July 23rd, 2014 - by Objective - Salt Lake City, Utah
Keeping up with technology is a lot of work. Luckily, we enjoy wading through the noise just to find the gems of awesomeness sprinkled throughout. Fusion Radar is our gift to you, Current or Potential Client, so that you can enjoy all of the awesome without any of the drudgery. Unwrap it each week, and know that you’re loved by the geeks and pixel-pushers at Agency Fusion.
Taco
If you’re feeling the pain of task list fragmentation, Taco is worth a look. Taco aggregates tasks from multiple task systems, including Asana, Evernote, Gmail, Basecamp, and more.
Taco
Tesla S API Documentation
If you A) own a Tesla model S, and B) want to control your car via an iPhone or Android device, this unofficial API documentation is for you.
Tesla S API
Client Feedback
When it comes to creative endeavors, getting meaningful, appropriate client feedback is challenging. A List Apart features a good article which discusses this issue. Here’s a quote to whet your appetite: “As designers, we can’t expect other people to know the right language to describe exactly why they think something doesn’t work. We need to know the right questions that prompt a client to give constructive criticism and valuable feedback.”
Full Article
Netflix Open Connect
When you sit down to watch a movie on Netflix, how often do you think about where that streaming video originates and what complexities make it possible for you to watch at the same time as hundreds of thousands (or millions) of others? Learn more about the Netflix Open Connect devices which help make sure your content is available when you want it.
Netflix Open Connect
Five Sentences
Five Sentences is yet another take on how to deal with inbox overload.
Five Sentences
Redis Bitmaps for Metrics
This is fairly technical, but if you’re interested in a creative, efficient way to get real-time metrics, take a look at Getspool’s approach based on the binary properties of bitmaps.
Bitmap Metrics
Hemingway Desktop App
We’ve written previously about Hemingway, an app that helps you write more clearly and concisely. They’ve now released desktop apps for Windows and Mac.
Hemingway Desktop App
Papa Parse
We’re doing CSV parsing in the HR system we’re building for small companies (Built for Teams), so we’re interested in any solid tools that assist with CSV parsing. Papa Parse looks legit.
Papa Parse
Should I Remove It?
At Agency Fusion we’re all on Macs, but most of us have spent enough time on a Windows machine to recognize that this tool could be valuable for Windows users wanting to clean up their computer and remove unneeded programs.
Should I Remove It?
PennyWhale
Use natural language search to research and compare stocks, funds, etc.
PennyWhale
Frequent Job Switching
Employees (especially twenty-somethings) are getting a reputation for changing jobs frequently. This Huffington Post article points out some potential risks from bouncing between jobs too often.
Full Article
July 17th, 2014 - by Objective - Salt Lake City, Utah
Keeping up with technology is a lot of work. Luckily, we enjoy wading through the noise just to find the gems of awesomeness sprinkled throughout. Fusion Radar is our gift to you, Current or Potential Client, so that you can enjoy all of the awesome without any of the drudgery. Unwrap it each week, and know that you’re loved by the geeks and pixel-pushers at Agency Fusion.
Google Analytics iPhone App
Google has finally released a native iPhone app for its Analytics product offering. The app features dashboard views and more than 80 reports and real-time graphs.
Google Analytics App
The Twelve-Factor App
Written by developers, for developers, The Twelve Factors is a set of broad conceptual solutions to common problems facing software and web developers.
The Twelve-Factor App
Better Ideas Faster
The Do Lectures are featuring a 19-minute video presentation by Matt Hart on the topic of innovating more quickly through learning by doing.
Video: Better Ideas Faster
Internationalizing Names
Asking for a person’s name in your app’s form fields isn’t as simple as you thought, if you have international users. This W3C write-up on the issue is eye-opening and worth a quick read.
Internationalizing Names
Brakeman
Securing a web app isn’t easy. Brakeman aims to give Ruby on Rails developers a leg-up in the process. Brakeman checks Ruby on Rails apps for security vulnerabilities and can be combined with Guard for continuous monitoring.
Brakeman
Apartment
For multi-tenant Ruby on Rails apps, Apartment promises to be a helpful gem worth evaluating. Apartment provides tools for easily adding and switching between tenants within an app.
Apartment
YouConvertIt File Conversion
Upload a document, image, music file, video file, or archive file and convert it to just about any other format.
YouConvertIt
July 9th, 2014 - by marissa - Salt Lake City, Utah
Keeping up with technology is a lot of work. Luckily, we enjoy wading through the noise just to find the gems of awesomeness sprinkled throughout. Fusion Radar is our gift to you, Current or Potential Client, so that you can enjoy all of the awesome without any of the drudgery. Unwrap it each week, and know that you’re loved by the geeks and pixel-pushers at Agency Fusion.
Doitlive
Doitlive is a free online tool for live presentations in your terminal. Just install the tool (which requires Python), and create a file filled with bash commands. When you run Doitlive, it will replay the commands in a fake terminal session as you type random characters.
Doitlive
Google Venture Library
The Google Venture (GV) Library is a collection of articles, guides, videos, and insights, all targeted towards entrepreneurs and new businesses. Articles are divided into categories like “Design,” “Founder Interviews,” and “Hiring,” and all materials are either written or curated by Google staff.
Google Ventures Library
Smarty Pins
Smarty Pins is a series of map-based trivia questions that have you place a pin on a map to give your answer. Run on Google Maps, these games can be customized to include certain topics and locations. Points are given based on your pin’s proximity to the real location and how quickly you answer.
