Latest Tips from MakeUseOf.com |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [October 1]
- How To Create Shared Collaborative Google Maps
- How To Use Your GPRS Cell Phone As A Modem
- iWeb – Build A Quick, Easy & Beautiful Website [Mac only]
- Try Linux Live CDs from Windows Without Using any CDs
- Top 5 Websites To Learn How To Hack Like A Pro
- Analyze Your Auto-Startup Programs Easily With AutoStart Explorer
| Cool Websites and Tools [October 1] Posted: 01 Oct 2009 06:01 PM PDT
(1) SnapABug – New visual feedback widget that can be easily installed on any website. The cool thing about this widget is that along with the feedback comments, it automatically takes a screenshot of a web page just like the user leaving the feedback sees it. This makes things a lot easier both for the feedback provider and the support team as they can quickly see what user is talking about. Read more: SnapABug – Visual Feedback Widget For Your Site
(2) MpChange – Fun Japanese utility which lets you upload portrait-style photo and then turn your it into a 3D face. The 3D image looks just like a real face and reacts to your mouse movements and clicks. There are additional options to apply funny masks, hairstyles, beards and mustaches. Read more: MpChange – Turn Your Photo Into 3D Animated Face (3) Moomeo – New web utility that makes sharing emails online quick and easy. All you need to do is forward an email to post@moomeo.com. It will then send you a link to share anywhere online. The platform is specifically designed for sharing emails on Twitter & Facebook. Read more: Moomeo – Easily Share Emails Online (4) RedMark – Useful tool for web designers and their clients. It helps to facilitate quick and easy collaboration on designs between designers and their clients so that designers could immediately get feedback on what changes the client wants in the design. It expedites the process of design revisions. Read more: RedMark – Web Design Collaboration Made Easy (5) Artwiculate – Cool and modern 'Word-a-Day' calendar that aim is to teach users new words and their meaning each day via Twitter. It works by announcing the Word of the Day on its homepage. Users then must tweet and try to explain it’s meaning. Tweets appear on the homepage and judged by the community. Read more: Artwiculate – Learn A New Word A Day Via Twitter
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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| How To Create Shared Collaborative Google Maps Posted: 01 Oct 2009 03:01 PM PDT
For a great example of Google Maps in action, visit the MakeUseOf Team Members map. In this particular shared, collaborative Google map, you’ll find details about the whole team, along with the location of each of us. It is the first time the map is publicly revealed – so feel free to visit it and get to know the MakeUseOf team better.
Set up a collaborative Google map
Add the title and the description of the map, and choose whether it should be Public (shared with everyone and will be published in search results and user profiles) or Unlisted (shared only with selected people who have its URL). Still in the same screen, above the ‘Title‘ filed click ‘Collaborate‘.
Fill in the mail address of your team members and set their permissions (you can allow collaborators to invite others and allow anyone to edit the map). Finally, add a message explaining the team members what this map is all about and how to add themselves to it.
Use these pre-made instructions!To make the process easier, I’ve created generic instructions for you to use in the last part, where you explain to the team members about the map. Copy the section below, customize the part surrounded by angle brackets and paste it into the message box (shown in the 6th step above). I’ve created a custom Google map for all of us to put our location on. Please click the above URL and follow these steps to add yourself to the map:
Share and embedOnce everybody has finished putting themselves on the map, you can embed it into a website or share it via email with people who are working with the team. To get the embed code or direct link to the map, click ‘Links‘ in the upper right side of the map. Thanks to Jorge Sierra for his help in writing the post and for the great idea. Get started with Google Maps. 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 Use Your GPRS Cell Phone As A Modem Posted: 01 Oct 2009 01:01 PM PDT
Over the weekend, the modem provided by my ISP packed up. This is my first day being back to normal. However, I did manage to survive without my own internet connection. And no, I didn't use someone else's WiFi connection or scurry down to the local Starbucks. In this article I'm going to show you how to use your basic GPRS cell phone as a modem for your PC – and achieve fast speeds from it. I don't mean a smart phone with 3G or anything of the sort – just any old cell phone from 2004 onwards. The most basic way of doing this is to use the disc that came with your phone. My Samsung came with software for loading music and files as well as changing the phone's settings. Look around on your phone’s software. See if you can find anything about 'Connections', 'Network', 'Modem' or 'Communications'. If you do, there should be detailed instructions on how to use your cell phone as a modem. Mine was easy to set up, I just told it I lived in Ireland and it detected all of the necessary settings for me.
