However, even I will sometimes admit that things can get just a little too quiet. Granted, if you’ve got kids or family trapped in the house with you right now, that might not be one of your problems. For myself, I find music to be far too distracting to use as ambient sound on a regular basis. That’s where services like the ones below come into play.
Category: tools
No Photoshop? Try free LunaPic instead
I work with a good number of smaller libraries that don’t have professional graphic artists on staff and also rarely have the money or expertise to use high-level design software, such as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. Oftentimes, our clients simply need a way to resize or crop images for their websites. Maybe do some… Continue reading No Photoshop? Try free LunaPic instead
Cliphy: Add fun to words
I spend a fair amount of time testing out new online tools, usually of the free variety. Some don’t work as advertised. Some are cool, and I sing their praises to the virtual rooftops. Others are just useful in very specific ways. Cliphy is one of these niche tools that just does one thing, and… Continue reading Cliphy: Add fun to words
Free online tools you didn’t know you needed
I had the privilege of speaking to a packed house at the Computers in Libraries 2018 conference last month. Here’s my slidedeck, featuring a small sample of some of my favorite online tools. Enjoy! Free Online Tools You Didn’t Know You Needed! from Ohio Public Library Information Network (OPLIN)
Make your own animated GIFs from video captures–easy
Animated GIFs are everywhere, especially in social media. Even my Android phone has many built into its SMS app. They’ve become a very common part of modern communication. Not only do they effectively communicate emotions, but they have a significant entertainment value as well. Would your library like to make it’s own? (Who wouldn’t?) All… Continue reading Make your own animated GIFs from video captures–easy
Is your library’s website costing your patrons money?
For several years, I was a lucky customer of Verizon with a grandfathered, unlimited data plan. Last year, in an attempt to shove us freeloader-types overboard, Verizon jacked up the price of unlimited plans by an insane amount. Rather than be extorted, I moved over to Google Fi. The point here, however, is not how… Continue reading Is your library’s website costing your patrons money?
5 tools to ease your font headaches
Fonts are complicated. I won’t pretend that I’m anything like an expert, because I can barely differentiate between a typeface and a font to begin with*. But I have to work with fonts all of the time, and I’ve come to rely on some tools to help me get the job done. I thought some of… Continue reading 5 tools to ease your font headaches
Absolutely honest tool tells you if you need a better headline
There’s a heck of a lot of information out there about how important it is to have a good headline for blog posts. Many people will make their decision to read or not, based purely on the headline. So, headlines count. A lot. While there is a ton of practical advice about making your headlines… Continue reading Absolutely honest tool tells you if you need a better headline
Get the web details you need–FAST
Today’s post discusses my latest “Headache Avoidance” tool. If you work on designing and/or developing websites, you are almost certainly accustomed to vague conversations, that don’t give you all of the details you might need in order to troubleshoot an issue. In my experience, library staff rarely know what exact OS or browser version they’re looking at,… Continue reading Get the web details you need–FAST
Make your web colors better
Colors can be fun, but they can also be complicated. There’s a lot of psychology involved with choosing colors as well. I really enjoy putting together or finding color palettes for different websites or projects that I get to work on, but the task is always accompanied by a sense of knowing that a lot… Continue reading Make your web colors better
How hard *is* it to delete your account?
How many accounts do you have spread across the Internet? I couldn’t even begin to guess how many accounts I have. Social media accounts, accounts to comment on blogs, ecommerce-related accounts, gaming accounts…the list goes on. Every once in a while, I get the urge to clear up some of my web detritus, and I’ll… Continue reading How hard *is* it to delete your account?
My teddy bear web design tools
Some people have a teddy bear. Some people have a security blanket. I have some little browser extensions that make me feel better on a daily basis, that are far more useful than Mr. Teddy. I’m willing to share these; the people with teddy bears and blankets probably won’t. So here are some of my… Continue reading My teddy bear web design tools
Get help understanding your website’s data
Many libraries devote significant resources to their website. It’s important to know how it’s being used (and not being used). Google Analytics is a popular tool for website analytics, but I have to admit – it scares me. It’s an incredible product, especially since it’s free, but it is overwhelming for nearly everyone, even paid… Continue reading Get help understanding your website’s data
Tool Tuesday: ReciteThis
So…you probably already know that social media has become increasingly visual. Images and photos typically get more engagement than plain text. But, what if you don’t have a fun photo to share? What if you have a great quote, but want to jazz it up for social media? This latter dilemma is easily solved, by… Continue reading Tool Tuesday: ReciteThis
Too quiet for you?
