MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [May 9th]” plus 6 more

Cool Websites and Tools [May 9th]
Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends!
Are You A Paperless Person? [MakeUseOf Poll]
Show It All With The AeroZoom Computer Screen Magnifier [Windows]
Hot Tech Deals [May 9th]
10 Free MP3 Downloads From Upcoming Album Releases
Nurph Creates An Instant Chatbox On Any Site

Posted: 09 May 2010 08:31 PM PDT

Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For more cool websites and web app reviews subscribe to MakeUseOf Directory.

List Your Website Here!

PeriodCalculator – Not all women find keeping track of their menstrual cycles easy. When periods hit unexpectedly, sudden mood swings occurs. Boyfriends and husbands are already familiar with how extreme these mood swings can be. Period Calculator is a tool that helps us in this regard. Read more: PeriodCalculator: A Tool For Women To Keep Track Of Periods Online.

		StupidFight – The internet, and life in general, has a huge population of people that are downright stupid. Twitter is a good example of how sometimes a lot of people start following a celebrity. Now amazingly there is a tool that compares how stupid followers of celebrities are. The tool is Stupid Fight. Read more: StupidFight: A Great New Way To Have Fun With Twitter.

		Draw.to – is a really simple drawing tool to quickly sketch something and share it online. It's a fun service that doesn't require registration to use it. You can get started right away by clicking on one of the tools at the bottom of the drawing box and start doodling. Read more: Draw.to: Quick & Simple Drawing Tool With Easy Sharing.

		HostingReviews – Free website that lets you compare over 300 hosting providers and hosting plans so you can find one that suits your need. You can compare plans of different criteria including Price, Disk Space, Platform, Scripting, Location, Payment Type, Freebies and Control Panel. Read more: HostingReviews: Compare Over 300 Hosting Plans.

		Google Search Stories – You must have seen the "Parisian Love" video that illustrates how Google Search helped a man find love. Since its release, many similar and parody videos exist and such was the demand of these videos that Google now provide visitors with a Google Search Video creating tool that simplifies the entire task. Read more: Google Search Stories: Create Stories With Story Creator From Google.

List Your Website Here!

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.

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Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends!

Posted: 09 May 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

Ever wanted to add website screenshots to your website? In my professional opinion ShrinkTheWeb is one of the best services for that, both in terms of performance and pricing. The free account gets you a whopping 250,000 impressions with nearly no delay. See it in action in our daily Cool Websites and Tools series.

Walyou – Cool Gadgets for Geeks

Walyou is a fun blog covering all sorts of new cool gadgets and other stuff every geek is likely to find entertaining. Everything from world’s largest Gunny Bears to E-hookah gadgets. Make sure to check them out.

PXLEyes – Photoshop Contests and Tutorials

The place for graphical artists! An awesome community with one common interest: a big passion for computer graphics! There are contests, prizes, tutorials, forums and an active community!

Pair – Reliable Web Hosting

Finding the right hosting provider is VERY important. Along with choosing the right domain name it's the most important decision you have to make at the beginning. Here at MakeUseOf when someone asks for hosting advice we always recommend Pair. Speedy servers, excellent tech support, over 99.95% guaranteed uptime.

rade | eccles – iPhone Application Development

The perfect iPhone development team, rade | eccles managed to put our iPhone app together in record time yet exude professionalism and dedication every step of the way. Our collaboration wasn’t happenstance. We would make the same decision all over again. Our only recommendation for an iPhone developer – rade | eccles.

Thank you, guys!

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Are You A Paperless Person? [MakeUseOf Poll]

Posted: 09 May 2010 06:31 PM PDT

Last week's MakeUseOf Poll looked at How Do You Access The Internet When You Travel? It seems that the majority of our readers are using a netbook or laptop to connect to the internet while on the go. Second place was held by smart phone users connecting to Wi-Fi networks.

I figured with the number of smart phones out there nowadays that most people would be using them to connect to the net while away from home but the small screens obviously hinder user performance.

You can see the full responses below:

pollresp10

This week we are asking our readers if they are paperless. Paperless is a term referring to the green goals of the future where no one has to print anything. Everything is digital from bills to invoices to financial documents. I know I have made an effort to stop getting snail mail bills. Yet some places still do not offer paperless billing options. Some people will not stay with a company that doesn't offer paperless options.

So we are asking you where you are with becoming a paperless person. Let us know now in the poll below!

Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!

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Show It All With The AeroZoom Computer Screen Magnifier [Windows]

Posted: 09 May 2010 03:31 PM PDT

computer screen magnifier Articulating your point in a presentation is an art. Nowadays with projectors and screen sharing over the Internet, it is no longer verbal communication skills that matter. Think about Steve Jobs showing the iPad without being aided by the awesome slides or the iPad screen on the large projector over his shoulders. Takes a bit of the magic away, doesn’t it?

