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- Cool Websites and Tools [July 6]
- How To Promote Your Blog Using Facebook Pages
- Best Online Resources For New and Experienced Dog Owners
- How To Get Companies To Send You Free Stuff With No Catches
- The Ultimate, Free Online Color Schemer To Help Complement Your Colors
- Capture What’s Hot on the Internet with Chromomulator
| Cool Websites and Tools [July 6] Posted: 06 Jul 2009 04:00 PM PDT
(1) Google City Tours - New online tour planner by the Google Labs team. It helps you identify points of interest and plan multi-day trips to most major cities with the help of Google Maps. You just need to specify the location of your hotel and the length of your trip and City Tours will map out an itinerary for you. It is like a minute-by-minute travel schedule for you to follow. Read more: Google City Tours: Online Tour Planner (2) GoodSearch - Most of us have a cause we care about – saving the environment, protecting the endangered animals, supporting orphans etc., but can't find the time to get to it and devote more of ourselves. Now, you can support your favorite charity by doing what you do almost every day – searching the web, the only difference is that you will have to use GoodSearch's search engine that supports charities. Read more: GoodSearch: Search Engine That Supports Charities (3) Pictaculous - Online image color extraction tool that lets you extract a palette of colors from any image. It gives you a set of colors extracted from the image along with a hexadecimal code of each color. Download the generated colors as an Adobe Swatch file (.aco) onto your computer or click to send results to your email. Read more: Pictaculous: Image Color Extraction App (4) SoundTrackInfo - Great site for finding movie soundtrack information. The site lets you search its database by movie title, song title, composer's name, performer's name or browse movies alphabetically. Read more: SoundTrackInfo: Movie Soundtrack Information Database (5) Text Utilities - Multipurpose webpage where you can customize and manipulate your text. It lets you quickly encode, decode, case convert, Javascript and regexp any submitted text. Read more: Text Utilities: Manipulate Your Text Online
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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| How To Promote Your Blog Using Facebook Pages Posted: 06 Jul 2009 02:00 PM PDT
By having a Facebook page for your blog, you can set up your RSS feed so your new posts appear on your fan page. Facebook members can then become a “fan” of your posts and comment on your posts inside Facebook. In short, you can:
So, are you interested in getting your page set up? If so, here’s how to get it set up quickly. 1. Sign up on FacebookFirst you have to have a free Facebook account. If not then go here and set one up. 2. Click zee linkThen click on this link to get your fan page going. Here is the page that will then appear :
If you are creating a page for a blog / website, you will need to choose “Brand, Product or Organization”. Then from the drop-down list, select “website”. Enter the name of your site (or whatever you want your page to be called) in “Name Of Other Business”, tick “I am authorized to create this page” (assuming of course you ARE authorized), enter your name under “Electronic Signature” and then click “Create Page”. 3. Customize Your PageYour page will now be set up and you will be taken straight there. Here are some of the things you can do to customize your page : Customize your image :
To upload an image, just point your mouse to the image area and a menu will pop up with various options. You can either upload a photo, take a picture with your webcam or choose from a Facebook album. Customize your site information :
You can also enter information such as when you started the site and if you have any “products” you’d like to talk about. In short, use this section to blab away about your site. Set up your blog RSS feed to show your new posts in FacebookThis is, I think, one of the most important aspects of a blog fan page. If you are unable to show your new posts, how can you possibly persuade people to come to your site and sign up for the RSS feed?
4. Publicise Your PageNow that your Facebook page is all set up, all that remains to be done is to publicise it to your readers so they can “fan” you. Some methods to get the word out there include :
Do you have a Facebook fan page for your blog? If so, how successful is it in getting new RSS subscribers for your site? 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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| Best Online Resources For New and Experienced Dog Owners Posted: 06 Jul 2009 12:00 PM PDT
The day finally came where we got to take home our new baby. We loaded the car with B-Dubs and his blanket ready to make our drive back home, then it hit us. Uh oh… WHAT NOW?! I’m sure I’m not alone in this panicked, first-time puppy parent feeling. So, I’ve put together my own personal choices of the best online resources for dog owners to help you avoid this same feeling I had. American Kennel Club (AKC)From picking out the right type of dog breed for your family, to training your new addition, the American Kennel Club website is full of valuable information. Their organization is most well known for their registration process for purebred dogs but the website is devoted to so much more than that.
