15 New Articles on MakeUseOf |  |
- Cool Websites and Tools [May 13th 2013]
- 3 Great Sites To Find League Of Legends Builds & Guides
- How To Fix Write Protection Errors On a USB Stick
- 5 Ways To Get Customer Service To Notice You On Social Networks
- The Essential Smartphone Apps and Gear to Keep Productive When Traveling
- What Is Lifelogging And Why Should You Do It?
- Two People, One Tablet: What Are Your Options? [Android]
- Phonon: A New Way to Chat on Facebook With Text and Voice [Android & iOS]
- Stick The Kettle On! 8 Videos That Celebrate Tea & Coffee [Stuff to Watch]
- 5 Daily iPad Crossword Apps To Do While You Wait [iOS]
- 5 Chrome Extensions To Superpower Twitter
- Evernote: A Must-Have App for the iPhone and iPad [iOS]
- Lights, Camera, Action! Learn From 7 Digital Filmmaking Schools On YouTube
- Yes, You Can Code On The Go: 4 Of The Best HTML Editors for Android
- Sticky Password Pro 6.0: Keep Your Passwords Safe and Organized [Giveaway]
| Cool Websites and Tools [May 13th 2013] Posted: 13 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 13th 2013] appeared first on MakeUseOf.     | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 Great Sites To Find League Of Legends Builds & Guides Posted: 13 May 2013 07:31 PM PDT
With any competitive game, and especially the most popular game in the world, community sites begin to form and a wealth of knowledge is brought to our attention. The League of Legends community has done a wonderful job of picking the game apart to its most finest details, and it is much appreciated by players who are eagerly trying to improve themselves. MOBAFireMOBAFire is definitely the go-to solution when you’re looking for a competitive edge in League of Legends. This website features such a ridiculous set of information, and outlines everything from champions, abilities, runes, masteries, and more. However, the main attraction here is definitely their guides. The main page of the website features guides from recent eSports games, and then guides that were officially submitted to MOBAFire that you can quickly eyeball by their rising popularity, by submitter elo ranking, and more. These guides are more full-featured than any you’ll find on the web. Each guide effectively sections out runes, item builds, ability sequences, masteries, and then offers the rest of the page to the author where they’re able to completely outline any additional information that they deem relevant to the guide (including summoner spells, jungle routes, gameplay videos, and more). All guides are regulated by the community as you’re able to vote on the quality of each. When sorting guides by champions, the highest-rated guides will be shown first. MOBAFire does an amazing job of presenting guides and builds to the League of Legends community, and its great reputation is credit to just that. LoL ProLoL Pro is one of the newer League of Legends build sites, but already one of the best. As part of Curse’s network of competitive gaming websites, it’s really not a secret why. The main page of LoL Pro’s website seems a little bare compared to what you’d see on MOBAFire, but the League of Legends guide are incredibly easy to find under the Guides heading in the top menu. One thing to immediately note about LoL Pro is that a majority of the guides featured on this website are written by professional players, and more specifically members of Curse’s LoL team: Voyboy, Nyjacky, Saint, Cop, and Rhux. Where many similar websites offer only champion-specific guides, LoL Pro has a great section that offers guides for general gameplay. This includes last hitting, how to play each role, pushing and freezing your lane, and more. Many will tell you that these guides are infinitely more important than simply learning the mechanics and specifics of any single champion. However, the champion and build League of Legends guide always seem to be the most popular. LoL Pro guides are broken down into sections, including abilities, runes, masteries, summoner spells, and items. While they are easy to navigate and read through, I feel as if MOBAFire offers better organizational tools for guide authors to work with. Even so, it’s really hard to find difficulty in reading through and understanding any guide I’ve come across on LoL Pro. LoL Pro features an assortment of really quality guides, and it’s always good to know you’re reading information from a player who plays this game at a professional level. SoloMid.NETLike Curse has done with LoL Pro, Team SoloMid has their very own League of Legends website where their professional team shares their in-game knowledge with the community. TSM players like Reginald, Xpecial, and Dyrus regularly contribute content to SoloMid’s website. SoloMid’s guides are a bit more strict and monitored than some alternatives’, as they screen guides for approval and even have a section for featured guides. Though the design and layout of the guides on SoloMid are a bit more plain than others, it actually manages to get the information across really well. Guide pages don’t seem as messy and cluttered and guides actually all fit on a single page, so you’re able to easily review information without navigating back and forth. Every League of Legends guide includes runes, masteries, abilities, items, and more. SoloMid owns an entire network of League-related sites, others having to do with League of Legends counterpicks (which are very important in competitive play). TSM has been around forever and is definitely the favorite LoL eSports team in North America, so advice given by these guys is definitely something to be taken seriously. Which of these three websites do you find most effective? Are there any alternatives out there that are worth giving a look? Let me know in the comments below! The post 3 Great Sites To Find League Of Legends Builds & Guides appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How To Fix Write Protection Errors On a USB Stick Posted: 13 May 2013 07:01 PM PDT
