MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [October 4th]” plus 18 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [October 4th]
- Join MakeUseOf On Twitter!
- Sync, Backup & Encrypt Your Files With Toucan [Windows & Linux with Wine]
- BitTorrent Etiquette: How To Avoid Getting Banned From Private Trackers
- Hot Tech Deals [Oct 4th]
- 2 Easy Ways to Create a Social Network
- Create Your One-Stop Virtual Business Card with DooID
- The Office Worker’s 101 Guide to a USB Thumb Drive [Download]
- 10 Extensions for Playing Distracting Online Games on Chrome
- Hack Together The Ultimate Phone System With OpenVBX
- The World’s Fastest NTFS driver for Mac OS X [Giveaway]
- Cool Websites and Tools [October 3rd]
- Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends!
- Are You Aware Of The MakeUseOf Newsletter? [MakeUseOf Poll]
- 10+ of the Best Amateur Viral Videos on YouTube
- Hot Tech Deals [Oct 3rd]
- 10 Free MP3 Albums To Download [Sound Sunday]
- Instant Jam – Innovative Social Music and Rhythm Game on Facebook
- Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]
| Cool Websites and Tools [October 4th] Posted: 04 Oct 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!
    
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| Posted: 04 Oct 2010 07:31 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.
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| Sync, Backup & Encrypt Your Files With Toucan [Windows & Linux with Wine] Posted: 04 Oct 2010 04:30 PM PDT
MakeUseOf has featured a collection of backup software for Windows, Mac, and Linux. When backing up to additional locations, you probably also want to secure your files to ensure your files stay safe, whether in Windows, Linux, online, etc. To combine it all, Toucan is a portable and open-source syncing utility that also backups up and encrypts your data. Sounds like a neat combination, right?
The user interface is pretty straightforward, with the upper portion dedicated to rules and options, while in the lower portions, you can see the files and folders selected. Save Recurring Jobs & RulesYou can set names for rules to exclude files based on name or file size (for more, see below), that you can also use in addition to the different modes for each function (sync, backup, secure, etc.) If you go through copying, syncing or backing up jobs that you might need to repeat in the future, you can give a name to this specific job and reuse it later on. To exclude files and folders, go to the Rules tab, click on the disk icon to save a new rule and in the dialog box that appears, give the rule a name. Now you can click on the + icon on the right side and type either:
You can choose to apply rules to files and folders (which will exclude all sub-folders as well). Any time you need to modify the rule, double-click on it, and you’ll get the Add Dialog box to exclude files, folders or locations.
Toucan As A Syncing UtilityThere are 5 synchronization modes:
In my test, Toucan was incredibly speedy copying 4 changed files. Toucan As A Backup UtilityThere are 4 modes you can use:
You can select from 6 different compression levels, where 1 is no compression and 6 is the most compressed level which takes more time to produce the “Ultra” small file.
As Toucan was partly built from the source code for 7-Zip, you can pick the backup file extension from either .7z (produces small files at a faster rate than .zip files), the standard .zip format (which can be used in major operating systems), and .gz (usually for Linux). EncryptingAs Toucan was partly build using source code from the open-source command line encryption utility ccrypt, it uses 256-bit AES encryption to encrypt on the file level. The Toucan documentation states that it differs from TrueCrypt in that it doesn’t install a driver on the system, and that you can encrypt files after you save them in Toucan. Encrypted files you select on the Secure tab will have the .cpt file extension.
You can also use it to decrypt .cpt files. General Tips
As you can see, Toucan can be a handy tool to sync, backup and encrypt everything to your USB drive. Do you prefer to use separate applications for syncing/backing up and encrypting your files, or would you consider using this utility? Please share your insights in the comments!
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| BitTorrent Etiquette: How To Avoid Getting Banned From Private Trackers Posted: 04 Oct 2010 02:30 PM PDT
A majority of you will have downloaded torrents in the past from public sources such as The Pirate Bay. There's also a whole world of private trackers out there, and a lot of rules to go with each. For the survival of the community, and to preserve your account, you will need to adhere to their rules. If you're looking for some private trackers to get you started, try TrackerChecker and check out our article about finding open trackers. Ratio WatchData transfer on private trackers is monitored per user and more often than not, you will have to maintain a sensible ratio to avoid losing your download privileges. Your ratio is determined by the amount of data downloaded and uploaded.
