MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [May 17th]” plus 9 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [May 17th]
- 10 Most Downloaded Software For Communications [Movers & Shakers]
- Join MakeUseOf on Twitter!
- 4 Free Websites For Finding Old Friends To Have a Reunion
- Hot Tech Deals [May 17th]
- Top 4 Sites To Access Your Favourite Links From One Page
- Make Choosing Music Part Of The Fun At Parties With Songvote
- Desktop Google Reader – An Awesome RSS Reader Which Syncs With Google
- The Top 9 Free Adventure Games Available Online
- Goodbye Mundane Tasks, Hello Hazel [MakeUseOf Giveaway]
| Cool Websites and Tools [May 17th] Posted: 17 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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| 10 Most Downloaded Software For Communications [Movers & Shakers] Posted: 17 May 2010 06:31 PM PDT
This week we will be looking at communication software. These are the apps that we use to connect with others, chat or email with our contacts (or strangers) as well as make phone calls via our computers. I use a bunch of these applications myself.
How do you connect with others using free software? We would love to hear about it in the comments! Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras. Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Posted: 17 May 2010 04:30 PM PDT
You’ll be notified everytime there is a new post on the MakeUseOf Blog, a web app review on the MakeUseOf Directory or something new on Geeky Fun. Plus, we would love it if you would re-tweet the posts and discuss them, so more people get to know about us and join our community. Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter Now Thank you! Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras. Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| 4 Free Websites For Finding Old Friends To Have a Reunion Posted: 17 May 2010 02:31 PM PDT
In the good old days, I would say that the chances were pretty slim. You could maybe search the telephone directory or take out a classified. Reunion parties were the best bet to meet the school friend who sat next to you in class. These options remain, but what has come to the rescue are social networking websites that make finding old friends for free very easy. Sites like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, or even a general people search engine have made searching out old friends easier than a needle in a haystack job. That is, if you manage to find your old friends in these sites.
With all our preoccupation with social places like Facebook and Twitter, we miss out on alumni sites that can lend a hand. Alumni sites are built around schools, colleges, and geographical areas. With this narrower focus, it's a place to be if you want to find an old friend or wait for someone to find you. Try these four out: Alumni.net
Alumni.net is a global alumni site with 5 million members from 102,000 organizations around the world. The site has been online for 16 years, so there's a good chance that you could locate someone in its database. Registration is free and is a 3-step process. In the last step, you get to search out and join an organization (school, college, company etc). The organization search can be made country-specific. You then get to drill down to the right one from all the results that are thrown up. The results are arranged alphabetically. Instead of giving a school or college name, you can search with a specific keyword that's unique for your institution. Once you are in, you can search for other members by name (also by maiden name), organization or location. Each organization also has a member directory. The Alumni.net Bulletin Board is another place to send out an SOS if you are searching for someone desperately. The one thing I disliked about this site is that it forces you to give extra information during the registration process, like job related information, so that a resume can be set up at a sister job site; or the necessity to invite at least two friends. Alumni.net is a global site with a huge list of schools, colleges, and organizations. That increases the chance of finding old friends for free online. Classmates.com
Classmates.com leans towards United States, Canada, and a few international locations. With 40 million members it is said to be a popular destination for alumni hunting. The site has a free Basic membership that lets you search for old friends in school, college, or the military. After you choose the institution, you are directed to the registration page. With a free membership, you can post your profile and search out friends. You can read the message board and read the chatter that's going on. You can check out the Events and Reunions page for anything that's upcoming. You can say a public hello that gets posted on your friend's bulletin board. You can also send an email, but the person has to be a paid member to read it. Though the Gold membership opens up all the tools, the free membership could be enough for picking up a trail on a lost friend. Batchmates.com
Batchmates.com is an India based website but it has a global membership. It is India's largest online alumni site with a membership of 2 million. Though small, the second highest membership figures are from the US. You can post your profile and search for your friends by name or institute or company. You can also go through the names of the members listed batch wise. If you get the right person, send out a personalized mail. Addresses are not given out by the site and access to each other is via Batchmates.com's email or a short note feature (Hi Note). It's also easy to setup your own network of friends once you have managed to search out a few. Friends Reunited
