15 New Articles on MakeUseOf |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [May 22nd 2013]
- What Changes Do You Want To See In Windows 8.1? [We Ask You]
- It’s Not Only Wikipedia: 5 Offbeat Ways To Use Your Own Wikis
- Love Collectable Card Games? Summoner Wars Might Be The Game For You [iOS]
- There’s An App For That: 10 Household Items Replaced By Software [iOS]
- How Much Does Your PC Cost To Run?
- The Tried and True Free Launcher For Android – ADW Launcher
- How I Import Internet UFO Sightings Data Into A Google Spreadsheet
- Spotify Launches Top Charts For Most Played & Most Shared Songs Worldwide [Updates]
- Upgrading to Windows 8? Get Settled In Faster with these Tips
- Keep Boredom At Bay With Playable Google Doodles
- How To Use Your iPad (or iPhone!) As A Second Monitor [iOS]
- World War I Aircraft Action In Rise Of Glory for Windows Phone
- Control Any Application On Your Mac Or PC Using Actions for iPad [iOS]
- Monolingual – Remove Languages You Don’t Use From Your Mac
| Cool Websites and Tools [May 22nd 2013] Posted: 22 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 22nd 2013] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What Changes Do You Want To See In Windows 8.1? [We Ask You] Posted: 22 May 2013 08:30 PM PDT
Microsoft had legitimate reasons for building Windows 8 the way it did, but it has also listened to feedback from users and is preparing to release a major update previously codenamed Windows Blue. Windows 8.1, as it’s officially known, will be released before the year is out, with a public preview available on June 26. Your hopes for this update form the basis for this week’s ‘We Ask You‘ column. This Week’s Question…We want to know, What Changes Do You Want To See In Windows 8.1? It’s heavily rumored that the Start button will be making a comeback in Windows 8.1, making Windows 8 much more tolerable for those who still use a keyboard and mouse. Other changes suggested by the leaking of confidential builds include more customization options for the live tiles on the Start screen, better multi-tasking in the Metro environment, new in-built apps, and new technologies being added. But what changes do you personally want to see in Windows 8.1?
If you’re a Windows 8 user already then this question will be easy to answer. Just let us know what frustrations you feel when using Windows 8: Is there one aspect of the operating system that makes you angry? What components or methods make you wonder what Microsoft was thinking when they designed Windows 8 that way? If you need some inspiration then feel free to read two previous columns which prompted healthy discussions around the positives and negatives of Windows 8. Prior to release we asked, “What Do You Really Think Of Windows 8?” and then in light of poor early sales we asked, “What Should Microsoft Do To Sell Windows 8 To The Masses?” The comments on both should help nudge you into remembering what you dislike about Windows 8. 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: Jon Fingas The post What Changes Do You Want To See In Windows 8.1? [We Ask You] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It’s Not Only Wikipedia: 5 Offbeat Ways To Use Your Own Wikis Posted: 22 May 2013 07:30 PM PDT
The encyclopedia portion of the name completely makes sense, but what about the wiki part? Like forums, subreddits, and blogs, a wiki is just another form of a website designed to help users easily format their content. You probably have a practical understanding of how Wikipedia works. To sum it all up, anyone can edit the information on a page, and they can do this quite quickly (which is also what the word “wiki” translates to in Hawaiian). These are the basic mechanics of how a wiki generally works, and Wikipedia just so happens to use it for their online encyclopedia. However, there are plenty of other purposes for this type of site. I’m here to offer a few suggestions for offbeat ways to use your own wikis. Team Collaboration
Here at MakeUseOf, we actively use a wiki system for the organization of article titles, sections, and writers. I won’t go into too much detail (for sake of some company privacy), but wiki software is essential to our productivity. A method that we use is something commonly called “idea keeping”. That is, we store article titles that we want to use over time on one page, and this helps in two ways. One, it helps keep the ideas fresh on our minds, and two, it allows us to publicly claim the title so no other author will end up writing the same exact thing accidentally. There are other ways you could use wikis for team organization besides this. For instance, you could post all of your employee’s email addresses on one page for internal business usage. Even better, company policies and the chain of command could also be listed on another section of the wiki. Ultimately, it can be the go-to resource for all of your business’ needs, and since anyone has the capability to edit content (with certain permissions), it’s perfect for a fluid online workspace. Project Development
So we’ve laid out the possibilities for your team and business. What about specific projects that need to be completed? Here’s how I would do it. First, I would create a master page devoted to the entirety of the project that lists all of the steps and phases that need to done. Then I would create pages for each step or phase that describes them in detail or even breaks them down into smaller steps. Just as an example, you can quickly set up a collaborative wiki with the Project wiki template on Google Sites. If you’re working on the project yourself, you’ll have an easy cheat sheet to refer to when you get to a stopping point and simply do not know what to do next. However, if you’re working with a team, everyone who is assigned to a certain step will have a clear page that they can reference. Furthermore, with the universal ability to edit documents, your project management will have a much smoother flow.
Class Management
College students, you’re not as organized as you think you are. Sure, your planner is full of homework assignments, and your iCal app doesn’t have a single free date. However, you probably still forget things, right? With a personal wiki, you can create pages that provide links to resourceful study materials, files your professor has uploaded, and details about homework assignments. Personally, I would create a page for each subject, and on each page I would put in an individual subheading for the following items: Class Calendar, Homework Assignments, Study Materials, and Classmate Contact Info. Most of this information can be found at the beginning of the semester in your professors’ syllabi, but it will take some discipline on your part to write it all down. For the class calendar, you can put in lecture topics for various days as well as important test dates, and homework assignments can be either added according to the syllabus or as you go. Study materials can include references for key pages in your textbook and links to relevant material, and the classmate contact info can help you remember the person to turn to when you are in a bind. Alternatively, it would be a wise move to get together with several classmates to work together on this type of wiki. Since everyone has access to the material, you can all update each other and keep the content fresh. For instance, if one person finds a good study resource, they can add it to the designated section for others to use. Granted, this would have to be a wiki for an individual class rather than one that goes across multiple subjects. WikiSpaces is well known as a collaborative learning and teaching platform built on a wiki. Resource Storage
Browser bookmarks and contact managers are sooo out. Psh. Instead, you can create a personal wiki for you and your team that provides links to websites and information for your various resources. Let’s say you have a business that operates all over the country, and you occasionally host events to invite potential customers for marketing purposes. With a wiki, you can create a page that provides links and contact details for various party planning and rental companies according to their geographical location. This wouldn’t necessarily be a common use, but it’s worth knowing about. In fact, you could apply it to your own personal usage however you want. As an added perk, as members of your team find more resources, they can instantly contribute to the wiki. Personal Organization
Who says you need multiple people to use a wiki? Sure, it’s a little unorthodox, but you could actually use a wiki to keep all of your personal resources in order like phone numbers, events, reminders, etc… On a more practical note, I would recommend doing this with specific projects and a summary of each one. With that said, if you’re interested in creating your own wiki, here are a few artices that can help get you started:
What other uses can you think of for wikis? Are you already a customized wiki user? Image Credit: cogdogblog, origamidon, Wade Rockett, yum9me, sociomantic, epSos.de The post It’s Not Only Wikipedia: 5 Offbeat Ways To Use Your Own Wikis appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Love Collectable Card Games? Summoner Wars Might Be The Game For You [iOS] Posted: 22 May 2013 06:30 PM PDT
The combination of gameplay styles makes Summoner Wars feel completely fresh and new. Instead of copying games that feel tired and stale Summoner Wars takes a different approach, which is something I always enjoy seeing on the App Store. For any gamer looking for an experience with some serious depth and a pretty harsh learning curve, this one should be right up your alley. It’s not an easy game to learn, but once you do, it’s the kind of experience you can easily lose yourself in for hours on end. Whether you own an iPhone or iPad, this game will hook you in. It’s even featured on our Best iPad Apps page, so you know it’s top notch. GameplaySummoner Wars features some really deep gameplay. You will be playing cards from your deck to the battlefield with the ultimate goal of killing your enemies “summoner card”. Obviously, he has the same goal, and the strategy you employ during the game is going to decide the outcome.