If you have ever shared your screen with an audience, trying to demo an application perhaps, or been to such a demo, you will know that things are not always legible to everyone.

A potential workaround is using the Windows computer screen magnifier to zoom into the screen. The thing about using the Windows magnifier is that it has been built as an accessibility feature and not as a presentation tool so you have to browse through menus and options to get it working the way you want. This is where AeroZoom steps in and allows you to control your screen and the magnifier better using nothing more than mouse clicks.

The software utility is basically written in AutoHot key, the scripting language that many of us adore. All you have to do is to download and extract the 700KB file. You can run the utility as it is, it doesn’t need any installation. All it does is add a couple of neat shortcuts (or mouse gestures) and gives you a remote of sorts to control the magnification on your screen and other neat little things while presenting. The utility is well thought out and very intuitive.

Let’s have a look at some of its capabilities.

With the application running you can quickly invoke the computer screen magnifier tool by holding down the left mouse button and moving the mouse wheel upwards. The same combination can be used to zoom in henceforth and you can hold down the left mouse button and scroll the mouse wheel downwards to zoom out. Reset Zoom to 100% by holding down the left mouse button and clicking the wheel.

computer screen magnifier

So far so good, you can get in and out of magnifier in a snap and you can adjust the zoom level quickly as well. AeroZoom, however offers more. Click the left mouse button followed by a right click and the AeroZoom interface appears on the screen. There are a lot of buttons, meanings of some which may not be apparent at first sight.

The ‘Color’, ‘Mouse’, ‘Keyboard’ and ‘Text’ buttons map directly to the corresponding checkboxes in the Magnifier options windows. The buttons cleverly display the checkbox values (on or off) and let you toggle them quickly without having to click through menus and checkboxes. You can thus quickly set the magnifier to follow the mouse pointer, keyboard or text insertion according to your needs.

computer screen magnifier

The other buttons allow you to quickly invoke (Show) or close the magnifier (Kill) and to reset the zoom level (Reset). The Draw button invokes the snipping tool, allowing you to quickly grab a part of the screen and doodle on it. The type tool invokes Wordpad, so you can quickly get your point across by typing if you so need.

The following infographic (from the creator) sums up the functionality very well:

There is nothing much in the menus, except for a neat little instruction dialog that lets you quickly see how to access common features using the mouse. A well thought of app that AeroZoom is, there is also a version for people who use the mouse with their left hand. You can also access the source code within the “data” folder and customize certain aspects if you want to. I for one wanted Notepad for typing instead of Wordpad so I modified these lines to fire up Notepad.

AeroZoom is a nice little utility if you share your screen over the Internet or you need to demo an app or concept to an audience. The interface is intuitive and to the point. Just make sure you practice a couple of times before the big day!

Do you use another computer screen magnifier or any other specialized software which make presenting better? We would love to hear about them in the comments.

Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 17,000 fans already!

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Hot Tech Deals [May 9th]

Posted: 09 May 2010 01:30 PM PDT

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.

For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.

Image credit: Modified from Svengraph’s icon set

NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!

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10 Free MP3 Downloads From Upcoming Album Releases

Posted: 09 May 2010 12:31 PM PDT

free mp3 downloads The best things in life are free!

Our MP3 download series is written in the spirit of promoting artists and their work. This week’s post is dedicated to upcoming album releases. If you enjoy one of the featured bands, please consider purchasing their new record.

An alternative way of supporting musicians, and one I highly recommend, is attending their live gigs. For this purpose I posted Homepage and MySpace links where available. Please check out the tour dates.

The National – Afraid Of Everyone

Genres: indie rock

free mp3 downloads Afraid of Everyone is the fifth track from The National’s forthcoming album High Violet. This will be their fifth album, due to be released May 10th in the UK and May 11th elsewhere.

Until the worldwide release of High Violet, you can listen to it in its entirety via NPR. You can preview and download the song Afraid of Everyone at Pitchfork.

The National MySpace and Homepage.

Necro – DIE!

Genre: hip hop, rap

free mp3 albums The enfant terrible of rap, Necro, will release his new album DIE! on May 18th. The title track starts with an inspiring monologue:

In my lifetime I’ve died a few times. A couple of months ago I went out, they had to bring me back twice from death. Let me tell you something, when you die, you ain’t taking your wallet with you up there, you ain’t taking your underwear.

Download the song DIE! from Peace! Magazine.

Necro MySpace and Homepage.

Good Old War – That’s Some Dream

Genre: indie rock

free mp3 albums Good Old War Their self-titled second album is expected to be released on June 1st.

The acoustic song That’s Some Dream is available from their homepage. You can preview the track and select your choice of format for download.

Good Old War MySpace and Homepage.

Ratatat – Party With Children

Genre: electronica

free mp3 albums Ratatat is a electronic music duo based in New York City. The logical follow-up to their previous album LP3, released in summer 2008, will be LP4. The release date is June 7th in the UK and June 8th in the rest of the world.

You can download the track Party With Children from Drowned in Sound.

Ratatat MySpace and Homepage.

The Like – Fair Game

Genres: sixties, rock

free music The Like are four girls from southern California. Their sophomore album Release Me will be in stores on June 15th.

Go ahead to preview at and download the song from You Are The Music.

The Like MySpace.

Wolf Parade – Ghost Pressure & What Did My Lover Say

Genres: indie rock, dance punk

download free mp3 albums Wolf Parade hail from Montréal, Québec, Canada. During their 7 year history they have released two albums. Their new third album Expo 86 will be released on June 29th. To get a taste of their new work, you can enjoy two free tracks.

The songs Ghost Pressure and What Did My Lover Say can be previewed at and downloaded from HearYa.

Wolf Parade MySpace.

The Silver Seas – The Best Things In Life

Genres: rock, alternative

download free mp3 albums Their new album Chateau Revenge comes with its own website and is due to be released physically on July 6th. The digital pre-sale is on now.

I love the free track. Now if someone could please tell me what 80’s or 90’s song it reminds me of! It just sounds so familiar, but I totally love it.

Download The Best Things in Life from Spinner.

The Silver Seas MySpace and Homepage.

Margot & The Nuclear So & So’s – Birds & New York City Hotel Bules

Genres: indie rock, folk

download free mp3 albums Buzzard will not hit stores until early Fall of 2010. In the meantime you can preview two tracks and experience the new simplicity for yourself. The band has done away with excessive use of strings and horns from their previous work. It’s more rock and less pop.

You can preview and download the songs Birds and New York City Hotel Blues from Spinner.

Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s MySpace and Homepage.

What album release are you looking forward to? Anything we should watch out for?

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Nurph Creates An Instant Chatbox On Any Site

Posted: 09 May 2010 10:31 AM PDT

free chatbox Chatting has become something of a second nature to a lot of people. It’s cheaper than SMS or telephone, and still covers that mind-blowing distance.

However, people have a lot of problems thinking out of the box on this one. Quite literally. There’s always a need for preparation. Installing the right applications, building your network. It’s nothing compared to the freedom of real life, where you can bug almost anyone you walk into.

There’s a notable exception to this rule; website chat rooms. Although more common on smaller, amateur websites, chat rooms give that real-life feel to a website, giving ‘customers’ the ability to interact with their hosts, or fellow interested parties. Perhaps set-up and maintenance is holding website hosts back. Nurph takes that out of the equation as well.

Nur.ph

It’s incredibly easy to create a site-specific free chatbox using Nurph. You don’t even need server-side access! Allow me to explain how it’s done.

There are two ways to Nurph a website. First, point your webbrowser to the Nurph website. There enter the URL of a site – any site, even a YouTube video – and hit Go.

free chatbox

Nurph will open the specified site, and overlay it with a chat box. Notice that the URL points to a shortened nur.ph URL. Anyone visiting the website via Nurph, or following the shortened URL directly, will be able to access the chat box.

free chatbox

Nurph uses Twitter for sole identification, which is actually about its only real downside. If you don’t yet have a Twitter account, you’ll have to sign up before you’re able to use Nurph. On the other side, with the need for identification, this makes for an immediate moderation barrier.

Luckily, you don’t need to pass through the Nurph website every single time. To use the Nurph bookmarklet, add this link to your browser’s bookmarks bar. If you want to generate a chat box-ed URL, simply hit the bookmarklet while you’re on a webpage.

Personal & Business Uses

If you’re a website administrator or blogger, you can use Nurph to add a chatbox to your site. Even if you’re using GUI-side-only services like Blogger, Tumblr or Twitter. Simply generate the URL and put it on a prominent place on your blog, profile, or Twitter page.

Nurph also suggests making it into your homepage, so people have a chance of chatting with the website owner a couple times per day. Using a service like Nurph, and promoting your site through it, not only adds to user satisfaction, but can keep them on your site exponentially longer, and thus increase your ad revenue.

But there’s no way Nurph is only interesting for professionals. Users can Nurph other websites than their own and, if well-promoted, help you discover like-minded individuals. This is especially true for community websites and discussion forums.

Do you know any other free chatbox services similar to Nurph? Perhaps a great server-side engine for chat boxes? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

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