MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [April 18th]” plus 6 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [April 18th]
- Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends!
- What Windows Version Are You Running? [MakeUseOf Poll]
- 6 Ways To Reduce Irrelevant Results On Google Search
- Hot Tech Deals [April 18th]
- How To Set Up Call Forwarding With Google Voice
- Lost Saga – A Fighting Game Of Historical Figures, Heroes & Villains
| Cool Websites and Tools [April 18th] Posted: 18 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. Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Do share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends! Posted: 18 Apr 2010 07:31 PM PDT
It's time to say thanks to MakeUseOf’s friends who, once in a while, tip us great story ideas, help out on different projects and in some cases offer their services at discounted prices. Thank you, guys! ShrinkTheWeb – Website Screenshot Thumbnail Service
Walyou – Cool Gadgets for Geeks
PXLEyes – Photoshop Contests and Tutorials
Pair – Reliable Web Hosting
Thank you, guys! Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras. Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What Windows Version Are You Running? [MakeUseOf Poll] Posted: 18 Apr 2010 06:31 PM PDT
 Last week’s poll asked you if you used Google Wave. There was a lot of hype after the invites started going out. Some of you said that you have not used it because you do not have an invite. I have 17 left in my account so if you want one, leave a comment with the email address you want to use and I will hook up the first 17.
It looks like Google Wave is not ready for prime time yet! It also does not seem to be threatening to take over the email business any time soon! Check out the full responses from the poll below:
This weeks poll is asking you what Windows version you are running. Almost everyone I know (that are using Windows) is on Windows XP SP3. Some of them are dual booting Windows 7. I am still on XP myself and I also have a few Vista machines that need a upgrade to 7. So what are you running? We want to know! Please answer the poll below: Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers! Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 Ways To Reduce Irrelevant Results On Google Search Posted: 18 Apr 2010 03:31 PM PDT
The internet doesn’t contain just a few dozen or hundred relevant sources, no, it contains millions or billions or even more. To make things worse, there is no friendly and intelligent librarian to help you sort through all this information. It’s only you and a stupid search engine. You better act smart. The challenge when searching online is to find only relevant information or – in other words – avoid irrelevant results on Google search. In this article I will show you 6 ways to reduce these false hits, so that you get better overall search results.
1. Use Multiple KeywordsUse multiple keywords to receive more specific results on your first search engine results page (SERP). 2. Use Google SuggestWhen you enter the first letters of a keyword into the search bar, Google will suggest popular keywords other people have used in their searches. Follow these suggestions and see whether they can help you gain better results.
3. Use Operators to Properly Connect Keywords
If you’re seeing irrelevant results, identify a keyword that has nothing to do with what you’re looking for and make it your “negative keyword”. Simply add it to your search query with a minus symbol in front of it, for example if you were looking for the band Gossip, you would search for [gossip -celebrity] (without the brackets).
This is most commonly used to find an exact match. Since Google already uses the AND operator to connect single keywords per default, you won’t need quotes to find exact matches in most cases. However, if you find that Google returns results with highlighted keywords that are spelled completely different from what you entered, try to put these single words into quotes and try again. This will prevent Google from “finding” more popular keywords that are only vaguely similar to your search term.
If you don’t want to search the entire internet, but instead a specific URL, this operator is of great help. Type [site:URL "your search query"], for example [site:http://wikipedia.org "brandenburg gate"]. This MakeUseOf Poll compiled by Aibek features some more Best Google Search Tips & Operators. 4. Use Advanced SearchIf you can’t be bothered with manually typing operators, you can use Google’s Advanced Search. It allows you to exclude words, search for results in a specific language or specific files, and search within a site or domain. As you enter the details, the search query is automatically composed for you.