The section I like best about this site is their extensive info on every breed imaginable. Select a breed you’re curious about and you’re presented with a brief history of why the breed came to be how it is and a short excerpt to decide if this is the breed of dog for you. I see many people who get their dog then say months later that “If I had know this dog would be like this, I would have never gotten it’ Don’t fall into this category. Do your research. Find the perfect dog for you and/or your family. Dog Owner’s Guide - CanisMajor.comThe online dog owner’s guide is just that, a guide, from start to end, on owning a dog. Here, you’ll find the best collection of articles online that will make sure you’re informed through every stage of your puppy’s life.
My favorite section, that ultimately saved me from panicking once I got my pup home, is titled “He’s here! Now what?“. My thoughts exactly. This section helped me know what to expect when my new guy entered my home from the first minutes of exploration, to first potty time and first training. I can tell this is a critical resource that I will be coming back to as B-Dubs starts to grow and mature. PetMDIt is inevitable as a first time puppy parent that the first time the dog starts to throw up, you’re going to flip out. I did. I immediately thought “Oh no! My dog has Parvo!”
I started rushing around trying to find numbers for my vet, calling the breeder and asking my friends if their dogs had ever done this. Looking back, it was just an upset stomach but I didn’t know the difference. Enter PetMD. Had I known about this site beforehand, I could have simply typed his symptoms into their large database of everything related to your pet’s health. I was presented with a large list of issues that my dog could have, all of which had way worse symptoms than my dog currently had. I realized very quickly that I was overreacting and now I know where to go if I have any questions related to its health. Eukanuba Puppy WorldI am a very visual learner. There are only a few things that I can pick up from reading article after article about puppy training and becoming a puppy parent. That’s why I love Eukanuba’s web site.
They present you with the standard articles for picking out your puppy, preparing your home for your new addition and other important information but where they shine is in their EukTV Puppy Training Videos. I was able to sit back and watch a video on what I’m supposed to do with my puppy which my fellow visual learners will appreciate. They also make a handy reference to go back to because there’s no way you will remember this info the first time through. A few other places to check out videos like this would be YouTube and ExpertVillage. When I searched ExpertVillage for dog training, I was presented with over 8,000 videos. Purina Complete Puppy CareAfter I brought B-Dubs home, I found out very quickly that my free time has been quickly depleted. All of the extra duties of owning a dog, although fun, are time consuming. Going out to each of these sites and searching for articles and then taking the time to read them may just be more time than you find yourself with after having a puppy.
Purina has recognized this and created their Complete Puppy Care Program. Entering this program is as simple as entering in your email and some simple info about your new puppy. They take the guess work out of finding the right information by sending you an email each month with links to helpful videos and articles that are specific to your puppies age. You will also get access to their entire library of videos to help address most questions you’d have about your puppy. They also provide a handy iPhone application to take with you on the road in case you aren’t around your computer, like say, out at a dog park. (maybe meeting up with your friends you met on ZooToo) I don’t know where I’d be without these five resources. I have already ran to them multiple times each to answer all of my first time puppy parenting questions because trust me, there are a ton! Good luck with your new addition! Don’t have a new addition? You can still see plenty of cute animals on the net at any of these six sites Simon mentioned. Have you found a great resource for dog owners? Let us know about it 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 Get Companies To Send You Free Stuff With No Catches Posted: 06 Jul 2009 10:00 AM PDT
So, as I grew up I was shocked to learn that my parents were wrong - you really can get free stuff with no catches! I remember, in college, being offered a free T-shirt just for signing an application for a credit card. A very good college friend of mine who was working as a movie theater manager once handed my girlfriend and I complimentary movie tickets for absolutely free. Then a few years later, we stayed at a Howard Johnson’s Hotel, had a miserable time, complained and ended up with a free hotel stay. Oh yes, some things in life really are free. Get a Free Hotel Stay With Very Little EffortThe way the story goes, we asked the hotel for a crib and then upon arriving at the hotel, discovered that there wasn’t one reserved for us. We were furious, of course, and we were awake all night trying to make sure the baby didn’t roll her way right off the edge of the bed. We slept in shifts, trying to keep her between us. The next morning, with bloodshot eyes and a huge coffee in hand, I cornered the hotel manager and yelled at him for ten straight minutes. The next day I hopped online and fired off one of the most carefully crafted letters condemning Howard Johnson’s and vowing not only never to stay there again, but also to inform everyone I knew how horrible the hotel chain was. To my surprise, in less than two weeks after sending my letter, we received an envelope from Howard Johnson’s corporate headquarters with an apology and a voucher for a free hotel stay.
Every major hotel chain has a customer service section where you can submit comments about your recent stay. I would never advise anyone to become a habitual complainer - in fact, I’ve heard of folks getting banned from staying at a hotel chain because they complained dozens of times in a row. However, be aware of every nuance of your stay, and if anything is significantly wrong with your room or your stay, complain to the hotel staff (ask for and note their names), and if it’s not resolved, submit your politely written complaint, and you’re almost guaranteed to receive a free hotel stay for your efforts. Earlier, James offered some great methods to find the best hotel deals. Of course, another perfect way to get a free hotel stay is by choosing a favorite chain and sticking with them to earn loyalty “points.” These work just like frequent flier miles, and they add up quickly. Every now and then, just for electing to stay at the same hotel chain, you’ll build up enough points to stay a night at the hotel for free. One of my favorite rewards programs is GoldPointsPlus.
If you use the system often enough, you get an “Elite” status, which means more points per stay, and more free rooms more often. It’s true - just stay loyal to a hotel chain, and eventually you get a free hotel room with no catch. Now that’s sweet. You Can Get Lots of Free Stuff With No Catches - But Free Groceries?Think about it - what’s the one area where families usually spend the most money every week? That’s right - groceries. Now, what if you could start eating out for free, or getting groceries without paying a dime? Sound too good to be true? While you probably can’t get all your groceries for free, what you can do is cut down significantly on your grocery bill by getting some of the more expensive items for free. A few of the best sites for this includes the constantly updated free sample page at the Kroger store website.
And of course, you can’t talk cheap without talking about Wal-Mart, which also has it’s own free sample section on the Wal-Mart website.
Yes, I know - for some reason the free samples are often of “women’s products,” but hey - women need free stuff too, right? And don’t forget to use all of those awesome grocery coupon websites I wrote about earlier to save even more on the groceries you do have to buy. Eat out for freeOh, and remember what I said earlier about eating out for free? Okay, it’s really true - you can get a free entree or appetizer at most restaurants on your birthday if you sign up for either a newsletter or for a free loyalty “club” membership, such as the deal from Red Lobster where you get a free “gift” (it’s a free appetizer) on your birthday for joining the “Seafood Lovers Club.”
Just search the web for your favorite restaurants and sign up for their “club” memberships (almost always free), and on your birthday you could eat breakfast, lunch and supper for absolutely free! Becoming a Free-aholic - It Really Is An AddictionOne of the worst things about getting started down the “free stuff” road is that once you realize you can get stuff for free, it’s easy to become obsessed with looking for “free stuff” opportunities. Trust me, they are everywhere. Unfortunately, the web is also overrun with “freebie” scams and adware/malware filled websites that offer free stuff. MakeUseOf offers a long list of great options for bargains and coupons, like Aibek’s review of Freshbargains, or the MUO reviews of RetailMeNot and WoW-Coupons. But if you’re looking for not only cheap stuff, but free stuff with no catches, then you’ll need a good selection of valid freebie sites. One of the only directories I check out often is TheFreeSite.
While the site itself isn’t the prettiest design in the world, it really does the trick. There are categories from “Fun Freebies,” to “Family Freebies,” to “Seasonal Freebies,” and everything in between. The offers throughout the site are legitimate and real. Now if you like the idea of getting items for free from folks in your local community who simply don’t want their stuff anymore (there are surprisingly many people like that), then two of the hottest sites you’ll want to check out are GumTree, a popular U.K. based free classifieds site with a huge “freebies” section.
And there’s also the ever-popular FreeCycle.org, where millions of folks across the world are just trading stuff for free every single day.
