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- MakeUseOf Geeky Fun: Latest Picks
- 10 Great Apps to Convert Audio & Video Files in Linux
- Scoopler - Cool Real Time Search Tool for Twitter
- How to Convert PDF to an Editable Word Document [Windows]
- 3 Beginner Computer Tips That Are Often Neglected
- How To Make A Budget And Wipe Out Debt With Quicken Online
| MakeUseOf Geeky Fun: Latest Picks Posted: 27 Jun 2009 06:00 PM PDT
Check out the top picks from MakeUseOf Geeky Fun during the last week.
If you would like to keep up with all latest Geeky Fun additions, please subscribe to Geeky Fun feed here. You can also subscribe and get latest additions via email. 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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| 10 Great Apps to Convert Audio & Video Files in Linux Posted: 27 Jun 2009 01:20 PM PDT
Sound Converter
Available via the package manager, Sound converter provides basic batch audio file conversion. Select the files or drop in an entire folder, choose the output format and bitrate from within Edit > Preferences and basically, you’re done. Gnormalize
Gnormalize is a GTK based tool for audio conversion. In addition to converting audio (between mp3, mp4, mpc, wav, ogg, ape and flac), Gnormalize can adjust the volume of sound files to compensate for varying recording levels. You can also use Gnormalize to rip CDs, edit metadata and play your songs as well. SoundKonverterKDE users can try SoundKonverter. It has all the features of Gnormalize like reading tags, replay gain calculation but supports a few additional audio file formats. OggConvert, WaoN and flacYou always have a plenty of choices at your disposal when choosing software in Linux. Here are some command line tools that are good for specific audio conversion tasks. OggConvert provides you tools to convert almost all major audio formats into Ogg. flac and WaoN are good to use use when working with Flac or mid files respectively. SoXThen there is SoX - Sound eXchange. Although not just a conversion tool, geeks swear by it. You just cannot write an article about sound and not mention SoX. It does some hundred different amazing things and is rightly called the “Swiss Army Knife” of sound-processing programs. WinFFFFmpeg pretty rules the roost here. You can get all geeky and learn the command line switches or you can try WinFF. WinFF provides a frontend to FFmpeg. It works on Windows and Mac as well. It (actually FFmpeg) can be used for batch conversion of audio and video files. Just add the file(s) you wish to convert, choose the desired format, apply device presets if you desire. Once you are set, hit the Convert button and out pops the command line with one big ass command! Glad we don’t have to type in that ourselves, thanks to WinFF.
You can do pretty amazing things with WinFF or FFmpeg in general. We saw how we can use it to create actions so that you can convert video for your iPod with a right click in Nautilus. Studying the command line that WinFF pops out, you can create more of such custom actions. You can for example, write an action to extract audio out of videos, the possibilities are endless. Handbrake
Handbrake is a popular multi-platform video transcoder. It can be used to convert DVDs to MP4, MKV, AVI and OGM. It offers additional features like chapter selection, burning subtitle into the picture, cropping and scaling. DeVeDe
If Handbrake converts your DVDs to MP4s, DeVeDe takes in video files and creates DVDs and CDs that you can run on your regular home CD/DVD players. DeVeDe is available for Windows as well. There are plenty of choices for you to consider and choose from if you are looking for some good Audio/Video converters for Linux. Did we miss out on your favorite software? Let us know in the comments 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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| Scoopler - Cool Real Time Search Tool for Twitter Posted: 27 Jun 2009 12:10 PM PDT
One of my favorite stories regarding this topic just happened a few days ago. Shaquille O’Neal, a popular basketball player and a popular Twitterer, found out via Twitter that he was being traded. Funny stuff. But the point is, if you want to know what’s happening, immediately, Twitter’s where you want to be. Unfortunately, Twitter’s search engine leaves a lot to be desired. The native search frequently brings up incomplete results, both in a current search and going back. Plus Twitter search seems to frequently be down, and always be shoddy. The best alternative, and a great way to track and search Twitter, is Scoopler. Scoopler is a fast, real-time or in other words live search engine for Twitter – that’s also got some cool features of its own. It does its main job well, and adds just enough features to make it miles ahead of Twitter’s own search.
