GeekSugar

Typography Soap: Love It or Leave It?

GeekSugar — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:42:10 -0700

When soaps in the shape of video-game controllers swept the Internet a few months ago, I wanted to get my hands dirty just so I could make them clean. And now, this Typography Soap ($11) is making me want to get dirty all over again.

It completely exploits my type and font obsession, and the retro-looking 3-D letters have a charm that's not just geeky but utterly cool as well. Also cool? The Crushed Ice scent (incidentally, I have no idea how that smells). But here we have another niche product folks, and besides its brilliance as a gag gift for your favorite graphic designer, would you buy this soap for your home?

How To Type Faster

GeekSugar — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:00:47 -0700

When I was first learning how to use the computer my grandmother would constantly lecture me about the importance of typing fast. It's a skill that most of us take for granted nowadays - primarily because we type so much we don't pay attention to speed and also because computer use and typing is an integral part of most people's early education. Still, many employers ask for your "words per minute" (or "wpm" for short) score when you are looking for a new job. If you're wondering what your score is, take a free typing test. If you're not satisfied with the results, heed the tips below. read more

Graze over the keys, don't tap. The more force you use, the longer your fingers will rest on each key. To type faster use minimal force.
Focus on typing fast, but don't rush - you'll just make mistakes. You can focus on accuracy by spelling words out while you type.
Keyboard and monitor positioning is key. Your wrist, elbows and keyboard should be on the same horizontal plane and at a 90-degree angle to your upper arms.
The top of your screen should be near eye level. Do not set your monitor too high, or too low. It will cause neck problems.

Want to type faster but hate linear tests? Try a couple games that boost your typing speed.

Typing on your iPhone: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

GeekSugar — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 07:11:49 -0800

I wouldn't say my fingers are abnormally large (see photo right), but whenever I try to type on my iPhone, I can't help but make mistakes-unlike on my Pearl which I can type messages on with one hand no problem. Well a recent study has shown that iPhone users make significantly more texting errors than other cell phone users, although managing to type at the same speed. Even though iPhone users have an entire keyboard which display on their screens, they still manage to make more mistakes - I can definitely vouch for this! As you will see in the video demonstration below, there are ways around this new statistic, as the iPhone should allow you to type as fast as if you were using a BlackBerry.

One more little tidbit which is revealed at the end. . . . Although the iPhone doesn't allow cutting and pasting of text in notes, you can hold your finger down on the screen to reposition the cursor wherever you need to make an edit. Very good to know!

Website of the Day: Bokeh Type

GeekSugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:35:05 -0700

I've already shown you how to make cool bokeh photos using your toolbox of photography skills, but can you turn your words into cool bokeh-type images? Oh, yes. Yes, you can.

This website may be a time-waster, but it's a cool one. Just type some words into the middle of the screen, and Bokeh Type turns them into bokeh lights on the fly. The only downside is how quickly they disappear - I'd love to just sit and stare at the blinking colored lights. I'm easily amused.

Have an interesting website you want to share? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click "New Post" under the website of the day tab at the top of the page.
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Type "Technology and Gadgets" in the Categories box
Add keyword(s) in the tag field with relevant tags (for example mine for this story was "Website of the Day").
Choose whether you want the post to be private or public.
Click "Create Post" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the GeekSugar homepage!

Font Geeks Unite: TypeNuts' Designy iPhone Wallpapers

GeekSugar — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:05:14 -0700

Free iPhone wallpapers are rarely outrageously beautiful, so when I find a collection of them that are, I go nuts with them.

Whereas before my best resource was Poolga, I now have a second option.

TypeNuts also has a reserve of gorgeous, rich, high-res images, and like Poolga, they're totally free.

But that's not even my favorite part: the wallpapers on TypeNuts all share a theme of using type and font-based designs.

I'm an addict, and this only my latest fix.

Website of the Day: More Cloth

GeekSugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:15:30 -0800

I'm a total DIY freak, and appreciate websites that help me reach my crafting goals. Take my last DIY project: the charging station I made from an Ikea shelving unit. Now if I wanted to take that a step further, I could add some decorative fabric to the back panels and really make the shelf pop. But how do I find the right fabric? I could browse racks of fabric at my local craft store, or I could do it the easy way (without leaving the warmth of my computer) and hit up More Cloth.

