Shane Cronin's blog @solasnua-blog - Tumblr Blog

Timebar - another productivity tool for the arsenal

I'm always on the lookout for a good productivity tool. Some of my most used applications on a day to day basis vary from Google Apps (GMAIL, Calendar and Google Drive) to Evernote. When I came across Timebar by ShinyPlasticBag, I quickly realised this was another one for the arsenal.

Simply put, Timebar allows you to set desktop alarms for periods of time so you don't spend oodles of time on tasks and make the most of your day. Now it does take discipline, but once you get the hang of it, it works quite well. Set a 20 min timeframe for a task - Alarm! Move onto the next more complex task perhaps - Alarm.

I find that I get caught up in tasks such as Video Editing for quite long periods of time. This app helps me to either switch tasks, or get up and have a walk around for 5 minutes.

Check it out at on itunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/timebar/id617829225?mt=12

#productivity

Droplr - quick file sharing

I came across this app when the good guys at Woothemes sent me screenshot as part of a support ticket for one of their themes. I've used a lot of file sharing applications and screenshot software. This does both and makes the whole process really quick.

I often only need to send a screenshot of a portion of my screen as part of a work project. This gives me the tools to do it either by Droplr shortcuts or via the Apple menubar.

Well worth a look: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/droplr/id498672703?mt=12

#productivity #screenshot #file sharing

Wow, this brings me back! I remember my first Internet experience vividly. The ksssshhhhhhh, ding ding ding, of the modem. The excitement when it got through. As far as I remember, it was the RTE Aertel site we visited. Things ran so slow but the thought of being able to access a mass of information on the web was awesome. Oh the days!

Take a minute to watch this spectacular time lapse footage taken from the ISS. In this screenshot you can see the shape of Ireland and England. Interesting to see the concentration of light around the major cities, relative to the less densely light countryside. Each orbit of the ISS takes 90-93 minutes and there are approximately 16 orbits per day (24 hours). Just puts space and time into perspective for those of use on the ground! Many thanks to Fstoppers for the post. More at http://fstoppers.com/timelapse-from-space-will-leave-you-humbled Credits: Music: “Manhatta” composed & performed by “The Cinematic Orchestra” All rights reserved to their respective owners. Edited by: Bruce W. Berry Image Courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth” eol.jsc.nasa.gov eol.jsc.nasa.gov/Videos/CrewEarthObservationsVideos/ nasa.gov/multimedia/hd/ earthobservatory.nasa.gov/

#timelapse

On the face of it, this looks like a pretty good alternative to Google Reader. Feedly gives you the option to import your Google Reader feeds straight off the bat.

#rss #Google Reader Alternative

Long Term Construction Time lapse Project

I'm just back from setting up another long(ish) term time lapse for a construction project. Everything went fine, apart from the obvious problem of having a patterned window to shoot through! A quick summary of the setup is as follows:

Power supply - (found this one on ebay http://goo.gl/Rs6fL)

Standard Camera USB cable- Type A Male to 5 Pin Mini-B Male

Canon 20D Digital SLR

17-40 Canon L lens

GB Time lapse (http://goo.gl/vTvmk)

Tripod

Dell Latitude laptop

Some tips:

Instead of regurgitating the details of a time lapse configuration, I'm going to outline a few quick tips I found important for this particular setup.

cover the viewfinder - this prevents stray light from entering the camera. A piece of insulating tape will do the trick

make sure your laptop's power settings have been configured correctly. Last thing you need is for the laptop to go into standby during your shoot

be careful with your camera's positioning and the sun. Lens flare can be a big issue. Ensure you have a lens hood.

I'll follow this up with an explanation of the GB Timelapse software, and all going well, a sample from my first shoot.

#timelapse

Reclaim your inbox

Came across this really useful tool to tidy up my inbox. The good guys at Technolicious provide a set of instructions on how to filter out a good share of the, what I like to call "Optional" emails.

Check out the tutorial at http://goo.gl/igy1b

#productivity #gmail

For those of you that are slightly mathematically challenged like me, you'll find this little online application very handy indeed. I used it today to record a 30 second time lapse sequence at 25fps on my GoPro Hero 2. Here's a sample from the final sequence.

#timelapse #gopro

Aw man - now this is the kind of gadget that comes by rarely enough. The DJI Quadcopter promises to be a serious contender in the aerial photography/video fields…and at a keen enough price of around 600 bucks. I’ll have one please!

#quadcopter #aerialphotography #gadgets