MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [October 13th]” plus 11 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [October 13th]
- 10+ Amazing Short Films You’d Not Believe Were Made With Free Software
- How To Remove Unwanted Crapware From Your Brand New Windows 7 System
- How To Find Wireless Internet Service Providers Near You
- Hot Tech Deals [Oct 13th]
- 5 Free Calculator Apps If You Aren’t Happy With The Windows Calculator
- How To Quickly Set Up & Share Beautiful Photo Galleries With Dropbox
- How To Add Opening & Closing Credits To Your Movies With iMovie ‘09 [Mac]
- What’s New In Ubuntu 10.10, “Maverick Meerkat”? [Linux]
- Make A Fashion Statement By Wearing A MakeUseOf T-Shirt
- Top 15 Tweeting Stars & Celebrities You Really Should Follow
- Facebook Now Texts Users Temporary One-Time Passwords [News]
| Cool Websites and Tools [October 13th] Posted: 13 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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| 10+ Amazing Short Films You’d Not Believe Were Made With Free Software Posted: 13 Oct 2010 06:31 PM PDT
Blender is cross-platform so you can learn the basics right now with the QuickStart and plenty of other tutorials on the official site and all over the net. Blender’s not the only 3D content creation software available for free though. Just to name a few, there’s:
There are a few more alternatives which you can see here but Blender seems to be very popular so most of the following open-source-generated masterpieces are made with this powerful suite. Short FilmsThe Blender Foundation’s Sintel is a 12-minute short film released online on September 30th, 2010 that was independently produced (initially funded through donations) with only open-source software over 10 months in Amsterdam. The software used includes:
Big Buck Bunny is an award-winning animated short film released online by the Blender Foundation in 2008. According to the official site, Elephants Dream is the world’s first open movie released by the Blender Foundation in 2006 after 8 months of work. You can’t seem to order the DVD anymore, but you can watch and download it online. Besides these, there’s also Plumíferos or Free Birds, an 80-minute Argentinean feature film that premiered in February 2010 and is entirely made with open-source software (Blender and Linux OS). Here’s the trailer with subtitles. ShortsThe Cup from Pepe School Land via Blender Nation and Tech Drive-In: This consists of superbly made and hilarious short made in Blender by students of a Barcelona-based animation school. Taste Lab by ICEBOX Studios via Tech Drive-In: This is a short comedy (about a girl tester in a food lab) that was produced in 5 months with Blender. (NSFW) South Park Animation by dirtyblender: Here’s an unofficial animation that was produced in a month also solely in Blender. Rainboy by 3dddie: This is a short film made in full in 5 days with Blender, GIMP and Inkscape. In the short, the boy holds a sign saying “Ojek Payung” which translates to “Rain taxi” or “Rent an umbrella”. The phrase seems to refer to kids in rainy season that lend their umbrellas to office people who need to quickly go to a restaurant or somewhere nearby around lunch time but don’t carry an umbrella with them. All the software used have been featured in MakeUseOf’s earlier list of Free Applications For The Graphic Designer On A Budget. Here’s a very cute Anime clip, HapiLoli from tomo via Blender Nation that uses Blender. Transformation from Andre Baran via Blender Nation: Now here’s a clip that demonstrates that you don’t have to use Blender to create 3D cartoons only. You can composite commercial-quality sequences to illustrate a concept. This is another clip of Blender being used to create a logo by BnBGobo for the CFC, (Combined Federal Campaign). Pelikone from Kombo via Blender Nation: The following clip is a recently-released Blender-made ad for a Finnish game site. Just so you know, Blender’s not the only animation software available. Here’s Prologue (released in 2004) which consists of a short made by Voria Studios, the studio that came to release the Synfig 2D animation software under GNU license. Synfig is today a vector-based open-source animation package that facilitates the process of tweening, which is basically drawing animation frame by frame. Prologue tells the story of two boys trying to run away from soldiers in a sewer. According to the site, “in an attempt to protect his friend, one of the children tries to draw one of the soldiers away. However, plans don’t always work out as one would hope.” My Friend Rabbit Making Pizza is a short (click to watch as embedding is disabled) made with Pencil, an open-source traditional animation software that lets you trace previously-drawn raster and vector images for your next frames (with its onion skin feature). As you can see from the sources, the Blender Nation blog is rich with links to amazing Blender-made productions so be sure to check it out for more! If you have favorite open-source-generated clips, you can paste the link in the comments for everyone to enjoy! Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to share our articles with others! It’s really important to us.
