MakeUseOf.com: “Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]” plus 11 more |  |
- Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]
- Cool Websites and Tools [October 19th]
- The 10 Toughest Tech Questions [MakeUseOf Answers]
- 10 Great Bing Online Games You Can Play For Free
- Create a Virtual Tour Integrated With Google Maps Using YouVR
- 5 Websites To Get Hilarious Practical Joke Ideas
- Hot Tech Deals [Oct 19th]
- XnView – A Free Image Viewer and Image Converter You Should Really Consider
- Set Up Growl Notifications Between Different Computers And Devices
- 5 Cool Android Apps That Every Movie Fan Should Have
- What A Flash Mob Is & How You Can Participate
- The Best Mac Video Cards for Graphics Designers
| Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun] Posted: 19 Oct 2010 09:40 PM 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.
    
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| Cool Websites and Tools [October 19th] Posted: 19 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.
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| The 10 Toughest Tech Questions [MakeUseOf Answers] Posted: 19 Oct 2010 07:30 PM PDT
Now let’s see where we need help this week. Here are our toughest questions.
You will find new challenging questions on MakeUseOf Answers each and every day. Browse by Latest Questions, Unanswered Questions or Most Popular Questions. For regular updates subscribe to the Answers RSS Feed. Need help? Ask A Question at MakeUseOf Answers. 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 Great Bing Online Games You Can Play For Free Posted: 19 Oct 2010 06:30 PM PDT
Free games are great for achieving this because they hold your attention and are generally simple in concept. And as we all know, sometimes the simpler a game is the more addicting it can be. There are a lot of places to play games for free online, but did you know that Bing has online games? Well they do, and they’re actually pretty high quality. You can even sign in with your Facebook account to see your friends’ game feeds. In this article, I’ll show you some of the top games on Bing, so get ready to start having fun. Bing Has Online Games?If you don’t believe me, you can see for yourself. In order to navigate to the games page, just go to Bing’s home page, click on Entertainment and then Games. If you never knew they existed, I do not blame you. Bing online games are categorized into 6 categories–Action, Arcade, Puzzle, Card, Casino and Word. I’ll show you some of the best games you can find in these areas. Fishdom H2O: Hidden Odyssey
Touted as the most popular game on Bing, I figure this is a safe place to start. Fishdom H2O: Hidden Odyssey lets you create a dream aquarium. You have to unearth various hidden objects to get points, which allow you to choose tank accessories, buy exotic creatures, and care for your underwater pets. Bejeweled 2
You’ve undoubtedly played or at least seen Bejeweled before in some form or another. Bejeweled 2 is the sequel and is bigger and better than before. You play by swapping two adjacent pieces to make chains of identical sparkling gems. Put your brain to the test by trying the different game modes. If you enjoy Bejeweled 2, also give Hexic a try. The concept is similar. Zuma’s Revenge
Zuma’s Revenge is a game in which you get to shoot different colored balls into one another in order to shorten the chain and stop it from reaching the end. It’s a classic game that gets more difficult as you progress, but you do get help in the way of special shots and combos. Talismania
In this game, your goal is to help Midas battle mythical monsters and break an ancient curse. You do this by rotating tiles and connecting Talismans to create coins. Fill the scale with coins to complete each level. Plants vs. Zombies
In Plants vs. Zombies, you have to defend your home with zombie-zapping plants. Counterattack the undead by strategically and speedily planting peashooters, cherry bombs and other various plants throughout the board. Gardenscapes
In other plant-related news, Gardenscapes lets you grow a gorgeous garden. You can sell hidden objects from a mansion estate to earn money and restore the landscape to its former glory. Design your lawn’s layout, customize with accessories, and compete in the “Best Garden” contest with the help of ‘Austin the Butler’. Ranch Rush
Play Farmville much? In Ranch Rush, you get to help Sara turn three acres into a thriving Farmer’s Market Ranch. 8 Ball Champion
This is a deceptively addicting game. Enter the pool hall and put your skills to the test. The game works just like a regular game of 8-ball, that’s played on a computer of course. If you’re a sharp shooter, you’ll clear the table in no time. Text Twist 2
Text Twist 2 is a word-based game that will test your vocabulary. See how many words you can make from a bunch of random letters. It’s tougher than it sounds. Blackjack
