Rev Mentor

• Set a timer, or just enter time straight-away
• Try if FREE for 30 days, then pay $5/month thereafter

Not a bad deal — and I bet LiveTimer is making some bucks here (which is ultimately important, if we want the product and company to hang around).

Will these folks come out with an iPhone native app? Hmmmm. Don't see much advantage, but this will be a good test of the two business models. Not that different from a desktop vs. web app on a laptop or desktop machine, is it?

The web apps can have a subscription model and not attract too much attention — that standard having been well-set by folks like 37signals (creators of Basecamp, et al). But, I don't know if a subscription model would fly with a desktop or iPhone app.

Time (pun intended) will tell.

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By popular demand: Part 1 in a 3-part series on installing and using GLX2.

This lesson series answers several subscriber questions about GLX2 Script Editor and Visual Application Browser (VAB) – including, the differences between our tools and Rev's built-in counterparts.

The series begins with step-by-step instructions for installing all GLX2 Tools – including the installation and use of all of our FREE tools and features listed below.

• Status Bar
• Property Inspector
• No-click Inspection Option
• Clairvoyant Message Box
• Instructional Tooltips Option
• Auto Show/Hide Revolution Tools Feature
• Object Name Grabber
• Who's Your Daddy?
• Toggle Tools Option

These free tools and short-cuts are available to all Rev users, regardless of whether you use the GLX2 Script Editor or VAB.

TO DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL THESE FREEBIES, click HERE to visit the GLX2 Support Site. When you get there, click one of the links (at page right) to download the Mac or the Windows GLX2 installer.

NOTE: These tools extend the functionality of the Revolution application development platform and they will do you no good whatsoever unless you are a Revolution user.

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Part 2 in our 3-Part "popular demand" series on installing and using GLX2 tools.

Even if you already have the GLX2 Script Editor, check out this video. Jerry includes undocumented features that you may not have discovered yet!

At the suggestion of several users (including Runtime Revolution CEO Kevin Miller) Jerry gives an in-depth reveiw of these productivity enhancements found ONLY in the GLX2 Script Editor from Daniels & Mara.

• Workspaces & Bread Crumbs
• Additional, Specialized Preferences
• The Joy of Handler Links
• Support for Organizing, Navigating & Documenting Your Code
• Clairvoyance & Auto-Completion
• Maintenance Functions & Other Nifty Stuff

Click HERE to read more about the GLX2 Script Editor, and other GLX2 products.

NOTE: These tools extend the functionality of the Revolution application development platform and they will do you no good whatsoever unless you are a Revolution user.

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Part 3 in our 3-Part "popular demand" series on installing and using GLX2 tools.

Even if you already have the GLX2 Visual Application Browser, check out this video. Jerry includes undocumented features that you may not have discovered yet!

In this video, Jerry presents an in-depth review of the GLX2 Visual Application Browser from Daniels & Mara – and compares it to Rev's built-in app browser. Covered features include:

• Multiple Display Options
• Additional, Specialized Preferences
• Preview Pane with Alignment Guides
• Drag'n'Drop Re-layering
• Viewing Multiple Cards
• Tabs, Bread Crumbs, Right-click Shortcuts & Contextual Menus

Click HERE to read more about the GLX2 Visual Application, and other GLX2 products.

NOTE: These tools extend the functionality of the Revolution application development platform and they will do you no good whatsoever unless you are a Revolution user.

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Techsmith, the makers of Camtasia, have created a fascinating tool: Jing.

The fact that Jing exists fascinates me almost as much as the product itself.

Jing is a desktop app for Windows or Mac that lets you capture, manage and share images (.png) or five-minute videos (.swf). Image management includes some very useful mod tools for adding annotations and such. Once you got your image or video captured, you can upload it to your own ftp server or Jing's and in your clipboard you'll find either embed code or just the URL to the file. This all works very well.

Click on the image directly below to see a great video explaining the Jing project, how it got started and how it helps you tell a story in video quickly and easily using your Mac or PC.

