13 New Articles on MakeUseOf |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [May 17th 2013]
- How To Protect Yourself From Online Services Shutting Down
- Flight Control Is A Classic Game That Is Worth Going Back To [iOS]
- Drafts: The Ultimate Notes App For The iPhone and iPad [iOS]
- Facebook, SkyDrive Or YouTube – The Best Way To Share Videos In Windows Phone 8
- Google Unveils Google Play Music All Access For Unlimited Music Streaming [Updates]
- Everything You Need to Make Firefox Private & Secure
- 6 Useful Tools For Getting More Out Of Steam Games
- Which US Carrier Offers the Best iPhone Prepaid Plan?
- How To Protect WordPress from Intrusion: Your Must-Read Checklist
- Find Latitude and Longitude Coordinates & Ways To Use Them Online
- Which Is Best, A MacBook Air Or MacBook Pro? Both Models Compared Side-By-Side
- Google Launches Hangouts, A New Cross-Platform IM System for iOS, Android & Web [Updates]
| Cool Websites and Tools [May 17th 2013] Posted: 17 May 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 [May 17th 2013] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To Protect Yourself From Online Services Shutting Down Posted: 17 May 2013 08:01 PM PDT
Apps and services are bought, companies develop their strategy, and a lot of times, that means moving away from the one service or feature that you love the most. Google Reader’s popularity, and a pretty vociferous outcry following Google’s decision to pull the plug, has done little to convince the tech giant to go back on its decision, forcing people to look for alternatives. And Google is certainly not alone. Blogging platform Posterous similarly announced its shutdown last February, having been acquired by Twitter, and gave users two months to look for alternatives. The old saying goes, if you’re not paying for it, you’re the product, has never rung more true than at these times when a company decides it no longer needs you, or has been acquired by a bigger outfit. Here are a few ways you can at least prepare yourself for the inevitable. Only Choose Services That Provide a Backup Feature
This is the golden rule of protecting yourself from an ultimate shutdown. Always choose services that provide a backup feature. Better yet, if you can, choose a service that allows you to backup your data to a common format that will likely be compatible with other services such as XML or CSV files. This way you can be sure your content can easily end up somewhere else. If you can also backup your content from the service to a readable format on your computer, that’s always great too. Either way, if a free cloud-based service doesn’t give its users the basic courtesy of exporting their own content, it’s difficult to trust them with your data. Perform Regular BackupsNow that you know the service can provide you with backups, to stay on the safe side, perform regular backups, even if there’s been no talk from the service itself of an impending shutdown. With the finicky and unreliable of the Internet, you simply never know what could happen, so you might as well run a backup at least once a month, particularly if you’re extremely active on that service. Do you tend to be forgetful when it comes to backups? Set up a reminder on your calendar, phone or computer. Always Keep An Eye Out For AlternativesWhile you might love the service you’re using, it’s always good to keep an eye out for alternatives. You never know when you might have to make the switch, and rather than scramble to find an alternative that you might end up not liking, always be aware of the competition and their features so if you need to make a quick switch, you can do so while well informed of what to expect. Monitor Social Media Accounts Or Blogs For AnnouncementsThe chances are that if a site or service is shutting down, they’ll send you an email telling you as much, and doing so at least a few months in advance to give you a chance to find an alternative. At least that is what they should give you the courtesy of doing. Just in case you’ve got filters set up in your email inbox, or you just happen to not check your email too often, it might also be a good idea to monitor any available Twitter, Facebook or Google+ accounts, or alternatively an official blog, where you can expect to find announcements. This way you’ll always know about any worrying downtime, will get a better sense of how often the service is affected by glitches, or in the worst case scenario, when it is shutting down. Find Out More About The Developers
If possible, try to find out more about the developers behind the app or service. Do they have a track record for launching services and abandoning them or shutting them down? It’s always good to know who you’re dealing with, and knowing a developer or company’s history can be a great way to get a bit of peace of mind. Crunchbase is a great resource for finding out everything you need to know about the companies you’re trusting with your data. Choose Services With Offline FeaturesServices like Evernote offer you offline or desktop access to your content. Even Google, awful track record aside, provides Google Drive which you can access using a desktop app. Choosing services that come with desktop features or automatic sync are a great way to not have to worry about the very first rule – remembering to backup your content – since it’s all automated for you anyway. Choose a Paid ServiceIf you’re really worried about losing access to your content, a paid service is another route to consider. With the Posterous shutdown, Posthaven came to the forefront as a viable alternative, promising it would never shut down, but offering users the service at the cost of $5 a month.
Stay Off The CloudAt the end of the day, if you’re really worried about your content, there’s no better tip than staying off the cloud. The minute you choose to use a third party cloud-based service, you’re putting your trust in someone else’s hands and that’s something you simply have to come to terms with. We certainly don’t recommend staying off the cloud – there’s a lot of convenience and handy features that come with cloud-based services, but if you really want to protect yourself – as the old adage goes – nothing beats abstinence. Do you have any tips on protect yourself from a service shutdown? Let us know in the comments. Image Credits: Shutterstock, Shutterstock The post How To Protect Yourself From Online Services Shutting Down appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Flight Control Is A Classic Game That Is Worth Going Back To [iOS] Posted: 17 May 2013 06:30 PM PDT
In the Flight Control game, you play as an air traffic controller trying to guide your planes to safety. The gameplay is incredibly addictive, starting out simple and relaxing and soon becoming downright frantic as you progress. We’ve had it on our Best iPhone Games list for as long as we’ve had such a list. Since the initial release back in the relatively early days of the App Store, the developers have continued to support the game with new content. Even if you’ve played it before it is definitely worth another look if you’ve not gone back in a while. GameplayThe objective of Flight Control is to safely guide your planes from where they enter the map to the matching color runway. As you land your fleet, additional planes start spawning and this is where it becomes incredibly hectic. You will often draw a path that looks safe, but as more planes come into view, you’ll have to adjust the path to avoid a collision. To make things crazier, different craft move at different speeds, so taking this into consideration is critical as you work through the levels.
The controls in Flight Control are simple but effective. You simply touch the aircraft you want to move and draw a path to the runway with your finger. You can a draw straight line if the lane is open, or you can get creative and make a zigzag path to stall the plane’s arrival to the runway.
There are plenty of levels in Flight Control, and each one changes the flow a great deal. Some levels only feature two kinds of runways, others feature more. As you might expect, more runways make things more challenging. There are even levels with extra elements such as lighting and planes that you cannot control.
