One-word Inspiration
Think. Dream. Be. Do. Act. Laugh. Create. Rise. Shine. Smile. Ideate. Begin. Energize. Stimulate. Ask. Engage. Appreciate. Compliment. Inspire. Enliven. Read. Write. Listen. Innovate. Rejuvenate. Love. Hug. Focus.
"The Creativ3 Bee" Email Newsletter [ANN]
[EDIT: I just sent out # 1 and it got spammed. Please check your spam emails and mark it as not spam! This is so bad.]
Hey everyone!
I'm starting a fortnightly email newsletter called The Creativ3 Bee. (That was abrupt!)
What I intend is for this to be a community learning, sharing, inspiration and happiness project.
In case you're wondering where in the world this came from:
During the first few days of this idea, I was telling my sister how sometimes inspiration just won't strike (in the context of writing) and that it is not very often that the creativity bee stings. So what I hope is that the ideas I share help us all find the bee-sting. :)
To subscribe, you can hit me back either here or on thecreativ3bee@gmail.com or on twitter.com/thecreativ3bee. Privacy issues and value for your time will be taken care of well. :)
Hope to get a lot of hits! I will get back to you soon with the content details.
The image is courtesy of flickr user aussiegall (who has some of the awesomest pictures ever). It is under a Creative Commons licence, and will be the logo for TCB until I make one myself.
Hey everyone!
I'm starting a fortnightly email newsletter called The Creativ3 Bee. (That was abrupt!)
In case you're wondering where in the world this came from:
During the first few days of this idea, I was telling my sister how sometimes inspiration just won't strike (in the context of writing) and that it is not very often that the creativity bee stings. So what I hope is that the ideas I share help us all find the bee-sting. :)
To subscribe, you can hit me back either here or on thecreativ3bee@gmail.com or on twitter.com/thecreativ3bee. Privacy issues and value for your time will be taken care of well. :)
Hope to get a lot of hits! I will get back to you soon with the content details.
The image is courtesy of flickr user aussiegall (who has some of the awesomest pictures ever). It is under a Creative Commons licence, and will be the logo for TCB until I make one myself.
10 Software Tools Every Computer Deserves
Before I'm off to the list, let me tell you that you don't need any "qualification" to like these softwares. The average computer user might not feel the need for any of these, but I highly recommend each one. I'm not including any security software here, because I expect even the average computer user to feel the need to have them. :P
1. CCleaner
This nifty tool was actually named "Crap Cleaner", and does everything the name promises, and more.
2. Defraggler
Way better than the default Windows defragment tool.
Defragment your hard drive a couple times a year to keep it running fast and well. However, as I recently learnt (Thanks, Karan Kantoor), do not defragment too often, because moving large chunks of data on your drive needs lots of setting and resetting, and is therefore not good for the drive's health.
3. Google Chrome
No matter what browser you primarily use, (I hope you don't say Internet Explorer :P) you should have Google Chrome installed. It's very fast, and comes with a generous set of features despite the minimalist approach, the "Incognito" mode being one of my favourites.
4. Evernote
This powerful note-taking app is a must-have for almost everyone. Sign up for an account, and download the desktop client. There's an online account where all your information gets synced, and there are iPhone and BlackBerry clients too. Write notes, make lists, take screenshots... and I'll tell you more as I discover. MS Office fans might like OneNote for its similar features, but I appreciate Evernote's generous free plan too much to not use it.
5. Recuva
This one can be a true life-saver, especially for fans of the dangerously useful Shift + Delete combination. Pronounced recover, this software does one simple job, and does it well—recover files from your hard drive once you've permanently deleted them but they have not yet been totally effaced.
6. Q10
Here comes my favourite text editor of all time. This is the software I'm using to type right now. There's a plain black background, covering my entire screen, green Matrix-style text on it, and a bar on the bottom that helps me track the time, number of words, pages, etc. There are lots of customizable features, and this tiny software is also portable, so you can even take it on a flash drive anywhere you want to.
7. Caffeine
This microscopically light app is a wonderful way to keep your computer active and awake. All it does is simulate a Shift keypress every 59 seconds, to make sure your computer does not sleep or activate the screensaver if you don't want it to. And for the curious, the Shift key is almost harmless, and indicates to the computer that a user is around.
8. JPEG Lossless Rotator
The name really does say enough. Lossless Rotator has a very simple purpose: it rotates digital pictures in a way that does very little damage to their quality, if at all. It's very user-friendly and integrates directly into the shell, so all you have to do is right-click a picture and select "Lossless Rotate Left/Right".
9. Foxit Reader
This is not really a must-have, because most of us use Adobe Acrobat Reader for pdf files anyway. But in case you're looking at better speed and features, Foxit is a quick answer. For a quicker one, check out Sumatra PDF, a light, portable and ultra-fast pdf reader.
Edit: Nitro PDF Reader. Period.