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| How To Remove Unwanted Crapware From Your Brand New Windows 7 System Posted: 13 Oct 2010 04:31 PM PDT
Manufacturers have always seen fresh OEM Windows installs as blank canvases for passing on some of the worst software they can find. 30-day trials of programs you'll never use, needlessly complicated media applications for an MP3 player you don't have and numerous “helpful” toolbars make up the list. Clearly, it's time to take a stand and take back your new PC. What Is Crapware?Crapware, or to use its proper name of “pre-installed software” is anything on your shiny new PC you didn't ask for. You might have to pay to unlock a full version, it might be a non-transferable license valid only on that machine. Most of it is not going to enrich your Windows experience. It is even possible that some of these applications could be slowing your PC down in some way or another as many of these nuisance programs will run at startup. If you own a Dell machine then it probably came loaded with the Dell Search Assistant which “provides search results when you enter either a search query or an incorrect website address into your Web browser’s address bar” (not my words). This is a prime example of crapware, as most modern browsers have this one covered already. Internet service providers often jump on the crapware bandwagon, and it's not surprising if you find a litter of unwanted AOL, NetZero and Tiscali setup icons somewhere on your PC. There's also likely to be trial versions of oft-used software. Seeing as you're a MakeUseOf reader you've probably already got your fingers in the free software pie, and if you're anything like me you'll shudder at the thought of “shareware”. Lastly there are a few features included with Windows 7 that you may consider crapware. Do you ever use Windows Media Centre? Have you replaced Windows Media Player with your favourite media app? You can remove these elements too. How Do I Get Rid Of It?Scouring your PC for each particular offending item will probably take a while. Despite this being the only way to be sure you've got rid of everything you don't want, there's a couple of tools to help you on your way. The first is PC Decrapifier. The clue's in the name, but this useful application will look for some of the most common items your PC manufacturer is likely to have installed and give you the option of removing it.
The software runs on Windows XP, Vista and 7 so if you've still not got round to removing the fluff from your old machine then this will work for you too. Your virus scanner (or “30-day free trial virus blaster”) might throw up a false positive when you download this one, ignore it and soldier onwards. There's no need to install anything either, which is wonderfully ironic. PC Decrapifier will throw up a helpful notification reminding you that if you have manually installed or chosen to keep any of the programs found, make sure they're not selected for removal on the next step. You will then be asked if you are running PC Decrapifier on a brand new PC. Once you've chosen you'll be asked if you want to create a restore point, which is optional.
The application will then attempt to detect any known bad software to remove. If you installed Windows yourself you're probably not going to find anything, I didn't. The final screen will give you the option of removing any other installed software that the detection process may have missed. You will then be able to click next, and confirm that you want to remove any items you have selected.
Turning Off Windows FeaturesIf you find that you never use Windows Media Center or another main Windows feature then you have the option to remove it. You can always add features again later, provided you've got a Windows CD/DVD. Click on Start, Control Panel and then Programs and Features. Once the window has loaded you can click on Turn Windows features on or off. In the box that loads you'll be able to remove whatever you want, including Media Center, Media Player and even Internet Explorer.
Uncheck whatever you want to remove, and click OK. You'll need to restart your PC before your chosen changes are made. Anything Else?Well there's always the chance that something was missed, so you're probably going to want to have a good look through your Start Menu for any lingering software you'll never use. It's also worth checking out exactly what's starting up when your PC boots. To do this you'll need to launch the Microsoft System Configuration Utility. Windows XP users can hit Start then Run, Vista and 7 users might need to search for "run" and open it from there. Once the Run window has opened, type msconfig and hit Enter.
Click on the Startup tab and have a good look at the list of applications that start-up when Windows first loads. Uncheck any you don't need, things like Java and graphics configuration utilities aren't strictly required and will only slow your machine down at boot. For anyone who doesn't mind installing more software to do this for you, then Soluto is a great little boot streamlining tool. Or check out WinPatrol. Anything you know you don't want starting up can be removed, and if you think you don't need it full stop then you can remove it from your system yourself. FinallyOnce you've finished going through your PC with a fine-toothed comb, removing all that you don't want and leaving only that which you do then I'd recommend running a quick registry clean with CCleaner. This will help remove any signs of the programs you just uninstalled from the registry.
