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- Cool Websites and Tools [June 24]
- Photoshop Pathing (Pen tool) Quick-Start Guide
- Find Totally Free Unlimited Internet Access Almost Anywhere
- Find Great High Definition Movie Trailers Online
- The Best New Feature in Windows 7: The Taskbar
- How To Pin Any Application Window To The Top
| Cool Websites and Tools [June 24] Posted: 24 Jun 2009 04:00 PM PDT
(1) YouFlow - Online service that lets search and browse YouTube with a stylish image flow interface and most importantly, play multiple videos in one browser. You can open and play as many videos as you like and easily scale them to your desired size . Read more: YouFlow: Browse YouTube & Watch Multiple Videos At Once (2) PlugsMap - This page provides you with a map where you can quickly check the different types of electrical sockets used in different regions and countries worldwide. Read more: PlugsMap: Maps Types of Electrical Sockets Used WorldWide (3) RecipePuppy - Website that lets you search for recipes by ingredients from multiple recipe websites and food portals. Just enter the ingredients separated by commas and hit search button. You may then filter the given recipes further by excluding and including the ingredients with one click from the right bar. Read more: RecipePuppy: Search Recipes By Ingredients On Hand (4) StripeMania - Easy to use web application which allows you to generate stripes online. No registration or download required, simply choose the background color and the color of your stripes from a color table and start creating stripes. Read more: StripeMania: Generate Stripes Online (5) TwitterFollowBadge - Nifty badge creator that can generate eye catching badges in a matter of seconds. The badges are unintrusive but at same time attention-grabbing. Plus, you can easily customize the badge in terms of color and orientation on the page. Read more: TwitterFollowBadge: Cool Twitter Follow Badge For Your Site
These are just half of the websites that we discovered in the last couple of days. If you want us to send you daily round-ups of all cool websites we come across, leave your email here. Or follow us via RSS feed. Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section! New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too. Related posts
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| Photoshop Pathing (Pen tool) Quick-Start Guide Posted: 24 Jun 2009 02:00 PM PDT
Allow me to re-introduce myself, my name is Mike, also (hopefully) known in the online community as Commodore 64 or C64 for short. I have spent the last 12 years, since Photoshop 5.5, exploring the many realms of this staple of the graphic designer’s diet. Aside from the usual plethora of features, Photoshop offers tools for anyone ranging from budding photographer to astrononomer. Throughout the years, I’ve known Photoshop to be ultra powerful in the pathing arena. The pathing tool, or pen tool, might very well be the most powerful tool in the Adobe arsenal mainly because of its origins. I’ll keep this history lesson brief: The idea behind the pen tool, or less commonly known as the Bezier tool (pictured above) is that geometric constants can be used to create flowing, curvacious lines and designs. It was because of this tool, developed by Pierre Bézier in 1962 and then put to work in the auto manufacturing industry, came about the advent of curvy, smooth cars rather than the Caprice Classics of the day. Fast forward to 2009 - Adobe has put Beziers mathematic principles to good use in many of it’s previous versions of Photoshop and Illustrator up until today. I use the pen tool primarily to make quick, smooth, profesh cutouts of anything ranging from a bikini model with hair blowing in the wind to a tree with a multitude of branches (in combination with some color specific selections). Today, we’ll concentrate on pathing out a simple object from its background, let’s say a freshly cut orange with shadows on a white surface:
Firstly, we need to identify a few key features we’ll need to pay attention to as we path. First, the base shadow and the shadow reflection on the actual oranges. We will be removing the base shadow and leaving the shadow reflection on the orange for now. Secondly, let’s choose our pen tool ( We need to verify that the pen tool is set correctly for what we’re doing - the graphic below depicts how your pen tool options should be set:
Now, we begin to path. Usually, I like to start at a spot where two circular shapes meet at a rough, sharp angle. In this case, it’s on top. Click once there as shown to create your first anchor point.
