15 New Articles on MakeUseOf |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [May 1st 2013]
- Are Tablets Here To Stay? [We Ask You]
- Facebook For iPhone: The Review We Should Have Written By Now [iOS]
- Stop Annoying UAC Prompts – How To Create A User Account Control Whitelist [Windows]
- 365Scores Notifier – A Great Way To Keep Up With Your Favorite Teams [Firefox]
- How I Built A Projector For My Phone
- Facebook Home Hijacks Your Android Phone – Should You Let It? [Weekly Facebook Tips]
- Need An Alternative to Winamp? Try Spider Player [Windows]
- How to Use Google Person Finder to Locate Loved Ones After a Disaster
- Popular Podcast Client Instacast Launches Beta Version For Mac [Updates]
- How To Connect a Game Controller to Android For Console-like Gameplay
- 8 Of The Best Band Websites On The Planet
- 10 Things You Should Do When Starting An Online Store
- Turn Your Friends Into Freaks With Morfo
- Cutting Edge yaM Sets the Standard For Online Meeting Management Tools
| Cool Websites and Tools [May 1st 2013] Posted: 01 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 1st 2013] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Are Tablets Here To Stay? [We Ask You] Posted: 01 May 2013 08:31 PM PDT
Who really thought the iPad would usher in a time when tablets were the thing to buy? Who would have thought that even Microsoft would be forced to jump on board the bandwagon — with both Windows 8 and the Surface — for fear of losing its dominant place in the market? But both of these scenarios have played out. This week the CEO of BlackBerry, Thorsten Heins, called into question the future of tablets by telling Bloomberg, "In five years I don’t think there'll be a reason to have a tablet anymore. Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model." Is he correct or should we not pay attention to the guy in charge of the company responsible for the PlayBook? This Week’s Question…We want to know, Are Tablets Here To Stay? We’re keeping things very simple this week, with a question that could be answered with as little as a “Yes” or a “No.” Obviously we’re hoping you’ll go above and beyond what’s merely necessary and instead tell us your thoughts on what Heins said about the tablet form factor. We particularly want to know whether you think tablets are likely to stick with us, and if so, for how long? They’re certainly proving popular right now, but some people are finding the form factor just isn’t for them. Ryan couldn’t find a single productive use for his tablet, and my cheap Android tablet has been usurped by a shiny new Chromebook.
Start with that simple “Yes” or “No” as outlined above, but then tell us why you think tablets will either stand the test of time or disappear as quickly as they invaded the personal computer market. If you disagree with Heins tell us what’s so great about tablets? If you agree with Heins and think tablets are nothing more than a novelty, a stopgap, a means to a better end, then what will replace them? Is Google Glass going to usher in a new wave of wearable computing devices? Or is the smartphone going to continue to grow in size and stature until it kills the need for the iPad, the Nexus 7, and all of the other tablet wannabes? 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: Cheon Fong Liew The post Are Tablets Here To Stay? [We Ask You] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Facebook For iPhone: The Review We Should Have Written By Now [iOS] Posted: 01 May 2013 07:30 PM PDT
We know. But let’s be real. The Facebook app of today isn’t the same app it was when it was first released. It’s a new kind of monster with extra features and a sexier design. Yes, it has the same basic functions that Facebook (and the original app) has always offered, but over time, it’s been redone almost as many times as my ex-girlfriend’s MySpace page. I also know that some of you might just now be getting into the world of smartphones (yep, some people don’t yet have one – take it from us). You may have even found this article because you visited our Best iPhone Apps list. With that said, Facebook for iPhone is a great place to start. Let’s take a look. The FeaturesLet’s get this out of the way. You know what Facebook does, but how about a quick reminder of what the iPhone app is capable of, too?
In short, Facebook for iPhone does exactly what the desktop version does. These are the raw social features that you would likely use on a typical basis, but there are few extra minor ones too. For example there’s the introduction of Chat Heads, which are little circles featuring your friends’ profile pictures that can be placed anywhere on the screen for you to click on and carry on a conversation.
By all appearances, having those images on your screen seems as if it would be annoying, but I personally believe that the feature isn’t very intrusive at all. You can also add “stickers” in the conversation in the form of fancy smiley faces that add some flavor to your messages.
One major issue that users have with the iPhone’s Facebook app is the fact that you can’t delete posts that you have made. Seeing that this is the device most people would use to publicly share their thoughts about their boss while under the influence, this could be a potential problem for some users. While you can still use your desktop to delete those embarrassing updates, you can’t do it while on the go.
The LayoutFacebook’s latest layout is very dynamic compared to most apps, and all of its touch features are very fluid. If you drag your finger from the left side of the screen, you’ll find a basic app directory that includes your events, pages, groups, games and more. Doing a similar move on the right side of the screen will bring you to all of your conversations. Touching the top of the screen will take you to the top of your news feed, and as already mentioned, you can drag your Chat Heads anywhere you like – pulling them to the bottom of the screen gets rid of them, though.
The text is clear, usually presented as black on a white background. Without going into too much detail, everything you see on this app is designed to match Facebook’s brand. This is the official mobile app, so the fact that it looks like the website is a given. Overall, the layout is feature heavy, but it doesn’t present things in a complicated way. Everything is accessible, and all of your actions will likely be rather instinctive. Generally speaking, it would be very difficult to get confused or lost while using the Facebook app for iPhone. The FunctionalityIf you want the full experience of social networking, Facebook for iPhone is a must-have. Then again if you’d rather not get bogged-down with all the extra features, you may want to give Facebook Messenger a shot instead. Messenger gets rid of your news feed, notifications, and all the other features that Facebook packs in and leaves you only with the messaging function. For people like myself, it’s good to have both. Sometimes I just want to sift through my messages like email. Other times I want to read up on the latest local news. For the most part, Facebook for iPhone is an app that will help you stay connected while on the go. It’s a must-have for your iPhone, and if you don’t have it by now, get it. Download: Facebook for iPhone at the App Store (Free) Do you like using Facebook for iPhone? Or do you stick with derivative apps like Facebook Messenger instead? Let us know in the comments. The post Facebook For iPhone: The Review We Should Have Written By Now [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stop Annoying UAC Prompts – How To Create A User Account Control Whitelist [Windows] Posted: 01 May 2013 07:01 PM PDT
So what do you do to stop UAC prompts – disable it? I don’t recommend that. UAC does still have a good purpose and shouldn’t probably completely disabled. What if I told you there were three different techniques you can use to launch programs at the highest privileges and bypass the UAC prompt? Well, you can. But there is one requirement – you must have shortcuts. Task Scheduler MethodThe Task Scheduler method is great for those who don’t want to rely on a third-party program. Probably the fastest way to access the Task Scheduler is to go to the Start Menu and type Task Scheduler in the search box. Or if you have Windows 8 and you haven’t installed a Start Menu alternative yet, (notice I say yet because eventually you will), you can hover over the bottom right corner to trigger the Charms Bar, click Search (magnifying glass) and type Task Scheduler.
