “complete” our collections. Apple computers, my nemesis, has simply taken Stephen’s psychological cues to heart, and fiendishly, steathily, hooked me like a fish into their products.
Currently, I am an owner of an iPhone 3GS, iMac, and Macbook. What could I possibly need more in my computer-life? Uh, nothing. Except the iPad. That’s all! That’s it! That’s all I need to complete my set! Er, well, actually… the Apple TV, too. But that’s it! Then I won’t need to buy any more Apple products ever again! I’ll be set!
Yeah, right. Well, if you’re anything like me, you’ve been trying to fight back the Dr. Jekyll inside your head that keeps whispering ideas of how to sell your current NON-thunderbolt Macbook, and somehow sell the cat and the furniture for the THUNDERBOLT (it’s like Zeus!) Aluminum Macbook Pro, or super awesome solid-state Macbook Air.
Read more about Stephen Anderson here: http://getmentalnotes.com/
Motion captcha - AWESOME idea!
With all the “CAPTCHA” ideas out there, this one has really caught my attention.
Do you ever have a difficult time reading the CAPTCHA letters/words at the end of a comment field on a blog? I do! I can’t stand them sometimes, actually.
Just yesterday I came across an excellent new idea: Use something a computer can’t imitate! Mouse motion!
What I also like very much about this idea is that this appears to be a great option for the “Canvas” element in HTML5, something I’ve been wanting to implement anyway.
Learn more here:
http://www.josscrowcroft.com/projects/motioncaptcha-jquery-plugin/
The Flippin Coolest CSS3 Generator on the Interweb!
The CSS3 Generator You Never Knew You Always Wanted
Do you LOVE the new and improved CSS3? Do you follow all the CSS3 tweets, and wait anxiously (like the rest of us) for IE to finally face reality and support CSS3 as much as the other browsers?
…Do you ever wish there was a solid, clean interface out there that could help you create standards-compliant CSS3, on the fly? Well, you’re in luck!
Some design buddies of mine just finished a powerful, clean CSS3 Generator that uses a beautiful UI with sliders and color pickers, and actually prints out the code for you to copy and paste into your style sheet! Check it out!
Are input-by-stylus interfaces still a desirable user experience?
The “NoteSlate” and the “Kno” - Desirable Interfaces? I have been watching the introduction of new types of computer-like tablets, specifically the “Kno” and the “NoteSlate”, which use the “stylus” for user input. The “NoteSlate” is marketed just as a low-level input device, geared more towards static note-taking, while the “Kno” is a tablet computer geared towards textbook reading, that allows Stylus notes. Both of these interfaces leave me wondering… Would I use this?I mean, I’m really excited about the way the industry is going… especially since mobile computing appears to provide such a better user experience. However, I still have doubts about whether the stylus can compete with Apple’s multi-touch finger-input approach. Which is the better User Experience?
Are there studies that show that the end-user still wants this type of input? Is the Stylus-input a good User Experience?
Follow the discussion here: http://tiny.cc/StylusInputUX
Evernote: The note and content app that’s better than a web server
Evernote: No app can match it
Over the past few years, I’ve struggled to find the best way, and best place, to keep track of all the web pages, notes, ideas, pictures, journal entries, and so on that I aggregate on a daily basis. As I looked through the myriad web apps, iPhone apps, and desktop apps that provided some sort of organization for these things, I came across “EVERNOTE” one day, and have YET to find its equal. Evernote allows you to save text notes, web clips, pictures from your mobile phone, and even voice recordings all to one easy to use web account.They even have a Firefox add-on that makes it super easy to “clip” web pages you like, and automatically save clippings to your account. Evernote for students: A great tool for notes, studying, and recording lecturesToday I came across a really solid list of reasons why Evernote is so awesome for college students. Check it out: http://tiny.cc/loveEVERNOTE