Remember if you’re after a new PC then you don't always have to specify an operating system and many manufacturers will ship you just the hardware. You're then free to either order an OEM copy of Windows on the same order and set it up at home, or try a completely different operating system altogether. Certain manufacturers (Dell included) now give you the option to opt-out of nearly all pre-installed software at the checkout. If you like the free option you could also try Linux. Ubuntu is now establishing itself as a viable alternative at last, and it's available in so many flavours at no cost. I recommend you take a heavy handed approach to removing crapware, ask yourself – would I ever install this? If the answer's no then you know what to do. Good luck. Do you hate crapware as much as we do? Any tools or tips? Did you go Mac or Linux and avoid this situation? Let us know in the comments. Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| How To Find Wireless Internet Service Providers Near You Posted: 13 Oct 2010 02:31 PM PDT
These scenarios are no longer science fiction – they are very real and if you know where to look, you can have high-speed Internet almost anywhere in the world without the need for wires or to hunt around for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Thanks to the magic of 3G and 4G networks, wireless Internet service is now in the realm of competition with other Internet subscription plans. The beauty of wireless Internet is that it’s available both at home and on the go – true 100% mobility.
U.S. Wireless Internet Service Provider ChoicesStarting in the U.S. you’ll probably find the widest variety of choices. You’ll need to factor in the coverage area, prices, data transmission limits, and available transfer speeds before choosing. Not all 3G networks are created equal – a lot depends on the quality and coverage of the network. To show you the difference, I’d like to compare the coverage map of Cricket, one U.S. company that sells wireless broadband, with the coverage map for Verizon, a larger telecom company. Here’s what Cricket’s coverage looks like.
If you live in a major metropolitan area – this could be a very easy solution for Internet access both at home or at your favorite cafe. However, if you plan to travel the country and have wireless Internet access the whole trip – it isn’t happening. However, take a look at Verizon’s map.
In the blue area, download speeds can reach up to 1.4 Mbps. For many folks, that’s more than enough for both home and mobile use. If you’re a light Internet user, you could completely do away with your home broadband service and just use wireless from anywhere. However, if you’re a heavy user, then be careful because most plans have usage limits. You may be able to find an unlimited plan, but it’ll cost you. Other wireless Internet service providers in the U.S. include Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Nortel, Sprint and T-Mobile just to name a few. All you’ll need to purchase is a USB wireless connect card and you’re all set. Some services even provide the hardware as part of the contract. Wireless Internet Service Providers In EuropeIf you live anywhere in Europe, you also have lots of choices, but the entire market is different. With a different landscape comes different players, terms, service limitations or freedoms, and much more. For example, Trustive is one service that offers 3G Internet access in several “zones” across the continent. Here’s the coverage map for Zone A.
Other global services that are available include Megapath, BigPond, iPass, or MobilityPass. Again, always make sure to compare coverage, service limits, price and all of the other factors, and choose the service that suits your usage behavior. Otherwise you’ll find yourself with surprises when the bill comes. Wireless Internet In IndiaIndia is fast becoming one of the more technologically advanced nations in the world. Adoption of new technologies among the population is just impressive, and the spread of advanced telecommunications throughout the country is evidenced by Reliance Communications entering the market and creating one of the country’s first wireless broadband networks, offered to consumers under a service called NetConnect.
That image on the Reliance website really does say it all, doesn’t it? There’s nothing like the freedom of cellular network-based wireless Internet. Wireless Access in ChinaChina gets a lot of grief in the media across the world for the level at which the government filters its citizens’ Internet access. But if you’re traveling to China, one thing that’s for certain is that the country isn’t in the dark ages when it comes to mobile Internet technologies. The two major mobile providers are China Mobile and China Unicom. As you can see from Unicom’s coverage map, you’ll be hard pressed to find a spot where you can’t get online using the 3G network.
So, the bottom line is that just about anywhere you go in the world, there’s a wireless Internet provider available that can offer you the freedom of surfing the web from the largest lake to the highest mountain. So long as you can get a cellular signal from the nearest tower – you can get on the web. Do you use mobile broadband where you live? What’s your experience with quality of service and affordability? Share your own experiences in the comments section below. Image credit: BSK Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| Posted: 13 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
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| 5 Free Calculator Apps If You Aren’t Happy With The Windows Calculator Posted: 13 Oct 2010 12:31 PM PDT
Windows 7 has gone in for a renovation and the new Windows 7 Calculator leaps ahead of its predecessors. It has multiple modes (Scientific, Programmer, and Statistics), conversion features, worksheets to work out your fuel economy, lease payments, and mortgage payments, and a few more nice touches. There's of course, the neat look too. But it's still not as advanced as a section of users would like.
