tools Archives - What Does This Mean to Me, Laura?

tools

Is working from home too quiet for you? Three tools to help

However, even I will sometimes admit that things can get just a little too quiet. Granted, if you've got kids or family trapped in the house with you right now, that might not be one of your problems. For myself,…

tools

No Photoshop? Try free LunaPic instead

I work with a good number of smaller libraries that don’t have professional graphic artists on staff and also rarely have the money or expertise to use high-level design software, such as Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. Oftentimes, our clients…

tools

Cliphy: Add fun to words

I spend a fair amount of time testing out new online tools, usually of the free variety. Some don’t work as advertised. Some are cool, and I sing their praises to the virtual rooftops. Others are just useful in very…

tools

Free online tools you didn’t know you needed

I had the privilege of speaking to a packed house at the Computers in Libraries 2018 conference last month. Here’s my slidedeck, featuring a small sample of some of my favorite online tools. Enjoy! Free Online Tools You Didn’t…

2017 Because you're not getting much work done anyway

Because you’re not getting much work done anyway (2017 edition)

Happy holidays! It’s time for my annual collection of Stuff You Didn’t Know Existed But Can Waste Your Time On. You know, in case you needed help not getting your work done. Sandcastles: If you, like most people, feel that…

tools

Make your own animated GIFs from video captures–easy

Animated GIFs are everywhere, especially in social media. Even my Android phone has many built into its SMS app. They’ve become a very common part of modern communication. Not only do they effectively communicate emotions, but they have a significant…

Because you’re not getting much work done anyway (2016 edition)

Happy holidays! It’s time for my annual collection of Online Stuff To Waste Time On. You know, in case you needed help not getting your work done. Be virtually rained out. Like the sounds of rain? Of course you do. This site allows you…

surprised man using smartphone dollar bills flying away from screen

tools

Is your library’s website costing your patrons money?

For several years, I was a lucky customer of Verizon with a grandfathered, unlimited data plan. Last year, in an attempt to shove us freeloader-types overboard, Verizon jacked up the price of unlimited plans by an insane amount. Rather than…

tools

5 tools to ease your font headaches

Fonts are complicated. I won’t pretend that I’m anything like an expert, because I can barely differentiate between a typeface and a font to begin with*. But I have to work with fonts all of the time, and I’ve come to…

Big news story being typed on typewriter

tools

Absolutely honest tool tells you if you need a better headline

There’s a heck of a lot of information out there about how important it is to have a good headline for blog posts. Many people will make their decision to read or not, based purely on the headline. So, headlines…

tools

Get the web details you need–FAST

Today’s post discusses my latest “Headache Avoidance” tool. If you work on designing and/or developing websites, you are almost certainly accustomed to vague conversations, that don’t give you all of the details you might need in order to troubleshoot an issue. In…

tools

Make your web colors better

Colors can be fun, but they can also be complicated. There’s a lot of psychology involved with choosing colors as well. I really enjoy putting together or finding color palettes for different websites or projects that I get to work…

Tool Tuesday: ReciteThis

So…you probably already know that social media has become increasingly visual. Images and photos typically get more engagement than plain text. But, what if you don’t have a fun photo to share? What if you have a great quote, but…

tools

Too quiet for you?

I’ve mentioned before how I primarily work from home nowadays, where it’s very quiet. So, I’m often looking for ways to jazz up my work environment without actually playing music, which I often find to be too distracting. I’ve written…

tools

Tool Tuesday: TL;DR

Perhaps you’re like me, and you have the attention span of a gnat. Or, maybe you’re just like most people, and you don’t have time to read today’s news, in depth. That’s where this handy site comes in: TL;DR. (You…