A ratio of 1 indicates that you have downloaded and uploaded in equal amounts, and this is enough to keep any private tracker happy. Don't worry though, most trackers won't expect you to keep a pristine ratio – just enough to ensure you're contributing to the community.
Many trackers will also monitor for hit and runs, whereby a user downloads a torrent without sufficiently seeding it. It is not uncommon for a tracker to demand a minimum seeding time after your download has completed, so make sure you check the rules. Torrent ClientsCertain trackers will take a stand against known "bad" clients, and users can be banned if they are found using them. Nearly every private tracker I have had the pleasure of using has accepted uTorrent, though this is often version-specific. Clients with known bugs and exploits, such as BitTyrant which give you an advantage over other users are frowned upon, so it's always worth checking before you change client.
If you're not fond of uTorrent and are looking for a cracking client that's not likely to get you banned, check out Deluge (Windows/Linux/Mac) and Transmission (Linux). Multiple AccountsIf you think you're going to download the whole internet by registering a couple of accounts at a time then you're going to run into problems. Multiple accounts on most private trackers are a strict no-no.
This also applies to multiple accounts on the same IP. Those of you who live with other like-minded geeky torrent freaks might have to come to some sort of arrangement. In order to minimize abuse, many trackers will enforce this one. So if you're a student or living in shared-accommodation, bear this in mind. Uploading TorrentsIf you think you've got something awesome that the whole world absolutely has to see then maybe you should create a new torrent. If you've never done this before we've got an excellent guide about doing it using Transmission, and the process is fairly uniform regardless of client.
Be sure to provide enough information and create a decent description for your new torrent. Adding screenshots, links to reviews, embedding YouTube videos and providing technical details and logs are all likely to encourage people to download. Once you've created your torrent, you should download it and point your client to the files on your computer. After the files have been checked, you should be the only seed. Don't forget that the more people that download your torrent, the better your ratio will get. Just be sure to keep seeding! Common SenseSome private trackers are super-secret, others have a user limit imposed and most are just trying to stay out of trouble. Remember that it's never a great idea to go shouting about your arsenal of resources. Be especially careful when using services like Delicious and iGoogle. Lastly, don't be a dick. If someone uploads something you happen to like, click the thanks button. If there's a forum, say hi. If a tracker has a list of requests to fill then see how you can help out. You'll be a highly respected torrent master in no time. Do you have any advice for the private tracker newbie? What's your favourite torrent client? Do you play by the rules? Why not leave a comment below. Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to share our articles with others! It’s really important to us.
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| Posted: 04 Oct 2010 01:15 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.
Image credit: Modified from Svengraph’s icon set Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| 2 Easy Ways to Create a Social Network Posted: 04 Oct 2010 12:30 PM PDT
Sign for a free account on SocialWok or Shout’Em and you’re just steps away from your very own private social network.
SocialWokSocialWok’s integration with Google services, from documents, to notes to maps, makes it the ideal choice for Google fans. You can sign in with your Google or Google Apps account, but if you use your Google Apps account, you can only invite people from the same domain name. Using a Gmail address has the same effect but allows you invite anyone who has a Gmail address.
Status updates can be accompanied by links, files, notes, Google documents, events and locations. You can also address a status update to a person in your network, or mention them in your update, using the same method as Twitter, with the @ sign.
If you want to share specific status updates from SocialWok on other networks, you can do so after it has been posted by clicking ‘publish.’ You can publish directly to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Google Buzz.
SocialWok allows you to choose when to be notified of activity in your social network through email or through Google Talk.
An interesting SocialWok feature is the ability to create ‘Feeds.’ This gives the service a great way to keep network updates organized, which is useful when working on a project in which you can share ideas and files.
Not only can you broadcast to other networks from SocialWok; you can also import feeds from Twitter, Facebook, and any site with an RSS feed, but be warned, putting in an RSS feed to your blog will flood the timeline with your most recent posts.
Keep up to date with your network on the go using the iPhone and Android apps, or simply visit their site from your mobile phone. On your desktop, you can keep up to date using Seesmic. And if you’re using the web version, SocialWok updates itself in realtime so there’s no need to refresh the page to see new messages from your friends. Shout’EmIf you don’t want to be tied down by a domain name, Shout’Em is better suited to your needs. The service is feature rich and highly customisable. Signing up for a Shout’Em account will allow you to join as many Shout’Em networks as you want to. After you register for a free account on Shout’Em, you can then go on to create your network. Choose the network’s name, link, and customise it to your heart’s content.
You can choose the theme, the character limit for status updates, allow link and photo attachments, enable location features, and much more. After you’ve created a social network, you can also go back and change these settings later.
If you’re a Facebook or Twitter user, connect your accounts so that you can selectively update all 3 networks simultaneously.
Each status update can be accompanied by location checkins, photos, videos and much more.
Adding friends to your social network is made easy, searching for friends who have Shout’Em accounts through through Facebook, Twitter, Gmail or just invite whoever you want to via email. If you want to open up the social network to a large public audience, simply broadcast the URL and anyone can sign up.
Stay up to date with the social network using Twhirl, or on the go using their iPhone, Blackberry or Java app. Android users will be happy to know that there’s an app in the works.
Have you created your own private social network? Let us know how you did in the comments. Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| Create Your One-Stop Virtual Business Card with DooID Posted: 04 Oct 2010 11:30 AM PDT
Setting up a personal DooID page/virtual business card is fairly easy, and it offers a nice range of customizing tools for both its free and pro accounts. Menu Bar & Business DataThe best way to set up your DooID page (after registering for your account) is to work down the DooID menu bar or tabs — providing your profile data, web services, layout style, and add-ons.
In setting up your profile, you get the option to make some data private.
However, your private information can be accessed by a password, which visitors to your site can request via a popup window, or by you sending the password directly. Another nice feature is that you can set the language for your page, for English, Español, or Deutsch. Social Networking SitesSimilar to other Web 2.0 sites, DooID.com enables you to add a couple of dozen website services to your page, including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Formspring, Skype, Wordpress, and YouTube. You can of course, add any other website or RSS feed not on the list of services. Layout and StyleFor the free account option, DooID.com offers three page layouts options. You can customize the style of these pages, including changing the title fonts and wallpaper, and colors for text, background, links, and title. You can also upload and use a photo background (see final screen shot in this article).
SharingAs you might expect, DooID.com provides a very easy and quick way to share your DooId page via various social networking sites, as well your unique URL. Click the DooID Quickshare button at the bottom of your page.
Add OnsYou can also include additional data to your page such as a map, video bio, and an email signature (these are the free account options).
The Video Bio feature is a great add-on allowing you to talk directly to your potential clients and contacts. Check out our MakeUseOf article, "How to Shoot Your Own Promotional Marketing Video," for tips on producing a video bio. At any time during the layout process, you can preview your page to see how it will look in its public release. All the changes and additions you make, update very smoothly in a few seconds. V-CardAnother unique feature is that visitors to your page can download your pertinent information in a V-card format, which can be added to their computer address book.
View PageYou will no doubt want to spend some quality time customizing and tweaking your page. What's great about DooID.com is that, like Flavors.me, you don't need to know a bit of CSS or HTML code in order to build your page. All that is done for you in background. With a DooID page, you're providing a lot more information about you and your services that can't possibly be printed on a traditional card. And unlike your business card, you can update your virtual business card anytime you want.
So what do you think? Is this a service you would use? If you get a chance to create your own DooID page, please come back and share it with us on MakeUseOf. Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| The Office Worker’s 101 Guide to a USB Thumb Drive [Download] Posted: 04 Oct 2010 11:02 AM PDT
Flash drives today are not just about storing your important files: you can use them to run programs and even entire operating systems. In MakeUseOf's latest free PDF guide "The Office Workers Guide To A USB Thumb Drive" you will learn the full potential of what you can do with flash drives and what type flash drive is right for you.