Next you’ll need to create a new folder for your tasks that you’re about to create in Task Scheduler. On the left side, you’ll see Task Scheduler Library, right click that and choose New Folder. From here you can name your folder something like myTasks or UAC Whitelist. For this article, I’m using the latter, but you can use whatever you’d like. It’s probably obvious, but this is the folder you will be creating all the tasks in.
On the right side panel, click Create Task… (not Create Basic Task). In the Name field, type whatever you’d like to name the task as. It’s a good idea to include the program name. Next, check the box for Run with highest privileges – this is crucial that you do this. Without this step, it won’t work at all. Then choose whatever operating system you’re using in the Configure for: dropdown menu.
Next, click the Actions tab, shown in the image above. Then click the New… button in the bottom left corner. The Action dropdown menu should automatically list Start a program, but if it doesn’t that’s what it needs to be. Next you browse the Programs Files folder for your program. If you have a 64-bit operating system, you might have two – it’s up to you to figure out where the program that you are searching for is. You want to make sure that you choose the executable file (.exe). Click OK.
NOTE: If you’re using a laptop, you may also want to go to the Conditions tab and uncheck the boxes under Power, as these will prevent the program from launching if you’re laptop falls under these conditions. See image below.
Next you’ll need to create a shortcut to the program on your desktop or where ever you prefer to organize your application shortcuts. Right click, hover over New, and click Shortcut.
A window will come up displaying a text field to enter the location of the shortcut. Format Of Text:
Example:
The only thing you need to worry about changing are the folder and program names (bolded). And now you’re able to launch your program without the UAC prompt. TIP: You may have noticed that the program icon doesn’t get carried over… unfortunately. To make your shortcuts look a little nicer and distinguish them from the others you’ll be creating, I recommend the following steps: Right click on the icon and click Properties. You should automatically be under the Shortcut tab. Click the bottom, middle button Change Icon. Another window will pop up where you’ll click Browse and then navigate to where your program is in the Program Files folder. Select the Application file and click open. Then select the icon and click OK in both of the existing windows.
BIG BREATH! And… you’re done! With this one – yes, you will have to do this for every program that you want. And because of this, I recommend only doing it with programs you access regularly. PROS: This method doesn’t need any third party program to work – it’s all done right in Windows. CONS: It’s tedious and takes time to get the process down, and even after you’ve “got it down” it’s still slightly time consuming. zElevator Via The Context MenuAnother option is to simply launch a few different programs with a small application called zElevator that resides in your context menu. After downloading the compressed file, extract the contents with a program like 7-Zip and click the file called zElevatorConfig. A message like the one below will then pop up.
Complete the activation process and you’re good to go. You shouldn’t need to manually access any of these files again. NOTE: The setup process doesn’t automatically place zElevator in your Programs Files folder, so it might be a good idea to do so by moving the whole folder over before running the zElevatorConfig file. This will ensure that nothing happens to the program if it was simply extracted into the same folder that the compressed file was downloaded into. Now you can right click on any application, click Elevate me and run it without a UAC prompt.
There are other forms of this same Elevator application, but this one seemed the most stable and reliable. PROS: Fairly quick setup and easy to do. CONS: Relies on an additional program and requires an extra step to launch it, which basically means it equals out to just as much time to launch a program with the UAC prompt as one without. UAC Trust ShortcutUAC Trust Shortcut is a small application that allows you to create shortcuts of the original applications and bypass the UAC. Think of this as a much simpler version of the Task Scheduler technique. Upon visiting the download page, you need to decided between downloading the version for a 32-bit operating system (x86) or the version for a 64-bit operating system (x64) Read more here to understand the difference.
The program will download in a compressed file, which you’ll need to unzip. Once you do, run the setup. Here’s a quick note about the setup (a lesson I learned after making this exact mistake). Don’t change the location of the program in the setup. If you do, it won’t work.
Once you run UAC Trust Shortcut, type a name for your program in the Name: text field and then click Browse and find the executable file for the desired program. Then click the oddly-small Add now link under the Browse button. And then just repeat for as many programs that you want.
PROS: Automates many of the tasks which you would do manually for the Task Scheduler technique, making it much faster and easier. CONS: Still a third-party program. If something happens to it, all your shortcuts are gone, whereas your Tasks in the Task Scheduler can be backed up. Bonus: TweakUACTweakUAC, by WinAbility, is no stranger to Windows users, since Vista first introduced UAC. In fact, I’d be surprised if you haven’t heard of it, although if you haven’t that’s okay. TweakUAC doesn’t technically create a whitelist, per se, but more so a way to subdue it.
As you can see in the image above, you have three options. The first turns UAC off altogether – not recommended. The second option switches it into “quiet mode”, which basically means that the UAC elevation prompts will be suppressed for administrators. And the last option, of course, is to leave it on and fully functional. There aren’t really any “pros” and “cons” to this one since it’s an entirely different tool altogether, but I feel it’s worth mentioning should you decide that it fits you best. If you’re concerned about the “threats” that you might be vulnerable to due to suppressing the UAC, take a look at this quote from WinAbility/TweakUAC:
ConclusionOne big con is that all of these still require a shortcut (except TweakUAC, but it’s not a true whitelist method). Ideally, there would be a solution to create a whitelist for the original executable files, instead of these annoying workarounds. I personally am not a big fan of shortcuts, as I’m a major advocate of a clean and organized desktop, and shortcuts (especially those with ugly icons) don’t do the finest job at helping me achieve that. Now you may be able to use these shortcuts in applications like Fences or a dock (e.g. Rocketdock, Objectdock). When I tested this idea using ObjectDock, the Task Scheduler shortcut launched successfully, zElevate obviously doesn’t work because it requires being in a context menu, and UAC Trust Shortcut failed to launch the shortcut saying that the file couldn’t be found. Hopefully these options will help ease the pain of the UAC prompts. Do you already use one or more of these methods? Have you found success in a different method? Feel free to share your thoughts, comments and any relevant questions you may have in the comments below. Image Credit: UAC Icon The post Stop Annoying UAC Prompts – How To Create A User Account Control Whitelist [Windows] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 365Scores Notifier – A Great Way To Keep Up With Your Favorite Teams [Firefox] Posted: 01 May 2013 06:31 PM PDT
With 365Scores Notifier on Firefox, you can keep up with sports teams from around the world. Everything from baseball, football (soccer), American football, basketball, and beyond are available in this application, so you should be able to follow the teams and players that interest you. It’s incredibly easy to use, so even users who are not that skilled with a computer can employ it to keep up with their teams. Using The Add-On
When you first install the application to Firefox, a set up wizard will launch, helping you get everything up and running. This makes the process of getting the teams you want to follow in the add-on require minimal effort on your part.
