MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [November 10th]” plus 10 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [November 10th]
- Join MakeUseOf On Facebook!
- How To Cartoonify Your Photos With GIMP
- 7 Completely Free VPN Services To Protect Your Privacy
- Use Client For Google Translate As A Desktop Translation Agent
- Hot Tech Deals [Nov 10th]
- 10 Different Ways To Browse, Watch & Enjoy YouTube Videos
- Add An Evernote Site Memory Button To Build Loyal Website Visitors
- Several 365 Days Online Groups To Help You Become A Better Photographer
- How To Completely Remove Norton Or McAfee From Your Computer
- 3 Fun & Simple Phone Apps That Will Change The Way You Text Message
| Cool Websites and Tools [November 10th] Posted: 10 Nov 2010 07:31 PM PST
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. 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: 10 Nov 2010 06:31 PM PST
You’ll be rewarded with exclusive previews of future publications, what we refer to as “Sneak Peeks”; and the best posts from the day before, “Yesterday’s Best”. We also use our fan page to inform you about premium software giveaways and discounts that are not announced on the website. We get a lot of those from software developers and distribute them mainly on Facebook. So grab some friends and join us on Facebook today!
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| How To Cartoonify Your Photos With GIMP Posted: 10 Nov 2010 05:31 PM PST
Not only does vector art look amazing, but it’s also incredibly time-consuming. Just look at any number of vector tutorials on YouTube, and you’ll notice that the price to finish a great-looking piece of vector art yourself involves meticulous work and patience. Not all is lost, however. Cartoonifying your portraits is actually easier than you think, thanks to built-in plugins and features in GIMP, the premier open-source photo editor.
If you are new to GIMP, check out the recent collection of hand-picked video tutorials for beginners. Cartoonifying People: Method 1
Method 2
Cartoonifying ObjectsRegular photos (non-portraits) can turn into art pieces easily as well. You can try the previous methods on non-portraits, but not the other way around because I’ve tried and people in pictures just don’t come out very nice. Basically, pictures of objects or landscapes can be cartoonified all three ways, but if you try this method on portraits, you’ve been warned: your result image will probably just scare you. Anyway, let’s start the tutorial, which is actually an adaptation of a couple of tutorials from another blog and Youtube, but I’ve included some tips of my own here.
Want more tutorials? Here’s how to create cool stereographic projections and wallpapers. Do you prefer regular photos or do you like them spiced up in vector or cartoon format? Photoshop users, feel free to share your cartoonifying methods in the comments too! Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| 7 Completely Free VPN Services To Protect Your Privacy Posted: 10 Nov 2010 03:31 PM PST
There’s a few measures you can take to increase security on your end, such as installing a firewall and blocking known intrusive IP addresses that might be spying on your browsing habits. The next step for anyone looking to take security to the next level is by using a virtual private network (VPN) to encrypt all inbound and outbound data. What Is A Virtual Private Network?A VPN allows you to connect your machine to a virtual network which in turn encrypts the data you send, hiding everything from the public domain. A good VPN will keep no records of your browsing history, meaning you’re essentially an anonymous user.
Many VPNs are established for office use, to allow users to log into their workplace network and gain access to services therein. Seeing as you’re reading an article about free VPN services, you’re probably more concerned about security and how you can benefit from using one. Despite the stigma involved with taking such a hardline approach to security, you don’t necessarily need to be using the internet for illegal purposes to benefit. Much like using a proxy, a VPN can also help you access websites that may not already be available in your region.
An excellent example of this would be Hulu, and we’ve got a guide about doing it right here. Many VPN services require payment, but there’s a fair few decent free efforts out there too. Here’s a selection to get you started. Free VPN ServicesIt is worth noting that despite the services listed below being completely free to use, many impose restrictions on free VPN accounts. Hopefully this list will at least give you an idea of how VPN works, and how it can benefit you. If you really like the service then many offer competitive rates as well as referral schemes and paid accounts in exchange for advertising space. ProXPNA free VPN service designed for use with Windows and Mac computers. ProXPN works by downloading a small free application from which to connect. The service is also compatible with the iPhone and other mobile phones that support VPN. Interestingly you can use the iPhone setup instructions to make a connection from your PC, useful if you’re a Linux user. GPassThe GPass service provides free VPN access as well as an impressive fast web proxy to use directly in your browser. The service is very popular in China where internet censorship is commonplace.
