Hey there! How has your holidays been going so far? For those of you who’ve just been admitted into Ngee Ann, I’m sure some of you have been heading down to our Convention Centre to get your laptops for school. So here I am with some of my favourite apps ever that you can get to prepare your laptop for those hectic school days that are sure to come!
#1. WriteRoom (Mac, $24.99)
http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom
WriteRoom is like, my favourite app of all time. Being a writer myself, I just love the simplicity of the app. It just makes it so easy to concentrate on writing alone and not get distracted by anything else. You know, like procrastinating and doing stuff like checking your email or chatting with your friends on MSN instead of working on that essay you have due tomorrow!
PS: If you haven’t experienced procrastination yet, hehehehe... Then again, there are some people who are just waaaay too organised and immune to procrastination. T_____T
Yup, that's a screenshot of me working on this blog post! ;) And on the right is how it'd look like on a Mac!
Unfortunately, though, WriteRoom is not a free app - I got mine only because of the MacHeist Nano bundle last December. But! I have an alternative for you. Although not as sleek as WriteRoom imo, this app still manages to get the work done properly! Plus, it works on Win and Linux too ‘cause it runs on Java, so that’s another bonus for those of you non-Mac users!
Alternative: JDarkRoom (Mac/Win/Linux, free)
http://www.codealchemists.com/jdarkroom/
JDarkRoom is almost exactly like WriteRoom, but not only that, it also allows you to customise the colours that you see on your screen. Personally, it doesn't do much for me, but maybe it's to your taste! ;)
Colourful, eh?
And now we move on to our second app of the day!
#2. iProcrastinate (Mac, free)
http://www.craigotis.com/mac/
iProcrastinate is one of the few free task manager apps that I have found. I’m kind of like a geek that way because I go around searching for free apps when I’m bored and feeling techie. Anyway, it's awesome because it has features that allow you to create subjects for your different modules, and then in those modules, you can create different tasks for your homework.
Another awesome feature about it is that it allows you to link files to your tasks, so let’s say that you’re working on an essay (heh, again with the essay), you can link the document you’re working on to your task. It makes it easy to get to your document and get straight to work, instead of spending time searching for the document.
Then again, this might not be your cup of tea. Maybe you prefer seeing all your tasks in one list instead of categorising them. So here’s another alternative!
Alternative: Remember the Milk (online, free)
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/
This is another pretty good task manager (though it’s technically not an app), and there’s quite a couple of features in it. The good thing about this is that you get to take your tasks with you everywhere, so if you have an iPhone (or some other device with 3G), you are literally connected on the go!
Some old tasks I'd completed! :)
And now we come to our third app of the day!
#3. Freemind (Mac/Win/Linux, free)
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Download
I love mindmapping. In fact, I strongly believe in using it when I’m brainstorming because that’s when ideas just pop out from nowhere in my head and it’s just impossible to put my thoughts down linearly. Mindmapping allows me to just think and connect different ideas in my head, so it’s extremely useful to have an app like this on standby! It’s also very simple and easy to use, with no complicating head-messing features that you don’t really need. The good thing about this app: It runs on Java, so it works on almost any operating system with Java. Good for you, eh? ;)
A little story outline I did. Hehehe
And sometimes, after all that hard work, you just need to unwind a little! So here’s the fourth app that you definitely need!
#4. VLC (Mac/Win/Linux, free)
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
VLC runs on almost any operating system out there, so that’s one plus point for it. Personally, the reason why VLC is one of my favourite apps is simply ‘cause it is just able to play nearly every file format that I’ve thrown at it so far. And it also allows you to increase the volume of the video by 400%, which is absolutely awesome! Sometimes the audio of the video that I’m watching is just too soft, so this lets me amp up the volume and hear clearly what they’re saying. ;)
And yup, that's Lips of An Angel by Hinder ;)
And finally we come to our last app of the day!
#5. Tweetdeck (Mac/Win/Linux, free)
http://www.tweetdeck.com/
Tweetdeck. Hehehe. Well, in case you didn’t know, Tweetdeck is an application for Twitter, so you get to check your tweets and stuff on it. The good thing about it is that it allows you to add multiple accounts from Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and even LinkedIn! You can also create custom Twitter lists and easily check up on who’s tweeting what. :)
As a side note: I know more than a couple of friends who’ve decided that they’re not joining the twittering frenzy, but here’s why you should: You get to follow your favourite artistes and see what they’re tweeting, and if you follow Straits Times and Channel News Asia, you also get news on the go! So it’s not just all pleasure, but you get informational stuff too. Hehe.
So what are you waiting for? Most of these apps are free, so go get those apps now! If you think you’ve got a better app to recommend, let me know in the comments below :)
PS: We’re on Twitter too, so follow us @npfriends if you haven’t! Go go go! :D