Choosing the teams to add is as simple as typing in their name. Personally, I am big fan of the Philadelphia Flyers in the NHL and the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball, so I typed that in, and, as you can see in the photo above, they were both added to my chosen teams list. In addition to teams, you can also search for specific players on which you want the app to focus.
After you add your favorite teams, you are going to want to add some leagues to follow as well. While the Flyers are my favorite NHL team, I still want to know what is happening with the rest of the league, so I added the NHL as a whole, so I can receive the latest news updates from around the league through the 365Scores Notifier add-on.
After you add everything, a summary screen will come and show you the teams and leagues you are following with the add-on. With this screen, there are options to add more teams, so if you realize at the last second that you missed someone, you can do so from here. Once you are satisfied with what you have, you can click “Finish,” and you will be all set to start using the add-on to stay current on the wide world of sports. Everything on the extension is controlled at the very bottom of your browser. All the scores and options are displayed here, which makes it easy to see the scores at a glance, and click on the different options to make the most of the add-on.
All the way to the left is an RSS symbol. You can click this to see the latest news from the leagues and teams you follow. The stories in there are clickable, so you can read to full stories if you should so choose.
Clicking the “Live” button on the bottom of the screen will show you the games and scores happening now, and the schedule for the teams and leagues you are following in the next few days. This makes it easy for you to make sure you are always ready to watch your favorite teams play. After all, you don’t want to miss a big game and have to hear about it from your friends the next day.
The last option on the bottom is the “365Scores.com” button. In here is where you will come to choose whether the app can make sounds and pop open notifications. You can also add more teams if there is one you missed during the set up wizard, and you can click “Settings” to fine-tune the way the add-on works.
The settings section is full of options for you to adjust the way the add-on works. You can change the look, adjust how the news ticker works, whether the app plays sounds, and so much more. If you want options, 365Scores Notifier certainly has you covered. ConclusionIf you are looking for a way to keep up with your favorite sports whenever your browser is open, look no further than 365Scores Notifier for Mozilla Firefox. It is fully customizable and has all the features a hardcore sports junkie could need for keeping track of their favorite teams and leagues. Best of all, it’s free, so there is no reason not to have it installed in your browser. The post 365Scores Notifier – A Great Way To Keep Up With Your Favorite Teams [Firefox] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How I Built A Projector For My Phone Posted: 01 May 2013 05:30 PM PDT
I had to change a few ingredients out of necessity and others out of sheer curiosity. What I ended up with is a slightly easier to use yet still ultimately hobbyist toy for iPhone photographers with nimble fingers and patience. Total cost? $4.50 for a magnifying glass and some duct tape – things you might already have around the house. Intrigued? Let’s begin! Things You Will Need for Your Phone ProjectorIn order to make an iPhone (or any smartphone) projector you will need the following items:
The original brief only used one box. What I did differently was to use two – two tissue boxes to be exact – with one slightly smaller than the other, so that it can fit inside. Seeing as tissue boxes are usually very similar in depth, you should be able to find two competing brands with slightly differing widths. This works for any box, as long as it’s a fairly snug fit you will be fine.
My reasoning? The original shoebox projector has a rather dismal minimum focusing distance, which means you can’t use it effectively over a short range. Projectors aren’t necessarily designed to be used in such a manner, so this might not seem like a problem at first. However: the further the projector is from a surface, the wider the spread of light becomes. This means that big projections will be very dark in anything other than pitch darkness. Another drawback is that focusing is done by moving the iPhone itself, a fairly fiddly procedure that involves opening up the box. So in order to get more “depth” out of my projector I decided to use two boxes, so that I could move the lens toward and away from the iPhone in order to focus.
By doing this I actually gained a couple of meters in usability. The resulting projector is longer than most shoeboxes, and while it was a more fiddly construction I think the end results are better given the time invested. Again, you might not have all the materials but ideally are willing to experiment and make-do with what you have around the house. The idea here is to be thrifty and spend as little as possible for the simple fact that spending more money on such a crude construction is not going to yield much of an improvement in the results. In fact, the results aren’t that great but I still had fun making and using it. If you’re impatient or just want to know how things went you can skip to the end for the finished product. Otherwise, let’s begin! Method/MadnessThe first thing I did was take the smaller box and mark out the circumference of the magnifying glass on it using a pencil. I could only find a huge magnifying glass at my local “mostly $2″ store, and the handle isn’t removable without force so I left it on and made it fit as best I could. This actually helps focus the finish product too. To ensure that the smaller box would continue to fit I made sure the bottom of the magnifying glass was flush with the bottom of the box.
Next I cut out the circle I had marked roughly with a craft knife. Take care here, you want to score inside the circle so that the magnifying glass squeezes into the hole evenly, rather than being too loose.
Once I’d cut the hole I put a few loose pieces of duct tape on the magnifying glass to make fixing easier. Duct tape has the benefit of being very stretchy, which makes it very easy to manipulate.
Magnifying glass loosely in place I taped the remaining edges to seal any holes that light might escape through.
Next I took the big box and unfolded the flaps from one end. I did the same to the small box, except I completely removed the flaps rather than just undoing them. Leaving them in place on the larger box until the end is definitely a good idea.
At this stage I decided it was time to make the inside of the box dark so that light wouldn’t bounce around and detract from the image on the wall. The initial plan was to use black tissue paper (as per the ingredients above), but I soon realised what a mistake I had made and gave up. A matte spray paint would work great here, but they’re at least $4 and I spent $2 on 25 metres of duct tape so I decided to use that instead.
Laying the duct tape in strips was fairly easy, if a little time-consuming. I did this to the entirety of the smaller box and the rear section of the larger box. The result was a very sturdy end product with added friction from the duct tape making a welcome addition to my focusing mechanism, though it wasn’t quite as matte as it could have been for my liking.
