Screenpresso – Free Screen Capture Tools
By · CommentsScre
enpresso came cross my radar just a week or so ago. It seems they are pretty new to the web because when I went to follow them on Twitter, I was just the 84th follower.
Screenpresso is a screen capture/editing/effects/twitter tool. Oh, and it’s free! It’s a bit like Microsoft’s Snipping Tool—only more feature-rich. After it’s downloaded, it resides in your system tray (I know, another resource drain, but you can turn it off). When you’re ready to get a screen shot, just right click on the icon and you’ll get a menu of items. This is where you choose if you want an entire screenshot or a certain region of a screen. There’s a cool feature called ‘screenshot autoroll’ which stitches together more than one screen-full.
Above is a shot of their main features—let’s take a look at the more advanced features:
- screenshot history – if you don’t want to save your captures, just leave them in the history of Screenpresso. If it’s something you won’t use again, just delete it. If it’s something you’ll use over and over, there’s an option to save it to a folder on your hard drive. It looks like they are saved in a date order and with a .png extension. If you find yourself making a lot of captures, I’d suggest filing them in folders to keep things manageable.
- add effects – here’s where you can add borders, shadows, etc.
- capture scrolling part – this feature lets you capture more than one screen-full using a stitching mechanism. I didn’t try out this feature, but this is pretty cool!
- screenshot to email – this is very nice because all you have to do is have your history open and drag your capture over to your email task bar and it will put it in your email as a .png attachment.
- screenshots to Twitter – pull up your history and you’ll see the twitter bird icon at the bottom of the screen. Click it and you’ll get a popup to sign in to your Twitter account and send it to twitpic and add a message.
- edit/enhance your image – here’s where you can add explanatory text, arrows or other formatting features to highlight an item or feature. Also a nice feature is the blurring tool – great for blocking sensitive/identifying data
Conclusion
Since this is a start-up, they are still working out kinks and probably trying to make everything work. They are working on a Pro version, which will probably be a for-pay service. I see it looks like they will be offering video – but that service isn’t ready just yet.
I liked using it, the features were pretty intuitive and didn’t take too long to catch on. I think Jing is a competitor of theirs (you can read my article on that), and has an advantage because you can video and record what’s on your screen and share it. I’ll still use Microsoft’s Snipping Tool most because I usually don’t have a need to put effects on my snips or save them. Screenpresso is great for full screenshots and being able to point out with text or arrows what you want your reader to see.
Jing-Make a Video, Take A Screenshot
By · CommentsRecently, I was wanting to do an instructional video for a friend who needed to perform edits of her website and I remembered how I had used Jing a year or so ago. If you’ve never used the program, you may find it helpful to download the guidebook (pdf), as it quickly steps
you through how to do a screenshot and how to make a narrated video.
I previously posted about Jing from TechSmith. Back then, I had compatibility problems with the program and had to uninstall it. Now, it’s rediscovered – at least by me. I installed it and didn’t have any problems using it with Windows 7.
I use the Snipping Tool to capture illustrations, (ships with Windows Vista & 7), but one thing it can’t do is get a capture of a drop down menu. Jing has the ‘capture hotkey’ feature. With this feature you can click to get to your drop down menu, initiate your capture key combination (I chose Crtl + J), and then the Jing interface appears and you can get your capture—slick.
Here are some of the newer features
- ability to add up to 8 additional customizable buttons to have Jing do different things
- Send your screencast to twitter to share
- updated help section with videos showing you how to do just about any Jing task
- Get an embed code and post your content to a blog or website
Other Jing Features:
- Takes a snapshot of your whole screen or a small portion of your screen
- Option to save your output (.jpg) to either a free screencast account, your computer, or if you’re really geeky, you can save output at your FTP site or YouTube (Pro Version).
- Ability to capture a video running on your computer to share with someone
- Ability to make your own video – be it instructional or just fun in nature. Videos can then be instantly shared via IM, web or email.
- If you have a microphone, you can record your comments or instructions while capturing what you want to share. Nice feature and really allows for personalization.
- Output your jpgs to your Flickr account
- There is a 5” time limit for videos.