The service seems very hot on security (good job, really), and even goes as far as to recommend an integrity check after you’ve downloaded the software (before installing). GPass is compatible with Windows only, and does not require registration. CyberGhostOffering 1GB of encypted traffic per month on the free package, CyberGhost is another Windows-only VPN client. In order to use the service you are required to register for a free account which unfortunately does not allow you to pick and choose your servers. Ideal for web surfing, but not a dedicated file sharing solution. AnchorFree Hotspot ShieldOffering a free VPN solution for Windows, Mac and iPhone (and possibly other systems using the iPhone login information) Hotspot Shield boasts "unlimited bandwidth" to those who need it.
The service supports itself by providing advertising within web pages viewed using the service, as stated in the terms. A little bird tells me that if you’re a Firefox user you can use the NoScript extension to hide these, although I’ve not tried it myself. Its HiddenOriginally established as a safeguard for filesharers, Its Hidden offers a competitive free service as well as paid solutions offering better contention (less users per server), professional support and dedicated IP addresses. Registration is required, and once you’ve signed up you can connect to the service directly through your operating system by following the set-up guide, with no additional software required. The service is compatible with any operating system you happen to be using that supports VPN. SecurityKissThe free package provided by SecurityKiss brings you 300MB of data transfer per day, but provides an uncapped line with plenty of speed. You’ll need the SecurityKiss software to access the service, and this is only compatible with Windows.
Despite not offering a whole lot of bandwidth, SecurityKiss will suffice in unblocking web services like Skype and YouTube you might otherwise be unable to access. Best Free VPN ServiceSolely for use through your existing OS, mobile or VPN application, Best Free VPN changes its password every 12 to 24 hours to help maintain fairness for users. It’s not the speediest service around, offering only 512Kbit/s down and 256Kbit/s up. The service doesn’t allow P2P services (no BitTorrent then) but it should suffice if you need to do any covert surfing. ConclusionFree things are great, but they’re also subject to a lot of use by the community. If you’re encountering problems with any of the above then you’re just better off moving on and trying another. If you’re really serious about security (and accessing your home PCs from anywhere) then you’ll probably want to invest in a paid VPN service. Do you use VPN? Had any luck with free services, or have you gone paid? Let us know in the comments. Image Credits: Intro, VPN Overview
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| Use Client For Google Translate As A Desktop Translation Agent Posted: 10 Nov 2010 01:31 PM PST
Google Translate is a tool that we really appreciate here at MakeUseOf. Simon offered four reasons why it’s better than other translation services, and Ann recently covered some tools that are built upon the Google Translate utility.
The Google Translate ApplicationThis locally installed application is called a “client” because in the background it plugs into the Google Translate service to perform all translations. What having a client installed does for you is that it allows you to always have a window available (in the foreground or background) that you can use to translate text whenever you like.
Even if you’re using applications where this client isn’t integrated into it, you can quickly copy the foreign language from that application (such as your favorite email client), and then paste it into this translation window.
You can set the application to auto-detect the source language so that you don’t have to fiddle with settings, and you can set the default target language. In this case I’ve set it to AutoDetect and translate everything to English.
If you’re absolutely obsessed with languages and learning them, you have to try out clicking on the “Learner” button, which opens up the Learner tool. This simply displays simple phrases in your native language, and the resulting text that you’ve selected in the “translate to:” box for cases where the source is English (or whatever you’ve set your default language to).
This feature – the ability to tell the app what to do if the text you’ve copied is actually your default language – allows you to use this client for a dual purpose. Obviously, you can use it to translate any language to your native tongue, but you can also use it as a tool to learn a new language. If you copy text from the web that is already written in your native language and paste it into the tool, it’ll tell you how to translate it to another language. This is fantastic if you’re a language student and want to practice reading web pages in another language. As you can see on the settings screen, the app is highly configurable. For example, you can change font sizes, colors, start-up and hot keys.
Using The Client In Firefox Or IEThe real beauty of this app is when it is integrated with the application you’re using. While you could always copy text, go to the Google Translate website in a new tab, and then paste the text for a translation – why go through all of those steps? When you have the client installed, all you have to do is highlight the text that’s in a foreign language, and a “G” icon will immediately appear.
Click the “G” – and you will see a pop-up box with an instant translation of that text to your default language.
No more copy/paste and no more opening up a new browser window or tab – everything is translated right on-page. Another cool feature is that when you highlight a word or phrase in your native language, you’ll see three icons pop up.
“G” will do the translation to your default foreign language, “W” is a Wikipedia search that isn’t enabled in the free version – but a cool little additional feature of this free client is that “S” will do an instant Google search for the word or phrase you’ve highlighted.
Finally, if you ever come across text or a document in a foreign language and Google Translate either can’t translate it, or does a poor job of it – you can actually hire a human translator directly from the client. In the client app, if you hover your mouse over the image of the woman, you’ll see the current going rate for translated text – just click to request a paid translation.
Google Translate is becoming more and more popular, and I think at some point all of us eventually end up using the online version. If you tend to use it a lot – give this desktop client a roll and see if it saves you some time. Do you know of any other cool Google Translate desktop tools? Do you use any other non-Google free translation tools on your computer? Share your insight in the comments section below. Image credit: Yaroslav B NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!
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| Posted: 10 Nov 2010 12:15 PM PST
For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated. Keep reading to find out today’s Hot Tech Deals.
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| 10 Different Ways To Browse, Watch & Enjoy YouTube Videos Posted: 10 Nov 2010 11:31 AM PST
But ultimately, YouTube is about enjoying videos. We have seen how YouTube can be used to catch anything from mini-clips to full length movies, 3D clips, and even interactive games.
YouTube Instant
YouTube goes real time with 'instant' videos. Type in a keyword (or even a single alphabet) and the app gets the most popular video according to the search term. The next five in the popularity stakes get mentioned with thumbnails on the side. You can do things like use the arrow key to quickly go to the next video. If you are interested in instant YouTube videos check out – 3 Websites to Enjoy a YouTube Instant Experience. iDesktop.TV
Think of this cool web app as an online media player for all YouTube videos. You can start off by getting all your YouTube search results displayed in neat rows of thumbnails. Use the slider to change the view. Bring up the video options by hovering over each thumbnail. Then you can create, save, and share YouTube playlists. Best of all you can download the high-quality (not high definition) videos in multiple formats (but only 3 per day). The web app has paid plans and a free one (see our Directory mention). ViewPure
The YouTube URL or a little bookmarklet is all you need for a distraction free YouTube experience. You get to watch videos without the text and ads around it. The site allows short URLs too, to share the ViewPure version to your friends (see our Directory mention). Dipity
YouTube does not yet give you the option of searching or arranging videos by date. Dipity is a mashup which does exactly that. You can watch the videos in a chronological sequence. For instance, you can easily create a timeline of sporting events and catch the videos in the right order. YTTM.tv
This YouTube Time Machine was set up to probably prove that there's nothing like the good 'ol days. Here, you have a timeline (a movable slider) on which you can lookup popular videos from years gone by. You can filter videos by switching categories on and off. The videos are displayed at random, so you might have to do a bit of your own patient sifting (see our Directory mention). GeoBestOfYouTube
This web service, as you might have guessed, is a way to see the most viewed YouTube videos by country. Click on the icons on the large Google Map and the balloon pops up with the video thumbnails and additional information. You can see the picks for the day, the week, the month, and all time. Synchtube
Think of it as your own private movie room. If you have good enough bandwidth and a close bunch of pals, invite them over to watch movies (or anything else) on YouTube. With the help of Synchtube you can have public and private rooms where you can watch synchronized YouTube videos with up to 50 people. What's cooler is that you can chat at the same time with your groupies. No registration needed (see our Directory mention). YouTube Social
YouTube Social is quite similar to the last one, but it comes with one more option. You just have to add the word ‘social’ to the YouTube video URL (i.e. it becomes youtubesocial.com) and you get redirected to the web apps page. Now you can invite your friends to the show by sending them the URL. You get to chat in real time while watching the video together. You can also log in through Facebook to watch videos with your Facebook circle – and that hikes up its social quotient. Video-Alerts
Video-Alerts is a service that allows you to get an email notification once a day when new videos are uploaded to YouTube, on any topic of your choice. You can use up to ten keywords to target your preferred videos. YouTomb