5. Use Google Chrome With Quick ScrollOne of the most annoying parts of following a search result is finding the relevant part within the page that opens. The Google Chrome extension Quick Scroll helps you tackle this issue as it provides a quick way to scroll to the parts in that website that are relevant to your query. We have profiled Quick Scroll in the MakeUseOf Directory. In Firefox you could simply use Quick Find, i.e. “find in text as you type” to quickly find the keywords again. However, if you’re into Google Chrome, you should check out these 8 Cool Google Chrome Extensions for Google Services, an article written by Tim earlier this month. 6. Ditch Google
There are two major variables that determine which results are recognized as relevant for your search: Link Authority (a.k.a. PageRank) and Keyword Relevance. Keyword relevance is straight forward. How well do the keywords you entered match the result, how often do they appear throughout the website, are they included in links pointing to that site, etc? Actually, this is all that you’re looking for when using a search engine. Google, however, is biased towards link authority. The number of links pointing to a certain page determines its “authority” or PageRank. The more, the better. Unfortunately, this means that keywords only remotely related to a high PageRank site may cause this site to appear on your SERP, no matter how relevant it really is. The advantage is that you’ll see a lot of results from reputable high impact pages like Wikipedia or MakeUseOf. On the other hand you may miss out on many more relevant results from smaller pages. That’s not necessarily what you want.
Yahoo’s search engine, for example, is less biased towards link authority and will thus provide you with much better search results. For a detailed analysis and examples, please see Troy Philis’ article on More Irrelevant Google Search Results. What are your experiences with Google search and what has helped you to get the most relevant results? Image credits: garytamin, bizior NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE! Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 18 Apr 2010 01:30 PM PDT
For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.
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| How To Set Up Call Forwarding With Google Voice Posted: 18 Apr 2010 12:31 PM PDT
This can lead to problems. You have to keep a bunch of numbers committed to memory and give an acquaintance the appropriate number. If they are a co-worker, probably your work number, a friend, your mobile, and so on. Wouldn’t a single number that you can give to everyone and filter the calls to each phone be great? Well, you’re in luck. Google Voice offers a solution for how to set up call forwarding.
Once you have an account, log in with your username and password here, to choose a number. You can then choose a number, any number in fact, as long as it is available in the database. After you have a number chosen, the method how to set up call forwarding with Google voice starts with adding existing numbers to your voice account. Adding home, mobile, and work numbers for Google phone forwarding is a very straight forward and easy process. To do this go to “Settings” at the top right and then click on the “Phones” tab in the main panel. You should see the following.
Hit the link to add a phone and follow the steps. You will have to confirm the number either by having Google Voice call you and prompt you with a confirmation number, or by receiving a text message with a confirmation number. This is done for security reasons and may seem like a hassle, but such precautions keep people from redirecting calls to other people’s phones without permission. After you have added a phone or two, it’s time to take advantage of Google Voice’s phone call forwarding. Still in “Settings,” hit the “Groups” tab. You should then see the following screen.
You should have the base groups that you see. But you can also add and take groups away, so you can get creative. Hitting “Manage Groups” should take you to your contacts list. Hit the add group key that looks like this near the top.
Then just type the name of the group. Then you can add contacts to that group or another. Now that you have your groups set up, you can set which of your phones get rung up when someone in each group calls. Getting back to the “Groups” tab under “Settings,” hit “Edit” under the group you want to change. You should see something like so.
Then hit “Edit” next to “Ring Default phones.” Here you can change which headset will ring based on which group the caller is in. Say, when your mom calls, you want to make sure you get the call. Well, have your mom in a group that rings all your phones. How about your bummy friend that always wants to borrow your car, especially when you’re out on a date? Have his calls ring up just your work or maybe just your home number so you won’t be disturbed. You have a lot of possibilities here, especially if you have a lot of headsets. Even better still, no longer do you have to give all these people different numbers to achieve these goals. You merely give them your Google Voice number, and our friends in Mountain View take care of the rest. Know of any other cool ways how to set up call forwarding in Google Voice? Let us know in the comments below. NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE! Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lost Saga – A Fighting Game Of Historical Figures, Heroes & Villains Posted: 18 Apr 2010 10:31 AM PDT
Now, as imaginary fights go, these guys sound like an incredible match. How would your ninja hold out against my magician? In this gaming pseudo-reality where you can play such fighting games online, you can find out! It’s ridiculously easy to spoil a good idea in the execution phase – history has left us a trail of mediocre games as proof – but OGPlanet has pulled it off.