However, the learning curve for every other aspect of the game is huge. This is not the kind of game you are going to simply pick up and play without spending some time learning the subtle nuances. Thankfully there is an extensive tutorial that will help guide you through the game’s intricacies. You will be asked if you would like to play the tutorial when you first boot it up, and I can say unequivocally that you need to go through it. I am a very experienced Magic: The Gathering player, and I would have had no idea what I was doing in this game without the tutorial (which has to say something).
Once you get a feel for the basics, you should still expect to lose to the computer frequently, as the level of skill and strategy required to play this game is fairly high. Once you get the hang of it, it’s a lot of fun, and working out the perfect strategy to defeat your opponent is quite sweet.
Summoner Wars features both online and offline play but an in-app purchase is required to get access to the online portion of the game. Even if you choose to forego the online aspects, just playing against the computer is a ton of fun, and that part of the game is free, so it’s difficult to complain. Audio & VisualsThere is not too much to say about the graphics in the game, as it simply features cards and a board. However, what I will say is that in spite of how busy the interface is during the game with your hand, the board, the phases of the game and everything else going on, it doesn’t feel cluttered, even on the small iPhone screen.
The sound effects and music in the game are passable, but nothing special. I can’t necessarily knock the music, but I can’t say I love it either. The sound effects get the job done, and provide some audio accompaniment to the action happening on the battlefield. Game LifeThe potential game life in Summoner Wars is positively massive. Even though it is essentially the same game all the time, each battle is different enough from the others to keep you busy forever. Even the process of learning the game takes a while. Throw in online play, and you have a game that you can easily spend many, many hours playing.
There are a total of four AI opponents in the free version, and each one plays differently. This helps keep you coming back longer by giving the core mechanics a feeling of variety. ConclusionIf you are looking for a mobile game that you can get lost in for a long time, look no further than Summoner Wars. It’s incredibly deep, and comes with a steep learning curve, but if you are willing to put in the time to make the most of what the game has to offer it will be well worth it. Download: Summoner Wars for iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad (Free) Have you tried Summoner Wars? Did you enjoy the process of mastering the deep gameplay? Hit the comments section below and let us know!
The post Love Collectable Card Games? Summoner Wars Might Be The Game For You [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| There’s An App For That: 10 Household Items Replaced By Software [iOS] Posted: 22 May 2013 06:30 PM PDT
Our gadgets have also replaced a significant amount of physical objects, to the point where many of us wouldn’t consider buying a product when there is an equivalent piece of software that is up to the task. In light of this here are a list of things many of you might not consider purchasing ever again. Calculator
The humble calculator is an item that many occasionally come across when looking through untouched cupboards, dust-laden desktops and that drawer in the kitchen where you put things like rubber bands and blu-tack. The death of the dedicated calculator isn’t a particularly new thing, in school I remember debates over whether calculators on chunky Nokia and Motorola feature phones were suitable for classroom use (most teachers were wise to this). These days you don’t even need me to suggest a replacement apps, the iPhone’s in-built Calculator performs a variety of scientific tasks just by using it in landscape mode. For those of you who need graphing try Quick Graph, or if you’d rather input sums using your handwriting then the free MyScript Calculator will do the job. If you’re just bored of the plain-looking calculator app then check out RetroCalc ($1.99) for some of the world’s most memorable math machines. Scanner
Unless you’re an artist, photographer or busy digitising rolls of 35mm film, you have no reason to buy a scanner ever again. They’re big, clunky, space-consuming and too loud – why not use an app on your phone, instead? Seeing as you’re probably going to want those documents in digital form anyway, an app like TurboScan ($1.99) uses your device’s camera to make black and white or colour scans at varying contrasts before saving them as PDFs. CamScanner is a free alternative, though TurboScan remains a personal favourite of mine. If you’re really serious about this method you might want to build the ultimate document scanner to accompany your favourite app. The Diary
This one is pretty easy – just about any app that lets you take notes could be used as a diary, though that’s not entirely practical. Instead there exist some great dedicated journaling apps, and most of these do way more than a boring old dog-eared paper diary could. Simon recently put DayOne ($4.99) through its paces, a diary solution that syncs with your Mac (the total cost for both apps is less than most Moleskine notebooks, at $15). Another big-name alternative here is Everyday.me, and you could also check out another four other alternatives we’ve tried out. If you really want to push the limits of what a diary should be and take full advantage of social networking (you forward thinker!) then you could sign up for Path and document your life with a select few other individuals. Hey, it works for Britney and it could work for you. Remote Controls
Remember those all-in-one replacement remote controls? People still buy them! Idiots, right? Clearly they’ve not seen the light and replaced their remote control with a smartphone app. That, or they don’t have a compatible TV (fair enough). If you own a modern TV that you’ve purchased in the last few years from a named manufacturer then there’s a good chance you can control it from your tablet or smartphone. I have an LG TV that, when paired with the LG TV Remote app lets me use my phone as a touchpad and general remote control, provides access to useless smart TV apps and even takes screenshots (way more useful that I ever imagined). Samsung owner? Grab Samsung SmartView. Sony? Media Remote for iPhone is your friend. Other TV? Search for “<manufacturer> iPhone remote” and see what comes up, you might be surprised. There are also other apps that use accessories to turn your phone into a true universal remote, but they involve additional hardware and that’s against the ethos of this article so I’m leaving them out. Radio
Remember radios? They were once found on kitchen counters, in garages and on bedroom floors. No longer do you need to rely on the airwaves (though in the event of a zombie apocalypse you might) for music and information – use your phone and spend that money you saved on some cheap speakers instead. I’m not referring to home audio setups here, particularly hi-fi sound, but a cheaper means of getting music or news to your earholes. Spotify and Rdio both provide compelling music solutions (and can now be paired with Twitter #music), while TuneIn Radio can’t be beaten for listening to actual live broadcasts the world over – take that, FM. Trackpad & Mouse
Ok, so it’s unlikely you’re going to completely replace your mouse or trackpad with your iPhone or iPad, but in the event of peripheral failure you can always use your iOS device as a stop-gap before your replacement arrives. They’re also great for bedroom and living room use, or anywhere else you’re feeling too lazy to move. There are two strong competitors here, a free option called Remote Mouse which features in-app purchases to unlock additional features and remove adverts, or the completely ad-free and unrestricted app TouchPad ($4.99). Alarm Clock
We’ve been using small personal devices as alarm clocks for as long as we’ve had small personal devices. Digital organisers, watches and dumb phones all did the job amicably, but now we’ve got an endless sea of software to choose from, not least the stock Alarms app. Apple’s alarm app is ok, it works, but it’s a little fiddly. If you prefer a minimalist approach then try Rise ($1.99), or if statistics and sleep patterns are of interest there’s always Sleep Cycle. The Landline