However, what if your phone didn't come with a CD, or there was nothing on the CD about turning your cell phone into a modem? First, connect your phone to your PC using the USB cable (if one didn't come with the phone there are loads for sale on eBay for many different makes and models of phones for low prices). You can also connect it via Bluetooth, however this will cause the final download speeds to be slower. Your computer should recognize that your phone has been connected to it and begin to install the 'Drivers'. When this has finished, open the start menu and select 'Connect To'. At the bottom of the window which opens opt to 'Create a new connection'. Then select 'Create a Dial-Up Connection'. The window shown below will be displayed. For the phone number enter in *99# (this is a kind of universal GPRS number that your carrier will redirect). This will tell your phone to access its GPRS function.
For the username and password you'll have to do some research on the internet. These are easily found by simply Googling 'GPRS Setting for [Network Name]' or 'Wap Settings for [Network Name]'. I am on a network called Meteor so we'll use them as an example for this article. Username: my Password: WAP
One you have done this, finish creating the connection. Then, select the connection from the 'Connect To' menu. When it asks for the username and password, enter in the ones appropriate for your network. This will then connect you to the internet. Because mobile phone technology is at its height, you'll get fast speeds, especially if you're in the US. I had assumed that it would be slow like GPRS mobile internet it but this is only slow because of the phone's browser's limitations. Not the networks. I easily checked e-mails, surfed the web and submitted work. Don't get me wrong, you won't exactly be streaming HD video but it can be handy when your normal internet goes down. I found that loading complex pages such as makeuseof.com took around 10-12 seconds where as simple pages such as my blog or Twitter only took a couple of seconds. As with all my articles that require the use of GPRS, I advise you to see if your network has unlimited access for a set fee or capped costs per day like mine does as overusing GPRS can be costly. Have you done this with your phone? If so, what method does your phone use to connect to the net? 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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| iWeb – Build A Quick, Easy & Beautiful Website [Mac only] Posted: 01 Oct 2009 11:01 AM PDT
This free Mac website building tool comes with iLife suite – free with every new Mac purchase. It promises its users quick and easy ways to build beautiful websites. To be able to achieve that, iWeb comes with various ‘plug and play’ ready-made templates for users to use and modify. Experience is the best teacher. So there’s no better way to explore what iWeb can do than by using it to make use of our domain name and web host. Settling on the SettingsThe first thing that you’ll see when you first open iWeb is the choices of templates. Don’t worry too much at this stage. Just pick the one that you like, and you can change your mind later.
If you want to publish your site on your chosen hosting service, choose “FTP Server” from the “Publish to” options. (Note: This option is not available on the older version of iWeb). Then fill in all the fields with the required information; from the site name, to the FTP settings, to the website URL.
For you Facebookers, there’s a bonus that you’ll love: the ability to update your Facebook profile when you publish your site. Tick the checkbox and provide the user information if you want to activate this option.
Shaping the SiteThe web building process itself is as simple as adding pages (Command + N), editing the text, and replacing the pictures.
If you want to, you can edit every element of the page by clicking on that specific element and opening the “Page Inspector” from the “View –> Show Inspector” menu or by pressing “Command + Option + I”
There are several types of pages that you can add, such as a blank page; ready to edit pages (Welcome Page, About Me page); blog page – where you can write and update your posts; and also the rich-media pages (Photo Album page, Movies page and Podcast page). The pages will be placed in the left pane and you can re-arrange the order as you like. You can also add another website(s) (Command + Shift + N) to the project, each with its own pages and themes.
Enhancing with ElementsTo enhance your site, you can add as many kinds of elements you want to each page. There are four tabs on the right pane:
There are more advanced settings that you can do by going deeper into the Page Inspector, but the scope is too big to be discussed here. You can find many nice effects while you experiment with iWeb. After the building process is done, you can do the final step by clicking the “Publish Site” button below. If you put the FTP settings right, everything should be uploaded to your server, and your site will be alive. iWeb might not be the ultimate tool for those professional-level web designers. But for everyday folks who just want to build a beautiful site quickly and easily, this app is more than capable to fulfill their needs. Have you tried iWeb? Got any tricks to optimize iWeb? Share using 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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| Try Linux Live CDs from Windows Without Using any CDs Posted: 01 Oct 2009 09:01 AM PDT
You can download MobaLiveCD from here. A mere 1.6 MB download, MobaLiveCD presents an inviting prospect over virtualization solutions like Virtualbox, although it is not as feature rich. Under the hood, MobaLiveCD uses QEMU – the open source emulator. If you ever tried using QEMU, you would know that it requires a fair bit of configuration and know-how. MobaLiveCD does away with all that and provides you with a single executable file which launches the application, you don’t even need to install MobaLiveCD. MobaLiveCD is a portable application, the interface is intuitive and straightforward. To run a Linux LiveCD:
MobaLiveCD needs to copy files to the system32 directory, so you should run MobaLiveCD with elevated rights if you see an error like the one below. To do with elevated rights just click on the exe file and choose Run as Administrator.
