15 New Articles on MakeUseOf |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [April 18th 2013]
- What Gadget Do You Most Regret Buying? [We Ask You]
- YouTube For iOS Adds Live Streams, Video Queuing, & Other Features [Updates]
- How To Record Your Own Audiobook
- Bored Of Podcasts? Listen To Old Time Radio Instead!
- TeeWorlds: Kirby Meets Quake In This Fun, Fast-Paced Shooter [MUO Gaming]
- Why Use 5 Different Websites? TripWhat Includes Everything You Need To Plan Your Next Trip
- 4 Websites To Generate Names For Online Communities, Games & More
- Create The Homescreen Of Your Dreams With The Super-Customizable UCCW Widget [Android]
- Facebook Friend Requests: Unwritten Rules & Hidden Settings [Weekly Facebook Tips]
- 3 Ways You Can Improve Smartphone Reception
- Aviary 2.0 Arrives On iOS With New Tools, Improved Interface & More [Updates]
- CrunchBang: A Lightweight OS Perfect For Old And New Computers Alike
- How To Be A Better American On The Global Internet
- Send It Later: 4 Useful SMS Scheduling Apps To Text At Just The Right Time [Android]
| Cool Websites and Tools [April 18th 2013] Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:31 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. The post Cool Websites and Tools [April 18th 2013] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What Gadget Do You Most Regret Buying? [We Ask You] Posted: 18 Apr 2013 09:01 PM PDT
Whether they’re more trouble than they’re worth right from the day of purchase, break quickly and are unrepairable, are superseded in record time, or just aren’t as great as the commercials and reviews led you to believe they were. Some gadgets just don’t work out….which is where regret takes over. This Week’s Question…We want to know, What Gadget Do You Most Regret Buying? For the purposes of this discussion, “gadget” is a catch-all for every piece of technology hardware you can think of. This includes laptops, tablets, smartphones, television sets, microwave ovens, watches, etc. I’m sure you get the picture… … right on cue, here is a picture of some guy surrounded by technology. Which is a form of pornography for some geeks.
We want you to cast your mind back and think about all those purchases of consumer technology you have made over the years. And then to come back here and tell us which fills you with the most regret. Is there one piece of hardware you wish you just hadn’t bothered with? Which you now realize that the money spent on it could have been put to much better use? Tell us the reasons for this regret. Was it too expensive? Was it completely unnecessary and devoid of purpose? Did the technology you buy into get beaten into submission by a rival (I’m thinking VHS vs. Betamax, Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD)? We want to hear your story of woe. Consider it a public service, as your pain may prevent someone else making a similar mistake in the future. We may even get a laugh out of your unfortunate journey into the world of consumer electronics. Drawing ConclusionsAll comments will be digested to form conclusions in a follow-up post next week where we will detail what You Told Us. One reader will be chosen for the coveted Comment Of The Week, getting their name up in lights, the respect of other readers, and 150 MakeUseOf points to use for MakeUseOf Rewards. What more motivation than that do you need to respond? We Ask You is a weekly column dedicated to finding out the opinions of MakeUseOf readers. The questions asked are usually open-ended and likely to necessitate a discussion. Some are opinion-based, while others see you sharing tips and advice, or advocating tools and apps to fellow MakeUseOf Readers. This column is nothing without you, as MakeUseOf is nothing without you. Image Credit: Jorge Gaspar Sanz Salinas The post What Gadget Do You Most Regret Buying? [We Ask You] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YouTube For iOS Adds Live Streams, Video Queuing, & Other Features [Updates] Posted: 18 Apr 2013 08:30 PM PDT
YouTube’s new live-streaming feature makes it possible to catch the latest broadcasts on sports, music, news etc. wherever you are, using your iDevice. But Google doesn't want you to switch off the TV just yet; the new YouTube update also brings TV queuing, letting you to line up YouTube videos to play on your TV. If you like to watch music videos, set it up and use the previously announced Send to TV feature to beam the shows and use your smartphone like a remote.
The new version also includes a My Subscriptions feed on the Guide, giving you instant access to new uploads from your subscriptions. As usual, bug fixes and performance improvements are also part of the deal. With the fresh coat of paint, YouTube's app is trying to tune into your entertainment needs. You should no longer need a media hub between your smartphone and TV. The app is it. Give YouTube 1.3 by downloading from the App Store. What do you think of YouTube’s new features? Source: The Verge The post YouTube For iOS Adds Live Streams, Video Queuing, & Other Features [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To Record Your Own Audiobook Posted: 18 Apr 2013 08:00 PM PDT
If you read that paragraph and imagined the voice behind it, then you are the candidate for recording audiobooks. You are the person that I’m speaking to and you may want to take on the formidable, if not rewarding, task of creating an audiobook. As surely as I sit here and type directly to you, as surely as you read this on technology that could have ended Word War II in its infancy, this task IS within your reach. Too much? A little too dramatic? Isn’t that half the fun? Alright, let’s get down to business. We’re going to talk about taking something that you’ve written or read, and putting it into sounds so that you can either listen to it yourself, or share it with others. We’re also going to do this on the cheap. Tools Needed
Let’s move forward assuming that you have your recording software installed and have gone through the rudimentary tutorial that probably accompanies it. You’ll probably find that in the menu under Help. Let’s also assume that you have plugged in your headphones and microphone, and tested them out a little bit.
We’re also going to assume that you have chosen, or maybe even written, the book that you want to record. I want to take a little bit here to talk about the book you’ve chosen. Let it be something that, if no one else ever heard your audio book, you’d listen to it at least once a year. Let it be something that, if your descendants should hear it one day, it says something about you and what you believe in. That’s my take on it anyway. Just a suggestion. Prepping Your MaterialRe-read the book, with your pencils nearby. You could use sticky notes or something else if you want. As you go through the book, make notes about how you want things to sound. Think of these as stage directions. I suggest using a coloured pencils so that you have a visual cue as to what you want to do or sound like when you read a certain part. You know, maybe red for anger or blue for sadness. I think you understand where I’m going with that.
Recording QualityRecord at the highest quality that you can. Or at least at a Sample Rate and Format of 16 bit 44.1 KHz. This makes for a pretty large file size, but it’s easier to reduce the file size and retain good quality than it is to try to squeeze quality out of a smaller, poor quality recording. If possible, record in stereo as well.
You’ll also want to keep an eye on the Input Levels. If they hit the zero mark, you will get audio distortion. Or, in Average Joe terms, crappy audio. Adjust your Input Volume accordingly as you record.
