MakeUseOf.com: “Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]” plus 8 more |  |
- Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun]
- Cool Websites and Tools [May 30th]
- 3 Useful Tools To See & Compare Search Results Side By Side
- Frame X Frame – A Free Photography App For iOS With Stop-Motion, Anti-Shake & More
- Hot Tech Deals – Seagate Expansion 1.5TB USB Portable External Hard Drive for $109.95 + more
- How To Use Webdoc As A Lifestream Service
- iChromy vs Safari For The iPad – Which One Is Better?
- 3 Chrome Extensions For Gmail That Help You Use Email Quickly
- Configure Your Gnome 3 Desktop With Gnome Tweak Tool
| Latest Hilarious Picks [MakeUseOf Geeky Fun] Posted: 30 May 2011 11:05 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. Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers! Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| Cool Websites and Tools [May 30th] Posted: 30 May 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. Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers! Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| 3 Useful Tools To See & Compare Search Results Side By Side Posted: 30 May 2011 06:30 PM PDT
We also have reviewed a number of tools that run multiple searches at a time: Search Opener is a good example. Today’s little collection includes best multi-feature web-based tools to search at least two search engines and see results side by side (either to compare them or just to be able to see more search results at a time): Search in Two Languages Side-by-Side2Lingual is a web-based tool that works surprisingly fast and lets you search in two languages with one click. The app uses Google translate to automatically recognize and translate your query into the second language (this feature can be turned off).
Where the fun is:.. Since this app was reviewed by MUO 2 years ago, there have been 2 important improvements:
There is also Twitter Bilingual (also reviewed by MUO previously) search that works pretty much the same but sourcing results from Twitter real time results. It currently supports 21 languages. Search Two Search Engines Side-by-SideThere are quite a few tools that let you compare two sets of results side by side. Not all of them offer a quick way to switch between the available search engines though. The one app that does this job comparatively well is Googawho: just type your query, get the initial columns of results and click through search engines in the header to switch between the engines. Supported search engines: Google, Yahoo!, Bing, Ask, InfoSpace, AltaVista, Lycos, Dogpile.
Where the fun is:..
Search Two Verticals Side-by-SideLike the above tool, SearchBoth gives access to several search engines but there’s no easy way to switch between them. What the tool offers though is a handy option to click through vertical search sections, like:
Note: Googawho does have links for “News”, “Images” and “Videos” as well but they didn’t always work for me. The ability to search images in two engines simultaneously can really come in handy!
Where the fun is:..
Don’t forget to check out related search-productivity tools and tips:
Have you ever played with any of the tools above? Do you have your own favorites? Please share your thoughts! Image Credit: seosmarty Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers! Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| Frame X Frame – A Free Photography App For iOS With Stop-Motion, Anti-Shake & More Posted: 30 May 2011 02:30 PM PDT
Joby are manufacturers of the Gorillapod, a one-of-a-kind bendy tripod that attaches to pretty much anything, allowing you to make full use of your surroundings for the best shot. The company has now released the Gorillamobile for iPhone 4, which is simply a sturdy case that secures the phone and a Gorillapod that’s perfectly designed to support the latest Apple smartphone. Frame X Frame is free and a Gorillamobile is not but this isn’t to say that Frame X Frame is useless without one. If you’re handy and able you could probably fashion a tripod out of a Google search and common household items. The Feature ListThere’s no shortage of App Store offerings that promise to reinvent the way you take pictures on your mobile device. Joby’s Frame X Frame makes some pretty bold claims in its app description, suggesting that "this will soon be your go-to iPhone camera". The list of features is impressive enough and sure to make anyone who’s been wanting a little bit more from their iPhone camera tempted. As well as much-needed image stabilization, Frame X Frame adds some exciting modes such as time lapse photography and stop-motion to your iPhone’s capabilities. On top this you’ve got geotagging, which adds location data to the EXIF data stored in your image and accessible documentation and tips for getting the best pictures out of your iPhone. Not bad for free, but how does it handle? Basic PhotographyTo get the most out of simple pictures, anti-shake will help reduce the likelihood of blurring and is probably the most useful of all the standard features. Unfortunately this mode cannot be used with three shot burst on, and the potentially useful spirit level is rendered completely useless whenever you’re shooting in landscape mode as it only works portrait. In addition to this, the other on-screen display icons do not detect the change either. Whilst it doesn’t make that much difference, it is a standard feature on pretty much any photo app these days (including Apple’s own built-in effort). Zoom is accessed via the small (and quite hard to press) magnifying glass icon on the right. At all times the modes you are currently using will be indicated via icons on the viewfinder. Much like the default iPhone camera your camera roll is easily accessible from the bottom left and you can choose to use both front and back facing cameras. Time Lapse & Stop-MotionThese two are arguably the most enticing features, though unfortunately there are some issues. Selecting Time Lapse mode from the Frame X Frame menu first prompts you for the number of shots you’d like the movie to comprise of (with a maximum of 5000) and the interval at which these shots should be taken. Once you’ve chosen your settings, prop your camera in the position you’d like it to stay for the duration of the film, hit the shutter and sit back.
