It’s been ten years since I published “Nerd Know-How: The Best 27+ Apps for Work and How to Use ‘Em!“

And things have changed a bit.

In honor of the upcoming Day of the Dead, I am flipping back through my 2015 book to unearth the dead-and-buried, shine a light on the barely-hanging-on and showcase the still-awesome.

Rest In Peace

Jing: My All-time Favorite Screen Capture Tool

Nothing in my tech life will ever replace Jing, the perky little sunshine icon that used to sit on my desktop, waiting cheerfully for me to need a quick screenshot or video. You can see it peeking in the top corner of this graphic. It was so easy to markup an image and share with someone. Sure, I have the same company’s upgrade: Snagit. But it’s not as easy or as fast as Jing.

Tagxedo: The Best Word Cloud Maker Ever

Sniff. The longer I look through “Nerd Know-How,” the sadder I get. Tagxedo, a fabulous free site for custom word clouds, did its magic via Microsoft Silverlight, which was kind of like Adobe Flash. When HTML5 became the web standard, Silverlight wasn’t needed, and Microsoft stopped supporting the software in 2021.

So Tagxedo died. It’s such a shame because I loved how you could upload an image and let the words fill the silhouette, or customize a word graphic itself like below. I made so many custom graphics for events back in the day. Sigh.

(Funny side note: I just spent 20 minutes looking up the history of Silverlight and HTML5, etc., so I could properly explain it to y’all. And then I realized there are probably only 2 other nerds on the planet who care about this enough to keep reading!)

Join.me: The Easiest Online Meeting Tool Ever

When Zoom was gaining steam, a little tool called Join.me filled a different need. Instead of a robust platform and the ability to hold an official meeting, Join.me let you click a button and get a link for an instant little meeting. You didn’t even have to register. The GoToMeeting empire swallowed it up, and now you have to create an account.

Mint.com: Everyone’s Favorite Budgeting Tool

Mint.com was the go-to budgeting app to help you manage your money… until Intuit crumpled it up and stuffed it into Credit Karma’s features. Many of my followers embraced Mint, and there was much scrambling and sadness when they pulled the plug.

Magisto: The Magical Movie Maker

Waahhh! To this day I cannot believe this wonderful video tool is dead. Magisto was so simple and powerful. You simply uploaded videos and images, chose a theme and pressed a button. Within two minutes, Magisto would use a pre-ChatGPT type of AI to analyze the media, find the best clips, create the perfect tempo and render a high quality video.

I. Loved. It.

Vimeo bought the company several years ago and slowly killed off the best features until it finally shut down Magisto completely.

Here’s what Magisto did with raw footage from an Easter egg hunt when I was 3 and a half.

Not Quite Dead Yet, But…

Animoto: Snazzy Instant Slideshows

The video tool Animoto is still around, but it is just not the same since they relegated their slideshow maker to the shadowy corners of the site. I created hundreds of videos by simply uploading a dozen or so pics from an event, choosing a theme, picking a song and BLAM. The resulting video looked professional and fun. Now they focus more on instant promo videos, and you have to do a lot more editing. I have a very, very old pricing level, so I still keep an account. But the joy is gone.

Issuu: The OG Online Flipping Book

Maybe Issuu wasn’t the very first tool that let you upload PDFs and turn them into an online magazine that flips, but they were certainly one of the biggest early leaders. I remember the oohs and ahhs when I showed how easy it was to make a boring attachment something special.

But they used to have a great free plan, and now the lowest tier is $252 a year. Yes, they still have a free version, but it is incredibly limited. And there are so many flip book competitors out there now that it’s not worth the investment unless you publish a lot.

LastPass: The Password Tool That Broke My Heart

The password manager tool LastPass is still around, but I will never trust it again.

Long Live These Great Tools

Dafont: The Best Free Font Directory

Font fiends, rejoice! Dafont, the best place to find free fonts for graphic design, is still awesome. You can preview text and download whatever you need. If you’re using them at work, there’s a filter to show the ones that you can use commercially.

TripIt: Still Helpful Travel Organizer

My TripIt account lets me forward all my travel confirmations to plans@tripit.com. They’re immediately organized into itineraries that I can swipe through on the go to see flights, hotel info, rental cars and more. I pay the $50/year for the pro version so I get real-time flight updates and even notifications of price changes. Every year I recoup the fifty bucks because I can go back to the airline and get refunds for the new prices.

Oh, TripIt. I wish I could quit you. Your interface isn’t very modern, and I’d like more features. But dang it all, you’re still so helpful!

Cozi: Family-Friendly Calendar Manager

I haven’t thought of Cozi in years, but just last week an attendee brought it up as one of her favorite tools. I’m so glad it’s still around.

Cozi is an alternative to a family Google Calendar. It helps people coordinate schedules, lists, tasks and more. The free version is generous, and I’ve met many raving fans throughout the years.

Canva: Graphics Aid Turned Office Powerhouse

I think I discovered Canva the year it launched. Back then the site was modest by today’s standards. It had tens of thousands of pre-made graphic templates that let you pretend you were a graphic designer when you couldn’t get your freelancer to email you back.

In just a few days, Canva is promising to drop even more products into its already mind-blowing feature lineup. It’s by far the best money I spend on subscriptions of all the tools I use.