At Friends Reunited you start searching for friends with whom you have shared a common school, university, military service, workplace, club, or a street address. The 19 million member strong website is UK centric and covers a few other countries like South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong etc. You can search by name or go through member lists. The site allows you to send messages or use the Chat program to talk to anyone who is online. The site also gives you a Timeline to add your own events, add photos, videos, and comments. It's a nice way to share memories with your friends. Social interaction gets a fillip with Groups that are about common interests, like the recent elections in the U.K. Friends Reunited used to charge a small subscription but now finding old friends is free. The advantage of alumni sites is that you can search school friends who are profiled with their real names instead of hiding behind nicknames as on many social sites. Also, most of these sites have a maiden name field which is helpful when you consider that your female friends would have changed their names after marriage. Yes, the disadvantage remains that most of these websites are country specific or are populated with records from one. It really helps if your school, college, or institution has an alumni site of its own. Still, these alumni websites remain as web corners which could do with a search. We know that the search for a long lost friend could turn into an obsession. Try out these people searching clues from our archives too : 15 Websites to Find People on the Internet And do let us know of your preferred alumni site. Image Credit: soundfromwayout Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Posted: 17 May 2010 02:12 PM PDT
For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.
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| Top 4 Sites To Access Your Favourite Links From One Page Posted: 17 May 2010 12:31 PM PDT
One con is that after a while, your bookmarks can become hard to manage. Using a visual bookmarking website as your homepage is the best way to access favorites at hand for quick and easy access. Each of these services have their own unique added features, including RSS feeds, inbuilt search, tabs, groups, and bookmarklets for easily adding new bookmarks.
FavetopFavetop serves as a desktop for your favourite links, websites and media online. Using the website as your homepage would give you quick access to sites that you visit frequently. You can quickly populate your Favetop favourite websites with the recommended sites which include Bing, Google, Twitter, Amazon and Facebook, amongst many others. Going into the settings allows you to delete the sites you would prefer not to add to your front page. Alternatively, you can choose to manually enter each of the websites yourself.
Other than your favourite websites, you can also add your favourite online videos, photos, music, games and bookmarks to specific blog posts, articles and so forth.
You don’t actually have to sign up for an account to be able to add content to Favetop, but the same doesn’t go for deleting. If you want to be able to remove content from your page, you will have to sign up for a free account. You can also use Favetop to perform searches, choosing between Google, Yahoo and Bing as your search engine. GetwappsAfter signing up and activating your account, you’re ready to start setting up your own personal customised page on Getwapps. Using their setup wizard, you can select a few of your favourite websites or services, give the list a name, and then choose whether or not turn on your Meebo Bar to chat with friends using Facebook Chat, GTalk, AIM, MSN etc. Getwapps’ default homepage features a variety of websites they have chosen for you including Google, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, amongst others. The appearance is highly customisable, allowing you to change the title, and the image associated with the site, with the added ability of instantly taking a screenshot from the site without ever leaving your Getwapps page.
Getwapps’ main aim is to keep you organized with the ability to create as many lists as you want, featuring large buttons for each site. It also has a mini list in the right hand sidebar. One of Getwapps’ interesting features is the fact that you can search sites directly from within the button that appears on your homepage. If you want to be able to search Amazon, for instance, from within Getwapps, be sure to add Amazon using the Wapps Store.
Another similar website to Getwapps that deserves a mention is Only2Clicks. It has a very similar interface to Getwapps with the added bonus of tabbed pages, an iPhone interface, and a variety of skins to change the appearance of the entire page. Start.ioStart.io takes a minimalist approach, which will appeal to people who prefer a simple and uncluttered start page. You can create as many groups as you like, and add websites to those groups. Start.io also has an import feature, allowing you to import your bookmarks if you would prefer to use it as a starting point for all of the sites that you use, rather than just your favourites. Your links appear as a series of categorised lists.
