Save directly to Cloud Storage - Cloud Save

Most people tend to be drifting toward Cloud Storage so a future without it seems inevitable. It seems kind of redundant to download a file from online to your hard drive and then upload it to your Cloud Storage server afterwards. You probably don’t need the file locally and online in most cases so this process is unnecessary. The smart folks at Google realized this as well and created a Google Chrome extension that bypasses the entire middle stage of this process. Nice! It is called Cloud Save and can be acquired right about HERE for FREE!

So how this app works is really simple. Basically once you have it installed, all you have to do is right click an image or file type like you normally would to save it to your HD. Now you will have a new option in the menu called “Cloud Save” which will enable you to directly save the file to your cloud of choice. Cloud Save is currently compatible with 19 different “clouds” including SugarSync – my fav- as well as DropBox, Google Docs, SkyDrive, Picasa, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon Cloud etc. If you look up awesome dinosaur pics like I do then your new file saving procedure might look like this example:

So to download this free app, just follow this link HEREand then click on the "Add to Chrome" button.

A pop up will appear to confirm the download looking exactly like this one:

Then the app will install in like 5 seconds and the confirmation will show in the top right of your browser like this.

And that is it! Now you are good to go! Now whenever you want to save a file directly to a cloud all you do is right click and go for it! This extension is also very smart so if your cloud of choice is not initially on the first submenu, once you have used it a time or two it will work its way to the top for easy access. Now go get after all those (wholesome) files!

Note: To manage your apps click the little wrench to the right of the address bar, then hover your mouse over “Tools” and then a submenu will appear with “Extensions.” Click it and your extensions can be managed from here.

Auto color blind conversion in Chrome Daltonize!

If you are color blind, then you may not be able to see the contrast others see in images online. Awesome developers at Chrome have created a program that assists in creating contrast for those with different types of color blindness. I, myself am not color blind, but I know some who are and I thought this application might come in handy. Chrome Daltonize is a very small application that can be added to the Chrome Web Browser that automatically loads web pages so that they are color-blind friendly. Whether you are protanope, deuteranope or tritanope, the web, including pictures can be loaded to fit your eyesight. Although I have read that the tritanope conversion is not very accurate. Chrome Daltonize can be loaded manually on desired pages or can be set to automatically convert web pages upon load! This works for most images and text, but does not for videos. Also, this is only available in the Chrome web browser, to the best of my knowledge.
So here is a quick rundown of how to acquire and use this very simple program:
Go to the link above which will direct you to the app. Note: you must be using Chrome for this to work).
Click on the App button and a notification will pop up that looks like-uh this:

Click Install and then Chrome will automatically put an icon in the top right of your browser as an extension. It will look like this:

Right click on the icon for PC users or Command + click Mac users and a menu will appear like so:

Select options and a very brief set of options will appear.
If you would like your web pages to start automatically converting to your set preferences, then select run at page load.

There is also a drop down menu that will allow you to select what type of color blindness you would like Chrome Daltonize! to attempt to correct.

There are a few other simple things that can be changed, but this app is very focussed and created for one obvious purpose. Before you run off and get the FREE app, here is an example of how it will recreate images in order to enhance contrast, without losing too much of the original colors.

Here is the original image i selected:

And here is the image after it is automatically converted to suit the needs for someone who is a protanope:

and here is what the picture looks like when altered for deuteranopia:

Since I do not have any form of color blindness, I am unsure if my example really demonstrates the effectiveness of the app, so please let me know. Many people who do have color blindness have had lots off good things to say about this widely unknown app.
Please lemme know if you found this helpful or if you have a picture that better demonstrates the capabilities of this sweet app. Thanks!

Click and Drag feature in Google Image Search

One cool feature that Google has recently started is the click and drag feature within a Google Image Search (GIS). Many of you may have noticed this one on the GIS page under the search bar and this may be old news, but to those who haven’t used this feature yet: it is really cool. It is very useful in finding very similar images without having to know the description of the picture. It is great for finding out information about specific pictures such as, location, artist, photographer, publisher, date etc as well. (NOTE: Internet Explorer users may have difficulty completing a search this way. If it does not work then try using a different Web Browser i.e. Mozilla or Chrome).
In this example I will make the search under the generic topic of “nature.” So I type the word “nature” into GIS and it provides millions of pictures of course. I scroll down to a picture that I find interesting, this neat canyon looking one on the right.

Then I click and hold my mouse over this image and drag it toward the search bar. Google automatically recognizes what I am doing and a box appears that says “Search by image. Drop Image Here.”