This guide covers everything you need to know about flash drives and how to keep your data safe and secure. Inside, you will also find:
If you own a USB Thumb Drive, this is a must-read guide for you.
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| 10 Extensions for Playing Distracting Online Games on Chrome Posted: 04 Oct 2010 10:30 AM PDT
So, to find them on the browser makes it seem almost unremarkable. Chrome's extensions have taken their place on Google's browser. With the arcade of game extensions on offer, Chrome can be turned into a quick no-hassle game console. Of course, don't expect to find processor-guzzling, gigabyte-churning games via these extensions. The online games supplied with the help of these extensions are more in the time-waster mould – simple and quick play.
Game Button
Play a large number of games in a large number of categories. Choose from the likes of Action Games, Driving Games, Casino and Card Games, Games for Girls etc. The Chrome extensions points to the FreeGames Toolbar website. You can play directly from your browser, without the need to type in a URL. New games are accessible with the Game Button as they get released on the main website. JoyRack Games
Whack as many groundhogs in 25 tries. That's one of the games that opens up when you click on the extension that points to games from JoyRack.com. You can choose from action games (e.g. 3D Space Hawk), racing games (e.g. Snowboard Challenge), classic games (e.g. Magic Balls), sports games (e.g. Mini Golf) and more. On Chrome, you have to do a fair amount of work to choose the games as they are displayed randomly. You can play the game in a mini-window or on the JoyStack website. You can also install a couple of standalone extensions that let you play games like Chess and Tic-Tac-Toe. OMGPOP (Online Multiplayer Games)
Omgpop.com is a multiplayer game site played by other online members over a network. The 16 odd free games are available from the extension button. With some games, you can also choose to play alone. But the best way is to invite a friend over. You don't need to sign-in to play the games, though a sign-in preserves your score for the leaderboard and maintains your gaming profile. The Chrome extension leads to the website which is slickly designed. Classic Games
Click on the Chrome game extension button and you can choose to play any of the nine available classic games in the little browser window. Helicopter, Pacman, and Max Dirt Bike should be familiar oldies for game lovers. Strangely (and ironically), I couldn't get the World's Hardest Game to open. McDonald's Manager Game
As a McDonald's manager, you have to manage the entire business cycle of the company starting from buying pastures for the cattle to running a fast food joint. The operations mimic how a McDonald's manager is supposed to function. The objective as always is to make some virtual profits. Avalanche
Use just the arrow keys to help the little sprite avoid getting head blasted by the falling icicles. You can also switch on the background music. The game is actually more difficult than it looks. You can also submit your scores and see if you are anywhere on the leaderboard. Snake
I don't need to say anything about this game. We all know about it. Choose between hard and easy and use the arrow keys to move the snake around to gobble up the block. Games are also auto-backed up when you close the game window. Chrome MineSweeper
Another classic with nice graphics. You can play it in three 'sizes' – small, medium, and large. Score and watch yourself on the timer. The game allows you to pause in the middle of a game. Mini Golf
If you can't get away to the green on a busy day, take the help of your mouse and run up scores that are par for the course. Mini Golf can be played just with the mouse and its left button.
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| Hack Together The Ultimate Phone System With OpenVBX Posted: 04 Oct 2010 09:31 AM PDT
These services are basically ‘phone systems in the cloud’ – they allow incoming and outgoing calls and text messaging via an interface for programmers called an API. While very flexible and powerful (you can see the full capabilities on their site), I haven’t seen an ‘easy’ way to replace the traditional full featured phone system – until now.
However, since it is open sourced it is trivial to update the code to work with other providers such as Teleku or anyone else who has an API compatible with Twilio’s Markup Language. I hope to see a standard emerge which would allow OpenVBX to be compatible with any number of telecommunication providers. Installing OpenVBXThe first step to installing OpenVBX is to download the source code and upload it to your web hosting provider. Bring up the URL you installed it to and you will be able to see if your web host is compatible with the OpenVBX software.