For the sake of full explanations, Scoopler also searches results from Flickr, Digg, Delicious, and a few other sites – given the relative slowness with which these sites are updated, Twitter tends to both dominate search results and be the most functional use of Scoopler’s search.
Scoopler’s search is truly real-time. When you search for a word or phrase (pick your own, or use one of the popular ones Scoopler suggests), you’re taken immediately to a waterfall-looking column of tweets, that updates as new ones come in. Frequently, it’s too fast to read, especially if you’re tracking a popular subject; you can easily pause the updates if you need to catch up.
In addition, Scoopler does an excellent job with multimedia stuff – videos, images, links, and the like. Within the stream of tweets on your topic, Scoopler extracts all the videos, image, and links to a convenient sidebar, where it organizes them by type, and by the number of shares. If a video is being passed around, you can see it without digging through the stream to figure out what it is you’re looking for. You can easily share anything on Scoopler, too, just by clicking “Peek.”
One thing I like to do periodically is click the “view all” button on the home screen – this tracks all of the most popular topics at once. First of all, the speed at which they update is crazy. Second of all, it’s a lot like skimming news headlines, and is a great way to get caught up on what’s happening.
One day, I predict, Twitter will fix its search – it’ll probably look a lot like Scoopler, actually. But for now, Scoopler seems to be one of the best of a small number of Web apps that let you search and track what’s happening on Twitter and in the world, pretty much at the speed of light. As Twitter becomes even more of a source for breaking news, editorial opinion, and the like, keeping tabs on what’s hot on Twitter will become even more important and useful. Scoopler’s an excellent and simple way to do exactly that. How do you search Twitter? Is there even a need to? Go ahead and discuss in the comments. 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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| How to Convert PDF to an Editable Word Document [Windows] Posted: 27 Jun 2009 10:00 AM PDT
Have you ever had a PDF file that you needed to convert to an editable Word document? Your boss is yelling at you to copy and paste 500 pages from a PDF into a Word document and you are scared that you will have to type this whole document out - fear not MakeUseOf readers, we have a solution for you! How about copying a block of text or a chart from a PDF to Word or another text editor? I can assure you that it has been literally torture over the years. There have been a few costly programs that did what I wanted – but even then, it was not done well. I’ve searched for a lot of different programs that would let me convert PDF to an editable Word document in the past, read an older review here. Now, a free product comes moseying along and does the deed AND WELL! Let's take a look at AnyBizSoft's PDF to Word Converter. You need to download the application and submit your email address to get a free registration code. Without registering, the program will only convert 3 pages. So I gave in and gave them my address. I got an email back quickly with my registration code. Next, you will hit the Register button in the upper right-hand corner next to Help. Put in your email address and serial key. It will thank you for registering and then we can start converting! Hit the Add PDF button in the middle of the window and point the program towards your PDF file that you want to convert to Microsoft Word. On the bottom of the window are your output settings. I set mine to a custom location but you can also have it save in the same folder as the source by checking the top box.
Once you select your PDF, all you have to do is hit the big blue Convert button. That will start your PDF processing. It took about 45 seconds to convert a 5-page PDF that was made up of shaded columns.
The program told me it was complete. I hit OK and the Microsoft Word document loaded.
The document was so on the money it was scary. Because of some graphics overlapped with lines, there was initially a spacing issue. That was easily corrected – because EVERYTHING WAS EDITABLE! Wow, this is simply awesome! Do you have a favorite tool that you use for conversions like this? If so please share it with us in the comments! Found this article interesting? Check out other articles discussing ways to convert PDFs to editable Word documents:
- PDFtoWord: Accurate PDF To Word Converter - ConvertPdfToWord: PDF to Word Doc Converter 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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| 3 Beginner Computer Tips That Are Often Neglected Posted: 27 Jun 2009 08:00 AM PDT
Being a better computer user doesn’t require you to sign up for course at college or to read those huge books that geeks have on their desks. Truth is, we don’t read them either. We just refer to them every now and again when you stump us with a question. Being a better computer user just takes a willingness to learn and to try. Here are a few computer tips for the beginner that should help you immediately. 1. Learn to Use Your KeyboardSince PCs with a mouse attached were introduced, almost every user has become dependent on it. It seems like a good idea, but don’t you hate it when it dies, or gets clogged, or the right-click gets worn out? I know I do. Learning how to type and use your keyboard shortcuts will help you to avoid the mouse. Remember, the keyboard was invented before the mouse, so everything you can do with your mouse, you can do with the keyboard. There are plenty of freeware programs available for learning how to type, we mentioned several of them in our recently published productivity guide. It just takes patience and practice to master typing. When I started, I was a hunt-and-peck typer and now I can type almost anything without looking at the keyboard - which drives my wife nuts as I type and “listen” to her. She really hates it when I transcribe what she just told me. I don’t recommend doing that, guys.