Finally it was time to put the phone in place for a quick test. You could use anything from a makeshift paper stand to a paperclip or even blue tack here, but I was lucky enough to have a box ever so slightly smaller than the width of my iPhone 5. This meant I could improve even further on the original projector with a slot into which I could easily slide the phone.
I put everything in place and tested the projector, and then marked where the phone sat best using pencil. I drew a line across the top of the box and made sure it lined up on both sides (so the phone didn’t sit at an angle). I then cut two thin strips slightly thinner than my phone in its case, and popped them out. At this stage the duct tape inside the box helped steady the cut.
I was left with a near-perfect fit that allows me to slide the phone in and out, with easy access to power and headphone connectors. The iPhone will always correct the perspective when placed “upside down” but in order to project an image you will need your source image to be inverted. This is because the lens on the magnifying glass will invert the image.
There’s a fix for that – Settings > General > Accessibility and turn Assistive Touch on. Now you’ll get a little white dot you can move around the screen. Tap it, choose Device then Rotate Screen and rotate the screen so that it is upside when you place it in your projector. Finally head over to Settings > Brightness & Wallpaper and turn off Auto-Brightness while jacking the brightness of your screen up to the maximum setting.
I put the two boxes together, and folded the flaps on the larger box inwards to create a tight seal. The hole at the top can be covered with card or similar if you want, though you will need some way of using the phone while it is in position. ResultsUnsurprisingly the image quality isn’t great. There are no sophisticated optics or powerful lamps at play here, and while my phone’s screen seems incredibly bright at maximum brightness it only makes a small dent in a dimly-lit room. I have slightly off-white walls which didn’t do wonders for the image, though in pitch darkness visibility was good.
The best results came in the form of a white sheet, as you can see above. I absolutely had to head over to Archive.org and find some black and white stock footage – it felt right. I also tried some safari images from a recent trip to South Africa, but video gave me the best results.
It’s not as if the image quality of a moving image is any better than a still image, but it’s the novelty of being able to project a moving image onto something that got me. This is the way amateur and professional filmmakers of years gone by would review reels of film, in dark rooms with flickering images. The ability to project a moving image onto my wall somehow made the whole procedure and any disappointment involved worth it, and the grain only added to the novelty. Would I recommend you create your own phone projector? Probably, yes. If you want a cheap projector you can only use at night that produces grainy, slightly out of focus images then this is the perfect project for you. It was never going to be perfect, but there’s a certain amount of charm involved here. I’ve had a longstanding goal of filming something professional-looking on my iPhone and now I know exactly what I’m going to watch it on when the time comes. Massive props to Photojojo for the original concept. Have you made anything similar? Are you going to give this one a try? Let us know what you thought of this in the comments, below. The post How I Built A Projector For My Phone appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Facebook Home Hijacks Your Android Phone – Should You Let It? [Weekly Facebook Tips] Posted: 01 May 2013 04:31 PM PDT
Home was recently released globally and hit 500k downloads within two weeks of its US release. The average rating on the Google Play store, however, is barely over 2 out of 5 stars. It is not known how many people continued using Facebook Home after trying it. Judging by the feedback, however, it sounds like many have ditched it right away; even people who gave it a good rating So should you try Facebook Home if you have one of the compatible devices? What can you expect and what should you watch out for? Let me take you through the pros and cons of Home to help you make up your mind. New Home ScreenFacebook Home takes over your home screen; all of it. When you turn on your phone, you will see a full screen photo from the latest update on your News Feed with the current time at the top and a list of general notifications from your Android apps below. I noticed that this does not work for all notifications, including Gmail.
Quick tips:
The Cover FeedA moment later, the notifications screen will turn into a slideshow of your friends photos, overlaid with their status updates; the cover feed. You can jump in and manually thumb through your visual News Feed, which will show Like and Comment buttons and counts at the bottom. Your own profile picture at the bottom acts as nav button to switch to Facebook Messenger, your Android apps, or the last used app.
Quick tips:
So far, so intuitive. App LauncherWhen you switch to Apps by dragging your profile picture to the respective field, you actually stay within Facebook (Home) for the moment. At the top of the page are buttons to post your own status update, add a photo, or check in. Additionally, you will see up to five App Launcher screens, which are cluttered with apps previously located on your old home screens. Confusingly, my apps appeared in a somewhat random order and some apps were overlaid. The left-most screen let’s you scroll through all your installed apps alphabetically, from top to bottom.
Quick tips:
Chat HeadsFor those of you who love to chat, this is probably the most exciting new feature. When you receive a new text or Facebook chat message, it pops up on top of whatever application you are using that moment, along with the profile picture of the friend talking to you. Fortunately, this feature is also native to the recently updated Facebook Messenger on both Android and iOS.
My VerdictIt’s simple, slick, and not for me. I can see how people who are massively into Facebook and don’t use widgets will enjoy it, but for me it’s just too much Facebook. It would work as a lock screen(saver) on steroids, but when pressing the Home button, I really want my personalized home screens with widgets and folders and all those things this oversimplified app doesn’t offer. What Other People SayWhile many people commend the slick design and smoothness, battery life seems to be an issue. This can possibly be fixed by setting the default medium data use to low via Facebook Home Settings. Several reviews also bemoan the lack of features, especially a proper lock screen and widgets. Yet others love the simplicity in navigation. The reviews are extremely mixed, but overall people agree that Facebook Home does what it promises to do. What is quite irritating, however, is that Home effectively turns your smartphone into a Facebook device. Try to make a phone call; it has become surprisingly hard. You actually need to go to All Apps and find the Phone app. If you do occasionally use your phone to call someone, add the app to an App Launcher screen. Ideally, Facebook should allow users to add a shortcut to the lock screen. So Should You Try It?If after reading this article you still haven’t made up your mind, you should definitely try it. In the end, your experience will also depend on how interesting your News Feed is. And remember that you are fully in charge of what that looks like. If you already tried Facebook Home, let us know what you thought of it! The post Facebook Home Hijacks Your Android Phone – Should You Let It? [Weekly Facebook Tips] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Need An Alternative to Winamp? Try Spider Player [Windows] Posted: 01 May 2013 04:01 PM PDT
But here's the thing – I’ve already been through all of the big name household programs. Winamp? It has a place in my heart because it was my first music player ever, but it's not perfect. Foobar2000? Though it's been my main player for years, I'm still looking for something else. AIMP3? MusicBee? MediaMonkey? All worth a try but none have hit the jackpot yet. So for the past few days, Spider Player has been on my plate. The screenshots drew me in at first glance, the feature set sounded useful, and the fact that it's completely free sold me. Does it live up to my ridiculously high standards? Read on to find out.