If you’ve ever played Blackjack, you know how addicting it is. Make your bet, and you’re dealt two cards. If you think you can get closer to 21 without going over, have the dealer give you another. Are you feeling lucky? ConclusionWhat do you think? As I alluded to earlier, the graphics on these Bing online games aren’t too bad, and you can definitely kill some time playing them. A couple of the titles you should even be able to find in the app store on your phone, which speaks to their quality. Considering how few people even know about Bing games, I’m curious to see how you feel about them. What do you think of games on Bing? Leave your thoughts, ideas and comments below! Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| Create a Virtual Tour Integrated With Google Maps Using YouVR Posted: 19 Oct 2010 04:30 PM PDT
One of the best solutions I’ve found to offer virtual tours like this is YouVR. There are lots of ways that you can integrate photos into Google Maps, like Mark’s approach of geotagging Flickr photos on Google Maps, or using apps like HistoryPin to pin photos to certain Google Maps locations. But if you want to attach an actual video tour of a location on Google Maps, then YouVR is the place to do it. Creating a Virtual TourOnce you sign up at YouVR, you’ll find that creating your own location-based virtual tours are as easy as filling out forms. The process is a very simple three step procedure, and probably the part that requires the most work is actually shooting your digital video to upload. That’s actually the first thing you should do – just shoot a 1 to 2 minute video capture, touring the area and showing everything that you’d like to highlight. Ideally, the video shouldn’t be a huge file. For example, I shot a 2 minute video and saved it in windows media player format in a file that was under 3 MB. Once you’ve shot your video and have it ready on your computer, go to your YouVR admin panel and click on “Add New Tour.”
The first step is simple, just provide the title and search details that best describe the video. In my case I’m making it a public video, so search Meta Tags are important. Choose tags that are descriptive so that people will be able to find your video without much effort. If you want to keep your video tour private and only share it out to friends, that’s an option as well.
On the next window, you’ll see the remainder of the tour creation process broken down into sections. The critical sections at the top of the screen include choosing an accurate category for your video, and of course selecting a spot on Google Maps where the video was shot. To add this, just click on “Use Google Maps”. If you’d actually rather upload your own map that you drew or created on your computer, those are available options as well.
To specify the area for your virtual tour, just zoom into the spot on the world map that identifies the general location of the video. Now, keep in mind that you can have several hotspots as part of one tour, so make sure you don’t zoom in so close that some of the hotspots aren’t in the map. For example, if you’re shooting cool locations in a National Park, make sure you zoom the map out enough so the entire area fits in the map view.
Next, click on the “Add Hotspot (HS) on Map” and click the “Add Hotspot” button to add important sites to that map that you’d like to include as part of your virtual tour.
Once that’s done, scroll down and click on the link to Upload a Movie/Video. YouVR also gives you the option of uploading pictures instead of video, but if you can take digital video, that’s the best way to go. Video is the clearest way to show someone what it’s like to explore a certain site. Just click “Choose File”, browse to and select the digital video stored on your PC, and then click Submit. When the file is done uploading, the popup window will disappear.
Now, I ran into an issue here where if the file is too big, it’ll just disappear and go back to saying no file is selected. If this happens to you, it’s a good indication that the video file is too big – so choose a different format and then try again. Finally, the next step in the process is just to add descriptions to each HotSpot that you selected. This is helpful for visitors who are viewing your tour, because it offers important information about each “stop” – sort of like you’re a tour guide offering information about each location.
Once you’re done, you’ll find yourself back at your admin page. If you want to see what your new video looks like, just go to the YouVR public area (click on Virtual Tours), and if you just created your virtual tour, you’ll see it under “Most Recent.” Here you can see mine titled “Ryan Dube Home”.
Every tour you create looks like the window above. The cool part is that you can create up to 4 hotspots in your list under the free account. Each hotspot can have an associated video, so that when your visitor clicks on a hotspot in your list, they can watch the video that you created for it. As you can see, I’ve only added one hotspot on the Google Map area I selected, a tour of the land around my house.