Technically your iPhone already replaces the landline by performing its function as a phone, but mobile charges can be expensive. There was once a time when we’d resort to landlines to avoid carrier charges or steep international rates, but that’s all changed thanks to always-on-us VoIP. Skype is the first place to start and then there’s fring too. Both these solutions allow you to call landlines, mobiles and international numbers for cheap. If you’d like a different approach (and live in the US) then give Google Voice a go, it routes your outgoing calls through an access number which charges you the standard (inclusive) rate for any number dialled, national or international. Cheapo! Notebooks & Scrap Paper
Scrap paper gets lost, covered in coffee and crushed in pockets. Handwritten notes aren’t digital, and in this era of accessing all your documents from anywhere with a data connection this is often a problem. There are so many note-taking apps for iOS I don’t know where to start. The big services all have their own apps: Evernote, Pocket, Remember the Milk and even the stock Notes app which is made a lot more useful thanks to iCloud. Bakari featured a few time-saving apps in his recent communication app round-up or you could use a document hosted in Google Drive. iPad users who appreciate a handwritten approach can try Paper for free, though this might not be the most practical of solutions. Magazines
Next Issue provides access to over 80 different magazines from a variety of publishers, but you could also check out Zinio too. Apple’s own Newsstand platform continues to grow, adding more publications all the time. Even if you’re feeling cheap there are a huge number of free iPad magazines to choose from. What else can you replace with an iPhone and a few apps? What will the future bring? Let me know what you think in the comments, below. Images: HP-35 Calculator (Seth Morabito), Cat Scan (Fingle), Old Journal (Bev Sykes), Remote Control (sm3287), Old Radio (Daniel Mies), Broken Mouse (Peter Renshaw), Alarm Clock (H is for Home), Old Telephones (Dan Brady), Post-It Note (John Haydon), Magazine (Sean Winters). The post There’s An App For That: 10 Household Items Replaced By Software [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How Much Does Your PC Cost To Run? Posted: 22 May 2013 04:31 PM PDT
Since you can’t manage what you don’t measure, let us examine what your computer really costs to run. It will open your eyes and might help you watch out for hidden costs. Note that I focused on concrete and realistic costs only. There are many more hidden and hard to define costs. However, I have pointed them out along the way, so you can figure out the true costs for yourself if you want. Calculation BasicsI trust that you can all do basic maths! Just to be sure we are all on the same page, let me explain my method. I multiplied monthly recurring costs (electricity) by 12 to get the yearly costs. To calculate the monthly or yearly total for one-time-investments, I recommend dividing the sum by the number of years or months you intend to use your laptop. You can also add expected one-time-costs for to your calculations. HardwareBefore you can run a computer, you need to buy one. Whether you invest in a desktop computer, a laptop, or an Ultrabook can make a big difference, not only in terms of the up front investment, but also in terms of maintenance costs. The type of device is a significant factor in your calculations and will obviously influence your end result. On the one hand a desktop computer is modular and can potentially last you longer than a laptop because it is much easier to upgrade, customize, and repair parts. On the other hand it consumes more energy and isn’t necessarily cheaper to buy. Moreover, it’s not very flexible and you will either invest in a mobile Internet device in the long run or otherwise pay for using a computer or the Internet while out of the house.
In case you are yet to make a purchasing decision, reflect on this point thoroughly. I recommend to get a device only powerful enough to meet your needs for the time you are planning to use it. That said, do not save in terms of memory, CPU, or connectivity (HDMI, USB, etc.), as you will quickly exhaust what is available. However, do save in terms of size, screen resolution, internal drives, and accessories. Buying a more powerful device than what you really need will be more expensive both in the short and long term. My laptop cost €799 and I intend to use it for a minimum two years. Intermediate total: €399.50 / year or €33.29 / month. Software & ServicesHow much money do you typically spend on software? Don’t forget apps, subscriptions, and upgrades. Note that as you get used to spending money on apps, you are more likely to send ever more. Also note that some of the free apps or services you are using now, might start charging for some features. Personally, I can hardly remember the last time I spent money on software for personal use. I try to use free alternatives, especially cloud-based services as much as possible. However, I will factor in my recent upgrade to Windows 8, costs for online services, as well as a tiny buffer for apps I might buy. This adds up to €80. Intermediate total: €439.50 / year or 36.63 / month PowerNow this is a touchy subject. You can save quite a bit of power if you use your hardware conservatively and it doesn’t have to take great effort. Unfortunately, you won’t save great sums of money on every single device, which this calculation will reveal. However, if you have many devices that run on electricity, if they are power hungry, and if you have been very wasteful in the way you run them, you can potentially half your electricity bill. Keep in mind that electricity costs are on the rise and at the same time more and more gadgets come with a plug. Thus it’s worth being mindful of power consumption, both when purchasing a new device or running your old ones. You can read more about this topic in my energy saving tips article.
Back to your computer’s power consumption! There isn’t an easy and accurate way to find out how much power your PC is consuming. You can either estimate the power usage or borrow a power meter to get accurate numbers. Unless you want to do a large scale investigation of your power usage, purchasing a power meter is not worth it.
I will go with a super rough estimation. The two main power draining components in my laptop are its Core i5 2.5GHz CPU and the Full HD 15.6″ display. The computer is running for a maximum of 14 hours a day. During that time it may interval between intensive use, moderate use, being idle, standby, and hibernation. I dim the screen towards the evening. Based on these factors I estimate that my laptop needs around 55W on average for a maximum of 420 hours per month. And I think it might actually be less. I presently pay €0.2575 per kWh. Now here is how you calculate the energy costs:
Intermediate total: €510.90 / year or 42.58 / month Note that this calculation neglects increasing energy prices. InternetWhat good is a computer if you cannot go online? Exactly! So what do you pay for Internet every month? You could also count your mobile plan if you often tether the Internet to your computer or the obligatory coffee to use the “free” WiFi at your local coffee shop. Right now I pay €19.90 per month, which includes a landline flat-rate, but I hardly ever use the phone. Intermediate total: €749.70 / year or 62.48 / month Hardware UpgradesUnless you maxed out on hardware when you initially bought your computer, you will likely upgrade parts, for example the hard drive, RAM, or the CPU in case you have a desktop computer. These are significant costs you have to factor in!
I recently upgraded my RAM for €60.98. I’m not planning to upgrade the hard drive. This being a laptop, there is little else I could upgrade. Intermediate total: €780.19 / year or €64.02 / month Note that this calculation does not include the potential re-sell value of the hardware you replaced. InsuranceIf you buy an expensive computer that you are intending to use for a long time and that will be subject to an increased risk of damage or theft, it’s worth investing in an insurance. I did not purchase an insurance for my laptop, so my intermediate total remains unchanged. RepairsIf, like me, you did not opt for an insurance and end up damaging your computer, you will be faced with repair costs. The less you can do yourself, the higher those costs will be. Also note that some repairs are excluded from most warranty and insurance policies, for example laptop batteries.