In my case I needed to change the permissions of the config and upload directories to 777 to make them writable for the web server. Other than that my web hosting configuration was compatible. Next you will need to configure your database with the options from your web hosting provider, and enter some more details about the email address the system should use and also the initial user login information. The final information you will need to add is the Account SID (Security Identifier) and Token (Password) from the Twilio main Dashboard. These tie your OpenVBX install with your Twilio account, or if you have modified the code to work with another API you would need to enter your information from there.
After this process you should have completed the install and be forwarded to the login screen. Login with the information you just used. The first stop is adding a telephone number that you want the system to call to.
This number will be used throughout the system. Make sure to add any other phone numbers that you might want your system to call including any landlines, cell phones, Skype or SIP numbers. This is where things get fun! Setting Up Call Flows
The OpenVBX call “flows” setup is ingenious. It allows you to specify what you want to happen when a phone call comes in, in any number of situations. The basic options are a call menu (press 1 for…), dial a number, send to voicemail, conference call, say a greeting, send an SMS or hangup. These flows operate depending on how you want the customer to proceed after they call or text into your number. For example if you want them to press a number to dial a certain extension, you select the Menu box on the right and drag it over to the left. It will then open that panel and prompt you to enter:
From there, you can build out a menu system or have it perform any number of actions. One example is that you can have a voicemail box or simply a greeting or message that you want to say to them. Messages to callers can be entered in a number of ways. The first is that you can simply type the text in and it will be converted to voice by computer. The voice isn’t exactly natural but I found it sufficient to get your message across. The other options are uploading an mp3, recording via microphone on the computer or having the system call you to record a message over the phone. One awesome part about the OpenVBX system is that there are a number of community written plugins available to extend the system even more.
ConclusionThe OpenVBX system is, in a word, awesome. It basically puts the power of a traditional phone system onto a website and into the ‘cloud’. The web hosting provider does not have to do anything special as the system is compatible with most normal web hosting accounts. The one downside to this is that if your website goes down, then your phone system would go down too. For this reason I would recommend keeping the software on a separate hosting account on a different server to make sure sure there is continuity of service if your website goes down. If you are a small to medium sized business, or a person who just wants to hack together a cool project which uses Twilio or other compatible phone/sms system, OpenVBX is a great solution to get started. It makes setting up such a virtual phone system a cinch and the flexibility it empowers you with is impressive. Give it a try today! Let us know what sort of interesting problems you have solved with it or if you know of any alternative software that might be helpful to readers! Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| The World’s Fastest NTFS driver for Mac OS X [Giveaway] Posted: 04 Oct 2010 08:30 AM PDT
This week, we will be giving away 50 licenses of this much-needed application worth close to $1000!
If you want to further configure how you can manipulate your NTFS partitions, go into System Preferences and open up the Paragon NTFS settings were you will find all of your partitions listed.
In addition to enabling read/write access to the NTFS file system, Paragon allows you to also check and repair your partitions. This can be done by launching the Mac Disk Utility, and under the First Aid tab, click on Verify Disk, followed by the Repair Disk to fix any errors that are found.
For users comfortable with using the Terminal, you can get a lot more out of the application, including formatting your NTFS partitions, although 10.5 Leopard users have the benefit of doing this using the app's GUI through the Mac's Disk Utility. The driver is compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard. How do I win a copy?It’s simple, just follow the instructions.
Giveaway eligibility You must be a fan of our Facebook page to enter; Individuals who are over the age of 18. If you are under 18, get your parents to participate on your behalf; Individuals who reside in a country embargoed by the United States; Belgium, Norway, Sweden, or India are not permitted to enter. This giveaway begins now and ends Friday, October 9th 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 Paragon Software 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. Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| Cool Websites and Tools [October 3rd] Posted: 03 Oct 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. 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: 03 Oct 2010 07:31 PM PDT
Thank you, guys! Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| Are You Aware Of The MakeUseOf Newsletter? [MakeUseOf Poll] Posted: 03 Oct 2010 06:31 PM PDT
With MakeUseOf readers, 3% buy software every week, while 4% buy every two weeks. 7% buy software every month and another 6% buy software only every three months. The majority of people were even more infrequent, with 11% buying software every six months, 14% once per year and 56% buying less than once per year. Full results and this week's poll after the jump.
This week's poll question is: Are you aware of the MakeUseOf newsletter? We realise you are aware of it now, but were you aware of the MakeUseOf newsletter before you saw this post? If you weren't previously aware of the MakeUseOf newsletter, subscribe by using the link at the top of any MakeUseOf page. Let us know what you think of the MakeUseOf newsletter in the comments! Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to share our articles with others! It’s really important to us.
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| 10+ of the Best Amateur Viral Videos on YouTube Posted: 03 Oct 2010 03:30 PM PDT
Whether they were filmed with a phone, a hand-held camera, or even a security camera in some cases; these videos have received millions of hits, provoked controversy, made us laugh, and even some have made us think. McNuggets RampageBreakfast is the most important meal of the day isn't it? Maybe that's the justification she tried to use after this woman was caught on a security camera at McDonalds, losing the plot when she was told that they don't serve McNuggets on the breakfast menu. Antoine DodsonI admit, the news film crew had a production budget, but Antoine Dodson is the star of this video and, his natural, unedited reaction definitely deserves a place on this list. In fact, the musical remix of his interview on WAFF received a whopping 25 million views on YouTube. If you don't want to sit through the entire news story, videos have been posted that cut straight to Antoine's fabulous monologue. Wisdom Teeth Wake UpThere have been several videos of this kind – the kind filled with hilarious hallucinations after getting their wisdom teeth pulled. And this year’s star definitely got the most attention. After the video was posted on YouTube, she appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show talking about rapping, unicorn flying, and much more. Dancing Baby Doing the SambaIt wouldn't be a viral video list without a few babies here and there. This Brazilian dancing baby got millions of views, shaking that little diaper to the samba rhythm. In fact, several versions of the video were posted on YouTube, dubbed to Shakira’s Waka Waka, amongst other sounds collectively earning over 9 million views. Miss Philippines wins Miss UniverseYou may not have heard but Miss Philippines was crowned Miss Universe this year. This video of a group of guys watching the pageant at the exact moment the announcement is made really speaks for itself. Old Lady Gets DownWalmart is the last place you expect to see a little old lady busting a move – but that's exactly what happens in this video. From Etta James to Lady Gaga – there's something in here for everyone. iPhone 4 vs. HTC EvoApparently, the guy who made this video was a Best Buy employee at the time, and his job actually hung in the balance when they found out that he made this video. Best Buy finally decided not to fire him, but he chose not to go back to his job. The video, comparing the iPhone to the HTC Evo became an overnight sensation, igniting yet even more Apple versus HTC wars all over the net. Teenage DreamWithin one month, the simple combination of lip syncing, Katy Perry and some wacky facial expressions can earn a kid 7 million views. You might not get it – but you can't argue with the numbers. Proposal in Madison Square ParkSomething wedding related was bound to make it onto the list. With wedding bloopers, disasters, and awesome choreographed wedding entrances all already in the viral hall of fame, for this list, we decided to go with something slightly different. Instead of the wedding itself, this choreographed wedding proposal has received over 2 million views. (If you want a less shaky-take on the proposal, try this video instead. Swedish Dancing CopMost viral videos that involve cops are anything but amusing. This Swedish cop shows us that he has a sense of humour, and doesn't mind using it to entertain a crowd. Leaving the ZooHonourable mention has to go to a video of four year old Geoffrey complaining about his less than satisfactory experience at the zoo. The video has over 300,000 views, and deserves a lot more. What are your favourite viral videos of 2010 so far? Let us know in the comments. Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| Posted: 03 Oct 2010 01:15 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.