Clicking play – the video immediately loads. I found that the upload speed was just as good or better than you’d experience on YouTube. Here’s what my captured video looked like in action on the YouVR site.
This is an awesome service for all kinds of uses. I could imaging real estate agents could make good use of such a service, providing a virtual video tour of properties that are for sale, including hotspot virtual tours of the house and the property. Field guides could use the service to advertise the outdoor adventures they offer, or colleges could use the service to provide students with virtual tours of certain locations on campus. Can you think of any cool uses for such a virtual tour service? Have you ever used this service, or any others similar to it? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Image credit: Patrick Nijhuis NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!
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| 5 Websites To Get Hilarious Practical Joke Ideas Posted: 19 Oct 2010 02:30 PM PDT
In an attempt to uncover some decent practical joke ideas, these results have been throughly sifted for you. What’s left are some decent practical joke sites and a number of great articles with some clever practical joke ideas. 1. Museum of HoaxesFeaturing a wide variety of scams, hoaxes and April fool’s day jokes, the Museum of Hoaxes has listed some of the classier and grand-scale practical jokes ever pulled off. It’s certainly a good place to drum up ideas for your own mischief.
2. Funny Practical JokeFunny Practical Jokes has a range of different practical jokes, plus a handful of useful prank items you can buy. There’s plenty of great ideas, ranging from hiding onion in sweet foods to placing fake ads for bargains using your friend’s phone number. Should give you a few joke ideas.
3. PrankspacePrankspace is full of practical joke ideas, covering pranks from highschool, car pranks, college pranks and office pranks. Some of these would be quick and easy to do, others more difficult. Either way, there are plenty of ideas here, so it’s great for inspiration.
4. LolPranksLolPranks is a very picture-heavy blog of practical jokes, with many jokes being the sorts of things you’d do to friends or teachers in school. At the very worst, it will give you a good reason not to drink at college parties.
5. April Fool ZoneApril Fool Zone is a little lighter on ideas than some of the rest, but it still features a few classics and will certainly help you to come up with practical jokes you can easily pull off. There’s a whole section on computer pranks as well as a section on office pranks. It has a few of my favourites, like the desktop screenshot as wallpaper and the ultra-slow mouse. Things that are easy to do and will annoy workmates for a while.
Practical Joke ArticlesWhile these aren’t sites wholly dedicated to the cause of practical jokes, they are fun-filled articles with great prank ideas. Some fabulous ideas in this collection.
More MakeUseOf Articles on Jokes and PranksHere’s some more reading on jokes that you’ll love:
Share Your Best Practical JokesHere’s one of my favourite gags, the invisible rope. Hopefully your quest for practical joke ideas has now armed you with ideas for some great laughs for you and your friends. If you have tried any great practical jokes or found anything new in one of these sites, let us know in the comments! Image Credit: Shutterstock 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: 19 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 Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| XnView – A Free Image Viewer and Image Converter You Should Really Consider Posted: 19 Oct 2010 12:30 PM PDT
But admittedly, we have been neglecting a great image software called XnView. We know a good thing when some of our knowledgeable readers start giving it a few raves. Some comments have even mentioned that it can easily give IrfanView a run for its money. So to start off, XnView is a cross-platform image viewer/browser, image organizer, and an image converter with a host of utilitarian tools for image work. Just what are these helpful tools that make XnView a thoroughbred in the rich stable of image and graphic tools? Let's find out. Choices from the StartXnView gives you quite a few options when it comes to the download. XnView (ver.1.97.8) is a 15 MB free download. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux x86, FreeBSD x86, OpenBSD x86, NetBSD x86, Solaris, Irix, HP-UX, and AIX. Whew! It is available in 44 languages (Windows only). More importantly, it is available for a free download in multiple variants – Standard, Minimal, U3 USB, for Pocket PCs and Smartphones (Windows Mobile), and as an extension for windows explorer. The XnView v1.97.8 Complete Version can be downloaded as an EXE setup file or as a ZIP file which also makes it portable. The complete version has the full complement of files to work with images. The Windows Explorer like Look
The Explorer-like interface may make it seem a bit boring, but it does give fast access to your image folders that may be scattered around. You can easily customize the layout to your comfort with the layout options given in the menu.