Lost SagaThe freeware gaming industry hasn’t exactly been kind to us fans of fighting games. Pretty much all we’ve ever seen are sad copies of retail titles, or dull and otherwise repetitive ‘originals’. Thanks to OGPlanet, we’ve finally got a reason to cheer. Lost Saga might well be the best MMO brawling game that we’ve seen so far. Lost Saga is a solid mix of society’s biggest icons, a fighting ring, and a big ol’ bottle of entropy. The result is a fast-paced multiplayer fighting game; chaos in fluidity. Contrary to most other competitors in the free fighting genre, Lost Saga has enough refreshing elements to keep the adrenaline juices flowing. Like every game, it isn’t perfect, but you can expect to have a great, exciting time. Multiplayer Brawl ModesThe game offers a number of different game modes, ranging from Team Match to Death Match, and even includes a Boss Raid, where a number of ‘real’ players are teamed up against an enormous computer-controlled monster. The games can be played with up to 16 players, which, considering the small-sized maps, definitely begets some entertaining chaos and entropy.
All of these games center around basic hack ‘n slash and brawling games. The nature of the fight is largely determined by the gear and the classes of the fighters, although the latter ones are largely reserved for micro-transaction play. Intertwined with classic brawl are elements of RPG and classic MMO, like gaining experience and leveling individual characters. Cacophony Of Heroes & AbilitiesAs I said, Lost Saga centers around the heroes of human and fictional history. You’ll encounter known characters from the past, like revolution freedom fighters and vikings, and other influential icons. These can range from Star Wars-like space troopers to dark shaman magicians, and even includes Robin Hood. All of them know different abilities, which can be further customized by purchasing additional gear. Even in-game, you have the ability to switch between two classes. At present, there are 23 different characters available, but OGPlanet plans to eventually increase this to 100 symbolical figures.
Sadly, not all of these characters are just for grabs when you first play this fighting game online. You start out with a single hero, the Shadow Assassin, and gradually unlock additional characters during gameplay. These other characters can be taken for a two hour trial run before they’re reclaimed and available ‘for hire’ via micro-transactions. Mind, Lost Saga only counts the actual fighting time, and ignores time offline or even spent in the lobby. Luckily, us free gamers still get plenty of diversity in gameplay. Although we can’t exactly take all of those additional characters on a spree, we can still access some of their special abilities. When playing, you’ll sometimes encounter the gear of other characters which, in exchange for a piece of your own gear, can bestow new abilities on you. As such, it isn’t strange to see a Shadow Assassin throwing magic flames, or sniping a rifle. In a way, the micro-transaction system can be considered an a la carte mercenary hiring system, where free players must be content with the menu, and any extras that haphazardly come their way. Tell us your thoughts on massive multiplayer online fighting games, and Lost Saga in particular, in the comments section below! Minimum Requirements Recommended Requirements Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Do share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. Similar MakeUseOf Articles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The internet is not your library and if you thought a ton of books was an overwhelming amount of information, think again.
This is a whole article of its own and fortunately it has already been written. Please have a look at my article on 
Google is the most popular search engine and as such it has a lot of power. Google naturally has full control over its search algorithm. This in turn has a great impact on what results you will see, i.e. those you actually want to see or those that Google wants you to see.
So what can you do? You cannot change Google’s algorithm. However, if you keep seeing irrelevant search results, no matter how well you tune your search, there is one more thing you can do to get better results: don’t use Google’s search engine in the first place.
If you’re in the market for a new computer, laptop, mobile phone, games and other accessories; don’t waste your time searching online. We’ve taken the liberty of locating the best deals tech deals and unifying them into a single post for your convenience.
Telephones are nothing new. They have been around since the turn of the 20th century, providing us with connectivity and convenience. Today, an average person can have a whole slew of phones and a different number for each. Maybe you have a mobile phone, home phone, and a work phone.
What’s the common denominator for pirates, assassins, fire mages, space troopers, vikings and comic book heroes? At first glance, not much. But all of these characters have served a significance in their own way. These are all historical figures, heroes so to say, albeit some of them imaginary.
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