FreeCycle.org has really developed a worldwide cult following, and if you join up you’ll quickly see why. There’s nothing so cool as being part of a community where folks want to give you something for absolutely free just to keep it out of the world’s landfills. After a while, you’ll find yourself giving stuff that you don’t want away for free too! Do you have any favorite freebie websites? What are your tricks for getting free stuff? Share your opinions in the comment section below. Image credit: Adrian Purser 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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| The Ultimate, Free Online Color Schemer To Help Complement Your Colors Posted: 06 Jul 2009 08:00 AM PDT
Up until now, every time I have to design something, anything, I automatically reach for my trusty old Color Index book. If not for the convenient vinyl colors in this little book, I probably would have destroyed the little bugger a long time ago from wear and tear. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been around the net. I’ve seen all the little color pickers and color schemers, and they’re useful but theres always something missing. None of the color schemers I’ve seen have everything.
This awesome view is what you will see when you first load up Color Scheme Designer. At first glance, it seems daunting but when you dive into it, you quickly get a feeling for the raw power of this app and how really simple it is to use; a marvel of UI.
This results in the following color breakout schemes, which in and of themselves are useful, and with the HEX values immediately selectable, copyable and pastable. Color hex values are also accessible via mouseover:
But that’s not even all! The application allows for custom controlling of the resulting color scheme, as well as at-a-glance color value table, Voila:
And now, the defining feature this app provides is the fully interactive light and dark page previews, which I’ve generated from the Triad version of my color scheme based on my original choice of my favorite blue, in a completely eye-candy friendly application of color theory:
That’s still not the end of the features this app provides! Most notably is the ability to simulate various color deficiencies for accessibility, as well as the ability to export HTML/CSS, XML, and text as noted above. I hope this app helps everyone out there as much as it has helped me. I realize that inspiration is in very short supply these days, and my trusty old color index has provided me countless blasts of inspiration. In light of that, this app is ground-breaking in that arena and will provide you with blasts of inspiration as well. Are there any better color schemes or pickers that you have used or prefer? Let us know your choices in the comments. If you have any questions about color and color shemes, please add them into the comments as well. 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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| Capture What’s Hot on the Internet with Chromomulator Posted: 06 Jul 2009 06:00 AM PDT
It is called Chromomulator. Chromomulator decides what’s hot (and therefore potentially interesting for you as well) by looking at what people are looking for. This is achieved by fetching the top trending topics from Google Trends. Once it has the top 100 topics, Chromomulator aggregates news items, blog posts, pictures and videos about them from Google News, Digg, Delicious, Technorati, Flickr and Youtube respectively — all into one convenient place.
So hop over to Chromomulator and you see the current top 100 searches neatly laid out in two separate columns on each side of the webpage. Some of the topics are well suited for pictures and images, while other are not, so don’t be surprised if Flickr and YouTube do not return results for quite a few topics.
Chromomulator offers RSS feeds that help you stay atop of the trending topics or you could follow @chromomulator on Twitter. Idea for the mashup is great, however there are a few chinks that are evident. First off by the looks of it, the trending topics appear to be from Google Trends (USA). While some of the trending topics would be the same all over the world in particular situations (think recent MJ searches), what about the trending topics “in your part of the world”? This is what I mean (trending topics for USA and India):
For best results, you need to refresh often (you can use ReloadEvery addon) because the ranked trending topic changes. If you haven’t refreshed from the time you last loaded the page, the results on Chromomulator will not reflect the true ranked trending topics on Google Trends. This was the one thing I found quite annoying: you click on a link hoping to read about Transformers because that is what the #X topic when you last loaded Chromomulator, instead you will be taken to details of what actually is #X on Google Trends currently. That said, it a great idea and has a huge potential for expansion, it would be interesting to see how Chromomulator develops further. Meanwhile, you let us know what you think of Chromomulator’s results. Does it capture what you would call the buzz? How do you stack it against Twitter or popurls as a tool for capturing the buzz? Let us know 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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One of the more effective ways of promoting your blog is to use a site everyone either loves or hates - 
The first thing your page obviously needs is an image. For blogs, the obvious image to first consider is your logo.
In the “Info” tab, you can type detailed information about your site such as the URL, the “overview” (so this would be a good place to enter any tagline or motto that your site has. MakeUseOf’s is “Cool Websites, Software and Internet Tips”).
I’ve recently had the pleasure of bringing home my first dog, a seven week old Golden Retriever named 
One of the most often repeated sayings that I heard from my parents when I was growing was,”Nothing in life is free.” 
Good evening. I’m back again to bring you some of the latest and greatest in web tech for the web-savvy 
Discovering what is the 
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