Tag Archives: resources

Stiqr: cross-platform web design for dummies

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So I’ve been shopping around for suitable themes for this space. I want all my online identities to look the same or at least at the same feel, so I’ve been trying to find a similar or identical themes (that I might customise) to fit my WordPress and Tumblr sites. No such luck. I would design it myself, but I just haven’t got the time to learn the coding for each platform from scratch. Today I came across Stiqr. Stiqr allows you to design your website without touch a single line of code. All you do is move the elements around (literally “sticking”) as you would on Photoshop. Stiqr will do all the coding for you. The best part is it works on multiple platforms: WordPress, Blogger and Tumblr, to name a few.

Stiqr is free with limited use, and costs only US$35 for a lifetime license. Sounds like a pretty good deal, I think! Definitely going to be checking this one out, though I’m a little wary of its cross-platform compatibility. I’m noticing that their website (that has been built completely on Stiqr) has some problems with page titles and tags. Anyone had a go at Stiqr and have any feedback at all?

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Foodspotting: another app for foodies

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Foodspotting: another app for foodies

Foodspotting: another app for foodies

A friend once asked me, “Why do girls like to take pictures of their food?!” I didn’t have an answer. I personally am not that inclined to taking pictures of my food before eating it, simply because I’m terribly greedy and don’t have the patience to snap a pic before digging in, no matter how pretty. Ha. I think that while girls are slightly more inclined to appreciate food art (sorry, gender stereotype!), I do know some boys who are into it as well. I know someone who obsessively photographs and journals coffee art.

Back to what I was saying: Foodspotting is a great new venture that allows people to post pictures of the food that they’ve taken. It kind of works like FourSquare, where users earn points to get badges and things. The Foodspotting community get to vote on your foodie photo, which earns you points. So far the project is still in the Beta stages, but they have since incorporated an iPhone application that let you post pictures and pinpoint your location on the go. And of course, Twitter integration is a given.

I would most certainly download this application if I were still using my iPhone, just to give it a go. It does look like it has quite a bit of potential, right up FourSquare’s alley. Till then, I’ll have to wait patiently until they introduce a Blackberry-friendly system!

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Tumblr: a micro-blogging platform for the aesthetically-inclined

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Tumblr is a micro-blogging community that is designed to publish short, succinct posts for the discerning web user. Tumblelogs (as they have been christened in Tumblr-land) are usually extremely simplistic collections of images, videos or audio clips. If you are looking for an deep, insightful read about how the world works and why some clothes shrink when you’ve put them in the dryer, you’ve definitely come to the wrong place.

Tumblr users can opt to “follow” another, and this creates a sort of RSS-feed type of system that comes up on their “dashboard”. There is the option of “reblogging”. One would usually “reblog” interesting content. This feature specifically makes Tumblr a core medium for internet memes to breed.

Tumblr seems to attract a certain demographic. Young, aesthetically-inclined (i.e. creative or desperately-wanting-to-be creative types) with an eye for pretty things on the World Wide Web. Here is a deeply entertaining documentary/mockumentary about Tumblr that got me laughing for a good ten minutes:

Jokes aside, I personally find Tumblr a fantastic resource for creative inspiration. Users can easily grab media off the web and publish it on their Tumblelog. When the Tumblr community decides that it is worthy of a reblog, that bit of media will have the opportunity to be passed to to hundreds (maybe even thousands) of Tumblelogs, which in turn will be seen by hundreds/thousands of eyes.

One of the issues that I have with Tumblr though, is copyright. Tumblr users usually grab pictures off resources like Flickr and upload them without any credit. This behaviour is commonplace on Tumblr, and accepted by the majority. I personally do my best to include a line of credit on every post I make, whenever possible. While I haven’t heard of any copyright issues that has affected Tumblr, I do think that it is Tumblr’s responsibility to ensure that their users are aware that taking someone’s work and publishing it as their own is wrong and certainly against the law as far as I know.

That said, I still love Tumblr as a space for me to collect and share any media that inspires me on the web. And yes, this is my cue to shamelessly plug my Tumblr site. Do feel free to visit and be inspired!

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Visual Thesaurus: synonyms for the visually-motivated

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I’m always interested in cross-platform content, and Visual Thesaurus really stuck out for me. From the website:

“The Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus which creates word maps that blossom with meanings and branch to related words. Its innovative display encourages exploration and learning. You’ll understand language in a powerful new way.”

It seems to be incredibly useful in creative brainstorming efforts. For me, personally, I usually start my brainstorming process by creating a list of words that relate to a certain idea or issue. From there, I will pick out ideas and directions to explore and go further in depth. Sometimes I get stuck on a word block and my brainstorming process gets interrupted. This becomes very dangerous because I tend to lose interest when I lose my train of thought. Visual Thesaurus helps me avoid that particular problem by providing me with a set amount of words that relate to my initial thought. It is different from a traditional thesaurus because it doesn’t just give you synonyms (or antonyms). It works in a more non-linear method, much like how your brain links ideas and thoughts. I find it incredibly fascinating that the creators were able to find a way to do this.

While it is essentially a paid service, there is also a very simplistic search engine on the main page that will allow you to see how Visual Thesaurus may help in your thinking process.

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TubeTape: Creating music playlists from YouTube

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TubeTape

TubeTape

I’m not sure how legal this is, but TubeTape looks pretty interesting. I don’t listen to music off YouTube, but for those who do, this is a great resource. The website gives you very specific details creating your own ‘mixtape’ out of a YouTube playlist. All you have to do is arrange add all your music videos in a playlist, copy the ID, paste it in front of “http://tube-tape.appspot.com/” and you create your own mixtape. I don’t see an option to download the mixtape off the website (yet), but I’m sure it will be a welcomed addition.

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