Deep breath and stay calm. It is just an error message. You and I are going to go through a few simple steps to fix write protection on USB drives and make your USB flash drive work again, in the manner that you expect it to. It’s just technology, we can fix it. Step 1 – Check The USB Drive For VirusesEvery time you plug a USB drive into your computer, you should be automatically scanning it for viruses – especially if you have used it on computers that you don’t own, or public computers. Viruses often act in a manner that will fill your USB drive with nonsense files and this can make your USB drive respond with the Write Protected error. Depending on the antivirus software that you have, you may be able to configure it to automatically scan USB Drives when they are plugged in. If not, usually you can navigate to the USB drive in Windows Explorer, right-click on it and make your antivirus software scan it manually. If you do find a virus, then it would be best to eliminate it using your antivirus software. I’d also recommend performing a scan with at least one other antivirus scanner, as not all antiviruses are 100% complete in their anti-virus definitions. Chances are where there is one virus, there are two or more. I recommend reading Joel’s article, “Make Sure You're Clean With These Free One-Time Scan Antivirus Tools“. Step 2 – Check The USB Drive BodyNormally I’d make something this simple, step one. However I’d rather see you protected from viruses first and then have you check the simple thing factor. Some USB flash drives have a mechanical switch on them that puts them into Write Protect mode. This can be a very small slider switch which may have caught on something in your pocket or computer case. If this is the situation, then simply move the switch to the unlocked position and try to copy files again. It should work now. On the upside there aren’t a lot of USB sticks with these locks on them anymore. So there is a good chance that’s not the issue for you. On the downside, if this isn’t the issue the following fixes are slightly more complicated. Step 3 – Check To Make Sure the Flash Drive Isn’t FullIf your USB stick is full, you may also get the Write Protect error message. So, simply pop into Windows Explorer, find your USB Drive, right-click on it and select Properties. This will give you the nice pie chart display of the Used and Free space available on your USB Stick. (Fun Fact: The scientific reason why pie charts are so popular is that people like pie). It appears that my drive is barely used at all! Step 4 – Is It Just That File?Make sure that it isn’t just the file that is write protected. Yes, you would get a different error message, but maybe you jumped to conclusions and thought it was the whole USB flash drive. It happens. If I can freak out like that, so could you. Right-click on the file that you’re trying to write to and then click on Properties. Now you’ll see some options at the bottom of this window and one of them is Read-only. Make sure this box is unchecked and then click on the Apply button. You should now be able to write to this file. Step 5 – Diskpart Command Line UtilityHave you ever worked in the command line on Windows? Well you’re about to. It’s not as scary as one might think, and as such it is the next logical step before going into the Windows Registry. Click on your Start Menu and type Type in the command A new command line window will open. Type If it is listed here, make a note of the number beside it. Make sure that this is indeed your USB drive! Now type the command Type Step 6 – Into the Registry We GoIf none of the previous steps helped you out, then we have to do something a little dangerous – we are going into the registry. If you are not comfortable going into the registry, I understand. You may want to skip to Step 7, but that means going on to formatting your USB drive. Or, you can have a friend who is a computer technician check the registry for you. Or you can try it out yourself. This is a fairly simple registry change, so hang in there. I think you can do it. Click on your Start Menu and type Hit your Enter key. The Registry Editor window will now open. By clicking on the arrows next to the menu items, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies and look for a key named WriteProtect. If that key exists, right-click on it and click on Modify. Now, you’ll probably find that the value for this is set to 1. 1 means “Yes, write protect my USB storage device.” So you can guess that 0 means “No, don’t write protect my USB storage device.” Now change that value to 0 and click on the OK button. Close Registry Editor, remove your USB device and then plug it back in again. You should now be able to write to your USB stick. If not, it is Disk Formatting Time. Step 7 – Format The USB DriveWARNING: Make sure that you back up all the files and information from your USB drive to your computer. All data will be lost once the USB drive is formatted. Formatting the hard drive is a last resort. However, it should make your USB drive able to be read and written to. Prior to formatting the USB drive, determine what kind of file system it already has – NTFS or FAT32. Normally the file system that it already has will be the file system that is best suited for the drive. Remember how we went into Windows Explorer, right-clicked on the USB drive and selected Properties back in Step 3? Let’s do that again. There it is - File system: FAT32. If you want more information on file systems and formatting USB Flash Drives, Tina has a solid article on that, called, “How To Format A USB