If I had to describe Spider Player's interface in one word, it'd be muted. By that, I mean it's not particularly flashy or catchy but it's not so empty as to be boring or bland. The layout is interesting and the colors are there yet it all happens in a way that isn’t exciting or distracting. It's muted, which is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. That's just how it is. The layout itself is most similar to that of Winamp: multiple individual windows that snap together to form a whole. The individual parts can be detached or closed at will, which allows for a bit of customization. If you don't need the equalizer, for example, then why have it? Just close it and you’ve slimmed it down. As for the playlist display, it's rather primitive. Most music players nowadays have a library feature that automatically organizes your songs by artist, album, genre, etc. Spider Player doesn’t have any of that. It's similar to vanilla Foobar2000 because you only have playlists, except Spider Player's playlists have fewer features. If that's what you prefer, then great! But I imagine that for most of us, myself included, it's just not good enough.
I should probably mention that Spider Player is pretty old. The last update was pushed out in late 2010, which is an eternity in Internet time. However, despite the fact that this program is nearing three years of idleness, the feature set is comparable to a lot of modern players and it's kept up with the times somewhat well. That's likely because Spider Player used to be a premium program that retailed for almost $20 USD. Just as it went out of development, though, the creators decided to release all of the features for free. Using the following license key, you can instantly unlock all Pro features:
Once you've unlocked the Pro version of Spider Player, you'll gain unimpeded access to all of the features in the program.
Music players comprise a software category where personal preference trumps nearly every other benchmark. The best music players might be missing one feature that makes it unusable for you. On the other hand, even mediocre programs can have a fan base. It's really up to the person using it. So what's my final verdict? Spider Player is worth a try. There's nothing that truly distinguishes Spider Player as a leader of its class, but it does enough things right to make it worthy of a mention. Give it a shot and see if you like it. As for me, I'll still be on the hunt for the mythical perfect music player. The post Need An Alternative to Winamp? Try Spider Player [Windows] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How to Use Google Person Finder to Locate Loved Ones After a Disaster Posted: 01 May 2013 03:30 PM PDT
What aftermath? Well, regardless of the fatality numbers, any major crisis that shuts down communication systems or travel ends up breaking off a fairly large population of people from the outside world. This isn’t just the case when there’s some kind of violent attack, but it even more commonly occurs following things like earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters. When social infrastructure fails, family and friends out side of the danger zone really start to get nervous when they can’t get in touch with their loved ones. Add on top of that the fact that the news media starts immediately reporting the increase in body count, and you’ve got a situation of all-out panic. The good folks at Google saw this communication void back in 2011, following the major Turkey earthquake, after noticing that the one communication medium that appeared to remain in place during events like a bombing is the Internet. Google Person Finder is offered as a free service for the general public, as well as emergency responders, to use following a catastrophe. Using Google Person FinderNo, this isn’t a way to search for information about people on the Internet. It’s a way to search for people in real life. It’s actually a smart system that someone really should have thought up years ago. The way it works is relatively simple, and there are some additional features that you can embed on your own website, which I’ll get to later in this article. When you first go to the Google Person Finder page, you’ll see a list of current active events for which the Person Finder is currently active. When I went in, there was already an alert box at the top of the site for the Sichuan Earthquake event.
Inside of an event page, you’ll find two large link boxes. You’ll also see the current database size underneath those links. The Sichuan Earthquake event had already accumulated over 1000 missing persons records by the time I got to the page.
The goal here is basically to connect first responders, or locals that may have information about people that are missing, to the remote family members that are scared and worried about their loved one. Family and friends can visit Google Person Finder, click on “I’m looking for someone”, and then type the name of the person they’re looking for.
If someone has entered information about that person in the Google Person Finder, then you’ll see the details about what they typed in. This could be a first responder that used the Google system to report that “xx was hurt but not seriously injured in the Earthquake. Treated and brought to xxxx hospital.” Or local friends could have reported that the person was hurt, but that they’re alive and well. That’s exactly what the “I have information about someone” link is all about.
In fact, if you ever find yourself in an area – anywhere in the world – where such an catastrophic event takes place. If you’re one of the lucky survivors and uninjured, working on providing this kind of service for anyone that’s injured can do a great deal of good. Just having that little bit of information can mean the world to family members far away who are worried sick about their loved ones that are directly in the path of the destruction. Advanced Google Person Finder FeaturesNow, if the service was that simple, it would be pretty drab. Useful, mind you, but kinda boring. Well, we’re talking about Google here, the land of APIs, code developers and app integration. Of course there’s more to Google Person Finder than that. First, if you click on the “Developers” link at the bottom of the site, you’ll be able to access the GooglePersonFinder developer section, with a Wiki tab that includes information about the DataAPI that you can request a key for, and then start using to either pull data out of the Person Finder database, or insert data into the database with your own applications.
Actually, my favorite feature – because of its simplicity – is the fact that you can actually embed the Person Finder iframe code right into your site. If you’re focused on a specific event, you can insert that event name right into the embed code.
When they click on either link, it’ll provide the form within the iframe. Just make sure to size the box correctly so it doesn’t cut off any part of the forms!
There’s a lot to be said for simple services that keep family and friends connected, and offer the peace of mind in knowing that someone you care a whole lot about is still alive. That can mean the difference between a sleepless night, or knowing and removing all worry. Hopefully, this will be one Google service that doesn’t disappear on us. Of course, these days, you can’t really depend on that, can you? Are you familiar with Google Person Finder? Have you ever used it, or know anyone who had to? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below. Image Credits: Alexey Stiop / Shutterstock.com The post How to Use Google Person Finder to Locate Loved Ones After a Disaster appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Popular Podcast Client Instacast Launches Beta Version For Mac [Updates] Posted: 01 May 2013 03:00 PM PDT
The beta period of the application will run until May 31st, so if you’re interested, you have exactly one month to sink your teeth into the podcast client before the final release hits the market. The final release will not be free, so if you want to enjoy it without paying, now is the time. Many of the features you know and love from the iOS version of the app are included in the Mac app. You can subscribe to many popular podcasts (including my own, The Technophila Podcast), directly from within the application. Any podcast not featured within the app’s search field can be imported manually using its feed URL.
