App: PEAK

It's been a while since I gave you guys an app recommendation, and the sad thing is that I've had this sitting and waiting since January. You have no idea how long I've been putting aside writing this review. But you know, much better late than never in my case! -nervous laughter- Ahem. Continuing on.

I've been trying to get more use out of my iPad these years. Since I've gotten my [semi-defunct] smartphone, I haven't been giving it the attention it deserves. I still use it for a few games (like Blendoku) or crying over the fact that SYMPHONIA no longer works. But I shall cry no more, because I've added PEAK into my ranks.

2DArtist Magazine for the Creative Masses

Let's talk about this magazine right here: 2DArtist Magazine. Honestly, when I first heard about it, I was introduced to the December 2013 issue, which is as awesome as it is a little off-putting. That's, funnily enough, what drew me in. I went ahead and looked into it on the official web site and saw that you could subscribe £23.99 ($39.33). Honestly, I would have done it, but I didn't have the funds. Instead, I bought individual issues. For just £2.99 each (that's $4.85), I bought the September 2013 - January 2014 issues. I skipped over October for a reason I can't honestly deliver to you right now. I'll've to go back and get that.

I know that it was a little... ambitious to buy so blindly, but from what I saw on the website that introduced it to me in the first place, I believed that I wouldn't regret the purchase.

And I was oh so correct.

What I Use: puush

Image courtesy of the puush home page.

I remember when I first heard of puush. otto was actually the one to tell me about it. I've been using it for years now, and it's another one of those programs that I have to have when I move to a new computer or restart everything.

puush is a free-to-use screencap app that is available for Windows and, thankfully, for Mac users. The app comes with set shortcuts that users can modify themselves. By screencapping a select item, an entire or desktop using those shortcuts, the image is automatically uploaded; a link is generated and added to your clipboard for instant pasting action. puush also has it so that users can click on the arrow and quickly browse their five most recent uploads. But all is not lost!

By registering with puush, users have their own accounts, so all of their uploads are automatically saved to a gallery; pictures can be added to folders or even deleted. Everything is so convenient and automated, and I'm glad that puush is a part of my daily computer usage. There are times when the server is down, but I've no problems with that. Sometimes; they never tell you when it's going to be down for maintenance, and sometimes the server just crashes! But hey. It's a free service. I use it a lot, and I love it. Once my income becomes more promising, I'm going to happily donate to them. They've made my blogging life much easier.

Check out and download puush for yourselves.

What I Use: OpenOffice

I've decided to share some of the basic equipment that I download on my computer. Between my Mac and Compaq, there are a few repeat offenders. One of the programmes I use is called OpenOffice. I was so glad that they were available for Mac; I'm not sure what I would have done.

I originally downloaded OpenOffice because I had lost the use of my Microsoft Office programmes. OpenOffice is the free to use alternative to the Microsoft Office suites.

This programme has been nothing but good to me, and if you don't want to use the Microsoft Office suite anymore or don't have a word processor at all, think of downloading this. Even though I have MOS on this computer, I always use OpenOffice in tandem.

Benjamin Moore

Long ago, I found a web site that worked as a 3D simulator to build and design rooms. The site that I found helped college students plan out their prospective room. It was an amazing site and was really fun and simple to use. It's been a few years since I last found the site, but I decided to go on a hunt for something similar.

What I found was a site with a section called the “Personal Color Viewer”, and there are several options to choice from. The user has the ability to browse previous collections, learn about color basics, upload photos, and save/load progress. With the color basics option, a new window pops up and displays a colour wheel. There are tabs and subsections to choose from and browse. The colour wheel is actually pretty fun to use. Be sure to play around and do a little more research with the Color Basics option.

The sample browser is extremely organized with breathtaking interiors. Selecting on a category (bathroom, bedroom, etc.) brings the user to several subcategories and themes. Upon choosing a theme, a design breakdown appears, complete with swatches and room preview. Painting a room virtually has never been so interesting. It’s really easy to use with many colour combinations and styles to choose from.

Registering with the site allows you to browse and save favourites throughout the course of the web site, and of course, it allows you to save progress on the PCV. Definitely worth checking out and exploring for oneself. This site is very useful for interior designers, writers, artists, and anyone who could possibly find a use from this place. Don’t forget to register and browse the entire Benjamin Moore website.

Use the BM "Personal Colour Viewer".

☆ I would recommend visiting and using this site/resource.