5 New Articles on MakeUseOf

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• Cool Websites and Tools [April 20th 2013]
• 4 League Of Legends Streams To Make You A Better Player
• How Do I Download An Entire Website For Offline Reading?
• Five Tech Myths Debunked: Who Really Created Linux, And More
• LinkedIn Revamps iOS & Android Apps With New Design, Better Navigation & More [Updates]

Cool Websites and Tools [April 20th 2013] Posted: 20 Apr 2013 09:31 PM PDT Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. Most of the listed websites are FREE or come with a decent free account option. If you want to have similar cool website round-ups delivered to your daily email, subscribe here. Add Your Website Here!   RESOPE! – Gone are the days of being required to carry around a dedicated handheld gaming device to kill time on the road. Instead, all the games we could ever want are on the devices we already have. A new game called RESOPE! has found its way to my phone, and it's quite addictive. Read more: RESOPE!: A Fun And Addicting Puzzle Game [iOS & Android]   Upshot – Screenshots of your computer serve an important purpose. They can be used to easily record what is happening on your screen, and are also used by app developers who are working in teams. Here to make screenshots more convenient for Mac users is a nifty desktop utility called Upshot. Read more: Upshot: Share Your Screenshots Through Your DropBox Account [Mac]     SoundCloudNav – Sometimes you want to listen to music that you do not have saved on your computer. Fortunately, The Internet provides you with various audio music streaming sources. Of these sources, SoundCloud is one of the most popular sites used by people to stream music. Here to let you quickly access SoundCloud tracks while browsing other websites is SoundCloudNav. Read more: SoundCloudNav: A Keyboard-Based Track Navigator For SoundCloud     Hike Messenger – The Internet has provided us with various means to communicate with our friends and family. Using IM clients, all you have to do is send a message and as long as the client is active on the other end, your message is displayed to the recipient. For smartphone owners, SMS serves the same function as instant online messages. Here to let you do that is Hike Messenger. Read more: Hike Messenger: Send Free Internet Messages & SMS [iOS]     Kafoodle – While trying to decide where and what to eat, a person usually has a lot of restaurants to decide from and also a lot of dishes to decide from. If you are careful about your food or are a ‘foodie’ then you probably spend a lot of time weighing all the factors before you decide on something. This decision-making process is a lot easier if you use Kafoodle. Read more: Kafoodle: Let Your iPhone Help You Decide Where To Eat [iOS]   Add Your Website Here! 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 20th 2013] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

4 League Of Legends Streams To Make You A Better Player Posted: 20 Apr 2013 07:31 PM PDT When it comes to competitive online gaming, or eSports, League of Legends is at the very head of the class. It’s amazing to see how playing an online game can transform into an actual career now. We have people on the web who we literally regard as virtual athletes, and the eSports community can only grow from here. Dota 2, StarCraft II, and other games are in this same field. There are star players and names that many gaming enthusiasts follow and know of just as well as any basketball or football player. The great thing about online gaming is that there are no restrictions. If you learn the game and you own a computer, you have just as good of a shot as anyone at becoming a professional. You don’t need to know the right people. You don’t need some sort of scholarship or anything like that. You play, improve, get noticed, and essentially make a job out of entertaining others while playing this game. Who better to lead you on that sort of route than the people you know and respect already? In this article, I want to point out four of the best competitive League of Legends streamers that can help you improve your game. Voyboy Voyboy is a professional League of Legends player who currently plays with Curse Gaming. He plays the top lane and loves teaching others little tips and tricks. You can find his stream on Twitch. When you watch Voyboy play, he is constantly narrating his decisions and play style. During champion selection, he’ll take his time and analyze who to play and explain why. He’ll always outline his approach to the upcoming game and explain his runes and masteries to viewers. It’s a consensus community opinion that Dyrus and Voyboy are the two best top lane players in North America. The difference between Dyrus’ stream and Voyboy’s stream is that Voyboy puts a huge emphasis in making sure that his viewers learn something new. Dyrus streams to entertain and Voyboy streams to teach. If you’re looking to become a great top lane player (especially with Akali or Zed), you want to watch Voyboy. Scarra Without a doubt, Scarra is one of the most likable players in the competitive League of Legends community. He’s always happy, willing to share