- A Pro version is available that will allow direct import to YouTube and the ability to save your videos as MPEG4s instead of the default SWF Flash Video. Other advantages to Pro as well. See them here
The Pro version is only $15/year. If you are one who likes to make instructional videos – for fun or for business, you’ll want to upgrade. With the Pro Version, you’ll be able to use a webcam and get smoothly transitioned shots of yourself, along with what is on your screen. Then post to your YouTube account with one click.
Jing is a free product by TechSmith (who also brings you SnagIt (like Jing, only not free), and Camtasia Studio (a high-end video producing software, also paid). Jing also integrates well with both of these products.
Sync Outlook and Google Contacts
By · CommentsThere is the handy Google calendar sync download that will do a 1 or 2-way calendar sync, but it doesn’t handle syncing contacts. I thought Google or Microsoft would address this limitation, but I’ve found that WebGear has stepped in to offer the free GO Contact Sync that does the job very nicely with many options from which to choose.
This open source program is hosted at Sourceforge, a reliable source for innovative and free software. GO Contact Sync supports categories, so if you have set up groups of categories, it will find and keep them categorized. If you use contact photos, it will sync those too. However, if you have different photos for the same contact, it will not do a sync.
The best thing are the number of sync options available.
Sync options from the website…
- Merge Prompt: This will ask you which contact to overwrite if both have been updated.
- Merge Outlook Wins: If both contacts have been updated, the Google contact will be overwritten.
- Merge Google Wins: If both contacts have been updated, the Outlook contact will be overwritten.
- Outlook To Google Only: Only updates Google contacts based on Outlook contacts.
- Google To Outlook Only: Only updates Outlook contacts based on Google contacts.
Once the program is installed, you’ll have an icon in the system tray. Here you can click to sync your contacts on the fly. However, you can choose during the setup process how often to sync, or to sync upon startup.
I just found this program and haven’t decided if I’ll use it yet since I have different sets of contacts in my Outlook and Google contacts and I’m not sure if I want to merge them or not. The program is in beta, so they do say to use at your own risk! It’s always good to do a backup before trying something new.
Free Google Mail, Calendar & Docs Training
By · CommentsLast week, we talked about the extensive, free training resources available for learning Microsoft Office. We highlighted the new Ribbon Hero interactive, game-style training.
This week, we’ll focus on Google mail, calendar and docs and where to go to find training for these popular programs.
I signed up for gmail about three years ago and have my mail coming into my Outlook where I prefer to manage it. I’ve also used Google’s flexibility to have it pull email in from some of my POP accounts. It’s great to have the ability to see my mail accounts either while traveling or from the familiarity of Outlook.
Google mail, calendar and contacts are all accessible from your gmail screen. The Google calendar is especially popular and powerful – mainly with people who own smart phones because it’s easy to load to their phones and it can be synced with Outlook, Windows Live, Plaxo and I think with the Mac platform as well (not a Mac person).
After Gmail came Google Docs. A free and very stripped down version of Microsoft Office (in my opinion). Google’s also made it easy to collaborate and share documents rather than email them around. Microsoft similarly has a way to both upload and share documents. You can read my article about it here.
Back to our focus on finding some free training for Google mail and docs. The University of Minnesota evidently uses Gmail campus-wide because they’ve published extensive help resources accessible to anyone.
Their Google learning site contains on-line lessons, instructional videos, downloadable study/instructional guides and a searchable repository that seem very complete.
If you’ve ever been puzzled or curious about all the things you can do with Google Mail, Calendar or Apps, the basics as well as some advanced material is covered. Additionally, Google has an extensive support site as well.
Google Mail and Docs have become quite popular with small businesses, students and people who don’t want to pay for mail and office applications. There is the issue of backup and accessibility of our email, calendar events and documents. There are ways to access mail off-line (not sure about documents). The privacy/security issue seems to pop up as well. If you’re a person who stores credit card numbers, insurance policy numbers, etc. on your local machine, how will you feel about it being in the cloud? Maybe not so secure? Something to think about. Google is free, useful and accessible, but for me, I enjoy the Microsoft familiarity. They are also coming out with cloud apps and the ability to work and compute virtually. We’ll talk more about that with another column.
Have you been using Office 2007, or the new Office 2010 Beta (which you can download and use for free until late this year)? Perhaps you’ve
found the ribbon interface to be confusing and have been frustrated (as I’ve been), trying to figure out formerly simple formatting commands. Microsoft provides tips and training for getting up to speed with the ribbon, but Microsoft Labs has recently come out with something new – Ribbon Hero.