10. Universal Viewer
If there could be a Swiss Army knife equivalent of softwares, Universal Viewer would be a contender, if not the winner. Under one common roof, you can open tons of file formats that cover pictures, audio, video, and lots more.
Most of these come with decent alternatives, also free. These are just my favourites, and they do their job handsomely. Some of these are Windows-only, so feel free to recommend cross-platform/Mac/Linux alternatives, and also share your own favourite tools in the comments.
1. CCleaner
This nifty tool was actually named "Crap Cleaner", and does everything the name promises, and more.
2. Defraggler
Way better than the default Windows defragment tool.
Defragment your hard drive a couple times a year to keep it running fast and well. However, as I recently learnt (Thanks, Karan Kantoor), do not defragment too often, because moving large chunks of data on your drive needs lots of setting and resetting, and is therefore not good for the drive's health.
3. Google Chrome
No matter what browser you primarily use, (I hope you don't say Internet Explorer :P) you should have Google Chrome installed. It's very fast, and comes with a generous set of features despite the minimalist approach, the "Incognito" mode being one of my favourites.
4. Evernote
This powerful note-taking app is a must-have for almost everyone. Sign up for an account, and download the desktop client. There's an online account where all your information gets synced, and there are iPhone and BlackBerry clients too. Write notes, make lists, take screenshots... and I'll tell you more as I discover. MS Office fans might like OneNote for its similar features, but I appreciate Evernote's generous free plan too much to not use it.
5. Recuva
This one can be a true life-saver, especially for fans of the dangerously useful Shift + Delete combination. Pronounced recover, this software does one simple job, and does it well—recover files from your hard drive once you've permanently deleted them but they have not yet been totally effaced.
6. Q10
Here comes my favourite text editor of all time. This is the software I'm using to type right now. There's a plain black background, covering my entire screen, green Matrix-style text on it, and a bar on the bottom that helps me track the time, number of words, pages, etc. There are lots of customizable features, and this tiny software is also portable, so you can even take it on a flash drive anywhere you want to.
7. Caffeine
This microscopically light app is a wonderful way to keep your computer active and awake. All it does is simulate a Shift keypress every 59 seconds, to make sure your computer does not sleep or activate the screensaver if you don't want it to. And for the curious, the Shift key is almost harmless, and indicates to the computer that a user is around.
8. JPEG Lossless Rotator
The name really does say enough. Lossless Rotator has a very simple purpose: it rotates digital pictures in a way that does very little damage to their quality, if at all. It's very user-friendly and integrates directly into the shell, so all you have to do is right-click a picture and select "Lossless Rotate Left/Right".
9. Foxit Reader
This is not really a must-have, because most of us use Adobe Acrobat Reader for pdf files anyway. But in case you're looking at better speed and features, Foxit is a quick answer. For a quicker one, check out Sumatra PDF, a light, portable and ultra-fast pdf reader.
Edit: Nitro PDF Reader. Period.
10. Universal Viewer
If there could be a Swiss Army knife equivalent of softwares, Universal Viewer would be a contender, if not the winner. Under one common roof, you can open tons of file formats that cover pictures, audio, video, and lots more.
Most of these come with decent alternatives, also free. These are just my favourites, and they do their job handsomely. Some of these are Windows-only, so feel free to recommend cross-platform/Mac/Linux alternatives, and also share your own favourite tools in the comments.
Run to Simplicity
There was the Notepad Age, there was the WordPad Age, the MS Word Age, and then, somewhere down the line, a crossroads appeared—on the one side, MS Word and other word processors were increasing and improving their features, and on another, the simplicity bandwagon was accelerating and preparing to overtake the heavy feature-laden softwares.
(Writeroom, Q10, JDarkRoom, Writer, DarkCopy)
And today, the scene is that there are known hacks in the computer-geek circles to achieve Writeroom-like simplicity--black screen, green text, and no other features--in the more ubiquitous Word/Google Docs interfaces. Wow.
This makes me think of simplicity in a wider perspective. Leo Babatua talks highly of simplicity as a way of life, and to me the extent of simplicity in his life is alarming. I personally do not have a fixed opinion on this. I've made a comfortable place for myself on the fence, and keep jumping to either side every so often.
What do you think about reverting to the simple in various aspects of life? Do share your thoughts.
(Writeroom, Q10, JDarkRoom, Writer, DarkCopy)
And today, the scene is that there are known hacks in the computer-geek circles to achieve Writeroom-like simplicity--black screen, green text, and no other features--in the more ubiquitous Word/Google Docs interfaces. Wow.
This makes me think of simplicity in a wider perspective. Leo Babatua talks highly of simplicity as a way of life, and to me the extent of simplicity in his life is alarming. I personally do not have a fixed opinion on this. I've made a comfortable place for myself on the fence, and keep jumping to either side every so often.
What do you think about reverting to the simple in various aspects of life? Do share your thoughts.
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