Flight Control requires a large amount of strategy and thought to be successful, and the fact that most levels only take a minute or two makes it perfect for quick sessions. The better you are the longer the games will be, but even if you are incredibly skilled most runs do not last more than a few minutes. Audio & VisualsThe graphics in Flight Control have a cartoonish style, visuals that work incredibly well for a game of this type. Everything is sharp, whether playing on an older iOS device or a new iPhone or iPad with a Retina display. While not as stunning as Real Racing, it’s clear that Firemint took the time to make this game easy on the eyes.
The music is enjoyable, and it fits well with the theme of the game. If the developers were aiming to create an old-school flight experience, the music goes a long way to solidifying the theme. The sound effects actually add to the experience by providing an audible warning when the planes are facing a possible midair collision. Playing without sound in Flight Control puts you at a serious disadvantage, so I would highly recommend listening as you play. Game LifeThere are a total of six levels in Flight Control, and each is quite different, so there is plenty of enjoyment to be had. In addition, the gameplay lends itself well to playing for a long time, as coming back and trying to beat your best score is quite addictive.
Achievements will keep you coming back for more as will the stats screen which keeps you updated with exactly how you are doing in the game. Social features go even further to extending the life, as you can compete with your friends for the best scores over Twitter and Facebook. ConclusionFlight Control has been on the App Store for a long time now, and it’s still one of my favorite games. It’s perfectly suited to quick sessions when you want to jump in and have some fun and move on with your day. That being said, the addictive gameplay will keep you playing for some time so even if quick sessions are not your thing, the Flight Control game has you covered. Download: Flight Control for iPhone & iPod Touch ($0.99) / Flight Control HD for iPad ($5.49) The post Flight Control Is A Classic Game That Is Worth Going Back To [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drafts: The Ultimate Notes App For The iPhone and iPad [iOS] Posted: 17 May 2013 05:30 PM PDT
Drafts is not just for taking and saving notes, it is also for sharing notes to dozens of other apps and services. The app is optimized for both the iPhone ($2.99) and iPad ($3.99), and for what it does, the price tag is very reasonable. I’m pretty much a sucker for notes apps, and Drafts pretty much does all I need for writing and exporting notes from my iOS devices. How It WorksI first wrote about Drafts as part of an article about alternative apps for Apple’s default iOS Notes, but since posting that article, several useful features have been added to Drafts that users may find convenient. What makes Drafts different is that right after you launch it, you can begin writing a note. There’s no additional tapping needed to get started. It’s like grabbing a scrap of paper and writing a quick note.
Once you’ve written your note it’s automatically saved and added to your list of notes. When you open Drafts again, it starts you off with a blank page for more note writing. Drafts also allows you to tap the share button and export the note to one or more apps or services. You can, for example:
Other FeaturesWhen I first started using Drafts, I was satisfied with its ability to let me quickly email notes to myself since Apple still hasn’t provided a better way to gets notes out of iOS devices. But if you spend a little time in the Settings area of Drafts, you can set it up even better for your particular needs.
Because Drafts includes dozens of export actions, you can manage and customize them into one of five different panels. So when you tap on an action in Settings, you might organize all your most used actions in the first panel, and hide actions you think you will never use. Another panel can be used for your social network related actions.
The settings also allows you to set what you would like to happen to a note when a particular action is applied to it. An example would be when you use the email action, you might set that action to automatically archive or delete that note once it’s sent. You can also have Drafts post a confirmation pop-up for what to do with a note after an action is applied. The iPad and iPhone versions of Drafts are basically the same, but the iPad version also includes an extended keyboard toolbar of features, including undo and redo buttons, cursor arrows, hashtag and quotation marks, and other punctuation symbols.
There are extra features for email, Messages, Evernote and URL actions. For example, the Email action enables you to set up email templates with default email addresses, subject line, and boilerplate text.
The Dropbox and Evernote actions allow you to create text files in your account so that notes can be appended to a specified file or a new text file can be created for each new note. Drafts also includes markdown and TextExpander support, landscape typing, and live word and character counts. I use Drafts on my iPhone and iPad for both quick notes and extended pieces of writing. I find it easier sometimes to launch and use Drafts rather than haul out Evernote or Day One. But there are also similar quick note apps including Catch Notes, and more extended notes apps for brainstorming ideas, plots and characters. Download: Drafts for iPhone & iPod Touch ($2.99) / Drafts for iPad ($3.99) Let us know what you think of Drafts, and how you’re using it in the comments below! The post Drafts: The Ultimate Notes App For The iPhone and iPad [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Facebook, SkyDrive Or YouTube – The Best Way To Share Videos In Windows Phone 8 Posted: 17 May 2013 03:31 PM PDT
However, there is a problem. Windows Phone itself doesn’t seem to be a particularly popular choice for video upload and broadcast streaming websites at this stage. The result is that it can be tough to upload your videos and share them. As things stand at the time of writing there are rumours that Ustream are planning to release a Windows Phone app. There is no word, however, from Qik, which means that broadcast streaming options are non-existent. Fortunately over the past few months more and more apps have come along that will enable you to upload videos. SkyDriveOne of the first options you should consider for sharing videos from Windows Phone is SkyDrive. In order to enable this, you can activate SkyDrive auto-upload via Settings > Applications > Photos+camera. This option will automatically upload all photos and videos when your phone is connected to Wi-Fi (uploading photos can be done via a 3G/4G connection, however).
You can either share your video clip manually later, or use the save to SkyDrive option when viewing the video to upload it as a publicly shared item. Of course, if you're not using Windows Live as a social network, not many people will see this unless you share it with another social network. Videos saved to SkyDrive can be shared, however, either by email or through Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. One of the drawbacks of the above method is that Silverlight (Microsoft's short-lived “answer” to Adobe Flash) is required to view the clips – so it is much better to share your videos from Windows Phone to Facebook.
This is done by choosing Share… > Facebook from the camera view or from the clip itself, adding in the necessary description and then tapping the Upload button. Note that uploading might take a while depending on the resolution of the video, and of course the length, both of which will impact on the file size. Of all the upload methods available, sharing to Facebook is probably the best for Windows Phone users. While it is as simple as the SkyDrive method, an uploaded video is also easier to view as there is no requirement for Microsoft Silverlight. YouTubeIt would be really unfair to say that Google has actively attempted to disrupt Windows Phone apps using its service – if it were untrue. The fact that a team at Microsoft has been working very hard to bring a competent YouTube app to users (most of whom have been using third party apps in place of the Microsoft's original, clunky app) is evidence enough. Windows Phone has been around for nearly three years. Thanks a bunch, Google. As polished as the new Windows Phone YouTube app is it isn't capable of uploading videos. Crazy, isn't it? As such, you will need to rely on the manual “done-by-email” method of video uploading.