information, and enthusiastic about playing. He plays for Team Dignitas in the mid lane and has a huge pool of champions that he is comfortable with. His streaming schedule is very random, but it’s always a treat when you can catch him online on Twitch. What makes Scarra a very good streamer to learn from is the fact that he is almost always talking. Every single decision he makes is explained in detail. Though he is known best for playing his Katarina and Gragas, Scarra regularly pulls out a surprise or two during his solo queue marathons. I’ve seen him play a very effective Blitzcrank in the mid lane, and just watching and hearing him play that game makes me feel confident enough to give it a shot sometime. Scarra is a very positive player and loves seeing his teammates play well. If you watch Scarra play, you will learn! Doublelift Doublelift has been streaming less frequently, especially during the Championship Series and after own3D finally turned all of their streamers over to Twitch, but it’s a big deal when he’s online and playing. It’s no secret how Doublelift is regarded by the community. You either love him or you hate him. He is very arrogant and is one of the game’s best trash-talkers, but you have to respect his gameplay. In my opinion, he is the best AD carry in North America. That’s reason enough to pay attention to his stream. When streaming, Doublelift doesn’t go out of his way to teach anything about the game to his viewers. He is the type of player that you watch and pick tips up from as the stream goes along. He is often streaming as a duo with his support, Aphromoo, and you can learn a lot from the communication between those two. I credit Doublelift with teaching me the importannce of using attack move, rather than just right-clicking. If you want to be a better Vayne or Caitlyn, you better watch this guy when he’s online. Xpecial Xpecial plays the support role like it’s an artform, and he’s a very special player. Team SoloMid is probably the most popular League of Legends team in the US. Xpecial is their quietest player. He may also be their smartest. Right now is a great time to be watching Xpecial’s stream. Recently, Chaox was removed from the team and that means Xpecial has a brand new AD to support. Watching his stream means you’re going to be able to see how that AD-support relationship begins and you’re going to be able to pick up some great advice. I learned to play Janna, Sona, and a few other supports that I had no interest in by watching Xpecial. He calls out a lot of very important things to his lane partner while streaming, and he’s the perfect player to watch if you have a passion for the support role. These four players stream as often as possible so that their fans can learn and be entertained with their gameplay. If you want to improve, the best way may be to steal a few pointers from the best players in the game. These four are names that are definitely at the top of that list. Do you want to suggest an appropriate jungler to watch while streaming, or have any comments about these four players? Let us hear them in the comments section below! The post 4 League Of Legends Streams To Make You A Better Player appeared first on MakeUseOf.

How Do I Download An Entire Website For Offline Reading? Posted: 20 Apr 2013 01:30 PM PDT Download the entirety of a website – or individual web pages – to your hard drive. Whether you want to do some work offline so you can really block time-wasting websites or do some research on the road, downloading web content locally means you don’t need to stop when your connection does. It’s increasingly rare, but still occasionally true: sometimes you just don’t have Internet access. Whether you’re on a plane or your grandparent’s place in the country, life occasionally brings all of us to places WiFi and 4G can’t reach. With a little preparation, however, you can have the data you need on your hard drive, waiting for you. There are three distinct ways to read offline: downloading an entire website, downloading recent blog posts or news stories, and downloading the content from a specific page or article. I’m going to touch on all three below, but feel free to skip to the section you’re actually interested in. Downloading Entire Websites This is the hardcore option: downloading the entirety of a single website for offline reading. Obviously how long this takes will vary depending on the web site in questions – Wikipedia could take days to finish, and will take up a lot of your hard drive when it does. If you just want an offline copy of something simple, however, like the ultimate Final Fantasy 7 database or a simple site outlining a few recipes you were thinking of trying, downloading an entire website might be right for you. The software I recommend for downloading an entire site is HTTrack, which Tina wrote about back in 2008. Don’t worry: the software hasn’t changed much and her article is still solid. This open source program can be a little hard to use at first – especially if you’re not a Windows user. But if you’re looking to make a complete offline version of your favorite website – not an individual web page, an entire web site – it’s one of the simplest options out