MakeUseOf.com: “Win an Exciting Trip for 2 to New Zealand! [MakeUseOf Giveaway]” plus 8 more |  |
- Win an Exciting Trip for 2 to New Zealand! [MakeUseOf Giveaway]
- Cool Websites and Tools [May 23rd]
- Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends!
- How Do You Normally Watch TV? [MakeUseOf Poll]
- Forced Induction: How Intel Turbo Boost Works [Technology Explained]
- Hot Tech Deals [May 23rd]
- Sound Sunday: 5+ Free MP3 Downloads From Indie / Rock Bands
- Mubi: A Social Network To Watch Movies Online For Free
- Hazel Giveaway Winners
| Win an Exciting Trip for 2 to New Zealand! [MakeUseOf Giveaway] Posted: 24 May 2010 08:30 AM PDT
Yep, we’re serious – we’re sending you and a friend to New Zealand, and this trip is going to be awesome. Thanks to Grape Escape, a zozi-approved activity provider, you and a friend will get to spend an entire week touring the North and South Islands – think VIP wine tours, food tastings with top chefs, a boat cruise in Pelorus Sound, and of course plenty of time to bask in the local scenery while taking all the photos that your digital camera can handle. Reckon you need a break? Find out how you can enter to win this $10,000 trip.
What’s included?
After the winner is chosen, the good folks at zozi will take over – personally contacting that lucky person (you!) and providing support for travel arrangements, documentation and the like. The zozi team has been organising giveaways like this for a while and they know a thing or two. So you’ll be in good hands. How will I get there?zozi has generously offered to pay up to $2000, which will cover most of the flight expenses needed to get the winner and a friend to the land of the Kiwi. Where will I be staying?Depending on where you’ll be at the time, you will be hosted by glamorous hotels and serene retreats. No expense spared! What exactly will I be doing?Besides enjoying yourself? Grape Escape has a planned itinerary on their site, detailing the activities you’ll be undertaking during the trip.
How do I win this trip?It’s simple. Just follow the steps.
This giveaway begins now and will run for a month, ending on Friday, 25th June at 2100hrs PST. So sign up, tell your friends, and get your camera ready – you’re going to need it. The winner will be selected at random and announced via email. MakeUseOf would like to thank David Duchen from zozi for his generosity while participating in this giveaway. Interested 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 20,000 fans already!
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| Cool Websites and Tools [May 23rd] Posted: 23 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. NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE! Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends! Posted: 23 May 2010 07:31 PM PDT
Thank you, guys! Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Do share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| How Do You Normally Watch TV? [MakeUseOf Poll] Posted: 23 May 2010 06:31 PM PDT
Maybe now more of you will realize that there is a mobile optimized site for reading MakeUseOf on the go. 17.8% of you said you use the mobile MUO site occasionally and 16% of you said you use it all the time.
You can see the full list of responses from last weeks poll below:
This week we are trying to find out how you watch TV. So without further ado here is the poll and we would love it if you would answer for us. Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras. Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Forced Induction: How Intel Turbo Boost Works [Technology Explained] Posted: 23 May 2010 03:31 PM PDT
If you do decide to overclock, or you ever speak to someone who regularly overclocks processors, you’ll discover a dirty little secret – the clock speed a processor ships at is typically much lower than the actual maximum clock speed which the processor could achieve.
At least, that is how processors used to be. However, Intel’s new Core i5 and Core i7 processors have a feature called Turbo Boost which has the ability to dynamically scale up the clock speed of a processor depending on the thermal headroom available. How Intel Turbo Boost WorksIntel Turbo Boost monitors the current usage of a Core i5 or i7 processor to determine how close the processor is to the maximum thermal design power, or TDP. The TDP is the maximum amount of power the processor is supposed to use. If the Core i5 or i7 processor sees that it is operating well within limits, Turbo Boost kicks in.
Turbo Boost is a dynamic feature. There is no set-in-stone speed which the Core i5 or i7 processor will reach when in Turbo Boost. Turbo Boost operates in 133Mhz increments and will scale up until it either reaches the maximum Turbo Boost allowed (which is determined by the model of processor) or the processor comes close to its maximum TDP. For example, the Core i5 750 has a base clock speed of 2.66GHz but has a maximum Turbo Boost speed of 3.2GHz. However, Intel still advertises these processors by their base clock speed. This is because Intel does not guarantee that a processor will ever hit its maximum Turbo Boost speed. I have yet to hear of an Intel processor which can’t hit its maximum Turbo Boost speed, but hitting the maximum Turbo Boost is dependent on workload – it won’t happen all of the time. Why Turbo Boost RocksDespite Turbo Boost’s lack of predictability, it is still an excellent feature. It provides a solution to the problem of compromising between dual and quad core processors. Before Turbo Boost the choice of purchasing a dual core or quad core processor was a compromise. Dual core processors were clocked faster than quad core processors simply because having more cores increases power consumption and heat generation. Some programs, like games, favored dual core processors, while other programs, like 3D rendering software, favored quad cores. If you used both types of applications you had to make a choice about which was most important to you. You couldn’t receive maximum performance in both from a single processor. Turbo Boost gets rid of this compromise. If you use the Core i5 750 in a 3D rendering application it will probably only operate at its base clock speed because all four cores will be used. However, if you use the Core i5 750 with a game which only needs two cores – presto! – the third and fourth cores go into a low power state and the two cores you’re actually using are running at a clock speed as fast as what you’d expect from a standard dual core processor. The Future of Intel Turbo Boost – And AMD’s ResponseTurbo Boost is a great feature, and it is part of the reason why Intel’s latest processors are often superior to those from AMD. However, there is still more potential to be tapped. By the end of 2010 Intel will have released ultra-low voltage Core i5 and i7 processors for laptops. These processors will use Turbo Boost as a way of improving battery life. For example, Intel will be releasing a processor called the Core i7 620UM. This processor has a base clock speed of only 1.06GHz. However, it has a maximum Turbo Boost of 2.133 GHz. What we will end up with is a processor which will run at only the base clock when on battery but can double its speed when plugged in.
Intel’s success with Turbo Boost has not gone unnoticed by AMD, however. With the release of the six-core AMD processors, such as the Phenom II X6 1090T, AMD has introduced a similar feature called Turbo Core. Turbo Core isn’t as advanced as Intel’s Turbo Boost, but it is a clear sign of the direction processors will be taking in the future. It appears the days of set-in-stone processor clock speeds are over. The future will be about changing a processor’s performance on the fly to meet the demands of the user. Did this article help you understand more about Turbo Boost and why you need it? Still not sure about something? Go ahead and get it answered in the comments. Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers! Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Posted: 23 May 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 We NEED Your Comments!!! Please do share your thoughts in article comments. Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Sound Sunday: 5+ Free MP3 Downloads From Indie / Rock Bands Posted: 23 May 2010 12:31 PM PDT
Join us for some awesome indie rock tunes from We Are Scientists, Desert Radio, Bear in Heaven, The Cat Empire, and The Big Sleep. Check out the MySpace and homepage links for tour dates and album release dates of the featured bands.
We Are Scientists – Rules Don’t StopGenres: rock, indie
Download the song Rules Don’t Stop from RCRD LBL. We Are Scientists MySpace and Homepage. Desert Radio – February DayGenres: rock, americana
Desert Radio MySpace. Bear In Heaven – Lovesick TeenagersGenres: rock, indie, experimental
Preview and download the song from last.fm. At last.fm you can also download a free copy of Wholehearted Mess. Bear in Heaven MySpace and Homepage. The Cat Empire – Beyond AllGenres: rock, indie, ska
The Cat Empire MySpace and Homepage. The Big Sleep – LaddersGenres: rock, indie
You can download the demo song Ladders from the band’s homepage. The Big Sleep MySpace and Homepage. Did you discover a great free track? Or would you like to share your own music with the rest of us? Please email me (tina @ makeuseof dot com) or leave a comment with a link. Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf fan page on Facebook. Over 17,000 fans already!