Next, follow (with your eyes) along to the right around the circumference of the orange. Since the orange is not a perfect circle, follow until you see a jitter of some sort in the smoothness of the circle, in this case its near the stem. Click and HOLD the left mouse button where you see a jitter to create another anchor point and pull the handle it creates to manipulate the resulting path to snugly fit around the shape of the orange as shown on the left. Don’t be afraid to take the tool outside of the white work area. You can now release the mouse button.
The next step, while holding down the Alt key, grab (click and hold) the handle that extends in the direction you’re traveling with the pathing tool (clockwise), in this case the handle on the bottom right. Drag this handle point into the origin of the anchor point as shown and release. You’ve just created your first path line!
Note: The Bezier tool is only capable of creating partial circles with each pair of path points. Anything more than a quarter-circle will require another pair of anchor points as it will become oval, thus losing its roundness. Continue these 3 steps while following snugly around the oranges. Make sure not to spread your anchor points too thinly. Once you follow around the oranges, taking care to exclude the base shadow from your path as shown. Close the path by simply clicking and holding on the path point where you first started as shown, while pulling the handle out until the desired final shape is achieved.
You now have a completed path. You can use this path to create a cutout selection using the paths panel alongside the layers panel, while also knocking out the shadow that was previously given to this picture.
In order to knock out the shadows remaining on the oranges themselves, you have to simply grab the dodge tool at maybe 10% and start to lightly brush away the shadowy areas on the bottom until the area is a nice orange. On top of that, you can also create your own shadow and lighting direction since you will have knocked out the original shadow and now have a layer with an actual shape to it. I hope this helps all of the aspiring Photoshoppers out there to begin delving a little deeper into the powers of the Photoshop. Thanks for reading folks. Have questions? Drop them in the comments. Have comments? Drop them in the comments. See any discrepencies between Gimp and Photoshop? Drop them in the comments. Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section! New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/ Related posts
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| Find Totally Free Unlimited Internet Access Almost Anywhere Posted: 24 Jun 2009 12:00 PM PDT
There are two routes to go here. You can go the WiFi route, which is far more popular and usually in the broadband range for speed. Or, you can go the dial-up route which is slower, however you can access it from the convenience of your own home or maybe from a hotel without WiFi service. It may be slower than molasses going uphill in winter, but beggars can’t be choosers. All Free ISP
The website then shows you a page of free and cheap ISPs you can access from your area. Here’s what showed up for me.
At this point also, you realize that nothing is really free. If you choose Juno, you’ll be subjected to large banner ads for the privilege of using their service. No different than watching TV really. Freedom List
Your ISPAnother place to check for free dial-up Internet access is your current ISP. Many of them offer you a certain amount of hours of dial-up access for free, if you have a paid broadband account. Some of them even have directories of dial-up numbers that you can use across the country or even internationally. If they have a dial-up number near to where you are staying, chances are you won’t even have to pay long distance fees. The best way to find out if your ISP has free dial-up is to check out their website, or call their customer service number. Usually, they’re more than glad to help you. The hardest part will be trying to remember how to make a connection using a dial-up modem again. What was once second nature is now a chore. Your Town or CountyMunicipal Internet Access or Municipal WiFi seems to be an on-again off-again project for most communities. While driving across the countryside of Alberta for my job, I’ve noticed my WiFi card picking up access points that are provided by the county. If I were a resident of that county, I could get an account and access the Internet for little to no cost. It’s provided for with my taxes. Municipalities also often provide totally free, unlimited Internet access at locations such as the municipal offices, libraries and some schools. To find out more about what your community offers, contact your local government offices. Editor’s note: Remember, there are always security issues when using a public internet connection. Karl teaches you how to protect your personal information while enjoying free wifi connectivity. Know of any other interesting ways to get legal free Internet access? Share it in the comments. We all like a freebie now and again. Got a tip on access being provided by your government? Let everyone know - it’s good to use the services you already pay for. Image credit: andrewgrill Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section! New on Twitter ? Now you can follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too. Related posts
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| Find Great High Definition Movie Trailers Online Posted: 24 Jun 2009 10:00 AM PDT
I can't find a movie or a download if I don't know what I am looking for. However, I did find a great website that not only has movie trailers available for downloading but they also have HD movie trailers. I can save a bunch of these to watch on a 15 minute break and pick what I want to watch next. Yes, I am picky! The website is www.TrailerFreaks.com and they offer 480p, 720p and even 1080p resolution trailers. And that means the trailers are going to pull you in even further and make you want to see that movie. Let's check out www.TrailerFreaks.com and see what they offer.
