MakeUseOf.com: “Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]” plus 7 more |  |
- Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]
- Cool Websites and Tools [November 7th]
- Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends!
- Which Is The Best Budget Web Host? [MakeUseOf Poll]
- 2 Online Alternatives to Standard RSS Readers
- Hot Tech Deals [Nov 7th]
- 10 Free MP3 Albums To Download [Sound Sunday]
- SoMud – A Remarkable Cross-Platform Download Application
| Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun] Posted: 07 Nov 2010 07:21 PM PST
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. Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
    
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cool Websites and Tools [November 7th] Posted: 07 Nov 2010 06:31 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.
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends! Posted: 07 Nov 2010 05:31 PM PST
Thank you, guys!
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Which Is The Best Budget Web Host? [MakeUseOf Poll] Posted: 07 Nov 2010 04:30 PM PST
We tallied a total of 378 votes for the poll: 37% have read MakeUseOf for 1-2 years; 18% have read MUO 6mths-1 year; 16% have been MUO readers 3-6mths; 12% have been here 2-3 years; 10% are new MUO readers of less than 3mths; 4% are long term readers of 3-4 years; 2% of readers have been here since the blog launched; while a handful (.8%) of people thought they’d fill out the poll after visiting MUO for the first time. Full results and this week's poll after the jump.
This week's poll question is: Which Is The Best Budget Web Host? We know there’s some great web hosts out there. However, most everyday people are looking to find the best host they can within a modest budget. Let’s find out which of these are the best! Please feel free to add your favourite hosts to the comments, as well as sharing your horror stories and praise for the ones we’ve mentioned! Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 Online Alternatives to Standard RSS Readers Posted: 07 Nov 2010 02:30 PM PST
Newswall allows you to create your own personalised magazine, hosted on your own webserver no less, consisting of the RSS feeds of your favourite sites. If you’d rather follow interesting topics as opposed to sites, Skeedy will come in handy. NewswallNewsWall, a free PHP script, allows you to host an RSS reader on your webserver, and is very easy to set up. Download the zip file, and upload its contents to the root folder of your webserver. Once you’ve uploaded the files, direct your browser to the URL (http://yoursite/foldername) and configure Newswall to display the RSS feeds of your choice. You won’t have to fiddle with database settings, which makes it very easy for anyone who knows how to access an FTP server to install Newswall. The first time you launch it, you will be prompted to add RSS feeds, and from there you can also add IMAP or POP email accounts, and adjust your settings. If you’re going to use Newswall to keep up with your email, be sure to include a login password so not just anyone can find their way to your email messages.
To access this control panel after the initial setup, simply click on the Newswall logo at the top of the page.
From here you can continue to add new RSS feeds to your wall.
Other settings you can control are the number of items from each feed, how often feed is refreshed and you can also choose from several themes to suit your taste.
Newswall displays the latest items from the sites you follow in a magazine-like grid.
Once you open up an item, you can read it directly on Newswall or you can also click the button at the bottom of the screen to see the article on the original website.
When reading the article on Newswall, go back to the grid of articles by clicking the power button.
If you choose not to use Newswall to keep up with your email, it could serve to be a convenient and original way for a group of people to follow the same websites and blogs. If you already subscribe to a lot of feeds and are looking for a quick way to import them into a new service – Newswall is not for you. Adding your favourite sites one by one will be a tedious task and so the service is better suited to someone who doesn’t already have an RSS reader set up. Another disadvantage to using Newswall as your RSS reader is that once you read any given item, it does not disappear from the grid. On the other hand, if you’re looking to put together a personalised online magazine of sorts, Newswall could be the perfect solution for you. SkeedyWith Skeedy, rather than follow the sites or blogs themselves, you can follow your favourite topics.
Sign up for a new account by either creating one, or connecting to your Facebook or Twitter accounts. Once you’re following your favourite topics, opening up any given news item from your Skeedy page will actually open up the original blog or site, with a Skeedy frame at the top of the page.
The advantage to using Skeedy, and Newswalls, as opposed to a traditional RSS reader, is that you are able to see the blog’s original layout. For bloggers who go to great lengths to create an attractive website, this is definitely a plus. There are three choices with how much information you want to receive on any given topic. The first category, Geek, is a little reminiscent of Google Alerts, where you will receive every piece of news about the subjects you are following. With the second category, Fan, you will receive only the relevant news on the subjects you are following. And with the third category, Calm, you will receive only the important news about the subjects you are following.
Not only can you can read the news on the Skeedy website, you will also receive an email notification with the latest updates on your topics. With the Geek and Fan categories, you will receive one email per day, whereas with the Calm category you will receive only one email per week. Skeedy doesn’t only scan websites and blogs for the latest news, but also pulls in videos from YouTube, photos from Flickr, and books from Google books. Rather than use a frame, the photos and videos are displayed directly on the Skeedy website.
How do you keep up with the news that’s of interest to you? Let us know in the comments. Image credit: Marius Auzelis Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already!