I damaged my display, but was able to exchange it myself. The costs came down to €85. I’m hoping that I won’t have to replace another part, so I will leave it at that. Intermediate total: €822.69 / year or 67.56 / month Note that I didn’t factor in the time it took me to repair the laptop or what I earned for writing about the experience. Customer SupportIf you regularly need help fixing problems on your computer, even if you just invite your friend for dinner for compensation, you have maintenance costs to add to your total. I never had to pay for customer support and usually I’m the one helping out friends, so this position does not affect my total. Note that I’m neglecting the time I spend keeping my computer in shape. Final TallyThe costs to run my laptop add up to:
As mentioned several times above, this does not factor in the time you have to spend to keep your computer up and running, which would be a complex calculation in its own right. ConclusionComputers are anything but one time investments! The monthly costs are not to be neglected, even for someone with a tendency to use free and low cost alternatives like myself. And let me say this once more, time is money and if you took it into account on top of all other costs, you would probably end up with a significant sum! Maybe it’s worth buying a Mac after all. Image credits: Dollar Button via Shutterstock, Laptop via Shutterstock, Power Meter via Shutterstock The post How Much Does Your PC Cost To Run? appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Tried and True Free Launcher For Android – ADW Launcher Posted: 22 May 2013 04:00 PM PDT
Another confession: I’ve avoided ADW Launcher for the past two years and I don’t know why. Maybe it was the not-so-catchy name of the app. Maybe I just had a bad day once and decided to shun ADW forever. Nonetheless, I regret avoiding this launcher for so long because it’s absolutely fantastic and deserves a try no matter who you are. First Impressions
ADW Launcher for Android is packed full of features and concepts that you often don’t see in Android launchers – like app drawers and action gestures – yet it doesn’t feel bloated. The problem with having so many features? It can be intimidating to new users. I’ve been using Android for a while and even I feel a sense of foreboding when I need to slog through a new app with a mountain of features. But ADW Launcher takes care of you. Upon first launch, you’ll be met with an introductory glimpse at what this launcher can do, but ADW takes it one step further by combining “introduction” with “configuration setup” into one step. Page by page, ADW’s setup introduces you to a feature, then asks how you want it to be configured. Brilliant! I have to say that my first impression of ADW is extremely good. That was the easiest and most painless initial setup I’ve ever done – and I dare say that it was fun, too. If they put this much effort and thought into the intro, then I believe the developers know what they’re doing. App Management
Android launchers are all about home screen management and app drawer organization. While ADW Launcher may not be the absolute best in its category (there are paid launchers that perform a bit better), it’s most certainly good enough that I ended up not caring about what other launchers can do. With ADW home screens, you can play around with the following features:
With ADW app drawers, you get a few unique features I haven’t seen elsewhere:
Other Features
Having plumbed the depth of what ADW can do, I walk away with this understanding: it’s not about being a power user, it’s not about being the prettiest launcher on the market, but it’s all about letting you, the user, pick and choose how you want your screens and drawers to look. Almost every setting is related to this philosophy in one way or another and that’s what makes ADW beautiful.
The free version of ADW Launcher for Android is feature complete without any limitations that would hinder your daily usage. However, for $3.00 USD, you can upgrade to ADW Launcher EX and unlock even more features.
Boy, I feel like a fool for waiting this long to give ADW Launcher for Android a chance. It is now the one and only launcher on my phone and I don’t think that will change for many months to come. If you haven’t tried it yet, do yourself a favor and install it. The post The Tried and True Free Launcher For Android – ADW Launcher appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How I Import Internet UFO Sightings Data Into A Google Spreadsheet Posted: 22 May 2013 03:30 PM PDT
The fact is, data tables are a goldmine of important truths. Data often gets collected by armies of data-collection grunts with boots on the ground. You’ve got people from the U.S. Census traveling the entire country for household and family information. You’ve got non-profit environmental groups collecting all sorts of interesting information about the environment, pollution, global warming and more. And if you’re into the paranormal or Ufology, there are also constantly updated tables of information about sightings of strange objects in the sky above us. Ironically, you would think that any government in the world would be interested to know what sort of foreign craft are being spotted in the skies over any country, but apparently not – at least not in the U.S. anyway. In America, the collection of unusual sightings of crafts have been relegated to teams of amateur hobbyists who flock to new UFO sightings like moths to a flame. My interest in these sightings actually stems not from a fascination with aliens or crafts from other planets, but from a scientific fascination with patterns – where and why more people are seeing things in the sky, and whether those sightings could reflect something very real and much more down-to-Earth actually going on. To explore the volumes of data collected by teams of UFO hobbyists, I’ve actually developed a way to import large HTML tables of data into a Google Spreadsheet, and then manipulate and analyze that data to extract and discover meaningful and important information. In this article, I intend to show you how to do the same. Important HTML Data Into Google SpreadsheetIn this example, I’m going to show you how to import any data that might be stored in a table on any website on the Internet, into your Google Spreadsheet. Think about the enormous volume of data that’s available on the Internet today in the form of HTML tables. Wikipedia alone has data in tables for topics like global warming, the U.S. Census Bureau has tons of population datasets, and a little bit of Googling will land you a whole lot more beyond that. In my example, I’m starting out with a database on the National UFO Reporting Center that actually looks like it might be a query-style deep-web database, but if you observe the URL structuring, it’s actually a semi-complex web-based reporting system consisting of static web pages and static HTML tables – exactly what we want when looking for data to import. Importing Tables and Manipulating DataThe first step, of course, is to create the new spreadsheet. =importhtml(“http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/ndxpost.html?”&H2,”table”,1) H2 holds the function “=hour(now())“, so the table will update every hour. This is probably extreme for data that updates this infrequently, so I could probably get away with doing it daily. Anyway, the above ImportHTML function brings in the table as shown below. =text(A2,”mm/dd/yy”) In the next cell to the right, you need to use the SPLIT function with the “/” delimiter to break the date up into month, day and year. =split(D2,”/”) =text(E2,”00″) A format of “00″ (those are zeroes) forces two digits, or a “0″ as a placeholder. =concatenate(“http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/ndxp”,G3,E3,F3,”.html”) Using Pivot Reports to Analyze Imported DataJust recently, I wrote an article about using Pivot Reports in Google Spreadsheet to perform all sorts of cool data analysis feats. Well, you can do the same amazing data analysis acrobatics on the data that you’ve imported from the Internet – giving you the ability to uncover interesting connections that possibly no one else has uncovered before you. For example, from the final sightings table, I might decide to use a pivot report to take a look at the number of different unique shapes reported in each state, compared to the overall number of sightings in that particular state. Finally, I also filter out anything mentioning “aliens” in the comments section, to hopefully weed out some of the more wingnut entries. Another cool thing about Google Spreadsheet is the wide array of charts available to you, including a Geo-Map that lets you lay out “hot spots” of data in a graphical format that really stands out and makes those connections within the data quite obvious. ImportHtml gives you the ability to plug your Google Spreadsheet into the Internet, and feed off the data that exists out there. It can become your own personal hub of information that you can use to manipulate and massage into a format that you can actually work with. It’s just one more very cool thing to love about Google Spreadsheet. Have you ever imported data into your spreadsheets? What kind of interesting things did you discover in that data? How did you use the data? Share your experiences and ideas in the comments section below! Image Credits: Business Graph The post How I Import Internet UFO Sightings Data Into A Google Spreadsheet appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spotify Launches Top Charts For Most Played & Most Shared Songs Worldwide [Updates] Posted: 22 May 2013 03:00 PM PDT
Everything on the charts is divided by region, with the 28 locations where Spotify is offered available for users can switch between on the fly using the button on the top-right of the screen. Not only is it interesting to see what music is most popular on Spotify, it can also be a useful way to discover some music you may not have heard of. While I think I have a fairly decent finger on the pulse of the music scene, at least in the US, there were plenty of popular artists with which I was not familiar. Going further, exploring music from other parts of the world will help expand musical horizons even more.
In addition to changing regions, users can go back to look at different date ranges. This lets users keep track of what is popular, and for how long it is dominating on Spotify. Spotify has also set up its charts website to allow users to select the data in which they are interested in, and get an embed code for a widget they can place anywhere on the Web. This is a smart move for Spotify, as it allows its data to penetrate the Web quicker than it would by simply residing on its website. Will you use Spofity’s new charts feature? What do you think of it? Source: Spotify Charts The post Spotify Launches Top Charts For Most Played & Most Shared Songs Worldwide [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Upgrading to Windows 8? Get Settled In Faster with these Tips Posted: 22 May 2013 02:30 PM PDT
Ask anyone who uses Windows 8 on a standard laptop or desktop (not a tablet), and they’ll tell you the key to getting along with Windows 8 is ignoring as much of the new interface as possible. The standard desktop is still there under all that “Modern” interface. Where’s the Desktop?When you first log in to Windows 8, you’ll see the new full-screen Start screen. New “Modern” apps that you can install from the Windows Store only run in this full-screen environment. We’ll get to that later, though. For now, the most important thing you need to know is that the traditional Windows desktop is still there and can still run all your old software. To get to the desktop, all you have to do is click the Desktop tile on your Start screen. You can also press Windows key + D to launch the desktop.
Note that, if you purchased a Windows RT device, the desktop can’t run all your old desktop software — but you probably purchased a Windows 8 device. Windows RT devices are very unpopular, with the exception of Microsoft’s Surface RT. Where’s My Start Button?Now you’re at the desktop, which should look very familiar. It’s the Windows 7 desktop, but with a variety of improvements like a better task manager, improved file copy dialog, and built-in time machine backup. However, you’ll notice that there’s no Start button anymore. The Start button is actually present, but hidden. You can make it appear by moving your mouse to the bottom-left corner of the screen and clicking. This opens the Start screen you were at earlier. You can also easily launch the Start screen by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard.
To launch an application from the Start screen, click its shortcut like you normally would — desktop apps appear here, too. You can also start typing at the Start screen to search your installed applications, just like on the Windows 7 start menu. To view all your installed applications, right-click somewhere on the start screen (not on a tile), click All apps at the bottom of the screen, and you’ll see your installed programs. The Start screen is essentially the successor to the Start menu — think of it as a full-screen start menu. Applications you install will gain shortcuts on your Start screen, so you can arrange these shortcuts as you like. You can also use the search feature to quickly launch apps.
To make things easier, you should pin applications you use to the desktop taskbar — when they’re running, right-click their taskbar icons and select the Pin option. You can then easily launch the applications from your taskbar without opening the full-screen Start screen and leaving your desktop.
How Do I Shut Down?Note that the hidden Start button isn’t the only special “hot corner.” You can also move your mouse cursor to the top or bottom right corners of the screen and then move it towards the center edge of the screen to access the “charms.” For the most part, you shouldn’t need to access these charms unless you use Modern applications. However, the Shut Down and Restart options are located under the Settings charm. Don’t worry — there are many other ways to shut down your Windows 8 computer, including with its physical power button.
Move your mouse cursor to the top-left corner of your screen and you’ll access an app switcher that only works for “Modern” apps, not desktop ones — you don’t need to use that unless you’re using the new, Modern-style apps. Do I Have to Use All This New Stuff?As far as the Start screen and Modern apps go, you only have to see the Start screen when you log in. You can then use your computer normally, avoiding it as much as possible and using desktop applications. Pin application shortcuts to your taskbar and you won’t need to use it for launching apps. Modern apps are more suited to tablets than typical desktops and laptops. Microsoft doesn’t give us an option to boot to the desktop or use a traditional start menu, but you can do this anyway. Install a third-party Start menu like the popular Start8 and you’ll have a traditional desktop that appears when you log in. There will be a delay before your desktop appears, however. These Start menus can also easily disable the hot corners for you, allowing to have a more traditional-style desktop.
Windows 8 makes much more sense on a touch-enabled computer, but you probably haven’t purchased a touch-enabled machine as they’re much more expensive — most people are still buying computers without touch support. If you have a touch-enabled Windows 8 machine, check out our printable cheat sheet to Windows 8′s touch and mouse gestures. For more in-depth information on getting to grips with Windows 8 — including how to use the new Modern environment with all those Windows Store apps — check out our free Windows 8 guide. Do you have any other questions? Feel free to ask! And in case you have already mastered Windows 8, share your own tips for upgrading to Windows 8. what was your greatest challenge? The post Upgrading to Windows 8? Get Settled In Faster with these Tips appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Keep Boredom At Bay With Playable Google Doodles Posted: 22 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT
From 1998 onwards Google has been regularly changing the Google logo up, with the new iterations labeled Google Doodles. These doodles have been used to great effect to mark significant events, the birthdays of important people, and national holidays. They have also become a lot more involved over the years, with interactive elements being added. We’ve already looked at the best Google Doodles in video form, now it’s time to list the best playable Google Doodles released to date. Good Guy Google doesn’t delete these games, so they remain playable long after they appear on the Google homepage. Which is great for all of us who spend far too long on the Web and who are in constant need of things to occupy our brains. Zamboni
A Zamboni is an ice-resurfacer, named after its inventor Frank Zamboni. In the same way Hoover has become the generic name for all vacuum cleaners, so Zamboni has become the generic name for all ice resurfacers. Google released a doodle in honor of Frank Zamboni in January 2013, to commemorate what would have been his 112th birthday. It takes the form of a game which sees you driving an ice resurfacer around an ice rink after skaters have scuffed up the ice. This game is very simple. You use the arrow keys on your keyboard to control the vehicle, cleaning up all of the scuff marks as quickly as possible without running out of fuel. There are also power-ups and obstacles left behind on the ice. Snake
Released in February 2013 this version of the classic mobile game Snake was released to commemorate Chinese New Year 2013. Why Snake? Because 2013 is the year of the snake. Clever ol’ Google. You start playing by clicking the coin slot in the middle of the logo. Then you simply use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the snake left, right, up, and down. You don’t have to worry about hitting the edges of the playing area, instead you just need to collect the power-ups while avoiding the sticks of dynamite. Pac-Man
