MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [July 11th]” plus 7 more

Cool Websites and Tools [July 11th]
Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]
Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends!
Do You Prefer The iPhone or Android? [MakeUseOf Poll]
Paragon System Backup 2010 Giveaway Winners
Hot Tech Deals [July 11th]
10 Free MP3 Albums To Download [Sound Sunday]
4 Google Chrome Extensions To Improve Your Gmail Interface

Posted: 11 Jul 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!

Reader2Twitter – Many people use Google Reader to read their feeds. The service is user friendly and provides great access to your Atom and RSS feeds, whether online or offline. Imagine how convenient it would be if you could get your Reader updates on your Twitter account. That is possible through Reader2Twitter. Read more: Reader2Twitter: Automatically Share Google Reader Updates On Twitter.

		World Cup Factoids & History – Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. If you are a football fan, then you must already know a lot about football statistics. If you want to get even better at those statistics and impress your friends, check out "World Cup Factoids and History" iPhone application. Read more: Football World Cup Fact & History App For iPhone, iPod And iPad.

		TeenChatDecoder – As a parent, do you often wonder what those acronyms are that your teenager is typing when they go online to chat? Are you always worried about the things your kid is doing online? If you have answered yes to these questions, then Teen Chat Decoder is the right site for you. Read more: TeenChatDecoder: Know What Chat Acronyms & Abbreviations Mean.

		Soundzabound – is an online royalty free music database that lets you download MP3 music files which you can use in school projects or presentations. They are professionally produced and organized by theme or category. It also includes loops and sound effects so the collection is pretty vast. Read more: Soundzabound: Royalty Free Music Database.

		Skylight – There are a lot of project management web apps available today from the simple to the complex. One new web app that hopes to add a new approach to project management is Skylight. Skylight is a collection of online tools that provides a venue for project and resource managers. Read more: Skylight: Web-Based Tools To Simplify Your Business.

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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Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 07:45 PM PDT

Check out the top picks from MakeUseOf Geeky Fun during the last week.

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.

Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!

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Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends!

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 07:01 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!

Loon Design – Reliable Web Hosting

The guy who designed MakeUseOf theme. If you’re looking for a reliable web designer for an affordable rate make sure to check him out. We have been working with Kai Loon for over 1.5 years now and highly recommend him.

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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Do You Prefer The iPhone or Android? [MakeUseOf Poll]

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 06:30 PM PDT

In the last poll, we asked you “How many monitors do you have in your setup?” and now we’re ready to share the results.

It seems 40% of readers use two monitors – by far the most favoured response. Second most preferred set-up is for one monitor only, coming in at 27% of votes. Laptop users with an external monitor was next on the list and accounted for 15% of responses. A surprising amount of voters have a three monitor set-up, while a small but not insignificant number of you use four monitors. What’s really surprising is that there are more of you using six (or more) monitors than there are people using five. I’m intrigued – Please tell us what you’re doing with them all!

Today’s poll after the jump.

iPhone or Android?

This week, I want to try and answer one of the biggest questions of the year – iPhone or Android? We figure our readers are well versed in the pros and cons of each; you’re all informed consumers of these gadgets. You’re probably all too familiar with what makes an Android phone different.

Choosing between an iPhone or an Android phone is simple for some and incredibly difficult for others. We know some of you went with your gut, some chose the lesser evil, many sat in line waiting for one of the first models and others of you agonised at length with a spreadsheet to help you decide.

So, which one did you go with?

If you haven’t actually bought one yet, don’t worry. Just tell us what you will choose.

Now that we’ve started the holy war, feel free to let us know your reasons for your choice in the comments. Tell us what you really think!

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Paragon System Backup 2010 Giveaway Winners

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 03:30 PM PDT

You can never be “too safe” when it comes to backing up your data. Data loss is a serious and substantial problem.

So when Paragon Software wanted to run a giveaway for System Backup 2010, we grabbed at the chance to provide our readers with a truly simple way to back up their digital life.

Here are the 50 lucky winners who will win a copy.