Drive & Why You Would Need To“. Close out the Properties window and right-click on your USB drive in Windows Explorer again. Click on Format. In the Format window, you’ve got some options. We’ve already determined that we’re going to use the FAT32 File System for this particular drive. For Allocation Unit Size, select the highest amount you can if you’ve got a USB drive with a capacity over 1GB, go smaller if your USB drive is smaller. I don’t know of too many people with a USB flash drive less than 1GB so 64 kilobytes should be fine. You can make the Volume label something that is meaningful to you. I’m just leaving it as KINGSTON for now. Because we may be dealing with a USB drive with hardware issues, I suggest unchecking the Quick format box. That will force the format to do more than just erase files. If there is a bad sector on this USB drive, a full format will will throw an error. If that’s the case, then you may want to check out my article, “How To Make Corrupt USB Jump Drives Work Again“. The formatting shouldn’t take too long. Of course, the larger the volume, the longer the formatting will take. Assuming there is no physical problem with the drive, your USB drive will be formatted, cleaned and ready to read from and write to. The Take AwaySometimes the problem is simple and can be dealt with simply. Try those methods first as they are most often the correct ones. If the problem is deep and requires drastic measure, make sure that is indeed the case. You’ve got a lot more troubleshooting tools in your arsenal now and should be able to get your USB drives working again, potentially saving you a tidy sum of money. And all we ask is that you let us know how it went, in the comments below. Of course, if you have any additional tips, we like to read those too. Image Source: Padlock USB via Shutterstock The post How To Fix Write Protection Errors On a USB Stick appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 Ways To Get Customer Service To Notice You On Social Networks Posted: 13 May 2013 06:30 PM PDT
Yeah. We’ve all been there. Sometimes, you have to do things another way. Sometimes, you have to take your problems to the world of corporate social networking. By using various services such as Twitter and Facebook, you just might be able to get customer service to look your way. However, you need to do things right. Check out our tips below. Think Before You PostI felt like this needed to be said at the forefront of the article for this very reason: sometimes we act irrational. When you send out a curse-ridden rant targeted at a company via Twitter, Facebook, or even complaint sites catering to dissatisfied consumers, someone has to answer for it.Occasionally, the one answering isn’t even responsible for the problem. Consider the cautionary tale by Lindsay Robertson in which Home Depot screwed up her AC delivery. Although the shipping arrangements were made online, her anger-fueled Tweet resulted in the already-exhausted local store managers arriving at her door at 11 p.m. to carry the hulking object inside her apartment. Were these individuals at fault? No. However, they got the short end of the stick. Publicly Call Them OutAlright. You’ve thought about it. The company’s local managers were jerks to you. So were the cashiers and associates. In short, this company just sucks. If you have beef, sometimes the best decision is to complain via a Tweet or Facebook post. By the way, this won’t necessarily make you appear whiney or petty – this is just the new way of doing things. In fact, if the company Tweets or comments with a solution to the problem, it may help someone with the same issue! Besides, most companies would prefer to not have bad blood out and about like this, so they will do whatever they can to fix the issue. Unless, you know, they really, really suck. In that case, you probably should find someone else to do business with. Keep It Open-EndedKeeping your inquiry open-ended is a good option for an issue that isn’t too major. Obviously, there could be something wrong, but perhaps you know that a simple Tweet or Facebook post isn’t the best way to convey your message. You could always send out a short note that says something like, “Hey guys. Could you tell me the best way to contact you about a problem I’m having with your product?” It’s simple, non-threatening, and honest. Typically, you’ll receive a proper email address to use or maybe even a prompt to explain your situation. As a plus, this kind of simplicity can help prevent things from getting heated on either end. Usually, acting professionally is the best way to go. Summarize The SituationSo you may have already requested for a better contact route. You were nice about it, but the company didn’t even respond. Yep – you were ignored. Now is the time for things to get a bit more drastic. Although this could be viewed as a little petty, you should post – in detail – every single part of the problem that you are having. Be calm, though. There’s no need to act childish. If the company doesn’t respond right away, others likely will. The Internet is a powerful force, my friend. Sometimes you can use it to your advantage. Whether it’s someone who doesn’t have as much self-control as you commenting on the post or an image being shared on Reddit, there’s definitely a chance that this will get the attention of customer service. Build A PosseWe’ve discussed all the steps you could take, but what if none of them work? Well, like I said earlier, the Internet is a powerful force. If you can’t get the attention of customer service, get the attention of the Internet. Instead of waiting for someone else to post your problem on Reddit, post it yourself. Do you participate in forums related to the company’s products? Post there, too. In other words, build as much attention around your case as possible. Do whatever you can to draw eyes to the issue, and put yourself in a position where the company can’t ignore you. ConclusionSometimes companies have bad days, so keep that in mind before you absolutely unleash. However, other times, they just aren’t good companies. It happens! Have you ever contacted customer service via a social network? Did it work out for you? Image Credits: @boetter, James Cridland, Moyan_Brenn, Incase, Moyan_Brenn The post 5 Ways To Get Customer Service To Notice You On Social Networks appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Essential Smartphone Apps and Gear to Keep Productive When Traveling Posted: 13 May 2013 05:30 PM PDT