Once you’ve got your links set up, you can choose whether or not to make your start page public or private, whether or not to open links in a new page, and to customize your background.
Start.io has a bookmarklet making it easy to add new websites to your Start.io webpage from the comfort of your bookmark bar. A coloured bullet point will appear next to any page which features new updates since you last visited it. 43Marks43Marks sets itself apart from the rest of this list by allowing you to add not only your favourite bookmarks, but also allows you to add your favourite RSS feeds.
Default bookmarks are added for you, which you can remove, as well as the categories themselves, including Email, Social, Photo, Movies and more. The appearance can also be customised by rearranging categories, changing the colours of each category, and the RSS feeds can be displayed as expanded or collapsed.
From your 43Marks homepage, you can search Google, Bing, Yahoo and Wikipedia, and can choose whether or not to share your 43Marks page publicly or keep it private. Do you have a special system for accessing your favourite websites? Let us know in the comments. Image credit: Ben Lancaster Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers! Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Make Choosing Music Part Of The Fun At Parties With Songvote Posted: 17 May 2010 11:31 AM PDT
Guests choosing music is an interesting idea, and Songvote actually does a good job of it. So without much ado, let’s get down to songvoting.
First of all, as with any new service, you have to go through the customary sign-up. Luckily for you, Songvote has a very pleasant (read short) sign-up experience. Once through with the sign-up confirm your identity by clicking on the activation email in your inbox.
Once you are done with verifying who you are, it’s time to let the fun flow. Go ahead and click the big, green “Start A Contest” button. As you can probably tell, a “Contest” is a means by which your invitees can tell you what they want to hear. You will now get to the following screen. Enter the details which Songvote wants from you. Here’s a small description of each:
Next to these options you will see some more options to customize your contest. These are shown below and are pretty self-explanatory. I filled in the form with something like “What Should Play At The Fictitious MUO Team Party?“, and entered corresponding details for the same. I also set the “Votes Per Person” to 3, so that people could have some flexibility with the voting. Thereafter, I nominated songs for the party which people could vote upon. Fill in an artist and a song, and click the arrow icon to search for songs from their database. Select your song from the results that show up. Once you are through with all the songs you want to add, add your invitees’ email addresses in the form on the left side.
Finally, click the big “Start Contest” button to finish creating your contest. An email will be sent to all those whose email addresses you put in. You will be redirected to your homepage from where you can check the status of your contest. Every time you check the status of a particular contest, you will be shown information about the contest, as well as the track in the lead. At the end of the contest, you should have a fair idea of what to play and what not to play at your party. The best part is that your guests would have nothing to complain about as it’s all a democratic selection! So go ahead and plan your next party playlist the social, democratic way!
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| Desktop Google Reader – An Awesome RSS Reader Which Syncs With Google Posted: 17 May 2010 10:31 AM PDT
One of the most popular RSS readers comes from the big G – Google – and provides a ton of interesting and unique features. The only downside? You can’t use it when you’re offline. Web based RSS reader apps might be the future, but the future isn’t here yet and every now and then you need desktop alternatives for those cool online web apps. Desktop Google Reader is one such software.
After the software is installed, go ahead and run it. It asks for credentials for your Google account that is associated with Google Reader. Once the login is successful, you are greeted by a familiar desktop email client-like interface. The feeds are listed on the left side, click on a feed and all the items in the feed are displayed in the top right pane. Clicking on any item in the top right pane opens up the complete feed content for that item in the bottom right pane. The interface thus is like the “List” view inside Google Reader, only you get to see the contents in the bottom right pane.
Initially it does take some time to sync all your unread items on to your desktop. To be fair, I do have a enormous reading list. After the initial sync, you can start using Desktop Google Reader in all its glory. In the left pane you have buttons to refresh feed content, mark all items as read, add or remove a feed and configure desktop Google reader. You can move through the items using arrow keys and then there are additional buttons within the bottom right pane to perform various actions on the item.