Make sure you have your notes in order, a room that is free from outside noises, and that everyone else in the house is aware that you are recording and not to disturb you. You may want to come up with a visual way of them getting your attention just in case they really need you, say maybe if there’s an important phone call. If you want, you could spring for a fancy On Air light – those are always cool. By doing this, you eliminate sounds that would creep into your recording and possibly detract from your story. You’ll find some other interesting recording tips and sites in our article, 7 Free Resources To Learn About Sound Engineering. Don’t let the Engineering thing scare you. It’s only as difficult as you want it to be. Recording MethodYou can record this anyway that you want, but here are a few ideas to consider. You could record it and edit it as you go, something that is referred to as Punch Recording. Or, you can just read it and record it all. If you make a mistake, just repeat that section as you go and take care of the editing later. This is a method known as Straight Recording. The Straight Recording method makes it quicker to record, but probably longer to edit. Straight Recording, in my opinion, is a better method for when you have other performers and someone dedicated to the editing.
Break down the text into manageable sizes. By that I mean pieces of text that you can read out loud comfortably, in maybe an half hour to an hour. Ideally, you would record just a chapter at a time, but as you know, some chapters are just a few pages and some chapters can be a third of a book. This’ll keep your voice fresh, and break your recording into natural chapters. It doesn’t hurt to have a glass of water nearby either. A trap most people fall into with recording, as well as with public speaking, is speaking too fast! Take a little time. You are telling a story. Imagine that you’re reading to your kids or future grand-kids. You’ll want them hanging on every word, and you can’t do that if you keeping throwing out new words for them to grab! Recording Effects and Character VoicesYou can use sound effects and do special voices for characters – there’s lots of room for that and it can enhance the listener’s pleasure. Just keep in mind that you will need to be very consistent throughout the entire book with the effects and voices. If character starts out with a mid-western drawl, they better have it all the way through the book, or the listener won’t know when that character is speaking. If your laser beams sound one way for your galactic emboganizer in chapter 3, they better be the same ones in chapter 103. Unless, of course they’ve been enhanced with dilithium crystals. Editing MethodI’ve mentioned a bit about this, but there always seems to be more editing to be done. It depends what you want to do – you may want to add in sound effects, you may want to just give the whole piece a listen through and make notes on what you want to edit. You may even want to let someone else listen to it to get there opinion and take notes. They may hear things that you don’t, like little pops in your words (plosives) or lip smacking, or maybe some words you kind of mumble a bit through. Maybe your breathing is coming through a little strong. Sometimes that’s appropriate for the part that you’re reading, but if it’s not appropriate then that’s all anyone will notice.
If you are using Audacity, Angela Alcorn has a good article on How To Remove Ambient Noise From Your Audio Files Using Audacity. Actually, she has a bunch of great articles on Audacity in general. At a professional level, you could be looking at two to four hours of editing for each hour of recording. Is that necessary? That’s up to you to decide. But do pick a point at which you can say that’s enough editing. There are more scientific methods, however this is a very personal thing that you are recording, so you do what feels and sounds good to you. Make It UsableEach chapter should now be recorded and edited, with a nice neat file name and a number. Something like My Story – Chapter 1 – A New Beginning. A naming method like that makes it easier to index on your computer as well as easier to find on the Internet, should you put it out there for everyone. Now you want to convert each of those files into a smaller, more portable and usable format. The defacto standard is still the MP3. In Audacity, you would click on File > Export. In the new window that opens, click on Options. Here you can set the Bit Rate Mode and Quality for the MP3. 192 kbps is recommended by many people, and it does make for a bearable file size with good quality, but I think you can get away with 128 kbps as well. Click OK and let it do its thing.
If you’re looking for more precise notes on making an MP3, might I recommend Christian Cawley’s article, How To Create Valid MP3 Files With Audacity. That’s it almost. Follow the export procedure for the remaining chapters and you’ve got an audiobook. Now what are you going to do with it? So many things that you can do with it – post it on your blog for download, submit it to iTunes or LibriVox, or any one of many sites that distribute free audiobooks. Maybe you’ll want to record it to CD and keep it for safekeeping in your own time capsule. I’ve even seen services online that will custom make a vinyl LP for you out of your recording for about $80. How cool is that? Now, You’re an Audiobook ProducerWith this experience in hand, you may find that this is a fun hobby. You’re learning about public performing, sound engineering, recording distribution, so many new skills from one fun thing! What will you do with it? Have you already done something like this? If you’ve put out a free audiobook, let us know in the comments where we can find it. Let us know what you learned from your experience! Image Credits: Audiobook via jeff_golden @ Flickr, Coloured Pencils via katiesw1 @ Flickr, Cantante via julianrod @ Flickr, Editing Audio via arvindgrover @ Flickr The post How To Record Your Own Audiobook appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bored Of Podcasts? Listen To Old Time Radio Instead! Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:30 PM PDT
After the Conet project shortwave numbers stations recordings my absolute favourite sound recordings reside in the Old Time Radio category. Featuring shows from the early days of radio, cheesy thrillers, radio-noir and preposterous tales of bone-chilling horror, I’ve found myself listening to quite a lot of these shows over the last few weeks. So with years of radio history in the bag, I’ve dug out some of the most enticing series. Murder at Midnight (1946)
This show is as cheesy as they get, but with each episode lasting less than half an hour it’s easy to dip in and out. There were a total of 50 shows made but the Internet Archive currently only has half of them. I’d recommend The Man Who Died Yesterday and The House That Time Forgot as two predictable yet entertaining introductions to the show. Dragnet (1949)
Realism was insisted on for this particular show, so unlike Murder at Midnight dialogue is often a lot less cheesy and stage directions far less explicit. Thanks to this Dragnet is still very palatable today, despite being a relic from old. Listen out for “Fatima Brand” cigarette commercials, the show’s primary sponsor from 1949 to 1952. Voyage of the Scarlet Queen (1947)Star Trek fans, listen up! Voyage of the Scarlet Queen is an old-time radio serial that takes place on the high seas and aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System in the late 40s. It is often compared to Star Trek, in fact it is often referred to as a precursor to the show for the parallels drawn between the two. At the time of airing, the ocean was still a highway to mystery and adventure in the same way that space was to Star Trek fans in the 60s.
The similarities come not just in the formula of moving around on an almost weekly basis with an intimate crew getting into trouble, but also from the intro and outro which were read from the captain’s log. The Internet Archive has 35 episodes, including the pilot created after the show’s cancellation in an attempt to reboot under a different name. A Case For Dr Morelle (1957)A BBC production from 1957 which ran for 13 episodes, A Case For Dr Morelle just goes to show that our tastes really haven’t changed much over the last 60 years. Why? Well Dr Morelle is the 1950s equivalent to CSI, Waking the Dead and any of those other crime-busting shows in which the usual police leads have gone cold, with Dr Morelle at the helm in his capacity as a Poirot-esque calm and collected crime-fighter.
Produced by the BBC the Internet Archive’s catalogue has been lovingly recovered from off-air recordings, original masters and some old reels found in Melbourne, Australia from the show’s run on 3LO Melbourne in the 1960s. The recordings are not all of the highest quality, but they’re still worth your time. Gunsmoke (1952)
Billed as an “adult western”, the show was set in the 1870s in Dodgy City, Kansas and is still known for the unprecedented realism it presented to listeners. The show was later turned into a successful, yet altogether less polished television show which ran for 20 seasons. X Minus One (1955)A breakout sci-fi hit from the mid-50s, X-Minus One was originally a reboot of a previous series called Dimension X. After remaking a few old Dimension X episodes the writers at NBC poured their heart into original scripts and adaptations of some very famous stories including Philip K. Dick’s “Colony” and Isaac Asimov’s “Nightfall”.
If you love old-style sci-fi then these are worth checking out, starting with Cold Equations. The intro is just as cheesy as Murder at Midnight, and features the line “These are stories of the future, adventures in which you’ll live in a million could-be years on a thousand may-be worlds” – oh yes. The RestThis is the tip of the proverbial iceberg, there are hundreds of shows available in the Old Time Radio category on the Internet Archive. If you’re bored of the usual podcasts then why not swap them out for an episode or two of some far-fetched tale of life in the year 2000, a cheesy horror or no-nonsense cop show? View: Old Time Radio at the Internet Archive Do you have any favourite old radio shows? Any from the Archive that you’d like to share? Let us know what you think in the comments, below. Image Credit: Longsome (Mark J P), Gunsmoke cast (Wikimedia), The post Bored Of Podcasts? Listen To Old Time Radio Instead! appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TeeWorlds: Kirby Meets Quake In This Fun, Fast-Paced Shooter [MUO Gaming] Posted: 18 Apr 2013 07:00 PM PDT
Right off the bat, you should know that TeeWorlds is an indie game. It's free, yes, but it's someone's hobby project that they've worked on for years. Don't come into this expecting something that's as visually impressive as Quake or as widely played as Call of Duty. Only when you get past that can you really appreciate the simplicity of this game.
Remember those old-school games like Mario and Metroid where the world was flat and sideways? You'd move around, jump from platform to platform, and maybe throw punches and fireballs at your enemies? Take that concept and combine it with gun physics (like Worms) with a splash of Kirby-esque cuteness and you get TeeWorlds. Each player controls a "tee," the name for the little characters in TeeWorlds (so aptly named). Each tee has health, armor, and ammo which are all displayed in the top corner in the way you'd see in a Zelda game. All guns recharge ammo over time – some guns faster than others – and all guns use different ammo types which all cause different amounts of damage. Armor absorbs damage just like health does, but you won't lose health until you lose all of your armor. Most of the guns use Newtonian physics to determine the path of their shots fired. For example, the rockets from a rocket launcher will arc through the air and drop faster than, say, the bullets from a shotgun blast. This introduces an element of prediction on top of aim, making it more rewarding for better players. All guns shoot towards your mouse cursor, which acts as the aiming reticule. TeeWorlds may seem like a game suited for deathmatch, but it's surprisingly fun across many different game modes. TeeWorlds does support the primary trifecta of all multiplayer games:
If you watched the video above, you'll notice two things that stand out: hooks and boosting. All players can shoot out a hook that latches onto terrain and onto other players, letting you swing around the map and redirect your momentum. Boosting is the use of rocket blasts to propel yourself with greater speed, similar to rocket jumping in Quake.
TeeWorlds gameplay is simple, yes, but it's rather addicting. If you find the right server with the right kinds of players, it's not hard to lose an hour of your day without realizing it. It's the kind of game that is so deceptively fun that you'll be taken aback. On the Settings page, there are some things that you can fiddle around with. There's the usual: graphics settings, window sizes, keyboard bindings, volume levels and such. Under the Tee tab, though, you can actually change your tee's skin. It's a little bit of customization that's ultimately useless but still fun. So what are the downsides to TeeWorlds? Only two from what I can see.
So there you have it. TeeWorlds is a 2D-version of Quake that focuses on skill and timing while utilizing the cute graphics of Kirby and it's fun, fun, fun. If you need a game to pass some time, definitely give it a try. It's even better if you have a group of friends with whom you can play together. The post TeeWorlds: Kirby Meets Quake In This Fun, Fast-Paced Shooter [MUO Gaming] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Why Use 5 Different Websites? TripWhat Includes Everything You Need To Plan Your Next Trip Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:30 PM PDT
TripWhat is a Web and iPhone app made by the same people behind the excellent Sortable, the money-saving Geekaphone, and the effective CPUBoss. After helping us choose everything from smartphones, tablets and cameras, to CPUs and cars, it’s time to find the best things to do, eat, and see in almost every city in North America. TripWhat aggregates information and reviews from multiple websites such as Facebook, Google Maps, Last.fm, SeatGeek, UrbanSpoon, Wikipedia, WikiVoyage, and Yelp, making it super easy to explore any city, find the things you want to do, and get on with the fun. Start ExploringStarting with TripWhat is as easy as entering the name of the city you want to explore. If you’re not even sure about that, you’ll find some popular choices in the top toolbar, as well as in the “More” dropdown menu on the far right.
With information currently available only for North America, TripWhat can help you explore almost any city in the United States or Canada, and find places, activities, entertainment, restaurants, and even trip ideas. Once you choose a city, TripWhat will present a map of that city, with pins representing all kinds of interest points. As you zoom in on a specific area, you’ll discover three types of pins: blue for sights, green for restaurants, and red for events and entertainment.
Alongside this map, you’ll find a visual list of the same attractions you see on the map. Each attraction comes with one image or more, a link to the place’s official website and social networks, an address, and for restaurants, a star rating from Urbanspoon. As soon as you place your mouse cursor over one of these tiles, the corresponding pin on the map will start jumping and waving, making it easy to match tile to pin.
Clicking on a tile reveals more info about the place, depending on the type of place you’re looking at. This can include a quick summary, additional photos, opening hours, contact information, etc. If you need more information, finding your way to the official website is easy.
Finding Specific PlacesTripWhat’s interface is nice enough, but it does tend to get a little bit confusing at times, as there are several ways to reach each section, and it’s not always clear which section you’re looking at. In general, you can focus your search on sights, restaurants, events, and trip ideas. Some sections also include several subsections, and this is where it gets a little confusing, especially when you filter the results and then want to go back to their unfiltered form. To keep it simple, I suggest using the icons on the right to navigate through a city’s attractions. The restaurants tab offers the best eats in town, complete with all the information you’re going to need. Click on the star rating to view more Urbanspoon reviews about the place.
In the events tab, you can filter the results according to time of event, making it easy to find an event for tonight, for tomorrow, for the upcoming weekend, etc. Here too, you can find all the necessary information in every tile, with quick links to Wikipedia pages and Facebook pages, venue addresses, and more.
In trip suggestions, you can sometimes find themed mini travel guides such as “top sights to see”, “best pizza in town”, “best family-friendly sights”, etc. These are just collections of places, already marked on the map, which you can use for inspiration when planning your trip. Theoretically, TripWhat makes it possible to share your finds using the “Link” button on the top right corner of the map. Unfortunately, this link is often dead, so I wouldn’t send it along without checking it first. There’s MoreFor this review, I was only looking at TripWhat’s Web app. The service also comes as an iPhone app, which includes the option to save your favorite activities and places to your trips, thus creating your very own mini travel guide which you can always refer back to. The app could be even more useful while on the road. Don’t worry, Android users, TripWhat will soon be available for you as well. TripWhat doesn’t offer any information you won’t find on other websites, but if you’re trying to make plans and don’t know where to start, it’s going to be a huge help. Just enter the name of the city, and you’re good to go. The hardest part of the process is going to be choosing which fun thing to do! Planning a road trip? You’re going to want to plan more than what you do on your stops. Check out these informative websites for planning a road trip, and other tools to help you prepare for the journey. Have fun! How do you find the best things to do on your trips? Share in the comments. The post Why Use 5 Different Websites? TripWhat Includes Everything You Need To Plan Your Next Trip appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 Websites To Generate Names For Online Communities, Games & More Posted: 18 Apr 2013 05:30 PM PDT
If you’re a gamer, especially one who plays a healthy number of RPGs or fantasy games, you know how time-consuming it can be to pick a perfect, fitting name. Games that allow you to generate a random name within the application itself are great. That’s a rare find. However, there are plenty of great websites that can help you come up with your own. In this post, I’d like to show a few of those to you. Behind the NameBehind the Name offers a random name generator that focuses exclusively on generating “real” names: first, middle, and surnames.
You’re able to choose from just generating a first name, or a first name and up to three middle names. Surnames can be generated as well. Behind the Name has a database for both masculine and feminine names. One of the coolest features is that you’re able to select multiple different categories and the generator will come up with names based on those styles. Here are a few examples of generated name possibilities:
One major disadvantage of this name generator is the fact that you can only generate a single name at a time. Other than that, it’s a great service. Seventh SanctumSeventh Sanctum brings together a whole slew of different name generators in a single place.
As you can see above, there are quite a few. That includes fantasy names, vampire names, western names, wrestler names, pirate ship names, and more. Some of them get very obscure and specific. Unlike the last website in our list, Seventh Sanctum’s generators do allow you to generate names in bulk. You can create up to 25 at a time.
Seventh Sanctum offers a one-stop solution to generating all kinds of names that you’ve probably never even thought of before. This might be the best place to go for this purpose. NameGenerator.bizNameGenerator.biz is a website we’ve talked about before in another article, but it has since gone through some major changes that have really improved the website.
NameGenerator.biz offers generators such as the following:
The way NameGenerator.biz handles generation is pretty unique compared to alternative websites.
On this page, the Generate Clan Names button will generate a single name and add is to the Clan Names Generated List. From there, you can click a name within this list to automatically add it to the Favorite Names list. It’s a really cool functionality. GeneratorLand.comGeneratorLand.com is actually a full-featured website that will allow you to create your own name generator, but there are already many premade generators and that’s what I find this website to be used best for.
Right on the main page, you can select between generators made by GeneratorLand.com or ones made by their members. Each of these generators have their own unique theme to set them apart from each other. Here is one of GeneratorLand.com’s dog name generators: You’ll find many generators on this website, between in-house creators and their members. These include video game names, business names, beer names, mobster names, super hero names, and a whole lot more. This is one of the deepest sites on the list and the range of categories is quite vast. Again though, this is another website that does not seem to allow you to mass create names. You can only get them one-by-one. Where your creativity may lack, these websites help pick one up. There are a lot of solutions to coming up with a fitting and acceptable name, you just need to know your options. These are the four best in my opinion. Know any more? Let me know about them in the comments, and share what you think about those mentioned in this article while you’re at it! The post 4 Websites To Generate Names For Online Communities, Games & More appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Create The Homescreen Of Your Dreams With The Super-Customizable UCCW Widget [Android] Posted: 18 Apr 2013 04:30 PM PDT
One of Android’s greatest strength is how customizable it is. Even without rooting your device or installing a custom ROM, you can do some incredible things to shape your phone to be just the way you want it. Installing a third-party launcher like Nova goes a long way, but you can do so much more: UCCW, or Ultimate Custom Widget, is a widget that lets you place custom clocks, battery meters, weather meters, and just about anything else right on your homescreen. Its claim to fame is the sheer number of skins offered for it on Google Play, and more skins are being added all the time. Customization is often a painful (or at least painstaking) process, but what’s cool about UCCW is that it makes it incredibly simple: Just install the skin, and tell UCCW to show it. But before you go through that, let me share a couple of screenshots to motivate you. What UCCW Can DoHere’s an image from the Google Play page for the Evangelion NERV UCCW skin: That’s not some crazy piece of concept art, or a static wallpaper. The numbers actually change, and it’s a real configuration you can install on your own device. Or here’s another example, if your tastes are a bit more minimalistic: This piece of drop-dead gorgeous design is called Klok, and it does cost money (about $2 at the time of this writing). These are just two examples, but I’ll show you a few more as I step you through the process of installing and configuring UCCW. Excited yet? Step 1: Install UCCWThis is simple enough. Go to Google Play and install UCCW:
It’s free. Step 2: Find Skins You LikeOn its own, UCCW doesn’t do so much. It only serves as a host for skins, so that’s step two. The simplest way to do this step is to just search Google Play for UCCW; you will see pages upon pages of results, many of which are quite beautiful. Another way to find skins you like is on sites like MyColorScreen and deviantArt (here’s a search for UCCW on deviantArt). Just browse through the results until you find something cool, and install it. Step 3: Put It On Your ScreenPutting a UCCW widget on your screen starts like putting any other widget: with a long-press that should yield the following menu:
Next, tap Widgets, scroll down to UCCW, and tap that. You should get a menu with way too many options:
At this point, it doesn’t really matter what widget size you’ll pick, since widgets can be resized in most modern launchers anyway. Once you pick a size, you’ll find yourself in a menu showing all of the UCCW skins you’ve installed so far:
When I took this screenshot, I had just one skin installed, called Holler!. As you can see above, a skin can come packed with several different presets. Holler! comes in both black and white, with and without a battery indicator. The Evangelion skin comes with even more:
I tapped one of Holler’s variants and got this:
This isn’t Holler yet, but it’s quite clear. I did what it said (touched the widget area) and presto:
The screen looked nice at this point, but I decided to go ahead and add a battery meter skin and a weather skin:
Now we’re getting somewhere. The battery skin is called Soft Battery Bar, while the weather skin goes by Clear Conditions. Definitely slick, but what makes it even cooler is how easy the whole thing was to set up. Options (Or Lack Thereof)Widgets can trigger certain actions using hotspots (such as launch Gmail or another app). If no hotspot is defined, UCCW will display a generic Options screen:
For some skins, like Clear Conditions, this screen does nothing. Changing the colors had no effect on the skin’s appearance, and most other operations triggered the error you see in the screenshot (“Feature not available for this skin”). Other skins do have options you can tweak, and their creators will usually tell you about them in the Google Play description for the skin. Bottom LineIf you have any sort of interest in customizing your homescreen, you need to try UCCW right now. It’s simple and fun to use, and the selection of available skins is rich and constantly growing. It’s quite a phenomenon, really. Since there are so many skins, I would be curious to hear about your favorites in the comments: Feel free to share links to skins on Google Play, or to screenshots of your own homescreen. The post Create The Homescreen Of Your Dreams With The Super-Customizable UCCW Widget [Android] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Facebook Friend Requests: Unwritten Rules & Hidden Settings [Weekly Facebook Tips] Posted: 18 Apr 2013 03:30 PM PDT
Facebook is complex, and this might be necessary for friend requests. Unfortunately, it’s a tough place for beginners because innocent mistakes can lead to drastic consequences. So here are a few Facebook friend request tips to help you and people who request your friendship avoid unintentional punishment and generally make the most of all features around Facebook friends. Basics for BeginnersHere is a little refresher on how to add friends for those of you not too familiar with Facebook. Everyone else, please skip ahead. You can see all your pending friend requests via the Friends icon in the top right of Facebook.
Clicking the icon will open a menu that shows all pending Friend Requests and a list of People You May Know.
Click Confirm to add a friend or Not Now to hide a request. The sender won’t be notified. You can also search people, open their profiles, and if they accept friend requests from the public or friends of friends add them by clicking the +1 Add Friend button located on their profile to the right of their name.
To cancel a friend request, go back to their profile, hover over the button that now reads +1 Friend Request Sent and select Cancel Request from the menu.
You can also remove a friend via their profile or your friends list. Facebook does not notify people if you remove them. However, it is possible to track your friends list with third party tools and receive alerts when people remove you. And with that you know all the basics about Facebook friend requests. Except that you should Connect Before You Add SomeoneFacebook wants you to add only people you know in real life. If your friend requests frequently remain unanswered or even if just one person reports your friend request as unwanted, Facebook may conclude that you have sent friend requests that violate their Community Standards, especially the point addressing bullying and harassment. As a result, you will be blocked from sending friend requests for a period of time. To avoid being blocked from adding friends, follow these guidelines:
In other words: don’t look like a fake account, don’t be a stranger, and don’t add random strangers! Add Friends ConservativelyYou will often want to add a new friend immediately, even though you don’t have mutual friends on Facebook. And it might be more awkward to send a message first than to add them directly. That’s cool. Just be sure you don’t add too many people without common friends at once. If you don’t know someone, just want to know what they post to Facebook, and if there is an option to follow them, give that preference over adding them as a friend. This allows you to see what they are up to, but your Timeline is not shard with them. Review Hidden Friend RequestsFacebook doesn’t immediately delete friend requests that you choose not to confirm. When you click the Not Now button, the request is merely hidden. You can see all hidden requests on your Friend Requests page. Here you can either confirm or delete requests. The sender won’t be notified.
If you delete a request, Facebook will ask whether you know that person outside of Facebook. Keep in mind that if you select No, the person may be penalized. And that person won’t be able to send you another friend request.
Block Friend Requests from StrangersFacebook allows you to limit who can send you friend requests. Applying the limitation will keep those strangers desperate to connect with you out of trouble. From the Friend Requests menu in the top right, click Settings and choose Everyone or Friends of Friends from the drop-down menu.
Alternatively, open Privacy Shortcuts from the top right (next to Home button), expand Who can contact me? and choose Everyone or Friends of Friends under Who can send me friend requests?
Review Friend Requests You Have SentClick the Privacy Shortcut button in the top right (next to Home button), expand Who can see my stuff? and click Use Activity Log.
On your Activity Log page, click MORE underneath Comments to expand all Facebook sections. Click Friends. You can now browse all activities related to adding, accepting, and removing friends. Decide Who Can See Your Friends List and Friend ActivityIn the Friends Activity Log described above, you can further refine your privacy settings by choosing who can see your friends list and where your friend activity will show up. Click the respective icons in the top right of the Friends Activity Log and choose your settings. By deselecting every option for where your friend activity can show up, you can effectively friend someone and hide it from your status updates.
For more tips on how to guard your Facebook privacy, see this article on how to hide your personal information. ConclusionFriend requests on Facebook are inherently awkward. Whether you add your best friend, someone you know from school, your mom, or your boss, everyone is your friend. Well, obviously not! And Facebook does acknowledge that there are different qualities among your contacts, which is why they offer default lists like close friends, family, and acquaintances. Unfortunately, you cannot add a custom message along with a friend request. It would give you the chance to explain why you want to add that person as a friend. So if they don’t remember you or disapprove of your approach, they will most likely deny your friend request; without any explanation of course and Facebook won’t even notify you. Instead, Facebook may block you from adding further friends. Thus it’s worth being careful with your friend requests. Do you have a policy for adding friends and have you ever had issues with friend requests? The post Facebook Friend Requests: Unwritten Rules & Hidden Settings [Weekly Facebook Tips] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 Ways You Can Improve Smartphone Reception Posted: 18 Apr 2013 02:30 PM PDT
I've never quite been able to work out whether the problem is structural or environmental – it certainly isn't down to my mobile network as in the case of my mother-in-law's house, no one who sets foot through the door can use the phone. It's this that baffles me – how can mobile phone networks claim such high coverage when the majority of people can easily recall occasions when making a connection has been a trial? We've all stood on chairs with our phones held aloft, trying to “hook” onto a stray signal, but surely there is a better way to improve smartphone reception? After all, if your phone is constantly trying to connect, your battery is going to run flat faster… The Simple Fix: Lose the Case (and Your Hand)We'll move onto some of the more unique and complex solutions below, but there are a couple of things that you can try to improve smartphone reception beyond standing next to a window.
I've found that since I started removing my phone from its rubber case that my signal is much stronger, particularly when driving and streaming Nokia Music into my car’s sound system. The reason for this, of course, is because the case dampens the signal. It isn't only cases that cause such problems, either. Remember Antennagate, when issues with the iPhone 4 caused users to complain to Apple in their droves, forcing a response from the company? Depending on the model, how you hold your smartphone is paramount to getting a good signal. It is worth spending a few moments to find the optimum “holding stance” for you to use the device without a loss of signal; if this isn't possible, however, start relying more on your hands-free kit or headset. Geographical and Environmental FactorsDon't blame your poor reception on your hand, however; where you're currently situated could be a cause of your bad signal. Cell phone towers are situated based on their range, with the aim being to give users blanket coverage. This enables you to use your mobile phone wherever you are – within reason. The idea is that your phone automatically connects to the nearest tower, switching towers as you move around. Problems occur as you approach areas without a tower, and the strength of the signal degrades. When you can't maintain a stable connection, calls are dropped and data won't be received.
Distance isn't the only issue, however. Landscape can reduce your signal strength, so if you find that calls are dropping and data isn't transferring, consider changing your position. Naturally if the problem is your entire property or place of work, this might be difficult, but hills, mountains, valleys and even trees can be as detrimental to a strong connection as a large steel structure (such as a tower, skyscraper or pylon) thick wall or pillar. One way to avoid losing your cell phone signal when you travel is to make better use of your phone's roaming settings. What would normally happen when travelling across the USA or from country to country is that as you lose your connection with the first mobile network you then connect to a second, based in the area you're travelling to or passing through. How you access roaming settings depends on your carrier and your device, but this system can be used to select a preferred carrier/network for a specific area or location. Signal Boosters and FemtocellsAn increasingly popular solution to improve smartphone reception is a signal booster, a device that comes in several different flavours. Should you choose this solution, you will need to make your decision based on your carrier and the band that your phone uses (2G, 3G, 4G LTE). Signal boosters work by amplifying the frequency of the radio waves carrying the data. Vehicle-specific versions of these devices can also be used, which are essentially cell phone variants of domestic Wi-Fi repeaters. Another solution is to use a femtocell, which can be added to your home or work wireless router to improve cell reception. Essentially these are miniature cell phone towers, and if your phone is within 2500 feet you should experience a full-strength signal.
Meanwhile, there are also some DIY signal boosting tricks that you might try, but these can have the effect of voiding your phone's warranty as they involve opening the device. Insulated wire and even paper clips have been used, but neither is a great long-term solution. ConclusionHandling problems with your smartphone reception can mean doing something as simple as taking your phone out of its case, or as expensive as relying on a signal booster or a repeater.
One is obviously cheaper than the other, but unless you're experiencing issues while roaming, these are the only solutions available that don't involve opening up your smartphone and affecting a fix that may or may not work. Have you used any of these tricks, or have any methods of your own to improve smartphone reception? Let us know in the comments. Images: Base station of cell phone under sunset (Shutterstock), Man angry with phone (Shutterstock), Multitouch smartphone with leather cover (Shutterstock), Paper clips (Shutterstock) The post 3 Ways You Can Improve Smartphone Reception appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aviary 2.0 Arrives On iOS With New Tools, Improved Interface & More [Updates] Posted: 18 Apr 2013 02:00 PM PDT
On the interface side, you’ll notice a darker theme with a scrolling toolbar and minimal padding around images, bringing the photo itself into better focus. The new tools include a Focus tool, which is used for defining the photo’s focal point and gently blurring the background. Known also as Tilt Shift, this tool can help you create an SLR-like photo, or make objects in your photo appear miniature. Additional tools new to version 2.0 are the Warmth tool, and an improved Enhance tool, both there to help you get the best out of every photo in the fastest way possible.
On the performance side, many tools should now be up to 10 times faster, especially those that have to do with the Blur tool, which has been improved. The editor itself should also load faster, and the app’s general memory consumption for high-resolution editing should be reduced. According to Aviary, saving photos will now take about half the time it used to in the old version. Aviary is a photo-editing platform and SDK, which also provides an online image-editing suite. The iOS and Android apps were launched last year, and a Windows Phone 7 SDK followed. Aviary’s iOS app is optimized for both iPhone and iPad, and is free to download from the iTunes App Store. A new version of the iOS SDK should follow soon, bringing all the new features to apps that use Aviary as its photo-editing platform. Give Aviary 2.0 a try and let us know what you think about it. Source: Aviary Blog The post Aviary 2.0 Arrives On iOS With New Tools, Improved Interface & More [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CrunchBang: A Lightweight OS Perfect For Old And New Computers Alike Posted: 18 Apr 2013 01:00 PM PDT
The Crunchbang OS has been around for a long time, and it’s always stuck to its mission: offering a lightweight operating system based on Openbox. If you’re a fan of widgets, docks and shiny things you might want to look elsewhere – by default this OS is more striaght-forward than that. If you want an operating system that thinks you know what you’re doing, and doesn’t waste resources, I recommend Crunchbang (sometimes written as “#!”). Previously based on Ubuntu, these days the Crunchbang OS is based on Debian (which Ubuntu itself is also based on). Again, don’t worry if that confuses you: the system itself is straight-forward to use and fun to explore. Simplicity and Speed
Start up CrunchBang and you’ll basically see a blank canvas. There’s no start menu – we’ll get to that. There’s a taskbar at the top of the screen, complete with clock and icons. And there’s also a list of keyboard shortcuts, courtesy of Conky.