I just got back from a tour of California’s beautiful Sonoma County, internationally known for its extraordinary wines and verdant, rolling hills. Unfortunately, with a deadline looming and no laptop available, the task of composing an article fell to my trusty smartphone, a suite of productivity software and a handful of peripheral devices. Plan Your TripFirst things, first: Prepare for your trip. Knowing the weather ahead of time will allow you to pack accordingly. On my wine-tasting trip, an unusual weather pattern brought in sprinkles and cold weather. Fortunately, having used Weatherbug and Google’s search feature, I managed to pack my bags accordingly. Unfortunately, not everyone in my party prepared and two found themselves huddled together around cups of coffee while I gloated and snapped pictures. Another handy tip is to download maps of your travel destination ahead of time, using Google Maps. As I’ve mentioned before, Google Maps offers an offline mode. Simply download and install the app. From the menu tri-dot, select the “make available offline” option. Maps will prompt you to manually indicate the region that you’re traveling to and will then save the entire region to your phone’s memory. A number of other options exist for creating offline maps. GMapCatcher can download printable maps from Google. There’s also Stay for the iPhone. Check the weather: As Joel can attest, it’s possible to check the weather of your travel destination using Weatherbug‘s forecast feature. If you’re on a desktop, searching Google + the region you’re traveling to will produce prediction results from the Weather Channel’s Weather Underground. Essential ApplicationsThe most useful productivity software to take on a vacation is a combination of office apps, offline navigation, theft recovery and place of interest discovery apps. Offline Navigation: Offline navigation can help when visiting locations where data access is poor, absent or expensive. Two of the best offline navigation apps are OSMand and the outstanding Google Maps. Both provide excellent turn-by-turn navigation, in addition to offline functionality. Chris and I covered several of the best offline maps available for Android. My opinion is that OSMand performs better for offline guidance, whereas Google Maps wins out in overall performance. Office Applications: For free office apps two of the best apps are KingOffice and Google Drive. For paid apps consider DocumentsToGo or OfficeSuite Pro 7. While each app possesses various strengths and weaknesses, my preference is for OfficeSuite Pro 7 of the paid apps and KingOffice for the free apps. But overall, I don’t know if the additional features of the paid office suites justify their $15 price tags. Unfortunately, many office productivity suites lack important features found on the desktop or laptop. A big issue among Microsoft Office users is the lack of higher spreadsheet functions on mobile devices. While mobile software improves constantly, it doesn’t yet appear to be on the level of the desktop. SwiftKey: Joel first suggested SwiftKey in his article on the best Android apps money can buy. And as I can personally attest, SwiftKey provides one of the fastest virtual keyboard experiences on any platform. I cannot suggest this app enough. Yelp: The Yelp app finds businesses pertinent to whatever you crave, in addition to offering augmented reality. Augmented reality apps visually overlay locations pertinent to your needs on the phone’s screen. Simply select a category from a number of Yelp’s predefined filters, such as restaurants or bars and Yelp takes care of the rest, using your phone’s camera to display places near you. Just wave the phone around and it shows the location’s proximity and direction. Cerberus: Cerberus provides a formidable defense against thieves. One of its most effective features includes the ability to track a stolen phone even in the event of a SIM card swap. Another handy feature lies in Cerberus’s ability to activate the phone’s microphone, which helps in identifying the thief and assisting recovery of the phone. It also includes remote tracking from a desktop, and the ability to activate if another SIM card is swapped in – handy if the thieves resell the phone. Frankly, Cerberus is the ultimate security for your phone. Unfortunately, Cerberus doesn’t come free. Alternatives that cost nothing, fortunately, do exist, although they don’t provide the same features. Plan-B is among some of the better alternatives. Essential Smartphone GearOne of the best features of smartphone gear is that it’s lightweight. Compared to many laptops, even ultraportable Chromebooks, a bag full of smartphone gear feels like a bag full of feathers. Additionally, they often provide a redundancy not found in a heavier computer. For example, if any individual device fails, such as a battery or charger, you can rely on the phone’s internal keyboard or battery. It may shock you that the SwiftKey app helped compose half of this article. Bluetooth mouse: Having a mouse makes the mobile computing experience very