Smarty Pins
PennyWhale
PennyWhale is a site designed to help you access and analyze financial data for various stocks. Visitors and subscribers simply type queries into their search box and use the $ symbol to denote a ticker (for example, “Show me the PE ratio for $AAPL”). PennyWhale then pulls up the information, complete with graphs for over-time analysis and relevant headlines.
PennyWhale
Should I Remove It?
Should I Remove It? is a simple Windows application that helps users decide what programs they can afford to remove from their PC, and which programs have to stay. It’s a great tool for removing adware, spyware, unnecessary toolbars, and bundled applications. It just scans your PC for all the installed programs and then ranks them to let you know which programs you can safely get rid of.
Should I Remove It?
Sourcegraph
Sourcegraph is a website that allows you to search the source code of various languages for the implementation of functions. You can also search for and examine other people’s code for examples of how to use a function. It supports Python, Go, and Node.js.
Sourcegraph
Your Product Is All There Is
Because they are completely immersed in their product and plans for their company, many entrepreneurs can forget that nobody else really knows (or even cares) about their grand vision. That means that the only thing that matters to customers is the product: either it works for them or it doesn’t, and entrepreneurs need to keep this in mind when working on marketing.
Your Product Is All There Is
OldVersion
Most of the time, upgrading your software is a good thing–you get better security, more features, and fixed bugs. However, there are times when upgrading to new versions can be more negative than positive. New versions can slow down your computer, could be incompatible with other software you have, or could eliminate options or features you liked. OldVersion is a site that stores older versions of popular software, so you can always go backwards if you regret upgrading.
OldVersion
Avoid Humans
Avoid Humans is a web-based app that scans data from social networks like Foursquare and Instagram and analyzes the number of check-ins at local restaurants, bars, parks, and stores. It then makes suggestions on where you could go to avoid people as much as possible.
Avoid Humans
Netflix Roulette
Netflix Roulette is a site that generates random TV shows and movies to watch on Netflix. You just set your preferences, which include genre, rating, and keywords, and spin the wheel.
Netflix Roulette
July 2nd, 2014 - by marissa - Salt Lake City, Utah
Keeping up with technology is a lot of work. Luckily, we enjoy wading through the noise just to find the gems of awesomeness sprinkled throughout. Fusion Radar is our gift to you, Current or Potential Client, so that you can enjoy all of the awesome without any of the drudgery. Unwrap it each week, and know that you’re loved by the geeks and pixel-pushers at Agency Fusion.
LaMetric
LaMetric is a customizable ticker (similar in appearance to old digital clocks) that lets you track metrics (or life events) and display stats in real time. This smart display can show you a wide variety of notifications, including those from social media, email, weather, PayPal, stocks, your calendar, and many others.
LaMetric
MockFlow
MockFlow is an online wireframing tool that enables designers and developers to design and collaborate on user interface concepts for apps and websites. Features include an app planner; tools to create banners, brochures, and annotated images; and a platform to create and publish your website. Pricing ranges from a free basic account to a team account for $39/month.
MockFlow
6 SEO Services You Shouldn’t Waste Your Money On
SEO Manager Travis Biffen recently published an article with a list of 6 things you shouldn’t waste your money on when it comes to SEO. These include GoDaddy’s SEO services, Yelp’s purportedly exploitative practices, and anything to do with the Yellow Pages. For the full list, click on the link below.
6 SEO Services You Shouldn’t Waste Your Money On
Napwell
Napwell is a sleeping mask designed to help you nap efficiently and wake up refreshed. To accomplish this, Napwell wakes you slowly and gently by using interior lights to simulate sunrise–supposedly eliminating post-nap headaches and lingering tiredness.
Napwell
Ajenti
Ajenti is a Linux and BSD web admin panel for your servers. With Ajenti, it’s possible to configure operating system specifications like users, files, or services. You can also modify and control open source apps, and Ajenti has virtual web hosting capabilities.
Ajenti
How a Password Changed My Life
Creative Director Mauricio Estrella recently published an article that describes how he used a simple password–which he had to type in multiple times a day to access his work computer–to change bad habits, thought patterns, and accomplish goals. He began with the primary pain point in his life at the time: his divorce. In order to attempt to get over the anger and betrayal he felt when his wife left him, Estrella made his new password “[email protected]”. He describes the changes he was able to make (and some of the limitations of his experiment) over the next few years.
How a Password Changed My Life
Authority
Authority is a Ruby gem that helps you authorize actions in your Rails app. It has minimal syntax, and is ORM-neutral: users simply group their models under one or more Authorizer classes and write plain Ruby methods on them.
Authority
Title Capitalization
This site does one thing, and does it quite well: it automatically capitalizes titles for you. Just type in the title you have a question about, and it does all the work.
Title Capitalization
Secrets of the Creative Brain
Nancy Andreasen is a leading neuroscientist and psychiatrist who has spent decades studying the link between creativity and mental illness. In this Atlantic article, she shares her insights, theories, and research on that topic. She also discusses her experiences interviewing and studying renowned subjects like Kurt Vonnegut, George Lucas, and novelist Jane Smiley.
Secrets of the Creative Brain
LEO
LEO is a wearable device that uses “Fitness Intelligence” to monitor your body’s biosignals; this includes analyzing muscle activity, fatigue, heart rate, lactic acid, hydration, and calories. LEO then sends that information to you through its mobile app and makes suggestions on how you can improve your technique or efficiency.
LEO