MakeUseOf.com: “Deal Of The Day: Blu-Ray Disc Player… For Only $89 (*$110 Off*)” plus 10 more |  |
- Deal Of The Day: Blu-Ray Disc Player… For Only $89 (*$110 Off*)
- Cool Websites and Tools [January 29th]
- Nominate MakeUseOf For A Shorty Award!
- PlaySushi.com – Another Online Game Site To Help You Chill Out
- 5 Free Awesome Graphic Design Tutorial Sites You Should Check Out
- How To Buy Brand New & Generic Hardware and Gadgets For Half The Price
- Top 3 Cool Secret Mobile Phone Tricks to Have Some Fun With Your Phone
- Ant Movie Catalog – An Open-Source Movie Organizer For Your Entire Video Collection
- Project Torque – Free Incredible Racing Car Game Online
- Stella – A Cross Platform Atari 2600 Emulator For A Dose Of Nostalgia
- Build Your Own Awesome Personal 3D Avatar with Avatara
| Deal Of The Day: Blu-Ray Disc Player… For Only $89 (*$110 Off*) Posted: 29 Jan 2010 10:55 PM PST [Update: The price has changed about 3 hours after we published this, it costs now $132.17. ] Another great deal from Amazon! How about a Blu-ray Disk Player for only $89.99 (shipping included)? Getting it at $110 off the $199.99 original price definitely makes it a pretty good offer. So if you are looking for a cheap and yet quality (4.5 / 5 star rating on Amazon) Blu-ray Disk player, definitely check it out.
Some quick details:
* Deep Color processing * Bonus View Profile 1.1 for picture-in-picture bonus features on compatible discs * Compatible with BD Video, BD-RE (Single/Dual), BD-R (Single/Dual), DVD Video, DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW, Audio CD, DTS-CD, and HD JPEG Formats * Compatible with Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital Lossless, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS HD, and Linear PCM Audio Formats Check out Sylvania NB530SLX Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) (incl. more pictures). Scored 4.5 / 5 on Amazon (Very good!) [Update: The price has changed about 3 hours after we published this, it costs now $132.17. ] 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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| Cool Websites and Tools [January 29th] Posted: 29 Jan 2010 07:20 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!
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| Nominate MakeUseOf For A Shorty Award! Posted: 29 Jan 2010 06:00 PM PST
It’s very simple and would mean the world to us. All you need to do is visit this page where you will see the tweet “I nominate @MakeUseOf for a Shorty Award in #tech because…“. Simple follow up by adding a reason why you like MakeUseOf and click Tweet your vote!
Alternatively, you can post the following tweet: @makeuseof #tech #shortyawards [enter why we deserve to win] If you think we deserve it, then please vote for us! Thank you. Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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| PlaySushi.com – Another Online Game Site To Help You Chill Out Posted: 29 Jan 2010 05:30 PM PST
I digress. I came across that video game I haven’t seen in so many years, remember? I forget what site I was on or what I was doing but I came across a link to download Street Fighter II for free.
The download was free but to tell the truth, I didn’t get that far. When I got to the final page to download the game, I was also greeted with an ad to play it at the online game site without the download! Now that got my attention. I would almost always rather try something out without downloading if given the chance. The ad brought me to PlaySushi.com and that is the site I would like to introduce you to today! PlaySushi is one of the best best online game sites with a plethora of games to play right in your browser! There are so many categories of games to choose from. Let’s check them out! Action
An action game is one that emphasizes the physical and strengthen reaction time and hand-eye coordination. Try Scooby Doo Terror …, 3 Foot Ninja or Batman Barrels Of Peril. Adventure
An adventure game is one that includes an interactive story, puzzle-solving and exploration and of course adventure! Try Batman Ice Age, A Stitch in Time or Pirate Ship Fools. Shooter
The shooter category includes games with guns. Some are even the side-scrolling style we all remember playing in arcades and skating rinks! Try Battlefield Assault, Captain Zorro Last Hope or Dead Frontier Night One. Puzzle
If you like the challenge of figuring out puzzles, then this category is for you! Pump up your brain muscles and show off your prowess! Try Lock N Roll, Ancient Jewels or Arabella Gems. Quiz
Come to the quiz category to find some questions to answer. My favorite? The Dumb quiz! Sports
Then there is the ever so popular Sports category! Who hasn’t played a sports game? Try Mountain Bike Challenge, BMX Master or Ben 10 Hero Hoops. I’d take a gander and say that there are probably other old games that will take you back like Street Fighter II did for me.
Use the search link to run a quick search.
Another alternative would be to do what I did and hit up Google and do a site-specific search by entering something similar to this: [site:playsushi.com "street fighter"] without the brackets.
The danger in a site such as PlaySushi is that playing games can become addicting and having so many to choose from to play for free can quickly consume much of your time! So, consider yourself warned! Thoughts? What old games can you find on PlaySushi that bring you back to the “good ol’ days”? What games bring you back… period (remember Rodent’s Revenge?)? Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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| 5 Free Awesome Graphic Design Tutorial Sites You Should Check Out Posted: 29 Jan 2010 03:30 PM PST
Due to the vastness of the Internet, there are literally hundreds and thousands of graphic design tutorial sites for building design skills. Some better than others but which is the best? Save your time — don’t bother searching. I've selected five sites in which the tutorials are easy to follow and provide both basic and advance skills for novices like myself.
Ideabook.com
Ideabook is one of the most long standing and recognized design idea resource sites. It's produced by Chuck Green, who has written numerous desktop publishing books and other resources, most notably the Before&After Page Design book that provides very accessible ideas for designing newsletters, ads, brochures, fliers, stationery and more.
His site provides over three dozen free graphic design tutorials on topics, including logo design, using grids, readable pages, typography, using clip art, and finding the right commercial printer. A few interesting tutorials includes, Sell your site with a 'Webcard, Logo ideas: A transparency project, Step-by-step logo design and Grids: an invisible foundation. CreativePro
I've been subscribing to Creativepro.com for a few years now, mainly because it offers a variety of tutorials and reviews on a wide of variety of creative content ideas. While this site is not exclusively focused on graphic design, its how-to section is chock-full of tutorials on topics and skills including, Drawing Paths with Photoshop's Pen Tool (a required skill for any designer), bold vs. italic typeface, or one for simply designing a custom Twitter Background. You can sort the site's how-to topics by “print and design” to make it easier to find specific articles.
The Graphic Reporter
Author Lesa Snider's The Graphic Reporter doesn't have lots of tutorials, but she has three very useful ones for novice designers, including Picking the Perfect Palette: How to choose colors that go together, Basic Design principles for the design challenged, and Let Your Graphics Do the Talking. Snider has written a Missing Manual tome for Photoshop CS4, and she's a regular contributor to Layer's Magazine.
About.com: Desktop Publishing I'm a little hesitant about recommending About.com because I find the ads and layout of the site somewhat obtrusive, but its Desktop Publishing section provides hundreds of step-by-step tutorials on topics including choosing fonts and artwork, working with images, designing for Web and On-Screen, working with text, etc. Many of the graphic design tutorials are not well illustrated, but if you can follow step-by-step instructions, it's a useful resource site.
A few examples include: “Five Ways to use Dingbat Fonts“, “Creating an Embedded Clipping Path,” and understanding Kerning and Tracking. Psdtuts+
One of the most prolific free tutorial sites is Psdtuts+. Its design tutorials will blow you away, but I would say they are largely for intermediate and advance graphic design application users. That is, if you have experience using Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign; you will find the well illustrated tutorials highly accessible.
A few recent tutorials that stand out for me include, “How to Design a Print-Ready Flier with Photoshop and Illustrator“, “Creating a Set of Digital Painting Icons“, and “Dirty Design: Creating a Grungy Thriller Book Cover“. All the sites tutorials are produced by professional designers and they typically the resource files used in the tutorials. So what graphic design tutorial sites do you recommend? What do you look for in a useful tutorial? Image credit: //endless∞ 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 Buy Brand New & Generic Hardware and Gadgets For Half The Price Posted: 29 Jan 2010 01:30 PM PST
You might think it is impossible, but in actual fact you can. People have saved over hundreds of dollars, all thanks to online bidding sites. These sites work by allowing you to bid for products and buy gadgets online. Whoever the winning bidder is when the timer reaches zero, buys the product for that price. But the catch is, you have to pay to bid. There are three great bidding sites I have gathered up for you to bid and purchase products for half their cost.
Bid Rivals – World WideBid Rivals is a global online bidding site that operates in 26 countries. Each product has a countdown timer. When the timer reaches zero, the bidder who made the last bid purchases the product. If another bidder bids before the timer reaches zero, the time restarts and it counts down to zero again. However, to be able to bid, you must first buy bids. For Australian users, bids are $0.80 each; for UK, bids are 0.45 GBP; and in the US, they are $0.60 USD.
Bid Rivals has many different products to choose from and a great range of categories that include: Audio & iPods, DVD and Bluray, Gaming Consoles and Games, Laptops, Home and Garden, Computers, Televisions, Mobiles and heaps more. You can also click the 'Buy Now' button to purchase products at a fixed price without having to bid. Bid Rivals has to be one of the largest online bidding sites on the internet to buy gadgets online. Planet Bid – UK, Australia, & New Zealand
Planet Bid works in the same way as Bid Rivals. Every time someone places a bid, the countdown timer increases. Once it reaches zero, that person wins. The main thing that differs between the two online bidding websites is how much the bids costs. Have a look at the image below for bid costs.
All listings on Planet Bid start at $0.00 which means you can buy a gadget online for up to 90% off the retail price. Also, 10% of the final value of each auction goes to a charity of the bidders choice. The only downside with Planet Bid is that it is not worldwide and the products listings are minimal. BidMadness – Australia & New Zealand
BidMadness works a little different to the other online bidding websites. With BidMadness, you enter what you think the highest unique bid will be, making sure it's within the limits of the Maximum Bid Amount. If you have the highest unique bid when the auction closes, you win that item. You can visit the How It Works page for more information. Bidding Tips & TricksWith these sites, remember to bid wisely. Set yourself bidding limits, because if you spend a few hundred dollars on bidding, you may not always win the product. And remember, if you lose, you don't get your bidding costs back. So a good idea before you start using these websites is to have a plan of attack. Set yourself bidding limits and the maximum bidding costs that you are prepared to spend for each item. Have you used another online bidding site before? What is it called and what are your thoughts about it? Please share with everyone in the comments section. You might find these articles relevant: 13 Bargain Websites That are Cheaper than eBay, 5 eBay Tips On How To Buy & Sell BETTER, 7 Tips for Private eBay Sellers. Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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| Top 3 Cool Secret Mobile Phone Tricks to Have Some Fun With Your Phone Posted: 29 Jan 2010 11:30 AM PST
So knowing some secret mobile phone tricks to do some cool things with your phone is a big help. In this article, we're going to take a look at three cool things you can do with your average cell phone.
The 'James Bond' TrickThe most basic secret mobile phone trick to listen in on a conversation with a mobile phone is to leave it in a room recording. Trouble is, you never know when people will be in there talking. Also, most phones will only allow a certain amount of record time. All you have to do is plug the earphones in and leave it in a hidden spot within the room (but in a good position where the sound will be easily picked up). By having the earphones in the phone, it will automatically answer and won't ring or vibrate alerting others to its presence. Then, when someone is in the room you can just ring the cell phone and listen in. Free Mobile Internet Hack
The amount of free internet you will be able to get depends on how much free minutes you have and how well those minutes convert into data KB allowances (this will depend on what your network charges per kbKB. Shut Down Your PC by SMSThis is my favourite secret mobile phone tricks out of the list. When you have everything set up, you'll be able to send a text message with a chosen keyword such as 'shutdown' to your PC. This then activates the shutdown procedure. Here's how it works. First, you create an easy text file with a one line command (this is specified in the video) and save it to your hard drive. Then, you set up a Kwiry account and sync it with your Email account which you have set up in Outlook Express.
A rule must then be created in Outlook Express which will detect any incoming emails with that keyword and then execute the shutdown command in the text file when it does. By sending a text with the keyword to your Kwiry account, an identical email is sent to your own email account, thus you can shut down your PC via SMS when you're out and about. It's best to choose an obscure word so a normal email doesn't accidentally shut down your PC. You could also use this for cueing up a video game or a program which takes a long time to load before you actually get home to your PC by choosing another application besides from the shutdown file when creating a rule. Just a quick word of warning before I sign off: many of the claimed cell phone hacks on the internet are completely fake. When researching this article (and through some SPAM a few years back) I came across lots of bogus guides which either waste your time or potentially mess up your phone. So watch out! Image credits: bjortklingd Related posts
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| Ant Movie Catalog – An Open-Source Movie Organizer For Your Entire Video Collection Posted: 29 Jan 2010 10:30 AM PST
I don't know if the guy behind the counter has updated his system, but I certainly have. I used to be a disgrace to the fraternity of digital packrats. Not anymore, because I have tidied up my act. From movies to songs, you ask it…I can bring up all the information you might need with a click. Thanks to a bevy of collection managers I have tried out.
When you take the first look at the screen, you might feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of fields that need to be filled out. For a true movie lover, that's candy for the eyes because all he wants are details and details about his favorite movies. But for him also, it would be a migraine inducer if he had to fill it all up by himself. But then why should you when the web can do it automatically for you.
Here's how I did it for the first bunch of film titles I put into the collection. In 3 clicks, get all the information on your movieAnt Movie Catalog not only goes into a lot of details for a movie but it makes it easy to get all that from a host of film databases. To fill out all the fields for a movie, you need to just click on Movie – Add…Put in the name in the Original Title field box and then either click on the Get Information toolbar icon or go via the menu (Movie – Get Information – From internet using a script).
The scripts are where all the riches of Ant Movie Catalog lie. You have about 238 scripts at last count. You can try any one of them. These scripts are nothing but codes that help the software get specific information from online movie websites and online DVD stores. Familiar biggies like Amazon and IMDB are there of course.
Run the any of the scripts; for similar named titles. Select yours and let Ant Movie Catalog collect all the values for the fields. You can customize which fields to include in your database. You can add a bunch of titles in one go and complete your collection with a few clicks. Ant Movie Catalog also facilitates import of movie titles from other file formats.
Ant Movie Catalog also connects any movie to online movie info sites like – IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, DVD Empire and DVDZone2. You can add more sites from Preferences. So many ways to visualize all that informationAnt Movie Catalog is an information hound's delight. There are many ways to order, categorize and display all the movie information collected in the database. You can group movies by any of the field values. For instance, group it by borrower to see which of your friend has begged, borrowed or stolen which title. Or by Media Type to give you an idea of the format you have used to archive the movie.
For the guy who has an eye for pie charts and bar graphs, the Statistics feature is an information mine.
Ant Movie Catalog has an added Loan Management feature. Using it, you can manage the movies that your friends have borrowed from you. You can add borrower names and keep tabs by checking in and checking out the titles that you lend out. The feature that I use most often is the Export to another file format. You can use any of the six available formats to send out a detailed list of your movies. For instance, I use the HTML format to send out the titles I have to my friends.
And of course, you can print out your entire movie list with lots of customized templates to choose from.
Ant Movie Catalog may lack the glamour but it catches the grammar of an efficient and comprehensive collection manager. Some extra bits like a feature to track movies by how many times we watch it would have helped. But it squeezes in all the information it can find and presents it straight. For the sake of having all the movies info at your fingertips, that's all you want in the end. Ant Movie Catalog version 3.5.1.2 is compatible with all Windows versions up to Win XP. The site says that – the compatibility with Windows Vista and 7 is not perfect, but that does not prevent the program from running normally. Do you use any open source movie organizers? Which is the one for you? Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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| Project Torque – Free Incredible Racing Car Game Online Posted: 29 Jan 2010 09:30 AM PST
To be honest, I’ve never been very interested in cars. When I’m in “car boasting” company, I’m happy if I manage to nod and look amazed at the right times. But however uninterested I may be in automobiles, I do enjoy a good ‘virtual drive’ now and then.
Project TorqueProject Torque is a self-proclaimed MMORG. No, not a role-playing game, but a Massively Multiplayer Racing Car Game Online. To dispel the common misunderstanding from the start: online is not the same as in-browser. It actually means you can race against other people from all over the world – with up to twenty different participants. Take a look at the trailer below. A fun and simple racing car game online. Aeria Games, the online publisher, has delivered splendid work with Project Torque. Not entirely surprising, though, you might already know Aeria Games from previous titles like Wolf Team and Last Chaos. Online Racing MadnessAs said before, Project Torque supports online races with anything between two and twenty different racers. To make this manageable, there are a number of supporting online elements.
You can connect with friends or other racers by using the integrated chat and email clients. Although you don’t have to even touch it to enjoy yourself, the community is an integral part of the game if you’re looking to dive in completely. Project Torque also regularly organizes tournaments. This, as well as your overall prestige in the normal races will determine your place in the online rankings. In-Game Shop and Item MallThere are hardly any games left without a source of revenue. After all, keeping those servers up is a costy job, nevermind developing the game itself. Although some games have been trying in-game advertisement, most still apply a system of micro-transactions. This involves the selling of premium upgrades and car customization parts.
Participating in these micro-transactions is by no means obligatory. Players willing to spend a few bucks here and there have the advantage of quality and often exclusive items. But it lacks the hard work that makes these kind of games great. By working hard, and ascending the skill ladder. You don’t need any of the fancy premium stuff to have fun in the game. Project Torque is just one of many racing car games online. We’d love to hear the games you play. You can give your suggestions or feedback in the comments section below. Minimum System Requirement Recommended System Requirement 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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| Stella – A Cross Platform Atari 2600 Emulator For A Dose Of Nostalgia Posted: 29 Jan 2010 08:30 AM PST
The 2600 had the longest lifespan of any console to date. Even as Atari released game consoles that were supposed to replace the 2600, the 2600 stood fast. Something about the console just kept drawing people in.
Luckily, there is a great Atari emulator available called Stella as well as many ROMs out there that you can download, meaning you can play the 2600 on your computer without spending a dime! StellaStella was named after the codename that Atari had for the 2600 while it was in development. The Atari emulator is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. To download the version for your OS, hit the link here and go to "Stable Releases" on the side navigation bar. Once there, you should see the following.
Click the version of the Atari emulator you need and let the file download. Both the download and install should be pretty quick. Now the fun part. Unlike its competitor, Z26, Stella has a Graphical User Interface and lets you navigate to your ROMs wherever you have them on your computer without using the command line. Open up Stella and you should see this screen.
Navigate to where you keep the BIN files of your games. Here, I am going to play Berzerk.
After you double click, your game should start up in an Atari emulator window like so.
Now you're ready to play some Atari. The controls are simple. For most games, you will only need Left CTRL and your directional keys. Left CTRL is the same as the single red button found on 2600 controllers. The directional keys work as the joy stick. For the other various switches on the console refer to the "User's Guide" section of the Stella website. They mostly use the F keys. The User's Guide also provides a lot of information on how to alter the Atari emulator to fit your liking. You can change the video settings, change the audio settings, or even remap the controls on your keyboard. Stella is provides good emulation and tries to integrate some of the hardware glitches that some games took advantage of to achieve certain effects into the program. Since Stella is under constant development, you can check in every once in a while to see if the software has been updated. If you are interested in Stella, then you should check out my article about 2600 fan sites that was published here on MakeUseOf a little while back. There, I gave the lowdown on AtariAge.com and Atarimania.com, both of which happen to be great places to get 2600 ROMs. So now you can play all of those classic favorites without shelling out the cash for a vintage systems that isn't even guaranteed to work with a little help from Stella. If you know any other good Atari emulators out there, don't hesitate to let us know in the comments below. Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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| Build Your Own Awesome Personal 3D Avatar with Avatara Posted: 29 Jan 2010 07:30 AM PST
Or maybe you have your own ideas of what you would do with an Avatar… Well look no further than Avatara which I discovered from the MakeUseOf directory. You can create 3d avatars out of pre-set up templates or create your own from scratch. To start, visit Avatara’s homepage. You will see this screen:
Click Get Started to umm, get started! That will take you to this screen:
You see that you can build your own Avatar using an uploaded head shot like the Obama one above (just an example, guys). Or roll with one of their awesome avatars. I chose to start with a blank avatar by clicking Start with a blank avatar at the bottom of the screen. That takes you to here:
I clicked on the filter at the top and told it to filter out everything but male characters and then I saw this:
I rolled with Buck and continued. You need to click Select in the window of the icon you are going with to actually load it into your selection. You can also modify the images directly by using the advanced mode. To continue, you click on the next tab at the top of the window. The next step is to choose skin color like so:
Make your selection and move on. I choose Zoe from the white selection to represent my complexion. Then the next step is to select the eyes. The eyes make your face so choose carefully.
I chose the third one down in the second row. My avatar is coming along nicely now! And I continued on to the hair selection which you can see below:
Almost at the end is body type. What kind of body do you want? A fat and flabby body or a sculptured and chiseled hard body? I chose the latter.
Click Select on the body type you want and move on to the clothing. I choose some formal wear and went with a shirt and tie.
I continued on to choose pants (tuxedo pants) and sneakers! Yes, sneakers! We do want our avatars to have some personality, don’t we? So be creative! And this is how my avatar looks like after I was done designing:
From here, what can we do? We can save the avatar but you will need to sign up for an account first. As you attempt to save the avatar, it will prompt you to create or log into an account. Then you will name your avatar and it will be saved to your online account. Easy peasy right? Now, what can we do? Click on Transport and you will get this screen:
Select a message and an animation to go with your avatar and then you can continue and share the avatar with the whole world! I set my dude (that is his name by the way) to dance and say, “What up?”
Then from the next screen you can email, preview or share your new avatar on most of the social networks. It will take a minute or two for him (or her) to render. That's it! We want to see your avatars in the comments! Share your creations with us! 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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Nominations for the 2010 Shorty Awards is about to come to an end. If you enjoyed the content that we’ve brought to you via Twitter, please spend a moment to 
The other day, I ran across a free online 
Whether you're a graphic designer or a wannabe just starting out life with 
Have you ever wondered how you can buy a brand new PS3, XBox 360, Wii, or other gadgets and electronics online for half the price of the recommended retail price?
As I said in my previous article about 
This secret mobile phone trick comes from a pair of video bloggers at 
My earliest recollection of trips to the video store usually ended with drumming my fingers. I did that while the guy behind the counter filled out the pink index card with the borrower's details. Why couldn't he be quicker about it? My frets didn't speed him up. But any of today's open source movie organizer or collection managers could have.
Full throttle, drifting the corners and the smell of burning rubber. Auto races. There’s little more exciting, more empowering than flying over the track on your metal horse. Sadly, street races are illegal. And I don’t have my driver’s license.
The 
Do you use social networks and want to build your own awesome 3D avatar? Maybe you want to send someone a cute cuddly image of yourself (kind of)?
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