SFR Calculator
SFR Calculator has an MS Office-like interface. It also gives you a choice of three skins. Unlike other free calculators, its use is similar to the kind we do on paper. You can use it like a text editor and add comments or any other annotations to your calculations. The advantage of the tape style of calculations is that the calculations can be kept as records and even printed out. The calculator may not be suitable for power users but can be used to perform accounting operations. SFR Calculator (ver.4.0.6) is an 8.6MB free calculator download. It is supported on Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, and Windows 7. Versions of SFR Calculator are available for Windows Mobile and the iPhone. Moffsoft FreeCalc
Moffsoft FreeCalc is also similar to the above application in the way it uses a printable and savable interface ('tape'). You can set the display to use different color schemes. Numbers to be calculated can be neatly arranges in groups on the tape. The calculator is very light on resources and can be quickly accessed from the system tray. Moffsoft FreeCalc (ver.2.0) is a 764KB download. It is supported on older Windows OS, Vista, and Windows 7. SpeedCrunch
SpeedCrunch comes as an installer and also in a portable version. It has a clean user interface and a very intuitive response to your inputs. SpeedCrunch calculates even as you type and this auto-completion behavior is quite handy when it comes to result speed. Results are precise up to 50 decimal points. Syntax highlighting also minimizes errors as you type. You can feed in formulas, constants, and functions from the extensive library that's available. SpeedCrunch supports unlimited range of alpha-numeric variables and it also lets you store your own for later use. If the stored variables are too many, there's a handy search bar to help locate them. SpeedCrunch records everything in history and you can easily recall and reuse a previous expression. You can also save a session for later use. SpeedCrunch (ver. 0.10.1) is a 2.4MB download. It is supported on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Also read: SpeedCrunch – High Precision Freeware Desktop Calculator SpeQ
SpeQ is a mathematical software which uses a sheet (or tape) just like the two we have mentioned before. But unlike them, SpeQ offers a library of computational functions. You can define your own variables and use them in your functions. The software has 100 pre-loaded constants plus 130 built-in units. You can plot graphs and trace the plotted functions. The memory list helps to reuse all previously defined functions and variables. You can add in your comments in the sheet, save it, and also print it out. SpeQ (ver.3.4) is a 520 KB portable download. Installer is also available. It is supported on Windows (all). SpaceTime
SpaceTime goes beyond the idea of just a free calculator and falls into the category of an advanced scientific application for power users. There are interactive tutorials which help you to start off with the app. SpaceTime has support for 2D and 3D graphing features. The scientific calculator has a large catalog of functions. The mathematical software covers algebra, computer algebra system (CAS), trigonometry, statistics (scatter plots, probability plots, histograms etc), and calculus among other capabilities. You can also enter your own scripts for solving loops, recursion and generating functions. Ultimately, you can capture screens, frames and results with a click. SpaceTime (ver.4.0) is a 1MB download. It is supported on Windows (2000, XP, Vista, and 7) and Mac OS X. SpaceTime can also be downloaded for the iPhone and the iPad (not free). SpaceTime requires an obligatory free registration for use. The five calculators cover the breadth from simplicity to complexity. The one you pick will depend on the level of calculations you need to perform. What's your view on the above five? Which is your favorite calculator app? Image Credit: Shutterstock Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| How To Quickly Set Up & Share Beautiful Photo Galleries With Dropbox Posted: 13 Oct 2010 11:31 AM PDT
All of those options above are fairly easy to set up and require a short amount of time to complete. But there’s nothing bad about having more options. I accidentally found one quick and easy method of sharing images when I was doing my How To Use Dropbox As Free Unblockable Image Storage For Your Blog article, and I’d like to share my findings with you. Dropbox Photo Galleries?If there’s one application that never ceases to amaze me with its untapped potential of usage variations, it would be Dropbox. It seems like every time I shift my perspective a little bit, I find other ways to utilize it. This time I found out how to set up and share quick and easy photo galleries using Dropbox. This feature is not exactly hidden, but it’s mixed among other things so that I didn’t really notice it. Here’s how you can set up photo galleries of your own.