Keep in mind that you are essentially running another operating system inside Windows thus the resources available to MobaLiveCD will be limited. So you should not expect the same performance levels you would get by restarting the computer and booting from the CD ROM. Nevertheless depending upon your computer’s configuration you can still get decent performance, enough to let you try out the Linux Live CD thoroughly.
You can toggle full screen mode using Ctrl + Alt + F and Ctrl + Alt would bring the cursor back to the host operating system. In addition you can use the Right-Click Menu button that would create a right click context menu entry for ISO files, allowing you to run an ISO file directly within MobaLiveCD from the context menu.
The latest version of MobaLiveCD can also be used to run a Live USB drive right inside Windows. Click on the Run Live USB button and follow the prompts. If you would like to save the state of your work MobaLiveCD also lets you create a virtual hard disk. Oh and in case you are wondering which LiveCD you should download, check out the Unofficial(fake) Chrome OS. And now that we are on the topic, let me confess that it was out of an urge to try out the fake Chrome OS(and laziness to set up a virtual machine in Virtual Box) that I realized MobaLiveCD is a cool application we haven’t covered yet, so now you know about it. MobaLiveCD is great for testing new Linux distributions with a Linux Live CD, downloading ISO’s before burning them or testing remastered Live CD’s that generally require some hit and miss to get things exactly the way you want. With MobaLiveCD you can test them without needing to set up a virtual machine or burning CD’s. Have you used MobaLiveCD? Do you know of any other similar application? 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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| Top 5 Websites To Learn How To Hack Like A Pro Posted: 01 Oct 2009 07:01 AM PDT
Maybe you’ve lost the license that came with your legitimate software package that you paid for. Maybe you want to make a backup copy of your favorite DVD movie, but there’s copy-protection encoded onto the disk. Or maybe you’re just stuck on a popular online game and you want to know if there are any hacks available to level up in the game without the required effort. Whatever your specific needs or situation – I’m not here to judge. In the field of computers and Internet technologies, just about everything is written in one programming language or another. No programmer is perfect – they all make mistakes. There are back doors, secret codes and vulnerabilities in just about any application you come across. Because of that, if you learn how to hack on your own, or just following the efforts of active hacking communities can provide you with tremendous eye-opening insight into the inner-workings of even your most “trusted” software applications.
Where You Can Go To Learn How To Hack Like a ProOne thing that’s obvious when you visit the websites where professional hackers hang out – there’s so much about programming that even the most seasoned professional programmers don’t know. Professional hackers are an exceptional, amazing and terrible breed of individuals all packaged into one. While I write this, I realize that I am also describing over half of our readership – you know who you are! These folks take programming to an extreme that’s simply astounding when you see it in action. While many of us write applications using all of the standard techniques that you learn in programming classes in college, these folks take programming into a realm where there are no rules. They can test all aspects of an application until they find a chink in the armor, and then exploit those vulnerabilities. As we explore the world of hacking, it should be noted that there are two major forms of hacking – we’ll call it “white hat” and “black hat.” The “white hat” hackers call themselves “ethical hackers,” in that they find vulnerabilities and exploits only to make the programming and application communities more secure for everyone. However, there’s a whole other community of hackers who find vulnerabilities to do nothing more than exploit them as much as humanly possible. Now that you know what sort of community you may be entering, let’s get on with the list of top sites where you can learn how to hack. #1 – CyberXtreme: Hacking and WarezCyberXtreme is an impressive forum with a significant hacking section, but also entire sections on technology, graphics and even a tech support area. Here you’ll find cracks, secret codes, free download packages (some containing cracked software which may be illegal to download in your area, so be careful). The forum is very protective of its content, so you’ll have to register with a valid email address before you can even get a glimpse of the content that’s on the forums.
The hacking section is very detailed and, as shown above, includes not only free tools and software exploits, but if you want to learn some coding tricks from the resident hacking gurus, just enter the “Coding & Programming” forum and you’ll get your fill. Before long you’ll be writing up your own customized hacking tools! #2 – EvilZone Hacking ForumsWhile the name, EvilZone, isn’t exactly the most inviting – it is easily one of the largest forum communities that you’ll find on the subject of hacking. With over 6,500 members and over 100,000 posts (and counting), this community likely has the skills and knowledge to answer any programming question you could possibly have. Just be careful about coming across as a “noob” – these guys don’t handle newcomers with kid gloves, so be careful.
You’d definitely be best off working through the programming and encyclopedia sections first, where you’ll find projects, tutorials and a lot more that will help you become educated and well-versed in hacking techniques and terminology. #3 – Hack a DayWhile I certainly don’t want to offer a nod to any blogs that may be considered competition, you really have to give credit where credit is due when it comes to a particular niche like hacking – and Hack a Day definitely offers an amazing library of information for anyone looking for specific categories like cellphones, GPS or digital cameras. You’ll find all hacks organized by category in the right column.