This was the first playable Google Doodle, and it arguably remains the best one released so far. Pac-Man turned 30 in May 2010, and to celebrate Google released its own version of the arcade classic featuring a maze inspired by the Google lettering. After clicking ‘Insert Coin’ you control Pac-Man with the arrow keys on your keyboard, eating the pills while avoiding the ghosts. The gameplay remains true to the original, which means it’s just as frustrating as it ever was. If this puts you in the mood for more Pac-Man then you’ll love The World’s Biggest Pac-Man. London 2012 OlympicsGoogle truly outdid itself to commemorate the London 2012 Olympic Games. As well as different static doodles for the opening and closing ceremonies, it released four playable Google Doodles for four of the sports included in the Olympics. All of these doodles are competitive, and you will be awarded up to three medals depending on your performance. Slalom Canoe
In the Slalom Canoe Google Doodle game you need to guide your canoeist down the rapids, making sure he travels between each set of gates. The canoe is controlled by the left and right arrow keys, one for each of the two oars. You need to concentrate on getting into a fluid rhythm and hitting each gate in turn. Soccer
In the Soccer Google Doodle game you play the part of the goalkeeper who needs to save as many shots from the striker as possible. The arrow keys move you left and right, and the spacebar makes you jump. The more shots you save the more difficult the game becomes… until you’ve let three goals in and it’s Game Over. Hurdles
In the Hurdles Google Doodle game you need to both run fast and make it over each hurdle that is put in your way. It’s a tough combination to get right, with each hurdle you run into slowing you down and ensuring you get a poor time. The left and right arrow keys pressed in turn build speed, with the spacebar pressed to clear the hurdles. Basketball
In the Basketball Google Doodle game you have 24 seconds to score as many basketballs as possible. All you need to do is hold down the spacebar to build up power, letting it go to release the ball. It’s a lot harder than it sounds, especially as your standing position moves back after so many balls are played. ConclusionsThese are the best playable Google Doodles I have ever seen, but I suspect there are many more out there waiting to be discovered. Google takes its doodles so seriously now that it features different sets for different countries, so it could be that there is a playable gem that is only available in your territory lurking away unseen by the masses. If this is the case then please let us know so that we can build another list of playable Google Doodles in the future. After all, MakeUseOf is a global effort, both in terms of the writers and editors, and the readership. Beyond that request, do you have a favorite amongst the playable Google Doodles featured here? Or any other thoughts to add to the article? If so please let us know in the comments section below. Otherwise read about different ways to explore Google Doodles on the Web. The post Keep Boredom At Bay With Playable Google Doodles appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To Use Your iPad (or iPhone!) As A Second Monitor [iOS] Posted: 22 May 2013 01:00 PM PDT
What if I told you there was a way you could use your iPad as a second monitor, extending your desktop with precious extra inches? That would be pretty amazing right? Well here are three apps that let you do just that. Splashtop XDisplay ($4.99 In-App Purchase, Mac & Windows)Ease of Setup: PoorSplashTop is already the brand leader in high-performance remote control software for your PC or Mac via an iPad (you can even watch movies), so a second display app is a natural fit. In fact, the same Splashtop Streamer app is used on the PC/Mac side as the display driver. Software installation is pretty basic, but I was a little perturbed to see permission required for an app called itself Kextinstaller; from my hackintosh days, I know kexts (key extension?) are core system files, and messing around with them incorrectly is one of the few things you can do to break a Mac. The things I do in the name of testing…
Once installed, you’re asked to create a username and password, but these are only needed for the remote control Splashtop 2 app.
However, you will need to click on the Security tab and create a security code, which isn’t obvious; as well as install the virtual display driver under Settings > Advanced. A restart is also required.
When youre finished with all that, switch over to the iPad, launch XDisplay and you should see that your computer has been automatically discovered. Tap on it and it should connect, though it took a few refreshes for me and looked like the computer was breaking in the process. Eventually though, the screen will be extended and a helpful hint system displayed.
Performance: GreatA three-finger tap will open the app settings, one of which is to switch between smooth and sharp. In smooth mode, video playback was great, but text is fuzzy.
In sharp mode, video was still playable, but mouse response took a nosedive. Most text was easy to read, but clearly not “retina” grade. It’s also worth noting that touch controls mouse movement, so you should be able to draw into desktop applications with this app if you wanted. And because the app is resolution independent, you can also zoom in. Splashtop XDisplay is free to download with a 10 minute limitation, and is currently on 50% sale at $4.99 to unlock the full app. It’s a pain to setup and the required steps aren’t obvious or documented in any central place, but it does work exactly as it says on the tin, and being able to switch between sharp text or smoother graphics makes it suitable for a wide range of applications. Mini-Display ($9.99, Mac only)$9.99 might seem like a high price to pay for an app which is rated 2 stars average and only Mac compatible, but I had no specific issues using this, so can only assume the ratings came form previous buggy versions. Ease of setup: GreatInstall the connector software and restart – that’s it. No passwords, no hidden driver installs. It just works. The interface on MiniDisplay for the iPad is simple, with a nice image of any recognized machines. Select the machine, and a few seconds later you have an extended desktop. If your Mac has a user password set, you’ll need to enter that. Performance: Atrociously slow but crystal clearThe lag is unbearably slow – it would take a few seconds or so to drag a window onto the extended desktop and have it appear. Just writing text into an email or Evernote is acceptable. The text however, is crystal clear – it’s obviously using the native retina resolution of the iPad, which explains the lag. Video playback is impossible, but if writing emails or reading small chat displays is your main use case, you might appreciate the retina graphics. Mouse movement is performed using a single tap, so no drawing is possible. Mini Display is a universal app, so you can also run it on your iPhone – though only one device can be connected at the same time which means no lining up every iDevice you own for fun. It’s also worth pointing out that the higher resolution of the iPhone makes it completely unusable for, well, anything.
AirDisplay ($9.99, Mac & Windows)Ease of setup: GreatAgain, a single install and no passwords to set or additional steps required. If there was any confusion about what to do, launching Air Display on the iPad explains exactly what you need to do for either Mac or Windows, including how to setup an ad-hoc Wi-Fi network if needed.
To actually start using the display, activate and select the second device from the menu bar in the Mac or Windows AirDisplay host. Note: there used to be a free version of this app that has since been withdrawn – the developers found it was butchering sales of the full app. Performance: ReasonableAgain, Air Display uses the full resolution of an iPad – which is approximately the same as my iMac, so the pixel density renders a lot of apps unusable, though with incredibly clear detail. Here’s some tiny Photoshop menus, for example.
Video and general usage is very laggy, though subjectively didn’t feel as bad as Mini-Display. You can even draw directly into Photoshop, smoothly but albeit with a noticeable second delay between touching and having the line appear. Significantly, AirDisplay also includes the option to not use retina resolutions – it’s tucked away in the preferences. Disabling this puts it on par with XDisplay’s sharp setting, and makes everything more responsive and UI elements more reasonably sized.