Ribbon Hero works with Excel, PowerPoint and Word 2007 and 2010 only. During the install process, you may be prompted to download and install Microsoft VSTO, so for most of us, there will be two downloads. After the install, pull up one of the office programs and you’ll notice a ribbon hero button over to the right on your ribbon. Simply click to open and get started. After you’ve achieved some points, you’ll be asked if you want to connect with Facebook in a friendly competition with other RH users. There’s also a Facebook fan page if you’d like to join. It was nice to see that Ribbon Hero scores will be shared with your friends only if they are Ribbon Hero players as well.
Ribbon Hero is an interactive game where points can be achieved by simply doing your usual work, or you can ‘take the challenge’ and choose from a wide variety of tasks to perform. Below you’ll see the interface for working in Excel. There are three ‘Challenge’ categories and then specific challenges/tasks to accomplish within these categories. Simply click on one of the challenge tasks, complete it and you’ll hear a congratulatory tone, a couple balloons will rise and you’ll be awarded points.
If you choose a task that you’re not familiar with, there are hints and articles right there to refer to. I did the conditional formatting challenge – something I’d never heard of – and learned something new.
Most people will learn faster and retain longer using this hand-on, practical interface. The examples are down-to-earth and the student can easily apply these examples to real-world work and accomplish tasks faster.
I’m using RH on two computers – one with the beta Office 2010 and one with Office 2007. I wondered if the software would be smart enough to know I was using it on two computers and combine my score. When I did the Facebook connect, I was pleasantly surprised that it did recognize that and it asked if it would be OK to combine the two scores – very nice.
I know Ribbon Hero’s only been out a couple of weeks at this writing, (2-5-10), but here are a couple questions:
1. I’m wondering if they will develop the game for other Office apps.
2. Will the ‘challenge tasks’, be changed and refreshed? Right now, I’m seeing about 8 or so tasks to complete under each category. Realistically, that won’t take too long for someone to complete and then what? I’ll ask these questions on the Facebook page and see what I get.
Interactive training with immediate feedback and having the social aspects (with Facebook), is very progressive for Microsoft. I haven’t seen anything as innovative as this with Google, Open Office or Zimbra. If you or your company is thinking about upgrading to Office 2007, take advantage of this free and innovative training.
64-Bit Browser Comparisons
By · CommentsI recently purchased a Lenovo IdeaPad complete with Windows 7 and a 64-bit processor. It’s been a great laptop, full-size keyboard and some cool features from Lenovo that I’d never used.
A month or so has gone by and I really hadn’t thought about the differences between the 32 and 64-bit software. Then I was reading an article about Firefox and Chrome browsers made for 64-bit machines and I realized I just had to try them out.
When I went to Mozilla.com, I typed in 64-bit firefox in the search box, but came up with zilch. Luckily, I had the link to Firefox 64-bit in my Windows Secrets newsletter. When I went to install the program, I was a bit concerned to see it was called ‘Minefield’, but went ahead and found that it’s a new 
(beta) version of Firefox. I was wondering how my add-ins would fare with a double switch to a 64-bit and a beta of a browser. My tree-style tabs still worked (my most important add-in). Unfortunately, Foxmarks (this add-on syncs my browser bookmarks across computers), will not work with this, but I can live with that for now. So far, I haven’t gotten any messages about other add-ins.
While in Minefield, I tried playing an embedded video and got a message that I needed a plug-in, an Adobe Flash plug-in. So I downloaded what they suggested, but got a message that ‘it might not have installed correctly’. Evidently, I must need a different version of flash. I’ll keep looking, but if anyone can provide a link-that would be excellent!
Then I went to find the Chrome 64-bit installation. That one was actually a lot quicker to download and install. So far, I’ve no problems at all playing the videos that Firefox would not play for me. 
Internet Explorer comes in a disappointing third place in my un-scientific browser comparison. In fact, I couldn’t even find an install for IE 8 for Windows 7 64-bit. How
amazingly short-sighted is that! I did find this link for IE 8 for Vista, but it won’t work with Windows 7. So I’ll have to stick with the same, slow IE 8 that 32-bit machines use.
My Findings
Fastest – Chrome runs faster on my Lenovo than the other two browsers
Compatibility – Chrome seems to keep everything working the same as before while I had problems both with Firefox add-ins and it won’t play Flash videos.
Security – I don’t find just a whole lot about how they rank with security—with Chrome, there’s the privacy issue that they say we really don’t need to worry about. Firefox has been highly praised by IT people I respect, so I will give that one to Firefox. IE has had multiple browser security problems and is a bit slow to release fixes for them.
Conclusions
When I’m using my Lenovo, I’ll probably use a combination of both browsers, but probably Firefox as my primary. It’ll be nice to have Chrome as a back-up browser for playing Flash videos. I only use IE when I’m editing websites in Office Live.
Even though 64-bit has been out since around 2003, the software to utilize it is still not there. I found a site called 64x Software that might be helpful, but I’d sure like to get some links from some of you who are more experienced with 64-bit software.
Wordpress and Blogger Comparison
By · CommentsIt seems the two major players in the blogging space are WordPress.com (not .org), which is owned by Automattic; and Blogger (owned by Google). Today, we’ll talk about the two platforms, contrast some of their features and conclude with some observations of which is best.
For the similarities:
- Both are hosted, which means you don’t have to find and purchase hosting from a third-party and learn how to install software. Your posts are automatically backed up for you
- Both are free
- Both give the author the ability to upload photos and videos
- Both allow submission of posts via email and mobile phone. I see there’s a WordPress iPhone app, didn’t find one for Blogger
- Both feature helpful videos, although WordPress has recently come out with WordPress.tv, which seems a cut above what Blogger has
Blogger Features:
- Use your Google account credentials to sign up for Blogger – one less account login to keep track of
- Choose a name (URL) for your blog and have the ability to easily change it later, or use your own domain name
- Add a gadget to your blog that connects your blog to your Picasa account to show off your photos (limited to Picasa photos (owned by Google)
- We mentioned the ability to embed videos in your blog – you can link to Google Video or YouTube
- Ability to make your blog private, i.e. by invitation only. Great feature for families with kids to keep photos and family information for friends and family only
- Ability to add others as authors or administrators. An Administrator can do everything you can do (may not want this), Authors only have the ability to write, post and edit their own writings
- Ability to embed audio (podcasts) into your blog. Also provided are instructions to get your podcast into iTunes
- Wide choice of themes and Blogger makes it easy to revise your theme to customize to your needs
- If you have a blog on another platform, you won’t be able to import it into Blogger, so if your blog is somewhere else right now, you might not want to switch
- Limited to 1GB of on-line storage, (less than WordPress), but if you have your pictures linked to Picasa, that doesn’t count against your limit
5 Tools For Everyday Use
By · CommentsIn thinking about this week’s topic, I decided to highlight the tools I use nearly every day to get my work done or to make getting my work done more fun. In no particular order, here they are:
Tree Style Tabs
This is a browser add-on – for Mozilla Firefox users only. You can click the link to read about all the features of this great add-on. I got it because it neatly puts all my browser tabs on the left side of my screen (you can put it right or on top too, your choice). The names of my windows/tabs are all right there and they are easier to see and locate than when I had the ‘old-fashioned’ tabs at the top of my screen before this add-on. When I didn’t have it, then my tabs would become too scrunched up and messy-looking at the top of my screen. It seemed difficult to locate what I was looking for. Now, they flow down the left side of my screen and sub-tabs will automatically open under a main tab, i.e. if I have Facebook open and click on something, the tab will indent and keep it all very orderly. I just love it and wish all browsers had this feature.
Evernote – Remember Everything 
Evernote is a great web-based tool that does so many things and stores them for you. I use the free version, but if you’re a power user, there’s a paid version for you. I’ve used it for storing software keys, receipts, research, pictures, even some blog posts with great information in them. Of course, there’s a portable version for your Blackberry, iPhone, Android and other phones. There’s great help videos and Evernote suggests many uses for its product.
The best thing about it (besides being free), is that Evernote organizes all the notes you throw up there and makes them searchable. For example, I grabbed some information I wanted on flights and using my evernote icon in my system tray, quickly saved it to my space. Then later, all I had to do was to go back and type in a couple words in the search box and it found it right away – no tedious searching through pages of information. If you’re the ultra-organized type, you can type in your own tags and make notebooks from within Evernote. Great software.
Snipping Tool 
This is for Vista & Windows 7 users only. Perhaps Apple has a version of it, I just don’t know. If you have the aforementioned OS, you’ll want to pin this one to your start menu. I find myself using it nearly every day. There are so many times I need a screenshot, a logo, or there’s something I need to show someone. It just takes a moment to start the tool and capture the image or text I need. You can snip anything from a small section to the entire page. Then you can annotate it before cutting and pasting into your email, or whatever. Read about it.
Pandora
Pandora is your internet music source – at least it is for me. I found it a few years ago and find myself pulling it up nearly every day to use. You do have to set up an account and then you’ll get 40 free hours of music a month. Once I went over my limit and for .99, I could listen for the rest of the month – paid via PayPal. You can pay $36 for unlimited and ad and commercial free listening per year. There are portable versions for different phones and there’s information on the site about different appliances that will stream Pandora (Roku, Sonos, etc.). I used to see them advertise a free standing radio-type device that worked with broadband or wi-fi, but I don’t see it advertised on their website.
Goog-411
Never pay for phone information again! I’ve got 1-800-GOOG-411 programmed into my cell phone and use it as my 411 source now. J
ust dial the number and it’ll ask you city and state and then it’ll ask for a business name or category, (pizza, movie theatre, etc.). It may return more than one result, just listen carefully and press the number of the one you want and it will connect you for free. I think it will also send you a text of the number in case you want to store it in your phone for future use. Right now, it only has business listings – no personal/residential listings. Put it in your phone, or read more about it.
Have Secure Wi-Fi Everywhere With Comodo TrustConnect
By · CommentsWe’ve all heard the warnings about how insecure public hotspots are. We’ve been cautioned to not even enter in our email passwords as a bad guy could be in range and be using software to capture passwords or any other data being typed in by unsuspecting patrons. Forget about checking your bank balance, paying bills or doing any on-line shopping. 
Comodo is a name synonymous with internet security. They’ve been around a long time and I’ve just recently rediscovered them and have been impressed with their offerings – many free and some are for-pay. TrustConnect is their secure Wi-Fi service. With TrustConnect, you can safely log into all of your accounts, pay bills, shop, check email—anything you would do from your home.
Here are the features from their website:
TrustConnect Wi-Fi Security Features:
- Securely encrypts all data transmitted over both wired and wireless Internet connections
- Creates a Virtual Private Network to hide all personal web-surfing information
- Utilizes industry-standard 128-bit encryption
- Lightweight—protects without interfering with normal computer operation
It’s compatible for all you iPhone and iTouch users. The software is compatible with Linux and Mac Operating Systems as well.
How Does It Work?
There is software to download and install. It puts an icon in your system tray. When you’re ready to use it, click on the icon to launch, enter in your username and password and you’ll be able to be online as if you’re invisible. Your IP is not revealed and your connection is secure using 128-bit encryption.
Pricing
There is a free 7-day trial period, but a credit card is required to get the free trial. Pricing seems very reasonable…
- $3.99 for a 24-hour period
- $6.99 for a month
- $49.99 for the whole year
- Corporate pricing available as well
I think the next time I go out of town or am on vacation, I’m going to definitely use this service. For frequent business travelers or serious vacationers, it seems like the solution for being able to be on-line and productive while away from home.
The Best Of 2009
By · CommentsThanks to all for your readership and comments over the last year. I enjoy keeping my eyes and ears open for new technologies and writing about it in a way to be easily understood and easy to integrate into your digital life to make you more efficient. Best wishes to
all for a techie new year!
As the year winds down, I was taking a look at my blog post stats and thought it might be helpful to do a ‘best of’ post of my top 10 posts for the year. Below is the list and number of views.
Windows Calendar Sync with Google Calendar/Windows Live Calendar with Outlook
5,780 views
Windows Live Photo Gallery vs. Picasa – 1,305 views
Picasa 3 Movie Maker Review – 694 views
Windows 7 Review – 690 views
Do A Clean Install With Windows 7 Student Version – 406 views
Google Voice-Keep Your Original Number – 401 views
How To Add A Facebook Fanbox or Badge To Your Website - 336 views
Back-up Your Facebook Contacts – 314 views
Windows Live Mail-POP Account Enabled – 244 views
Microsoft SkyDrive & Photo Storage Upgrades – 231 views