Drag the picture and release it in this box and Google will make a search based on the characteristics of this picture. From here I find out that this picture was taken in Glen Canyon by Michael Melford and displayed in National Geographic in 2006. I am also linked to dozens of other pictures taken in Glen Canyon and several relevant websites are presented including www.nationalgeographic.com/ and blogs that are pertinent to this topic.

This is also really useful when trying to track down, say, an artist. This time I looked up “cool paintings” and GIS provided me with tons of awesome paintings. I decided to click on this one with the horses coming out of the mountain so I clicked and dragged it into the search box.

This time it provided me with tons of similar pictures to browse as well as the artist who created the painting: Jim Warren. The links provide me with access to purchasing his art as well as to other pictures by him and his fine art studio.

These are just 2 very simple examples of how to use the click and drag feature in Google Image Search. I hope you found this helpful.
And this is the perfect time to suggest one of my personal favorite searches on GIS: weird animals!
There are many other searches that the Drop and Drag feature is useful for in Google Image Search. Try looking up: healthy food, desserts, etc and drag and drop to find out the recipes!
Any other useful searches? Please post them below.

Check your Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar Offline!

Have you ever had important information saved in your email, but you couldn’t establish an internet connection to access it? I have and its really frustrating. How about had a shared Google Doc that you and some study partners were sharing and then you lost internet access on your laptop (or iPad etc) and couldn’t get back to it? I have. Do you use the amazing Google Calendar App to organize your life and depend on it for your schedules and plans? I do that as well…

Sometimes we just don’t have available access to the internet, but we need to access online references immediately and this can be really stressful trying to track down a Starbucks or a local Wi-Fi location to check this information. Lucky for us humans, Google realized that this happens in real life and in September 2011 created a very convenient way to remedy these issues. And the best part? They are all FREE! Google offers offline access to Gmail through Gmail Offline Gmail Offline . Just follow the link and click on the “Launch App” button and it will start the download. With this feature you will have access to your most recently cached email (all of the emails that you have previously viewed on the computer you are using). So far this feature is only available in the Google Chrome web browser and a link for download of Chrome is available in the link above.

The same offline access is available for Google Calendar users as well starting September 2011. This software can be found here. Just click the “Launch App” button and it will start the free download. If you don’t know about Google Calendars, you should really check it out. You can organize all of your plans and schedule and input alarms as reminders, you can sync your calendar with others to try to make scheduling easier and much more. It’s awesome and now it is available with offline access too. For a great preview of some of the stuff you can do with Google Calendar check out this informative blog here.

Google Docs is also available offline as of September 2011 as well and you can get it right here. The same process applies for Google Docs as with Google Calendar and Gmail Offline. Just click the “Launch App” button and the download will begin.

It is important to note that when these features are set up for offline access, it means that the information will be stored on the hard drive of the computer that you are using. If you are on a Public computer or Network private information should not be saved to the hard drive. Additionally, edits to these programs will not be available for others to view online until your computer regains internet access and then the updates will take place automatically.
I hope you found this helpful!
Check out Gmails official blog at Gmail Official Blog

File Sharing of the Future

File Sharing of the Future
Technological advancements just continue to gain momentum and new, revolutionary and convenient inventions end up having shorter shelf lives than sardines. I remember just a few sweet years ago staying up all night so that I could go to Staples at 5am on Black Friday to pick up a couple of 2 Gb zip drives for under ten bucks. I did it the next year so that I could pick up some 8 Gb drives too. Zip drives were the junk! And they still are convenient when you want to transfer files and data between people in the same room as you, but if you are like me, the rest of the world probably doesn’t live with you. So when I want to send files to friends or coworkers in different towns or states I needed a new way to send my stuff. I didn’t want to pay postage, I didn’t want to give up my zip drive during route, I didn’t want to wait days for the data to arrive, plus the files I wanted to send were much too large to send through email. I also want to be able to receive feedback regularly, not every couple of days. So what did I do? I turned to Cloud Storage.