Like most good podcast managers, new episodes of your subscribed shows will be downloaded automatically once posted. Your shows are presented in a slick, easy to navigate layout, so you can get down to listening to your favorite podcasts without unnecessary fluff. Another cool feature for users of the iOS app is the ability to sync podcasts between your devices with the creation of an Instacast account. This makes it easy to listen at home and keep going when you have to venture out into the world. Users who really enjoy the app during the beta period can purchase it for $14.99, which is still lower than the official launch price of next month. As this is a beta, if you see any bugs, it’s helpful to report them so the creators can make the app run as smoothly as possible. Grab Instacast Beta for Mac from the Instacast website. Source: Instacast Blog The post Popular Podcast Client Instacast Launches Beta Version For Mac [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To Connect a Game Controller to Android For Console-like Gameplay Posted: 01 May 2013 02:30 PM PDT
We’ll be using a wired Xbox 360 controller for this. It’s the most popular controller used by PC gamers for a reason, as it offers a standard USB connection and can be used with both Android devices and PCs with no additional configuration required — just plug it in and go. We’ll also offer some tips for using other types of controllers you may have lying around, including Wiimotes, PlayStation 3 Sixaxis gamepads, wireless Xbox 360 controllers, and Bluetooth controllers. Connecting an Xbox 360 Controller to AndroidUsing a game controller with Android is actually pretty simple. All you’ll need is:
USB OTG stands for “USB on the go.” It’s essentially a tiny adapter cable that contains a full USB plug at one end and a micro USB connector on the other end. It allows you to plug standard USB devices into your Android phone or tablet, including USB drives, mice, keyboards, and Xbox 360 controllers.
This should be plug-and-play on newer devices. We did this on a Nexus 7, and everything worked with no additional configuration required. On an older device, you may need to use USB/Joystick Center to make this work — see the last section of this article for more details. Playing GamesYou can now fire up games that support controllers and play them with the controller. Some games may have a settings screen where you can select between controller and touch controls, while some games will respond to the controller immediately. For example, Riptide GP offers such a configuration screen, while Sonic games respond to the controller immediately.
The controller works surprisingly well with Android. You can even use it to navigate through your home screen and launch games and other apps, something that can’t be done with an Xbox 360 controller on the Windows desktop. Some games won’t respond to the ABXY buttons and will require you to depress the right thumb stick to perform an action — such as jumping in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 — while some games work fine with the A/B/X/Y buttons — such as Sonic CD for Android, which allows you to jump by pressing A.
The controller even works with many games that offer no indication they support controllers. For example, the controller works well with Super Hexagon, which was a pleasant surprise. Be sure to experiment with the controller in your games — you never know what games it will work with. You can also look for lists of games that support controllers online.
Using a Controller with Unsupported GamesIt’s possible to use an Xbox 360 controller with unsupported games on Android, just as you can use a controller with unsupported games on Windows. To do this, you’ll need to be using a rooted device. Most people recommend the USB/BT Joystick Center app as the most convenient solution for setting this up, although it will only work on certain devices and certain ROMs. Be prepared for some tweaking if you opt to go this route. Wireless Xbox 360 ControllersUsing a wireless Xbox 360 controller is also possible, although it isn’t quite as easy. To do this, you’ll need the same Xbox 360 Wireless Controller Dongle that you’d use to connect your wireless controller to a PC. You can then plug this wireless dongle into the USB OTG cable and connect the dongle to your tablet. This will be enough to make many emulators and games work. However, some games won’t work with this setup. You can find a solution to make the wireless Xbox 360 controller work with more games on the XDA Developers forum. The solution is intended for the Nexus 7, but may work with other Android devices. View it here. Bluetooth, Wii, and PlayStation Controllers
For some great Android games to try your controller with, check out our list of the best Android games. Have you connected a game controller to your Android device? Did it go this easily, or did you need to do more tweaking? Is there a controller that works better than the wired Xbox 360 controller? Leave a comment and share your experiences! The post How To Connect a Game Controller to Android For Console-like Gameplay appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 Of The Best Band Websites On The Planet Posted: 01 May 2013 02:01 PM PDT
When one discovers a new music artist our first instinct is to head online to find out more about them and hopefully hear more of their music. So why do the websites of numerous musicians and bands suck so badly? I’ve lost count of the number I’ve visited only to be disappointed by the bland, insipid design that shows a complete lack of creativity or imagination. Thankfully not all music artists suffer from this trait. Some actually spend the time, money, and effort needed to maintain a good presence online. Their websites are good looking, interactive, filled with great content, and are generally blessed with cool designs. What follows are the current cream of the crop, along with screenshots showing their awesomeness. Websites naturally evolve over time, and bands often change the look and feel of their online properties in order to promote new material. However, the bands listed here have a history of offering a certain aesthetic on their websites, so this list should remain relevant for many years to come. Nine Inch Nails
NIN comprises Trent Reznor and whoever he picks up along the way. Reznor is the driving force behind the band, which straddles genres but is generally regarded as an industrial rock group. The website is clean and efficient, but contains masses of content, including free downloads and more than 50,000 photos and videos spanning the history of the band. MGMT
MGMT are an indie rock group who experiment with alternative and experimental sounds. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden are the founding members, with the other band members having joined later. The website is a strange mix of the ordinary and the bizarre, with fan art providing the background for more traditional merchandising and forum areas. U2
U2 are pretty much legendary at this point. Led by Bono, who is ably supported by The Edge and those other two guys, the Irish rock group are famous in all four corners of the world. The website has everything a U2 fan could ask for, with photos, audio, video, a discography, an archive, and a nice community feel that is rare for bands of such size and scale as U2. The Killers
The Killers are an American rock band led by the always-entertaining Brandon Flowers. They’re big in the U.S, but arguably even bigger in the U.K. The website always looks good, with a color scheme and style matching the band’s current album. There is an active community, and members can enjoy additional features. Radiohead
Radiohead are a British alternative rock group that have gone from strength to strength over the years, gaining fans and followers in most territories. Their sound is always evolving, with each album marking a new line in the sand. The website is absolutely epic, with multiple areas covering different portions of Radiohead’s persona. Gorillaz
Gorillaz are a virtual group consisting of animated members taking the place of the evolving mix of actual contributors. Damon Albarn, formerly of Britpop sensation Blur, is the driving force behind the project. The band are currently on hiatus, but the website is still rocking, and Gorillaz are highly likely to return before long. Flight Of The Conchords
Flight Of The Conchords are a duo from New Zealand comprising Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. They’re primarily a comedy folk group, but thanks to a hit show on HBO they’re far more successful than such a moniker would suggest. The website has a retro feel to it, with a style and sense of humor which perfectly complement the band. Muse
Muse are perhaps the best live band in the world at the moment. They make a lot of noise for a trio of musicians from the South-West of England, and their innovative style of genre-redefining music has earned them fans around the world. The website is heavy on graphics but has enough great content to justify the overpowering feeling this engenders. ConclusionsYou may not like some of the bands listed here. I’ll be honest and admit there are at least two of the eight who don’t do it for me personally. However, their websites ooze with an elementary cool factor, to the point that I’m happy to hang out on the domains of bands I don’t even like. Which of the best band websites on this list do you particularly like, if any? Are there any band websites with cool designs you think should have made the cut? Do you feel music artists and their labels should try harder to foster a following on the InterWebs? As always we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section. Image Credit: Nina Matthews The post 8 Of The Best Band Websites On The Planet appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 Things You Should Do When Starting An Online Store Posted: 01 May 2013 01:01 PM PDT
Here are 10 things you should do or consider when starting your own online store; but most are neither quick, nor easy – eCommerce is tough! Choose Your System CarefullySteer clear of specialized custom solutions built on obscure and old code – choose a system that’s popular, well supported, with a good community behind it, and which produces stunning looking shops. If you want to avoid any contact with code, a hosted platform like Shopify is a cinch to get up and running with plans starting at around $30/month for up 100 products.
