MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [April 3rd]” plus 6 more |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [April 3rd]
- Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends!
- How Many Backups of Your Important Data Do You Have? [MakeUseOf Poll]
- 5 Free Methods To Schedule Facebook Updates
- Hot Tech Deals [Apr 3rd]
- 10 Free MP3 Albums To Download [Sound Sunday]
- How To Diagnose Hardware Problems When Your Computer Won’t Turn On
| Cool Websites and Tools [April 3rd] Posted: 03 Apr 2011 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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| Thank You To MakeUseOf Friends! Posted: 03 Apr 2011 07:31 PM PDT
Thank you, guys! Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| How Many Backups of Your Important Data Do You Have? [MakeUseOf Poll] Posted: 03 Apr 2011 06:30 PM PDT
Within the 783 votes, we got this breakdown: 32% used two operating systems; 27% used three operating systems; 13% used four operating systems; 12% used one operating system; 7% use 6-9 operating systems; 7% use five operating systems; and 2% use more than 10 operating systems. Full results and this week’s poll after the jump. So, most people reading MakeUseOf use two to three operating systems per week.
This week’s poll question is: How Many Backups of Your Important Data Do You Have? Think about those files of yours you care most about and tell us how many places you’ve backed them up. Is it across multiple computers in your house? At work? Several USB sticks? Emailed to yourself? On a DVD at a friend’s house? In the cloud? So, tell us about your backup solution. What mix of cloud/offsite/local backup do you consider safe for your important files? How does that compare to what you actually do? Let us know in the comments! Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| 5 Free Methods To Schedule Facebook Updates Posted: 03 Apr 2011 03:30 PM PDT
Unfortunately these methods do have their restrictions. For example, if you want to share a link with your friends, with all of these services, but one, you will be forced to include the link in your status update, rather than as a separate link as you can do directly within Facebook. Below is a list of a few of the free methods you can use to schedule your Facebook updates. LaterBroWith LaterBro you can schedule Facebook status updates, while simultaneously updating Twitter. The service is as bare bones as it gets, simply allowing you to schedule updates. The disadvantage to using LaterBro is that status updates are limited to 140 characters, even though Facebook status updates do allow you 420 characters per update. While you can’t add images to your updates, you can include links, and LaterBro has a native url shortener. Updates can be scheduled every fifteen minutes, and you can also schedule certain updates to be repeated on a daily, weekly, monthly or even yearly basis.
All scheduled updates are visible in your account, and you can delete them before hand individually or in bulk.
The status updates on Facebook will feature a link to LaterBro.
TweetDeckTweetDeck allows you to schedule updates to its supported social networks, including Facebook. When updating your Facebook status on TweetDeck, click the clock icon next to the button marked Send.
You can then enter the exact time and date when the update will be sent.
The update on Facebook will feature a link to TweetDeck.
SocialTomorrowWith SocialTomorrow, after granting the site access to your Facebook account, with a free account, you can then schedule Facebook (or Twitter) updates, but the free accounts do have their limits. With SocialTomorrow you are limited to 10 free updates per month. In comparison to the other services listed here, SocialTomorrow does also suffer as far as it’s interface is concerned. The design of the site feels very outdated, and there is nothing slick about it. That said, if you need a simple way to schedule a limited number of Facebook updates per month, the service will do the trick.
Another drawback to using SocialTomorrow is that all updates are appended with the hashtag, #socialtomorrow, which, while understandable if not a bit annoying on Twitter, it’s of course entirely pointless on Facebook.
HooteSuiteUsing the Twitter and Facebook client, HooteSuite, you can easily schedule Facebook updates. While free accounts cannot schedule updates in bulk, you can still schedule as many updates as you like individually. When creating a new update, click the calendar button, and you can select the exact date and time you want the update to appear, and click OK.
Updates scheduled through HooteSuite will feature a direct link to the app.
Greeting SchedulerThe Facebook app Greeting Scheduler takes a different approach to scheduling updates, that isn’t available in the other services listed here. Rather than schedule only your own Facebook status updates, it allows you to schedule updates to be posted on friend’s walls. So if you’re a forgetful person, or don’t log into Facebook on a daily basis, but don’t want to miss the opportunity to wish a friend a happy birthday, for example, this is the ideal app to use. And of course, you can also use it to schedule your own status updates. The first step is to determine which friends’ walls you want the message posted on, or if you want to post it to your own wall. After scheduling the date and time, you can then enter the message or status update before going onto the next step.
