MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [October 16th]” plus 6 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [October 16th]
- Exploring Firefox Cache: A Bunch Of Really Cool Tips
- Hot Tech Deals [Oct 16th]
- FocusWriter – Minimalist, Distraction-Free & Beautiful Text Editor
- The Four Best Digital Camera Review Sites
- Never Forget To Reply To An Email Again Using Scheduled Reminders
- Skype Releases Facebook Integration & Multi-Party Video Chat [News]
| Cool Websites and Tools [October 16th] Posted: 16 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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| Exploring Firefox Cache: A Bunch Of Really Cool Tips Posted: 16 Oct 2010 06:31 PM PDT
The browser cache usually works behind the scene: you are unlikely to notice it even exists unless you feel like digging deeper. But do you know that you can actually have quite a bit of fun viewing your browser cache? Do you know why and how you can clean it? Today’s tutorial is just about that: what you can do with your Firefox cache. Viewing Your Firefox CacheThe cache statistics and directory location can be viewed in about:cache. Then:
It is really not easy to make sense of that interface but luckily we have an addon to make it easier. CacheView is a GUI Front-end of “about:cache”. It allows searching and sorting memory and disk cache files. CacheView gives you a preview pane for any images, and makes it really easy to save MP3s and flash files from the sites you’ve visited. After you have it installed, just go to Tools ->CacheView (or just use the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+C) and you will be presented with a nice table containing your cache files and a preview pane. The table is sortable by column (key, size, MIME Type, storing device, Last Fetched date) and what’s more it has a search function which adds a lot of sense to your cache database:
You can also right-click on an entry and delete it. It won’t delete things if the page is still opened in one of your tabs.
CacheSearch is another useful cache addon for FireFox which can search through the full-text of cache records:
Clearing The Firefox CacheThere are a few reasons why you may want to clear the Firefox cache, including privacy concerns and technical problems. I usually do it when I have any issues with a website: problems on sign-up, incorrect interface loading, etc. Clearing the Cache ManuallyOfficial Guide:
FireFox Addons:If you find yourself clearing the cache too often, you can find this little addon helpful (which we have previously mentioned in a post on optimizing Firefox): it adds a button to your browser toolbar – with it you can clear the cache with one click of a mouse.
Note: After installation, you will need to manually install the button to where you want it to be. For that, right-click on the sidebar and select “Customize“. Here’s an alternative addon that can be used for that: Cache Status which will both monitor your cache statistics for both memory and disk devices and allow to clear it any time:
Clear The Cache Automatically:
More Tips On The Firefox Cache:
Do you have anything else to add? Please share your Firefox cache tips in the comments below! Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| Posted: 16 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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| FocusWriter – Minimalist, Distraction-Free & Beautiful Text Editor Posted: 16 Oct 2010 12:31 PM PDT
Microsoft Word somehow became people’s default writing tool, but in many ways it’s not right for the job. Its functionality is based around everything but actual writing: publishing, inserting pictures, laying things out and other periphery concerns. If you want a no-nonsense place to simply write, without any distractions, you need another program entirely.
To this end we taught you about OmmWriter, a zen distraction-free writing app for Mac, highlighted minimalist text editors for Linux and even hosted a battle of the minimalistic text editors. But we’ve never featured FocusWriter, a brilliant program for Linux, Mac and Windows that can make writing not just distraction free but also beautiful. Best of all, this program features support for Rich Text and smart quotes, uncommon things in the world of such software. Features
Perhaps the main thing that makes FocusWriter different from other minimalistic text editors is the presence of a hidden toolbar and file menu. Move your mouse to the top of the screen and you’ll see it:
Here you can do all of the standard menu-kinds of things, such as saving, searching opening files or changing your preferences. There’s even a timer tool, perfect if you want to ensure you spend so many hours a day writing. There’s another toolbar at the bottom of the screen:
Here you’ll see a live count of your words, as well as tabs for all the various documents you have open. I personally use this to stay on top of all the articles I’m currently writing for MakeUseOf. Themes
It’s also worth noting that FocusWriter allows you to make it look pretty much however you want. You can save your themes, and even export them in order to share them with friends. Pick a wallpaper or background colour, set the margins for your text and change the font; there’s a lot of possibility here. Save as many themes as you like, but don’t waste too much time: you’re supposed to be writing. strongbad_email.exeHaving said that, the real reason you’re reading this is to set up a writing program that looks like Strong Bad’s famous Lappy. This, of course, will make you awesome. Setting up Focus Writer to look like the most email-checking computer around is easy; you need only to download this font and combine it with this picture. Create a new theme, and play with the settings to make it look like this:
Now any boring thing you’re writing is super great. Congratulations! Installing FocusWriterWant to get started? Find downloads for Mac and Windows on Focus Writer’s website, as well packages for Arch, Gentoo and Ubuntu Linux. Be sure to let us know what you think about the program, and perhaps even share any nifty themes you develop! NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!