similar to the desktop in several important ways: First, the mouse scroll-wheel perfectly integrates into Android, providing a seamless means of zooming around a word processor. Second, a mouse allows you to completely detach from touchscreen dependence, freeing you up to focus entirely on typing and editing. In my experience, almost all Bluetooth mice work with Android Honeycomb (3) and above. The mouse pictured is the Eclipse Touch. While not well reviewed, in many ways it beat its two-star Amazon rating by offering good performance and portability. However, at $25, better mice can be found. Regarding peripheral devices, you may as well go as cheap as possible since not much of a difference exists between expensive and cheap mice. For example, some of the expensive “touch” mice on the market don’t require mechanically activating a mouse button and instead incorporate a touch-sensitive material. While the technology feels more organic than “clicky” traditional buttons, you’re better off with something inexpensive and disposable. Theft runs high while on the road and minimizing your risk should take precedent over novel or unique features. Bluetooth keyboard: A keyboard provides many times more “words per minute” typing efficiency than does a virtual touch keyboard. While a travel keyboard may require batteries and drain quite a bit of energy over Bluetooth, they provide an optimal means of typing papers. They also oftentimes include keyboard shortcuts to the phone’s core functions, such as the dialer. Unfortunately, most keyboards that can work on older versions of Android tend to run a high cost and offer poor functionality and performance. On the other hand, newer versions of Android (4+) offer excellent keyboard compatibility with Bluetooth devices. And some can in fact be found for relatively little money. OTG Cable: On-the-Go cables allow newer Android devices (4+) connectivity with many USB devices. Erez did a great write-up explaining how OTG works. Christian also elaborated on how-to implement a keyboard-tablet pairing, which he actually used as his primary computer for a full week. One of the advantages of using a standard keyboard is that it doesn’t require its own batteries, instead drawing current from the mobile device itself. OTG cables sell on Amazon for just a few dollars, too. AC adapter: When you’re not out and about, or sleeping, an AC adapter, AKA charger, keeps your device from draining out. Unfortunately, if you’re anything like me, you make extremely poor decisions and frequently purchase incompatible or poor quality computer parts. To illustrate, my AC adapter ended up failing, necessitating that I rely on a backup battery. Backup battery: A backup battery will help in the event that you are unable to charge using your AC adapter. In my case, the AC adapter failed – however, the backup battery provided an entire additional day of charge. It also doubled as a flashlight. Man-bag: While the majority of you would scoff at a man carrying a purse, I defy such rigid gender stratification. The canvas man-bag comfortably fit all my gadgets, including a Nexus 4 Smartphone, prized rooted Nook Simple Touch, Bluetooth travel keyboard, Bluetooth mouse and Cocoon gadget case. The whole kit weighed only a few pounds, to boot. Towel: Never forget your towel. ConclusionIf you hate lugging around a heavy laptop, and mobile productivity ranks high on your list of priorities, try rolling your very own mobile productivity kit. It takes little more than a handful of the best travel apps and gear to get up and running. Anyone else love working on the go? Let us know in the comments. Image Credits: Cellphone via MorgueFile.com The post The Essential Smartphone Apps and Gear to Keep Productive When Traveling appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What Is Lifelogging And Why Should You Do It? Posted: 13 May 2013 05:00 PM PDT
So, what is lifelogging? Rather than use social networks to document your life, there are dedicated lifelogging services, most of which keep that content (your lifestream) private, so that you can have a complete record of your day to day activities. There’s a huge array of services, gadgets and apps dedicated to exactly this purpose, some of them general, and some that serve a specific function – such as logging your workouts, your sleep patterns, your mood, or simply highlights of your day. What is LifeloggingLet’s take a step back and take a look at what lifelogging really is. The concept originated with the idea of wearing a gadget or computer that records or captures large chunks (if not each moment) of a person’s daily life. The first person to do this actually did it as far back as 1994. Steve Mann is considered the “father of wearable computers“, and the Canadian researcher, continuously transmitted his life using a wearable computer for 24 hours a day. While the definition of lifelogging began with the idea of some sort of wearable gadget that automatically records your data for you, it has since evolved to include manual options which allow you to record the data to an app or service on a daily basis. The most common form of lifelogging you see today is that used in sports. Gadgets like the Jawbone UP and Fitbit, which track your physical activity, fitness, and sleep activity. The Different Types of LifelogsWe’ve mentioned just two types of lifelogs when introducing the idea, but there are countless ways in which people choose to lifelog. Wearable gadgets: A wearable gadget is the easiest way to lifelog since it automatically captures the data for you. If you regularly workout and want to keep track of your progress, this is the ideal way to do it so you don’t forget to record any of your data. Other types of wearable gadgets include cameras, like the Memoto which