MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [August 8th]” plus 6 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [August 8th]
- Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends!
- Which eBook Reader Do You Use? [MakeUseOf Poll]
- Flashback: 3 Useful and Fun mIRC Scripts
- Hot Tech Deals [Aug 8th]
- 10 Free MP3 Albums To Download [Sound Sunday]
- Historious Takes Bookmarks To The Next Level
| Cool Websites and Tools [August 8th] Posted: 08 Aug 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. Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
    
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| Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends! Posted: 08 Aug 2010 07:31 PM PDT
Thank you, guys! NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!
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| Which eBook Reader Do You Use? [MakeUseOf Poll] Posted: 08 Aug 2010 06:30 PM PDT
With 553 votes counted: 20% of MakeUseOf readers head straight for the most basic text editor available on their machine; 15% use MS Word; 7% use OpenOffice; 13% use Vi; and 2% use Emacs. Another 43% went to other editors, with most favouring Notepad++, gEdit, jEdit, TextPad and Nano. Full results and this week's poll after the jump.
This week's poll question is: Which eBook reader do you use? There are many eBook readers on the market. We’re going to find out once and for all which ones are worth buying and what’s worth leaving on the shelf. Please let us know in the comments your main reason for choosing your favourite eBook reader, too. There’s so many to choose from – if there’s a good reason for or against a particular model, we definitely want to know! Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| Flashback: 3 Useful and Fun mIRC Scripts Posted: 08 Aug 2010 03:30 PM PDT
One of the most popular IRC clients, mIRC (which you can download here), allows you to load scripts into it that can be used for a variety of purposes. I’ve listed a few of those scripts here. Each has a completely different purpose, from showing computer statistics to playing trivia games to hosting file servers.
DarkEngine
The DarkEngine Script is useful for seeing your computer’s statistics, like how much hard drive space is free, your current uptime (and record uptime), and your current RAM and CPU use. Although there are other programs that can do this, DarkEngine is thorough and quick, and it can be used to easily compare your stats with other IRC users. To set it up, all you have to do is unzip the DarkEngine script files into the mIRC directory and then type /load -rs de4.mrc in mIRC. Now right-click on a blank space on the mIRC chat window and you’ll see a new option called DarkEngine DLL. Hover over it and you’ll see a long list of options; from here, you can choose the statistics that you want to be posted into the chat window you’re in. Tat’s Trivia Bot
Tat’s Trivia Bot is the best trivia bot for IRC. It comes preloaded with almost 8000 questions, so you’ll have to play it for a pretty long time before you run into any repeats; and it’s heavily customizable without requiring any messy text file editing. To set it up, first unzip the trivia bot files and move them into your mIRC directory. Then type /load -rs trivscript.mrc in mIRC. Now right-click in a blank space on the mIRC chat window and you should see a new menu option that says Trivia. Hover over it and then click Trivia Options. Now in the first tab under Channels at the top, you simply need to click Add and type the name of the channel that the trivia bot will be operating in.
And then you’re good to go. But you’ve probably noticed the sheer number of options available in that menu. You pretty much have control over everything, including the length of time between questions and hints, what answers will be accepted, and text colors used. Be sure to explore all of the options for awhile and choose the settings that are best for your game (don’t be afraid to experiment!). You can even write your own questions easily by adding them to the questions.txt file. For a less traditional (but fun) variation on trivia, I recommend writing questions pertaining to inside jokes that only regular visitors to the IRC channel could answer. SysResetSysReset is the most popular mIRC script that enables you to host a file server. You can use it to allow other users to download files from you. To set it up, you have to download either the full installation, which comes with mIRC; or, if you already have mIRC, the upgrade pack. After running the installer and opening mIRC, you should find an option called SysReset in the menu bar at the top. From that menu, select the first option, File Server Manager. Now go to the File Server Triggers tab. First, make sure you check the box under Trigger Global Settings, between Respond to: and !list. Then, in the Fserve Trigger List section, click Add. You will be prompted to type in a name for your file server.
Next you will be prompted to select a welcome file; you can skip this for now by clicking Cancel. Then you have to select the server root—the folder that you will be allowing users to access and download files from. Finally, return to the SysReset option on the menu bar and hover over Servers Active near the bottom. Select On from this menu. Now your file server should be ready to be used. To test whether it works, you should connect to a server and join a channel. Then type /server -m <server> -j <channel> to join the same channel as a second user. Now, if you type !list, you should receive a message containing the trigger that users have to type to access your file server. Copy and paste that trigger and hit enter.