That’s it, you’ve just built yourself several photo galleries. Congratulations. Enjoying & Sharing The GalleriesIt seems hard to believe that building a photo gallery is that easy. So it’s only natural if most users wonder about the quality of the result. Why don’t we take a peek then?
Clicking on one individual picture will open it in the cool “lightbox-style” display – where everything is darkened out except for the images that you focus on. At the upper right hand side of the page, there’s the link to play all of the photos within that album as a slideshow. The size of the main image will always be adjusted to the size of the browser window. If you view the gallery using a small screen computer, the images will also be small. That’s why there are options to view the images in full size and to save the images on a computer’s hard disk.
If you want to close the album and move to the next one, click the “X” button at the upper right of the display. One Additional TrickAnother alternative usage of these galleries – beside emailing your friends the share links, is to use them as redirection links of images in your blog post. Upload one of the pictures in the photo album that you want to use in your post, and use the “share gallery” link in the “Link URL” field instead of the File URL of the image.
Now every time one of your blog readers clicks on the image, he/she will be taken to the shared Dropbox gallery. This is a great way to show a series of images on your blog while conserving the storage and bandwidth. Just be sure to set the gallery to be opened in another tab/window. For something that you can build literally within seconds, these Dropbox Photo Galleries are so much better than decent. It’s perfect for those who want to quickly share their photo collections but don’t want to deal with the hassle of building the “usual” gallery. Plus, the images and the albums can be erased easily anytime you want just by deleting the folders inside your computer’s Dropbox “Photos” folder. Have you tried to use the Dropbox photo gallery feature before? What do you think of it? Do you know of other similar alternatives? Please share using the comments 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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| How To Add Opening & Closing Credits To Your Movies With iMovie ‘09 [Mac] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 10:31 AM PDT
For this particular tutorial, we're going to bump up the opening and/or closing credits for a movie production.
We're going to create a credits clip separate from the movie itself using one of iMovie ’09’s themes. Then we'll save the credits clip so it can be added to the beginning or ending of a movie (you could also simply start out your movie with a selected theme, but that's not always desirable). The examples that I provide here are just that, examples. You're responsible for experimenting and customizing to fit your own needs. Step 1Start a new project in iMovie and title it “Credits“. Select the Scrapbook theme and deselect the “Automatically add” transition button. Click “Create“.
Step 2Now click on the Titles icon in the Toolbar. Notice we get a couple of dozen title styles, including styles specifically for our selected theme.
Select the Simple style first and drag it into the Story Board. You will be presented with a Background palette to choose from. For our tutorial we're going to select the Stars background.
Click on it so that it shows up in the Story Board. As a background it's okay, but remember, video is about motion. So let’s put some motion in the background image. Select the background clip and then click on the editing button in the clip, and select Cropping and Rotation.
This will open the clip in the Viewer on the left side of iMovie. Now select the Ken Burns button, and then move the Start and End boxes around so that they will create some motion in the background.
Step 3Click on the Title bar of the background/title clip in the Story Board.
It will open up again in the Viewer where you can customize the title.
Step 4Now we have a movie background and an opening title. Let's go back to the Title styles in the tool bar and build on our credits. At this point you can select any styles you like. The objective is to maintain movement in each clip. You, for example, can use the Upper Third style and add a name or title role. The next style might be the Lower Third 1 in which you add another name.
These styles can be followed by other motion styles below them. Just experiment until you get the flow you want. For each clip also add motion to the background as we did above. One last suggestion is to use transitions between each of the title style clips, which again will add motion between clips.
After your credits are set, select some music from your iTunes library or from the set of Jingles in the Movie and Sound Effects browser of iMovie. After the credits are set up like you want it, choose Share in the iMovie menu bar and select ”Export Using QuickTime” and then select ”Export to MPEG-4” or to whichever format you're creating your movie in. You can drag that exported clip into your movie project. The above steps are a little more extra work in iMovie, but you will find that if you poke around and combine various tools and styles that you can get beyond some of the limitations of the program. Let us know if this tutorial was useful for you, and what tricks you use in iMovie ‘09. Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| What’s New In Ubuntu 10.10, “Maverick Meerkat”? [Linux] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 09:31 AM PDT
Windows users see a new release every four years or so; Mac users, about every two. Ubuntu users, on the other hand, get a new Ubuntu upgrade every six months free of charge. Sometimes the changes are major; sometimes minor.