The WinnerTo be honest, trying to use the iPad as a second screen just made me squint an awful lot no matter what the app. Then again, my main work machine is a 27″ iMac – if you were to place the iPad alongside a 13″ MacBook Air, you might be more appreciative of any extra inches you could get your hands on. For basic tasks like keeping a chat window open, checking a mail client or perhaps as a status monitor – the iPad works admirably. The clear winner for me in this round-up though has to Splashtop XDisplay. Yes, it doesn’t display at retina resolution, but in practice this is actually better than the other apps which ended up displaying windows at incredible detail, but so tiny as to be useless. XDisplay lets you switch between a higher quality (though not retina) resolution, and something more than acceptable for smooth video playback. It’s sadly let down by the complex and somewhat daunting install process. AirDisplay comes an admirable second once you disable retina graphics, and the setup is far friendlier. It’s a tough call between the two. Have you found a better solution to use your use iPad as a second monitor? Let us know in the comments if you have, or if you use your iPad as a second monitor often – we’d love to hear your experiences and what kind of apps you dock there. Intro image: ShutterStock – multiple monitors The post How To Use Your iPad (or iPhone!) As A Second Monitor [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| World War I Aircraft Action In Rise Of Glory for Windows Phone Posted: 22 May 2013 12:01 PM PDT
Rise of Glory is a Windows Phone game with a similar premise. Complete with tutorials and missions to shoot up the enemy in long-winded dogfights, this Xbox Live game evokes the spirit of Wings (just as it does those brave heroes who took to the skies in machines made of wood and steel). But can it replace that old 16-bit game in my affections? The Setting For Rise Of GloryFor the younger among you, from 1914-1918 there was a devastating war in Europe. Known at the time as The Great War but now alternatively as the First World War or World War I, the full, horrific details of the conflict (including cause, outcome and tactics used) can be found on Wikipedia. What is notable about the conflict is that several new types of warfare were borne out of it.
On the ground, tanks, heavy artillery and machine guns were employed for the first time, while the recent invention of the aeroplane by the Wright Brothers was adopted by a new division of the British Army, the Royal Flying Corp. Similarly, Britain's enemy in this war, Germany, was equipped with its own aircraft, and while the gun battles and artillery bombardments raged across the fields of France and Belgium, one-on-one combat ensued in the air. You Are an AirmanWe look back on these airmen – on both sides – with some romance. One of Germany's most successful pilots was The Red Baron, and in the majority of cases these were daring, officer-class recruits who signed up to their respective fledgling air forces out of patriotism and reckless derring-do.
This spirit isn’t present when you first open Rise of Glory. The game forces you into a rather dull tutorial, forcing you to learn to fly and reach way points successfully before giving you the chance to destroy some sheds and barrage balloons in your rickety airplane before progressing to real action. To this end, all you have is an accelerator and decelerator, a gun and a rudder control – along with the gyroscopic capabilities of your Windows Phone 8 device. Don't worry about sensitivity, as this can be adjusted in the game settings. Fly Into BattleDifferent planes are available as you proceed through the game, usually locked to specific levels, so you should check the details of the craft before engaging so you can alter your tactics accordingly. Some craft have better armour than others, for instance.
Gameplay is fun and engaging, especially when the enemy attacks! This is the moment that you need to take full advantage of the plane's strengths, which usually involves a lot of spins and weaving while firing your gun whenever the enemy is in your sights – but not before! Overuse of your single mounted machine gun can cause the weapon to overheat and lock up (a genuine challenge faced by those pilots nearly 100 years ago) so this should be used sparingly.
Beyond the gun, the only other real challenges are avoiding crashing (it's easy to hit the ground in the middle of intense combat) and the increasing difficulty of the missions. A huge selection of achievements are available (the credit for doing so added to your Xbox Live Gamerscore) but you'll need to put in a heck of a lot of game time to complete them all… Graphics & SoundFrom propeller sounds when starting the biplane in the training mission to the sounds of bullets in combat, Rise of Glory is also accompanied by a music soundtrack with typically triumphant military overtones. Audio levels can be adjusted in the settings, while the theme tune can also be set as your ringtone.
Other than the gameplay, however, the real pleasure in Rise of Glory is work put into the graphics. The aircraft are detailed, while the landscape moves in such a way as to create the sort of motion you would expect. Acceleration is impressive too (the plane moves away from the camera in the main third person view) and all of these elements are the icing on the cake of an impressive game. Flight of Fantasy!Easily one of the best Windows Phone games I’ve played, Rise of Glory marries the bravery of the era in which it is set with the solitude, the lack of communication and exposure to the elements that would have been experienced by pilots in the First World War. A good selection of different achievements can be earned (excellent for your Xbox Live Gamerscore!) from Rookie (three kills while surviving battle) to 10,000 kills throughout the game, with plenty in between (Flawless, Ace, Clean Match, etc.). The difficulty level is well-balanced, the graphics evocative and the user interface perfect. If you own a Windows Phone, Rise of Glory should be installed already – if it's not, make it a game that you plan to buy. To give you an idea of its quality, we’ve added Rise of Glory to our Best of Windows Phone Apps page. Rise of Glory can be purchased from the Windows Phone Store for $2.99 (£2.29 in the UK). The post World War I Aircraft Action In Rise Of Glory for Windows Phone appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Control Any Application On Your Mac Or PC Using Actions for iPad [iOS] Posted: 22 May 2013 11:00 AM PDT
Actions enables you to set up commands to control your Mac or Windows PC from your iPad. It works in similar fashion to Keyboard Maestro, an automator application I recently reviewed. Actions is like having a personalised menu on your iPad which can be used to access a variety of individual commands, like opening and closing windows, zooming in and out on a webpage, controlling media playback, navigating via web browsers, or when creating new documents — basically any menu bar item for an application can be executed in Actions. The User InterfaceThough Actions for iPad does require some setup to get started, its user interface is very well designed, especially for an automation application. Actions is sort of like Automator, but it’s ten times more attractive. The main palette of Actions consists of multicolor buttons with professionally designed icons that send assigned commands to your computer.
Tapping on an action is like clicking on a menu bar item or issuing a keyboard shortcut command. You can divide the Actions palette into different presets, one for each of your most used applications, including the Finder. When you switch to a preset application in Actions, that application will automatically come to the forefront on your Mac or PC. Likewise, when you switch to a different preset application on your computer, it will automatically switch to the corresponding preset on Actions, so you can start using the preset commands. Actions also includes universal finger gestures on the iPad for copying and pasting text and images, and for undoing and redoing actions on your computer. Setting Up ActionsI must admit I didn’t find Actions easy to set up at first. To get started, you will need to download and install the Mac or PC client for Actions. Next open Actions on your iPad and the client on your computer, and pair them over your network. This part of the setup is easy enough and the app walks you through the process.
I believe the Actions app for iPad comes installed with a preset application for controlling iTunes, but you still will need to take some time to set up personalized presets for your own computer. If you overlook the tutorial when first opening Actions, you can re-open it by tapping on the tiny “i” icon on the top-left of Actions, accessed by swiping down on the palette with three fingers.
The resulting page will explain the four main buttons to create or load presets, and edit actions in the app.
Fortunately, Actions comes installed with presets for a wide variety of applications including Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, Chrome and Safari, iMovie, Word, Windows Vista and XP, and Garageband. Tap the pencil icon in the top-right to create a new preset or load the preset application. When the Create new preset button is tapped Actions will load all of the supporting applications on your computer. You can then scroll and select the one you want to load – iPhoto for instance.
Type a label for the set and then tap on the tick confirmation icon on the top-right side. After the new set or application is created, tap on the confirmation button again, and then tap the Load button, which presents all the applications that include default preset commands in Actions.
So if you tap on the iPhoto application presets, you can select the actions that you want to load in the palette for controlling that application on your Mac. You probably should only select the actions you perform the most in iPhoto, such as Copy Adjustments, Paste Adjustments, Full Screen View, Batch Change, Flag Photo, Move to Trash or Rate 5 Stars for example
Next, tap the confirmation button, and Actions will load your selection of actions for iPhoto. You can re-arrange the actions on the palette, and when you’re done, tap the confirmation button to save those actions. Notice that you can always edit or load more actions for the application set by tapping on the edit icon.