Adam Ruggiero
Aksahy
Anne Wagner
Anthony
Antonio Kennedy
Azhar Madia
Bob James
Bobby O’Hearn
Brizika Bantawa Rai
Chips Chapman
Chris Ellison
Dan Wickersham
Daniel Ooi
Daniel Perez
Dave Knowles
Faizan Munir
Fauzan Azami
Howell Lee
Idris Kurtum
Jack Douglas
Jason Reid
Joseph Michael Daryl
Joseph Palmieri
Kari King
Kurt Pasewaldt

Linu George
Mariana Cristina Doleanu
Maxim Bibikov
Mehmet Onder
Mike
Mike Gray
Mike Henderson
Norine Forsyth
Osama Javaid
Pradeep
Rachel Jenkins
Robert Van Nortwick
Shiraz Haque
Shivakumar Narayanan
Stacy Jones
Stephen Yang
Stian Helnes
Thomas Bogan
Tim Dahl
Tommy Whalen
Vera Mann
Vic Limbo
Vincent Akonor
Wayne Smith
Wilfredo S. Capule

Congratulations! More information regarding your prize has been sent to your email address. Please check your inbox and/or your spam folder if it hasn’t arrived.

MakeUseOf would like to thank the Paragon Software team for their generosity while participating in this giveaway. Interesting in sponsoring? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us via email.

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Hot Tech Deals [July 11th]

Posted: 11 Jul 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 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

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10 Free MP3 Albums To Download [Sound Sunday]

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 12:31 PM PDT

where can I download free mp3s Friends of music, I welcome you to Sound Sunday! I hope you had a pleasant week with last week’s selection. Once again the time has come to update your mp3 player.

This week’s mix carries us across genres again. Starting with ambient rock from Jets Overhead, via Electronica from Moachin and Christian pop from Bryan Brown, we land at hip hop from Childish Gambino, better known as NBC’s Donald Glover.

Enjoy the ride!

Jets Overhead – Bridges

Genre: ambient, rock

Jets Overhead set their music free from Vancouver Island, Canada. The band has worked with Neil Osborne (54*40). Since their formation in 2003 they have toured cities in North America, Europe, and most recently China.

You can download their 2006 album Bridges from Bandcamp. The title track of their 2009 sophomore album, No Nations, is also available as a free download from Bandcamp.

Jets Overhead MySpace and Homepage.

Adam Greenhead – Fear Builds Walls

Genre: alternative, minimal, classical, experimental

British musician Adam Greenhead is a student of Music Performance at Leeds University. He discovered his passion for music at the age of 12, when he took singing lessons. You can help him gain fame and make his dream come true: the London Philharmonic Orchestra playing his compositions.

Adam’s album Fear Builds Walls is available from Bandcamp, no strings attached.

Adam Greenhead MySpace and Twitter.

AXB – Cause

Genre: instrumental, psychedelic, hip hop, black metal

AXB is Travis Hammond from Washington DC, USA. He is a graphic designer and apparently also a musician. Cause is his first record and it’s a crazy mix, just as the genres indicate. My personal highlight of the 20 track novel is Another Lazy Day, an upbeat piece that sounds vaguely familiar.

Download the album Cause for free from cdbaby. Registration required.

AXB MySpace and Homepage.

Moachin – And Another

Genre: electronica, techno, funk, experimental

Moachin calls a long list of artists his influence. From Hot Chip and Jamiroquai via Kraftwerk, Michael Jackson, 2Pac, and Rage Against The Machine to Mozart, almost all types and styles of music find a representation in his taste. He brings it all together to form his very sound.

And Another is available from Moachin’s Homepage. If you enjoy this one, you can download 11 more free albums from the same page.

Moachin MySpace and Homepage.

Exploding In Sound Presents… – In Case Of Evacuation

Genre: alternative, rock, grunge, shoegaze

Exploding In Sound is a web project managed by Dan Goldin. They present album reviews, interviews, news, videos, mp3 downloads, and a free compilation series. In Case Of Evacuation is their latest release. The 35 track album features artists such as Wintersleep, The Black Shades, Maps & Atlases, and many more.

Direct download the compilation from Bandcamp. From the Homepage you can also access previous releases in the compilation series.

Exploding In Sound MySpace and Homepage.

The 85bears Feat. Alex Exile – Tone & Volume

Genre: indie, rock, acoustic, folk, fusion, funk

My wild guess is that The 85bears picked their name in honor of the 1985 Chicago Bears team. Their music, however, is not tribute to the 80s. It’s as modern as could be. Tone and Volume is a 11 track album, containing 5 new songs, 5 Alex Exile remixes of older material, and a bonus track.

The free download of Tone and Volume is provided by NoiseTrade.

The85Bears MySpace and Facebook.

Krazy Race – Chronicles Of A Krazy Race

Genre: hip hop, latin, lyrik

In celebration of the Los Angeles Lakers winning their 16th NBA Championships in 2010, Krazy Race is giving away this free compilation album.

Download the album direct and free from Da III Spot.

Krazy Race MySpace and Homepage.

Bryan Brown – Shine

Genre: christian, pop, gospel

Bryan Brown’s music is easy listening in its purest form. While the lyrics contain way too much grease for an agnostic like myself, the voice and composition convinced me to share this album with all of you here. To be honest, I quite like it.

The album Shine is available from NoiseTrade.

Bryan Brown MySpace and Homepage.

Concord Ballet Orchestra Players – Palindromes

Genre: experimental, rock, avant-garde, psychedelic

The Concord Ballet Orechestra Players is a group of -/+ 10 musicians who originally formed to play a love tribute to Faust, a 70s krautrock group. This one-time event was followed by many more performances. At the end of this month the band is playing a free show in Boston, Massachusetts.

Palindromes can be downloaded from Bandcamp, no questions asked.

Concord Ballet Orchestra Players MySpace and Homepage.

Childish Gambino – Culdesac

Genre: rap, hip hop

Childish Gambino, also known as Donald Glover, is not an unknown man in the entertainment business. As an award winning writer for the NBC series 30 Rock, he has put his degree in Dramatic Writing to productive use. Cul-de-sac is an expression of Catalan origin that literally translates to “bottom of bag”. Hopefully, Culdesac is the opposite of a dead end for Glover.

You can download the album from its dedicated page. No input required.

Childish Gambino MySpace and Homepage.

Have you enjoyed this week’s selection? Please leave feedback and suggestions in the comments, it is much appreciated!

Artists, please note that you can submit your links and any information you would like me to share via tina at makeuseof dot com.

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4 Google Chrome Extensions To Improve Your Gmail Interface

Posted: 11 Jul 2010 10:31 AM PDT

Gmail is the most favored email address of nerds and computer experts. Although Gmail is an amazing service, it still has it’s quirks. And besides, there are a couple of features that you really don’t need, or have been wanting them to add for years.

Although these services aren’t usually hand-tailored, you can make them your own, and customize them with userscripts or by using browser add-ons.

Below are four of the best Google Chrome extensions, to better your Gmail experience!

Better Gmail (Unofficial)

This extension aims to remove a couple of Gmail discomforts, like ads and sponsor messages. You can choose to hide the footer, chat and the invite friends field to somewhat clean up your page. A couple of additional features, including an unread count in favicon, attachment icons and the ability to handle mailto links with Gmail by default, are also added.

The Firefox counterpart of this extension goes by the same name, and was made famous by Lifehacker. Better Gmail on Google Chrome can be considered an unofficial port of the idea; in essence, just a compilation of userscripts to improve upon your day-to-day Gmail experience.

Google Mail Checker Plus

If you’re like me, and feel like checking your email every 5 minutes, listen up. This extension adds a Gmail icon with unread count on the Google Chrome address bar. But, contrary to some alternatives, it also allows you to read those emails without having to open a new tab.

Additional features include desktop and sound notifications and – if you haven’t already installed Better Gmail – the association of mailto links with Gmail. Google Mail Checker Plus also allows you to monitor your own domain’s Google Apps email address.

Autopen Signatures

If you want to use rich formatting, images and HTML in general, Gmail’s default signature options do not measure up. In short, you’re going to need an extension. Autopen does all those things. After linking it to your Gmail acccount, it allows you to create different signature profiles using a rich-text editor.

But the reason why I recommend Autopen lies somewhere else. If you’re using only one log-in, but several Gmail addresses, Autopen automatically inserts the right signature when you’re composing an email with a specific email address. Once you’ve got those signature profiles set up, there’s no need to look back.

Gmail Sender’s Picture

If you’re a frequent visitor to blogs, you might already have a Gravatar set up. If you’re wondering, that’s a picture that’ll automatically appear next to your comments, associated with the email address you’re using. There are other systems in the ether that tie your email address to a picture – not in the least your Google account’s profile picture.

This extension tries to find such a picture for your correspondents, and adds them to the emails. This grants them a degree of personality, as well as give you another visual aid for quickly skimming your email.

Do you know of any other Google Chrome extensions that might improve upon your Gmail experience? Share them with us – and your fellow MakeUseOf readers – in the comments section below!

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Monday, July 12, 2010