Cloud storage is a term referring to online hard drives that can be accessed anywhere you go. It is great for companies and consumers alike. Certain sites out there allow for up to 8 gigabytes or more storage space for FREE! Larger amount of space is available for monthly or annual fees if you need more space. To check out a list of free Cloud Storage sites click here. And best of all, since most people want all of their information available with them all the time, on-the-go, in their pockets, the majority of Cloud Storage servers are available for Android, iPhones, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry’s as well.
Now, there are tons of Cloud Storage companies, and I’ll admit I didn’t check them all out. If you have the time and space and patience (I know I don’t) to check out a bunch of them then have at it, but I checked a few out and my favorite is SugarSync. I am usually an advocate of anything Google, but at this point in the Cloud game Google is not quite up to par. Google Docs can actually be used as a cloud storage unit, but most people aren’t even aware that it is capable of doing so. It only provides 1 gig of storage space at this time anyway. This is sure to change soon as Google is planning to come up with an awesome new Cloud Storage feature that is sure to blow the competition out of the water as Google usually does. More about that here and here. Apple is also in the process of developing iCloud, which will feature 5GB of free storage and should be released in the near future.
So here is why SugarSync is so awesome.

First off, its FREE (up to a maximum of 5GBs of storage at any given time). It is also a relatively small program – 31MB – so it downloads quick and installs quickly as well. SugarSync also lets you upload folders which is a huge plus – and actually a rare attribute of Cloud Storage. DropBox, which is the name of the game in cloud storage does not allow folders to be added to public folders, which is really annoying and it only has a maximum of 2GB of free storage. Amazon has a cloud storage feature as well, but it does not allow folders to be uploaded, only individual files. Microsoft also offers a cloud storage program called SkyDrive which offers 25GB of free storage. There are a couple downsides, however. You must have or create a Windows Live account to get access to SkyDrive and it doesn’t allow ANY folders to be uploaded! Fail!
SugarSync, while more modest in size than SkyDrive, does allow folders to be uploaded, which for me is a necessity. Plus there is no rule against deleting the files once you have transferred them to the desired destination (coworker, friend, alternate computer etc) and then uploading new files and so on and so on. Another cool thing about SugarSync is that any files uploaded can be either kept private or made public individually. Shared folders can be used to work on large group projects or simply to exchange data/programs/files etc with those in your shared folder.

Files in the Public Folder can be access by any who are given the secret URL that is created. Make sure you have permission to upload any file that is not yours. Here is an example of just a single image in my public folder that you can view here. And, yes, I let my bearded dragons ride on the dashboard while I drive around on the freeway…
There are several other things you can do with SugarSync and other cloud storage programs. I just personally use them for transferring files with specific people more than storage. If you would like more details about how to use the program or watch videos etc about its uses then check out CloudU Blog. The folks at SugarSync created CloudU, a blog dedicated to all of the different applications that be done with this program and how a variety of different professions can benefit from it specifically: these.
Once again, here is the link to SugarSync . Any questions, just ask below. Enjoy!

Gmail Notifier (AKA down with Outlook Express)

If you are like me, you probably never use Outlook Express for windows. Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar: When you click an email address link while browsing on the net (i.e. Craigslist or any email on a Contact list for instance) Outlook automatically pops up because it is the default email provider for windows users. This becomes rather obnoxious because you never set up an Outlook account because it is just a waste of memory and is a vestigial product in the Microsoft Office Package. So what ends up happening when you want to send an email to the said email address is this:  you must highlight and copy the desired email address, open a new tab or window, go to your email, click compose new email and paste the copied email into the “To:” box. Doing this once is not so bad, but when applying for jobs or contacting multiple emails this process gets old very quickly. Is this sounding familiar?

Gmail Notifier

Luckily for us, there is an easier way! Google offers a product called Gmail Notifier and it can be downloaded right here for PC or here for MAC users. Gmail Notifier is in no way a new product, but most people don’t know it even exists. This product is very small (292Kb for windows and 1.08Mb for MAC) and downloads almost instantly. The installation takes only seconds as well and best of all IT IS FREE! This product completely replaces all of the functions of Outlook and any Gmail account can be used. The entire process should take less than 2 minutes! So now when you click on an email link while browsing, Gmail Notifier will automatically assume that you are using your Gmail account to reply. This means that there will be no more cutting and pasting and opening of new windows in order to reply to posts. All you have to do is click it!

Gmail Notifier automatically opens when you start windows so you are always logged in and have this ease of access available. It can also show up at the bottom right of your task bar (it will look like an envelope) and can be set so that a tiny popup appears when new email arrives. To open your Gmail account all you have to do is double click the icon and your default browser will open directly to your email. Unless you are using Outlook for some odd reason or haven’t converted your outdated hotmail or Yahoo! email to Gmail, then there is really no reason to not have this awesome software!

A more in depth description of installing the product: more about Gmail Notifier

Or check out Gmail Notifer help from Google: Google Notifier Help

And always check out Google’s Blog for a huge assortment of awesome stuff you can do with Google products: Google Blog