shoots photos, and Looxcie, which shoots video. Of course, Google Glass would also fit in this category. Mobile apps: If you don’t want to fork over a large amount of money, or any money at all, another convenient way to record data from your daily life is to use a mobile app. There are apps for taking photos (like Everyday), shooting videos (like 1 Second a Day), logging your sleeping pattern (like Sleepbot), tracking your heart rate (like Instant Heart Rate), and recording and tracking your workout (like RunKeeper), among others. The disadvantage to using a mobile app rather than a gadget is that you sometimes have to remember to manually enter the data, but a lot of apps will come with a reminder notification built in. Even if they don’t, you can simply use your phone’s native reminder app and set up a recurring reminder to record your data on a daily basis. Web apps: Like mobile apps, there are web apps that you can use to record your data, but this is likely the most inconvenient option of the four. Lifelogging, by its very nature, is best done while you’re on the go so you don’t forget to enter the data, or don’t forget what the actual data was. That said, there are some pretty solid services worth considering, some of which are automated, like Rescue Time which will let you know how you’re spending time on your computer. Standalone gadget:While not as common, there are a few standalone gadgets that are used to create a lifelog, but more often than not it is of your surroundings rather than your immediate interactions. For example, CubeSensors can monitor your surroundings, and “continuously measure temperature, humidity, noise, light, air quality and barometric pressure for every room, they can even pick up unwanted vibrations that shake up your building.” Why Should You Do It?Now the big question, why should you bother with a lifelog? Today, it provides a great way to monitor your health, to make sure you’re benefitting from your workouts, and can offer you the means to improve the quality of your life. If you’re active and spend a lot of time at the gym, lifelogging your activity seems like a necessity to make sure you’re getting the most out of your workouts. Away from physical activity logging, when it comes to shooting video and photos, whether continuously or at intervals, you end up with a fascinating record of your life. You can capture moments and photos you might otherwise miss, and it becomes the ideal way to pass your legacy on to your family and children. They can share the parts of your lives they weren’t there for. Even if you choose not to share these details with anyone else, it becomes an important record for yourself…like simply taking journaling to the next level. What do you think? Would you start a lifelog? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Image Credit: Wikimedia, Loic LeMeur The post What Is Lifelogging And Why Should You Do It? appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Two People, One Tablet: What Are Your Options? [Android] Posted: 13 May 2013 04:30 PM PDT
This feature is easy to set up if you have an Android 4.2 device. It’s a useful feature not found in Apple’s competing iPad, making it easy to leave a tablet lying around and share it with your significant other, children, or anyone else. Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets also have multiple user accounts — Apple’s iPad is the only device that hasn’t caught up. Note that Android 4.2 does not offer multiple user accounts on smartphones, only on tablets. Creating Multiple User Accounts on Android 4.2To get started, open the Settings screen on your Android tablet and tap the Users option under the Device category. If you don’t see this option, your device isn’t running Android 4.2 or above. Tap the Add User button at the top of the screen to create a new account. Note that the first user you already set up on the tablet is considered the “owner.” They have the ability to delete any user’s space from the tablet, while other users can only delete their own spaces. You’ll see an informational message about user accounts. If the other person who will use the account is nearby, you can hand them the tablet and they can begin the setup process by entering their Google account and other information. They’ll go through a setup process just as they would when setting up a new Android tablet. If the other person isn’t nearby, you can leave the user account alone and they’ll be able to go through the set up process the first time they log in. Using Multiple User AccountsOnce you have multiple user accounts enabled, you can switch between them by tapping the icons at the bottom of Android’s lock screen. if the user has a PIN or password set, they’ll need it to log into their account — this prevents unauthorized people from accessing the user’s account. To “log out,” simply lock the tablet’s screen or allow it to time out as normal — from the lock screen, other people can switch to their user account and sign in. Only three users can be “active” at a time. Active user accounts will sync in the background, so every user’s email and other data will always be ready when they go to use the device. If you have four accounts, the least recently used user will be considered “inactive” — the three accounts used most recently will be considered active accounts and will sync. You can manage user accounts — changing icons, renaming them, deleting accounts, and creating new accounts — from the Users screen in Settings. You can also set an “owner info” message that will appear on the lock screen from here. But I Don’t Have Android 4.2!Let’s say you have a tablet running Android 4.1 or older and you really want multiple user accounts. You have some options, but they’ll all probably cause you problems.