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| The Four Best Digital Camera Review Sites Posted: 16 Oct 2010 11:30 AM PDT
This complexity can make digital cameras difficult to shop for. If you’re thinking of buying a camera you need to hear advice from people who understand concepts like macro photography, aperture settings and the important of sensor size. Luckily, there are some great camera review sites that can help. Digital Photography Camera Review Sites
Founded in 1998, Digital Photography Review has consistently been one of the best sources for in-depth camera reviews, particularly for professionals and amateur photographers looking to buy their first “serious” camera. With that said, however, the site also pays some attention to the point-and-shoot market. Earlier this year they published two amazing review round-ups, one of compact super-zoom cameras and the other of travel-zoom cameras. These round-ups are the most definitive reviews of these types of cameras I’ve ever read. Most of the reviews on Digital Photography Review are very long. This, however, provides space for a lot of in-depth information. All of the site’s reviews include numerous test photographs and most recent reviews have a “compare to” section. This part of the review lets you compare photo quality directly between cameras. There are currently over sixty cameras that can be compared. Digital Camera Resource
A general-coverage digital camera review site, Digital Camera Resource offers a large number of reviews that cover all segments of the camera market. The reviews on Digital Camera Resource are not the most in-depth, but they do provide a lot of detail and are easier to read than the reviews from some of the more complicated websites. This site also, like Digital Photography Review, posts some very handy round-up articles that directly compare a number of similar digital cameras. Those who aren’t sure where to start should check out the Buying Guide and Hall of Fame sections for quick recommendations. No other site can direct you to a camera in your price range as quickly or as clearly. InfoSync
Most websites that focus on a wide variety of electronics and gadgets – such as InfoSync – don’t do a very good job of providing in-depth reviews about any particular subject they cover. InfoSync, however, seems to be an exception. The site has a wonderful photography section that, while unreasonably hard to navigate, provides excellent in-depth reviews. The video reviews made available in the InfoSync photography section are perhaps the best part of the entire site. All of the recent camera reviews include a five to nine minute long video review that lets you become acquainted with the camera being reviewed in a way that a standard text review can’t manage. Subscribing to the InfoSync Youtube channel wouldn’t be a bad idea. CNET Digital Camera Reviews
CNET doesn’t really need an introduction, but it is easy to forget that CNET offers a wide variety of information about more niche products including all digital cameras. Like Infosync, CNET’s reviews are bolstered by video review segments that provides a good overview of any particular camera. The site also provides the widest selection of recommendations you could imagine. It doesn’t matter what type of camera you want – they’ve already considered it and can provide you with five top picks. It is important to note, as well, that CNET is a notoriously tough critic. They do not give out awards lightly and do not give a camera more than 3 1/2 stars on the company’s five-star scale unless it proves really impressive. If CNET thinks a camera is awesome it means that camera is really awesome. ConclusionBuying a digital camera can certainly be confusing, but these review websites will help clear things up. Do you have a favorite camera review site that we missed? Let us know! Also, if you need to learn how to use a digital camera be sure to check out our article on digital photography tutorial sites or our PDF manual by Bakari. NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!