You can also tap the edit button, and then tap on an individual action to edit and change the color of a button, or add or change its icon or name.
Create an ActionThough Actions has over 900 pre-installed actions and commands, there will be applications in which you will have to create actions from scratch. So for instance, since Actions doesn’t have preset actions for the text editor, MarsEdit, they will need to be manually created. To do this, tap on the Edit button, followed by the Create button. Actions are created based on keyboard shortcuts. To create a Paste Link action, for example, I tap on the key command buttons in Actions that match the keyboard shortcut for that menu item in MarsEdit. You can apply a color and icon to represent that action and after tapping the confirmation button, it’s good to go.
With Actions open and setting next to my keyboard, I can tap on actions as I write articles in MarsEdit. Bottom LineThe above instructions I’ve given for Actions cover just its basic features. You will have to spend some time to learn all that the app has to offer. The developers probably should create a set of video tutorials for those who are new to automation applications like this. Is Actions for iPad a highly productive app? Well, it depends on your workflow and whether or not you think it would be faster to issue commands from your iPad’s screen rather than using lots of keyboard shortcuts. I think you do get a lot of functionality for the small price of the app, but as ever let us know what you think of Actions in the comments, below. Download: Actions for iPad ($3.99) / Actions Host For Mac & PC (Free) The post Control Any Application On Your Mac Or PC Using Actions for iPad [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monolingual – Remove Languages You Don’t Use From Your Mac Posted: 22 May 2013 10:01 AM PDT
Modern hard drives are big, but sometimes we all need just a little more space on our primary drive. Whether you’ve installed a solid state drive in your Mac or simply filled up your primary one, sometimes a little extra space can help a lot. Mac OS X includes hundreds of languages, most of which you don’t need. You might well need Spanish, Chinese or even Hebrew on your computer, but do you really need Yiddish? Or Welsh? Or for that matter, invented languages like Esperanto and Klingon, or dead languages like Latin or Sanskrit? All these and more are taking up space on your Mac, right now. Which languages you need obviously depends on who are – I’m sure at least one person reading this has set Klingon to be their default. More power to you. But next to none of us need every language Apple offers – which isn’t a problem, unless you’re running out of space on your hard drive. Monolingual removes these languages, and also frees up space by removing PPC-specific files from “Universal” applications. Removing Languages from MacOpen this program and you’ll see a complete list of languages included, by default, in OS X. Uncheck any language you want to keep.
Make sure you’re absolutely certain you’re not deleting any languages you need – there’s no real way to get those languages back. The program even warns you:
Again – make certain before going forward. Once you have the removal will begin:
If you’re expecting to save gigs and gigs of space you’ll be disappointed – the languages don’t take up that much. Still, I was able to shed over 100 MB.
You could say it’s not much, but I kept quite a few languages – and any space I can free up on my SSD gives me more room for installing games and apps (not to mention dual-booting). Removing Architecture-Specific StuffLanguages aren’t the only trick up this app’s sleeve – it can also delete excess files intended to allow apps to run on multiple architectures. Confused? Maybe you shouldn’t mess with this, then, but I’ll provide some background. Macs switched from the PowerPC (PPC) processor to Intel back in 2005 – since then a number of apps have been designed to run on both PPC and Intel systems. Such apps are called “Universal”, and were an important part of why Apple’s transition from PPC to Intel was so seamless. In 2013, however, the PPC parts of these Universal apps just take up space on Intel Macs. So Monolingual can remove the PPC parts of Universal apps. Running this is a bad idea if you plan on using Rosetta to run PPC software, but probably not a problem if you’re using Lion or later – Apple dropped all support for Rosetta with Lion. Pick which architectures you’re willing to remove from your system:
Monolingual will clean up “Universal” apps, turning them into Intel-only ones. How much space this frees up will obviously depend on how many apps you have installed – and whether they’re Universal – but for me this ended up freeing up more space than the language removal:
Okay, so I probably have more software installed than most – I test software for a living. But again, freeing up 200 MB could be useful for many. Download MonolingualReady to try out Monolingual? Go ahead and download Monolingual from Sourceforge. You’ll need to install it the old fashioned way – dragging an icon. Stop complaining, it’s fun. Other Ways To Save SpaceDo you want to save even more space on your Mac? I highly recommend check out CCleaner for Mac, which cleans up the crap left behind by a wide variety of apps. Mackeeper is also worth looking into, if you’re willing to pay for it. You can also find and delete duplicate files to save space, using Dupe Guru. You might be surprised how many redundant files you have. Do you have any other space saving tips for Mac users? Please share them in the comments below – your comments could help us build our best of Mac apps page. Or, if you prefer, just share your thoughts about Monolingual. The post Monolingual – Remove Languages You Don’t Use From Your Mac appeared first on MakeUseOf. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. Most of the listed websites are FREE or come with a decent free account option. If you want to have similar cool website round-ups delivered to your daily email, subscribe 
Microsoft released 
Do you love 
Smartphones and tablets have changed the way we live life. No longer can we wake up and lull around in bed without checking our email or Twitter mentions. Nobody worries about getting lost any more unless they’re low on battery, the smartphone user’s achilles heel in a world of do-everything devices.
Almost nothing that you buy is a one time investment. Most things have follow-up costs for maintenance or just for plain being used. With computers these costs are small and easily neglected, but depending on your needs they can add up to substantial amounts nevertheless.
A confession up front: Whenever possible, I try to avoid mainstream solutions and go with the lesser-known alternatives. For example, when searching for an Android launcher, I’ll forego something like 
When it comes to online databases and information that can be found inside what is commonly known as the “
Popular streaming music service Spotify has launched a new feature designed to 
If it’s about time you purchase a new computer, that computer is probably going to come with Windows 8 (unless you buy a Mac). Microsoft hasn’t included a tutorial with Windows 8 — aside from the cryptic “move your mouse into any corner” line — so you’ll need to do a bit of research to get up to speed with the latest version of Windows.
The Google homepage is intentionally minimalist, with a distinct lack of pointless detritus that would only serve to divert people’s attention away from the main purpose of the page. Which is to provide a kicking off point for exploring the wider Web. There’s the Google logo, a search bar, and a couple of buttons, and that’s it… most of the time.
Productivity pros swear by multiple monitors, but we don’t all have the luxury of carrying around huge screens and endless wallets. On the other hand, the iPad has become pretty ubiquitous, and it can really help you 
One of my fondest gaming memories is Wings, a World War I fighter plane arcade simulator released on the Amiga back in 1991. It was the first game in which I was able to create a profile, it offered three different gaming options within the pilot's career and most of all it was hugely playable and addictive. Sadly over the years I’ve never been able to find a game that comes close.
If using keyboard shortcuts is not your forté but you spend a lot of time working in workhorse applications like Photoshop, GarageBand, Pages or Word, Numbers, Adobe InDesign, iMovie, or PowerPoint, or you simply want a faster way to execute menu items on your computer, you might want to check an app called 
Free up some space on your Mac – delete languages you will never use. Monolingual is a simple Mac app that anyone looking for more hard drive space should check out.
| You are subscribed to email updates from MakeUseOf To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment