MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [May 8th]” plus 6 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [May 8th]
- Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]
- 5 Things Easier To Do In The Command Line [Linux]
- Hot Tech Deals [May 8th]
- MakeUseOf Team Spotlight [May 8th 2010]
- The Top 10 Free Tumblr Themes To Create A Portfolio
- SyncMate Giveaway Winners
| Cool Websites and Tools [May 8th] Posted: 08 May 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. Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers! Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun] Posted: 08 May 2010 07:01 PM PDT
If you would like to keep up with all latest Geeky Fun additions, please subscribe to the Geeky Fun feed here. You can also subscribe and get the latest additions via email. We NEED Your Comments!!! Please do share your thoughts in article comments. Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| 5 Things Easier To Do In The Command Line [Linux] Posted: 08 May 2010 06:31 PM PDT
Conventional wisdom isn’t always right. There are a lot of things easier to do with a command line then with a graphical user interface. That’s not to say doing things with a command line is intuitive – no, you will need to learn how to use the tools – but it is easier – that is to say, quick and simple to remember. A powerful, easy-to-use command line is a huge part of what makes Linux so powerful.
Quickly Check Memory UsageSure, you could find out what program is using up your memory using the Gnome System Monitor by clicking “System,” then “Administration,” then “System Monitor,” then clicking the “Processes” tab, then clicking the “Memory” column. You could, but that process took 17 words to explain. If you’ve got a command line open all you need to do is type “top” and you’ve got the same list.
Kill Any ProgramIf a certain program is acting up and causing you trouble you can always kill it from the Linux command line. Just type “killall” followed by the name of the program you’re trying to kill. For example, if Firefox is acting up (as Firefox will do from time to time) simply type “killall firefox” and it should kill the application completely.
In the rare circumstances that this doesn’t work you can always type “xkill” and then click on the window that won’t close; this will completely close a given window immediately. Every time I fix a Windows computer I end up wishing I could make use of xkill at least once. Install A Program (Or Several)When it comes to installing software you simply can’t beat the command line. How to do this varies from system to system, so I’ll just focus on Ubuntu here for the sake of simplicity, but know that the same concepts can be applied for any distro. Check your distro’s documentation for more information. Ubuntu/Debian types realize the wonders of apt-get. This command line program makes installing programs a snap; for example, installing the SNES emulator ZSNES is as easy as typing “sudo apt-get install zsnes“. What does all that mean? Well, “sudo” just means you’re typing the command as an administrator. “Apt-get” is the name of the program you can use to install and remove software. The word “install” is telling “apt-get” what to do, and the word “zsnes” is the name of the package needed to install zsnes.
You can use this same command to install several programs at once. Let’s say you wanted to install Dosbox, ZSNES and mednafen all at once (you retro-gaming addict you.) Type “sudo apt-get install dosbox zsnes mednafen” and you’re good to go. Update Your SoftwareWhen the “Update Your Software” window pops up in Ubuntu I hardly ever use it. Instead, I open up a command line and type “sudo apt-get upgrade” and install everything that way. I find this is a great deal easier than clicking the “Update” button on the window, waiting for the prompt, typing your password and then dealing with the windows popping up and bugging me. Instead, I type “sudo apt-get upgrade” and have all my updates install in a single window. This leaves me alone and allows me to get back to my work. Add A PPA [Ubuntu]Personal Package Archives (PPAs) are a great way for Ubuntu users to keep a particular piece of software on the bleeding edge; read more about them here. Since the release of Ubuntu 9.10 adding a PPA is as simple as typing a single command. For example. let’s say you wanted the bleeding-edge version of Gwibber (the social networking program that allows Ubuntu to unite all your inboxes). To add the PPA that makes this possible you need only type “sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gwibber-daily/ppa“.