I’ve mentioned before how I primarily work from home nowadays, where it’s very quiet. So, I’m often looking for ways to jazz up my work environment without actually playing music, which I often find to be too distracting. I’ve written about Coffitivity, which gives you a modifiable coffeehouse ambiance. Since then, a couple of new… Continue reading Too quiet for you?
Tool Tuesday: Flare by Filament
Getting people to share stuff, especially via social media channels, is always a challenge. I’ve tried various WordPress plugins and sharing buttons for my blog, but never been really happy with how most operated; typically, most required being at the bottom of my content and/or I didn’t get to pick the specific channels featured. So,… Continue reading Tool Tuesday: Flare by Filament
Tool Tuesday: Tagboard
Last fall, I was tasked with trying to pull in all of the social media stuff tagged with a state convention’s hashtag into one, easy-to-digest display. My was first thought was along the lines of “Oh, I guess I’ll go dig around in the APIs for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and see what’s possible.” This… Continue reading Tool Tuesday: Tagboard
Tool Tuesday: TL;DR
Perhaps you’re like me, and you have the attention span of a gnat. Or, maybe you’re just like most people, and you don’t have time to read today’s news, in depth. That’s where this handy site comes in: TL;DR. (You may have seen that acronym before; it’s gaining popularity quickly across the web. It stands… Continue reading Tool Tuesday: TL;DR
Tool Tuesday: NameChk
If someone were to ask me “Which tool do you wish you had known about at the beginning of the Internet?” it wouldn’t be that difficult to answer. It would almost certainly be NameChk. NameChk does pretty much one thing. You put in a username, and it checks a very large group of social media… Continue reading Tool Tuesday: NameChk
Going “Cold Turkey”
I admit it. Sometimes, the siren call of Facebook or Twitter gets to me, and I head over to social media to see what’s going on. Maybe it happens to you, as well? Or, perhaps instead of social media, you feel an overwhelming need to check out your auctions on eBay, or the news on… Continue reading Going “Cold Turkey”
Need a timeline?
Have you ever needed to create a timeline? Or had a student ask you how to create one? Just like most other things nowadays, there’s an app/online tool/thingy for that. One of these is called When in Time. This is an online tool (free, just need to register) that allows you to create interactive timelines. … Continue reading Need a timeline?
Can’t work in a coffee shop? This might help
It’s true: I have a yen for weird little apps and web services that are truly niche in purpose and yet are helpful. I’ve mentioned some of my favorites previously, such as Newsle and Sunrise. I’m not sure the one I’m featuring today is going to be one of my favorites, but it does get… Continue reading Can’t work in a coffee shop? This might help
Voicemail for your website
Now, they may be out there, but I have yet to run across a library that accepts voice messages via its after-hours answering machine. (I’ve never been clear on whether this was an active choice or a limitation of the answering systems.) I’ve always thought this was rather a shame, especially since libraries often pride… Continue reading Voicemail for your website
All the news that’s fit to email
I love just about anything that will organize my crazy life for me, and I especially love those services that collate and push data, so I don’t have to go chasing after it. A few weeks ago, I wrote about a handy tool that accomplishes this for calendars and schedules, called Sunrise. This week, I… Continue reading All the news that’s fit to email
Sunrise: a handy little tool
While there’s lots of ground-breaking technology happening right now, sometimes it’s the little things that catch my attention. I sign up for all sorts of new web things. If it’s in beta, I usually want an invite. I like testing things out as they come along, and I suspect that you may also enjoy tinkering… Continue reading Sunrise: a handy little tool
Getting web images down to size
Generally speaking, most library staff I work with understand that, when you take an image off a digital camera, it’s huge. It’s easy to see that it’s huge; often, the photo may take up more than your monitor. So, most library staff understand that those digital images have to be resized to fit on their… Continue reading Getting web images down to size
Social search & grokking Greplin
Many times, only half-jokingly, I have told people that I have the memory of a sieve. That is to say, none at all. I suspect that, in this age of the information barrage, I’m not alone. How many times have you recalled that someone said something about something, online somewhere, at some time in the… Continue reading Social search & grokking Greplin