After watching the video, you see that Jing is a tool for quick communication of ideas using your computer screen. One caveat: you can only record five minutes of video in a session. I find this interesting. Techsmith already has products that do extended screen-oriented video. Even so, they felt there was a niche for "quick 'n' dirty" screen videos that are done more or less on-the-fly. Ad-hoc video. You know what? They're right!

NOTE: Techsmith created Jing because they needed it for their own internal communications!

After using Jing, you'll see it's very easy to use, and it really cuts down on the distance in time between an idea and the video of the idea. Take Rev Mentor, for example. We have quite a production process, believe it or not. It was becoming an impediment to getting our videos out there when our schedules got tight. Jing solved all that and forced us to realize how great a short video is. PLUS: a series of short videos is better than one long one.

How easy is it to use?

First you type the hot keys (cmd+shift+1 or something to your liking) and use the resultant cross hairs cursor and bright yellow guides to select the part of the screen you'd like to capture. Once captured, your image shows up in a cool editing window.

Some screen shots...

Capturing an Image with Jing

Jing's image editor lets you annotate

Here Jing is recording a portion of the screen

Sharing a video in Jing is super easy

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• Hardware
  • MacBook - Aluminum; 2.4 GHz Intell Core 2 Duo; 2 GB 1.07 GHz RAM; 250 GB Hard Drive; purchased December, 2008
  • Time Capsule - router and Time Machine back-up network storage device; 500 MB model
  • iPhone - 8 GB; first generation; running 2.0 firmware; purchased July 2007; used for snap shots and phone primarily
  • The Flip - non-screen video capture
• Apps (Desktop)
  • Mail/Address Book/iCal - Mail/Contact/Calendar apps bundled with MacBook)
  • Safari - web browser used on Mac and Windows
  • iTunes - media acquistion and playing
  • Jing - image and video screen capture app
  • iWork - Pages, Numbers, Keynote used to do word processing, spreadsheets and slide shows, respectively
  • Time Machine - software used to perform manual backups (auto backup not used)
  • ScreenFlow - screen-oriented video production
  • Revolution Enterprise - develop desktop apps on Mac and deploy on Mac, Windows, Linux
  • Skype - SkypeIn and SkypeOut used for business communications and all international communications
  • Pixelmator - image doctoring app for Mac; similar to PhotoShop (only MUCH cheaper)
  • Interarchy - outstanding Finder-like FTP client ($59 bucks but worth it)
  • ScreenSteps - used to write tutorials
  • SandVox - used to create more generic web sites that are not blogs or social networks
  • Pomodoro - used to manage time without fear
  • Waveboard - a Single Site Browser app to house Google Wave web app.
• Apps (Web)
  • GoDaddy - used to obtain and register domains
  • Ning - used to create social network networks
  • Posterous - used to create blog sites from emails
  • SquareSpace - used to create full-featured blog sites
  • MobileMe - used for web-based MS Exchange email and calendar
  • Google Wave - used to collaborate with colleagues
• Hosting Services
  • Ning - social network web hosting non-ad package for GLX2 Support site
  • SquareSpace - blog web hosting Pro package for Revolution Mentor site
  • MobileMe - jerry.daniels@me.com; standard contract
  • JaguarPC - hosting service for file storage and email services
  • ScreenSteps - used to host tutorials
• Fav Blogs / News Sites
  
  • Daring Fireball - Web site design, tech opinions. Irreverent, funny, insightful.
  • Signal vs Noise - Water cooler talk and rants by the guys at 37signals, makers of Basecamp, etc.
  • New York Times Headlines - The big stories from a big apple point of view.
  • FastCompany - Great news blurbs on technology, design and 'ethonomics'
  • Coudal Partners - If a creative department of an ad agency made a newspaper, this would be it.
  • Minimal Mac - Keeping things simple on a machine meant to keep your life simple.
  • Google Fast Flip - Fast news scanning. Ugly UI, great workflow.
• Analog Tools
  • Field Notes - little 3X5 notebooks for jotting down tasks, phone numbers, etc. on the fly.
  • Pomodoro Technique - a paper (or device) based time management technique for removing fear and increasing productivity.

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