You can for example, like, share, email and tag the feed item. In addition to these Google Reader functions, you can also add the feed item to Read it Later or Instapaper to read them in your free time. Last but not least, you can of course tweet what you are reading, from the comforts of your RSS reader. Desktop Google Reader uses Chromium to render the contents of feeds which you can use to browse links in the feed’s content or you can simply hit the ‘Tab’ key to open up the post in your default browser.
Desktop Google Reader also displays notifications whenever a feed updates. You can read the headline and choose to visit the page by clicking on the appropriate button on the notification. In addition to all the features, Desktop Google Reader allows you to tweak its settings using the preferences dialog (accessible via the Preferences button in the menu).
The Preferences dialog lets you configure various aspects of the software. You can vary the refresh interval, choose how the summary is displayed or tweak what gets displayed on the notifications that pop up. In addition Desktop Google Reader lets you configure proxy servers as well as usernames and passwords for Read it Later and Instapaper all from within the Preferences dialog. Desktop Google Reader is a nice desktop client for Google Reader. The included social features are awesome and notifications can help you stay on top of updates and you can turn them off and minimize Desktop Google Reader to tray when you want to stay away from distractions. What’s best, you can access all your Google Reader feeds even when you are offline! Do you use desktop RSS readers? Which is your favorite? NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE! Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| The Top 9 Free Adventure Games Available Online Posted: 17 May 2010 09:31 AM PDT
Regardless, there are still many great adventure games being made today by talented video game developers. In no particular order, here’s a list of ten great free online adventure games you shouldn’t miss!
Dirty Split
Created by Dreamagination Entertainment, Dirty Split is a very high quality adventure that rivals many commercial games. You play a private investigator named Alan Baxter who is looking to solve the case of a plastic surgeon’s murder. Visuals are stunning and crisp, and the voice acting is spot on. Albeit it a little short, playing this is a great way to spend an afternoon. Sam & Max Episode 4:Abe Lincoln Must Die!
If you haven’t heard of Sam & Max, then you’re not an adventure gamer. It’s okay – don’t beat yourself up too much. Just go ahead and download the free fourth episode of Sam & Max: Season One. Sam & Max are known to have a great sense of humor, so if you like to laugh (and who doesn’t), you must play this game. This is also a good choice for new adventurers, because unlike some other games, the puzzles in this one aren’t too bad. The dialogue is hilarious and after playing the free episode, you may be tempted to buy the whole season. Hey… don’t blame me! Beneath a Steel Sky
A cult classic, this was a commercial game long ago, but is now available as a free online adventure game by using the ScummmVM engine. In the game your whole town is destroyed and you are captured. Fortunately, the helicopter you’re on crashes and you’re the only survivor. Considering its age, the graphics are nice and the gameplay is simple. At the time the game had a somewhat revolutionary system that allowed non-playable characters to go about their business in the game and interact with the environment. We’ve sure come a long way. To play, download the game from the ScummVM Extra’s section. Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy
Game developer Alasdair Beckett made this game for his girlfriend, but we all get to enjoy it too. Wonderful graphics are one thing you’ll notice in many of the games on this list and Nelly Cootalot is a good example. Nelly’s unique graphics are made by using an interesting hand-drawn and cutout style. Besides the art style, the gameplay is also in the classic style of LucasArts games and is very easy to get into. A Tale Of Two Kingdoms
Created just a few years ago in 2007, A Tale of Two Kingdoms by Crystal Shard is a great adventure you don’t want to miss out on. Graphics and gameplay are similar to the Sierra and LucasArt games of yesteryear. The world is quite large, but it doesn’t feel deserted as there are many characters in the game. One unique feature about this free online adventure game are the five different endings. I recommend you save your game frequently, as it is easy to make a mistake and you’ll be wishing you could go back in time. Flight Of The Amazon Queen
Another classic game with an Indian Jones 1940’s type of feel. If you like games with a silly storyline and a fun plot, be sure to check this one out. You play Joe King, a pilot with a wise mouth. Your mission is to rescue Faye Russell, a beautiful (of course) movie actress. Some others may need your saving as well… but I’ll let you discover that on your own. Some of the puzzles are a bit confusing but stick with it and you can get through it. Some aspects of the game aren’t perfect, like the interface, but overall the price is right and it’s a fun adventure. Another one courtesy of ScummVM, you can download it here. Emily Enough: Imprisoned