(The Super key, if you didn’t know, is Linux-speak for the Windows key on most keyboards). Use these shortcuts to quickly load a web browser, media player or the Terminal. Or, if you’d rather start exploring, right-click anywhere on the desktop (or press Super + Space) to bring up the main menu:
You’ll find a variety of programs here for getting work done – more on that later. You’ll also find quick links for installing software not included with CrunchBang, like Chrome and LibreOffice. Again, more on that later. The browser included is called IceWeasel, but don’t panic: it’s basically Firefox. Debian doesn’t included Firefox by default, because Firefox itself includes some things (mostly the name and the logo) that are not technically open source. It’s a long story.
So you’ll be able to browse the web as you like. Don’t like the way the menu is arranged, or how the various keyboard shortcuts work? For me, this is where things get fun. Linux distros used to reward exploration, and part of the fun was exploring and seeing what was possible. Go through the settings and you’ll find tools for changing all of these things, and if you don’t you can always explore the Crunchbang Forums. List of Software Included With CrunchBang OSExplore the menu and you’ll find programs for everything from word processing to microblogging – all of which are lightweight and run well on older computers. Here are the highlights in one list:
These are only the default apps: you’ll find links for installing software like Google Chrome, Libre Office or Dropbox in the menus, and you can also browse or search the entire Debian repositories thanks to Synaptic. Or, if you prefer the command line, you can install anything you like using apt-get:
Download CrunchbangReady to get started with Crunchbang? You can head to Crunchbang.org and download an ISO file, which you can burn to a CD or boot from a USB disk using software like LiveUSB or uNetBootin. There are two versions offered: a year-old stable version, and an unstable version based on the current version of Debian. Both worked quite well for me in testing – which makes sense because, as of this writing, Debian’s unstable branch is quite far along. Of course, Crunchbang isn’t the only Lightweight linux distribution out there: there are many. But if you’re looking for some polish, but also very lightweight, it’s one of the best. But I want to know what you think: is CrunchBang a good lightweight distro for your personal use? If not, what will you be using? Let me know below, okay? The post CrunchBang: A Lightweight OS Perfect For Old And New Computers Alike appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To Be A Better American On The Global Internet Posted: 18 Apr 2013 12:00 PM PDT
On the flip side, such a small community upbringing can be both a blessing and a curse. It can become a curse, because a small community can become closed off from the reality of the outside world. I remember, when I was about 11 or 12 years old, I had my first taste of the outside world. An African American family had moved into town – as far as I could recall, they were the first non-white family that had ever lived in our town. Up until then, I’d met two types of people, native Franco-American folks with deep, Canadian-french accents, and people from “away” that had either gone away to college and come back home, or had moved up to Northern Maine for the first time for one reason or another. They were almost always white. I honestly didn’t think much of it at first. Then the problems started. There was news one weekend that on a Friday night, some local kids had lit up a cross on the family’s front yard. A burning cross. I remembered learning about the Civil Rights movement in the 1960′s in school – and wondered how something like this could happen in the 1990s. But it did. The family eventually moved away. That event was my first clue that I didn’t want to live there for the rest of my life. It wasn’t until the advent of the Internet – and coming in contact with some of the most amazing people I’d ever met from many different countries – that I realized just how much the world had missed prior to the amazing invention of the world wide web. The Blessing and the Curse of the Global InternetCollege brought me in contact with people of different nationalities, but I found that it took me a long time to evolve and understand how to interact with people from other far-away lands, and to understand how they viewed me. I remember making a great friend from Vietnam, and working together with him on engineering lab work. He told me amazing stories about his parent’s escape from Vietnam on a small boat following the war, and how his father had died during the escape. By the second year of college, I started using the IBM-mainframe based computer system to start playing “MUDDing”, as it was called. A MUDD was a Multi-User Dungeons and Dragons game – a text-based virtual game environment of the sort that I’ve described before here at MUO. That experience put me in touch with some of the first folks on the “Internet” from other countries. It was great fun chatting with those players during our in-game “quests”. Simple text-based adventures often turned into hours-log chats about their lives in foreign lands – and of course they learned a few things from me about what it really meant to be a young American kid – things that TV and movies often got wrong.
The launch of Netscape and the adoption of the Internet was something I had the pleasure of experiencing while I was transitioning through college. Those “nerdy” computer clusters filled with IBM dumb-terminals quickly transformed PC labs with computers hooked up to the Internet and running Netscape browsers. Being online was suddenly “cool”. However, being online was also bringing together cultures and nationalities that had previously never really interacted very much. The introduction of bulletin board systems and forums brought a platform for anyone at all that wanted to spread their own personal prejudices and hatred toward people of other cultures – on both sides of every ocean. It didn’t take long for the Internet to become a battleground of people heatedly “debating” issues like the conflicts in the Middle East, tensions between Israel and Palestine, international terrorism vs. the Muslim religion, and many other hot topics where there were burning emotions and opinions on both sides. You know what else seemed to be prevalent on both sides? Prejudice about the other side.
Many of the forum debates that I observed where an American was debating someone from another country, each side clearly carried preconceived notions about the other country. The following are some of those notions that I realized people from other countries believe about Americans, and how Americans sometimes feed those beliefs through their online behavior. Americans are Big-Mouthed and OpinionatedI personally have always behaved in a certain way online that reflects my personal belief in freedom of speech – a principle that I think most Americans hold near and dear to our hearts. It’s part of our heritage to protect the right to say what you believe without being persecuted for it. Because of this, Americans are usually quick to share their opinions – and to anyone outside of the U.S., I think this can easily come across as someone being overly-opinionated.
The problem is that in American culture, everyone is expected to feel welcomed and open to stand up and share your piece. Say how you feel about the situation without fear. However, there are other places where decisions are made with a different process – where there are individual roles that are important to a community, where self-sacrifice for the good of the group is more important than individualism, and where “success” is measured using different values than how it’s measured in America. This isn’t to say one is better than the other, only that it’s different – and those differences can lead to conflicts in the faceless, electronic exchanges so commonplace today on the Internet. What’s a solution? Enter into dialogue with people from other countries with a more careful tone. Sharing your opinion is fine – but seeking out opinions from others will become more important, because they won’t be so fast or willing to open up so easily until they feel that you won’t judge them for having different values than yours. Americans are Fat and LazyThe myth that all Americans are fat and lazy is spread by documentaries, news organizations and other media outlets that cling to this meme, regardless of how true it really is. However, according to the World Health Organization, the countries with the highest percentage of overweight adults are Nauru, the Federal States of Micronesia, Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue, Samoa, Palau and Kuwait. The U.S. makes number 9 on the list. Egypt number 14. Greece number 16. U.S., Egypt and Greece are actually only 5 or 6 percentage points apart.