Image credit: Modified from Svengraph’s icon set Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| 10 Free MP3 Albums To Download [Sound Sunday] Posted: 03 Oct 2010 12:31 PM PDT
You think you don’t like classical music? Well, I bet you’re wrong. Open your ears and realize that you are exposed to classical music almost every day. Now imagine it was eliminated from your life. None of it in elevators, department stores, played by street musicians, in advertisements, movies, or at ceremonies. Now think again. This Sunday we also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the German Unity. For this occasion there will be a slight focus on German composers. Michael Houstoun – Johann Sebastian BachGenre: classical, piano
Michael Houstoun Homepage. Jake Sidwell – Soft ListeningGenre: classical, minimalist, piano
Jake Sidwell Homepage. Ekaterina Kotcherguina – Junior RecitalGenre: classical, soprano
Ekaterina Kotcherguina Facebook. Forms – R/SGenre: classical, contemporary, jazz, guitar, piano, rock, fusion
Forms n/a. Zachery Ewald – PassacagliaGenre: classical, violin, duet
Zachary Ewald MySpace and Facebook. Cliff Dweller – Revolutions of the IndigenousGenre: classical, electronic, downtempo, psychedelic
Cliff Dweller n/a. Scott Anderson – Music From The QuietGenre: classical, jazz, improvisational, guitar
Scott Anderson Facebook and Homepage. Steven Chin – Steven’s Musical CollectionGenre: classical, new age, piano
Steven Chin YouTube. Richard Mayer – with FriendsGenre: classical, jazz, rock, improvised
Richard Mayer MySpace and Homepage. Benjamin Speed – Film Music Of The People’s Republic Of AnimationGenre: classical, alternative, electronic, jazz
Benjamin Speed MySpace and Homepage. If by now you have developed an appetite for classical music, check out Classical.com. They feature a free classical album every week. Past editions of Sound Sunday are available here. I am happy to review material and suggestions for upcoming editions of Sound Sunday. Please get in touch with me: tina at makeuseof dot com What genre should the next Sound Sunday Special be dedicated to? Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| Instant Jam – Innovative Social Music and Rhythm Game on Facebook Posted: 03 Oct 2010 10:30 AM PDT
More than one freeware alternative already roam the web, but not all possibilities have been explored. This is obvious when we look at Instant Jam, a Facebook Guitar Hero clone with great graphics and a number of impressingly innovative new features. Every fan of music and rhythm games should give Instant Jam a spin. Read on to know why. Instant JamThe game instantly reminds us of Guitar Hero for PC, or other freeware counterparts like Jamlegend and Frets on Fire. There are a few not-so-subtle differences. For starters, similar to Mafia Wars and Farmville, the game is available on Facebook. It was developed by Instant Action, which we reviewed last year, an innovating game developer that renders the 3D graphics on their own server farms, and streams it to the user – with little to no local rendering required. This means casual gamers can get the eye candy without the hardware to support it. Because Instant Jam can be played from the browser, it will not remain captivated as a Facebook app. Everyone will be able to embed an instance of the game on their own website or blog, just like a YouTube video.
Instant Jam can be played on both Windows and Mac, and features the same gameplay system as its competitors. Notes travel down the screen and you need to press the corresponding buttons when they reach the bottom. You can choose to use your keyboard and mouse, or to use an actual Guitar Hero controller with a USB converter. The Largest Music Library (Your Own)Perhaps the most refreshing aspect about the whole of Instant Jam game is the way it handles music licensing. Instead of making deals (or failing to) with musicians, it uses your music library with an interactive layer on top. Instant action will check which of your songs are already programmed into the system, and start right away. This assures you the best musicians for free, even some that have declined to be in games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
If you do not yet own the song you want to play, you can unlock it by purchasing it via iTunes, Amazon, or by using Instant Jam credits (more on that below). Instead of paying for a single in-game experience. The music you bought will actually be yours, and available in your local music library. Thousands of tracks are already available and more will be added each day. Social Scene, Unlockables and Gaming CreditsInstant Action uses the same social scheme as other major Facebook games. Initial gameplay is single player, but users can challenge and fan other players. Aggregating fans and nailing songs will get you in-game credits, which can then be used to unlock items. These same credits can also be bought online with real money.
There’s a limit of the songs you can play in one run. Once you’ve reached the cap, you need to use those same in-game credits to buy extra game-credits, or you can also wait an hour and a half to be reset. This is an interesting micro-transaction business scheme that does not ultimately work to the disadvantages of players who want to keep on playing for free. What is your favorite music and rhythm game? Tell us why in the comments! Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun] Posted: 03 Oct 2010 09:04 AM PDT
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. NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!
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