MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [December 31st]” plus 5 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [December 31st]
- How To Remotely Trigger A Torrent Download Via Email [Mac]
- How To Capture Screenshots With Your Android Mobile Phone
- 20 Photoshop Tips & Tricks That You Should Know About (Part Two)
- Two Tools To Monitor Your MacBook’s Battery [Mac]
- How to Configure IMAP Email in Windows Mobile
| Cool Websites and Tools [December 31st] Posted: 31 Dec 2009 07:31 PM PST Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For more cool websites and web app reviews subscribe to MakeUseOf Directory.
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 Remotely Trigger A Torrent Download Via Email [Mac] Posted: 31 Dec 2009 01:30 PM PST
When I realised that the iPhone didn’t support downloading files natively, I was back to square one. Then I thought of using Dropbox — but that didn’t work. After a couple of hours of research, I finally found a solution, albeit a pretty rudimentary one. It involves a secondary email, Mail rules, Transmission or uTorrent and Applescript. Now, let’s be clear on this: I’m not a scripting geek. I’m just an average Mac user. But the fact that I actually wrote this script is a clear testament to how easy it is to learn the Applescript language. I digressed. Here’s how I managed to set up Mail and Transmission to automatically download torrents sent via email. Download Applescript: Transmission via email Download Applescript: uTorrent via email Unzip the file and store the script somewhere safe, for example within the scripts folder located at /Library/Scripts/. If you prefer to compile the script yourself, here’s how it looks like:
Before we proceed, let me explain that we are going to set a rule to detect torrents sent from a primary email to a secondary email. So in this case, you’ll need to 2 separate email accounts. Now launch Mail (assuming you inherently use Mail; if not, you’re out of luck) and enter its Preferences. Click on the Rules tab and add a new rule. Name it “Torrent“, then set the condition to “all”, as in “If all of the following conditions are met”. Next, set the rule conditions as you see in the screenshot below:
Perform the following actions:
Click on OK and click on “Don’t Apply” if asked Do you want to apply your rules to messages in selected mailboxes? Mail is now set. For every email from your@emailaddress.com with the subject “Download torrent”, it will trigger the Applescript. Perfect, just what we want. Now, let’s set Transmission. Enter its Preferences and check the box for “Start transfers when added” and make sure to uncheck “Display “adding transfer” options window”. We want Transmission to automatically start torrents without intervention. OK, Transmission is now set as well.
uTorrent’s default settings will do just fine. Now then comes the interesting part. How do we format the email? It’s pretty simple. The Applescript is set to copy the content of the message so all you need to add is the URL to the torrent. Remove your email signature or it won’t work. From my iPhone, all I do is hold down on a link until the contextual menu appears. I tap on Copy and launch Mail on my iPhone.
Select the appropriate mailbox corresponding to your@emailaddress.com and compose a new message to your secondary email account my@emailaddress.com. Enter the subject line: Download torrent — remember that’s one of the triggers. Then paste the torrent URL into the content of the message and remove everything else i.e. signatures, etc. Click Send and watch the magic happen.
As soon as your Mac receives the email, it will:
*Start the Applescript which then; *Launches Transmission or uTorrent; *Opens a torrent location from a URL; *Enters the URL into the field and clicks OK; *Starts downloading the torrent. Since all of the magic happens from within your Mac, it doesn’t really matter how you send the email. Happily, you can do this from any mobile phone with internet connectivity, or from a browser. I hope you’ll find this “hack” useful. This is my last post of the year before I take a short break from writing. I wish all MakeUseOf readers a Happy New Year! Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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| How To Capture Screenshots With Your Android Mobile Phone Posted: 31 Dec 2009 11:31 AM PST
The commercial was for the new Motorola Droid – Motorola’s latest attempt to wipe out the competition with a mobile device that pushes the limits in areas where all other mobile devices fall short. The catch phrase of the Droid is “Droid Does,” and since day one it has struck fear into the hearts of other mobile phone manufacturers, and since I got it, I’ve noticed iPhone fans getting very defensive whenever I show it to them. They’ll repeat the phrase, “Yeah, the iPhone does that.” Until, that is I show them an app or a function that the iPhone can’t do – then I get a grim look and they walk away.
Is Taking A Screenshot On The Android Really That Hard?As an online writer for technology, I found this lacking feature disheartening. And it is possible to run apps that take screenshots on your Android, but you need root access – and for most manufacturers if you do that, you could void your warranty. Also, blocking your apps from root access is one reason Linux users are so proud of their operating systems – they are virtually immune from all viruses. When all other mobile devices get attacked – you’ll be standing strong. However, despite this drawback, I also discovered that taking a screenshot of the Android screen isn’t really that difficult using a PC or laptop. Other websites lay out the procedure in a ridiculously long and complicated procedure. This is silly – and in this article I’m going to show you how to connect your Android device to your PC via USB and quickly capture a screenshot whenever you like. The first step of course is to make sure your PC is configured to quickly connect to your Android phone. To do this, you just need to set up the following applications once on your computer.
Download and install those three applications, and you’re already halfway to taking screenshots with your Android quickly and easily. After you set up the Android SDK developer kit, you’ll be presented with an update screen that probably has an error saying you need to force download. Just cancel/close that screen and continue to the procedure below. Setting Up Your PC To Take Android Screenshots (Only Have to Set Up Once)Keep this in mind – once you go through the following procedure just once, you’ll be set up to instantly take screenshots on your Android with your PC whenever you like. Remember, you don’t have to do this every single time you need a screenshot, only once to configure your PC. Most online instructions don’t make that clear, and most Android users assume the procedure is too annoying and time consuming – it’s not! Here’s how you set up your PC to take Android screenshots. First, if you still have the Android SDK developer kit setup screen up (if you don’t just run the SDK Setup in the folder you extracted the files to), then click “Update All.” However, if you get the error that tells you to do a force download, then just click on the Settings option in the menu.
All you have to do is make sure that the “Force https://…” is selected under the “Misc” section. Click “Save & Apply” and then go back to the Installed Packages screen. Click on the “Update All” button.
Then just click on “Install Accepted,” and wait a while for the app to install all of the packages. It’s a good idea to just install all of them for compatibility. When this is done, go to the “Available Packages” screen and click on “Refresh.”
Now that you’ve updated the Android SDK developers kit, you’re ready to start taking screenshots of your Android device. However, I have one more step that will save you a lot of annoyance later. Create a link to the Dalvik Debug Monitor in the SDK developer kit that you can quickly use to capture screenshots. Just go to the Tools folder in the folder where you downloaded the SDK developer kit. Find the DDMS.BAT file there, and create a shortcut to it that you can place on your desktop whenever you want to take a screenshot. Please Note: I ran into two significant issues when doing this setup on my 64 bit Vista installation. Running DDMS.BAT may return a few errors. You may need to manually enter the PATH in my system environment variables for the bin folder of your Java installation. You may also need to manually enter the ANDROID_SWT variable for the path to the swt.jar file in your Android SDK installation. You may not need to do either of these things – just pay attention to any errors the DDMS.bat file returns. Taking Screenshots Of Your Android DeviceNow that you’ve configured your PC above once, taking screenshots of your Android from now on is fast and easy. The first thing you’ll want to do when you’re ready to start taking screenshots is to enable USB debugging on your phone. You can do this by going to Settings ->Applications->Development and click to enable “USB Debugging.”
Once that’s done, go ahead and plug your mobile phone into the USB port. Since you’ve already installed the driver for your device, your computer will identify and connect – if it doesn’t then just browse to directly where you downloaded the driver files (again, you’ll only have to do this once.) Then, from now on all you need to do to take screenshots is as follows: 1. Run the DDMS.BAT file, and the Dalvik Debug Monitor will launch.
You’ll see your device displayed in the left top pane. All of your phone activity is logged below and you’ll see the activity scrolling up the pane. 2. To take your screenshot, just click Device and then Screen Capture…
3. Just save your screenshot!
The screenshot is very high quality (and of course it’s huge, so you’ll need to resize it to use on your blog), and you can just click “Refresh” to get a new screenshot again. Once you’re set up to capture screenshots in this way, you’ll be able to start capturing some of the most amazing screenshots of your Android mobile device in three simple steps – launch DDMS.BAT, click Capture Screenshot on the debug monitor, and save the picture to your hard drive. While it’s true that the initial setup on your PC can turn into a little bit of work depending on your PC configuration and operating system, it honestly doesn’t take a rocket scientist, and the highly detailed screenshots you can capture make it well worth it. Do you take screenshots on your Android Mobile and if so, what approach do you take? Do you open root access to screenshot apps or do you prefer using the Debug Monitor approach? Share your own opinion 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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| 20 Photoshop Tips & Tricks That You Should Know About (Part Two) Posted: 31 Dec 2009 09:31 AM PST
Hoping that these follow up Photoshop tips will help you do your work faster and much more easily, let’s begin where we left off and set the ball rolling: Pick Colors QuicklyWho creates swatches these days? Well OK some people do. However if all you need is to sample (pick) a color from an image that is open, don’t go rushing for the Eye Dropper tool. Just hold down the Alt key when using a tool that requires color and you will see the pointer changes to eyedropper. Click on the color you want to sample and there you have it set as the foreground color.
Switch Colors EasilyYou might know that clicking on black and white squares next to the color indicator switches the color back to defaults (i.e. black and white) and clicking on the arrow flips the background and foreground colors. These buttons are however, way too far to be useful while in the middle of a composition. Instead just hit the ‘D’ key to get the default colors as foreground and background and use the ‘X’ key to switch foreground and background colors. Sample Colors From Anywhere On The Screen
Another Photoshop tip – say you are creating a wallpaper and you would like it to match to the current theme. You would like to sample the color of the Windows taskbar. Can Photoshop do it? Sure it can. This time go ahead and choose the EyeDropper tool. With the EyeDropper tool selected click anywhere inside Photoshop’s document window. Now keep the mouse button down and drag the EyeDropper outside the Photoshop window. You will see that the foreground color block updates to reflect the color of the pixel under the EyeDropper tool. Move to the taskbar and you can have the exact color you want! Create Clipping Masks Easily
Don’t go looking in the menus for creating a clipping mask when it just can’t get any simpler than this: Position your mouse pointer just between the two layers, hold down the Alt key and the mouse pointer changes. Now click once and you have an instant clipping mask! Restrict The Scope Of An Adjustment Layer
Adjustment layers are a great way to work on your photos non-destructively. You can create an adjustment layer via an icon at the bottom of the layer’s palette. However, did you know that you can limit the scope of an adjustment layer to affect only a single layer beneath it via a clipping mask? You can use the tip just above or if you hold down the Alt key while creating an adjustment layer you can not only name the adjustment layer, you can also choose if you can also check the use previous layer as a clipping mask to have the adjustment layer just affect the layer underneath. Zoom On The Fly
Another one of my favorite Photoshop tips. Can you imagine having to go to the zoom tool every time you want to zoom in or zoom out? I say ditch the zoom tool. Hold down the Ctrl + Spacebar keys and click anywhere on the image to zoom in. Similarly Alt + Spacebar keys and a click zooms out. You can also use the Ctrl + Spacebar keys and draw a marquee with the mouse to zoom in on a specific area. Modify Selections On The FlyWhile using the rectangular or the elliptical marquee tool you can use the Shift key to constrain proportions (get a square or a circle). Keeping the mouse button depressed you can use the Spacebar key to re-position the selection. Depressing the Alt key lets you create a selection from the center outwards. If a selection already exists you can use the Shift key to add to the selection, Alt key to subtract from the selection and Shift + Alt to select only the common area of overlapping selections. Hide The SelectionWhen you have a selection active you can use Ctrl + H to hide the selection. The selection is still there, only you can’t see the marching ants so that it lets you concentrate on the work. Hit Ctrl+H again to show the selection or you can deselect using Ctrl + D. Merge All Layers To A New LayerVery useful. Hit Ctrl + Shift + Alt + E and all the visible layers will be merged to a new layer, keeping all the layers intact. You can then work on the composite layer without affecting any of the other ones and discard it if something goes wrong.
Select A Layer Without The Layers PaletteSometimes if you don’t name your layers as you move along you can find it difficult to find them in the composition, especially if there are lots of them. In such a case, hold down the Ctrl key and click on the image – the corresponding layer which houses that area will then be selected in the layers palette. Do you have any Photoshop tips & tricks of your own? If so, then let us know all about them. Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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| Two Tools To Monitor Your MacBook’s Battery [Mac] Posted: 31 Dec 2009 08:30 AM PST
Being on the road for so long made me realize how dependent we are on electricity – my MacBook was out of juice even before we reached a quarter of the distance; and how precious rechargeable batteries are. So, as soon as we’re out of the mountains and forests (really!) and back to the civilization – with electric plug points, internet connection, and everything; I quickly searched for MacBook battery monitor tools to keep an eye on my MacBook’s battery. There are plenty of them, but these are two that I picked up and used. Know your battery’s healthThe first one is Battery Health Monitor. It is a MacBook battery monitor that does only one thing, which is – as the name suggested – monitor your battery’s health, but it does it well. If you look at the display, there are several information that we can get:
The rule of thumb is, the fuller the bars are the better.
Monitor the current chargeThe MacBook battery monitor is Slim Battery Monitor (SBM) to constantly monitor and display your battery’s current charge. So when you are unplugged, you know how much time left to the next recharge. But why using another application? Mac OS X comes with its own battery monitor, available through the System Preferences > Energy Saver > Battery. If you’d like to use Mac’s native battery meter, all you have to do is check the “Show battery status in the menu bar”
The first reason is SBM takes up less menu bar space than Mac OS X’s own battery monitor. You can even make SBM disappear whenever the battery is fully charged. If your menu bar is cluttered with applications, you’ll appreciate any extra space that you can get – however small it is.
The second reason is that SBM is fully customizable. You can change almost every aspect of its appearance, from the icon, color and what kind of information you want to display. Click on SBM’s menu bar icon to open its Preferences.
There are two tabs: “What to Show” and “Shapes and colors”. The first one is the place where you set what information should be displayed on the menu bar.
You can choose whether to show nothing, icon only, icon and time, icon and percentage, time only or percentage only. The second is where you choose which icon to display and what color to use.
To change the color, click on the color box and choose your preference. As for the icon, there are several options, but my favorite is “Thin Rectangular” as it takes the least space. And one last thing, to make SBM always ready and able, you have to add it to the startup menu. The option is available from the drop down list at the bottom of Preferences window. Take care of your batteryUsing a MacBook battery monitor is only one of the ways to keep it healthy. There are other methods to take care of it, such as maximizing its unplugged life with BashFlash and tinkering with the sleep mode. We also have articles on 20 Ways To Increase Laptop’s Battery Life and Guide to Rechargeable Battery. Do you have thoughts, opinion or your own tips on laptop’s battery? Do you know other alternatives to monitor the battery life? Share using the comment below. Image credit: moria Related posts
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| How to Configure IMAP Email in Windows Mobile Posted: 31 Dec 2009 07:30 AM PST
But I did it so that my emails can stay synchronized across the board. When I read a item on my HTC Touch Pro2, it is automatically marked as read in my webmail and desktop interface. This is a huge help! I can also mark items with tags and the sync seems much faster and more reliable. So let's see how to configure your email account for IMAP access on your Windows Mobile Device.
That will take you to your Messaging system. Here is where you pick an account. This is how you can either choose to open an existing account or create a new one. To create a new email account, simply click on the "Setup Email" tab as shown below.
You will be asked to enter your email address and password. The email address is mandatory but the password field is not. Type in your password and hit the Next soft key at the bottom of the application to move on to the next screen.
The next screen has a check box that is selected by default. It asks you if you want your device to "Try to get e-mail settings automatically from the internet". In theory this is awesome but I have never, ever seen it work. So uncheck that box and hit Next to continue.
The next screen gives you the option to choose your email provider. Simply choose Internet Email. This is the same selection for POP3 or IMAP servers. Select Internet E-mail and the Next button will unbrick. Click it to continue.
On this screen you will add your display name. This is what other people will see when you send them an email. The account display name is just for your easy identification of accounts. Hit the next soft key to continue.
This is the screen that we were all looking for. Type in your incoming mail server name or IP address into the Incoming mail server field. In the drop-down menu below, selected the account type to IMAP. The screen shot below did not show the option but it is there – trust me. When you are done, hit Next and you will be able to change some advanced settings but all in all, this will get you to be able to download your emails via IMAP.
When you are complete, you will see your messages flowing into your messaging application. When it is complete you will see your entire inbox with whatever items you have already read shown as read! IMAP FTW!
Do you use IMAP or POP3 on your Windows Mobile Device? We would love to hear why in the comments. Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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For a long time now, I’ve been searching for a way to start a torrent download from a remote location. And since I’m on the road most of the day, Transmission’s WebUI isn’t any good to me. I couldn’t be bothered to set it up anyway, it would involve having a fixed IP address or DynDNS — too much hassle to being with. What I actually needed was a simple way to download a torrent on my iPhone and send it to my Mac running at home. 
This month I finally decided to upgrade from my archaic Windows 5.0 Cingular 8125 to the latest and greatest mobile device on the market. Now, I know there are a lot of mobile users out there who have their own personal favorites – the most popular ones being the iPhone, the Blackberry and of course the collection of Windows Mobile phones. All of those mobile devices are powerhouses in their own right, and for a while I was torn between all three. Then, one day, as we I was sitting in front of the TV and watching the premier of the show “V,” a commercial came on that I’d never seen before.
Just yesterday we were talking about 
Recently I was traveling to a city on the other side of the island to attend a family wedding. I don’t know exactly how far it is, but we were on the bus for 28 hours just to get there (and multiply that by two because there’s the return trip home). Going on a plane is out of the question because of the limited budget (there were more than 15 people who went along), and most of the elders on the group are afraid of flying.
I recently upgraded my email to Google Applications for domains. So in essence I get all the Gmail goodness with my own email addresses. The first thing I did after switching over was setup my Windows Mobile device to fetch my email via IMAP instead of POP3. We discussed this in 
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