15 New Articles on MakeUseOf

---

• Cool Websites & Tools – Get A Phone Call From A Stranger, Check Your Vitamins, & Fitbits On Your Wrist
• 12 Ways Gaming Makes You A Better Person
• Why Are You Still Using Facebook? [We Ask You]
• How To Use Slack For Project Management With These Simple Tips
• 5 Amazing Things About Destiny That Will Blow You Away
• Do You Think Twice About These Online Shopping Traps Before You Buy?
• The Future Of Music Games In A Post-Plastic-Guitar World
• No Overdubs Here: Catch Exclusively Recorded Live Music On Daytrotter
• MakeUseOf’s Technophilia Podcast Episode 121
• 7 Awesome Camping Android And iOS Apps To Plan Your Next Adventure
• Taking A Trip? 6 Ways To Teach Your Kids Something New While Traveling
• Create Impressive Photo Collages Without Photoshop Using Photo Slice & TapnSlice
• Don’t Trip Over Yourself: 5 Group Email Behaviors to Avoid
• FREE GUIDE: Simplifying and Securing Your Life with LastPass and Xmarks
• Why RAM Boosters And Task Killers Are Bad For Your Android

Cool Websites & Tools – Get A Phone Call From A Stranger, Check Your Vitamins, & Fitbits On Your Wrist Posted: 09 Jul 2014 09:31 PM PDT Mapcam – is an attempt to connect people that otherwise would probably never, ever meet. The more people that are on this site, the better it’ll get. You can call someone anywhere in the world in your browser, using your webcam and your microphone. All you need to do is to click one of the red pins on the map and follow the instructions. Once in a while, you might get a call from a stranger from somewhere on the planet. NutriHawk – is the hawk that keeps an eye out for your nutrient deficiencies. It keeps tabs on vitamins... Read the full article: Cool Websites & Tools – Get A Phone Call From A Stranger, Check Your Vitamins, & Fitbits On Your Wrist

12 Ways Gaming Makes You A Better Person Posted: 09 Jul 2014 07:30 PM PDT In a way, gaming has its benefits — it can actually turn you into a brighter and fitter person! Parents will agree that playing with toys can help develop a child’s intellect. Playing the right games can bring about the same effect: it can stimulate the brain and help with strategic planning, memory, spatial navigation and hand-eye coordination. Playing Wii Sports on your Nintendo Wii can actually get your heart rate up right in your living room! So will a couple of dancing games on your Xbox One and Kinect. So why not dedicate an hour a day to playing... Read the full article: 12 Ways Gaming Makes You A Better Person

Why Are You Still Using Facebook? [We Ask You] Posted: 09 Jul 2014 06:30 PM PDT Facebook is by far the largest social networking site in the world, with a userbase of 1.3 billion. The question is, why? Facebook isn’t exactly a beloved institution, and yet it’s able to deflect most of the criticism that comes its way and hold onto its users. We need to investigate why this is the case, and we need your help to do so. Facebook Knows Where You Live We want to know, Why Are You Still Using Facebook? It’s a simple question, but one that may require some serious navel-gazing on your part. Essentially, we want to know what... Read the full article: Why Are You Still Using Facebook? [We Ask You]

How To Use Slack For Project Management With These Simple Tips Posted: 09 Jul 2014 02:00 PM PDT 1 team collaboration service + 1 brainwave = 1 excellent project management tool Have you used (or heard of) Slack? This freemium online service ensures that group communication is quick and smooth, and all but takes long group emails out of the equation. For quite some time now, we at MakeUseOf have been using Slack for team collaboration, with positive results. Recently I realized that with Slack’s clever set of features and well planned, distraction-free UI, the platform can double up as a project management tool for many people. See if you’re one of those people and learn how you can go about setting up... Read the full article: How To Use Slack For Project Management With These Simple Tips

5 Amazing Things About Destiny That Will Blow You Away Posted: 09 Jul 2014 01:00 PM PDT Destiny, the upcoming massively multiplayer shooter from Bungie, is only a few months away. The game’s release will mark culmination of a project that’s been years in the making and was built new from the ground up; even the 3D engine is a cutting-edge, in-house production. My experience in the alpha has convinced me that this will be the game that defines “next-gen” gaming – and here’s why. The World Is Beautiful And Seamless Bungie, as a studio, has always tried to push the boundaries of what’s possible with game worlds. This was true even before Halo; the studio’s Myth franchise,... Read the full article: 5 Amazing Things About Destiny That Will Blow You Away

Do You Think Twice About These Online Shopping Traps Before You Buy? Posted: 09 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT Online shopping is one of the greatest conveniences of the Internet age, but it can also be very dangerous for your bank account. Retailers and marketers are using cutting-edge behavioral psychology to get you to buy their products, whether you need them or not. Do you know how they’re targeting you? The Psychology of Shopping Maintaining the self-discipline to avoid impulsive buying online is hard. And it’s made even harder by online marketers who know how we think. The fact is, we don’t actually think through our actions very well. We use cognitive shortcuts called heuristics — these help us... Read the full article: Do You Think Twice About These Online Shopping Traps Before You Buy?