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 07 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.
Image credit: Modified from Svengraph’s icon set NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 Free MP3 Albums To Download [Sound Sunday] Posted: 07 Nov 2010 11:30 AM PST
Free music submissions from artists or fans are most welcome. Please eMail me [tina at makeuseof dot com] your legal download links or genre requests. Signal Path – Imaginary LinesGenre: electronica, big beat, instrumental
Signal Path MySpace and Homepage. Jaekim – Green GritsGenre: soul, blues, hip hop
Grits Homepage. Jaekim Homepage. Audio Recon – The Courage To Be An Absolute NobodyGenre: experimental, electronic
Audio Recon MySpace and Homepage. My Brother Woody – It’s a long way from that sort of thing you were raisedGenre: indie, pop
My Brother Woody MySpace and Facebook. The Boots – This Is Not A TestGenre: alternative rock
The Boots Band MySpace and Homepage. Progresión – EncrucijadaGenre: instrumental, guitar, neoclassical metal
Progresión MySpace and Homepage. Arthur Dellea – ExclusivesGenre: alternative, electronica, dance, techno, rock instrumental
Arthur Dellea MySpace and Homepage. Tax the Wolf – Hold the SunGenre: experimental, rock, psychedelic, instrumental
Tax the Wolf MySpace and Homepage. Egress (label) – Way OutGenre: mixed, sampler
Spin – November MixtapeGenre: mixed, mixtape
Spin Homepage. Browse past editions of Sound Sunday here. Feel free to get in touch with me [tina@makeuseof.com] if you have free material to share or suggestions and feedback you don't want to post in the comments below. NEW: Download MakeUseOf iPhone App. FREE!
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SoMud – A Remarkable Cross-Platform Download Application Posted: 07 Nov 2010 09:30 AM PST
Let’s face the facts. Any internet browser slows down dramatically when downloading a large batch of files. In addition to that, these web browsers often use but a single connection to the download server – not even using your internet connection to its fullest potential – and support only some internet protocols.
SoMudActually, calling SoMud a download manager would be an injustice. SoMud is at home in many areas and we’ll try to cover the most prominent features in this article, but you can expect some pleasant surprise features if you start using the application. Nevertheless, downloading files is SoMud’s bread and butter and the context in which we’ll review the application.
SoMud is a cross-platform application, which means it’ll run on both Windows and Mac OS X. It is currently not available for Linux, although that might change in the future. You can use the application to download via HTTP/FTP and BitTorrent. Torrent Search and DownloadBitTorrent, one of the most famous (and notorious) examples of P2P, connects to a large swarm of fellow downloaders and puts available small parts of the file that has already been downloaded. This allows the download to happen without the interference of a file server, but also forces people to upload while they download.
Like all torrent applications, SoMud can start downloading when you open a .torrent file. Far less time consuming, you can use SoMud to search and download without leaving the application window, much like Vuze. The application automatically searches some of the more popular Torrent sites and aggregates the results. Using SoMud, people don’t have to jump to and fro between three applications, or even know much about P2P. Using SoMud’s integrated search didn’t always produce the best results – you get those when you really know where to look, it was a feature I particularly enjoyed. HTTP Download ManagerAs mentioned, SoMud also sports HTTP (and FTP) download functionality. This works pretty much like you’d expect. SoMud breaks the file into a set number of pieces and requests server access for each one (shown below). Although this won’t improve your internet connection, it will add to the server-allocated speed, which is usually lower than your actual internet connection. You can also add multiple mirror URLs (different links to the same file) to improve download speeds.
Especially interesting when downloading audio and video, SoMud allows you to preview the file before it’s finished downloading. This option can be accessed from the download details, also shown above. If you’re worried about anonymity, you can even configure SoMud to download via proxy. All in all, an impressive array of features. Online Video DownloadAlthough not exactly aesthetically pleasing, SoMud can search different online video websites (e.g. YouTube) at once and syst the results. You can preview the video inside the application and add it as a download with the click of the button.
Personally, I think we’ve seen our fair share of YouTube downloaders, but it’s a good feature to top the list. With streaming video becoming ever popular, it won’t do to keep our focus completely on relatively old-fashioned file servers. Do you use a download manager? Tell us why, and which application you prefer 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.
Similar MakeUseOf Articles
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Check out the top picks from MakeUseOf 
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 
Last week, our poll asked you all 
There are many robust online 
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.
Variety is a good ingredient for most anything. In this edition of Sound Sunday you can get a taste of big beat electronic music, soul, blues, hip hop, indie pop, alternative rock, neoclassical metal, electronic dance and techno, psychedelic rock, and more. Several samplers, a compilation, and a mixtape, among five regular albums provide you with a variety Sound Sunday has never seen before. Dig in!
A large majority of people still use their web browsers to download files from the internet ditching their download managers when internet speeds started increasing. Is that a wise move?
| You are subscribed to email updates from MakeUseOf.com To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment