MakeUseOf.com: “Cool Websites and Tools [May 7th]” plus 5 more

Cool Websites and Tools [May 7th]
Discover & Switch Between Different Search Engines With Boounce [Firefox]
Hot Tech Deals – Pinnacle Home Theater Systems + more
Find Elusive Malware On Your PC With Microsoft Safety Scanner
The Top 4 Ways To Listen To Music On Your iPad
Bin Laden Scam Video Sweeps Facebook [News]

Posted: 07 May 2011 08:31 PM PDT

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 here.

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Anniversary Alert – is a free anniversary reminder service that lets you set up important anniversary alerts and be notified in advance of important dates. To set up an alert, simply fill out the anniversary name, date, type, alert advance time (1, 2 or 4 weeks) and email where you want to be notified, and click “Remember”. Done! Read more: Anniversary Alert: Anniversary Reminder Service Online

		Billable – Spreadsheet programs like Excel require you to format the cells before you can start creating your invoice. This process of resizing the cells can become quite time consuming. Here to save you time while you create invoices is a web service called Billable, an extremely easy web service that lets you quickly create invoices. Read more: Billable: Easily Create, Print & Download Invoices

		CSS3 Generator – Are you a web developer or graphics designer who works with CSS3? If yes then you could certainly use a user-friendly CSS gradient generator. That is precisely what the website CSS3 Generator is, a very simple website that lets you create CSS gradients. You can select the gradient colors along with colors for the border and background. Read more: CSS3-Generator: Create CSS3 Gradients Online

		Fandor – Netflix and Hulu are all great for streaming mainstream Hollywood content, but if you are more into indie movies, Fandor is the way to go. Fandor is a collection of over 2,000 indie movies that you can watch instantly right from your computer. No download required. Read more: Fandor: Watch Thousands Of Independent Movies Online

		TypeLink – Today's smart-devices let us perform a variety of functions. One of the most useful of these functions is the ability to take down notes wherever we are. In case you are looking for a note-taking application for your iOS smart-device, check out a wiki notepad tool called TypeLink, a wonderful cloud-based note-taking wiki application. Read more: TypeLink: Web Based Wiki Notepad For Your iOS Devices

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1. Easily Jump To Other Search Engines

This option of the addon works similarly to the Greasemonkey scripts that allow you to jump from Google results to other search engines which I once shared. But Boounce supports both Google and Bing. In essence, once you search Google, it will invite you to perform the same search on other search engines:

switch search engine

Each new search will open in a new tab.

2. Easily Compare Search Results (Google & Bing)

If you “boounce” from Google to Bing (or vice versa), you will have an option to hide the duplicate entries:

toggle search engine

If you choose to show the hidden entries, they will be highlighted in green:

toggle search engine

3. Quickly Search From The Toolbar

The addon comes equipped with a handy toolbar that lets you quickly perform and search (as well as switch between search engines) from the top of your browser. It can be toggled on and off using the tiny icon in the address bar.

The most useful thing about the toolbar is that it is very flexible: you can switch between the “search engine groups” based on your query. For example, these are the following search groups by default:

“Images” search group contains Google Images, Flickr, Stock Images, etc;
“Downloads” search group lets you quickly “boounce” between download.cnet.com, downloadweb.org, megadownload.net and other app-related search engines, etc:

toggle search engine

To discover more search groups, just start typing in the “Search groups” field:

search engine switching

All the search engines the tool operates can be found here.

Depending on the search group, the search options may slightly differ as well. For example, if you are looking for “jobs” you may be interested in restricting results by territory, so the toolbar will add the “zip code” field if you switch to the “Jobs” search group:

search engine switching

Another important thing to mention about the toolbar is that it is dynamic. It will change when you use any topical search engine and suggest you more search options to click through. For example, if you search IMDB, the toolbar will suggest trying your search on Yahoo! Movies, Metacritic, etc. Moreover, it will automatically include your search term to save your time:

search engine switching

The addon options let you turn on and off almost any of the above features including:

Google and Bing integration;
Identification of duplicate results; etc:

switch search engine

Looks like a cool search tool! What are your thoughts?

One more important note here is that the tool claims to be community-driven: recommended search engines in the toolbar are picked based on the user behavior. That being said, we can hope that the tool will get better and better when more people start using it.

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More articles about: firefox addons, search, search engine, search tips

Download

The first thing you need to do is head over to the Safety Scanner download page and grab the program. This is the download button:

microsoft safety scanner

I only point this out because of how much this link looks like an ad or a scam. Don’t worry, this is the real download button.

The file you will download is an .exe file. There’s nothing to install; you’re ready to start scanning if you’d like.

Run

Running this program is as easy as double-clicking. Pick the kind of scan you want to run:

microsoft virus scanner

As depicted, you can do a quick or full scan. If you know which file is corrupted, you can scan a specific folder as well. Most times a quick scan will do the trick, but a full scan is always safest. Choose a setting and click next; scanning will begin:

microsoft virus scanner

If you’re lucky, you’ll see a message that looks like this:

microsoft virus scanner

This means that, as far as Safety Scanner knows, your system is clean. Alternatively, you may see a message like this:

microsoft safety scanner

Go ahead and tell the program to clean up your system, if you wish.

Expiration

As previously stated, every download of Microsoft Safety Scanner expires after ten days. This is because the software cannot update itself, and Microsoft does not want outdated versions of the software out in the wild. As such, it’s best to wait until you need Safety Scanner to download it. My advice would be to bookmark the download page.

I think expiring after ten days, while perhaps a little heavy-handed, is a good idea overall. It ensures the program will always be up-to-date, while making it unnecessary for a computer to have a working Internet connection in order to be scanned. All techs should add this tool to their kit, for sure.

Conclusion

Microsoft, once infamous for its lack of concern about security, has been working hard to help make its platform a safer one recently. This tool is just another part of that. Here’s hoping the company continues to do all it can to protect its platform in the future.

How do you like Safety Scanner? Fill us in below in the comments. As always, alternatives to this software should be shared freely; everyone should learn from your knowledge.

Image credit: Bedrin Aleksandr via Shutterstock

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More articles about: anti-virus, malware, Microsoft, protection, scanner, security, security tips, trojan

Explore New Music With Aweditorium

Aweditorium [iTunes link] offers a very unique listening experience for iPad users, but it's not surprising, considering that the app comes from the developers behind the popular music streaming site, TheSixtyOne. When you first launch the app, you will be presented with a grid of artist/band images. Tap on the band of your choice to begin the song.

listen to music ipad

Much like the website's interface, the entire iPad screen is dedicated to a photo of the band or artist, with a small menu of controls at the bottom right hand corner which disappears when you tap the screen. To easily listen to the next song you can swipe the screen to easily skip forward.

listening to music ipad

While Aweditorium offers a fun and sleek way to discover new music, the app's main flaw is the inability to select at least a genre or mood when listening to music.

Listen To Your Own Music Collection With Audiogalaxy

You can take your entire music collection with you on the go using your iPad and Audiogalaxy. Install the desktop app on your Mac and once your music library has been automatically scanned, you can access your entire iTunes library using the iPad/iPhone app [iTunes link].

One of the best things about Audiogalaxy is that there is literally no set up process. Simply install the apps on your desktop and iPad/iPhone and let the app do the rest.

listening to music ipad

There are no restrictions on Audiogalaxy’s use, giving you unlimited access to your music collection from anywhere. You don’t have to be on the same network to access your music, but the computer containing your music library must of course be left on with the Audiogalaxy Helper running. Audiogalaxy can also be used from your iPhone, iPod Touch, Android phone, or can even be accessed from your computer’s web browser.

listening to music ipad

Also be sure to check out ZumoCast, another great option for iPad and iPhone users for accessing their music library from their iOS device.

Listen To Specific Music From YouTube With Vevo

Vevo makes it easy to listen to pretty much any major or up and coming artist on YouTube, providing high quality music videos and exclusive firsts. The iPad app [iTunes link] lives up to Vevo’s great reputation. You can look up specific artists and videos, watch Vevo-created playlists featuring the Top 10 songs in each musical genre, and a music map to see what videos are being played in your neighbourhood. In addition, you can also create your own playlists.

music on the ipad

While Vevo doesn’t continue to play in the background when you exit to the homescreen, we can’t really fault them for that as, after all, they are first and foremost a music video service.

music on the ipad

Also be sure to check out Muziic, another iPad/iPhone app that takes advantage of the amazing amount of music available on YouTube.

Listen To Genre Radio With Goom Or iheartradio

Goom [iTunes link] provides 5 radio stations, each playing a specific genre of music, from pop, to hip hop to metal. The app doesn't give you many options or features. Simply play music, and download the currently playing song on iTunes. Goom continues to play in the background if you exit to the home screen.

music on the ipad

Another great iPad radio app is the aptly name iheartradio [iTunes link]. Browse radio stations by musical genre, with a special list of commercial free radio stations. You can add radio stations to your favourites to come back to them easily, as well as watch a selection of music videos that are provided in the app. There is also an iPhone version of the app available. As would be expected with a radio app, iheartradio continues to play if you exit to the home screen.

One of the best iPad radio apps is TuneIn Radio [iTunes link], because in addition to offering genre music stations, they also offer local, talk and sports radio stations. With TuneIn Radio you can add radio stations to your presets, as well as access your most recently played radio stations and local stations from the home page.

listen to music ipad