This site works seamlessly with Etsy to lead you to your perfect fabric. First it offers up a ton of color schemes to choose from (like in the photo to the right), and then directs you to the exact fabric patterns that contain those colors. Finally, More Cloth shoots you over to the Etsy page where you can add your chosen fabric to your cart, and prep your craft room accordingly - just sit back and wait for your fabric to arrive!

Have an interesting website you want to share? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click "New Post" under the website of the day tab at the top of the page.
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Type "Technology and Gadgets" in the Categories box
Add keyword(s) in the tag field with relevant tags (for example mine for this story was "Website of the Day").
Choose whether you want the post to be private or public.
Click "Create Post" to submit content.

iPhone Tip: More Keyboard Shortcuts

GeekSugar — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:02:31 -0800

Thanks to reader T S for commenting on my latest iPhone tips post. Turns out, holding your finger down on different keys on the keyboard opens up quite a few options while you're typing. She writes:

You can also type letters with accents by holding your finger on the letter, so if you put your finger on "e" and hold you'll get the option of é, è, ë, etc.

I just spent the last hour holding down various keys to see what would happen, and found more shortcuts! To see my list, read more.

Holding down the period button when entering someone's email address gives an option of adding a ".com," ".net," ".edu," or ".org" suffix (I love this one!)
Holding down the period button gives the option of ellipses.
Holding down the "0" key gives the option for the º symbol. (I've never had to use it, but nice to have the option!)
Holding down the "-" key gives the option of an em dash (-).

I also knew that touching any image in Safari gives you the option to download it to your phone - am I missing anything else?

Geek Tip: Another iPhone Typing Shortcut

GeekSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:30:48 -0800

I'm starting to think Apple might be reading my mind - every time I find something I don't like about my iPhone, I realize they've already thought of a solution. Similar to learning how to quickly scroll to the top of the screen on my iPhone, I wish I would have known about this quick shortcut months ago.

If you're typing a URL into Safari on your phone, there's a convenient ".com" button on the keyboard - great when the suffix to the site you're trying to visit is .com. Not so great when it's a .net or .org site and you have to type it out - or so I thought! Turns out, you just have to touch and hold the ".com" button for a few seconds and a pop-up window appears, displaying .edu, .net, and .org suffix options. Brilliant!

I love learning new tricks for my iPhone, so if you have any to share, please tell me in the comments below.

Website of the Day: Filler-Item Finder

GeekSugar — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:40:49 -0800

You know how great it is when you find exactly the item you were looking for on Amazon, but then realize you only have to spend a tiny more to get free super-saver shipping? You don't want to overspend, but you also can't think of anything else that you'd want to buy. This has happened to me many times when the amount I have to spend is less than five bucks. For these moments, there's Filler Item Finder.

Filler Item Finder scours Amazon for cheap items and gives you a list of things you can toss in your cart to save some dough on shipping, just by entering the amount you're still in need of.

Have an interesting website you want to share? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click "New Post" under the website of the day tab at the top of the page.
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Type "Technology and Gadgets" in the Categories box
Add keyword(s) in the tag field with relevant tags (for example mine for this story was "Website of the Day").
Choose whether you want the post to be private or public.
Click "Create Post" to submit content.

Website of the Day: Apostrophe Me

GeekSugar — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:15:54 -0800

Sometimes I just like things explained simply, in good old-fashioned plain English. For instance, it was so liberating when the guys from Commoncraft talked about Twitter in layman's terms, and now with a website called Apostrophe Me, you'll never misuse apostrophes again, thanks to their cute and detailed flow chart. Other things worth checking out on the site? Scroll down to take one of their fun quizzes, like the "How Many Germs Live on Your Cell Phone" test!

Have an interesting website you want to share? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click "New Post" under the website of the day tab at the top of the page.
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Type "Technology and Gadgets" in the Categories box
Add keyword(s) in the tag field with relevant tags (for example mine for this story was "Website of the Day").
Choose whether you want the post to be private or public.
Click "Create Post" to submit content.