This simple command can be used for any PPA; you’ll find the particular command on a given PPA’s home page. ConclusionThere you have it: just a few things that are easier to do from the command line than they are from a GUI. This is of course a little subjective, but I think if you learn to do these things from the command line you’ll never really want to go back to the GUI way of doing them. There are more such things, of course, and I’m counting on you smart Linux types to point them out in the comments below. I’m also expecting ignorant comments about how the existence of the command line is proof that Linux is inferior to Windows (preferably in all-caps). Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 17,000 fans already!
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| Posted: 08 May 2010 01:44 PM PDT
For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.
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| MakeUseOf Team Spotlight [May 8th 2010] Posted: 08 May 2010 12:31 PM PDT
As well as providing our writers with another form of online promotion, this feature also gives you the reader a wider range of posts to read. This month, we will be profiling blog posts from Justin, Ann, Evan, Jack and Beth.
1. e-Waste: The Global Catastrophe We Hope to Avertby Justin Pot @ Boulder Community Computers
Read more about what makes e-waste such a problem and how Boulder Community Computers hopes to help out offsetting it. If you feel this is a good idea, feel free to emulate it in your own community! 2. Build Lists Of Your Competitorsby Ann Smarty @ Who I Compete
Besides that, you can see detailed reports for each of the domains: which URLs were found for each search term you used and what exactly was the Google search position of each. There’s also a video overview. 3. How To Filter Your Facebook News Feed With The New Version Of Facebookby Evan Wondrasek @ Techerator
In this guide, I’ll show you a few tips to managing these unwanted messages so you’ll finally be able to see what’s really interesting – what your friends are up to. 4. How Do You Take Your Lecture Notes?by Jack Cola @ Jack Cola
I would very much appreciate your time and effort in participating in the survey. 5. The College English Wikiby Beth Ritter-Guth @ College English Wiki
Image Credit : Visualogist 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 Top 10 Free Tumblr Themes To Create A Portfolio Posted: 08 May 2010 10:31 AM PDT
With Tumblr you can determine how many images are displayed per page, making it easy to choose the right settings that will suit the theme of your choice.
OrganOrgan is the most unique of all the free portfolio themes available for Tumblr. This CSS theme gives photographers the chance to display their work in a creative and interactive way. The front page features crops of the latest photographs.
Hovering over any given image will display the entire photo.
Opening up an individual post will display the picture along with it tags, how long ago it was posted, and its caption.
Organ also allows you to easily navigate from one photo to the next. The Organ Tumblr theme can be customized with a background image of your choice, and you can also choose to show a variety of information such as the note count, copyright, and links to the archive and random posts. HasAPortfolioHasAPortfolio is not featured in the official Tumblr themes so installing it is not as simple as just clicking a button. But that isn’t to say it’s just as easy to install. Download either the simple version or rounded version of the theme, and copy the text. Going into your Tumblr dashboard, select Customize, Theme, Use Custom HTML, and paste the text from the file into the window. You can preview the theme, and then save changes. HasAPortfolio frames your photos in the spirit of the Polaroid, and the front page features a grid of your latest work.
The header includes the blog title and whatever text you choose to include in your ‘About‘ section. Individual images are displayed using a lightbox feature, overlaying the rest of the posts on that page.
All the background and text colours used on HasAPortfolio can be customized. PhotoboardPhotoboard is another grid portfolio theme. The default background looks like a corkboard, and images appear in a large beige frame.
Clicking on the information button for any given image will flip the photo, displaying its tags, its post date, and how many notes the image has. Individual posts are accompanied by the same information, in addition to the detailed feedback the image has received.
The text and background colours can be customised, and you can also upload a background image of your choice. Other features can be toggled on and off including the flip photo feature. Cargo ThemeCargo Theme is a minimalist grid Tumblr theme with a plain white background and no framing of the images that are posted.
The title of the blog and navigational links can be found to the right of the images.Cargo Theme can also be switched to display the posts as a list rather than a grid. Individual posts are accompanied by the post date, caption, and any feedback the image has received, under which the grid is still visible.
The Cargo theme allows users to display who they are following and also features easy Disqus integration if you would like to receive comments. Simple Board 3.0Simple Board 3.0 is a dark grid theme, with quick links featured at the bottom of the page to access the archives, RSS feed and mobile version of the site.
Individual posts are accompanied by tags, the photo caption, and any feedback the image has received.
Simple Board is highly customisable, from the background and text colours, to showing the header and footer, tags, and people you follow. You can also add a subtitle to your blog. The Tumblr theme has easy integration of Twitter, Flickr, Disqus, and Formspring. VideooAs the name implies, Videoo is a theme that is intended for sharing videos on Tumblr but it can just as easily be used as an art portfolio. Like Cargo, Videoo is a minimalist theme, with each image on the front page accompanied by the post date and caption.
It also features a tag cloud in the footer.
The one drawback to using Videoo for photographs is that there is no permalink for individual images. Clicking on a photo will take you directly to the enlarged jpeg file. Franklin StreetIf you’re not a fan of the minimalist themes, then Franklin Street contains a few more features that might be appealing. The front page features a grid of the most recent posts accompanied by their captions.
Individual images can displayed using a lightbox feature, overlaying the rest of the posts on that page, or by clicking on the permalink displaying the image alone along with its post date, caption and feedback it has received.
The header includes the blog title, about text and buttons to access the archive and RSS feed. The Tumblr PortfolioThe Tumblr Portfolio is a light minimalist grid theme, with customisable background and text colours.Each image on the front page is accompanied by its caption.
Individual images are displayed using a lightbox feature, overlaying the rest of the posts on that page.
The Tumblr Portfolio is not featured in the official Tumblr themes, so like HasAPortfolio , you will have to download the text file, and copy and paste the theme into the Custom HTML window. MuseumThe Museum theme is a dark grid theme with links to the archive, mobile site and RSS feed in the header. The front page features a grid of the latest posts, with each image overlayed by its caption.
Individual posts are accompanied by the post date and caption.
The Museum theme cannot be customised in any way. PhotogIf you would prefer a dark list-like theme, Photog features the latest photos as a list, but with a large gap between each image, which can be altered to your liking.
Individual posts are not accompanied by any additional information.
The footer features the blog title, about text, and links to the RSS feed, archives and a search button. The blog can be further customised, choosing the fonts used, and it also features easy Disqus integration. Once you have your blog up and running, you can also use one of these third party clients to keep your portfolio updated. Which Tumblr portfolio theme would you use? Let us know in the comments. Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers! Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Posted: 08 May 2010 10:00 AM PDT
Congratulations! More information on how to claim your prizes will be sent via email. Be sure to tune in again Monday, we will be giving away a 500GB ioSafe Solo fireproof and waterproof external hard drive. MakeUseOf would like to thank Alex Taylor from Eltima Software 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 17,000 fans already!
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Check out the top picks from MakeUseOf 
Conventional wisdom states that graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are easy and the command line is hard.
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.
It’s time once again for the first of our twice-monthly feature, MUO Team Spotlight, the posts that let you know what our staff have been getting up to when they are not writing for us.
When not writing for MakeUseOf, Justin helps out at Boulder Community Computers, a not-for-profit that repairs old computers and sells them to people who otherwise couldn’t afford them. Of all the excess of modern civilization, waste computers are perhaps amongst the most harmful.
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For any aspiring photographer or artist, a professional looking online portfolio for your work is essential. Tumblr provides an easy and free way to share your work with all the features that you could possibly need. You can have your portfolio up and running within minutes. Simply
Undoubtably, quite a number of Windows users are switching over to Macs. We are aware of the difficulties faced when learning a new operating system, especially one as alien as the Mac. Lucky, these 10 winners will have the perfect manual to guide them.| You are subscribed to email updates from MakeUseOf.com To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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