I found this site, which is really cool for adding events to twitter. There is a control panel to organize and manage them as well. Below is the list of features offered. Check it out.

No Registration Necessary

Use your Twitter or Facebook account to login, manage and track your Tweetups.

Find Local Tweetups

Easily search for local Tweetups. Sort by popularity, distance or date.

Easily Organize a Tweetup

Create and post your Tweetup invitation in seconds.

Customize with Colors & Themes

Choose from many different Tweetvite designs or create your own.

Add Pictures & Video

Personalize your invitation by adding your own pictures and video.

By Brian Rhinehart

Original Post: http://www.noupe.com/photoshop/preparing-photoshop-files-for-web-developers.html

Whether you’re a freelance web designer or part of a team at an agency, handing off Photoshop files to a client, developer, development team or even another designer is part of the process of building websites.

Whereas the development process is generally more structured, by contrast, the design process is quite often spontaneous and full of experimentation. This can lead to a host of unused and unnamed layers that don’t end up as part of the final approved design. For developers, sifting through a quagmire of unnamed layers (Layer 1, Layer 1 copy, etc.) can be confusing and time consuming.

Designers can help their counterparts or clients before the design hand-off by taking 10 to 15 minutes to prepare files in a consistent and organized manner that can potentially save developers hours of production time. As an added bonus, an organized Photoshop file will save designers time by minimizing development questions after the file has been handed off for coding.

1. Prepping the File

First and foremost, make a copy of the Photoshop file that contains the approved design and add the suffix -prod to the file name. This way you can recognize a production file immediately and know that this file type is for development use only and not for further design refinements.

Guides and layout

Properly align and remove any unnecessary guides in the document. Keep guides to a minimum and only section off the major regions of the layout by outlining blocks of page content such as the masthead, content area, sidebar and footer so that the developer understands what basic structure the page should follow. Keeping the number of guides to a minimum also allows the developer to then add guides where needed to aid them in visually mapping out layout details in the code such as nested divs and navigation menus.

Include a color palette

Create a layer group with its visibility turned off at the top of the Layers panel named “Palette.” Populate this group with layers using Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color… which are named to correspond to elements that will be colored using CSS. This allows developers to simply Double+click the layer thumbnail to get the color values they need from the Color Picker while coding.

The added “Palette” Layer Group.

2. Navigation and Button States

During the design process, it’s easy to overlook that navigation graphics should have at least three states of user interaction that will need to be defined in a stylesheet. Place each state on its own layer and name that layer to correspond to its function. As an example, using the following for the layer names of a top navigation element (topnav, topnav:hover, topnav:active) will help to establish a common naming convention and language that both the designer and developer mutually understand and recognize.

Create sprite groups of navigation or button layers or layer groups to ensure that what you envisioned as a designer will get executed in the code. Position the default state as the topmost layer within the group with the hover and active states below.

When creating sprite groups, it is also recommended that a consistent height be used for all of the states so that it is easier for the developer to calculate the background-position of the elements while coding the CSS.

Sprite groups showing the different navigation states.

3. Flattening Artwork

The purpose of flattening artwork is to preserve the approved design and to combine multiple layered elements into single layers that are more readily digested. Examples of this would be a base layer which is being used as a clipping mask and the secondary layers that are being clipped by that base layer, photomontages or a group of layers that comprise the background of a site.

Merging layers

Merge (Command+E) layers and layer groups that won’t require further editing by the developer. This not only reduces the visual impact of the Layers panel, providing a clearer road map for the developer, but also removes the chance of design elements getting accidentally altered during image slicing.

Fonts

Web safe fonts that are used for headings and copy should be left as editable text. This allows developers to easily check the Character panel to see what values need to be applied to font properties in the stylesheet.

In cases where image substitution is to be used for items such as navigation or stylized text treatments, flatten the type layers just in case the developer doesn’t have a specific font available to them. Another method of preserving the appearance of a font would be to use Layer > Type > Convert to Shape in cases where the developer may need to resize a type treatment.

Smart objects

Smart objects are invaluable during the design process. They allow for resizing and styling with Smart Filters while remaining completely editable. However, once a design is approved these layer types should be rasterized or merged with other layers to reduce the overall file size as smart objects can often contain photos or other artwork that have a higher resolution (e.g. 300dpi) than is required for the final output of 72dpi. Another reason to flatten smart objects is to prevent a “File Not Found” error message should the developer Double+click the smart object layer thumbnail.