This isn’t to say that obesity isn’t a problem in the U.S., but that the problem of health and inactivity isn’t primarily an American problem. In fact, generally speaking, I’ve found that my colleagues and friends from around the world have the exact same health and exercise issues and problems that many of my friends in the U.S. have. I can’t find much of a difference, yet throughout the Twittersphere and on Facebook, on Forums and even in email exchanges, the reference to Americans being fat and lazy constantly rears its ugly head again and again. What’s a solution? There really isn’t much, except as a country to collectively exercise, get back in shape, and share those exercise experiences and your health successes on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Once America starts getting on the top 10 lists of healthiest countries in the world, that’s the only way to shed this particular prejudice. Americans are EthnocentricThere is one last perception about Americans on the Internet that I’ve seen very often when communicating with friends and colleagues from other countries. That is that Americans are, in general, very ethnocentric. This is the one perception that I personally find to be true more often than it’s not. I think it stems from the fact that America had the highest Internet adoption rate at the very beginning. Now, as a greater percentage of Internet users join Americans at the table, we tend to continue talking about things as though America is the center of the Universe. Cool online services and mobile applications are often only available to U.S.-users only. This creates a greater sense of us-vs.-them that only serves to grow the chasm between America and the rest of the world.
It’s important now, more than ever, for American companies, programmers, social media experts and marketing gurus to approach every new project involving a product or application introduction online to include as many countries outside of the U.S. as possible. In former years, it was certainly enough to cater to just the U.S. market, but with the breakdown of the Internet finally leveling out in terms of user numbers from every major country in the world – it does both a company and the Internet user community a disservice to make any product or service only available to the U.S. market. Not only that, but it leaves the rest of us with good friends in other countries, feeling guilty and apologetic about the fact that we can access those services, when they can’t. It’s beyond unfair – and hopefully it’ll be something that changes quickly as more and more companies become aware that the Internet is a healthy mix of every nationality. If you’re American – what are some of the prejudices that you’ve encountered from users in other countries? If you are from outside the U.S., are there any prejudices you formerly held about Americans that you realized were completely untrue – or true? Share your own experiences and thoughts in the comments section below. Image Credit: Boy with American flag via Shutterstock, Earth Planet via Shutterstock, Fat Guy eating Chocolate via Shutterstock, Businessman Text Balloon via Shutterstock The post How To Be A Better American On The Global Internet appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Send It Later: 4 Useful SMS Scheduling Apps To Text At Just The Right Time [Android] Posted: 18 Apr 2013 11:00 AM PDT
chompSMS
Last Message
SMS Scheduler
AutoSMS
ConclusionThese four tools should provide you with some excellent ways to schedule SMS messages. Of course, there is plenty of additional information about using an Android device, as well as popular apps and games which you should check out! Is SMS scheduling important to you? What non-standard SMS features do you use? Let us know in the comments! Image Credit: robin_welsh The post Send It Later: 4 Useful SMS Scheduling Apps To Text At Just The Right Time [Android] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Google has announced some new features to YouTube's iOS app, and live streaming is by far the most popular one. The new feature lets you tune into live broadcasts on YouTube and stream them to your device as and when they happen. The other changes announced by Google are aimed at enhancing performance and usability to better manage your YouTube entertainment.
In a world with so many video screens, so many flickering lights baying for our attention, we need to close our eyes to the halo of perception around us. We have a need to relax our visual cortex from instant gratification and a need to return back to the soul feeding art of story telling. We need to simply hear a story, inspired in the literal sense by the voice of the one who recalls it with fondness or bitterness, whichever the story demands, whenever the story demands it. As the words trickle into, and tickle, our ears as though raindrops from a cloudburst out of our youth, we let our mind’s-eye take over and show us things we once knew as possible. We imagine things we once thought were impossible. Such is the power of the spoken word to move men to weep, and women to fight.
There’s a ridiculous amount of free media content available from the 
I'm a huge supporter of games that focus more on skill and coordination than luck and grinding. That's not to say I haven't played my fair share of games like Everquest and World of Warcraft, but there's just something rewarding about hitting a headshot and knowing that it wasn't due to anything but your own talent. TeeWorlds is one of those games.
Last summer, I went on a 3-months-long trip across Canada. Such trips are a once in a lifetime experience, no matter where you take them, and no matter what you end up doing while travelling. That said, one of the greatest challenges of any trip is finding the most interesting attractions, the best places to eat, and fun local events. When you find yourself in a different city every day or every week, the process of scouting several different apps in search of the best places to go to becomes a bit tedious.
I’ve never been the most creative guy in the world when it comes to creating usernames across websites, 
Facebook is all about connecting with other people and making friends. Yet friend requests are delicate and can quickly get you in trouble with Facebook. While you probably won’t 
Whenever I'm at my favourite pub (admittedly not often) or at my mother-in-law's (sadly more often than I would like) I find that I have considerable trouble making a phone call. It's so bad that I have to leave the house, and getting a data connection is considered alchemy within those four walls.
Popular photos-editing app Aviary has announced on Wednesday the release of a completely re-imagined version of it’s iOS app. Aviary 2.0 comes with a new, streamlined interface, and plenty of new editing features and performance improvements.
Bloated operating systems bogging your system down? Is waiting for software to load on an older computer ruining your entire freaking life? Try something lightweight. Crunchbang is a minimalist OS built on Debian Linux, but don’t worry if you don’t know what any of those words mean – it’s also easy to use and runs well even on older computers.
I am about as stereotypical American as you can get. I grew up in a small town in Maine, where everyone knows everyone else’s name, most people all went to the same church, and where national and local tragedies brought everyone together to support and console one another. Such an upbringing is great in many ways – you learn the value of community, empathy for others, and the importance of family.
SMS messages have become one of the most common forms of communication for friends, family, and even coworkers. They can also be extremely flexible with features such as scheduling and delivery reports. While delivery reports are usually included in stock SMS apps, scheduling is not. It would be great to have that ability, so you can easily send regular reminders to friends and coworkers, wish someone a happy birthday right at midnight, or otherwise pre-type a message that you want to send later because you know that you will be busy. There are plenty of apps available for Android which can take care of this for you, and they all offer a different idea as to how scheduling should be implemented. No matter if you want the feature integrated into a full SMS app or if you want it to be a standalone app, we’ve got you covered.
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