We don’t recommend using any of the above tricks. If your tablet is still running Android 4.1 or older, you may want to try looking for an installing a community-developed custom ROM (like Cyanogenmod) that will bring Android 4.2 to your device and give you multiple user accounts without any dirty hacks. Do you use multiple user accounts on your Android tablet? Do you have any other tips and tricks to recommend? leave a comment below and let us know! The post Two People, One Tablet: What Are Your Options? [Android] appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Phonon: A New Way to Chat on Facebook With Text and Voice [Android & iOS] Posted: 13 May 2013 04:00 PM PDT
Both Android and iOS have a number of great chat messengers – like Kakao, WhatsApp, or even Viber – which are mostly used as text message replacements that can be used over WiFi without paying a cent. Yes, Phonon provides text chat functionality, but its main selling point is that it is also a voice messenger. Intrigued? You should be. Join me as I explore this awesome new messenger app. The first thing you’ll notice is that Phonon is highly integrated with Facebook – so integrated, in fact, that you need an active Facebook account in order to use Phonon. Phonon is nothing without Facebook, so if you’re trying to avoid Facebook, then I’ll just tell you straight away that this isn’t the messenger you’re looking for. Phonon will ask you to log in using your Facebook credentials, which you’ll have to confirm by a code that Facebook sends you (thank you, Facebook privacy). Then, Phonon will ask you for a username. Just pick one and you’ll be shown through a brief introductory slideshow tour describing all of its features and what each of the buttons mean. Honestly, it’s straightforward and that’s one reason why Phonon has a fair chance at success: it’s really easy to pick up. So the main selling point of Phonon Voice Messenger is that it can leave messages for other users to read when it’s most convenient for them. The chat message feature is simple to figure out – it’s just like leaving a comment. You type up a message and they can read it at their leisure. But the cooler option is to leave a voice message. By tapping one of the microphone buttons, the app enters into recording mode. In this mode, you can speak into your device like any other microphone and it’ll begin to record your message. The app lets you know how long you’ve been recording, and when you’re done all you have to do is hit the send arrow. Think of it as a voice comment. Unfortunately, there’s no way that I know of to listen to or alter your recording before submitting it. Phonon has two other big features that are central to the app’s philosophy. First, birthday tracking. There’s a gift box icon along the top bar which has a number counter on it – the number of friends whose birthday is today. When you tap on it, a list of those friends will come up and you’ll be able to leave birthday messages for them. This is a nice touch since voice is more real and intimate than simple text. The second feature is group messaging. Invite a bunch of your friends into a group chat and you can all leave chat and voice messages for each other. I think this is the coolest feature in this app, mostly because I don’t care all too much about Facebook status updates and photo albums. However, leaving behind voice messages for a group of friends? That’s something I could really get behind. I have to say that I really like Phonon’s layout. It’s not the most polished or most beautiful interface I’ve ever seen, but it does do a lot of things well enough that it doesn’t feel clunky, sloppy, or cluttered. Sometimes not being bad is just as effective as being innovative. The first big eye-catcher is the similarity of its layout to most Facebook apps on Android. There’s the traditional navigation bar at the top with Home, Contacts, and Inbox. Then you have the feed interface that shows the latest activity of your friends. The next eye-catcher is the relatively huge size of the buttons for leaving messages. I think it’s great that these buttons are so large because that’s the main focus of the app, after all. These messages can be left on status updates, photo albums, and privately user-to-user. Phonon is available on Android as well as iOS. Yes, if your friends want to be able to read/listen to the messages you leave, they’ll need Phonon, but fortunately it’s pretty widely available. Give it a try and let us know what you think of it! The post Phonon: A New Way to Chat on Facebook With Text and Voice [Android & iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stick The Kettle On! 8 Videos That Celebrate Tea & Coffee [Stuff to Watch] Posted: 13 May 2013 03:31 PM PDT