Keyboard shortcuts are awesome. Possibly the biggest time saver is the Tab key. It might say Tab on it or it might have two arrows - one pointing right and one pointing left. What the Tab key allows you to do is to move your cursor from field to field. This is especially time-saving when going through a form. Try it, just hit the Tab key a few times to see where the focus ends up. You’ll see a dashed line around whatever you tabbed to, or a blinking cursor if it’s in a text field. If you go one field too far, hold down your Shift key and then hit the Tab key once to go back one element. I use these shortcuts all the time when the batteries in my mouse are dead. You can get printable shortcuts for Windows, Mac OS X, Firefox, Gmail and several other programs by subscribing to our RSS feed. Look for MakeUseOf Downloads link. 2. Be Picky With Software
How many toolbars do you have on your web browser? Do you have toolbars from Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask, and more? Just pick one - all the others do pretty much the same thing and just get in the way. How did you end up with so many toolbars? Chances are you downloaded and installed something and didn’t read about the fact that the free software was going to install a toolbar as well. In the military, we had an initialization known as RTFQ - the G-rated version is Read The Full Question.
How much software do you need on your computer? Allow me to ask this another way. Do you put every scrap of paper that goes through your hands into your filing cabinet? If you did, how soon would it take for the filing cabinet to burst, leaving you to curl up in the fetal position wondering where your birth certificate went. Same thing happens with your computer when you add every little piece of software you see to your computer. Be picky. If you aren’t going to use that software at least once a week - you probably don’t need it on your computer. If you haven’t used a piece of software in a few months, think about uninstalling it. Check out some uninstallers from Stefan’s post. 3. Find a Way To Get OrganizedCarrying on with the file cabinet analogy, you also need to get your computer organized. I’m sure you’ve seen those computer desktops with a bajillion shortcuts on it. That’s no better than leaving papers all over your office. There’s a reason geek-speak calls them files and folders. Treat them like their real world companions and they will be easier to find, work with, and be more secure all at the same time.
For organizing your desktop, I recommend Fences by StarDock. It’s like setting up work-zones on your computer desktop and keeps it from getting cluttered. I’ve even seen people do this with their real desktops - setting up folders or taping off areas for specific ongoing projects to sit in. It can work, but you need to be vigilant. Entropy is a universal force - it cannot be overcome. But Fences sure can help!
Working on these three areas can only lead to a more productive day, with less effort and confusion. That means a lot less stress for you! And that’s a good thing. Have you read the MakeUseOf Productivity guide? Do you have any beginner computer tips on being a better computer user? Have any of these ideas helped you out? I’d love to hear your suggestions and stories in the comments below. 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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| How To Make A Budget And Wipe Out Debt With Quicken Online Posted: 27 Jun 2009 06:00 AM PDT
Keeping Track is a Full Time JobNo matter how meticulous you are, keeping a spreadsheet updated with your actual spending patterns and financial situation is just about impossible. Thankfully, I recently discovered a free online money management tool offered by a trustworthy major name in the financial world - Quicken Online. The truth is, I took a close look at the other budgeting sites, and while many of them look promising, I have a very difficult time submitting my login information for my bank accounts and credit cards to just anyone. I’ve used Quicken’s tax software before, so I know they’re a legitimate and trustworthy company. When you first sign up for your free account, you have an opportunity to add all of your financial accounts. Quicken is one of the few online services that actually has a comprehensive library of banks - it even had access to my small, local credit union.