4. Organizing the Layers Panel

First things first, clean house. This means deleting any layers that are empty or are not going to be used in the final design, especially all the duplicated layers that were used to test ideas during the creative process. By doing a little housekeeping you have already made the file easier to read.

Name all layers

Once you have flattened and merged all the layers that will not require editing, go through and name all of the layers and layer groups. Use a naming convention that is not only well recognized, but also common to your work environment. One example would be to assign layers names that correspond to the CSS that would be used for that layer such as “button:hover.” The point is to establish and maintain the nonverbal communication between the designer and developer through common practices and language.

Use layer groups

Group like elements into consistent layer groups. For example, when designing a WordPress theme, it would be logical to have layer groups with the names “Header,” “Content,” “Sidebar” and “Footer.” It’s also good practice to group like items that constitute a navigational element or other design elements that have multiple states such as icons, buttons and menus.

Mirror the layout

Start from the top of the page layout and work your way to the bottom, arranging the layers and layer groups in descending order to correspond with their position in the design. In this manner a developer can quickly scan through the layer names to identify where a particular design element is located within the Layers panel based on its visual location in the design. This is especially helpful should they need to isolate it for editing or slicing.

Use nested layer groups that reflect the hierarchical structure of the layout. A layer group called “Sidebar” might contain layer groups “search” and “advertising.” Nested layer groups can also illustrate to the developer how elements are arranged structurally within the HTML.

An example of a hierarchically structured Layers panel.

5. Handing off the PSD

When the file has been prepared, don’t just send the file in an e-mail or upload it to the development server. Schedule a hand-off meeting and take the time to go over the file(s) with the developer to ensure that they have a firm understanding of how the end product is supposed to not only look, but behave in terms of user interaction. In the end, both designers and developers will save valuable time.

Here is how to do it:

1. Go to your Event, Group or page and click “Invite People”.
2. Once the page has loaded you should see all of your friends, but they are not selected.
3. At this point, copy and paste the javascript code below into your Web browser’s address bar, then hit “Enter”.
4. If all goes well, it selects all of your friends!

It takes some time for all of the invites to be sent. They go into a queue. So if you saw them all get selected, just be patient. The messages WILL get delivered over the next 24 hours or so.

Oh, and by the way, if you found this helpful please tweet it or share it on Facebook to help others find it too. The more people who share it, the more people it helps!

Dear Mr. President,

Please find below my suggestion for fixing  America ‘s economy.  Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the “Patriotic Retirement Plan“:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.  Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire.  Forty million job openings – Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new American CAR.  Forty million cars ordered – Auto Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage – Housing Crisis fixed.

It can’t get any easier than that!!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes…

Mr. President, while you’re at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I’ll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!

If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know.

I have been using paid services for online project management and recently did a post on a few of them. Well I have some good news on a great find. Manymoon.com is really a great tool and it is FREE! They do have a paid version. However, that is for SSL and larger storage.

What can you use the application for?

Manymoon.com is an online project collaboration tool. Built on a social networking model, the site offers a complete online project management tool that supports unlimited users. The easy to use web interface allows users to create projects, assign tasks and track progress. Members of a project can easily update others about what they are working on by creating a Bulletin. Members can view a summary of all the Bulletins for a given project to track the progress of other members assigned to the project. The site offers integration with Google Calendar – you can tie your tasks and deadlines to your Google Calendar from within the application, and Google Docs – you can upload documents to your project directly from Google Docs. The Manymoon site offers a convenient top menu bar for navigation. The entries on the menu bar include Home (a user can view a summary of their projects and tasks and view all of the Bulletins related to a project), Profile, Connections (other project members), Create Project and Create T

ask. When Create Project is selected, the user is prompted for a description and given the option to invite Connections to the project. Next, the user is prompted to Create one or more tasks and assign them to Connections. Once a project is created, a summary of all of its activity can be seen under My Projects on the user’s Home page.

What are the differences to other applications?

There are many competitors to Manymoon.com. They include Office Live Workspace and Basecamp. The main difference between Manymoon and the other online project management tools is the social networking model that Manymoon is built on. The Manymoon application has a social networking look and feel, with the Bulletin and Update features offering information in a format more similar to Twitter or Facebook than most project management tools. Both Office Live Workspace and Basecamp are more established and have many more users than Manymoon.

How does the application look and feel to use?

Manymoon has a very clean and uncluttered look. Navigation is intuitive and obvious, and page loads happen quickly. File uploads and downloads are also quick. The interface is very user friendly, with only a very small learning curve involved in using the site. There is no advertising displayed on the site.