But enough chit-chat; let’s take a look at what’s in this new version of Ubuntu. Software CenterAfter slowing evolving into something useful in recent years, the Software Center now has a new home page. Categories are broken down as you’d expect, but below them are the new “Featured” and “What’s New” sections. The idea here is to help people stumble upon new software.
It’s not exactly the App Store, but it’s a step in the right direction. Another possible step in the right direction is the “For Purchase” section. The Ubuntu team is hoping to sell software via this channel, something almost unheard of for a desktop Linux distribution. The hope is this will attract developers to the platform. I myself can’t wait to use this to pay for InDesign and high-quality games, but the question is whether Linux users will be willing to pay for software when so much good stuff can be had for free. Time will tell, I suppose; for now there’s not much in the way of pay packages here. InstallationThe installation process is perhaps the most improved thing for end users. My favorite, though probably the most controversial, change is the inclusion of this screen:
As you can see the installer now includes some helpful information about system requirements. Beyond that, though, you can now install Flash/Java/MP3 capability during installation and in one click. You can also have Ubuntu automatically download all updates before rebooting, which is a great way to ensure your desktop is totally ready for you in a few simple clicks. The partitioning tool is also a great deal simpler now, which will be welcome to those with little understanding of such things:
As you can see everything is explained in plain English, but access to more geeky controls is only a click away. Brilliant. Another nice touch with the installation process: the annoying questions, including time zone and user name, are asked after the partitioning process begins. This is a really slick way to speed up installation, because it’s really easy for a computer to multi-task in this way. There’s a really slick slide show that happens during installation; read more about that over at OMG Ubuntu. Other Changes
Worth The Upgrade?Is Ubuntu 10.10 worth the upgrade? That’s really up to you. If nothing here excites you I’d suggest sticking with Ubuntu 10.04, which as a Long Term Support release will continue working really well for you. But if a certain feature here excites you, or if you just plain like staying on the cutting edge, I’d recommend upgrading. There’s no reason not to; Ubuntu is free. And you Windows users wondering whether or not to try 10.10? Come on; you’ll like it! There are plenty of reasons for a disgruntled Windows user to try Ubuntu, and even if you don’t want to install a new operating system there are also reasons every Windows user should have a Ubuntu Live CD. Head over to Ubuntu.com today to download the latest Ubuntu, or you can have a CD mailed to your house free of charge. Yeah; that’s right. Mailed to your house, for free. There’s no reason not to try. Stay tuned to MakeUseOf for an in-depth look at the new Ubuntu netbook operating system, and a list of recommended steps for new Ubuntu users. For now, though, discuss what you think of the new Ubuntu in the comments below, or feel free to ask any questions about trying this new operating system out. We’re here to help! Image Credits : Photo from Wikipedia under Creative Commons License, originally by Ashleigh Thompson Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| Make A Fashion Statement By Wearing A MakeUseOf T-Shirt Posted: 13 Oct 2010 09:01 AM PDT
Maybe you would like to explain to everyone that your bad attitude is actually in beta? Or perhaps you would like to show your love of geeks? Whatever your tastes in T-shirts, there’s sure to be something in our store for you. Just head on over and have a look. And all for a very low price of $16.95 and shipping. For a high quality, very durable T-shirt, that is an amazing deal.
Check out the MakeUseOf T-shirt store today! Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| Top 15 Tweeting Stars & Celebrities You Really Should Follow Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:31 AM PDT
You could make the case that there are actually too many celebrities on Twitter for you to decide who to follow. Maybe you’d be happy following all of them, but what if you want to know who’s constantly pumping out the juicy, entertaining tweets?
Actors/WritersAshton Kutcher (@aplusk)
Once touted as the most followed person on Twitter, Ashton Kutcher has to be on this list. Ashton shares a lot of what he finds funny or interesting, he @replies people, and he makes use of sites like Posterous and Ustream in his tweets. There’s definitely some value in his Twitter stream. Rainn Wilson (@rainnwilson)
If you’ve ever watched The Office, you know Rainn Wilson is hilarious. His tweets are cut from the same cloth as his role on the show and are usually very humorous. Follow Rainn if you want to get his take on current events. Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano)
Alyssa Milano uses Twitter like most of us non-celebrities use it. She tweets about sports, current events, and whatever is relevant or interesting. She’s very personable and is not afraid of over-tweeting, as she states in her bio. Jeremy Piven (@jeremypiven)
Most people can’t hear Jeremy’s name without thinking about his character Ari Gold on Entourage. His tweets are similar in spirit in that he speaks his mind and is not afraid of offending anybody. He does have some interesting tweets. ComediansEllen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow)
As Ellen claims in her Twitter bio, her tweets are real and “spectacular”. If you’re looking for relevant tweets, or just something to make you laugh, you should follow this tweeting star. Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon)
I had to mention Jimmy on this list. His tweets are usually pretty funny and off topic, and he occasionally will mix Twitter in with his Late Night television show. Definitely check him out, as well as Quest from The Roots (@questlove), his partner in crime. Conan O’Brien (@ConanOBrien)
Admittedly, I am a big fan of ‘CoCo’. He started his Twitter career when he was “let go” by NBC and it has since become a huge hit. His new show is coming up this Fall which, like his tweets, will probably be hilarious. Rob Corddry (@robcorddry)
Rob’s tweets are funny in a sinister kind of way. He’s a talented guy and he is not afraid to express his opinion on any subject. Send him a tweet and you just might get an answer. Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey)
Jim Carrey is another hilarious tweeter. There’s not really much I can say about his account. When you follow Jim Carrey, you know what you’re getting. Sports StarsShaq (@THE_REAL_SHAQ)
Shaq might be one of the greatest tweeters of all time, in my opinion. His personality really shines through on his Twitter wall as he shares videos, pictures, and “random acts of Shaqness”. He will occasionally do cool things like give away tickets to fans and hold hilarious contests also. Chad Ochocinco (@OGOchoCinco)
Chad uses Twitter and Ustream like it’s his job. He lets his fans into his life through his tweets and he engages his audience. If you want to be entertained, follow Chad. MusiciansP. Diddy (@iamdiddy)
Follow Diddy if you want to read inspirational tweets or words of wisdom. His status as a hip-hop icon and celebrity is reinforced through his tweets, as he comes off as the powerful individual that he is. Kanye West (@KanyeWest)
Kanye occasionally makes the news for controversial things that he says, and his Twitter account is no different. He keeps it very real and when you read his tweets you know he’s speaking from the heart. Follow him to know what he’s doing/thinking. PoliticiansBarack Obama (@BarackObama)
Last, but certainly not least, is Barack Obama. What kind of American would I be if I didn’t include President Obama on this list? As far as politicians go, Barack is about as celebrity as they come. If you want to find out about what’s going on with the government, or you just want a place to voice your opinion, Barack’s account is a good one to follow. ConclusionNeedless to say, you should find a wide variety of different kinds of tweets with this list. There’s something here for everybody, and I feel like I covered a lot of the real, engaging tweeting stars out there. If you are in the following mood, you can find more people to follow here. Is there anybody you would add to this list? Leave your thoughts, ideas, and comments below! Image Credit: Konstantin Sutyagin NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!
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| Facebook Now Texts Users Temporary One-Time Passwords [News] Posted: 13 Oct 2010 08:00 AM PDT
One issue we’ve never tackled was that of protecting the sanctity of your Facebook profile when you’re in a public place. What do I do if I forgot to logout? How do I prevent this from happening again? Facebook is attempting to answer both of these questions by rolling out some new features: temporary passwords and remote logging out. Allow me to point out how these features work, as well as assess the need for them. Facebook Will Text Me A Password?To receive a temporary password to your account, all you have to do is text You’ll receive a temporary password that expires in 20 minutes and can only be used once. The code will be a very secure one that includes both lower and uppercase letters and numbers, which will be relatively hard to remember, so be sure to keep your phone with you when you go to login.
If you are worried about forgetting to log out of your account, Facebook has you covered with their remote logout feature. On your Account Settings page, Facebook will now show your activity, also. This will let you see the approximate location your account was accessed from, as well as the device from which it was accessed. Thoughts?Tech Crunch called Facebook’s temporary password idea “genius” and “brilliant”. While I think it is a good move, I’m not entirely convinced that Facebook had to create a system for texting temporary passwords. Remote logout capabilities and recent activity seem to be enough for me, but it looks like Facebook really wanted to cover all the angles. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts on this. Leave a comment below! Source: Facebook Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to share our articles with others! It’s really important to us.
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