Once you’ve added all of your accounts (you can even add your Paypal account!) - then you’re ready to start tracking and managing your spending in a more streamlined and automated format. On your accounts screen, with one glance, you can view the balances on all of your accounts - no more need to log into ten different websites just to check balances. Organize Transactions for a Smarter BudgetThe real power behind Quicken’s free budgeting tool is how accurately you can tell the Quicken software exactly what you’re spending your money on. Most of the time, cheques or cash withdrawals are put in a “cash” category because the software doesn’t know exactly what the money was used for. If you go through, on a monthly basis, and just take a few minutes to accurately organize the month’s transactions by category, you’ll find that the following month’s estimated budget and the historic trending charts are all more accurate and helpful.
Organizing your transactions is as easy as just selecting the correct one from a dropdown box. For a month where you have a hundred to two hundred transactions, organizing the categories may take ten to twenty minutes, but the software promises to “learn” from your selections when adding future transactions. So, in effect, doing the work up front will make the system work much more effectively for you moving forward. The Charts Tell the Truth - You’re Overspending!Now, I’ve always considered myself to be a very frugal and thrifty person. I never overspend… or so I thought. To my surprise, when Quicken Online put the cold, hard facts right there in front of my face, I was a bit surprised.
Quicken takes your actual spending based on the money flowing out of your bank account (not the estimates floating around in your head), and lays out the numbers right there in black and white (or in this case in green and red). The software automatically creates goals based on your average past spending, and attempts to balance your budget so at least your spending doesn’t exceed your income. These graphs provide an excellent representation of which categories of spending you need to cut back on in order to get your budget back on track.
My favorite parts of this free online application are the pie and bar charts that break down your entire spending by category. You can see what percentage of your income goes to mortgage or rent, groceries, dining out, and everything else. The bottom line shows you what you earned, what you spent, and the difference. If you spent more than you make - you’re alerted that you are “living beyond your means.” Don’t even bother arguing, because by this point Quicken “sees” all of your financial accounts, so you aren’t fooling anyone. Additional Quicken Online FeaturesA few additional features of Quicken that makes this online tool really stand out for me are the alerting features and the well designed main overview page. The “alerts” that you can set include both mobile and email settings, and you can set up the software to alert you regarding a number of conditions related to your account.
Some options include upcoming bills that are due (upcoming transactions), status reports regarding your current balances, alerts if your credit card spending is excessive, and a number of other valuable options you can use to keep a closer eye on your spending.
Every time you log back into your account, the dashboard on the main page provides everything you’re looking for at your fingertips. This is most likely where you’ll spend most of your time, as it provides all account balances, a “risk of overdraft or low balance” and a valuable reminder tool that lets you know about upcoming bills that are due (if you’ve enabled that alert). Quicken Online is a valuable free tool that gives you the power to not only get your spending under control, but it will allow you to pay down your debts in a methodical and affordable way, and it provides you with a constant, accurate view of both your bank accounts and all of your credit card accounts. The fastest path to financial freedom is constant monitoring and management of your finances. Quicken Online automates enough of that process so that sticking to a budget doesn’t have to be a chore. Do you have any online budgeting tools you like to use? Share your opinion in the comments section below. If you are stuck knee-deep in debt, I know 3 personal financial blogs that you need to read and might help you out. Moreover, if you prefer a desktop software to an online one and can’t afford Quicken desktop version check out 5 Free Financial Software Alternatives to Quicken. Image credit: Daníel Starrason 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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With the different audio and video formats available, there is often the need to inter convert amongst them - sometimes for quality and sometimes for compatibility. Here are some of the better software, that you can use to achieve the inter conversions on your Linux box.
One of 
This 2.2 MB file sure packs a wallop!
To get more out of your computing, you don’t really need newer equipment or fancier software packages. To do your computer work faster, there’s not always a lot of sense in going out and buying more RAM or a new CPU. All you have to do is become a better user. After all, a good plumber doesn’t blame his tools.
I admit that I tend to overcomplicate the whole “budget” thing. It drives my wife crazy. My Excel budget spreadsheet includes all sources of income, utilities, expenses, mortgage, credit card debt, as well as an array of sheets and charts that estimates debt payoff out to the next five years. In all honesty, the spreadsheet is probably one of the most confusing documents I’ve ever created, and attempting to keep it updated is a complete nightmare.
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