So I tried it again with a smaller timelapse, this time no crash. I was left with a number of JPEGs and simply could not find the option to turn images into a movie. Not entirely what the description promised! The images aren’t useless of course, but it’s manual work on a PC that you might not fancy. ConclusionIt is a shame about the problems as Frame X Frame has so much promise but is ultimately flawed in its execution (at least in this version, 1.0.1). No photography app should feature a spirit level that only works in portrait mode, that’s dumb. Better implementation of timelapse mode is needed, as are bug fixes and a good polish. Saying that, with everything working properly it could one day be the best free iPhone photography app out there. Then again stop-motion is really good, and you’ll probably have tons of fun coming up with random animations and videos. Think about it Joby – you’re far more likely to shift a few tripods if your app worked as advertised, so how about an update? Have you tried Frame X Frame? Have you bought a Gorillamobile? Let us know in the comments below. Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers! Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| Hot Tech Deals – Seagate Expansion 1.5TB USB Portable External Hard Drive for $109.95 + more Posted: 30 May 2011 01:30 PM PDT
For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.
Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers! Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| How To Use Webdoc As A Lifestream Service Posted: 30 May 2011 12:30 PM PDT
With most lifestreaming services like Friendfeed, you simply plug in all of your social and online accounts, and any online activity is automatically saved in your account. Webdoc brings a new more hands-on approach of saving photos, text, videos, audio files, apps or even sketches. To start using Webdoc, you can create a new account or sign in using your Twitter or Facebook credentials. Even if you aren’t planning to use it as a lifestreaming service, the sheer versatility of Webdoc makes it whatever you want it to be. There are other flexible ways you can create your own lifestream which we’ve covered in the past, which include using WordPress, Twitter or Flavors. What do you think of Webdoc? How do you think you’d use the service? And what is your preferred lifestream service? Let us know in the comments. Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers! Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| iChromy vs Safari For The iPad – Which One Is Better? Posted: 30 May 2011 11:30 AM PDT
Diigo sent me an advance preview of iChromy (iTunes Store link) and though there are features I find sorely missing, I am totally impressed by the speed and minimalist user interface of iChromy—so much so that it’s on my iPad Homepage dock alongside Safari. Sadly, Apple still doesn’t allow users to define the default browser for iOS as they do in OS X. Why should you replace Safari with iChromy? Well, let’s compare some of the important features, keeping in mind that this is only the first version of iChromy.
TabsFirst off, the tab feature of Safari iPad simply is not that user friendly. Any app that saves me a tap or two in the process automatically gets a plus-star in my review. With Safari you have to tap the Tab button to get a view of your open pages, and then tap again to bring one of them to the front.
It would be nice if you could customize the colors of the tabs in iChromy as you can in Chrome, but that’s just a minor issue for now. BookmarkingSafari iPad includes the traditional Bookmarks Bar and folders for organizing bookmarks. iChromy doesn’t include folders for bookmarks yet, but you can add bookmarks by simply tapping the Star button in the URL field.
You will have to do an extra tap to edit the name of the bookmark if you want it to be shorter, but the process sure is faster than the three-tap process required for Safari iPad. ReadLateriChromy also includes a feature for downloading and saving pages for later reading, even offline. If you’re looking for this feature in Safari iPad, forget about it. The default browser requires you to be Wi-Fi connected in order to read pages. Sharing FeaturesPerhaps the best feature in iChromy that is partially missing from Safari is the ability to share or export URLs in other programs and services. With Safari, you can add bookmarks, post them on your iPad Home Screen, email them, or print them out. These features are great, but iChromy offers more.
In addition to the above features in Safari, in iChromy you can send and share bookmarks on your Facebook, Twitter, Diigo, Evernote, Google Reader, Instapaper, Read It Later, and Tumblr accounts. And if you need to, you can send an open page to Safari from iChromy. Contextual MenuWhen you tab and hold on a link in Safari, you get the options to open the link, Open in New Page, or Copy. In iChromy, you get two additional options: Open in Background Tab and Add to Reading List. Both options are very practical when you find yourself opening several links on a page.