You then have the choice between entering a more elaborate message, with text formatting, or you can choose to share a link instead.
Unlike the other options listed here, when sharing a link using Greeting Scheduler, when it is posted on your profile, it will appear like other links shared through Facebook itself.
What free methods do you use to schedule your Facebook updates? Let us know in the comments. Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers!
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| Posted: 03 Apr 2011 01:30 PM PDT
For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.
Image credit: Modified from Svengraph’s icon set Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| 10 Free MP3 Albums To Download [Sound Sunday] Posted: 03 Apr 2011 12:30 PM PDT
Almost every album in this edition could be a soundtrack. In fact, you can make this entire edition your soundtrack for the upcoming week, with one rich and intensive piece leading to the next. Today I’m asking for your help! Sound Sunday needs a re-design and for that I would love to hear your feedback. What are you looking for when you open an edition of Sound Sunday? What type of music do you enjoy most? Do you follow through to the artist’s MySpace or Facebook links? What information is missing? If you have a minute, please fill in this brief survey. Thank you! As always, feel free to post feedback and suggestions in the comments or shoot me an Email [tina at makeuseof dot com]. Two Cent Revival – The Devil’s In This WhiskeyGenre: americana, folk, rock, roots It’s just a song, but it’s a great one, so I had to share it with you. Watch out for the album due to be released soon. Download the song The Devil’s In This Whiskey from Bandcamp. Tangram – Turris EburneaGenre: ambient, classical, instrumental, soundtrack With his latest album explores classical elements. He takes us on a journey through different musical tempi from largo to vivace. Some elements are reminiscent of the late TRON Legacy soundtrack, especially the second half of Movement 2 (Allegretto) and Movement 3 (Adagio). Download Turris Eburnea from Bandcamp. Beats Antique – CollideGenre: experimental, electronic, big beat, blues, dubstep Beats Antique describe their style as live electro-acoustic, heavy bass, belly dancing and roots music. This past week they made their 2008 album Collide available for free on Bandcamp. It’s a mix of oriental sounds with the above mentioned elements. Download Collide from Bandcamp. Bent Self – Double Edge SwordGenre: alternative, electro, experimental, trip hop, industrial rock From his MySpace profile: “Bent Self music is the mind of Dustyn Marsing. Created through the love of music, and a microphone there are no boundaries in producing this Experimental, Trip Hop, Alternative music. Utilizing a strong stage performance, audiences cannot help but be captivated by this unique blend of melodic aggression.” Download Double Edge Sword from Bandcamp. ::MADE::IN::HEIGHTS:: – Winter PigeonsGenre: mythical, pop, electronica ::MADE::IN::HEIGHTS:: is a side project of Alexei Saba, aka Sabzi, producer of Blue Scholars. Sabzi hooked up with Kelsey Bulkin, who contributes mesmerizing vocals to the project. Winter Pigeon is the band’s debut EP. Download Winter Pigeons from Bandcamp. The Frozen Ocean – In ExileGenre: acoustic, ambient, folk, celtic rock From their MySpace Profile: "We live in a crazy world" says David Swanson, singer and primary songwriter for the Frozen Ocean. "I'm constantly amazed by the extremes I see in our culture. One second you see acts of great kindness and love then the next, acts of unspeakable greed and evil." In response to those polar opposites, the songs on In Exile tell stories about desperation, greed, hope and the mystery of love. The Bandcamp download is not free! Download In Exile for free from Come&Live. Falcorps – You Send Me | I’m What You SendGenre: fantasy, pop, rock An automated voice prologue introduces the listeners to the album, explaining that the band had promised a Christmas album to the audience of their final show many, many years ago. Decades later (so it says) the debut and final album of the Falcorps has been released. Download You Send Me | I’m What You Send from Bandcamp. City Rain – Running ManGenre: pop, electronica, new wave From their SoundCloud profile: “City Rain is comprised of Philadelphia natives Ben Runyan and Jarrett Zerrer. Combining the New Wave sounds of the 80s with alt rock sounds of the late 70's and today's dancefloor electro, City Rain wears two guises. In club/venue setting City Rain performs as an Indie Rock/Electronica act with catchy vocals and funky guitar. Paired with that, City Rain performs at festivals, lounges, and bars as an ambient experimental techno group with live guitar and keys.” Download Running Man from Bandcamp. From Autumn Until Winter – WorldsGenre: instrumental, piano, new age, orchestral, violin
Preview the album on Last.FM and download Worlds from ClearBits. Wacky Southern Current – Like The Wind Within The Hollow TreeGenre: acoustic, instrumental, post rock, down tempo
Prehistöricos – Orquesta OcúltaGenre: pop, orchestral, ambient
New to Sound Sunday? Past editions are available here. Feel free to get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com] to share free material, suggestions, and feedback or simply add your comments below. Follow MakeUseOf on Twitter. Includes cool extras.
