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- Cool Websites and Tools [September 27]
- Thank You To Our Friends
- How To Try Out The Microsoft Office Web Apps Technical Preview
- Top 3 Sites For Nintendo DS Walkthroughs
- MS Outlook Productivity Tip: How to Move Emails To Individual Folders Automatically
- 4 Cool Online Alternatives to TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop
- Bring The Power of Gestures To Your Mouse With FlyGesture [Mac]
- Three Places To Whine About Your Life And Let Off Steam
| Cool Websites and Tools [September 27] Posted: 27 Sep 2009 06:00 PM PDT
(1) TubeReplay – This web utility lets you watch any YouTube clip over and over again without hitting the play button. Basically, if you stumble upon a video (maybe a music video) you really like and feel like watching over and over, copy the video URL onto the provided field on TubeReplay and click the "Replay" button. Read more: TubeReplay – Auto Replay YouTube Videos (2) SafeShare – Online tool for sharing YouTube videos without distractions. It strips all surrounding clutter (ads, related videos, comments, etc) and presents the video on a clean page. It also lets you crop a specific portion from the video and share that only that part. Read more: SafeShare.TV – Share & Watch YouTube Distraction Free (3) CSS Compressor – Simple online compression utility for Cascading Style Sheets. Basically, it takes non-optimized CSS code as an input and produces a compressed version of the code, thereby making your web pages load faster. It provides you with options to choose between four compression levels, depending on the degree of compression you wish to have. Read more: CSS Compressor – Online Compression Tool for CSS (4) Pixorial – New web service which lets you upload, edit, store and organize personal home videos online. Your video library can be password-protected and you can edit your videos right inside the browser. It comes with both free and paid options, the free option being a decent one with 10GB limit on the uploads. Read more: Pixorial – Quickly Edit & Store Personal Home Videos Online (5) SeatGeek – While there are many online ticket price comparison engines, SeatGeek is different. It focuses on helping consumers find the cheapest tickets for sports events, music concerts and more by extracting information from the secondary ticket market and predicting if prices will fall further. Tickets can be searched by team, artist, venue or city. Read more: SeatGeek – Get Cheap Tickets For Sports & Music Events
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 MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/ Related posts
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| Posted: 27 Sep 2009 05:31 PM PDT It's time to say thanks to our friends who often help us out with different projects and sometimes even offer their services at discount prices. Thank you guys! TrueKolor – Cheap Custom Logo and Banner Design
Pair – Reliable Web Hosting
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| How To Try Out The Microsoft Office Web Apps Technical Preview Posted: 27 Sep 2009 03:00 PM PDT
There are open source free desktop applications, then there are free cloud-based applications. Microsoft has been working on a free version of its popular Office franchise as well. The free version would be available via the cloud. Microsoft recently launched a tech preview. It is an invite-only preview, however you just need a Skydrive account and some URL tweaking to try out the Office Web Apps Preview. Here is how:
With all that done and completed you are in and ready to test out the latest in cloud office apps.
So how good is it?Well to begin with – the web apps have the same ribbon interface of Office 2007 and Office 2010. So if you were hoping to get back to the Office 2003 like menus and buttons, you will be disappointed. The similar look definitely makes it easier to find your way around. All the icons, menus and options (though few) resemble the ones you would find in the desktop version of the software.
As for the file format, Office Web Apps uses Office Open XML formats (i.e. the .docx, .xlsx, .pptx formats). However, you can still use the older formats, only they will be converted to the newer OOXML formats before Office Web Apps allows you work on them.
Overall, it is limited and don’t expect to see all the functionality of the desktop version or something reasonably close to it. You would be better to make a comparison with some of the web-based office suites instead, in which case the functionality seems respectable, no amazing over-the-top stuff that would overthrow Google Docs.
Collaboration is the key feature, as is often the case with most cloud-based applications. You can share files with others, make your files public, choose whether they would be able to edit documents or not. People can leave comments as your file gets edited, re-edited and refined.
Go ahead check it out and let us know what you think. Do you think Office Online offers the features you need to do your day to day work? Or is it too stripped down to be used for any decent job? Give it a thorough spin and sound off 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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| Top 3 Sites For Nintendo DS Walkthroughs Posted: 27 Sep 2009 01:00 PM PDT
Sure, you could go out and buy that official strategy guide, but be honest now! That money is better spent on stuff that’s actually meaningful and fulfilling to your life, like more games. Help doesn’t have to cost you a dime and it’s all just a few keystrokes and clicks away. Don’t smash your poor handheld to the ground just yet. Here’re the top 3 sites for Nintendo DS walkthroughs. GameFAQsGameFAQs is one of the best websites for guides to virtually every video game, including DS titles. Its collection is simply the biggest.
The site’s members submit their own text-based walkthroughs of the game and they’re all hosted by GameFAQs and made available for everyone to view for free. There are usually even multiple guides to popular games written by different gamers, so you’ll be sure to have many takes on how to get through challenges or levels.
Other great features on the site include in-depth FAQs, with guides packed full of information just for specific aspects of the game, as well as helpful maps and charts. IGNThe guides at IGN are always well-written and the site boasts a great collection of Nintendo DS walkthroughs to lend any gamer in need of help a hand.
IGN’s DS walkthroughs are just as good as the ones you can find for console games, providing plenty of detailed information and images to go along with it. Additional features include helpful extras like item lists, secrets, and tips on extra missions and challenges. Along with the complete walkthrough, it’s always nice to see these little things included as they can come in handy.
Also keep in mind that IGN does offer video tips, downloadable PDFs, and PSP-formatted guides, however, you must subscribe to the website for access to them. StrategyWikiFor those who still can’t find the guide you’re looking for or feel compelled to contribute your own tips and help other gamers out there, StrategyWiki is the place to do it. As a collaborative and freely-licensed wiki, the site’s Nintendo DS strategy guides and walkthroughs are very well done and in-depth.
Along with the games’ complete walkthrough, other helpful bonuses like lists, maps, and a guide to getting started are usually included. One of the best things about StrategyWiki is that there’s only one definitive guide for each game, so you won’t have to sort through multiple plain text FAQs. The content never dies and can be updated by anyone, so feel free to contribute yourself. If you desperately need a video walkthrough of a DS game, try searching YouTube. Some gamers have actually recorded the dual screens with a camera for gameplay footage. The quality usually isn’t very good, but it’s better than nothing. For more resources, check out the Top 5 Sites With Free Strategy Guides For Gamers. Where do you go for Nintendo DS walkthroughs? Let us know in the comments. Image Credit: Gadgeteer 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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| MS Outlook Productivity Tip: How to Move Emails To Individual Folders Automatically Posted: 27 Sep 2009 11:00 AM PDT
Think of rules as traffic cops who direct and move (email) traffic and streamline the flow. Rules are specific sets of instructions that are applied to messages under a specific set of conditions. Rules are applicable for messages as well as RSS feeds. All Outlook rules broadly are of two types – those that deal with organizing your emails by moving it around and those that notify you when some action occurs. The best things about rules are that they can be selectively applied, applied in combination, automatically run or even run manually. Think about it, in the absence of rules, we would have had to spend considerable time sifting through the emails by hand one at a time. One of the most often used application for rules are in moving emails automatically to designated folders as they land in the inbox. The obvious benefit of shunting emails automatically is cleanliness and organization. The rule is best suited for mails which arrive frequently – like newsletters, email updates or feeds. Such mails are usually kept in 'storage' for later reading. So, creating personal folders for such mails are the first thing, creating a system to automatically move them into these folders is the next.