If all goes well, a new tab should open and you should connect to the file server. Typing dir will list files and folders, cd <folder> will allow you to see the contents of another folder, and get <file> will start a download or place you in the queue for a download. SysReset has tons of features that you can customize. From the File Server Manager menu you can change your text colors, how many files can be downloaded at a time or be queued for download, and much more. Experiment a little and find out what works best for you. ConclusionIf you’re a long-time IRC user, you’ve probably encountered plenty of other mIRC scripts out there. What are some of your favorites? NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!
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| Posted: 08 Aug 2010 01:30 PM PDT
For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated. Keep reading to find out today’s Hot Tech Deals.
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| 10 Free MP3 Albums To Download [Sound Sunday] Posted: 08 Aug 2010 12:31 PM PDT
As always, if you find something you enjoy, please spread the word among your friends, buy the physical copy of the album, donate some cash, or go see the artist live. Thank you. Good Old Neon – Radiant CityGenre: pop, indie, ambient
Good Old Neon MySpace and Homepage. Severed Fifth – Denied by ReignGenre: metal, thrash, death metal
Severed Fifth MySpace and Homepage. ILL Vibe and Ordeal – Michael Jackson’s MilkGenre: hip hop, rap, lyrical
Ordeal MySpace. ILL Vibe MySpace. Sylvain the Librarian – Staff Only No VikingsGenre: pop, rock, folk
Sylvain the Librarian MySpace and Facebook. Mooma – Herd FormingGenre: ambient
A Great Big Pile Of Leaves – Have You Seen My Prefrontal Cortex?Genre: indie, rock, jazz
A Great Big Pile Of Leaves MySpace and Homepage. The Cast of Cheers – ChariotGenre: robot rock
The Cast of Cheers MySpace and Facebook. Tom Sinclair – 3Genre: alternative, ambient, minimalist
Tom Sinclair MySpace and Facebook. Beat Connection – Surf NoirGenre: pop, dance, indie
Beat Connection MySpace. Zalza – Back to the ChiplandGenre: chip music, electronica
Past editions of Sound Sunday can be browsed here. To have your music featured in an upcoming article, send me your link (tina at makeuseof dot com). Please use the comments to make requests or voice your opinion Your feedback is very much appreciated! Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| Historious Takes Bookmarks To The Next Level Posted: 08 Aug 2010 10:30 AM PDT
Most importantly, a limit in quantity. As the number of bookmarks increase, the overview of your bookmarks fails, and makes it harder to find anything. And so we end up with a mostly static list of ‘privileged’ bookmarks. The solution is called Historious. It’s an interesting mix of Delicious and Google, and maybe the next bookmarking revolution. HistoriousThe idea behind Historious is simple. Instead of storing bookmarks in folders, they’re all individually indexed; just like Google does with the whole of the internet, to create your personalized search world. This search engine, which can be used in every browser, across computers, allows you to search both by title and content of the indexed pages.
Historious might just be the future of bookmarks. It has the whole package; free, located in the cloud, and the general overview actually improves with an increase of quantity. While using this service, my bookmarks have surpassed the privileged (and static) two dozen websites, now growing with a couple of websites per day. How it worksHistorious works across browsers by bookmarklet. A bookmarklet is a (regular) bookmark that executes a bit of Javascript code. You’ll be able to add it to your bookmarks bar after you’ve completed (free) registration. Alternatively, there’s also a Google Chrome extension. This works exactly the same as the bookmarklet, and nothing keeps you from using the extension on one computer and the bookmarklet on another.
If you spot a page you’d like to historify, simply press the bookmarklet or extension button. The extension will briefly light up, where the bookmarklet will keep you informed of the indexing process (usually 2-3 seconds) with notifications, as can be seen below.
To search with Historious, simply go to
If you can see yourself in need of old-fashioned bookmarks, Historious also allows you to list all of your bookmarks, again looking like a search result. This option allows you to browse your bookmarks if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for. Importing and ExportingIt’s easy to import your existing bookmarks into Historious, although the process still has to be done manually. Simply point your browser to
Fortunately, you can also migrate your Historious bookmarks if you ever grow tired of the service by pointing your browser to What do you think of Historious? The future of bookmarks? Let us know your two cents in the comments below. Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!
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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 
Last week’s poll was 
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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.
The summer is passing fast as we are already one full week into August. Whether you’re enjoying your well deserved vacation or trying to get off of school or work fast to enjoy the sun, I hope you’ll take some Sound Sunday with you. This week’s mix slightly weighs towards ambient and electronic music.
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