Software : Downloads: Download of the day: WriteMonkey

Downloads: Download of the day: WriteMonkey

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Download of the day: WriteMonkey

When you really need to get down to some work, distractions like social media alerts and email notifications make it all too easy to procrastinate. Even with the best will in the world, they can easily eat up hours of your valuable time.

That's why you need WriteMonkey – a simple but very effective text editor that blocks out everything except the page you're working on. Theres no unnecessary clutter like toolbars, and if you need to look something up online, you can do so with a quick keyboard shortcut and then close the small browser window immediately once you've finished.

Why you need it

Upon starting WriteMonkey, you'll be struck by its minimal design – it automatically opens in full-screen mode, so there are no tantalizing browser windows begging to be clicked, and there aren't even any toolbars or icons to distract your attention. There's just a blinking cursor and a blank page waiting for you to get cracking on that important document.

WriteMonkey isn't without its tricks though – all designed to help you work more efficiently. Clicking the word 'Scratch' at the bottom of the page opens a convenient notepad where you can jot down thoughts as you work, and you can save it as a separate document for future reference.

Right-clicking anywhere in WriteMonkey opens a menu of carefully curated tools, including one that enables you to select a word and quickly look it up on Google Images, Wikipedia, About.com or various other sites without the distraction that comes with accessing your regular web browser with its attention-sapping bookmarks and favorites.

You can also tag certain parts of your document for quick access later, set timers and track your progress so far. The timer is particularly useful in combination with the Pomodoro Technique, which helps you get more done by interspersing periods of intense work with regularly scheduled breaks.

Give WriteMonkey a try – you'll be amazed how much more productive you can be.

Key features

Completely clutter-free full-screen text editor
One-click word lookup tool
Fully customizable keyboard shortcuts
Timer and progress tracker

Works on

Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10

Price

Free

Facebook tests Snapchat Stories clone for Messenger

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Facebook is mimicking one of Snapchat's most popular features, Snapchat Stories, in its Messenger chat app. The new feature, called Messenger Day, launched exclusively in Poland today.

Snapchat Stories, for the unfamiliar, is a feature that lets users share photos, videos and drawings in a timeline that disappears after 24 hours. Messenger Day works almost exactly like Snapchat Stories, according to TechCrunch.

Where Messenger Day differs from Snapchat Stories and, for that matter, Instagram Stories, is how it prompts users to use the feature. At the top of the chat list are options to quickly share how you're feeling, what you're doing and more. This makes it easier to share something quickly with all of your friends instead of managing a curated friends list.

"We know that people come to Messenger to share everyday moments with friends and family," said a Facebook spokesperson speaking with TechCrunch. "In Poland we are running a small test of new ways for people to share those updates visually."

It's unclear whether Messenger Day will be available in other countries, though success in Poland may mean the feature could be released more widely.

This isn't the first time Facebook has copied Snapchat. The social network's photo sharing app, Instagram, aped Snapchat Stories by releasing Instagram Stories in August.

A smart strategy

According to TechCrunch, Facebook may have introduced Messenger Day to get users hooked on its Messenger app in hopes of preventing them from leaving to use Snapchat Stories. Facebook also has another chat app with 1 billion active users: WhatsApp. In order to keep people using its apps, Facebook has to bring popular features from competing platforms into its own.

It's also smart of Facebook to put a story feature in Messenger because its chat app is more intimate than its social network. By having Messenger Day inside a chat app, users don't have to worry about sharing the highest quality photos or videos on their Facebook wall.

Over the years, the social network has evolved into a place where users only share curated highlights about their lives instead of casually sharing thoughts and activities, something Snapchat excels at.

Facebook Messenger currently has over 1 billion active users, compared to Snapchat's 150 million. Using Messenger's immense reach, Messenger Day could prove to be a popular feature.

Should you give Facebook the boot?

Yahuui Blog

Saturday, October 1, 2016