Alternatively, instead of selecting a single message to start a new rule, you can also start create a rule from scratch using the wizard by opening it from Tools – Rules and Alerts – New Rule. In Step 1: Select a template. Under the entries of Stay organized, select Move messages from someone to a folder. In Step 2: Edit the rule description – click on the underlined link for people or distribution list to set the From address filter. Next, click on the specified folder link to set the target folder. The next sequences of steps are the same as in the Advanced Options wizard. Many interesting automatic actions can be performed on your emails with a combination of different rules. Remember, rules are performed in sequence as shown in the Rules and Alerts box. Rules can always be edited at any step and also their order changed. Instant tips?For speedier processing, combine some of your rules with common actions and organize the order in which they are to be triggered. For special cases, you can set the Stop Processing action after a specific rule has run. Rules are a faster way to better manage your emails and keep some aspects of your inbox on auto-pilot. Outlook 2007 rules are a flexible way to free up a lot of email management chores. Do you use rules to as productivity boosters? What are some of the unique cases you apply them on? Learn more by watching the Microsoft How-to video here. 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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| 4 Cool Online Alternatives to TweetDeck and Seesmic Desktop Posted: 27 Sep 2009 09:00 AM PDT
There are several reasons why this may be a preferred way to use Twitter:
Which web-based apps should you use? What are their unique features? In this article, we will look at four Twitter web apps and highlight their unique features so that you can choose the right one to make use of. HootSuiteHootSuite is an easy-to-use but powerful Twitter application. The interface is very flexible and you can create nice layouts just the way you want them. You can have multiple tabs, with each tab showing up to four columns of tweets. You can drag and drop columns and tabs, change width of columns, and set individual refresh intervals for each tab. Columns can be used for Groups, Mentions, DMs, and Searches just like other apps.
The unique features of HootSuite are:
BrizzlyBrizzly is the newest web app for Twitter, at present in beta for which you can quickly get an invite just by signing up. It is extremely easy to use, has an uncluttered, clean look, and you will find yourself tweeting within minutes. You can use up to 5 Twitter accounts and create up to 5 groups.
Brizzly's claim to fame is for the following:
TwitHiveTwitHive is a different breed among these Twitter web apps. TwitHive uses the term "channels" to describe what essentially become columns once you create them. You can have a highly customized Twitter client because of the flexibility you have in defining channels.
A channel, or column, can be made up of Tweets, Groups, DMs, and Search. The Tweets column can additionally be filtered to display Conversations (tweets with an @reply), Questions, ReTweets, Links, or Keywords. In the example above, I have 3 columns set to display ReTweets, Tweets with Links, and a Search column for Facebook. Also, it is easy to track keyword or brand mentions with TwitHive.
Seesmic WebSeesmic Desktop's web-based cousin is not as powerful, but has a few nifty features you won't find in its desktop version. It is easy to use and offers a choice of two different color schemes. At present, it does not support multiple Twitter accounts and does not allow you to create groups. While these features are just around the corner, Seesmic Web is an attractive option if you are following a limited number of people from a single account.
Seesmic Web has the following standout features:
Did you find the post useful? Did we miss your favorite Twitter web-app? Tell us 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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| Bring The Power of Gestures To Your Mouse With FlyGesture [Mac] Posted: 27 Sep 2009 07:00 AM PDT
But that doesn’t mean that I will never embrace another potential ways to get my things done. The problem is, the only application that I know utilizing mouse gestures is Opera, so I never really had the chance to really taste how delicious mouse gesture can be. Then I found FlyGesture, a free application from FlyingMeat that promises to bring mouse gestures to every corner of the Mac OS X computing experience. One Mouse to rule them allIf I have to describe FlyGesture using my own definition, I might say that this an application that will translate mouse gestures into almost any possible action(s). And before deciding that I am being hyperbolic, let’s see what this baby can do. The first thing to do after opening the application is to visit the Preferences (FlyGestures –> Preferences menu or Command + Comma). Here you can choose which hotkey (and which mouse button) to activate the application and listen to gestures.
The default activation hotkey is F1 and mouse button is disabled. You can change the hotkey if you want to. And if you happen to use a multi-button mouse with an unused button available, you can assign this button also to invoke FlyGesture.
This app comes with a library full of preset actions. To see all the available gestures, you can open the catalog by going to Window –> Open Catalog menu or by using Command + T.
You can add your own gestures by clicking the Plus (+) button at the bottom of the window. Deleting the existing gestures is also possible by clicking the Minus (-) button. If you decide to add your own, you’ll see the gesture input pad. Click the middle button and start drawing your gesture. Click again when you’ve finished. Click OK to accept the gesture or reset to redraw. I suggest you to create simple gestures because drawing difficult shape every time you want to do something can be frustrating.
After clicking OK, you can add actions that you want to be executed by the gesture you’ve just created. The options range from activating applications, running AppleScripts to typing texts.
You can add several actions to one gesture, just like building Automator workflow.
This ability opens up countless possibilities, limited only by your imagination. You can build a gesture to write a simple signature or you can go wild and create one that will: save your work, upload it to the FTP, create an email and send it to your clients telling them that the work is done, make the computer say “goodnight” to you, play a lullaby while you go to bed, and turn itself off. Put the gestures into actionUsing FlyGesture is as simple as pressing the hotkey (or the chosen mouse button), perform the preset gesture to activate the assigned action(s) and pressing the hotkey once more. That’s it.
Some might think that using mouse gestures is not practical because you have to memorize so many gestures. But I think it’s the opposite. Just create one or two (or several) gestures that will perform complex actions that you do routinely, and use your normal methods to do everything else. This way, you’ll get the best of both worlds. Since FlyGesture also works with trackpad, it’s also possible to use it to write Chinese characters on older MacBooks if you want to. Have you used FlyGesture? Or do you know other alternatives to mouse gesture applications? Share in the comments below. 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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| Three Places To Whine About Your Life And Let Off Steam Posted: 27 Sep 2009 05:00 AM PDT
Whether you find out your daughter’s starring in hardcore pornography, your wife used to be a man, or your dad walked in on you and a seventy-year old transvestite – there’s a commonly accepted reaction-protocol. After you’ve cried like a little baby, smashed your head against the wall and moved to another town, you want to tell someone. It’s because you realise the ‘uniqueness’ of your situation, or just want to wail in self-pity, that you need to share the experience. There are sites that allow you to vent these experiences. To tell them to other people, and demonstrate how much your life sucks — it’s therapeutic. In complete anonymity of course — otherwise you’d have to switch towns again. We’ll take a closer look at three of these sites today. FMyLifeFMyLife (FML as a double abbreviation) was launched late 2008, and quickly turned in an internet phenomena. It’s a place where you can share stories of your life, always starting with ‘Today,’ and ending with ‘FML’. Thousands of horrible recollections have been gathered on this site, some worse than others, but none pleasant.
All stories can be rated by reader-visitors. You can choose between “I agree, your life sucks” and “you totally deserved it”. Here are some of the all time top stories. Earlier this month, they released the first F My Life book bundled with some of the best stories, some of them accompanied by great illustrations.
MyLifeIsAverageMyLifeIsAverage works on the same principles as FMyLife, though with milder stories. The site’s recollections focus on the pointlessness of life’s experience. The site’s not nearly as popular as FMyLife, but it’s an entertaining spin-off.
In reality, instead of extreme happenstances, MyLifeIsAverage houses apathic users who are extremely unsatisfied with their lifes (and often with reason). Like on FMyLife, you can vote for the stories to be either “Average”, or “Meh”.
Ventnation (Beta)Ventnation is probably the most extensive site in row. You must create an account to ‘vent’ your message, after which anonymity is an option. Vents can be enriched with videos and pictures, and classified in a number of categories. These messages can then be commented on, or rated by other users. Additionally, Ventnation also allows users to give advice to others.
This site is obviously way more seriously about its cause. It houses people who have bottled up frustrations and a daily need to shout them out to the world. The positive side here is that people can actually ‘complain productively’, if they get other people to react. If you constantly use Twitter and Facebook to vent your problems, this site is your alternative.
Do you know any other great and helpful venting sites? Don’t be shy and let us know in the comments section below! 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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