Orangeinks

AlternativeTo: Find Better Applications

Here at Orangeinks, new web apps and software are featured so that users looking for alternatives can try them out and decide for themselves if they’re going to use it or not. They may not be always the best applications but they are chosen carefully and if they are interesting enough, you’ll see them get featured here.

I’d like to share a site, called AlternativeTo, where you can find great alternatives to desktop software that you can use on your favorite operating system. Whether you are using Linux, OS-X or Windows, they give a great list of alternatives for the pre-installed or mainstream software that you are using. They also have a great list of Web Apps that you can choose from that are carefully selected and tested. The applications featured on AlternativeTo are constantly reviewed. Users comment and vote on the app according to their personal experiences while using them. You’ll also be able to get other suggestions from the community.

AlternativeTo has a great collection of applications that might work better than the ones that you are using. It’s always great to try out new apps, especially when those apps are properly tested and reviewed by experts. Have fun trying out alternatives.

Tags: AlternativeTo, Applications, linux, OS X, Software, web app, Windows

CowURL: Personalize Short URLs

CowURL is another URL shortening service. Since a lot of them have been popping out lately due to the increase in numbers of web applications that may require their services (such as twitter), it’s no surprise that some of them are offering something unique in their service. Other services offer something like fusing short URLs together and CowURL allows you to personalize your short URL.

To create a personalized short URL, all you need to do is just paste the extremely long URL on the text bar and press the “Personalize It” button. CowURL will check if the text is available or not. If the text is available, you can proceed with sharing your personalized short URL.

The only problem with personalizing short URLs is that the good ones will probably be taken early. It’s the same as choosing a good domain name. In the long run, users will just have to come up with longer URLs. On the other hand, users can use CowURL to make a description of the page hidden on the personalized short URL. This can be extremely useful when sharing your Facebook profile page. Since Facebook doesn’t provide vanity URLs, you can use CowURL to create something like “myfacebook.cowurl.com.”

*You can also use CowURL like any other URL shortening tool with the random generated URL text.

Tags: CowURL, ShortURL, tinyurl, URL

BoostCam: Disposable Video Conferencing Site

BoostCam is a service that provides free, instant and disposable two-way video conferencing. You can use it right away without installing any plugins.

To start your disposable video conference, just head over to their site and allow access to your web cam. You will be provided with a unique URL for you to share with the second party. BoostCam is a two way video chat service. If you want to have another video conference with a different user, you can open a new tab on your browser, and repeat the process. It’s like having a tabbed video conference using your browser. Just make sure that the other party is online and he/she must start the session as soon as possible. The page is set to expire after a few minutes of waiting for the other party to join.

This is a great instant service that allows you to start a video conference in a snap and also great if you do not wish to share your IM account. You can use this for short online tutorials that would require you to broadcast or have a video chat with your Twitter buddy without revealing your IM or email address.

Tags: Boostcam, Disposable Video Chat, Instant Video, Video Chat, webcam

Iconfu: Online Icon Editor

Iconfu is a free online icon editor that is combined with a collection of icons for you to choose from. If there’s a set of icons that you’re looking for but cannot seem to find, you can check out their collection or better yet, create your own using their feature packed editor.

Like any other editor, iconfu lets you draw your icons from scratch. They have quite a number of drawing tools and actions for you to choose from to make your icons look great. You are also allowed to upload your own image and scale it down to icon size. If you feel like editing the other icons that are published on Iconfu, you can also grab them and load them unto the editor.

You can also use the tool to make your icons animate. All you have to do is draw your frames on the editor, save, open their GIF animator, click on the frames in your version history and they will become the frames in your animation. To use this feature, you need to be a registered user of Iconfu. Creating an Iconfu account also lets you publish your icons and become a part of their community by suggesting blog topics and other resources.

Tags: Animated Icon, icon, Icon Editor, Iconfu, Iconsets

Photoshop: Transform Your Photo into a Monochromatic Stain Image

This tutorial will guide you into transforming your photo to a grungy style image with stains.

In this tutorial, we’ll grab a picture, apply several filters to it and obtain a monochromatic stain, which combined with stain brushes and a texture will transform into an eye-catching grunge result.

You can also check out the step-by-step written tutorial at PSDTuts.

Tags: Grunge Style, Monochromatic, Photoshop, Stain Image

d.ropulo.us: Instant Weather Report on your Calendar

d.ropulo.us is a simple way to get weather reports on your calendar. This way, you won’t have to install an application or gadget just to get the weather reported to you for that day.

How to use:

Just type in the city you want to get updates from and hope that dropulous finds it. If your city is listed on their database then the rest is pretty easy. You will be allowed to choose from a list of available calendar application installed on your computer. If dropulous didn’t detect your calendar, you might want to check their list of supported applications here.

This is an easy way of integrating your city’s weather report to your calendar application. You can also use the application to monitor the weather on a different city. If you prefer getting weather reports on your calendar rather than an application or website, better check out this tool.

Tags: calendar, dropulous, email calendar, weather report