Fresh Squeezed Tech » Misc

All I Want for Christmas Is…

MKB — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:30:40 +0000

When faced with the inevitable question, “What do you want for Christmas?” tech geeks typically don’t have a hard time listing out all the toys we want. The great thing about any hobby is that there’s always something new and exciting around the corner to get your heart pumping and the butterflies in your stomach flying. Technology as a hobby most certainly can be an expensive addiction, but there is always something new on the horizon (and more than likely one or two knock off brands that fit within your budget). So tech geeks – when the “What do you want for Christmas?” question is staring you in the face, what do you answer with? I’ll start with my list.

MacBook Pro – 15-inch – So I can create killer websites, videos, and all sorts of multimedia. While I do love my Dell notebook, I’m ready to jump on the bandwagon and become a Mac. (My PC will always hold a special place in my heart though.)
Bamboo Fun (Wacom product) – So I can create better graphics and digital drawings. I want the flexibility of my wrist for certain angles that you can’t get with a mouse.
Laptop Sleeve – Why? My briefcase doesn’t feel protective enough, plus they have so many jazzy looking sleeves for the fashion-forward tech geek.
Microsoft – Arc Laser Mouse – So I can easily fold it up and stick it in my bag for safe transport to a client meeting. It’s much more portable than my current mouse and this one is sort of a novelty.

In all honesty, my list could go on and on and as you can see – none of these things are cheap! So what is Santa to bringing you this Christmas?

What’s in Your Technology Toolkit?

MKB — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:27:22 +0000

We all have a technology toolkit—our “go-to” items, software, or websites that feed our inner geek. For those that don’t believe they have an inner geek: Do you find yourself feeling claustrophobic if you don’t check Twitter 5 times a day? Do you feel naked if you accidentally leave your mobile phone at home (and does it cause you to go back and get it)? These are things that you rely on every day, and yes they feed your inner geek. Here’s a little peak into my technology toolkit and what about the tools make them my “go-to” items.

Twitter - I check my Twitter account 3-4 times a day. Why is this a go-to tool? Twitter is a fantastic social media platform. The simplicity of the allowed 140 character posts makes reviewing updates quick and easy. I have the opportunity to follow people that I admire, aspire to be like, make me laugh, or deliver relevant newsworthy updates. There’s always something interesting out there to read on Twitter. If you don’t have an account – you should jump on the tweet wagon. If you’re a twitter newbie, check out Twitter and Your Website for some great tips!

iPhone – If you’ve read any of my other posts you already know I use my iPhone like it’s going out of style. There is literally an app out there for everything. It makes me more productive, more connected, and it keeps me occupied during any free time I might have. I even have a page in my blog dedicated to reviewing an iPhone app each week.

Mashable.com – Mashable is a social media and technology news guide. The information I find from this website is always new, fresh, and accurate. I find myself checking the front page hot topics several times per day (aside from reading @mashable tweets).

Google Wave – I use Wave on a daily basis. More and more of my contacts are getting access to Wave and it’s now much easier to send them a wave instead of an email. Conversations are much easier to follow; documents, images, etc. are much easier to keep track of; and collaboration is more productive and effective. If you’re not sure what Google Wave is, you can learn more or you can watch the “brief” demo from the creators of Wave.

Snagit – If you’ve ever had to grab screenshots of a website it can be such a pain to hit ctrl+Prnt Scrn on your keyboard, paste it into Paint, edit out the things you don’t want to share with the world, save, and send out. Being a website designer and website manager, I discovered Snagit early on and believe me – it has certainly paid for itself.

What makes Snagit so great? For one thing – I can set it to snag a region of a page (that I specify), a particular window, a scrolling webpage, etc. There are so many options. After a screen has been captured, I can edit it right inside the Snagit Editor. No need to save it and edit it elsewhere. I can add other images, point out parts of the capture, and I can even create things from scratch using the the editor.

You can download a 30 day trial or purchase the software for $49.95 (definitely worth it).

These are just a few go-to technology things that I use and love. What’s in your technology toolkit? Send us a comment.

Blogging About Technology

MKB — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:22:00 +0000

Welcome to Fresh Squeezed Tech – the place to read about new and old technology with a fresh spin on it.

Every day new technologies arrive into society. Some sweep the nation and become overnight phenomenons (such as iPhones), while some prove to be less significant to the general public. Whatever the impact, I will bring these technologies to you so you can learn more and become a tech geek just like myself. Technology has always been a passion of mine and I can’t wait to share it with you.