How does the registration process work?

Registration for a basic account at Manymoon is free. The registration process asks for first and last name, email address and password. Validation of the email address is required. For premium membership payments, the site accepts PayPal only. PayPal accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover cards.

What does it cost to use the application?

A basic membership to Manymoon is free, and entitles the user to unlimited tasks, unlimited projects, unlimited users, Google Apps integration and document uploads. Storage space is limited to 5MB, however. There are two levels of premium membership available – Pro and Team. The Pro membership costs $5.00 per month per user and adds SSL encryption of data and up to 3GB of storage per user. The Team membership costs $10.00 per month and increases the storage limit to 5GB (shared by the team), and adds a custom logo display, a custom login page, and administrative tools.

Who would you recommend the application to?

Manymoon is recommended to anyone who could use a free or inexpensive project management tool that is easy to use. Small projects can be successfully managed using a free account, and prices are very reasonable for the premium memberships, which allow for much larger projects to be managed. The site is very easy to use, almost as responsive as a dedicated desktop application, and works well with Google Apps.

Manymoon Features

1. User can easily create unlimited projects and invite people to join
2. Tasks can be easily created and assigned to project members
3. Bulletin feature gives an overview of all of the project members’ progress
4. Integrates with Google Calendar and Google Docs
5. Small projects can be managed using a free account
6. Price for premium membership for larger projects is reasonable
7. The application and site are very responsive and easy to use

To enter, submit a picture showing the single best thing about your town, along with a title and a description of 1,000 characters or less describing why you chose that picture. There are three categories to choose from, Reasons To Visit, Events and Festivities, and Hometown History.

Judges are looking for originality, how the entry inspires others to visit, and whether the photo does a good job of showcasing the Town.

The grand prize is a party for the town you love, including a performance by the band “Love and Theft,” appearances by ABC daytime television stars, and more. The winner will also receive $10,000 cash for him- or herself. The prize is worth a total of $40,000.

Entry into the Single Best Town Contest is open to residents of the contiguous US aged 18 and above. Enter once before February 28, 2010.

Related Articles:

• Sweepstakes with Prizes Worth $30,000+
• Cash Sweepstakes
• More Creative Contests to Enter

Share the Best Part of Your Town to Win a $40,000 Prize from Disney originally appeared on About.com Contests & Sweepstakes on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 at 20:41:16.

Basecamp – Web-based project management and collaboration tool by 37signals.Own description: “Trusted by millions, Basecamp is the leading web-based project management and collaboration tool. To-dos, files, messages, schedules, and milestones.”

Projectplace – Project collaboration service.Own description: “Efficient and user-friendly project collaboration through internet. Task management, document sharing, web-conferencing and more. Start a Free project!”

Ace Project – Project planning, collaboration and bug tracking tool by WebSystems.Own description: “Project management software, free bug tracking software, time tracking and timesheet, task scheduler, project tracking tool. Free web based software.”

Cyn.in – Online-collaboration service by Cynapse.Own description: “Cyn.in is a group collaboration software created by Cynapse. Cyn.in helps teams to build collaborative knowledge by sharing and discussing various forms of digital content within a secure, unified application that is accessible using a web based interf…”

Daptiv – Web-based project management and collaboration tool. Used to be called eProject.Own description: “Project Management Software That Is Essential To Increase Productivity & Streamline Communication – Daptiv.com”

Project Spaces – Online collaboration tool by Forum One Communications.Own description: “ProjectSpaces online workspace and project extranet makes online collaboration easy. Manage files, coordinate activities, share information, and communicate effectively.”

Teamspace – Online project collaboration.Own description: “Online groupware system for virtual teamwork, web based collaboration software“

Wrike – Online collaboration tool.Own description: “Wrike is web based project management software that gives you full visibility and control over your projects. With the help of our product you can do online project management, time tracking and project planning in the most effective way.”

Comindwork – Online project management and collaboration tool by NewtonIdeas.Own description: “Online Project Management Software Free and Tools: Project Management, Collaboration, Communication, Tracking – COMINDWORK”

iTeamwork Own description: “Offering a free online project management and task tracking application with e-mail notification.“

Planzone – Online project management and collaboration tool.Own description: “Planzone is a collaborative project management software that enables teams to collaborate by sharing to-dos, documents, wiki pages and schedules.”

Same-Page – Online project management and collaboration service.Own description: “Looking for online project management, collaboration, web calendar, document management, scheduling software and more! eStudio is a web-based software for dispersed workforces that allows you to centrally manage tasks, events and files.”