XnView is also skinnable. The panes can also be dragged and resized. Enhance the thumbnail visibility by turning off the image labels and increasing the size of the thumbnails. Select an image and open it in a new tab with a click or open it in a separate tab next to the main browser tab. Isolating an image in a separate tab gives you a full toolbar of tools to work with on the image.
You can crop an image, transform an image, adjust colors, remove red eye, start a quick slideshow with all the images in the folder, organize the image in the right folder, and convert the image to another format. Import 400 & Export 50 Graphic File FormatsIf you are searching for something which can let you view a MonkeyCard file, or something that's even rarer, XnView just might have it in the 400 odd formats it supports. IrfanView supports about 70 image formats. It can write to 50 file formats too when it does the conversions. Most of the digital camera formats are supported. XnView can also display video formats. Just like IrfanView, some formats require plugins. The Image Processing PowerhouseXnView has quite a lineup of effects and filters. Effects can be moderated with the help of the 'Before' and 'After' screens. You can also use Adobe Photoshop plugins with XnView.
With XnView it's easy to rotate and flip images without any loss in quality as it supports JPEG Lossless transformations.
XnView includes a host of batch processing choices from image renaming to resizing. You can apply a whole lineup of transformations in sequence to a batch of images. Often, batch processing is what you need to rename a bunch of files downloaded from a digital camera. You can set it to run and remove red eye effects, add watermarks, clean metadata, etc.
XnView comes with a nifty quick image capture tool that can snap your active desktop, any window, the active window or a defined rectangular area.
With XnView, you can quickly create and edit multi-page files in the TIFF format. You can also make strips of images in horizontal or vertical alignments. This way, you can store a sequence of images (like a lot of scanned images) with all data intact in a single TIFF multipage file. The Image Organizer
With the help of XnView, you can sort images around a lot of parameters. Metadata support is of course, one (EXIF, IPTC, XMP). You can define categories and finetune them with tags. Further image organization options include color labeling and ratings. Organizing images helps in the long run because you can use filters to sort through your image archives quickly. XnView – The Final EffectWith its range of options, XnView goes beyond the definition of a basic image software. There are a host of features I haven't been able to cover. Here's a summary of features. XnView is worth a download just for the sheer number of file formats it supports. If I have a peeve, it's with the absence of an updated and linked help file. Download XnView and potter around it. Let us know if you are a convert or you would still stick to the image software you already have. Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| Set Up Growl Notifications Between Different Computers And Devices Posted: 19 Oct 2010 12:00 PM PDT
If it sounds amazing, you are right. Everything could be set using the help of Growl. It allows us to forward notifications from one machine to another as long as all of them has Growl installed.
The installation routine goes just like any other Windows application.
But you have to tell Windows Firewall to allow this application to bypass the block. In case you are worried about security, don’t check the “Public network” option.
The app will reside in the System Tray. Windows 7 users have to dig a little deeper (or set it to be visible all the time) to access the settings.
Check the “Automatically start Growl at login” box so that the application will always available every time you start Windows.
This is also the place where you can set the sound notification and the user’s idle status. Notify Me And I’ll Notify YouTo set up the notification system to go off on several computers, click the “Network” tab. Then check the “Forward notifications to other computers” box to enable it, and “Subscribe to notifications from other computers” box to enable receiving notifications from other computers. Then click the “Plus (+)” button under “Forward…” box to add the computer/iPhone/email address that you want to forward your notifications to. If there are other computers with Growl in the same network, they should appear automatically on the list and you can choose to link them. Please note that Mac computers will not show on a Windows list unless the Windows machine has Bonjour installed. If you have installed iTunes and Quicktime in your Windows, Bonjour would have beeb installed along with them.
If you prefer to forward the message by email, you should give the setting a description and an email address. The default SMTP Settings is “Home (127.0.0.1)“. Choose the the priority and click “Save“.
The “Home” SMTP setting will only work if you have an email server installed on your computer. Further customization is available by clicking the “edit” link. Every system will have different email server configurations. Please consult your “knowledgeable acquaintance” about this matter.
Apply similar settings to other Growls on other computers. This is what it looks like on a Mac machine.
With A Little HelpUnfortunately, Windows machine can’t “listen to” a Mac machine by default. To be able to do that, you have to use the help from an application called “Growl Impersonator“. Find out more about the settings here.
To forward the Growl remote notifications to an iPhone (currently, this is the only supported mobile phone), you have to use help of other services. There are several options available: Prowl (paid), Howl (paid), Boxcar (free) and Notifo (free). Strangely, this “forward to iPhone” option is only available from Windows version of Growl (I just couldn’t find the way to do it from Mac). The Windows version of Growl also enables its users to “listen to” notifications from web services like Twitter and GMail. To enable this feature, you need to integrate it with notify.io. We’ll discuss notify.io in a separate article later on.
Do you use a notification system? Can you mention other worthy alternatives? Please share using the comment below. Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| 5 Cool Android Apps That Every Movie Fan Should Have Posted: 19 Oct 2010 11:30 AM PDT
Below, we’ve aggregated some of the best Android movie apps for the movie lover. Find reviews and watch trailers on the go, locate movie theaters near you, and get interesting audio bits and wallpapers delivered right to your doorstep phone. Movies by FlixsterThe Movies application by Flixter is one the most extensive applications available right now for movie lovers. It combines local features with general movie data. Movie ratings from Rotten Tomatoes, one of the more popular movie review sites, are shown for all new movies and top box offices.
The Movies application will also look for theaters and movie showtimes near you, up and coming movies, and DVDs. Perhaps one of the more interesting features of the application is the ability to effectively ‘bookmark’ movies, which you’ll then be able to find in the My Movies tab above. Download it by scanning this QR code with your Android phone.
IMDb Movies & TVEvery movie fan with internet access should already be thoroughly familiar with IMDb; the Internet Movie Database. This website is an unchallenged authority on cataloging movies and TV series, and is known for its often-time critic user reviews. Personally, I always take a look at IMDb to determine the worth of a particular movie.
Having it readily accessible on my cellphone allows me to look up movie information without breaking a sweat, no matter where I am. If you’re living in the US, you can use the app to look up movie showtimes, TV listings based on your timezone, and even view recaps from last night’s shows. Users around the world can view film trailers, user and critic reviews, quotes, trivia, and of course all the different IMDb’s movie charts. Download it by scanning this QR code with your Android phone.
CineShowTimeSure, both Flixter’s Movies and the IMDb app allow you to look up movie showtimes, but contrary to most modernist, I’m a strong advocate of dedicated applications. If you’re looking for nothing more than movie showtimes, there’s no reason your memory should be hogged by features you aren’t going to use. Besides, this application offers some interesting additional features.
CineShowTime automatically determines your location and the movie theaters near you. You can view the showtimes and plenty of information on the individual movies, including duration, rating, and a link to the IMDb page. But best of all, the application will automatically add a showing to your personal calendar. Download it by scanning this QR code with your Android phone.
Hollywood Movie WallpapersIf you regularly change your Android wallpaper, you’ve probably got your own sources of fun images, but I’ll bet it isn’t as easy to use as this application. Although the movie wallpapers supplied aren’t always as interesting, there’s always an ever-ready repository, and it doesn’t require you to individually resize and transfer any images to your phone.
Swap through the images, zoom in with using but a single finger, and set your new wallpaper in a mere two taps. You can also mail yourself the wallpaper, or contribute to the overall wallpaper quality by issuing a rating. Download it by scanning this QR code with your Android phone.
Classic Movie QuotesIf anything, this application isn’t too sophisticated, but it’s a fun gimmick to have on your phone. Classic Movie Quotes, much like the name implies, supplies you with random audio movie quotes of movie classics.
If you want, you can also save said audio quotes as a notification or ringtone sound byte. To do so, select a quote, and press one of the buttons at the bottom of the screen. This will remain in effect after reboot. Download it by scanning this QR code with your Android phone.
Do you know any other great movie applications for the Android? Let us know in the comments below! Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| What A Flash Mob Is & How You Can Participate Posted: 19 Oct 2010 09:31 AM PDT
Flash Mobs are an internet phenomenon of the 21st century. Although Flash Mobs don’t happen online, they are organized using social media, viral emails, or websites in general. Consequently, the first ‘official’ gathering of this nature was attempted in Manhatten in May 2003, the early days of social media. The phenomenon has since spread across the globe and Flash Mobs are open to anyone to join.
How Does It Work?Flash Mobs are initiated online. The organizers set up a website, mailing list, and/or a viral message that provides all necessary instructions for potential participants. This of course includes the date, time, and meeting point in the real world, as well as the action to perform, for example a video of the dance moves. An example of an upcoming worldwide Flash Mob is Thrill The World, a tribute to Michal Jackson. Since 2006 it has been held on the weekend before Halloween. This year it will be held in countries around the globe on Saturday, October 23rd, in an attempt to break a Guinness World Record. This is what the practicing session looked like in Vancouver in 2010: To participate in October, learn the dance here: Now let’s look at some ways you can find other upcoming Flash Mobs in your area. Improv Everywhere & The Urban Prankster NetworkImprov Everywhere, aka IE, is a performance art group based in New York City. They started to ’cause scenes’ as early as 2001. In the meantime their ‘missions’ often involve a high number of ‘agents’, which they recruit through their website. However, not all of their pranks strictly fit the Flash Mob definition. One of their latest missions called for people to invade a beach dressed in business attire: One of Improv Everywhere’s most famous pranks is the ‘Frozen Grand Central’ mission: If you are not in New York, you may find a local IE-inspired group on The Urban Prankster Network. FlashMob.comThe site is simple to use and very basic. Anyone can post their Flash Mob and you can search the latest posts for Flash Mobs in your area. Unfortunately, there is no way to pre-sort the entries by location, you have to use your eagle eye.
Social MediaThe best and most reliable way to find out about a Flash Mob are social media networks like Twitter or Facebook. Simply search for the keywords ‘flash mob’ / ‘flashmob’ or follow groups and people who regularly tip off Flash Mobs. Facebook: Flashmob groups and pages; Flash Mob groups and pages. Twitter: flashmobfreedom, flashmobbrasil, flashmobamerica
CommercialFor some time the Flash Mob movement received a lot of attention from the media. Subsequently, companies picked it up to use it for viral marketing and even advertisements. The T-Mobile Dance is a famous example. Flash Mobs are out of the ordinary and simply fun. If you have a list of ‘Things To Do Before You Die’, being part of a Flash Mob should definitely be on it. Well, maybe you can already cross that item off your list. If you ever participated in a Flash Mob, what did you do and what was it like? Image credits: Capgros Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| The Best Mac Video Cards for Graphics Designers Posted: 19 Oct 2010 08:30 AM PDT
If you’re looking to upgrade the video card on your Apple machine, however, you’re in for a new kind of pain. Apple computers have a very specific design, and OS X has very specific driver support for new devices. There are only a few cards that are compatible. Luckily, I’ve gone to the trouble of identifying three Mac video cards that are currently available and compatible. Note that this article focuses on compatibility with the Mac Pro, as iMacs, while not impossible to upgrade, are not considered user serviceable. Radeon 5000 series
We’ll start off with the most obvious choice first. Current Mac Pro computers ship with the Radeon HD 5770 video card, a fast mid-range card with 1GB of RAM. This is not the fastest card on the market by a long shot, but it is also far from the slowest, and it will provide a noticeable boost if you’re using a program that supports GPU acceleration. Alternatively, you can purchase the quicker Radeon HD 5870. The Radeon HD 5870 is among the three quickest video cards currently available, so it will provide a big performance boost to any application that can make use of its power. The Radeon 5000 series cards should work on any Mac Pro tower from the 2008 update or later. However, there does appear to be an issue with the use of DisplayPort on the video card when it is installed in older machines. Connecting a DisplayPort device deactivates the DVI ports, so you won’t be able to connect three displays as you would on a Windows machine but rather only two (with DVI) or one (with DisplayPort). Quadro FX4800 for Mac