The Future Of Music Games In A Post-Plastic-Guitar World Posted: 09 Jul 2014 11:00 AM PDT It’s hard to believe that the dawn of the plastic instrument gaming trend is nearly 10 years old. Since 2005, Guitar Hero, and later Rock Band and the totally free Frets on Fire, turned the volume on our gaming nights up to 11 by fulfilling our dreams of feeling like rock stars with awesomely entertaining musical gameplay. But like trends tend to do, our plastic instruments have fallen out of favor. Their bulky boxes are gone from retailers’ shelves, and any efforts to support them come mostly in the form of DLC to feed the existing fanbase. This doesn’t mean... Read the full article: The Future Of Music Games In A Post-Plastic-Guitar World

No Overdubs Here: Catch Exclusively Recorded Live Music On Daytrotter Posted: 09 Jul 2014 10:00 AM PDT There's something quite magical about live music. But what if you live in a town where bands seldom tour to, or if you struggle to keep track of bands touring in your area? Or what if your schedule makes it impossible to attend live music, or if you simply can't afford the high ticket prices of concerts? Well, there is another way. Meet Daytrotter. For $4 per month, you can listen to as many professionally-recorded concerts as you want. And it's awesome. So, What's This Daytrotter Then? DayTrotter is the brainchild of Rock Island, IL resident Sean Moeller. The premise... Read the full article: No Overdubs Here: Catch Exclusively Recorded Live Music On Daytrotter

MakeUseOf’s Technophilia Podcast Episode 121 Posted: 09 Jul 2014 09:45 AM PDT Rant On The Right To Be Forgotten Tech News Concerned about privacy? Congratulations, that puts you on the NSA watchlist! Kids don't care about cars, says Bob Lefsetz YouTube joins Netflix on the ISP shaming bandwagon. Dead battery? Might just have to leave your device at the airport. Kickstarter Potato Salad campaign raises $60,000 Gaming EA can no longer call Dungeon Hunter free in UK ads. There's a pretty awesome 2K Humble Bundle going right now. The International 4 is happening right now! Giveaways Brydge+ iPad keyboard VidOn.me's AV200 Android Blu-ray player Read the full article: MakeUseOf’s Technophilia Podcast Episode 121

7 Awesome Camping Android And iOS Apps To Plan Your Next Adventure Posted: 09 Jul 2014 09:00 AM PDT It takes a lot of planning to have a safe, fun, and successful camping adventure. You need to decide where to go, form a travel route, and know how accomplish the desired activities you’ve planned from morning to night. As much as it’s good to get disconnected from the digital world when you go camping, the following smartphone apps make a good case for taking your device with you. They can help with each phase of your adventure — except for avoiding mosquito bites. Study Up: Learn to Camp [Cross-platform] Though the Learn to Camp app is targeted at people who will be camping... Read the full article: 7 Awesome Camping Android And iOS Apps To Plan Your Next Adventure

Taking A Trip? 6 Ways To Teach Your Kids Something New While Traveling Posted: 09 Jul 2014 08:00 AM PDT “The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” There was no Wi-Fi when Samuel Johnson lived. Travel was mostly local and usually for the elites and adventurers. What he said then is just as true today. The Internet has turned the world into a global village. But you still need to travel. Trips with children in tow can be an exercise in “survival” at the best of times. But if they are at the right age, planning a road trip in one’s own country... Read the full article: Taking A Trip? 6 Ways To Teach Your Kids Something New While Traveling

Create Impressive Photo Collages Without Photoshop Using Photo Slice & TapnSlice Posted: 09 Jul 2014 07:00 AM PDT Photo collages can take your images beyond mere snapshots to create something special. What’s more, creating a unique collage effect isn’t hard using your iPhone or iPad and the right apps. We’ve probably all taken some promising photos that are begging for creative attention. Sure we can crop and enhance photos or apply fancy retro filters, but Photo Slice (free, $1.99 in-app purchase) and TapnSlice ($1.99, universal) let you go one step further by creating fun and dynamic photo collages. It’s easy, fun and the results look great. Photo Slice (free, $1.99 upgrade) The magic of Photo Slice can happen automatically with a few simple steps, or by using your own... Read the full article: Create Impressive Photo Collages Without Photoshop Using Photo Slice & TapnSlice

Don’t Trip Over Yourself: 5 Group Email Behaviors to Avoid Posted: 09 Jul 2014 06:00 AM PDT Imagine you’re standing at a podium, and you have only five or six sentences to make your point in a debate. Once you’re done, people in the audience will all have a turn ripping apart (or supporting) everything you’ve just said. Sound fun? Welcome to group email threads. Crafting a good email isn’t easy, and it’s an art that few people are able to perfect. Through the years at MakeUseOf, we’ve tried to help with various netiquette guidelines and email tips, but group emails introduce a situation that is very unique. In group emails, there are so many variables —... Read the full article: Don’t Trip Over Yourself: 5 Group Email Behaviors to Avoid

FREE GUIDE: Simplifying and Securing Your Life with LastPass and Xmarks Posted: 09 Jul 2014 05:30 AM PDT If you’re like most people, the keys to your entire life are stored online. Your bank accounts, health records, work files, tax returns, vehicle registration information, and just about every other important document is stored somewhere in the cloud. While this means that you can easily access all of your important information wherever you are, it also means that you have a lot of passwords. And keeping track of all of those passwords is really hard. That’s why LastPass was created. This guide will take you through the basics and some of the more advanced features of LastPass, from storing... Read the full article: FREE GUIDE: Simplifying and Securing Your Life with LastPass and Xmarks

Why RAM Boosters And Task Killers Are Bad For Your Android Posted: 09 Jul 2014 05:00 AM PDT Stop killing your Android phone! There’s a lot of misinformation out there regarding the usefulness of RAM booster apps and task killer apps. At first glance they sound incredibly useful, but a closer look shows that they could actually be harming your phone instead. Long story short: Simply avoid using RAM booster and task killer apps. They may have once been useful, but Android has progressed far enough that these sorts of apps are now outdated, unnecessary, and counterproductive. If you want to know why they’re bad, keep reading. How Android Handles RAM and Apps To understand how Android handles RAM,... Read the full article: Why RAM Boosters And Task Killers Are Bad For Your Android

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