In order to set this up you will need a unique email address for uploading videos to your account. Do this by signing into YouTube and opening your account screen. Against the Mobile Uploads section you will see a unique, generated email address that you should add to your phone's contacts (perhaps as “YouTube”). To upload, open the Pictures hub, select the video and from the menu tap Share…. Select an email account and then the YouTube contact. Remember to add a subject line as this will be assigned as your video title, while any body text will be added as the video description. Once the email is uploaded, you will receive an email confirming this, and the clip will be available to view on your YouTube account. VimeoOne of the most popular alternatives to YouTube is Vimeo, and unlike Google they’ve released an app for Windows Phone that does offer video upload.
To upload videos to your Vimeo account, first sign in after launching the app and then tap the Record button to launch the camera. Front and back cameras can be used where available, and you can also switch to standard definition – useful if you're uploading over mobile Internet. There is no facility to upload videos already recorded and stored on your phone, only those made with the Vimeo app. Available free from the Windows Phone Store, I was happy to discover that as a Windows Phone 8 user, I get three free months of Vimeo Plus. DailyMotionYou can find the DailyMotion app in the Windows Phone Store, also free. Like Vimeo, this app offers upload capability, but it is the first Windows Phone app I’ve come across that restarted my Nokia Lumia 920 – not a good sign!
There seems to be various issues with the app, which was first released in April 2013, although you would expect them to be soon resolved with a couple of updates. DailyMotion allows you to sign in with your Facebook account, and like Vimeo uploading is only something that you can do with a new video created within the app. Conclusion – The State of Windows Phone Video SharingAs you can see, there are some good options for uploading videos with Windows Phone, and perhaps the Facebook sharing is best for most purposes. However, the YouTube email method is surprisingly good given that Google doesn’t appear to want Windows Phone users (the numbers of which are growing in Europe thanks to Nokia's aggressive marketing), while Vimeo offers a very good alternative with a great app experience. What remains missing is the video broadcast apps. I can't accept that this is down to the platform. I keep hearing people complain that Windows Phone doesn’t have as many apps as iPhone and Android, but given that it is a younger platform and has reached milestones in its app store faster than either of the big players, this simply doesn’t make sense. For fast uploading of videos from your Windows Phone to a sharing service, I would recommend Facebook first, although the YouTube email and DailyMotion are both very good alternatives. The post Facebook, SkyDrive Or YouTube – The Best Way To Share Videos In Windows Phone 8 appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Google Unveils Google Play Music All Access For Unlimited Music Streaming [Updates] Posted: 17 May 2013 03:00 PM PDT
Even Google’s major competitor, Apple, which still doesn’t have a streaming music service, may see its iTunes market share challenged by All Access. All Access is part of the Google Play platform which allows users to browse and purchase music, magazines, books, movies, television programs, and applications published through Google. All Access costs $9.99 per month, with a 30-day free trial, but customers signing up before June 30th will pay a reduced monthly fee of $7.99. All Access provides unlimited access to Google’s entire online streaming music library, which is based on licensing agreements with music companies such as Universal Music and Sony Music Entertainment.
The subscription service can be used through the Google Play Web client and on Android devices. Subscribers can also add songs from the library to their devices for offline access. In addition, the monthly subscription includes a custom radio feature based on the songs, artists, and albums you select. All songs can be managed in playlists, purchased for download, and shared on Google+. Included in the service for both subscribers and non-subscribers, is free access to the Google Play music storage locker which lets you upload up to 20,000 of your own songs and albums from your computer using the cross-platform Google Play Music Manager. The manager scans your iTunes library and any music folder on your computer and matches it with the same songs from the Google Play library. Copies of your songs not found in the Google library will be uploaded to your account. All Access is currently US only, but if successful, might expand to other parts of the world in the future. So what do you think of Google new music streaming service? Will you try it out or switch from your existing online music subscription? Source: MercuryNews.com The post Google Unveils Google Play Music All Access For Unlimited Music Streaming [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Everything You Need to Make Firefox Private & Secure Posted: 17 May 2013 02:31 PM PDT
A few months ago, I wrote about Firefox encryption addons aimed to keep your outgoing browser data as safe from prying eyes as possible. Encryption is great but there are other considerations you need to make if you want to be as safe as you can be. The Internet can be an annoying – or even dangerous – place if you don't watch yourself. BetterPrivacy
A few years ago, something known as the "Flash cookie" came onto the scene (AKA “super cookie” or “long-term cookie” or “local shared object”) and still exists today. Basically, it's a Flash-based cookie that never expires and can't be deleted through conventional means, which allows the advertising industry to track you pretty much anywhere you go. Browsers aren’t yet fully aware of these Flash cookies so they can't do much against them. That's why BetterPrivacy exists. It allows you to manage Flash cookies on your system with ease. You can even set it to automatically delete Flash cookies on startup, shutdown, or on a schedule. Note: Not all Flash cookies are bad. Some browser-based games use them to store game settings, some interactive sites use them to store login data, etc. If you automatically delete your Flash cookies, make sure to set important Flash cookies as exempt. Ghostery
Ghostery is a comprehensive web privacy addon for Firefox that lets you see who's trying to track you and subsequently block them if you don't trust them. Ghostery can detect much of the invisible web activity going on behind the scenes – especially the trackers deployed by ad agencies and web publishers. When you have trackers on you, Ghostery presents you with the tracking company's privacy policy and any opt-out actions you can take. If you don't trust the company at all, you can flat-out block them – scripts, Flash cookies, and even images. NoScript
NoScript is a strict security addon that only allows whitelisted sites from running scripts and executable content on your browser – Java, JavaScript, etc. It's a preemptive safety method that minimizes the threat of accidentally stumbling upon a malicious website and having them do something shady on your computer. With NoScript, you'll be guarded against cross-site scripting vulnerabilities (XSS), cross-zone DNS rebinding and CSRF attacks (router hacking), and clickjacking attempts. Keylogger Beater
Keyloggers can be a big problem. They're a form of malware that sits quietly on your computer and traces every key you press and every click you make, then sends that data to whoever created the keylogger allowing them to read what you type and maybe even steal a few account name + password combinations. There are a few ways to guard against keyloggers - Keylogger Beater is one. Keylogger Beater brings up a scrambled text inputter that randomly reassigns your keys. There are pairs of “real keys” and “shadow keys” where pressing the shadow key will input the real key. This will jumble up any key output in case you have a hidden keylogger on your system. If you don't want to press keys at all, you can just hover over a key with your mouse for one second and Keylogger Beater will read that as an input. Flashblock
Flash-based content is some of the most prolific content in the world. There are Flash games, Flash ads, Flash video players, and more. Unfortunately, while Flash is powerful, it is also slow and can be used for nefarious purposes. Flashblock assumes that all Flash content is malicious and preemptively blocks them from loading. With Flashblock, when you load up a page, every instance of Flash will be replaced with a placeholder element. If you click on that element, that particular Flash content will be downloaded and viewed. For your convenience, you can set certain sites and domains to be whitelisted. Note: Flashblock does not work if you have JavaScript disabled OR if you have NoScript enabled. ShareMeNot
You know those Facebook "Like" buttons and Twitter "Tweet This" buttons that you see all across the Internet? They may be intrusive and distracting when poorly implemented, but they're ultimately harmless, right? You may want to guess again. Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites that have embedded buttons can actually track you through those buttons even if you never click them. One way to prevent button tracking is to prevent them from loading in the first place. ShareMeNot is an experimental Firefox addon that offers a different solution: it disables the tracking aspect of the button while loading it. If this is something that worries you, you should give ShareMeNot a run. ConclusionSecurity and privacy are important if you're going to be involved in the Internet realm. You can stay safe with proper browsing habits and helpful web tools like Web of Trust, but once in a while you're going to slip. When that happens, you're going to wish you had a browser addon or two as a secondary layer of protection. For maximum protection, use more than one of these addons simultaneously – as long as they are compatible, of course. If you know of any other great security and privacy addons for Firefox, please share them with us in the comments! Image Credit: Social Media Signs Via Shutterstock The post Everything You Need to Make Firefox Private & Secure appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 Useful Tools For Getting More Out Of Steam Games Posted: 17 May 2013 02:01 PM PDT
Steam has gradually added features you once needed third-party programs for. You can now choose an install location every time you install a game, see the games you and another person both own (perfect for deciding a game to play together), and get email notifications when games on your wishlist go on sale. Steam Mover – Move Installed GamesSteam now allows you to select an installation location when you install your games, which is particularly useful if you have limited storage space — perhaps you have a small solid-state drive and a larger drive where you want to install your games. However, if you want to change the installation location of a Steam game after installing it, you’ll normally need to remove the game and then install it again, downloading all the game’s data again in the process. This could take a while and could be a problem if you have a slow Internet connection or one with a bandwidth cap. Steam Mover is a simply utility that can quickly move a game’s files, creating a “junction point” so Steam will see them at the normal location – but they’ll be stored on another hard drive.
Depressurizer – Easily Manage Steam Game CategoriesIf you’ve ever tried to categorize your games in Steam, you’ll know that it can be an exercise in frustration. You can only assign a category to one game at a time, and you have to do it by opening a context menu, opening a dialog box, and assigning the category. You can’t easily categorize multiple games at once. If you want to rename a category, you can’t – you can only create a new category and slowly reassign each individual game to the new category one-by-one. Worse yet, Steam can sometimes forget these categories when you log in from another PC, forcing you to start over and do the whole tedious process from scratch. Depressurizer is a tool designed to make using Steam categories much more easily. The application allows you to automatically assign games to categories like “Action” and “Adventure” based on their categories in the Steam store, quickly assign a category to multiple games at once, rename categories, and even create a backup file containing all your Steam game category information. You can quickly reimport this file with Depressurizer if Steam ever forgets your categories again. Wasted on Steam – See How Much Your Library Is Worth & MoreJust how much is your Steam library worth? Wasted on Steam will tell you. This utility won’t actually tell you how much you’ve spent on games – if you acquired games on sale or via bundles like the Humble Bundle, Wasted On Steam will show them at full price. Likewise, if you purchased a game at $60 but it’s now being sold for $20, the game will appear to be worth less now. Nevertheless, this utility will show you just how much you’d have to spend to buy your entire Steam library again today. Just enter your Steam ID and it will do the work. It will also display how many hours you’ve played games in total, display sales, and more.
How Long To Beat, Backloggery – Track Your BacklogIf you’re one of the people with Steam game libraries composed of hundreds of games – many of them purchased in cheap bundles during sales – you may have quite a backlog of games you haven’t played yet. You can track this backlog with a website like How Long to Beat. Enter the Steam games you want to play and How Long to Beat will show them all in a list, displaying the time it took for other users to complete the game. It will even add them all up, telling you just how long you’ll have to play your games to catch up. How Long to Beat can also be used without an account — you can quickly search for a game and see how long it will take you to finish it.
Backloggery is another similar service. There’s even a steam2backloggery program you can run, which will automatically import all the games you own into your Backloggery library. Both of these programs aren’t Steam or even PC-specific – they can be used with games from every platform. TikiOne-Steam-Cleaner – Free Up SpaceSteam games often need to install “redistributable” packages like DirectX updates, Games For Windows Live, and so on. Games include these installer files and automatically install them the first time you launch the game. After you’ve run them, they stick around on your hard drive, using up space. Worse yet, every game comes with its own unique copy of these files. If you have a large amount of games installed, it’s likely much space is being used by unnecessary duplicates of these installers, which may be as large as 100MB each. TikiOne-Steam-Cleaner will scan your Steam folder for such installers and allow you to quickly remove them, freeing up space. It’s a good idea that can help free up space, but there’s a problem – if the game ever updates or if you run the “verify game cache” option on the game, Steam will notice that some of the game’s files are missing and re-download them.
GameSave Manager – Back Up & Restore Game SavesMany – or even most – new games include Steam Cloud support for game saves. They’ll automatically upload your game saves to the cloud, syncing them across all your devices and allowing you to recover them if you ever reformat your hard drive or get a new computer. However, some games don’t include Steam Cloud support for game saves. You might also want to have local backup copies of saves for games you’ve played, just in case Steam makes a mistake and messes them up. This is even useful if you’re migrating Steam to a new hard drive – not all game saves will come with you. GameSave Manager is a program that scans your hard drive for Steam game saves and allows you to create a backup file containing them. You can then use GameSave Manager to quickly restore all your game saves from this single file on a new computer. GameSave Manager also allows you to link save folders to cloud folders, so you could link a game’s save folder to your Dropbox or Google Drive folder and automatically sync its saves with your cloud storage.
Have you used any other useful utilities or websites that improve your Steam experience? Leave a comment and share them below! The post 6 Useful Tools For Getting More Out Of Steam Games appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Which US Carrier Offers the Best iPhone Prepaid Plan? Posted: 17 May 2013 12:00 PM PDT
Here's the secret: You don't have to renew with Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon. There are alternatives called MVNOs who lease spectrum wholesale from the big players and resell to the consumer at a much lower rate. If you want to save money, there are two choices: Purchase a new, unlocked iPhone and add it to an MVNO carrier or buy a locked iPhone from an MVNO. This article explains the five best MVNO carriers for iPhone users and the issues faced when migrating from a major network. However, if you simply want tips on how to evaluate the best iPhone prepaid plans, check out this article.
How Do I Get An iPhone onto a Prepaid MVNO?As stated previously, you can either purchase a new or used unlocked iPhone or you may purchase a locked phone from an MVNO carrier. However, caveats exist:
T-Mobile Prepaid Plans
For heavy data users, T-Mobile's $30 a month plan for 100 voice minutes and unlimited SMS and data ranks among the best. However, if you require additional voice minutes, T-Mo offers $60 and $70 plans for which include unlimited everything, although data gets throttled after 2GB and 5GB, respectively. They don't advertise their best plans, though. You have to go to the bottom of their prepaid page to find their "Pay by the day" plans. What's good? In terms of total value, the $30 T-Mobile plan provides the best bang for your buck. However, if you scale up, you get better value, and network connectivity, from the MVNOs. What's bad? Unfortunately, the T-Mobile network trails behind the other three big carriers in data connectivity. Its 4G network focuses on providing HSPA+ data, which doesn't reach the speeds of LTE. T-Mobile plans on rolling out its actual LTE network throughout this year, although any phone without an LTE chip won't be able to reach LTE speeds. What's ugly? In many markets, all iPhones except the iPhone 5 are limited to 2G data speeds because of 3G compatibility issues with the 1700-MHz band. You will want to check with T-Mobile to see if your area is one of the effected regions. Phone cost: A brand new iPhone 5 will run about $649.99 from the Apple Store. Extra costs: The T-Mo SIM card runs about $10 from their website. PagePlus Wireless Prepaid Plans
PagePlus Wireless currently holds the honor of being the only MVNO with full functionality with the Verizon iPhone 5. While Verizon officially disallows its iPhones from leaving its service, it's been reported that users have been activating Verizon iPhones on the PagePlus Cellular service. Keep in mind that Verizon is legally obligated to provide service to any phone on its network – if it attempts to block service, that's grounds for a class action lawsuit. PagePlus offers three main plans:
What's good? PagePlus uses the Verizon network, meaning that it receives excellent data speeds and coverage. What's bad? The PagePlus plans rank among the most expensive. What's ugly? The fact that Verizon may decide to block iPhones from operating on their network is criminal. Phone cost: You can't buy an unlocked Verizon iPhone 5 outside of eBay. The Verizon iPhone is sold "unlocked" and it includes a SIM card slot. However, Verizon can relock the phone if the terms of the contract are not met. However, you can still buy an iPhone 4S from the Apple Store for $549. Extra costs: None. Straight Talk Prepaid Plans
Straight Talk operates on both AT&T and T-Mobile networks, which use different SIM cards for each network. Finding an AT&T SIM might be difficult, however. For heavy data users, the $45 a month, unlimited everything plan for Straight Talk offers great value. Also, it appears that Straight Talk may start offering codes for Verizon-CDMA phones (although, probably not iPhones). I personally regard Straight Talk plans as the best suited for all GSM iPhones. What's good? You get a lot of juice out of this bargain, if you use a lot of data, voice minutes and SMS. Another great option is that you can pay up-front and receive a discount. For example, if you pay a full year in advance, it only costs $41.50 per month. What's bad? It's hard to find AT&T Straight Talk SIM cards anywhere. Walmart sometimes carries them. Another place is eBay and Craigslist. Otherwise, you are forced to use the T-Mobile network SIMs. What's ugly? Nothing! I consider the Straight Talk plan to be the prettiest of the MVNOs. Phone cost: A brand-new, unlocked iPhone 5 will run about $649.99, or more, from the Apple Store. Extra costs: Finding a Straight Talk SIM card is not easy. Walmart sometimes carries them. Virgin Mobile Prepaid Plans
Virgin Mobile operates on the Sprint network, so, depending on your region, could be very good or very bad – or something between. Here's some of the V-Mo plans that you can sign up for:
What's good? Virgin Mobile plans rank among the best. For those who want Sprint coverage combined with great customer service and an awesome replacement program, you can't do better than Virgin. Additionally, you get LTE speeds. What's bad? V-Mo only offers the iPhone 4 and 4S. Also, after buying, you cannot move your phone onto another network, nor can you ever unlock your iPhone from the V-Mo network (which is Sprint). All V-Mo phones, by default, are locked to the carrier without the possibility of ever changing that. What's ugly? Not much. Phone cost: A brand new 16GB iPhone 4S will run about $449.99 from Virgin Mobile and the iPhone 4 8GB costs $349.99. Extra costs: None. Cricket Prepaid Plans
Cricket operates on the Sprint CDMA network. It also has a single $45 a month, unlimited everything plan, which is on par with the competition. What's good? For a completely unlimited plan, Cricket ties with Straight Talk. However, it uses the Sprint network – it has been reported that CDMA phones function better from within buildings. What's bad? Cricket, like most CDMA carriers, doesn't allow their phones to be used on other networks. Nor does it allow other CDMA phones on their network. I have read about third parties that modify CDMA phones to work with Cricket. However, I would not advise that. What's ugly? The Cricket iPhone is not available in many major markets. Phone cost: A brand new iPhone 4S will run about $400-500 from Cricket's website. An iPhone 5 likely runs about $650. However, Cricket does not show prices if you aren't within an eligible market (and I am not). Extra costs: No additional costs. Ptel Prepaid Plans
Ptel operates on the T-Mobile network. They're known for their barebones PAYG (pay as you go) plans and for not rounding up on voice and data usage. Essentially, if you barely use your phone and don't mind the T-Mo network, Ptel will likely suit your needs. Its plans all work with all models of GSM-capable iPhone. Pay-Go Plans:
Full disclosure: I am a happy Ptel user. What's good? Ptel offers no-nonsense BYOD pay-as-you-go and unlimited plans. However, their unlimited plans aren't entirely comparable to similar plans from Straight Talk or Cricket. On the other hand, their pay-go ranks among the best around. What's bad? Ptel doesn't have a data roaming agreement with AT&T, so data coverage can be poor when traveling. What's ugly? Ptel ranks among my favorite BYOD prepaid MVNO carriers. Nothing is ugly about them, unless you use a lot of data – in which case you'd pay $100 a gigabyte on their most expensive pay-go plan. Phone cost: A brand new iPhone 4 costs $449.99 from their website, but you can bring aboard any GSM iPhone for the cost of a SIM card. Extra costs: A microSIM card costs $4.99 from the Ptel site. ConclusionThere's a lot of great plans out there for people who want an iPhone, but don't want to get ripped off. In my experience, as long as you avoid signing a contract and pay up front for the phone, you won't get taken to the cleaners. Remember that each person’s individual usage and location will strongly influence which MVNO carrier provides the best deal. For most iPhone users, if you can find an AT&T Straight Talk SIM, Straight Talk provides the best value. Also, keep in mind that if you already have an iPhone, you can migrate to a cheaper MVNO by simply swapping out the SIM card. However, for those of you sick of the Android walled garden, consider some of the alternative absolute best iPhone prepaid plans that you can buy in the US. Image Credits: iPhone via MorgueFile.com; Apple Logo via Shutterstock; Logos via their respective websites. The post Which US Carrier Offers the Best iPhone Prepaid Plan? appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To Protect WordPress from Intrusion: Your Must-Read Checklist Posted: 17 May 2013 11:00 AM PDT
Note: this advice only applies to self hosted WordPress installs. If you use WordPress.com, you generally don’t need to care about security, because they handle it all for you. What’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? Install Google two-step authenticatorIf you already have two-step authentication enabled for your Gmail account or other services, you can use the same authenticator app with this plugin for WordPress. Thankfully, you can restrict two-step authentication to only be used on upper level accounts so you needn’t annoy all your users.
Login LockdownAn old plugin, but still working as intended; Login Lockdown checks the IP of login attempts and blocks an IP range for an hour if it fails 3 times within 5 minutes. Simple, effective. Take Regular BackupsHackers won’t just change one file, but will place their own control panel hidden somewhere and other hidden backdoors – so that even if you fix the original hack, they come right back in and do it all again. Take daily or weekly backups so you can easily restore back to a point where there was no trace of the hacker – and be sure to patch whatever it was they did to get in. Personally, I just invested in a $150 Backup Buddy developer license – it’s the easiest and most comprehensive backup solution I’ve found yet.
Prevent Indexing of FoldersCheck the root of your WordPress installation for the .htaccess file (notice the period at the beginning – you may need to show invisible files to view this), and ensure it has the following line. If not, add it – but make a backup first as this file is pretty crucial. Options All -Indexes Stay UpdatedDon’t make the same mistake as we did: always upgrade WordPress as soon as an update is available. Sometimes the updates contain minor bug fixes and not security fixes, but get into the habit and you won’t have a problem. If you have more than one WordPress install and can’t keep track of them all, check out ManageWp.com, a premium dashboard for all your blogs that includes security scanning. Not just core WordPress files, but plugins too: one of the largest WordPress hacks of the past involved a vulnerability in a common thumbnail generator script called timthumb.php, and there are still themes out there which use the old version. Although plugins were quickly updated, keeping themes up to date is harder, of course – WordPress won’t tell you if your theme is vulnerable, and for that you’ll some kind of security scanning plugin – scroll down to the Security Plugins section below for some suggestions. Never Download Random ThemesUnless you know what you’re doing with PHP code, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of download a lovely random theme from somewhere, only to find it’s got some nasty code in there – most commonly backlinks that you can’t remove, but worse can be found. Stick to premium and well-known theme designers (such as Smashing Magazine or WPShower), or for free themes only use the WordPress theme directory. Delete Unused Plugins and ThemesThe less executable code you have on your server, the better – remove the chance of having old, vulnerable code by deleting themes and plugins you’re not using anymore. Disabling them will simply stop their functionality loading with WordPress, but the code itself may still be executable by a hacker. Remove Tell-tale Meta In Your HeaderBy default, WordPress broadcast its version to the world in the code of your header file – an easy way for hackers to identify older installs. Add the following lines to your theme’s functions.php file to remove the WordPress version, Windows Live Writer info and a line that helps remote clients find your XML-RPC file. remove_action( 'wp_head', 'wp_generator' ) ; remove_action( 'wp_head', 'wlwmanifest_link' ) ; remove_action( 'wp_head', 'rsd_link' ) ; Remove The “admin” AccountMost brute-force attacks on WordPress involve repeatedly trying the admin account – the default for all WordPress installs – and a dictionary of common passwords. If you either login with admin or have the admin account listed in your user table, you’re vulnerable to this. Two ways to fix it: either use wp-optimize plugin – a great plugin that amongst other things, allows you to disable post revisions and perform database optimization – to rename admin account. Or simply create another account with admin privileges, log in as the new user, then delete the “admin” account assign all the posts to your new user.
Secure PasswordsEven if you have disabled the admin account, it may be possible to identify the username of your administrator account – at which point you’re vulnerable to a brute force attack again. Enforce a strong password policy of 16 or more random characters consisting of upper and lower case, punctuation and numbers. Or just use the reallyLongSentenceThatsEasyToRememberMethod. Disable File Editing Within WordPressFor those who don’t like to login through FTP, WordPress includes an easy editor in the admin dashboard for theme and plugin PHP files – but that makes your install vulnerable if someone gains access. In fact, this is how someone managed to inject a malware redirection into our header. Add the following line to the bottom of your wp-config.php (in the root folder) to disable all file editing features – and use SFTP to login to your server instead. define( 'DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true ); Hide Login ErrorsAn incorrect password or wrong username can be identified by the errors given when logging in, which could be used to identify accounts for brute-forcing. This isn’t good, obviously, so kill the errors with this addition to your theme’s functions.php file function no_errors_please(){ return 'Nope'; } add_filter( 'login_errors', 'no_errors_please' ); Activate CloudflareAs well as speeding up your site, CloudFlare mitigates many known botnets and scanners from even getting to your blog in the first place. Read all about CloudFlare here. Installation is one click if you’re hosted at MediaTemple, otherwise you’ll need access to the domain control panel to change the nameservers.
Security Plugins
I think you’ll agree this is quite a comprehensive list of steps to harden WordPress, but I’m not suggesting you implement all of them. If I had to do all these to every site I ever set up, I’d still be setting them up now. Running any kind of system introduces a risk, and it’s ultimately up to you to find the balance between the level of security you want and the effort you want to put in securing it – nothing is ever going to 100% secure. The low hanging fruit here are:
Doing those alone should put you above 99% of all the other blogs out there, which is enough to make potential hackers move on to easier targets. Do you think I missed anything? Tell me in the comments. The post How To Protect WordPress from Intrusion: Your Must-Read Checklist appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Find Latitude and Longitude Coordinates & Ways To Use Them Online Posted: 17 May 2013 10:01 AM PDT
That isn’t to say that remote areas don’t have names that Google Maps will know about. I grew up in a region of Maine that, if you try to drive there from the Southern part of the State, you’ll actually drive through several “towns” with no names. They’re called “townships” and they’re followed by a number. For example, Township 44 in Northwest Aroostook county in Maine is a random spot in the middle of the dense and rugged forest of Northern Maine. Surprisingly, it shows up on Google Maps. However, there are plenty of areas that you might visit, and may not remember the name. For instance, there was a pond called Deboullie Pond that we always visited when I was a kid. It was a deep-woods pond that you had to drive for hours through the forest logging roads to reach. These days, anyone traveling those roads would use GPS – it’s crazy not too. But coming across such a stunningly beautiful spot (many of which are not named on any known maps), all you’re really going to have to work with to get back to that location in the future are the latitude and longitude coordinates. We’ve covered a lot about maps and navigation at MakeUseoOf. Chris wrote about navigating with Google Maps, I covered Google Maps GPS tracking years ago, and Saikat’s described how to geotag Flickr photos, which is pretty cool. In this article, I’m going to show you a few cool things you can do on the Internet with such coordinates. Everything from gathering more information (and potentially names) from the coordinates, to doing things like checking out the planet Earth from space looking at those coordinates, or even displaying what direction you’d have to point a satellite dish to get a decent TV signal. Hey – we cover every base here at MUO. Working With Latitude and Longitude CoordinatesTo get started playing around with these coordinates (unless you’ve already gone hiking or traveling somewhere and have some from your GPS device that you want to check out), I’m going to have to find latitude and longitude coordinates from Google. Google offers this neat feature where you can look up the coordinates of any location on Earth just by typing “long lat of” followed by the location. In my examples here, I want to use the location of Portland Maine. So I just type “long lat of portland maine” in Google.
The big, bold results show the coordinates in the very center of that location.
Off to the right side of the Google results page, you’ll also find a list of important facts and info about that spot, such as land area of the city or town (if there is one) and when it was founded, the current weather there, the time, population, and an excerpt about the place from Wikipedia, if one exists.
Now that we’ve got a useful set of latitude and longitude coordinates, it’s time to start playing around with them. One very simple page created by Stephen Morse in 2004 is just as useful today as it was nearly a decade ago. It’s a simple converter back and forth between address and long/lat coordinates. In my case, I just type the coordinates and it tells me the locations precise street address in the middle of Portland.
This would be useful in those cases where you might have been traveling, spotted a pretty small town somewhere, and recorded the geo-coordinates with your GPS device, but maybe had no idea what the name of that tiny town was. Morse’s online tool will pull the information from Virtual Earth or Google if the info exists. Of course, it’s also true that you can pretty much do the same exact thing in Google Maps if you have just coordinates. Just type those numbers into the Gmaps search field, and it’ll take you right there, as well as give you the street address if there is one.
It doesn’t matter if you’re in the middle of Timbuktu or some jungle somewhere. If you’ve recorded the coordinates of the location you were at, Google Maps will show you an overhead view of that location. You can then zoom in and explore the area to see what you might have missed out on from the ground. If you hit a hot spot that you want to remember or share with friends, don’t forget that in Google Maps you can create your own shared maps by clicking “save to map” and choosing or creating a shared map. Label the saved spot on the map by placing the label in parenthesis.
Even better than Google Maps, is using latitude and longitude coordinates in Google Earth. Not only is Google Earth a heck of a lot more fun to use (in my opinion), but you can essentially place place a whole trail of tacks (markers) listing your entire itinerary during your drip just from the collected long/lat way points from your GPS device. This is a great way to trace your route if you have a device capable of taking a snapshot of GPS coordinates while you’re traveling.
It’s a little bit of work after the fact, but it’s still fun to see the path you took as you traveled, from a bird’s-eye view in Google Earth. One really cool tool focused on long/lat values is an online resource from Fourmilab that lets you view that precise location on Earth from a whole bunch of perspectives. Using the tool, you can enter the location by coordinate, and also include how many km above the Earth that you want to launch the view.
You’ll see what that spot on Earth looks like from space (or however high you set the distance). This is cool, but the best part of this tool is that you can change the Earth view to a bunch of other viewpoints, such as what the Earth looks like from the Sun or Moon at any given moment, a view of the night side of the Earth, or just a simple map view of the location you typed in.
Although, I think my favorite viewpoint is the weather radar overview of that location, which shows you not only what the weather looks like over that spot, but you can pretty much see what the incoming weather pattern looks like nearby. Pretty cool for planning camping trips to one of those remote locations you visited before, but don’t know the name!
Another very simple tool for people using such GPS coordinates is the National Weather Service, which lets you type in two points, and it’ll immediately calculate the distance between those two points on Earth. Keep in mind that unlike Google Maps or other mapping services, this is a direct, birds-eye distance calculation between any two points on Earth.
That kind of information isn’t so good for driving, but when it comes to hiking between two points in the wilderness, that kind of information can be good to know. The last online tool focused on long/lat coordinates is a funky service from Satellite Signals, a website devoted to Satellite TV. This page on the site actually lets you enter in your longitude and latitude point, and then you can choose from a long list of satellite TV providers.
The tool will actually show you not only the location using a Google Maps mashup, but it’ll also draw out the direction that you want to point your satellite dish to get the best reception from that satellite. The angle of the dish is indicated with a blue direction line. Don’t ask me how they do it, but I just know it’s a pretty neat tool if you do have satellite TV and want to get the best reception. So there you have it, a whole bunch of fun and quirky ways that you can make use of latitude and longitude coordinates on the Internet. Are there any other neat or unique tools out there that I missed? Share your own insight and fun things to do with GPS coordinates in the comments section below. Image Credit: Old Compass on Vintage Map Via Shutterstock The post Find Latitude and Longitude Coordinates & Ways To Use Them Online appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Which Is Best, A MacBook Air Or MacBook Pro? Both Models Compared Side-By-Side Posted: 17 May 2013 09:31 AM PDT
I think all of the MacBooks are a good choice, but the reasons why are various. A 13-inch MacBook Air has different hardware and options than a 13-inch Pro but, because Apple doesn’t sell laptops based on specs, understanding the differences can be difficult. I'll help you sort through the clutter and decide which MacBook is for you. Size & Weight
If you want small – like, really small – the MacBook Air 11.6" is the only choice. There's no equivalent Pro model and even the 13-inch Pro w/Retina is about an inch wider and taller, plus it adds well over a pound of weight. But be warned; the 11.6" Air is so small it can be uncomfortable to use. The 13-inch Air and 13-inch Pro make for a tricky comparison because there's really two versions of Pro – standard and Retina. The 13-Inch Pro w/Retina is actually thinner and lighter, coming in at 0.75 inches thick and 3.5 pounds. That's just one-tenth of an inch thicker and a half-pound heavier than the 13-inch Air! Personally, I don't find this a functional difference, so I recommend buying the 13-inch Pro w/Retina over the Air (if you can afford to). Those who can't afford Retina, however, are stuck with the vanilla Pro design. It's almost an inch thick and weighs 4.5 pounds, so the difference between the 13-inch Air and 13-inch Pro without Retina is significant. Indeed, the old 13-inch Pro is heavy even compared to similar Windows laptops, so it may not be the best pick for those who frequently travel. Obviously, if you want a 15-inch system, the Pro is the only choice. The gap between the Retina and standard version continues; the 15-inch Pro w/Retina is thinner and weighs just 4.5 pounds while the vanilla model tips the scale at 5.6 pounds. Battery Life
The loser in this battery life contest is the 11.6-inch MacBook Air. Apple quotes that it offers up to five hours of wireless web browsing, but you'll eat through it faster than that if you're watching high-definition video. This is because the smallest Air has the smallest battery. Everything else, from the 13-inch Air to the 15-inch Pro w/Retina, is quoted at seven hours. Professional reviews have found that, while there are some small fluctuations, the quoted figures are a decent approximation. All 13-inch and 15-inch models offer similar real-world battery life and are, as Apple's ads say, capable of surfing the web for about seven hours. Just one word of caution – battery life will take a tumble if the optional discrete graphics chip found in the 15-inch Pro is engaged to power a game or high-definition video. Depending on your usage, this could result in lower real-world battery life. Performance
Both the MacBook Air and Pro use Intel Core processors, but the type used is far different. The Air relies on what Intel used to call an “ultra-low voltage” chip. On paper, this is a huge difference – the 13-inch Air has a 1.8 GHz standard processor while the basic 13-inch Pro comes with a 2.5 GHz processor. But in real-world reviews, the 13-inch Pro doesn’t destroy the Air. It's a bit quicker in most tasks, but if you didn’t compare them side-by-side, you'd probably never notice. How can this be? It has to do with the Turbo Boost feature offered by Intel's processors. This allows the Air's low-voltage processor to nearly match the clock speed of the Pro's standard processor. The 15-inch Pro comes with a quad-core that can give its smaller brethren a thrashing. Under the right conditions, the 15-inch Pro is up to 75% quicker than other MacBook models. However, this only matters for users who run demanding software optimized for multiple cores. Users who stick to web-browsing and light productivity won't see much difference. Gamers will also want the 15-inch Pro because it’s the only model with optional discrete graphics. Then again – why are you gaming on a MacBook? Display Quality
The vanilla Pro offers Apple's least attractive display with the 13-inch model offering a resolution of 1280×800 and the 15-inch model using 1440×900. The Air, by comparison, provides 1366×768 in the 11.6-inch and 1440×900 in the 13-inch, which translates to higher pixel density and a sharper image. Color accuracy and contrast is fairly uniform throughout the Air and vanilla Pro models. Apple’s Retina technology is, of course, the way to go if you value quality. The 13-inch Pro w/Retina has a resolution of 2560×1600 while the 15-inch model offers 2880×1800. That's a pixel density of 227 and 220, respectively, second only to the Chromebook Pixel. Color accuracy and contrast values are great, as well. The only downside is cost, as you'll have to spend at least $1,499 for the 13-inch and $2,199 for the 15-inch. Ports
Apple’s vanilla Pro, the thickest laptop it sells, offers two USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, FireWire, Ethernet, a card reader and audio-0ut. The 15-inch model also include audio-in. Slimming down to the Retina (pictured above) means ditching Ethernet. However, Apple throws in another Thunderbolt port and HDMI, which seems like a good deal. Both Pro models are competitive with PC laptops of similar size. The Air, however, suffers a port shortage. Both the 11.6″ and 13-inch models offer just two USB 3.0 ports, Thunderbolt and a headphone jack. The 11-incher even ditches the card reader. That could prove an annoyance for anyone with a digital camera (Apple probably hopes you’ll just snap pictures with your iPhone instead). ConclusionSo, we’ve now covered all the important points. What's the verdict? My pick for the best overall MacBook is easily the 13-inch Retina. When you drop the extra $300 for this model you're not just getting the great display. You're also getting a very thin and light laptop with excellent build quality and great battery life. If you can afford the 13-inch Pro w/Retina there's no reason to consider the Air or vanilla Pro (except for aesthetics). If you're on a tighter budget the 13-inch Air is probably your best choice. This model offers a better display than the 13-inch vanilla Pro, is much lighter, and just slightly lags in performance. You should only buy the vanilla 13-inch Pro if you need extra connectivity, an optical drive or a large hard drive. I don't recommend the 11.6″ Air because it has just sixty-four gigabytes of standard hard drive space and only five hours of battery life. You can fix the storage issue by upgrading, but at that point you may as well buy the Air. Maybe you think you need an 11.6″ laptop; believe me, you don't. The 13-inch Air is easy to take anywhere you might travel. If you're looking for power, the 15-inch Pro is the obvious pick, because it's the only model available with a quad-core processor. But do you go with the vanilla or Retina? That's a hard choice because the size and weight benefits of the Retina design matter less to buyers of large laptops. As a result, I think you should buy for the display and display alone; if you want it, buy it. If not, don't. The post Which Is Best, A MacBook Air Or MacBook Pro? Both Models Compared Side-By-Side appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Google Launches Hangouts, A New Cross-Platform IM System for iOS, Android & Web [Updates] Posted: 17 May 2013 08:30 AM PDT
The platform is billed as a replacement for Google Talk and Voice, allowing one-on-one and group chats via text, along with media messaging and video calling. For the moment the service only works on Apple and Google’s mobile platforms and via a Web browser, either by logging in to Google+ and clicking on Hangouts or by downloading the Chrome extension. The service is aimed at creating long-standing “conversations that last” according to Google, so chats are always kept up to date across devices, with chat histories stored unless you specify otherwise. That means you’ll have to turn off logging for each and every conversation you want to take off the record, as these logs are always enabled by default.
This launch sees Hangouts detach itself somewhat from Google+, the company’s social layer, though users will still need a Google+ enabled account. The new Hangouts has its own standalone apps and icon, but still relies on Google+ to connect with friends in circles and for use on a desktop PC. The service joins an already busy marketplace for cross-platform messaging clients, with iOS devices connected for free over iMessage, Facebook chat more useful than ever thanks to “chat heads” and WhatsApp messenger continuing its domination of the SMS-replacements that bridge Android and iOS users. Download: Google Hangouts for iPhone / Google Hangouts for Android / Google Hangouts for Chrome Have you used the new service? Do you plan to? Source: Official Google Blog The post Google Launches Hangouts, A New Cross-Platform IM System for iOS, Android & Web [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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