Balsamiq
May 8, 2009 in 4 out of 5 stars, A piece of software, Productivity, Software Development Balsamiq: It's a tool that anyone can use for making web page mockups. In the early stages of creating a web site, or specifically a web application, there's a period of time when you need to wireframe, or sketch out rough ideas for page construction and layout, without necessarily worrying about the precise design of the pages (i.e. colors, fonts, exact shapes, etc). Balsamiq is a tool designed to help you do that. It has various "elements" or building blocks that you can drop on your page to construct your mockup. Balsamiq Studios LLC In mocking up the screens for my current hair-brained idea, I decided to take Balsamiq for a spin. What I found was a tool that was delightfully easy to use, and rich enough to make me feel like I didn't have to compromise on what I wanted to do in order to use the tool. The unexpected bonus was that in perusing some of the element options it sparked some creative ideas for approaching my user interface. Tip: on the free web version, when you’re done with a layout, you can export it as an image (PNG) and you can also export some code which you can paste into a text editor, then re-import next time you return to the site and resume working. It’s a poor-man’s “save.” I assume this is just a limitation of the free web-based version that I used, but I’d like to be able to have multiple pages I can work on at the same time - and a generic template I can use as the starting point for subsequent pages. There are workaround for this (export/import and delete elements you don’t want) but it’s a bit clumsy. Also, on the free web-hosted version, you get a nag screen every 5 minutes. If you are moving an element at the exact moment the nag screen pops up, the element becomes stuck, and you can't select, edit, or move it. (Note: to work around this, I found refreshing the page to work - but do that with caution, you could lose everything, so do an export first). Free for web version, $79 for desktop version Reviewed by Carson McComasWhat is it?
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Microsoft BizSpark Program
February 9, 2009 in 5 out of 5 stars, A piece of software, Productivity, Software Development, Virtualization, Web/Tech Biz Spark: Virtually free* access to all current Microsoft software, plus some additional support from peers and other Microsoft partners, if you care to get involved in the social side of it. Microsoft One of the biggest and most painful expenses for a startup can be software. Windows and Office primarily, but if you're a Microsoft developer – this is an outrageous deal because it includes everything you get in an MSDN subscription (note: it is an MSDN subscription). If you're a startup, three years old or less, and make under $1 million per year, you're eligible. This is basically all Microsoft software. Signup was pretty simple. There are a few hoops they want you to jump through to verify that you qualify, but they're tame. The big hurdle was getting a sponsor. I emailed this guy, explained my qualifications, and he hooked me up a couple days later. Twitter friend Geoffrey had good luck with this guy. This is worth tens of thousands of dollars and can be a real boost when you're boostrapping. Well, obviously this is for Windows users only. Hey Adobe, the web startup community would kill for an offering like this from you. *Free to enroll, you agree to pay $100 when you exit. Reviewed by Carson McComasWhat is it?
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Bug Juice
August 7, 2006 in 2 out of 5 stars, Hosted software, Issue trackers, Software DevelopmentBugJuice: A bug tracking application for web developers. SmallPositives This hosted software is simple and uncluttered. It's a glorified to-do list nicely tweaked for issue tracking. You can add "pages" (kinda like a wiki) for whatever purpose you like (e.g. one for each project), which is nice and flexible. You can add comments and screenshots to bugs. An interesting option for small teams, or single person development. It's missing most of the features of a mature issue tracker (although that's kind of their point). No support for Safari browser. Admin should be able to assign users to bugs (but can't, for now). Free, $5, $10, $20/mo. Reviewed by Carson McComasWhat is it?
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16Bugs
June 30, 2006 in 4 out of 5 stars, Hosted software, Issue trackers, Software Development16Bugs: An online bug tracking and management system for those of you creating software to take over the world. Michele Finotto I've been around many bug management systems at various size companies and I've found most to be too tedious to use and too complex to navigate. 16Bugs does a great job of making bug management simple, offering only the needed features. It's also a javascript-driven site which helps make the entry and review of bugs quite simple. There are some small items that could fixed. For instance, right now you can only add an attachment to a bug when you create it and not later. However, 16bugs is very responsive and multiple times I've supplied feedback and had new features and/or fixes implemented the same day! As a startup, they both encourage feedback and take it to heart. Tiers based on storage & features: free/$8/$15/$25 Reviewed by Mike LewisWhat is it?
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