VisionProject – Issue tracking, helpdesk and collaboration tool and online service.Own description: “VisionProject is a web based tool for lean/agile and traditional project management, issue tracking, task tracking, bug tracking and customer support. Developed with simplicity in mind but still very powerful and efficient.”

Workspace – Online tools to manage various aspects of projects.Own description: “Requirements Management, Project Management Software, & More FREE”

Advanced Tier – Web-based software to manage Tasks, Issues, Resources, Timesheets and Expenses.Own description: “Advanced Tier’s Project Management System is a web-based solution and offers a unique set of features for complete Project Management and Tracking from start to finish.“

eDocsOnline – Workgroup collaboration service.Own description: “Secure online storage and document management system for businesses and individuals. Everything from online file storage to document sharing. Free online storage test drive.“

Software Planner – Application Lifecycle Management tool by Pragmatic Software.Own description: “Software Planner is an award winning application lifecycle management (ALM) tool designed to manage requirements, project deliverables, test cases, and defects. Download and try today.“

Web Information Center – Team collaboration tool by Pragmatic Software.Own description: “Web Information Center is a team portal that allows companies to manage their projects, customer relationships (CRM) and customer support issues.“

No GPS
No Camera
No Multitasking
No OLED Screen
An extremely disappointing 256 MB of RAM!
No Additional Touch Gestures
No Videocalling/conferencing/iChat
No Handwriting recognition
No Wireless Syncing of File Management
A Very Low Resolution Display with 25% fewer PPPs than the iPhone or iPod Touch
No integrated TV antenna or Radio antenna
No Video Out
No OTA Sync With Apple TV or Servers To Stream Video
No Low Reflective Screen Mode for high contrast Ebook Reading that doesn’t hurt your eyes
Only 64 mbs of HDD space
No Gamepad attachment for Gaming With Physical Buttons/Tactile Feedback
No bluetooth, or ability to connect to a bluetooth mouse/keyboard
No RFID/IR to use it as a remote, or to tag it to yourself
No Replacable/Removable Batteries
No Flash support (no hulu.com)
No ability to connect to an extrernal hdd, or even an SDCard
A 1 Ghz processor that significantly slower than every single notebook on the market today, even the $199 ones.

This model saves design companies because the job is processed faster and has a clearer direction. Technology has a way of replacing positions and improving others. There are also tools like www.basecamphq.com which can track a project and eliminate the need for project coordinators and managers.

Sending work back and forth between designers and customers through sales people can be a nightmare if the salesperson has never designed or developed a website on their own before.

This is why…under a traditional model at an advertising agency, an account executive meets with customers, sells their marketing services and brings a customer’s ideas to a designer. The designer then builds the design or functionality. Not knowing all the angles why the particular design or program works well. The salesman will go off to try to explain to the client what is working. The message and approach gets diluted and time is lost on both ends.

Customers are giving a lot of positive feedback to firms that have designers do the talking. In this day in age, Big businesses need to cut cost. They are not going to high paid executives for reinsurance. They are going to the source because time is money.

By working directly with customers, designers at Digital Complexion are able to convey customers’ ideas more quickly and accurately. Digital Complexion specializes in Social Marketing, Hybrid Web Development, Digital Design and Print.

Some of Digital Complexion’s customers include the Apollo Aviation Group, Innovative American Technologies, Carmine’s Gourmet Market, Visit Palm Beach and recently added Dr. Gloria Barredo in Jupiter, Florida for a for social marketing web campaign.

What I am talking about: Social network aggregators is a relatively new breed of applications which try to consolidate all your various social networking profiles into one, with varying success.

Update: It works great. I was using http://hootsuite.com/ but it was limited to how many social accounts I could use. The cool thing is http://hootsuite.com/ is connected to ping. So if you like it you can still use their interface instead of http://ping.fm.

On http://ping.fm you have the following social networks that can mingle with each other.

MySpace Ning AIM Status Jaiku Blogger LiveJournal Bebo hi5 Xanga WordPress.com Custom URL Friendster Koornk Diigo YouAre Multiply Yammer

Flickr Utterli Laconi.ca Present.ly Vox TypePad ShoutEm StreetMavens Radar myYearbook Photobucket Posterous Yahoo Profiles Tagged MerchantCircle Yahoo Meme

Here is a great post 20 Ways To Aggregate Your Social Networking Profiles in case you want to look at more.