MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [April 13th]” plus 11 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [April 13th]
- 8 Reasons To Use Online Meebo Instant Messenger
- Don’t Read Webpages, Listen To Them With FoxVox
- Introducing MakeUseOf’s Free iPhone App
- How To Design A Browser Theme For Google Chrome
- Hot Tech Deals [April 13th]
- How To Calculate Your Ecological Footprint Before The Earth Day
- TV Rename – The Long Awaited App for TV Show Addicts
- DaisyDisk Giveaway Winners: Round 1
- Optimize Torrent Downloading on Your Mac with Folx
- How To Read RSS Feeds on Your iPad Even When You’re Offline
- How To Configure Trusted Sites In Internet Explorer For A Group Policy
| Cool Websites and Tools [April 13th] Posted: 13 Apr 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. Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 15,000 fans already!
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| 8 Reasons To Use Online Meebo Instant Messenger Posted: 13 Apr 2010 06:31 PM PDT
The Meebo instant messenger was one of the 5 online instant messaging services that David covered last year here on MUO. The platform has since become widely popular and proven to be very useful for communicating with your contacts across the various networks and platforms with which you have an account. In this article, I will cover 8 reasons why the Meebo instant messenger is an attractive instant messaging choice.
1. No Software To InstallThe first impressive thing about Meebo is that you don't have to install any software to use it. You just go to Meebo.com, sign on, and you can instantly message your friends/contacts right from the browser window.
If you create a Meebo account, you can sign into all of your IM accounts at once and chat in a single integrated buddylist. This also means that you can sign onto your Meebo instant messenger from any computer and have all of your settings intact. 2. Message Friends On All Of Your Networks
When we first covered Meebo back in 2006, it only had support for the major messengers like AIM and MSN. Now, Meebo has support for all the major networks, including AIM, Yahoo!, Windows Live, Google Talk, ICQ, and Jabber. It also has support for social networking platforms like Facebook, Myspace, and MyYearbook. 3. Get All The Features You Want
Meebo has a lot of the cool features that you would find with a standalone program like AIM. It allows you to set custom backgrounds and buddy icons, transfer files with people, and save your conversation history if needed. You can also launch applications like games and video chat. 4. The Meebo NotifierIf you don't want to keep a browser window open the entire time you're on Meebo, just check out the Meebo Notifier. The Meebo Notifier is a tray icon that allows you to stay signed into Meebo even when your browser is closed. It allows for automatic sign-on and it provides notifications when you receive a message or a buddy signs on or off.
You can even set up email notifications with the Meebo Notifier. If you receive an email on your Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, or AIM accounts, it will notify you of your new message. 5. Take Meebo With You On Your Phone
You can access your Meebo account on your phone or mobile device. There are apps for both the iPhone and Android, but you can sign on from any wireless device by simply going to the website. 6. Create A Chat Room
With Meebo Rooms, you can join a chat room that interests you or create one of your own. You can make your rooms public or private, customize them, and enjoy your powers as a room moderator. You can join rooms based on your interests (e.g. movies). 7. Get The Firefox Extension
Use Firefox? You can install Meebo's Firefox extension to get Meebo as a sidebar on your browser. From the sidebar you can access a smart buddylist and receive visual notifications when your friends message you. You can also share links and images by dragging them to your buddies while surfing the web. 8. Access the Meebo Instant Messenger On Restricted ComputersIf you are on a computer that restricts instant messaging access, you can install Meebo Repeater. Meebo Repeater allows you to access Meebo on a restricted computer without using a third-party proxy. Just install the repeater on a computer that can access the web freely and it will bounce the signal so you can access Meebo securely. So there are the 8 reasons to use Meebo Instant Messenger that I came up with. Take your communications online and keep track of all of your contacts from the cloud. What do you think of Meebo? Do you use another online IM service? Leave your thoughts, ideas, and comments below. Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Please do share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Don’t Read Webpages, Listen To Them With FoxVox Posted: 13 Apr 2010 05:31 PM PDT
However, the magic of this approach is that all of the small investments that you make in saving time eventually accumulates, and by the end of the day you’ve won back several hours of wasted time. One of the most effective tools I’ve discovered that can really help with reducing wasted time while browsing the Internet is the text to voice Firefox plugin called FoxVox.
In this article I’ll show you some of the cool features of this software, and how you can put it to work to increase your productivity significantly. Use FoxVox To Multiply Your Online ProductivityInstalling FoxVox is fast and easy, just like most other Firefox plugins. The basic functionality of this plugin is that you can highlight as much text as you like, and then enable the plugin to “speak text.” In my case, I use the plugin to read my Google Reader articles to me while I’m working on editing articles. I find that while I could never concentrate on writing an article while my Google Reader articles are being read aloud to me, there are actually a number of activities where having a digitized voice read articles aloud doesn’t hamper concentration at all. A few examples include IM chatting, conducting Internet research, shopping on eBay or Amazon or shopping for music.
Just about every day, whenever I’m settling in for a long session of article editing, I open up Google Reader and highlight the latest batch of UFO sighting reports that I like to keep an eye on. In Google Reader, by holding down shift you can actually highlight as many items in the content pane as you like. I usually highlight up to 20 articles or so.
Then, in the Firefox menu bar, select Tools and choose the “Speak Text” option. After a few moments, you will hear a digitized voice start reading your articles to you out loud. Keep in mind that the free version of the FoxVox text to voice Firefox plugin has a male digitized voice that leaves a lot to be desired. However, it does serve the purpose of getting the content into your brain with very little effort on your part – all you have to do is listen. Even though the voice sounds like a cheap imitation of Max Headroom of 1980’s MTV fame, it really does get the job done. Other Cool FoxVox FeaturesThe “Speak Text” feature is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to FoxVox. There is another feature that makes this little plugin an invaluable text-to-voice conversion tool. If you have your own blog and you would like to convert it into an audio podcast, or at least provide an option for your readers to listen to your blog entries rather than just read them – then you’ll want to check out the Audiobook creation feature of FoxVox. In the Firefox Tools menu item, above “Speak Text” you’ll see three Audiobook format options.
These are the three audio formats that you can convert any highlighted text into. One of the coolest uses for this is converting your blog entries into audio format and then providing the audio file as a free download from your site. In my example, I’m going to highlight an entire post on my blog and convert it into an MP3 file. By the way – you don’t have to use the Firefox menu to get to the FoxVox tool – when you right click on any selected text, you’ll see the FoxVox option available.
The plugin opens up a new dialog box and shows you the status of its conversion efforts. Once it’s finished, the audio file is saved in the directory that you’ve defined. Just upload it to your blog and provide it as a free audio download for readers who want the audio option.
There are lots of other uses for converting text to audio files – the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Just think how cool it would be to highlight your favorite blog updates in the morning and convert them to an MP3 file that you could load onto your mobile device and then listen to it during the ride into work. If you like the flexibility that the text-to-voice plugin provides, you might even want to consider purchasing the full version that offers a high-quality digitized voice. Either way, I plan on using this plugin every day from now on, both for converting my blog updates to audio as well as for increasing my productivity during the day. Have you ever used any text-to-voice applications? What do you think of FoxVox and the quality of the audio conversion? Share your opinions in the comments section below. Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too. Includes cool extras. Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introducing MakeUseOf’s Free iPhone App Posted: 13 Apr 2010 03:01 PM PDT
Yes. Isn’t it beautiful? I’m going to sit back and let the image do the talking for a bit. We’ve been secretly working around the clock to get this iPhone mobile reader to be as close to perfection as possible. We’re very proud to announce that today, the application has been approved by Apple and is ready for you to download over at the App Store. But first, how about a couple more tantalising images?
Among the key features of the application are:
Now, you can carry MakeUseOf with you in your pocket. Download it from the App Store now!
As chuffed as we are, we have to admit that this application would never have materialised if not for the help we received from the professional developers over at rade | eccles. Jeremy and Shaun, we owe you a huge “Thank You!” You guys did an awesome job! Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers! Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To Design A Browser Theme For Google Chrome Posted: 13 Apr 2010 02:31 PM PDT
We saw how easy it was to find and change browser themes for Chrome without even restarting the browser. This article will show you how easy is to design a custom theme for Google Chrome.
There are several ways to change your browser theme for Chrome, a few of which involve downloading and using editors to make it easier. First, you can make and modify a *.json file using a test editor by following the instructions here - Theme Creation Guide. Doing so may require some previous experience with the *.json file. Secondly there is a theme editor called “Chromium Theme Creator” which I believe makes edits to the default dll file (short instructions here). Since Google has come up with the newer way of implementing themes via the extensions system, making handling them easier, I will be going over the third way of designing a Chrome theme via another program called “Chrome CRX Theme Creator.” You see, themes (or skins) can now be contained and distributed within files with the extension “CRX” and this program makes it possible to easily design the theme and distribute it. You will need to download and run the Chrome CRX Theme Creator program from this link.
and some sort of image editor such as Photoshop, GIMP or Fireworks.
You see, the CRX program will allow you to assign colors where applicable and to assign images to different areas of the theme. An image editor will allow you to create those images. You will also need to keep the previously mentioned link to the Theme Creation Guide open for referencing because it explains what each of the color assignments and the image assignments are and how they will appear. My advice? Keep this page open in a different browser, such as Firefox, because you will be restarting Chrome numerous times throughout the design process. Begin by looking at the theme creation guide in order to see which graphics you’ll have to create and the size requirements.
Look for the heading “Image Elements” and you’ll notice the column containing the recommended size requirements. Once you see where each image will show when the browser theme is applied to Chrome, go ahead and put your creative juices into action in your chosen image design program (ie. Photoshop). Make a folder located someplace you will find it later and save all of the images in the one folder.
Once you have the images created the way you want them, go ahead and open the CRX creator. This is where you will apply the images to the theme.
In my case, once I began applying the images and testing the theme in the browser, I ended up making many changes to the original images I created to get the look I wanted. To me, that’s OK because it’s all part of the creative process. Once you apply the images where you want them, notice the “View Theme” button at the bottom of the window.
Make sure Google Chrome is closed and hit that button to get an idea of what the theme will look like. If Chrome is not closed before hitting the button, the theme you want to test will probably not be applied to the window that will open. That’s basically the design process for designing a Google Chrome theme. When you go to change the colors (text, links, etc.) from the left column of the editor :
Apply the same principles, checking things out via the “View Theme” button as you go. Also notice the “Tint” column off to the right. This applies different tints to different areas of the browser theme. Instead of having a full understanding of what everything did, I tended to try stuff out and see what happens until I found the theme looking the way I wanted. Once you have everything where you want it, you’re ready to pack the theme into a CRX file. This is where you hit the “Pack Theme” button.
Fairly self-explanatory, I know. This will pack the images and color assignments into one file for easy application and distribution of the theme. As far as distributing your newly created theme goes, you have several options. There is a handy “Share Theme” button within the CRX creator program.
This will bring you to a page on the chrometheme.chromepub.com site with a form you fill out and it allows you to upload your theme to share there. Another option you have is sharing it yourself. I linked to it on my own site.
It is easy for anyone to use your theme on their Chrome browser. All they have to do is click a link and apply the changes. Tell me, what do you think of the process? Also, have you created a theme for Google Chrome yet? If so, please share in the comments. We NEED Your Comments! Please do share your thoughts in article comments! Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 13 Apr 2010 01:30 PM PDT
For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.
Image credit: Modified from Svengraph’s icon set Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 15,000 fans already!
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| How To Calculate Your Ecological Footprint Before The Earth Day Posted: 13 Apr 2010 12:31 PM PDT
As we get ready to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, let us remind ourselves of a fundamental fact – it's not the size of our ecological footprints, but what we can do to lessen it. But what is an ecological footprint?
That measure can be approximated by using ecological footprint calculators which measure our using up of Earth's resources (and generating emissions) across our day to day activities. Tina let us know how we can use the internet to save the world almost two years back. The ecological concerns haven't gone away, but the internet is still trying to save the environment. One site at a time. Here are a choice of seven of those. My Footprint
My Footprint takes a measure of your lifestyle pattern through 27 simple questions. The result is likened to the amount of land and ocean area that would be needed to sustain your way of life. The ecological footprint is measured in global hectares or global acres. What you swallow from the Earth is also calculated across categories like home energy use and transportation, food, housing, and goods and services. The best thing about this site apart from a slick interface is that it's tailored for all countries across the globe. Carbonfootprint
The calculator that's available at carbonfootprint can also give the values for countries around the world. You have to enter a figure for the period (usually a year) of consumption. The calculator measures carbon emissions across several lifestyle categories and also secondary sources like dietary preferences and recreation habits. Results are compared against country and global averages. Zerofootprint
Zerofootprint has a suite of tools which aid companies and communities to manage and offset emissions. As a part of its toolset for individuals, Zerofootprint has calculators for kids and youths. These are really simple tools that can be used in homes and classrooms for basic environmental awareness. For adults, you have a full set of quick one-minute calculators. After you enter your basic lifestyle information, the calculator will provide an estimate of your carbon emissions in 60 seconds or less. A broader tool is the Personal Carbon Manager which stores all your consumption data in your created account.
The calculators can be set to a country of choice from a dropdown menu. World Wildlife Fund's Footprint Calculator
A quick series of multiple choice questions for measuring your eco-impact. The questions cover your food habits, travel, home, and stuff (purchases). If you live in Europe, then this simple and quick calculator can give you a measure. Earth Day Network Footprint Calculator
The Earth Day Network is a worldwide body and the organization that authors the Urban Environment Report, which ranks the health of 72 U.S. cities by more than 200 environmental, health and quality of life indicators. So you can expect them to have an ecological footprint calculator.The ecological calculator calculates ecological footprints for certain countries around the world. The approach is unique because you can go through the eco-quiz with a self created avatar. The quiz is a sequence of personal lifestyle data sets using sliders. The calculator is also based strictly on the recognized global standard for ecological footprints. Thus, it calculates how much of a biologically productive area is required to produce the resources for the human population and to absorb its waste. The carbon footprint is just one of the things that adds up to the whole personal consumption meter. Carbonfund
Carbonfund asks you to reduce your carbon footprint if you can and offset some if you can through donations. The donations are used to balance out your personal emissions with environmental projects elsewhere. Carbonfund's footprint calculator adds up your carbon emissions from your home, use of car, buses, trains, etc. The tons of CO2 produced can be offset with the donation amounts specified. The donations are optional, but it gives you an idea of what it would take to offset all that you consume.The site is relevant for households in the US. WattzOn
WattzOn takes the energy consumed angle to measure man's impact on the environment. Using WattzOn's tools, you can realize the total amount of energy (in watts) that's needed to support your lifestyle. It is a great tool to draw comparisons between what we consume in terms of power and the devices that could be run using the same amounts. You get a breakdown of your energy footprint via slick charts.WattzOn believes that sustainability can not only come through reduction of our carbon footprints but also through wise energy use. These figures reflected by these online environmental apps are of course not always on the button. Ecological footprint calculators do represent a fair idea of what we do and how much we waste. The short term change we can adopt is to lessen our ecological footprint in areas of least effort. For instance, walking to the supermarket instead of taking the car. The long term changes will be determined by our ecological conscience. So, have you checked out an ecological calculator lately? Earth Day is on April 22nd. Image Credit: DaveBleasdale Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV Rename – The Long Awaited App for TV Show Addicts Posted: 13 Apr 2010 11:31 AM PDT
This is certainly true for downloaded TV series collections. Although the uploader’s netiquette helps, a lot of your episodes will still arrive differently, if not mislabeled. The result is work. A lot of extra, manual revision work for the user. That is, unless you’re using an application that not only keeps your filenames in order, and sorts your collection, but even takes into account the TV air dates.
TV RenameThe name might be a little bit misleading. In fact, renaming is one of the lesser aspects of TV Rename, albeit still important. TV Rename could be considered a general personal assistant for everything related to downloaded TV series, much more than any competitor apps.
There are two ways to first get started with TV Rename. One is to add all the TV series you’re interested in, be it already watched, interesting, or still airing titles. As can be seen in the screenshot above, this’ll give you a general overview of your personal TV interests. For every TV series, and every season thereof, you can click on to a general description and episode overview. From there on, you can fork off towards the TVDB website for more information, or even launch a Torrent search for the episode in question.
The second step would be to identify the video folders on your computers where your TV series collection is stored. This can be done via Tools -> Folder Monitor, and in two parts. First, you launch a semi-automatic search in a number of self-specified folders. This will return many of your video collections, but also a lot of irrelevancy. Next, you skim through the list and highlight specific series. You’ll try to link every folder to a specific series on TVDB, and specify if the folder holds all seasons, one season per folder, or only one of said seasons. Although some popular anime series are recognized, TVDB remains largely focused on western series. When done, these folders will also be monitored for changes and new episodes. Renaming & Missing EpisodesFor someone with an intricate TV series library collection, there are two big steps towards organized excellence. Correctly and (most importantly) consistently renaming all your episodes, and adding any that are missing from your collection. These two things can be done in the Scan tab. TV Rename will scan every folder that’s paired with a TV series, and try to notice faults.
Under missing, TV Rename will tell you about episodes that are already aired, but still missing from your collection. From this page, you can launch another BitTorrent search. But instead of being defaulted to Mininova, here you can choose from a considerable list of torrent search engines. The application can also be used to flatten out inconsistences between filenames, and rename all your episodes via a singular pattern. By default, this is “Series Name – S##E## – Episode Title”. TV Air DatesTV Rename is not an application to be used once or twice, and then be discarded. The When To Watch tab makes sure of that.
Of all series added by you, this will show you any recent and upcoming air dates. This includes episodes specifics, like episode number, air date, time and day, but also a short synopsis. Again, you can use this page to instantly launch a BitTorrent search. What do you think of TV Rename? Or do you have another software alternative to organize your TV series collection? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below! Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter too. Includes cool extras. Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DaisyDisk Giveaway Winners: Round 1 Posted: 13 Apr 2010 11:00 AM PDT
Congratulations! Watch your email inbox for more information on how to claim your prizes. The next 4 winners will be announced at the same time tomorrow. If you feel your luck running out, use the 25% discount code “MAKEUSEOF” at DaisyDisk’s online store checkout. MakeUseOf would like to thank Oleg from DaisyDisk for his generosity while participating in this giveaway. Interesting in sponsoring? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us via email. Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers! Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Optimize Torrent Downloading on Your Mac with Folx Posted: 13 Apr 2010 10:31 AM PDT
You can say that this app is a 2-in-1 suite: internet download manager and torrent client. We’ve discussed the download manager side a little while back when the app was still in beta. Now with the official release of v1, Folx adds the torrent downloading capability. Folx is a good free download manager, but how does it perform as a torrent client? Let’s find out.
The Folx Easy Torrent Downloader – Just Add A TorrentWhat’s the routine of downloading a torrent? First, you check for the availability of the file that you need in the torrent realm.
Then if the one that you want is indeed available, you download the “.torrent” file (otherwise, you go to other torrent search engines while crossing your fingers).
After that, you open the “.torrent” file using a torrent client.
And download the real file there.
Torrent addicts might have no problem with that, but ordinary people find the whole process confusing. I’m used to the drill of explaining and re-explaining the process to non-geek citizens around me. Everybody is accustomed to the direct download lifestyle, so their most common self-defense is, “But I’ve downloaded the file.” The Folx easy torrent downloader streamlines the multi-step process into one. You just need to add the “.torrent” file, and Folx will take care of everything until the end.
And if you upgrade to the Pro version, you’ll even have the ability to search on multiple torrent sites within the app.
More CustomizationTo optimize your torrent downloading process even further, you tag the downloaded files and set a default download location for each individual tag. You can assign tags to a file every time you start a download or by right-clicking the ongoing download and choosing “Edit Task” (or “Command + I“)
Then type in the tag(s) in the “Tags” field.
To determine a specific download location for any tag, open the “Preferences” and choose the “Folders” tab. Double-click on a tag and browse to the preferred location.
And being a torrent client, Folx also has some torrent preferences that you can customize (even though it’s a bit minimalist for advanced torrent users).
End Notes & Wish ListIn its current state (early version 1), Folx is not yet up to par with the more mature Transmission. But it’s definitely on the right track. The “download manager-torrent client” combo is a great idea that we don’t find in any other download managers or torrent clients. If I could have one wish, one feature that I really want to see added in the future updates is the ability to watch and auto-add torrents from a specific location(s). I’m fond of the idea of remotely triggering (torrent) downloads. However, there’s also one thing that I don’t like about Folx: the combination of multiple tags and folders. I mean, a tagging system and assigned download folders are great ideas. They really help in organizing the files. But then I realized that if I assign multiple tags to one file, it will be saved as multiple copies, each inside every tag’s assigned folder. If I assign 7 tags to a 1 GB download, my hard disk will be 7 GB smaller. Several multiple tag downloads later, I’ll have no spare storage room left. So my suggestion to the developer would be to assign the specific download folder only to the first tag, while adding all the other tags as just tags. And while waiting for my suggestion to be implemented, I’ll just assign one tag to each downloaded file. Have you tried this easy torrent downloader called Folx? Do you have any suggestions to the developer? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below. We NEED Your Comments! Please do share your thoughts in article comments! Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To Read RSS Feeds on Your iPad Even When You’re Offline Posted: 13 Apr 2010 09:31 AM PDT
The big-screened iPad works as a great e-book reader but when you’re nowhere near a WiFi network, you might want to read other things like the latest updates from MakeUseOf or CNN. Are iPad/iPod Touch owners out of luck? With the use of a native app, users might not be.
I devised this workaround and tested it with my iPod Touch after I tried a number of great free iPhone apps (MobileRSS and NetNewsWire, among other great offline use iPhone apps) that could sync to Google Reader, but found that very few of them saved the feed items and random web clips for offline reading the way I liked. This method uses no special app other than the native Mail app, plus an RSS-to-email service to deliver the feeds to your email. Since the Mail app is how you get the RSS feeds emailed to your iDevice, when you press on your email account’s folders, you can read your feeds, even offline. Since your read feed items (that is, the read emails) will be synced to your account, you can keep tabs on which items (or emails) are still unread on your desktop browser. How to Get RSS Feeds Emailed To Your Gmail
Alternatively, you can subscribe to your favorite blogs’ newsletters, or use FeedMyInbox but the latter only allows you to subscribe to 5 sites for free (though you could combine multiple feeds). Set Up Filters In Gmail To Label & Archive These Feed EmailsSo of course your inbox will now start to be bombarded unless you set up filters to archive the feed emails with the correct labels (which will be seen as folders in your iDevice’s Mail app). If you’re using Blogtrottr, all your emails will come from busybee@blogtrottr.com.
Set up filters where emails from that address that have your favorite blog’s name in the subject will skip the inbox, be labeled something like “reader/tech/makeuseof” and never be sent to Spam.
The “/” in the label name is important to be able to see a hierarchy of subfolders in the Mail app. You’ll have to create a filter for every blog you subscribed to which might take some time. If you enjoy reading MakeUseOf, How-To Geek, Digital Inspiration, Lifehacker, Scientific American, CNN, Mashable, I might be able to help you with the filters I’ve uploaded here. Just make sure you have enabled the Filter import/export Gmail Labs feature. You can delete any filters for blogs you don’t read. If you receive Facebook notification emails, you can also filter these to be labeled “reader/social/facebook“.
To get notifications of updates from the people you follow on Twitter, I’d recommend using ReadTwit, which MUO has featured before. It includes whatever’s on the short URLs of Twitter users in an RSS feed, and then subscribing with Blogtrottr. This is useful for sites like CNN and the New York Times, which only offer partial feeds. For example, here’s a tweet by NYTimes that ReadTwit made into an RSS feed item.
Read Your Feeds In Your iDevice’s Mail AppSo now that you have your incoming feed mails marked with the right label, go to your iDevice’s Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data and turn on Push.
Below where it says Fetch, choose Manually. This enables you to basically sync your email accounts, calendars, and contacts to, let’s say, Gmail, GCal and your Gmail Contacts, whenever you manually open the respective apps. Now you can use the Mail app to read your feeds when you’re on a WiFi network (or set up your Gmail on your iDevice if you’re using an account other than your main Gmail account). Press on All Mail if you know you’ll be out of a WiFi network soon and let the app complete its download.
Then you can read your feeds in your Mail app offline while any unread and read items will be properly marked as either unread or read under its label (or folder) in Gmail next time you encounter a WiFi signal. Since this method uses your Gmail storage (7+ GB), only keep read items you feel are good for future reference; otherwise, trash your read items. Be forewarned that this method has two drawbacks: You can’t view images in your feed emails as the Mail app doesn’t seem to download them locally, and you can’t view feeds by blog name (e.g. “Tech,” “Social”) unless you open up all of those specific blog folders before you go offline, which is why opening All Mail works. Really? Isn’t Using Gmail As A Feed Reader Just Asking For A Cluttered Inbox?It doesn’t have to be. The blog emails will remain tucked away (archived). If this still doesn’t convince, check out the following Gmail Labs features, which will make the reading experience on a computer browser, a bit more like the one you get from using GReader, or simply more intuitive. Of course, you don’t have to enable all of these as they may become intrusive to some people’s workflow.
Not Only A Feed Reader, Gmail Can Also Be A Reading List For LaterAny interesting items on blogs that you don’t follow but that you find useful, you can clip and email them to yourself with the uber useful GmailThis bookmarklet. Set up a filter so that emails to youraddress+inspiring@gmail.com or youraddress+howto@gmail.com will be labeled “reader/inspiring” or “reader/howto”. This way you can still look back at them offline. If you’d like to be able to view the pictures in these web clip emails while offline, just email them to your personalized Evernote or Instapaper email to view them offline (both have apps for you to view items offline; with Evernote, just make sure to Favorite the note.) Do you use Gmail for anything other than email? What do you think of this workaround? We’d love to hear you in the comments! Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 15,000 fans already!
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| How To Configure Trusted Sites In Internet Explorer For A Group Policy Posted: 13 Apr 2010 08:31 AM PDT
Group policy is the magic behind Active Directory. Group policies are rules that either allow or deny – well pretty much anything on a machine. As a network administrator I get to use group policy to push out rules and regulations to my networked computers. These rules can tell the machine what applications are allowed to run, or in this case what sites are “trusted” in Internet Explorer.
Adding Trusted Sites to Internet Explorer Using Group PolicyFor those of you who already know group policy I am sure you can just take a look at the screenshots below to find what you need. You can open your Active Directory users and computers’ control panel by navigating to it on your Start menu by going to Program Files –> Administrative Tools –> Active Directory Users and Computers. That will open a console that looks something like this:
If you want the policy to apply to your entire domain, right click at the top of the console. The domain is specified by three computers. If you want to apply the policy to another group or organizational unit right click on that instead. I will be using the organizational unit called editors. Choose properties from the context menu and then you will see the screen below:
Click on the Group Policy tab and then click the Open button. This will take us into the wonderful world of group policy. This is called the group policy management tool. The organizational unit will already be highlighted. Right click on it and choose Create And Link A GPO Here.
That will take us to the place where we can name the policy. Name it something that will make it easily identifiable. I chose AddTrustedSites for mine. Then click OK.
You have just created your policy. Now we need to define the settings that we want to trickle down to our clients. Locate your policy in the right pane and right click on it. Choose Edit to get started.
Now we need to drill down to the settings that we want to set. We need to go to the Computer Configuration –> Administrative Tools –> Windows Components –> Internet Explorer –> Internet Control Panel –> Security Page and then double click to the zone assignment list in the right pane as you can see below.
After you double click on site to the zone assignment list you will see a window to enable the settings and configure it. Click enabled. Then click show. On the show contents screen click add.
By clicking add we can add URLs and specify what zone we want them to be placed in like so:
The number 2 denotes the number of the zone. In this case it is the trusted zone. Microsoft breaks down the settings as follows:
After clicking OK you can wait for your default refresh of Group Policy which is 15 minutes by default or you can run gpupdate.exe from any workstation to see if it worked. You can also restart the workstations to force the update. Do you have another method of achieving this? Let us know in the comments. We NEED Your Comments! Please do share your thoughts in article comments! Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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