there. Tweak the settings if you run into problems and you should be fine. Only the Windows version comes with a dedicated GUI – Linux users will need to use a browser-based version of HTTrack instead. Don’t worry: items will be added to the menu so it’s easy enough to get started. Mac users can install the software using MacPorts, but many might be better off checking out Sitesucker, a free Mac app that functions similarly but is easy to install and has it’s own GUI. Downloading The Latest News Are you mostly interested in keeping up with the news? Downloading an entire site then is probably an overkill: you don’t need to keep a copy of the headlines from 2005 on your computer. Happily there are dedicated tools for reading the news offline. I showed you how to download entire newspapers or blogs using Calibre – it saves everything to the eBook format of your choice. This is a great way to condense the latest news into a format you can easily read offline, but be warned: paid subscriptions are required for some sites to work properly. You can also use NewsToEbook to download the latest news directly. It even supports Google Reader (though of course that ends in July when Google pulls the plug on Reader). Downloading Individual Web Pages This is the simpler option: downloading the entirety – or only the content from – an individual page. If you’re doing some research, or simply want to do some offline reading, there are tools out there allowing you to clip any particular page and read it later. My favorite is probably Evernote, a service that aims to become your personal on-and-offline repository of knowledge. You can use the service to “clip” articles from your favorite websites, which you can then read anytime using the desktop or mobile client. Check out the unofficial Evernote manual to learn more. It’s written by our very own Mark O’Neil, and like all our manuals it’s free of charge. Another simple way to save individual articles for reading later is Pocket, the ultimate digital bookmarking service. Apps for mobile devices sync articles you’ve saved for later, meaning you can read them anytime you want. There’s even a Mac version of Pocket for you computer (sorry, Windows and Linux users: not yet). Want an entirely mobile solution? Offline Pages Pro for iOS and Read Web Offline for Android both allow you to save any URL directly to your mobile device, allowing you to read them anytime. Conclusion Of course, this list is only the beginning: there are other ways to do this. Most browsers offer a “Save As” function, for example, and you can always print any page on the web as a PDF for reading later. Beyond that, I’m sure readers will point out plenty of other ways to save entire sites or individual pages for offline reading in the comments below. Unless, of course, they’re reading this comment offline – then they can’t leave comments. Oh well. The post How Do I Download An Entire Website For Offline Reading? appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Five Tech Myths Debunked: Who Really Created Linux, And More Posted: 20 Apr 2013 11:30 AM PDT The world is full of urban legends, and the technological world is no exception. While device or software rumors usually make up the largest portion of these, they are temporary as any rumors are proven correct or incorrect whenever official announcements are made or when the device/software is actually released. However, there are always a few myths which are much more complex, and the truths about them are hidden deep inside the Internet. 640K Is Enough Memory! The first urban legend of the tech world is that Bill Gates supposedly said that 640K was more memory that anyone would ever need. Gates never actually said this, and was even quoted saying, "I’ve said some stupid things and some wrong things, but not that. No one involved in computers would ever say that a certain amount of memory is enough for all time.” Instead, the phrase came about when a Wired column offered free software to anyone who supposedly "remembered" Gates saying it. Either way, we all know by now that 640K is far from enough, and there’s no better way to fill up your memory with some of the best Windows software! Microsoft Stole Apple’s UI Continuing on another Bill Gates myth, many people have claimed that Gates stole user interface elements from Apple for use in Microsoft's Windows. Many of the user interface elements, such as resizeable, overlapping windows with title bars, were actually licensed from Apple to be used in Microsoft's Windows 1.0. However, Microsoft continued to use these user interface elements in future releases of Windows, and Apple complained saying that the license agreement lasted for only one release of Windows. During the following lawsuit, Gates claimed, “We’re saying that these graphic interface techniques, the ideas, are not copyrightable.” The judge eventually sided with Microsoft, so as far as the legal system is concerned, Microsoft stole nothing. “Software Bug” Was First Used After Finding A Moth Unlike what most people believe, the first use of the term "software bug" did not happen in 1947 by Grace Hopper. Not only was she not the person who actually found the moth stuck in the Harvard computer, but the first use of "bug" as related to algorithmic issues dated to as early as 1878 by Thomas Edison with the quote "It has been just so in all of my inventions. The first step is an intuition, and comes with a burst, then difficulties arise — this thing gives out and [it is] then that “Bugs” — as such little faults and difficulties are called — show themselves and months of intense watching, study and labor are requisite before commercial success or failure is certainly reached." Mentions of the same idea as a software bug came as early as 1848 as Ada Lovelace was quoted saying, "an analyzing process must equally have been performed in order to furnish the Analytical Engine with the necessary operative data; and that herein may also lie a possible source of error. Granted that the actual mechanism is unerring in its processes, the cards may give it wrong orders." Android Is Completely Open Source Sadly, another common misconception is that Android is an entirely open source project. While it is certainly more open than iOS with plenty of great Android apps and Android games, there are a number of things which make Android less open source than we may believe. For example, phone manufacturers usually load their own custom user interface modifications to Android, which tend to be closed-source. Additionally, drivers need to be loaded onto the devices to support hardware such as the camera, and these are usually closed-source as well. Finally, just because the core operating system is open source, that doesn’t mean that any free applications are automatically open source as well. Linus Torvalds Created The Linux Operating System Last but not least, Linus Torvalds is commonly credited for the creation of the Linux operating system. However, this isn't necessarily true. Torvalds is actually the creator of the Linux kernel — the package of software which take cares of core functions and communicates with the hardware. Linux operating systems are more properly called GNU/Linux, as all the software except for the kernel are collectively called GNU software — the desktop environment and any additional software installed on your computer are all GNU software. While GNU software is developed by the open source community, the founder of the GNU project is Richard Stallman. However, although it can be more properly called GNU/Linux, most people keep it short and simply call it Linux. There are also plenty of different Linux distributions, so it’s not just a single Linux operating system. Conclusion There are plenty of myths out in the world, and the only thing we can do is bust them one by one. Hopefully you have learned a little more about these urban legends so can correct your friends next time they mention any of these and look smart while doing so. What other technological urban legends exist, and what's the truth about them? Let us know in the comments, and don't forget to provide sources to prove that you're correct! Image Credits: Leo Reynolds, World Economic Forum, Windows 1.0.1, Used with permission from Microsoft, U.S. Navy, laihiu, Wikipedia The post Five Tech Myths Debunked: Who Really Created Linux, And More appeared first on MakeUseOf.

LinkedIn Revamps iOS & Android Apps With New Design, Better Navigation & More [Updates] Posted: 20 Apr 2013 10:30 AM PDT LinkedIn has rolled out updates to its mobile applications on both iOS, Android, as well as to the mobile version of its website. The update brings a major change for the social network, completely revamping the look and core functionality of its application on all mobile platforms. The first, and the most obvious change, is a complete overhaul of the app’s interface. The new design of the application is aimed at simplicity and content consumption, which, according to LinkedIn, is the reason many of its users visit the mobile site. The app’s new and improved stream is meant to help you find the most interesting and relevant content and conversations happening across LinkedIn. It includes tailored updates, news, and original posts from influencers, among other items. The new stream also implements liking and commenting on content right from within it. The new version of the app offers a deeper level of personalization, so like the desktop version, it is meant to show the content that is most relevant to you. The navigation in the app is now customizable, which should help you access your favorite sections quickly. Like many iOS apps, it now features a slide-to-open navigation screen, which can be accessed from anywhere in the app. The update also adds the ability to follow key influencers, so you can discover and read interesting content right in the app. And as always, bug fixes, stability improvements, and even further localization in other regions, are also part of the deal. Check out the latest version of LinkedIn for mobile by downloading it from the App Store or from Google Play Store. What do you think about the updated version of LinkedIn? Source: LinkedIn The post LinkedIn Revamps iOS & Android Apps With New Design, Better Navigation & More [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

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