If you don’t see downloaded pages, scroll the opened tabs to the left to see the others hidden tabs beyond the screen. So far, I find iChromy a great alternative to Safari iPad. The speed of both browsers feels about the same, but the navigation features of iChromy are a little more advanced. There are several features that could be added to iChromy—including hand gestures for navigation, tapping at the top of a web page to fast scroll to the top, and most definitely a bookmarks bar. However, I would only want these extra features if they didn’t slow down iChromy. What it offers for now will probably help make it as an alternative browser on my iPad, though I use the paid app, Atomic Web, for more advanced web browsing. Future releases of iChromy will include (they will be welcomed) annotation features for highlighting and marking pages, which of course are the unique core services of Diigo.com. Give iChromy a try and let us know what you think. Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on MakeUseOf Answers! Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| 3 Chrome Extensions For Gmail That Help You Use Email Quickly Posted: 30 May 2011 10:30 AM PDT
In my meandering through the Chrome Web Store, I found three Chrome extensions designed for Gmail that looked like a perfect productivity hack to defeat my inertia. Of course, to complement my Gmail user experience, I was also armed with the recommendations given by Matt when he talked about 6 Cool Google Chrome Extensions for Gmail Users. If you are as conscious about your 'laze times' as me, I am sure you will like these three Chrome extensions for the Gmail user. Mailto:Gmail
This is the simplest extension of the trio. All it does is make mailto: links open in a new Gmail compose window. By default, if you click on a mailto: link, your default email client will get triggered. The Chrome extension circumvents that by opening the link in a new window with the Gmail sign-in. The subject and body will be populated by the text defined in the HTML tag by the website. If you are signed-in, then of course, you don't have to enter your log-in details again and again. The extension requires a Chrome restart to work. Send From Gmail
We have talked about this Chrome extension for Gmail in the 4 Ways to Set Gmail as Your Default Email in Your Browser. It's a step forward from our last extension as it opens up a Gmail compose window for you and also provides the extra button that will create a Gmail message when clicked. It opens up your signed-in Gmail account in a new window, uses the webpage title you are on as the subject of the email and the URL as the body of the email. It's a quick way to share webpage links using your Gmail. Clicking a mailto: link opens up a compose window without any of those contents. You might need to restart your browser for the extension to take effect. OmniMailOmniMail for Gmail is just about the best Chrome extension if you want rapid-fire email productivity from the address bar. Or at least it's the best of this trio until a better one comes along. Here's how it works: Start typing mail in the Chrome address bar and the OmniMail for Gmail activates. When it does so for the first time, it asks permission to access your Gmail address book.
Once granted, an input of mail <email address> and hitting Enter will open up the Gmail compose window within Gmail itself in a new tab.
Typing mail and pressing Tab also gives you one touch access to OmniMail commands like de-authorizing it from accessing your contacts or sending an email to the contact. OmniMail auto-suggests email contacts in the dropdown just like Gmail. You can enter multiple email addresses by separating them with a comma. OmniMail is an Open Source project. These three extensions are browser specific and bypass your default email client like Thunderbird or Outlook as long as you are on Chrome. Let us know if you think that these Chrome extensions help you hack your email productivity. Download videos from the sites like YouTube, Break.com etc. Convert videos to almost any format.  Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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| Configure Your Gnome 3 Desktop With Gnome Tweak Tool Posted: 30 May 2011 09:30 AM PDT
For some people that’s fine, while for others it’s a pain in the neck, as they’ve been spoiled by a worthy selection of options in the past (and why not?). If you’re one of those people who can’t stand GNOME 3 as long as you cannot change a few more things than are allowed by default, I have something that will make you think twice. IntroductionSometime before GNOME 3′s official release did the Gnome Tweak Tool appear in order to solve some of the early customization problems that GNOME Shell has. The purpose of the Gnome Tweak Tool is to simply provide some extra options that cannot be found anywhere elsee in GNOME Shell. In distributions that offer GNOME 3 (this excludes Ubuntu for now), you should be able to find it under the FeaturesThe window that greets you is fairly simple. You have categories in the left pane, and options appear on the right, where you can choose from On/Off switches or drop-down menus. The five categories that are currently included are Windows, Interface, File Manager, Fonts, and Shell.
In the Windows category, you can choose from a number of window themes, as well as choose what actions occur when you double-click, middle-click, and right-click the title bar. The last three are handy options for those who favor different actions from their title bar.
The Interface category lets you choose whether icons should be included in menus and buttons, as well as the GTK+, Icon, and Cursor themes. For those who like to trick out their desktops before doing anything else, these options will help the most.
The File Manager category only has one option, which is to let the file manager handle the desktop. In other words, this option should let you put files on your desktop again, though I haven’t tried this out myself.
The Fonts category, compared to the File Manager category, has plenty more options for you to indulge in. In here, you can choose the text-scaling factor, the default, document, monospace, and window title fonts, the amount of hinting, and the type of anti-aliasing.
The Shell category, which is last, offers some options for the Shell itself and anything else that did not fit into another category. Shell options include whether to show the date in the clock, whether to show the week date in the calendar, the arrangement of window buttons (as well as which ones should be included), and a choice of shell themes, if available. Most importantly, this category includes two options that have long been asked to be included in the default power options: what to do when the laptop lid is closed. ConclusionIf you’re going to be using GNOME 3, you’ll be doing yourself a favor by installing this little program. It does nothing more than increase the amount of settings that you can configure, which rarely appear in GNOME 3. You never know when you might want to change something that the Gnome Tweak Tool can do. Will you be using Gnome Tweak Tool if you’re on a GNOME 3 desktop? If you’re not on a GNOME 3 desktop, will this tool change your decision? Let us know in the comments! Hey Facebookers, make sure to join MakeUseOf on Facebook and get access to some exclusve stuff. Over 105,000 fans already! Read comments: Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here ...
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