I’m including this game on the list for two reasons. One, it is a good game, so why not mention it? And two, it’s demented, just like many of us. In Emily Enough: Imprisoned, developed by Logan Worsley, you play a psychopathic little girl who has murdered her family. Why? Well, that’s what happens when you don’t buy her what she wants for her birthday. The graphics for this game are a bit drab, but it’s intentional as it helps set the mood. To get through this game, some of the puzzles will require you to think as a psychopath, so keep that in mind. I recommend this game, but only for those who aren’t easily offended and enjoy some dark comedy! Kingdom Of Loathing
So far, all the games on the list have been downloadable. But for those who are looking for a funny web-based adventure, look no further than Kingdom of Loathing. Since it’s online, you also have the ability to play with other real players. Originally released in 2003, the free online adventure game has continually been updated with more and more content. Although it lacks a focus on graphics (you should expect a lot of stick figures), the game makes up for it with wit and humor. You can choose from six classes when creating your character, each specializing in certain fields. Would you like to be a Disco Bandit, or perhaps a Seal Clubber? Whatever floats your boat. Be sure to check this one out. For more information about getting started, be sure to read Karl’s guide. Life Of D. Duck
I promise you have never played a game quite like this. For starters, let’s talk about the graphics. Do you have children? Have you ever seen the drawings from a child on a refrigerator? Those drawings basically sum up what you can expect to see in Life of D. Duck. The shining element of this game is its dialogue. You won’t be overly impressed by the graphics or the puzzles (which are neither too easy or too hard), but the story keeps it going. To me, it’s charming and simply funny. Besides playing the game, be sure to check out the additional content on the author’s web site for additional story-lines. Some of them are very compelling, such as when D. Duck gets stung by a bee. Wow. ConclusionThere are many great adventure games out there and it was difficult narrowing them down to nine. What would you have liked to see on the list? Do you have any suggestions for can’t-miss games? Please comment and let us know! Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Do share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Goodbye Mundane Tasks, Hello Hazel [MakeUseOf Giveaway] Posted: 17 May 2010 08:30 AM PDT
Hazel is your Mac’s personal housekeeper. It works quietly and cleverly in the background, completing the tasks which were set for it; using hardly any resources at all. This week, we’re giving away 10 licenses worth USD$220 in total. Find out how you can get one to make your life so much easier.
Then, for each folder and depending on their content; you will need to state a set of prerequisites that should be fulfilled. In the example below, I’ve set the pre-requisite to be video files. As long as a video file lands in this folder, it will automatically be transferred to my Movies folder.
I often download a tonne of RAR and segmented RAR files — and it’s a freaking hassle to extract them individually. Hazel takes all of that headache away. If a RAR file ever finds its way to the target folder, it will automatically be extracted — the original RAR files will be Trashed.
What if a target contains several folders? Do we need to add the same set of rules for every nested folder? Nope — Hazel is smart. All I need to do is add one more rule to dictate that if a folder is present, the rule should be run on its contents. As long as that rule is present, it doesn’t matter how many folder levels there are.
Besides that, Hazel can also keep your Mac spick and span by automatically emptying your Trash, removing associated files when you drag an application to the Trash, labelling and archiving old files, etc. To get a full list of Hazel’s features, visit its homepage.
I’ve used Hazel for a while now and I have to say that I’m glad I have it. Most of the menial task which I hate to do are already done for me. It’s perfect! How do I win a copy?We have just implemented a new giveaway form, please take the time to read the instructions. It’s still simple. Just follow the steps.
This giveaway begins now and will end on Friday, 21st May at 2100hrs PST. The winners will be selected at random and announced via email. Spread the word to your friends and have fun! MakeUseOf would like to thank Paul from Noodlesoft 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. Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras. Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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It's time once again for our featured 
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