For full control over the site at a code level, look toward either WordPress with one of the popular eCommerce plugins like Jigoshop (featured on our Best WordPress Plugins page), or a dedicated eCommerce open source solution like OpenCart. In either case, you typically need to pay for themes and additional functionality, though the base system is free. Optimize, Optimize & OptimizeSlow page load times mean loss of customers. If you’ve gone for a hosted solution when starting an online store, there’s not much you can do on this front and probably won’t need to – but when you’ve set up shop using WordPress or another self-hosted system, optimizing the page load speed is absolutely essential. Follow these three easy steps to speeding up WordPress.
Be UniqueUnless you’re actually producing your own products, there’s a good chance you’re using product feeds, including descriptions and photographs supplied by the manufacturer. Bad idea. Your content is going to be basically the same as hundreds of other online shops that purchase from the same supplier. At the very least rewrite all the product descriptions, and put your own spin on them; ideally, take your own product images. If you’re retaking product images anyway, take some from every angle and use this jQuery plugin to make a 360 view that can be rotated. Check Out The CompetitionThis doesn’t just apply to eCommerce of course, but any website. Search a keyword you’re hoping to establish yourself in, and compare the results. If the pages are badly designed and outdated, congratulations – you’re in with a good chance of success selling in that niche, but you should still consider how you would be better if someone else decided to enter the space. If they’re beautifully designed and clearly doing well, think long and hard about whether you can genuinely compete with them. What can you offer that they don’t already achieve? It’s Not Enough To Just SellThe choice of where to shop online is just so expansive that consumers really have the upper hand – they can literally choose from any site in the world after all. Unless you’re competing on price – which is again very difficult since anyone can set up shop with virtually no costs and compete by undercutting – your site needs to be more than just a shop. Established brands get around this – and can charge a premium – by the fact that they have a customer base who trusts them and turns to them first for any needs. As a new seller, you have neither brand, nor the ability to cost-cut any more so than the next guy, so use your unique product knowledge and skills to offer something more than simply a shop. Write high quality blog posts on the topic, link to your own products, and establish yourself as an expert. Share your knowledge, and be a part of the community around the products (if there is one) – don’t just try to sell things. Pay Special Attention To SEOBloggers have it easy – they can develop a persona, write hundreds of words a day of unique content, and if it’s good enough, they will come. eCommerce isn’t like that unfortunately – it’s particularly vulnerable to SEO problems, and many online stores have found themselves struggling in the relegation zone after the last few years of Google algorithm changes. Why?
Expand Page Content With Customer InputSimply having a product image and short paragraph of description text is not enough anymore – but you will have a powerful resource that probably lies untapped – customers. Don’t underestimate peoples desire to share their opinions and actions shots of the product – especially if you offer prizes to the best submissions each month. Black Milk Clothing, hosted at Shopify, is a great example of this. Each product has a distinct hashtag assigned, and the products themselves are incredibly “shareable” – you want to show them off.
When users share a photo and tag it on Instagram, it’ll appear on the product page. Why limit yourself to one product photo when you can have 20? Implement Structured Data & VideosStructured data or “rich snippets“, is special code added to a page to describe the kind of content – this might include videos, or average customer reviews. Include this markup on your page, and Google may use it (no guarantee) when the page appears in the search results. Look at the example below.
In this case, Zappos has included data about the user reviews; 6pm has included a product video. These are both far more likely to rank well and attract the attention of potential customers compared to text only results. Don’t just be another search result – stand out from the crowd! Run a NewsletterNewsletters are the secret weapon of eCommerce – it’s a captive customer base of loyal customers. When you make a sale, prompt the user to sign up for a newsletter and tick it by default. In addition, ensure there’s a clear sign-up area on the homepage or sidebar, and if your system allows it, incentivise with a small coupon off their first order. It works.
Sending a reminder to write a review or submit pictures a week after purchasing is also an effective way to keep them coming back – Amazon and eBay both do this. Get a Social PresenceA little cliché perhaps – but everyone and their dog has a Facebook, and your store should too. It’s another direct marketing tool that you can and should use: interacting with customers, answering questions in an open and public way, offering sneak peaks into future products that will go on sale soon, and giving discounts. Also consider pinning your best items to Pinterest, which is increasingly being used to drive sales.
It should also go without saying that a set of social share buttons on every page is basically essential at this point in time. Oh, and our free guide to marketing through social media is a probably a thing you should download, too. No doubt about it – starting an online store that’s successful is tougher than ever, but these tips should help you somewhat on the path to sales success. Do you have any more tips for setting up shop online, or do you disagree with something I’ve said? Sound off in the comments! The post 10 Things You Should Do When Starting An Online Store appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turn Your Friends Into Freaks With Morfo Posted: 01 May 2013 12:01 PM PDT
I stumbled across Morfo back in 2010, shortly after the release of Windows Phone 7, and was soon compelled to upgrade from the free trial version because it was giving everyone so much fun. The easy point-and-snap action of taking a photo is subverted by some hilarious (and at times disturbing!) enhancements to the subject that you can't help but love playing with this app. There might be plenty of “decorative” photo manipulation apps across most mobile platforms, but this is the only I've found that does one thing well and focuses on it rather than allowing the user (and the developers) become distracted with additional bells and whistles. What Does Morfo Do, Exactly?This fun app doesn't change the world or make life easier in any discernible way, but it certainly raises spirits. I don't usually enjoy trivial apps but I've had so much fun with this, taking photos of my wife and nieces (and more recently my own children) and turning them into monstrous digital apparitions that it is hard not to recommend Morfo.
