MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [March 22nd]” plus 9 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [March 22nd]
- Top 10 Most Downloaded Security Apps [Movers & Shakers]
- 7 Tips and Tricks To Be A Master At Farmville On Facebook
- HelixLauncher: A Great Free Home Screen Replacement for Android
- 8 Icon Search Engines For That Perfect Graphic Symbol
- 4 Free April Fools Prank Ideas Your Friends Will Love
- 4 Easy Steps To Promote Your Business On Facebook
- Make A Lasting Impression With TokBox Video Messages
- 7 Simple Steps To Use Gmail As A Desktop Email Client
- Monitor User Activity On your PC with Elite Keylogger [MakeUseOf Giveaway]
| Cool Websites and Tools [March 22nd] Posted: 22 Mar 2010 08:31 PM PDT
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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| Top 10 Most Downloaded Security Apps [Movers & Shakers] Posted: 22 Mar 2010 07:30 PM PDT
An application I have never personally used but it did make it into our 15 Must-Have PC Applications. Good old Spybot S&D. I couldn't have made it out of 2005 without you! Not quite as popular as Ad-Aware but another Must-Have application. The best free firewall application on the market. Protect yourself from unauthorized access by applications or people. ZoneAlarm came in 3rd place in our What Firewall Do You Use poll. This is a tool to help maintain your anonymity on unknown or unsafe wireless networks. It encrypts your web traffic by using their service. It is ad-supported meaning you will see their ads on top of every web page and there is also a 5GB limit per month. I have not personally used this but with almost 3 million downloads since last year maybe they are on to something. In the past we recommended the app as a tool to watch Hulu movies from abroad but I think it no longer works for that. This is a utility for scanning for and removing malware from your computer. You can run four types of scans. They are Quick, Smart, Custom and Deep scans. The deep scan took over 6 hours to run on my machine and it is pretty reliable in detection. It seems it is pretty slow when updating the application and sometimes even requires a restart. It is able to quarantine items and then allow you to rescan them against a new definition file. With over 2 million downloads in about a month, it seems to be growing in popularity exponentially. Check out this post on 7 Essential Security Downloads That You Must Have Installed and this post on The 10 Best Firefox Security and Privacy Add-ons. Got Tech Questions? Ask Them on MakeUseOf Answers! Similar MakeUseOf Articles | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 Tips and Tricks To Be A Master At Farmville On Facebook Posted: 22 Mar 2010 06:30 PM PDT
Needless to say, Farmville on Facebook is huge. With so many of your friends likely playing the game, wouldn’t it be great to be the highest ranked among them? Follow the Farmville tips and tricks in this guide and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a master.
Growing CropsCrops are your bread and butter in Farmville. They are the main thing that will make you money. Each crop has its own characteristics and statistics. Crops costs different amounts, take certain amounts of time to grow, and gives various amounts of experience points (usually 1 to 3 XP). Tip #1 – Harvest TimeOne thing to consider is how long it will take to harvest a crop. For example, strawberries takes 4 hours to harvest after you plant them. You have up to two times the amount of time to harvest a crop after you plant it. So if it takes 4 hours to grow, then you have 8 hours since the time you planted to harvest it. If you don’t, then the crop will wilt and become useless. So be sure to plan ahead! If you know you won’t be at your computer within 4-8 hours, then don’t plant a 4-hour crop.
Tip #2 – Crop ExperienceYou’ll want to consider which crops you should plant based on how much time you’ll spend playing the game. Many crops that take a day or more to grow will give you at least 2 experience points. Crops with a shorter harvest time may only give you one experience point, but if you’re going to be available to play, then it could be worth it because you’ll be able to immediately plant another one and continue on. If you’re the type of casual player who wants to “plant it and forget it”, then go with crops that take longer to mature. But if you’re on Facebook multiple times a day, then consider going with crops that grow quickly so you can continuously turn them over. Tip #3 – Return On Investment (ROI)If your focus is to earn as much money and experience in the shortest amount of time, then you need to consider the cost of the seeds and what they give back to you over time. For example, one of the first plants you have access to are soybeans. They cost 15 coins to plant but you can sell them for 63 coins, which is 4 times the original amount you paid. However, soybeans take longer to grow than some other plants, so when you factor time into the equation they may not be the best choice.