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| Never Forget To Reply To An Email Again Using Scheduled Reminders Posted: 16 Oct 2010 10:31 AM PDT
If you're anything like me, both Laytr and Deferred Sender are great services that are an ideal way to combat this problem. Rather than stop yourself from checking your email whenever your want, or disabling push notifications on your smartphone, use either service to remind you of the emails that could fall between the cracks. Laytr
What Laytr does is it allows you to re-send emails to yourself after any given period of time, whether it's one hour later, or one year later. It's up to you how long you want to delay the email being re-sent. Of course Laytr can be used for more than just reminding yourself of emails that you have received. It can be used, in general, as a reminder of just about anything. You can either sign up for a free account, or if you're a Facebook user, you can simply connect Laytr to your Facebook account. Once you're signed up, you can start sending email reminders to yourself using the easy to follow keyword system that they have set up. So for example, if you want to receive the reminder the next morning, you would send it to tomorrow@laytr.com. If you wanted to receive it after a month, you would send it to nextmonth@laytr.com. You can also specify an exact date and time to receive the reminder, by sending it to oct.2.1500@laytr.com, for example.
A full list of the keywords available can be found here, which is also available in Norwegian. While Laytr has both paid and free accounts, the only difference is branding. There is no limitation on the number of reminders you can receive, which makes Laytr an invaluable, free service. Deferred Sender
Another similar service that allows you send reminders to yourself right from your inbox is Deferred Sender. Signing up for a free account allows you to not only send yourself reminders or forward emails to yourself at the time of your choice, but it can also delay your emails, allowing you to choose when your replies are sent to your colleagues or clients. Simply send your email to deferred@deferredsender.com, and enter all the details of the email in the body. Start the message with the email address you wish to send it to, followed by the time. You can also add email addresses to the CC and BCC lines. For example, if I want to receive a reminder the next day at 9am, the body of the email would look like this:
Check out Deferred Sender's Help page to see more methods on how to delay your messages by a few hours or to send it at a specific date and time. You can also log in to your Deferred Sender account to keep track of the emails you have scheduled.
If you're going to use services like Laytr or Deferred to stay on top of your correspondence, be sure to schedule the reminders at times that you have set aside specifically for replying to emails. One other possibility is Boomerang which Mark recently profiled, here on MakeUseOf. This however is a browser extension / plugin and only works for Gmail accounts. What methods do you use to stay on top of your emails? Let us know in the comments. Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| Skype Releases Facebook Integration & Multi-Party Video Chat [News] Posted: 16 Oct 2010 09:30 AM PDT
The new Skype release brings 2 major new features to the platform. Facebook IntegrationSkype brings this into their app in 2 major ways — the Facebook timeline now appears in your main Skype window. This is the basic timeline that shows up on your facebook page:
It also brings your Facebook contact list into Skype, giving you access to everyone (who has allowed it) from Facebook.
Group video betaSkype video chat used to be one-on-one only with no way to bring other participants in. With 5.0, Skype increases this to 5 maximum video chat users. I could really see this being popular with family groups for keeping in touch over long distances. I’ve known many grandparents who just go crazy about Skype after learning it can connect them with their children and grandchildren scattered all over the world.
The group video feature is free while in beta although Skype has hinted that this might be a pay function in the future. It uses the H.264 video codec, licensed from SPIRIT, which might be why they may charge for its use when it leaves beta. Skype has also released some other features along with version 5.0. For the full list, read here. A summary:
Skype will now automatically reconnect if a call is dropped due to connectivity or network slowness. This should help users have ‘seamless’ conversations with each other. The offline messaging is also a nice feature to have. It will leave a message for your contacts who may not be online. Once they log back in, the message is displayed to them. Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to share our articles with others! It’s really important to us.
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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. You can make use of them without spending a dime. If you want to have similar cool websites round-ups delivered to your email daily email subscribe 
The browser cache temporarily stores images, scripts, and other parts of websites while you are browsing. This is normally a good thing because this enhances performance and load time.
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.
Looking for a simple, beautiful place to do your writing, but can’t find a program that does the job? 
Owning a smartphone that allows you to check your email no matter where you are can sometimes be counterproductive. One of the biggest mistakes I make is to check my email when I know that I don't have the time to reply to the emails I read. If I don't reply to them on the spot, I tend to forget that they exist.
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