With the ability to add makeup, “fatten” the image and even record sounds and have the animated head rock out to music saved to your phone, Morfo is bizarre fun that is best shared with your friends and family in close quarters. Morfo Is Easy To UseCreating a “head” is easy, requiring either a fresh photo form your camera or an image saved to your gallery. After the image has been imported – achieved using some simple finger pinching and dragging – you can begin to play around with the head.
Along with the Menu option in the top-left corner (which sends you back to the opening screen where existing, new and pre-selected heads can be manipulated), there are a selection of buttons at the foot of the display. Record enables you to add a voice to the head, and this can be altered with the Pitch button which will subsequently appear. Fat increases the width of the face while Makeup adds some improbably decorations such as a clown face or a beard. The Rock button initiates some impressive headbanging accompanied with a bit of heavy guitar, while Music selects a track at random from your MP3 library with a similar effect. One gripe is the lack of any Metro/Modern UI elements, but this can be overlooked as it is such a fun app! Turning a Baby Into a MonsterFor this brief walkthrough I'm going to take a photo of my daughter and use Morfo to turn her into a sort of mannequin, a head that can be decorated and manipulated in various amusing ways.
The first step is to select the Create a New Face option (use the Menu in the top left to open this if necessary) and browse your photo gallery for a suitable portrait image. If none is available, you can load your camera and use this to snap a new one – front and back cameras are supported. For more on managing and taking photos, see our Windows Phone: Complete Guide. As you can see, I've chosen a photo of my daughter. The image doesn't perfectly line up, but there is enough scope in the app to use photos that are slightly “out”.
With the photo selected, it is time to size and position the head, eyes, nose and mouth. This is done by dragging, squeezing and stretching the overlaid facial features into position to that they match as closely as possible. Click Done to complete this stage, and the image will be loaded into the main Morfo interface. It is here that you can begin playing around, adding makeup and voices as described above. You can also edit the face via the menu if you decide you need better positioning of the features, and save screenshots to share with friends – useful if they're the subject! ConclusionYou will find Morfo available on the Windows Phone Store with a free trial option and a full price of $1.99 (£1.49). Morfo can be found in the “Photos and Images” tools in our guide to The Best Windows Phone Apps. As you can see from the images above, this is an unusual app, one that doesn't rely on the Windows Phone Metro/Modern user interface but nevertheless remains easy to use and a lot of fun. It's a simple choice whether you should install it or not – if you believe you can get some good fun from it, then try it out. Very much a social app, the sharing feature comes in useful, but Morfo is best used within a group situation for the most fun. The post Turn Your Friends Into Freaks With Morfo appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cutting Edge yaM Sets the Standard For Online Meeting Management Tools Posted: 01 May 2013 11:01 AM PDT
I recently stumbled upon a cutting edge online meeting management web application called yaM (which stands for Yet Another Meeting). yaM is like a virtual assistant for producing professionally looking agendas and minute reports, while also providing tools that help meeting participants brainstorm ideas, do product and cost analysis, and integrate with online cloud accounts including Dropbox, Google Calendar, and Evernote. yaM can be used with both online meeting spaces like Google Hangouts, or in traditional offline settings. As a web application, it’s similar to Agreedo, but it’s much more advanced without being complicated.
Creating AgendasAfter registering an account with yaM, you can immediately start developing an agenda for your next meeting. You simply add agenda items on the left side of the workspace, along with the time duration, and the name of the person responsible for that item.
You can easily assign names to agenda items, but participants must register an account with yaM, which you can send them an invitation to do so from within the workspace. Having registered participants makes yaM a much more collaborative meeting management tool, because each participant can simultaneously add notes in the workspace during the meeting. While it is more efficient to have one person assigned as a minute taker, there are other useful tools in yaM that make it great for collaboration. When your agenda is created, you can print or circulate it to meeting participants. Each registered participant will receive a meeting report via email, which of course includes media logistics, the list of agenda items, and a link to the online yaM workspace. Best of all, your circulated agenda is professionally formatted and easy to read. Agenda items can also be copied and added to a new meeting. It would be even better, however, if developers could make a way to create standard agenda items that are automatically a part of each new meeting.
Minute TakingAdding notes and action items in yaM is just as easy as creating agendas. Minutes consist of four types of content: notes, action items, attached files, and real-time collaboration tools.
The way that yaM is set up actually could help meeting participants stay focused, especially if everyone has the workspace open on their computer during the meeting. The minute taker can easily add an action item, with a due date, and the name of the person responsible. Oddly, however, only one person can be listed as responsible for each action item.
Where yaM also shines is its collection of built-in collaboration tools that allow members to make Pro/Con Analysis, Product Analysis, brainstorm ideas, or vote on important decisions. There’s also a tool for what is called a SWAT analysis, which entails discussing and recording the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a particular project, idea, or decision.
You will see that these collaboration and meeting management tools can be very useful for keeping participants engaged, and possibly helping them make better analysis and decisions. You can also print or email the content of individual collaboration tools to participants during the meeting. (Note: ideas for other online collaboration tools are reviewed here). As with agendas, yaM minute reports can also be printed or circulated via email. The minutes are so well formatted that meeting participants will have no excuse not reviewing them. Agendas and minutes are also archived on yaM, so participants can log into their account and review them at any time.
Other ToolsyaM includes additional tools for tracking time during meetings, setting meeting dates in the the built-in calendar (which integrates with Google Calendar, Exchange, and Outlook/iCal feeds), and an address book.
The developers of yaM have included several useful features in their web application, but they have given particular attention to making sure the user interface is accessible and easy to learn within a few minutes of registering an account. There’s also an iPad version of the application. yaM has a basic free account which includes all the core features, and the ability to hold up to 10 meetings per month, with up to five participants per meeting. A premium account allows for unlimited meetings and participants, customizable interface, and SSL encryption.
yaM in my view sets the standard for online meeting management tools. But let us know what you think of this online application. Are there additional features you would like to see added? The post Cutting Edge yaM Sets the Standard For Online Meeting Management Tools appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Photos are fun – the rise of successful snap-and-filter apps and services such as Instagram and its “
If you are holding meetings without agendas, or keeping minutes on plain old Word documents, your meetings and minute reports are probably not as useful as they could be. While most of us don’t look forward to attending meetings, there are nevertheless awesome 
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