The equation to figure out your ROI is ((Sale Price – (Seed Cost + 15)) / Time). The “15″ in the equation is the cost to plow your field for each plant. For example, strawberry seeds cost 10 coins, give back 35 coins at harvest, and take 4 hours to grow. Plugging this into the equation gives us ((35 – (10 + 15)) / 4), which equals 2.5 coins per hour. Soybeans give us 1.434 coins per hour, so strawberries are better for getting money than soybeans, as long as you can harvest them every 4 hours. When deciding what crops to plant, you should consider how often you will play (to avoid dead crops) and what your goal is (to make money or to gain experience).
For gaining experience, the five best are berries (black, blue, straw, and raspberries), followed by Aloe Vera, Ghost Chili, Pumpkin, and Tomatoes. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?Having many neighbors in Farmville will help you expand your farm and give you more opportunities to make money. The more neighbors you have, the bigger you’re able to make your farm. And the bigger your farm is, the more crops you can plant. You will also have more space to just play around and decorate, if you like doing that. In addition, you can help your neighbors by cleaning up their weeds or fertilizing their plants, which gives you further experience and money. Tip #4 – Hello Friends!The easiest way to gain neighbors is to ask your friends to play with you. Even if they’re not active players, as long as they sign up and accept you as a neighbor, then they will continue to be and you will gain the rewards for that. Chances are that at least 20% of your friends are already playing this game, so finding neighbors among them shouldn’t be too difficult. You can find out which of your friends are already playing by clicking on the “My Neighbors” tab on you’re farm.
Tip #5 – FarmVille ForumsIf you’ve already added all your farming friends, or don’t want to ask any of them, you can also find new friends by going to the Farmville Forums. You can find the forum by clicking on the Forum link at the bottom of the Facebook page while you’re playing the game. Once the forum loads, there is a section called “Finding Neighbors” for people who want more neighbors.
Be careful with who you add from these forums though, as some of them are just spam accounts. Check out the profile of your new neighbor and if they don’t seem like a real person, then go ahead and remove them. You don’t want them spamming up your Facebook wall. The forums are also a great place to just chat about the game, ask any questions you may have, or learn more about other games people are playing. Growing UpTip #6 – Expanding Your FarmOnce you have enough neighbours, you can consider expanding your farm. Initially you start with a 12×12 farm, which is relatively small. With neighbors and coins, you can upgrade to a 14×14, 20×20, and beyond. Having a bigger farm is key to becoming a Farmville master and raking in the (virtual) dough.
You must be careful when deciding to expand. Many farmers have expanded too early and found they had no money to do anything with that extra land. So make sure to consider how much money it will cost to not only buy the expansion, but also to fill it up with new crops, animals, buildings, or whatever else you have in mind with the land. If the expansion costs 10,000 coins and you only have 12,000, then it is not a good time to expand. Wait until you have at least 20,000-25,000 coins before you make the big purchase. Tip #7 – Use Hay Bales For Fast Experience
Hay Bales are the most effective item you can buy to gain experience. For 100 coins each one will give you 5 experience points and can be sold for 5 coins as well, so you can basically purchase 5 experience points for only 95 coins. If you have 50,000 coins you’re not currently doing anything with, you could turn that into 2500+ experience. ConclusionAs you can see, although Farmville is a simple game, it does have its fair amount of strategy and budgeting to succeed. When played in moderation, I think Farmville can even be used as a good tool to teach money budgeting to the younger crowds. For us older crowds, it’s a good way to pass a few minutes and have some sort of friendly competition with friends. There’s a lot more to discuss about Farmville, with its animals and trees for example, but as long as you can master the act of harvesting crops and gaining experience, the rest is pretty straightforward. Have you used any of these tips? Do you have any of your own to share? Please leave us a comment and let us know! Image by: sarcomAroma Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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| HelixLauncher: A Great Free Home Screen Replacement for Android Posted: 22 Mar 2010 04:30 PM PDT
HelixLauncher is a free Android 2.0+ home screen replacement and is forked from the default Home application. This means that HelixLauncher is based off the original source code for the Android Home screen which allows for great speed and compatibility.
FeaturesHelixLauncher offers several features that really set it apart from the default home screen. HelixLauncher supports up to 7 different home screens while the default home screen application only supports 3. HelixLauncher also lets you "pin" four of your favorite applications to the bottom of the screen which is great for frequently used apps. I chose to add Phone, Gmail, Messaging (Handcent SMS) and Browser (xScope Browser) as shown below.
The application drawer has been replaced with the icon from the Nexus One/Android 2.1 but otherwise functions the same.
HelixLauncher supports Live Wallpapers, which are animated and interactive wallpapers that were added to Android 2.1. You can also double-tap on the home screen to bring up a handy screen switcher.
HelixLauncher includes a very useful uninstallation feature similar to the one used in the Home++ home replacement application. To uninstall an application, drag its icon over the trash can and hold it there. After a few seconds, your phone will vibrate and the uninstallation window will appear. The developer has noted that future versions of HelixLauncher will contain a more explicit notification when you hold the icon over the trash can. ConclusionIf you're using the default Home screen, switching to HelixLauncher is a no-brainer – the ability to pin applications to the bottom of the screen is worth it alone. Since the default home application only supports 3 home screens, you'll really appreciate the extra space you'll get from HelixLauncher.
If you're already using an Android home screen replacement, I've found that HelixLauncher is much snappier than other replacements I've used and I have had no issues with force closures. The only thing I find lacking in HelixLauncher is the ability for looping home screens like the Home++ replacement home screen offers. Personally, I've switched from Home++ to HelixLauncher and plan to continue using it. I installed the application BetterCut ($1.99, available in the Android Market with the Blackxeth icon pack, free) to create custom shortcut icons for my pinned applications which I think really enhanced the look.
Since HelixLauncher is free, it's definitely worth checking out. You can find HelixLauncher in the Android Market by searching for "HelixLauncher", opening this link in an Android browser, or scanning the QR code below.
Note: When you first install HelixLauncher, you may have to press the physical Home button on your phone to launch it. A shortcut in the applications drawer is currently not available, but the developer has mentioned that it will be included in future releases. If you want HelixLauncher to stay as your home screen, you can set it as the default when you press the physical Home button. Photo credit: laihiu Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 15,000 fans already!
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| 8 Icon Search Engines For That Perfect Graphic Symbol Posted: 22 Mar 2010 02:30 PM PDT
Originally meant to make computers easier for newbies to understand, icons now occupy all the spaces where you care to look. As operating systems develop, icon development gallops along with them. From 16 color icons to 32-bit images with alpha transparency, we have come a long way.
Where do you go for a spot of icon hunting? Thankfully, there are a huge number of resources. Check out our archives for posts tagged with icons and you will get some more. And in case your still aren't satisfied, here are 8 of the best free icons search engines to take the search further. After all, if everything else can have a search engine, icons deserve a few of their own…
FindIcons.com claims to have the largest searchable free icons database in the world. The minimalistic and neat homepage is taken up by a large search box. What you get with a search is access to more than 300,000+ icons and 2000+icon packs. Better user focus is provided with the User Set tool that lets you group frequently used icons in a personal Favorites box. The web service also comes with two converters. The single touch integrated Convert button outputs an icon into any of the BMP, GIF, JPG, PSD, TIF formats. With the other stand-alone icon converter you can upload and convert a local image into an icon in these formats – ICO, ICNS, ICO (multi-res), ICNS (multi-res), BMP, EPS, GIF, JPG, PNG, PSD, SVG, TGA, and TIFF.
IconsSearch engine scours the net and gathers icons in PNG (16×16 to 256×256) and ICO (16×16 to 128×128) formats from a variety of icon stock websites. It doesn't make the distinction between licensed icons and free public ones. So, it's always better to click on the Browse and check the copyright claims if any.
VeryIcon.com catalogs about 20,000 high quality icons in its database for Windows, Macs and Linux systems. And there are three ways to search through them. You can do a normal keyword search, browse through the icon categories or do an advanced search. The advanced search allows you to search for single icons or icon packs. Other options include choosing an icon size, the category or fine-tuning it all with two types of matches. Again, do verify the license of the icon you are downloading.
IconLet.com improves the advanced searching for icons by giving you a few more options to set before you download icons. The most important is – specifying the license type before you start your advanced search. You can also search by giving the exact dimensions of the icons that you require for your project. The image types supported by IconLet are PNG, GIF, and PSD. IconLet also provides a Firefox search plugin.
IconSeeker.com covers icons for all three operating systems. With nearly 50,000 icons indexed, it's a good place to dig in for an icon hunt. Though it does not have an advanced search, you can use the tag cloud and the size filters to narrow down the icon of your choice. The icons are free for non-commercial use but author permissions are required for other purposes.
EasyIconFinder.com tries to justify its name by letting you search by keyword, by category or by using the tag cloud. The interface is flash-based, so be sure to have it installed in your browser. In the results, you can select the size of the icon from a dropdown and the icon format. Looking through the categories and the number of icons listed against them, the total number seemed on the smaller side.
Just like FindIcons.com, this is one of the better designed icon searching tools. Get access to 150,000+ icons and 484 icon sets. The icon site also has an icon conversion tool and a Favicon generator. This web service is a definite must visit. And finally… Google Image Search is not very friendly when it comes to searching for icons, though it's not for want of trying. The way Google indexes webpages, it's not really meant for icons. But you can try out Google Image Search if the right icon still eludes you. Here are the pointers:
Click on the advanced search option or go directly to the advanced search page. Type in a keyword for the type of icon you are searching for. For the Size, dropdown and select Icon. You can also optionally enter a size in the field that asks for the Exact Size. Under the options given for Usage Rights, go for images that are meant for reuse and are not restricted by licenses. Searching for icons is actually not a huge problem. Searching for the right high quality icon which is free does take an iota more effort. Hopefully, these icon resources will make it a breeze. Let us know if you have any more icon search engines to add to the list. Image credit: dunkr Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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| 4 Free April Fools Prank Ideas Your Friends Will Love Posted: 22 Mar 2010 12:30 PM PDT
If that wasn’t enough, John wrote about prank news story websites, and now I’d like to cover 4 free April Fools prank ideas with small applications you can use to really fool your friends or family members. I’ve tested each of these programs, and as far as I can tell they are perfectly safe and very fun methods to prank your friends this April Fools.
Change Your Voice for a Funny Phone CallHave you ever considered calling a friend and pretending to be an IRS agent or maybe a long lost relative? Maybe you would like to tell your friend that an unknown uncle died and left them millions? Your friend would easily recognize your voice. So, the best option is to use free voice changing software, and then dial out using your computer and your favorite VoIP application. Never fear! The perfect free voice-changing application is here, and it’s called Screaming Bee MorphVOX Junior.
This software is very fast and easy to set up. It sits between your microphone and any application you use and morphs your voice in whatever way you configure it to. The free version allows you to use an alternative male or female voice, or for a funny alternative, you can raise the level of your voice to sound like a tiny person! Another fun feature is the fact that you can click and insert sound effects into the call, such as a cuckoo clock, a drum roll (like after telling a joke), an alarm clock or a screeching sound. Strange Windows ErrorsIf you share a computer with a friend or with family members, and you really want to play a funny joke on other people who use the computer often, you can install the little Dr. Windows app offered by DonationCoder. This application gets installed into the apps menu, and appears as just a small antivirus application called “Dr. Windows.” In reality, it’s counting down the minutes to when it delivers one of the strange error messages that you’ve set up.
Once you install the application, it appears in the system tray as a very small anti-virus application. Any user who isn’t very tech savvy should completely ignore it. When you first install it, right click on the icon and click on Options.
Make sure to enable “Hide Options” so that when the user right clicks on the icon, nothing will happen. The only way to enter settings is to hold down the Ctrl key while right-clicking. The software comes with about 50 random Windows error messages that pup up either when you trigger them with the hotkey combination, or at a set interval that you enter.
The messages are fairly random and all pretty funny. If you have anyone using the computer who is just completely non tech-savvy at all, these will really throw them for a loop. Just sit back and watch them panic and pull out their hair in frustration…just try not to snicker too loudly! Install a Small Fake VirusWe certainly spend a lot of time here at MakeUseOf focused on helping people avoid or get rid of viruses, adware and spyware on their computer. However, in the spirit of April 1st, I’d like to propose a safe and very funny application called Lappet. Lappet is a completely safe and very funny fake computer virus that will inflict terror into the heart of just about any computer user who doesn’t know any better.
The reason I write that it would scare anyone who doesn’t know any better is because most of the savvy MUO readers would instantly recognize the progress bar as a very non-standard Windows app (what’s up with that horrid green color). But I’m sure many of you know someone who would completely fall for it.
Once the hard drive is “erased,” Windows crashes. Mind you – the app takes a screenshot and uses it as the background so that it appears the entire computer froze. The user may try clicking around, but almost nothing will work (there is the secret of simply pressing the “up” key to escape though).
Finally, the very last window reveals the truth – that the entire episode was just a funny gag. The application doesn’t require any kind of install, it’s just an executable, so you can deliver it to your friend in whatever format works best – an email, a download from your website or blog or anything else that gets them to run it. Install a Very Scary Fake Computer VirusAnother great computer prank you can use on your friends this April 1st is a full scale computer virus, packaged up as a promotion for real antivirus software. It’s actually a somewhat realistic fake virus called Ultimate, which first asks if you really want to delete the Windows folder (it doesn’t matter what the user clicks, or whether they even click anything at all!)
Before you know it, the next screen comes up that shows sections of Windows Explorer literally getting “deleted” and turning into black space. To the savvy user, this animation looks a little bit cheesy. But to the standard or amateur user, it could come across as convincing enough.
Finally, once all contents of the Windows folder are deleted, the entire screen goes completely blank and stays that way, just long enough for the user’s heart to stop beating for a few moments. Then, very slowly, the following message prints across the screen.
After a few more keystrokes, the application closes and the user returns to their normal screen. This is also delivered in the form of a simple executable. If you can’t get your friends or family to run it from an email, you can always install it in the Startup folder on the computer of an unsuspecting friend of family member. Do you know of any safe and scary or funny computer pranks that might come in handy for other MakeUseOf readers this April Fools? Share your own ideas for free April Fools prank ideas in the comments section below. Similar MakeUseOf Articles | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 Easy Steps To Promote Your Business On Facebook Posted: 22 Mar 2010 11:30 AM PDT
Given its community of over 400 million users and climbing, it’s no wonder why most major businesses and brands now have a presence on Facebook (including MakeUseOf). However, many self-marketers are a little uncertain about how to begin. Here are some practical, first steps to help you get started promoting your business on Facebook.
1. Create a Facebook PageThe Facebook “page” (not to be confused with a “profile” or “group”) was specifically designed by Facebook as a way for businesses, organizations, and Ashton Kutcher to communicate with the public in an official manner. Before creating any pages, you must first have a personal profile. Chances are that you already have one, but if not simply go to facebook.com to sign up.
Your personal profile, however, is generally not what you want to use to interact with your audience and promote your business on Facebook. You will hopefully connect with hundreds, or even thousands, of customers and potential customers on Facebook, but you probably don’t want them all to see your family reunion photos or your comments about last night’s American Idol (Facebook’s evolving privacy settings not withstanding). Whether it’s for a company or solo freelancer, a fan page is better suited for business purposes. It is customizable, provides usage statistics, and people can become “fans” of your page without worrying about whether they are sharing any of their personal information with you. You can also add applications to your page such as a discussion board, shopping cart, and more. Create your pageWhen creating your first Facebook page, I recommend going to the Facebook’s Advertising section, then clicking on “Pages” at the top. The tabs on this page (“Overview”, “Prepare”, and “Step-by-Step”) will provide you with some guidance on how to build and use your page. When you are ready to go for it, click on the “Create a Page” button on the top right, and Facebook will walk you through the process.
Choose your business typeFirst, you will be asked to select your type of business (local business or professional, national store or brand, musical artist or band, etc.). This business type will appear below your page listing in searches, and it may affect the customization options for your page. For instance, if you are a local business, you’ll have a special section to list your hours of operation. Select a page nameThen you’ll need to enter a name for your page. You have 75 characters to work with, so you could include some terms that will help people find you when they perform a search on Facebook. Or you may choose to simply use the name of your company or website for consistency. Keep in mind that an overly wordy name might become visually overwhelming since it’s placed next to every post and comment you make.
Notes:
Find your pageSome people have difficulty finding their page because there is no link on the Facebook home page to take you to your fan pages. To find your page just go to facebook.com/pages and click on “Pages I Admin” on the top left. Alternatively, you can type the first 3 letters of the page’s name in the Facebook search box, and it will appear in the selection drop-down. 2. Customize Your PageNow that you have created your page you will want to customize it for your business. Add your company informationThe first thing to do is add a profile image to your page. If you are a professional such as a consultant or photographer, you may choose to use a photo of yourself. If your page is for a company or product, you might want to use your company logo. Then add a brief description of your business in the information box below your profile image, and also provide additional details under the “Info” tab such as a company overview, website addresses, products, etc.
Create a custom URLIn order to more easily direct people to your facebook page, you’ll want to create a custom website address like “http://facebook.com/bartswidgets”. To do this you’ll need to select a “username” for your page by going to facebook.com/username. You will have the option to select a username for your personal profile as well as usernames for your Facebook pages. For branding purposes, you will probably want to use the same name as your website. Or you might select something else simple and memorable.
Notes:
When you’re ready to step-up your customization, and potentially your page’s popularity, add the Static FBML application to create a nice looking landing page. Look out for an upcoming MakeUseOf article to guide you through it. 3. Publicize Your PageWhen Facebook users become “fans” and interact with your page, all of their friends will see their activity and may decide to become fans as well. This builds awareness of your page and your business through “word of mouse”. Here a few ways to help accelerate your exposure on Facebook: Suggest to friendsKickstart your fanbase by inviting your friends to join. First become a fan yourself by clicking “Become a Fan” at the top of the page. Your friends might notice and start becoming fans right away. For the more direct approach, click on the “Suggest to Friends” link below the profile image. Facebook will send an email invitation to all the friends you select.
Display on your websiteInclude links to your Facebook page on your website and blogs. Go to Facebook’s widget page to grab a “Page Badge” or “Fan Box” to display on your site. You can customize them to show your page activity, list of fans, and even a “Become a Fan” button to allow people to join without leaving your website. Also be sure to include a link to your Facebook page in any emails and electronic newsletters.
Promote offline
Create a Facebook ad (this is a paid service)
The beauty of Facebook is that you can target your ads based on demographics such as geography, gender, age, relationship status, and even employer. You have the option to pay for clicks (CPC – cost per click) or pay for impressions (CPM – cost per 1,000 times the ad is displayed). Giveaway something
Note: Facebook’s policies continue to evolve regarding giveways and contests. Be sure to check their Terms of Service. 4. Be InterestingTo take full advantage of your page, you should post interesting content regularly. You certainly want to include updates about your products and services, but also consider customer stories, photos, and videos. If you have a blog, you can configure your page to display an RSS feed of your posts. Try to especially include articles or links that may be useful to your fans, and encourage them to participate through comments and discussion. Your fan page is your home on Facebook, but you hope your messages will spread to all corners of the social network. Anything your fans find interesting they can share with their friends with one click. Plus any interactions they have with your page are automatically visible to their friends — that’s the promotional power of facebook. What techniques do you use to promote your business on facebook? Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 15,000 fans already!
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| Make A Lasting Impression With TokBox Video Messages Posted: 22 Mar 2010 10:30 AM PDT
Contrast that with video messages which allows the viewer to experience your tone of voice, hand gestures, and facial expressions. I also find that if the process isn’t too complex, recording and sending a short video is actually quicker for me than typing out an email. Enter TokBox. MakeUseOf has previously touched on it but I’ll take a deeper look at it today.
What Is TokBox?
The primary feature of the TokBox web application is its video chatting functionality. You can create a free account, integrate your contacts from other IM services, and video conference with up to 20 people at the same time using your computer’s webcam. The core features of TokBox are free though there is a premium pay-as-you-go level for people wishing to add moderation features and scheduling to their account. Thus, TokBox can be an incredibly useful app for professionals looking to organize web-based video conferences. But here’s what is especially useful about TokBox: It also includes a feature that allows users to record video messages up to ten minutes in length directly from their webcam. While I do use the video chat feature, I mainly use TokBox to send video messages. Recipients of your video messages need not be TokBox users either. I have yet to find an app that works so well for both me as the sender and the recipient. You could record and upload a video to video-sharing sites like YouTube and Vimeo, but I find that you either have to make the video public for the world to see, or you have to set it to private and jump through hoops to make sure only your intended recipient(s) can view it. TokBox videos are technically public in the sense that you don’t need a password or special clearance to view them (you can even embed them on your own site if you wish), but their URLs are hidden from public view. When I record my video message, I can enter in an email address for the recipient, type a quick text introduction, hit Send, and the receiving party gets the message in their inbox soon after. TokBox doesn’t send the actual video file to them. Instead, the recipient simply clicks on a link in the email to open a browser window that displays the message in flash video format ready for viewing. TokBox then sends back a message that the recipient has opened the video file. This feature alone has been extremely useful in cases where followup might be required. You’ll know for a fact that they watched your video message and when they actually watched it. Why Send Video Messages?
There are plenty of situations where sending a “video voicemail” can be beneficial and allow you to maximize your impression on the recipient. I have personally used TokBox’s video messaging to introduce myself to potential clients, thank past clients for their business, pitch ideas to companies, request interviews with people in my field, respond to emails from readers of my blog, and ask questions that might be too difficult to explain in a typed email. On a personal level, none of the aunts, uncles, or grandparents in our family can expect to celebrate a birthday without receiving a video message from my kids singing “Happy Birthday” to them. I’ve even used it to send a message to a friend who was stationed in Iraq for a year. There are infinite other ways in which you could use video messaging. If you’re a teacher, send a video to a particular student who is performing well in one of your classes. Send a friend a video to cheer them up or offer encouragement. Send a thank-you message to your sister for the awesome birthday gift she gave you. Offer feedback to a company that produces a product you use. Send an introduction video with your resume to a potential employer. TIP: You can send the TokBox video link through your primary email platform. Simply send yourself the initial TokBox message, copy the hyperlink that points to the video, and paste it into the email with the resume attachment. Here’s an example of a linked video. If you can email someone, you can send them a video message. Let your imagination run wild! Sending A Video Message
The steps to record and send a video message with TokBox are simple. First, create your free account and log into the app. Over in the left-hand navigation you’ll see a link to send a video message. Click on that. If you’ve already configured your computer’s webcam to work with web-based apps, you’ll be all set to record right away. If not, click on the “Settings” link on the video message window to configure your computer’s webcam and microphone. If you’re feeling adventurous, hit the “Greetings” button next to settings. You’ll find some neat ways to spruce up your video.
Once you’re ready to record, simply hit the Record button and start talking. Hit Stop when you’re done and you’ll be able to review your message before sending. TIP: Respect the time of the person who will be viewing your video message. Know what you are going to say before hitting record so that you keep your video as short as possible. If everything looks good, enter the email address of one or more recipients, add an intro message, and hit “send.” At this point, good things will happen. You’ve just set yourself apart from everyone else who is sending plain old text emails to communicate. Do you send video messages? Which online service has impressed you the most? Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments section below. Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 15,000 fans already!
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| 7 Simple Steps To Use Gmail As A Desktop Email Client Posted: 22 Mar 2010 09:30 AM PDT
Do you think it can overthrow desktop email clients such as Outlook and Thunderbird and be used as a viable option as a desktop email client? I think yes. In fact, I have been using it like so for some time now. Here are the steps and features I have enabled that take Gmail at par with desktop clients if not better!
Create a more desktop-like application
First and foremost, create a desktop application for Gmail. This as easy as clicking on "Create Application Shortcuts" for Chrome users. Firefox users can install Prism and create applications henceforth. This would give you start menu entries and nice desktop icons to access Gmail quickly. You will be able to use applications like Launchy to launch Gmail if you so prefer. Make Gmail handle :mailto linksA click on a :mailto links opens up your default email client with the address field already filled in. The Gmail blog provides detailed instructions if you would like to make Gmail handle the :mailto links. Enable offline support
You can enable Gmail offline via the settings page. Once enabled and after your messages have been downloaded, you will be able to view and interact with your messages offline; just like you would do with a desktop client. You will be able to compose new messages, which will be sent the next time you are online. Configure multiple accounts
One of the most prominent reasons that people cite for using a desktop email client is the fact that they want access to multiple email accounts. If that is the case with you, look around inside Gmail’s settings. Gmail has built-in support to access as many as 5 other mail accounts. This is specially useful in situations where you would like to access your work email or other accounts inside Gmail. To configure multiple accounts, head over to the Settings page, inside the Accounts and Import tab you can configure “Send mail as” and “Check mail using POP3″ options to add multiple accounts. The settings you enter here in are just the same as you would enter in any email client. With this much effort you will be able to check different accounts for new mail and using any configured email address. Use filters and labels
Folders as they are commonly known in various email clients are another desktop client strong hold. They let you sort your email into different folders for easy access and an organised inbox. Gmail does this one better. Instead of folders you get Labels inside Gmail. Labels are similar to folders only better, you can have a message with more than one label. You can quickly jump to a label, use it with a filter to automate tasks. Infact filters and labels combined together give you near magical powers that can greatly reduce your daily email workload. You can automatically sort incoming mail into labels (or folders as some people want to see them as), archive emails automatically, delete them if you know you can overlook some of them. You can even create custom replies that will be mailed to the sender if the mail fulfils a certain criteria mentioned in the filter. How awesome is that? Enable keyboard shortcuts
If you like the ease of use and speed you gain by using keyboard shortcuts, then you just cannot ignore Gmail. There is hardly anything that you cannot achieve via keyboard shortcuts inside Gmail. Select conversations, apply labels, navigate forward and back, star, delete, archive, you name it and it can most certainly be accomplished by a keyboard shortcut or two. You can enable keyboard shortcuts by visiting Settings > General tab. Absolutely adore the keyboard shortcuts, you can get a quick overview of all the shortcuts by typing ‘?’. NotificationsAlmost every desktop email client offers notification when a new mail arrives. While Gmail doesn’t offer notifications natively just yet, you can use one of the many Gmail notifier applications. You have the choice to go with a barebones notification app or get a little more extravagant with animations and spiders! Surely, looking above at all the features that Gmail has to offer, it is hard to dismiss it as a email-client replacement. The only issue presently is the speed. It seems painfully slow at times and is specially frustrating when you hit a few key combinations secretly feeling upbeat about what you just did and then you have to wait for Gmail to respond. And all it can come up with is "Loading". That said, I still prefer it over desktop clients, I love the interface and the ability to get more out of an application if you are willing to put in some thoughts and time. A lot of people however, think just the opposite, swear by their desktop clients and can’t stand the web based interface for a moment. Which side are you on? Would love to hear your thoughts about your preferred choice. As for me, come Chrome OS and I already have my email client sorted out! Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!
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| Monitor User Activity On your PC with Elite Keylogger [MakeUseOf Giveaway] Posted: 22 Mar 2010 08:30 AM PDT
This week, we’re giving away 10 copies of Widestep Security’s Elite Keylogger 4.6 PRO worth $990 (Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 32-bit compatible). Let’s take a look at what this fantastic app can do for you.
Elite Keylogger 4.6 PRO comes with all the features you could need for monitoring a user’s actions on your computer and it does it with a simple interface. You can set it to record every keystroke typed, what programs were used, which web sites are visited and even take screenshots at a set interval.
Elite Keylogger hides from the user’s view completely. It doesn’t show in the taskbar, control panel, or processes. In my tests, it even bypassed virus scanners. If I didn’t install it myself, I wouldn’t know it was on my system. After installation, you are given instructions on how to unhide the program for configuration.
After following these instructions, the program loads for you to set the options.
On the right menu you can select the date for the logs you want to see. After that, you select which type of log (keystrokes, screenshots, etc.) to view. The keylogger can email the logs to you privately. The program logs all keystrokes, including passwords, so be aware of this when sending any information over email.
You’re able to select specific items to track and set it for specific users. Even when recording keystrokes and taking screen-shots every 20 seconds, I didn’t notice any drop in speed or extra RAM usage on my 3 year old laptop, so the software does a nice job of running efficiently.
As shown above, the software also keeps track of what applications are used and even the specific times they are launched and closed.
Screenshot tracking alone can tell you a lot about a person’s computer use. If you take frequent screenshots, I recommend lowering the snapshot quality to 8-bit to preserve disk space. All screenshots are shown in an easy-to-view thumbnail gallery and can be enlarged with a click. If you’re looking for an undetectable, low resource, and easy to use keystroke tracker, I highly recommend Elite Keylogger 4.6 PRO. Download the fully-functional 7-day trial and check it out for yourself. If you don’t mind your users knowing that they’re being watched, try out their free Quick Keylogger.
The free version is visible in the taskbar and easily detected by virus/trojan scanners. You can password-protect the logs, but users can shut down the program if they see it. The free keylogger has fewer options compared to its big brother, but if you’re just looking to record keystrokes then this can do the job. How do I become a winner?It’s simple. Just follow the steps.
This giveaway begins now and will end on Friday at 2100hrs PST. The winners will be selected at random and announced the following day. This is a rare opportunity to get a $99 application for FREE so join the giveaway now! MakeUseOf would like to thank Amy from WideStep for her generosity while participating in this giveaway. Interesting in sponsoring? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us via email. Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 15,000 fans already!
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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 
It's time once again for our featured 
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Assuming you plant and harvest them as quickly as possible, the five best current money-making crops are: Peas, Asparagus, Onion, Grapes, and Sugar Cane.
After you’ve played for a couple weeks and have managed to build up a nice amount of coins, there’s an easy strategy you can use to quickly boost your experience. The strategy is to simply buy Hay Bales, sell the Hay Bales, and repeat. Although the best choice is always to choose experience-effective crops, if you’ve maxed out your field then the next best thing is the Hay Bale method.
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Most businesses and professionals have gotten the message that Facebook can be a powerful channel to promote their products and services, engage with customers, and strengthen their brand.
Consider printing your new custom facebook address anywhere that you list your website: appointment cards, flyers, holiday cards, and even promotional items. These days, companies are even announcing their Facebook pages on signage and in television commercials.
If you’d like to pay Facebook to help you promote your page, you can create an ad that will display on the Facebook website. Click on the “Promote with an ad” link below your profile picture, and customize the details for your advertisment.
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Email is boring. It has its place and it’s an important method of communication, but if you really want to stand out, it can be hard to do that through a simple email. Text and emoticons can only accomplish so much, especially when the recipient may have an inbox full of similar messages to read.
Gmail is one of (if not the) most advanced web email provider out there. With a brilliant UI that requires minimum page refreshes, a fantastic search functionality and large storage space; it has all the necessary ingredients you could ask from an email client. 
Have you ever wanted to ensure your children aren’t giving out personal information online? Even if you’ve had a lengthy discussion with them about staying safe online, a child may not realize just how much information they’re giving out. Or are you an employer who wants to monitor the work habits of your employees? These are possibly two of the most common uses for a keystroke recorder. 
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