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| Mubi: A Social Network To Watch Movies Online For Free Posted: 23 May 2010 10:31 AM PDT
These are the driving questions that led to the invention of “The Auteurs”, now known as Mubi. They’re good questions, too. I tend to think it’s best to watch movies online for free when you’ve got a few hours to spare and nothing better to do. Once you realise this is the situation you’re in, the process of getting a good movie to watch online shouldn’t need to take too long. This site mixes a social network with on-demand movies in a way which will keep you entertained for quite a while.
This brings us to another defining aspect of Mubi. What makes a good movie? As they say, popular doesn’t always mean good. Mubi is partnered with the Word Cinema Foundation, Celluloid Dreams, The Criterion Collection, Costa Films and supported by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. The plan here is to be able to provide viewers with a wide selection of quality independent and classic movies on-demand. I think they’re on to something here.
The social aspect makes finding movies to watch a real treat; you can explore movies by browsing the forums, looking at people’s lists or viewing a person’s favourites. But mix that in with a few curated and best-of options and we have an incredible amount of ways to find new movies in the system. Then either review the movie, save it for consideration later or watch it straight away. Some movies are free, while others cost money. Mubi can also be linked to Twitter or Facebook if you’re keen to share your activities.
The Films/Watch/New tabs provide easy access to new movies to watch. They’re basically three different ways of accessing the movie list: Top films, films available to be watched in your area (yes, distributors still have some control), and the films “most wanted” to be watched by Mubi members.
Mubi’s movie list page allows users to be curators of movies and of other people’s movie lists. It’s a gold mine for exploration.
The curated areas are even more interesting. The festival section lists a handful of top film festivals and features movies playing at those festivals. Watch films currently playing at Cannes or the most recent Sundance festival. These festival pages also collect and display related forum posts, so you can easily join the conversation.
The Notebook tab provides a blog of professional movie reviews and cinematic news. It’s yet another great way to find new movies and to generally keep up with film releases.
A new feature of Mubi (which doesn’t yet seem to have an easy-to-find tab) that is truly fantastic is the cinema. Through partnerships, Mubi is sometimes able to offer specific movies for a month or so of screening. They’ve collected these as a sort of online film festival and made them available through their cinema page. Again, sometimes they’re free and sometimes they’re not. It’s worth having a look all the same. June 2010 has a cinema collection curated by Martin Scorsese showing free movies from the World Cinema Foundation. And how’s this for a vote of confidence? Martin Scorsese is actually a member of Mubi.
Another hidden gold nugget is a best of the decade list, with best posters, best movie lists and sub-lists by genre. Not to be missed if you’re hunting for movies.
Mubi has also put a lot of work into the quality of their streaming, which is available through any browser so that you don’t need to download specific programs. My experience with the player so far has been great.
Oh yeah, why Mubi? I have a scary suspicion it’s something to do with Clerks II (kidding!). There seems to be a lot of controversy over the new name, but it seems it’s here to stay.
What do you think of Mubi (a.k.a. The Auteurs)? Is an independent cinema social network something you have dreamed of for years? What do you think of the name change? Let us know what you think. Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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| Posted: 23 May 2010 10:00 AM PDT
Congratulations! Your licenses will be sent via email. Watch out for our next super mega giveaway — we’re offering a 7-day trip to New Zealand! 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. Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Do share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. Similar MakeUseOf Articles
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Why can't you watch ‘In the Mood for Love’ in a café in Tokyo on your laptop? Why is it so hard to meet people who share the same love for Antonioni? Wouldn't it be great to instantly send Tati's ‘Playtime’ to a friend if you think they needed it? Why do films on the internet just look awful? Why are we talking as if we were John Cusack in ‘High Fidelity’?
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