Next up, if you want to search for something that isn't on the homepage, simply use their search feature which utilizes Google Search. Below, you can see that I searched for Star Trek.
After hitting search, I came across 4 options in a Google search page. I choose the first one and was on my way…
Bam! There it is, a brief synopsis, a few links and then at the bottom there is the gold. Lots and lots of links to different trailers in different resolutions. I felt like I saw the movie already after watching 6 different previews. Is it just me or does it seem like they show ALL the best parts?
As soon as you click on your desired link, the trailer should start playing in your browser’s window. We can also save these files (mostly .mov) by simply right-clicking on the appropriate link and choosing Save target as….
Now, I will let you get into some serious time wasting. Oh and maybe you have some great recommendations for what I should watch next? That would be even more efficient! For more suggestions on where to watch movie trailers, Tina has the low-down with the Best Sites To Watch Movie Trailers Online. How about loading videos onto your iPod — check this post out. Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section! New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/ Related posts
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| The Best New Feature in Windows 7: The Taskbar Posted: 24 Jun 2009 08:00 AM PDT
About a week ago, I installed Windows 7 on my primary computer – it’s now the operating system I use all day, every day. We’ve already talked about how to install Windows 7, as well as some of the great things about the operating system. No nagging menus, for a start. But in the week or so that I’ve been using it as my primary OS, one thing in particular about Windows 7 has stuck out to me: the taskbar. Now, the taskbar is that crazy thing that lives on the top, bottom or side of your screen, and lets you launch and switch between applications. There’s also a system tray, with a bunch of applications you can access that way. But all that existed already. The Windows 7 taskbar added a bunch of useful features and tweaks to make it even more useful.
The first thing you’ll notice is my favorite feature – there’s an almost dock-like quality to the new taskbar. Indeed, by right-clicking any application icon and selecting “Pin to taskbar,” you can add an icon to your taskbar that’s ready to be launched with just one click. When an application is running, you’ll see a square around the icon in the taskbar. If there’s more than one window, you’ll see the edge of two squares around the icon (like the Firefox icon in the screenshot above) – or, you can choose to have different icons for every open window. Click the icon, and you’re taken to the application’s window. Launching a new window is easy, too – just hold Shift as you’re clicking on the icon. These two features give the taskbar a Mac OS X dock-like quality, and make launching and switching applications a lot easier. That means, you can clear your desktop a bit, get rid of some icons, and use the taskbar as you would any other application launcher. By right-clicking on the Taskbar, selecting “Properties,” and then clicking “use small icons,” you’ll be able to fit a ton of icons.
And that’s not all. If you hover over an icon on the dock, little thumbnails show up of every active window of that application. This feature is called “Aero Peek,” and is a perfect way to figure out which application you actually want to change to. The thumbnails are live, which means that if you’re watching a video, the thumbnail shows the video in real-time. Roll over a thumbnail, and you’ll see the window, full-size, with everything else transparent. It’s the best way to switch applications I’ve ever seen, and the fastest way to figure out what you’re looking for – the more applications you run at a time, the more you’ll appreciate the taskbar.