The Nvidia Quadro FX4800 is a high-end graphics card built for workstation computers, and the “For Mac” edition is the only current Nvidia Quadro card that can be used with the Mac Pro. Now you may be wondering – what’s the difference between a Quadro card and a Geforce card? That’s a good question. The answer comes down certain specific features such as quad-buffered 3D output support and 128-bit color precision. These are features that are only useful with certain programs in certain situations (i.e. the Quadro is the only way to view 3D effects with Maya on a Mac computer). The Quadro FX4800 also offers support for CUDA, which is useful for acceleration of video transcoding with CUDA-compatible applications. The price tag of the Quadro FX4800 is a shocker, however – about $1800 if you buy it from the Apple store and not much less elsewhere. This card can be worth it for certain professionals, but you’ll need to think very hard about how this card will save you time before you purchase it. The FX4800, like the Radeon 5000 series cards, is only compatible Mac Pros made since the 2008 model year. Nvidia Geforce GT 120
Both the Radeon 5000 Series cards and the Quadro FX4800 are monsters in their own right capable of pushing huge volumes of graphics data through a big, fat memory pipeline. The Geforce GT 120? Well, uh, not so much. Nvidia’s product line uses larger numbers to represent newer and faster cards, so the GT 120 is quite slow indeed. Even so, it can be a decent upgrade if you have an older Mac Pro with a bum video card or an even less powerful card. Also, as the Apple store description of this card points out — each GT 120 can handle two displays, so you can purchase four of these and run up to eight displays. The Geforce GT 120 is the best way to support a massive multi-monitor desktop. This card, like the other listed here, should work with model year 2008 or newer Mac Pros although official support only extended to 2009 and newer Mac Pros. The card will cost you $150 from the Apple store. Older Mac Pros and ConclusionAs you’ve probably noticed, all of the cards here are for relatively new Mac Pros. According to Apple support, the following cards are compatible with the PowerMac G5.
And the following cards are compatible with the first two revisions of the Mac Pro
The problem, of course, is that these Mac-compatible video cards are discontinued models. That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to find them, but you may have to find a second-hand model. If you know of a good source of second hand-cards, or you managed to get a different video card working in your Mac, let us know how you managed it in the comments! Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!
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It isn’t always easy to show people how amazing a location is. Maybe you’ve visited an awesome theme park or a zoo and you’d like to show them how cool it was. Or maybe you’re trying to sell your home, but pictures or words just don’t reveal the beauty of the land and the house itself. Sometimes, the best way to show people a location is through a real video tour. This lets people feel as though they, themselves, are walking through the area. Providing an online video of an area is like providing web visitors with a virtual tour.
Searching for a good practical joke site is a little like telling Google to search for a page full of spam. Most of the results are awful sites with the same practical jokes in all of them, repeating the same gags over and over in an attempt to get you to buy the latest prank joke product. The rest of the results are the stores for said products. It’s a little lacking in quality ideas.
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.
We have looked at quite a few 
Are you one of those multi-gadget users? How do you keep up with everything that happens on all of your devices? Wouldn’t it nice if some kind of notification system could be triggered remotely between gadgets? For example, when something happens in computer #1, a notification could be sent to computer #2. Or, when the 3D animation rendering that you started in your office last night is finally complete but you’re already home, so a notification will pop up on your mobile phone.
Like everything these days, movies are going mobile. Internet and mobile technologies together have opened many doors, and even us can feel subjects of a futuristic movie.
A Flash Mob is a large group of people who gather at a public location to perform a pre-defined action, typically a brief dance, and disperse rapidly after the event has concluded.
Buying a new video card for your Mac can be a major boon if you’re a graphics designer or you work with a program that supports GPU acceleration. A video card can complete certain tasks many times more quickly than a traditional computer processor can, so buying a video card can shave precious time off your work day.
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