Okay, this website is about the videos you won't get to watch on YouTube anymore. If you want to know which videos got taken down for any sort of violation, you might find a mention here. As it says in the footer, it is a research project of MIT Free Culture. The site notes the why and when. The site has cataloged about 222,471 videos that have been taken down. There are quite a few other ways to watch the millions of YouTube videos. Then there are the alternative ways to catch the music on YouTube too which we haven't covered here. Which is your favorite one? Or do you prefer to go back to the basic way of watching the videos on YouTube itself? Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| Add An Evernote Site Memory Button To Build Loyal Website Visitors Posted: 10 Nov 2010 10:31 AM PST
One of the features of Evernote is the ability to take Web Clips, either by using a browser add-on/extension or a bookmarklet. Recently, Evernote improved this ability by launching a feature called Site Memory. But this time they have taken a different approach: instead of looking at things only from the users’ point of view, they are also looking from a website owner’s perspective. Keeping The Memory AliveBasically Site Memory will add a clip button to websites, so visitors can quickly clip the site content to their Evernote account and view content that they have already saved before. The site owner controls which and how much of the content should be clipped, and how it should appear on the reader’s Evernote. As their collection grows, people will likely become loyal visitors and come back more often. They may also tell others about the cool feature that your site has. Here’s what Evernote says about the benefit of adding the Site Memory Button to your site:
Evernote provides web owners with tool to easily create Site Memory Button(s) to their sites. There are only four steps to take to finish the process:
Self-hosted WordPress users can just skip the building process and use the WP Evernote Site Memory plugin instead. All the hard work will be done for you.
Code-freak geeks who want to take complete control over Site Memory will want to read the complete instructions over at the Evernote site. Aside from WordPress, the site also provides instructions on customizing the button for Tumblr. Looking At Things From Another SideSo you’ve now added the button to your site. What will your visitor actually see? How’s the view from the other side? Let’s look at how the visitors use Site Memory to their convenience. I installed the WordPress plugin on my site, activated it, and did no customization whatsoever. Here’s what happened.
The way I see it, the Site Memory button from Evernote is a great feature for both visitors – to enrich their collections, and to web owners – to improve their sites and gain loyal readers. What do you think about the feature? Share your thoughts and opinions using the comments below. Got Questions? Ask Them Now FREE on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| Several 365 Days Online Groups To Help You Become A Better Photographer Posted: 10 Nov 2010 09:31 AM PST
One of the most challenging and possible rewarding groups involves taking and posting a photo per day for an entire year. There are several 365 days groups on Flickr.com. I will suggest a few, but I encourage you to search out several others and make one your home base. The most popular group that I know of for this project is called, well Project 365. It currently has 19,920 members. The group has hundreds of discussions threads including weekly challenges for meeting your daily photo requirement.
You can join Project 365 at any time to get you started, but if you’re interested in starting on January 1, “365: the 2011 edition,” has been created for such a purpose. The administrator says the group will be limited to 1,111 members, so if you’re already a Flickr.com member, you might want to join in. The group is open to photographers of all skill levels. Another established group is 365 Community with 644 members. This group also has weekly themes, as well as milestone threads for when members reach a particular number of days in the project. Completing The ProjectNow, to be honest, shooting and posting a photo per day can be a hefty challenge, especially if you have limited time to get out and shoot. So the following are some suggestions based on my experience in completing the project a few years ago.
Completing a photo a day project is nearly a foolproof way to become a better photographer. There will be plenty of days when you will shoot and post crappy photos, but I guarantee you, you will shoot and make a few really awesome photos that you might never have made by not doing the project. Let us know if you plan on doing Project 365. If a photo per day is too time consuming for you, I will be posting a list of other Flickr.com photo projects you might want to try. Image Credit: Shutterstock.com Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| How To Completely Remove Norton Or McAfee From Your Computer Posted: 10 Nov 2010 08:31 AM PST
Most people who have Norton or McAfee found the software on their computer when they bought it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – it’s important to get a working anti-virus onto a new computer as quickly as possible – but the default software on your computer isn’t necessarily the best. Just ask any former IE user who today uses Google Chrome or Firefox.
Before you do anything you should probably disconnect from the Internet. Leaving a Windows computer connected to the web without protection can be dangerous. That’s why I recommend you read through the guide, download what you need to download and then follow the steps below. Getting StartedBoth Norton and McAfee recommend that you remove your program through the control panel before running their tools. I’ve found that simply running the tool is enough, but if you like playing by the rules you might as well do this first.
Completely Remove NortonAre you a soon-to-be-ex-Norton-user? Congratulations! What you need now is the Norton Removal tool. The best product Norton offers, this program will completely remove all Norton-related software from your computer (including shortcuts and annoying toolbars). Click here to download the Norton removal tool, then run the executable. You’ll see something that looks like this:
Follow the on-screen directions, mostly clicking “next“, to rid yourself forever of all Norton leftovers. You may have to prove you’re human by typing a few lines of text, but for the most part this is painless. Best of all: when you’re done there’s no sign left on your computer of Norton’s existence. Completely Remove McAfeeIf you’re trying to remove McAfee you’re going to need a different piece of software: the McAfee Cleanup Tool. This program will remove everything to do with McAfee from your computer, and is by far the best product they offer. It does exactly what it says it will do.
Go ahead and click here to download the McAfee removal tool. Run this executable and it will take care of the rest! Install Something BetterLooking for a better piece of anti-virus software? I myself really love Microsoft Security Essentials, for three reasons: first, it offers great protection; second, it features a really clean and simple user interface; third, it will never ever ask you for money. But read the comments below and you’ll quickly discover not everyone agrees with me. Check out their recommendations, and be sure to check out our list of the top ten free anti-virus programs if you still need ideas. Can anyone offer links to tools for completely removing other annoying bits of software? If so, please share them below. Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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| 3 Fun & Simple Phone Apps That Will Change The Way You Text Message Posted: 10 Nov 2010 07:31 AM PST
The way texting usually works is you would take out your phone, select all the recipients of your message, type it out and send it. Then you would get multiple replies and have basically the same conversation a few different times in order to coordinate your plans with the entire group. Well, that’s all about to change.
Real-Time Texting With Kik
Kik Messenger is a free smartphone to smartphone messenger, not unlike BlackBerry’s Messenger. One of the things that makes it different, however, is that it is truly cross-platform. It will work on your iPhone, BlackBerry or Android device. The best part about KIK (a popular misspelling of ‘LOL’) is the real-time messaging. You get free, unlimited cross-platform messaging to all Kik users and your text messages are turned into real-time conversations, meaning that you’ll know that your message has been sent and when it is read. Because this process is fast, Kik makes texting feel more like a face-to-face conversation.
If you’re too busy to read a new message, but don’t want your friends to feel ignored, Kik steps in and tells them that their message has been delivered but not yet read. Kik Messenger also features push notifications, free cross border messaging, landscape typing, offline messages and – according to their website – it works worldwide. According to Kik, the next step is adding free (legal) music sharing.
Group Texting With GroupMe
GroupMe (directory app) allows you to create free texting chatrooms for your real-life friends. The way it works is simple:
First, you start a group. This can be your family, college buddies, co-workers or really anything you want. When you start a group, you get a unique number for it. Save your group’s number to your contacts so you can get a hold of the group at any time. Once you’ve created your group, add contacts to it.
Then, start texting your group. All of your group’s contacts will be brought into a chatroom where you can all see the entire conversation. If you would prefer not to text, you can call your unique number to start an instant conference call. How cool is that? GroupMe is said to work on any phone, but they do have an iPhone app for download. Fun Team-Based Texting With Fast Society
While the previous two apps offer you fun ways to send text messages, I think this next app was designed specifically with the word fun in mind. Fast Society (directory app) is another group texting application that is totally private and works with every phone on every carrier (in the US). It allows you to “create temporary teams of friends around fun events in your life.”
You start by choosing your team. You can choose a few friends or invite anyone, even those who don’t have the app. Then you pick a length of time for how long you would like your chat session to last. Temporary teams means no commitment, and because the session expires you won’t have to get a stray message the next day from someone who was “unconnected”.
Then, what happens next is up to you. You can start texting your team for a simple group chat via SMS, or call them for an instant conference call. Members of the team can also share their location with the group.
Have an iPhone? Fast Society has an iPhone app, but it also works on other phones, so head to the website. ConclusionI realize that these text messaging apps might not seem very “fun” at first glance, but I assure you once you start using them with your friends you will really start to get into it. Changing the way we text message is such an interesting dynamic to me, and judging from the current popularity of these applications I think it is something to keep an eye on. If you’re interested in these apps, check out some other SMS tools. What do you think of these apps? Will you be trying any of them with your friends? Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
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