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| How To Diagnose Hardware Problems When Your Computer Won’t Turn On Posted: 03 Apr 2011 10:30 AM PDT
Obviously, if the power won’t start on your PC then no amount of software tools is going to help you, so it’s time to open the case and start the hardware diagnosis process. Strip Non-Essentials:The first thing I do if the computer won’t turn on is to disconnect or even physically remove any non-essential system components. This includes:
Having that done, try the power again. Are you seeing any activity at all? Is there a power light on your motherboard?
If you get a slight burst of power but ultimately the system won’t boot, it’s possible that either your motherboard or power supply itself is faulty. It’s quite common in old PCs to find capacitors on the board itself that have literally exploded, flooding out liquid inside and causing this kind of behavior. Check around your motherboard quickly to see if you can find any traces of the dreaded “bulging capacitor” – the tops may have opened, you may see brown liquid on the board, or it may just be bulging slightly:
If you can’t see any obvious capacitor problems, then move on to diagnosing the power supply. Diagnosing a Faulty Power Supply:A power supply is the most common component to fail along with hard drives and fans, usually down to either the moving fan inside the power supply itself or again, capacitors. However, you should under no circumstances ever try to repair a faulty power supply – the only option is to replace it. Even if it appears to be broken, there’s a very high chance that some high voltages are still stored inside. I DON’T suggest you pull out a multimeter and start trying to test various bits of it. There are two way to diagnose a faulty power supply, one is with a spare, and the other is with a second computer. If you have a spare, trying swapping the faulty one out and the spare in. If you have a spare computer, grab the power supply out of that and try swapping it in instead. Obviously, this is going to show you straight away that the power supply is at fault. To avoid jumping to wrong conclusions though, be sure you are plugging in ALL the leads you need to. Modern motherboards need not only the large 20-pin power plug, but often additional 4 or 8 pin plugs for additional processor or video driving power. Check your motherboard manual, or look closely around the CPU fan for connectors like this. If it looks like you ought to plugging something in there, download and read through our free guide to your PC inside and out, especially the page on power connectors.
The final option is to try your suspected faulty one with another computer, but given that there is a chance it will harm the components I don’t suggest you try this with hardware you really value. Unplugging X made it work again:If, having unplugged everything non-essential you find your computer now boots fine, you can start the laborious process of testing each component individually. Start with the video card, then move on to additional cards and components until you find the one that’s blocking system boot. Beeping:Computers are actually remarkably good at diagnosing themselves, and will often produce their own error codes in the form of a series of beeps. Though the beep codes vary by manufacturer, you can be sure that they have something to do with either your CPU, your memory, or the video card. Check the manual or manufacturers site for codes specific to your motherboard, or you try looking at this table of generic beep codes for older BIOSes. The most common beep code I come across is a continuous series of beeps, which indicated a memory error. It could be as simple as not seating the memory in the slot correctly (and will often come out during a move). If your computer will turn on and function correctly, but you sometimes still hear a series of beeps during use, it means your CPU is overheating, most probably due to a fan this is starting to fail. You can try to clear the gunk and dust away from the heat-sink and fan as a short term fix, but look to replacing the whole thing. I didn’t feature this in the list of easy DIY repairs for a reason and I wouldn’t recommend it for a beginner, but if you’re serious about becoming PC hardware proficient then it’s a good process to learn. This pretty much covers diagnosing a PC that won’t turn on, so next time I’ll be showing you how to pinpoint hardware problems even if your PC is functioning somewhat, or at least getting to the boot phase. If you have any stories of hardware woes, do let us know about it in the comments. You can also feel free to post with any hardware help you might need, but you’ll get a wider range of responses if you ask in our special Question and Answer site. Image Credit: ShutterStock 1, ShutterStock 2 Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers!
 More articles about: DIY, hardware, pc maintenance, repair, troubleshoot
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Sound Sunday finally!
Last week I showed you some of the 
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