More than any other site, this particular “hacking” site is very much hardware based, and they redefine the meaning of the word hacking by literally hacking up electronic devices like a Gameboy or a digital camera and completely modifying it. Of course you’ll still find the occasional software hack, such as how to remove the Blackberry download limit.
While I personally don’t find the articles themselves very detailed (as an EE, I like schematics and elaborate descriptions) – but the site makes up for it with video demonstrations throughout. #4 – Hack In The BoxIf any site could be classified as the most comprehensive site to learn how to hack, this would be it. Hack In The Box is more about security and ethical hacking than anything else – and that’s more than obvious reviewing the classes and conferences listed on the main page.
The manage page is an informational portal that includes information from all other areas, including recent forum posts, conference updates, E-zine and news articles and a lot more. To be honest, there’s so much information stuffed on the main page that it’s almost overwhelming.
There’s a lot of material available, but if you’ve so interested in learning how to hack that you wouldn’t mind paying to attend a class or a conference – then this is the place to do it. #5 – Hack This Site!As always, saving the best for last – I’d like to introduce Hack This Site! This website is one of the coolest, free programmer training sites where you can learn how to hack accepting one of the challenges.
The site designers offer various “missions,” where you need to figure out the vulnerability of a site and then attempt to use your new-found hacking skills (you’ve carefully studied all of the articles on the site, right?) to hack the web page. Missions include Basic, Realistic, Application, Programming and many others.
If you’re able to figure out how to properly hack any of the most difficult missions on this site, then you’ve definitely earned the title of professional hacker. Have you ever tried any of the tips offered at any of these websites and do they work? Do you have any good resources of your own for readers to learn how to hack like the pros? Share your insight in the comments section 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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| Analyze Your Auto-Startup Programs Easily With AutoStart Explorer Posted: 01 Oct 2009 05:01 AM PDT
That is where many nasty startup programs plant their seeds to grow into a big strong nasty piece of malware. But nowadays there are lots of places to hide files that need to start up automatically. They can live not only in your start up folder but also in the registry, services, hidden explorer replacements, Ini files or bat files. Autostart Explorer is my go-to application for tracking down troubles with certain startup programs. You can also use a program like this to find out why you are getting errors from some program you have never heard of during start up. AutoStart Explorer is portable and requires no installation which makes it even better for troubled systems analysis. The best part of all is that it does not change anything – you need to make changes manually – this is just a tool to see exactly what is happening with your system at startup. After the 228KB download completed I extracted its four files to my memory stick. I created a new folder called AS. Then I ran the executable file out of the batch called AutostartExplorer.exe. Then I was greeted with this screen:
By clicking on any of the items on the left hand side, you will see all the startup programs that auto start using this method on the right top pane. Below that will be a description of where the item is coming from and how it works. This really helps you to understand Windows a little bit better. Consider it a brief glimpse into the underbelly that is Windows’ many start up hiding spaces.
You can also right-click on any item and show its real properties. This will fill you in on if the startup program is what it says it is and let you locate and run it manually (or delete it!) if need be. You will not shoot yourself in the foot with this program as it does not remove anything – it is strictly for analysis purposes.
I chose to grab the properties of DsClock and as you can see it shows you its normal system properties including its location, and created on date. So if you started having problems at September 22 at 4:18pm you’ll know that this is your cause.
You can use the buttons in the menu bar to expand or collapse all of the items in the list. For such a small program it really helps when repairing a system. This lives on all my memory sticks. I learned a lot from this application such as how applications start on network connections or how your Explorer.exe can be replaced by another process. How do you diagnose startup issues? Do you use another free program? We would love to hear about it 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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More than ever, the internet has enabled us to work in global and distributed teams. Whether as part of our jobs, voluntary ventures, or joint blogs, working with people around the world has become part of life for many of us. Sometimes, it is so easy that we don’t even know where the people we’re working with are located. Shared, collaborative 
I would say that roughly 90% of my work is published online and all my work must be submitted by electronic means. Such is the way for millions of other freelancers, businessmen, consultants and footloose operators the world over. The internet has revolutionized how we work by making us available almost all of the time. This comes with a fatal flaw; the internet can fail.
Having recently discovered a 
We have covered plenty of 
Whether you’re a college student, a middle-aged networking guru or a wife and mother fascinated by the world of online games – everyone occasionally comes across a situation where some form of hacking would make life a whole lot easier.
Have you ever had an infected Windows computer? How about a suspicion your machine is working against you? What is the first thing you do after making sure that your anti virus software is still running? Check your start up folder of course!
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