Right-clicking on an icon like Microsoft Word or Windows Explorer brings up a list of recent items, that you can easily open with a single click. Apps will flash when they want to get your attention, rather than the annoying blinking that used to happen in Vista. I used Quick Launch on Windows for a long time to launch apps, and the taskbar to switch. It was clunky, slow, and difficult to maneuver if I had a lot of apps open. With the new taskbar, opening, closing, switching and managing windows and applications is a breeze. Forget all the other stuff – that’s worth the upgrade right there. Want to install Windows 7? Check out Jim’s Ultimate Upgrade Guide. What’s your favorite thing about Windows 7? What’s missing? Share them with us in the comments. Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section! New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/ Related posts
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| How To Pin Any Application Window To The Top Posted: 24 Jun 2009 06:00 AM PDT
This is a native feature of Linux and can be easily accessed by right-clicking the mouse and choose “Always On Top” from the context menu. However, when it comes to Windows (and even Mac), I am surprised that this small, but useful feature is not available in all iteration of the operating system. Here comes Deskpins. Deskpins is a small and lightweight application that can keep your application window on top of all other windows at all time. Simply grab a pin from the Deskpins icons and click on the window, it will then automatically pin itself at the topmost of the desktop. InstallationThe installation is easy. Download the software (only 96KB in size) and run the .exe file to install it in your system. It shouldn’t take more than a minute, even if you are using it on an old system (like Windows 95). It is stated in its website that it is compatible up to Win XP, but I tried it on Windows 7 and it works flawlessly. UsageAfter you have launched the application, it should show up as an icon in the system tray.
Click on the Deskpins icon. Your mouse cursor will instantly change to a pin icon. Click on any window to pin it to the topmost level of the desktop. You will now see a pin on that particular window.
Configuration OptionsEven though it is a simple and small application, it also comes with several configuration options for you to customize its behavior and look and feel. First of all, if you are not a red lover, then you can change the pin color to your favorite color in the first tab menu. You can also change the tracking rate and to use a single or double click to activate the pin in the system tray.
Now, if you have a particular application that you want to keep it “always on top” at all time, instead of activating the deskpins everytime, you can create an Autopin rule such that the application is automatically pin to the desktop each time it is launched. This is definitely one nifty feature that will come in handy at all times.
For those who prefer keyboard shortcuts more than clicking the mouse, there is also an option for you to configure the hotkey to activate the Deskpins.
ConclusionFor a simple feature that should exist by default, but doesn’t, this simple application has definitely done its job well. It is small in size and only take up little system resources, best of all, it supports all version of Windows, thus making it an useful and versatile application. This is definitely not the only app that can make an application “always on top”. If you have tried any other apps that perform the same function, share it with us in the comments. On the opposite end of this productivity stick, Varun wrote about the top 5 desktop apps for multitasking. You should definitely check it out, if you haven’t already. Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section! New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/ Related posts
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Good evening, Ladies and Gents,
).
This is no joke. There are still Internet Service Providers (ISPs) out there offering free service. We’re going to look at a few ways to find totally free unlimited Internet access, legitimately and legally.
All Free ISP has a simple way to access their database and find a service provider near you. A major benefit is that their database covers the United States of America as well as Canada. You are more likely to find free service in the U.S.A. than in Canada, so I was pleasantly surprised to find several providers in my home province of Alberta.
See how it breaks the list down into cities? That’s a nice touch. How about the rating system and letting you know what platforms are supported? Pretty nifty. From here, you can click on the name of an ISP and find out more about them. Let’s do that, shall we?
This just shows you a basic overview of the ISP. Really, do I need to explain this? No, exactly! That’s why I like this site. If you go to All Free ISP and follow through to this point, you’ll see that there is way more information than I’m showing here. Based on what they present, you can make an educated guess about whether you want to use this ISP or not.
You might be living or travelling outside of the northern two-thirds of North America and be in need of dial-up service. Yes, believe it or not, there is more to the world than North America. I know, shocker isn’t it?! Freedom List offers a, well, list of free ISPs broken down by country. Just take a look! Pretty impressive, huh?
So, if your WiFi card is broken, or you just can’t sit at the cafe any longer, check Freedom List out.
Before I had my daughter, I could not get enough cinema time. I love watching movies. Now, I have a hell of a lot less time on my hands. I also 
I’ve been a PC my whole life, but have always harbored a secret 
While I am using my 
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