The culture and prevalence of tea and coffee throughout the world is an interesting topic and so is the history and science behind the beverages. We make no secret of our love for caffeine fixes here at MakeUseOf, and we’ve even gone as far as giving away a Bosch coffee machine, and that’s why today’s Stuff to Watch is best enjoyed with a hot drink of your choice. I’ve managed to find 8 of the best tea and coffee themed videos on the web, so stick the kettle on and have a well-earned break while working through this list. Tea Making TipsIn 1941 the British (and much of the world) was at war with Nazi Germany, but somehow they still managed to find time to make this public service announcement called “Tea Making Tips”. And who else but the British would create such a film? At just under 10 minutes long it’s a crash-course in making the perfect cup of tea. The film has one main message – there’s no secret to making the perfect cup of tea, just a few pointers. At a time of war, massive loss and heavily rationed supplies making the most of what you had was an important part of life. If your tea-making skills leave little to be desired, watch this and become enlightened, 1940s-style. Documentary: Tea and Coffee Society (Iran)It would be wrong to assume it’s only the Commonwealth countries that drink tea on an almost religious scale, and another society that takes its tea very seriously is Iran. The film traces the route of coffee from the empire Iran once held to the first coffee plant exported to Brazil. The film isn’t heavy on dialogue, in fact there is no narration whatsoever. Instead the film skips from one teahouse to the next, and offers an interesting glimpse into another culture’s love affair with hot beverages. Epic Tea Time with Alan RickmanAs part of a series called Portraits in Dramatic Time by David Michalek, Alan Rickman of blockbuster fame (come on, Snape and the bad guy from the original Die Hard) is seen making a cup of tea and subsequently destroying it in dramatic slow motion. The video series was initially created as part of a festival in 2011 and each was projected onto the Lincoln Center in New York City, though the whole series has yet to make it online. Come on David, let’s see the rest! Coffee: The Greatest Addiction EverBelieve it or not, coffee powers much of the Internet including this and many of your other favourite sites. While tea is the lubricant that keeps many of us working into the afternoon, without coffee mornings would probably be a write-off. I’m speaking for myself here, of course, but I’d like to drag a few others down with me. If you’re also a coffee-lover by design, you’ll enjoy getting your fix in video form with this 3-minute long film that should teach you everything you need to know about nature’s best caffeinated beverage. This is Coffee!It was the English who made many of the first tea-themed public service films and who better to pay homage to coffee in similar form but America. This film was not just created by any old organisation – this is the work of the US Coffee Brewing Institute. Released in 1961, this sepia-toned PSA is a celebration of the strong stuff. Best of all it’s free to download, keep or remix into your own projects as part of the Prelinger Archives, so grab it here. How To Drink Tea or Coffee In SpaceRemember Don Pettit? He was the astronaut who spent around 6 months on the International Space Station, filming various zero-gravity experiments and documenting the life of an astronaut in general. His footage was so good I put together a Don Pettit-themed Stuff to Watch, featuring a video which I’m going to show again – drinking coffee in space. This method would work for both tea and coffee, though only coffee is shown here. Your coffee addiction looks a little more pedestrian if NASA’s not prepared to send its astronauts into space without some fresh ground inspiration. Coffee ScienceAn incredibly sweet and entertaining look at the job of a barista, from deciding what a coffee should taste like to what to charge and how to best brew the coffee. If you weren’t aware of the incredible detail that goes into a fine cup of coffee, this 5-minute documentary is for you. Tealand, A Tea DocumentaryWith a few simple tips you can brew the perfect cup of tea at home, so why would you want to go to a tearoom? This documentary takes a look at the revival of the tea house in Britain, exploring old pre-Victorian buildings to businesses who try to keep as much to the original ethos of a tearoom as possible. Also featured is Manchester’s monthly music night run by DJ and producre Mr Scruff, an evening that plays trip hop, funk and breakbeat while selling tea to revellers and raising some money for charity at the same time. Alt titles: Team & Coffee Lovers Unite: 8 Videos For Caffeine-Addicts [Stuff to Watch] The post Stick The Kettle On! 8 Videos That Celebrate Tea & Coffee [Stuff to Watch] appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 Daily iPad Crossword Apps To Do While You Wait [iOS] Posted: 13 May 2013 02:30 PM PDT
But the world around is evolving. Paper sheets are making way for rows of pixels. The newspapers are slowly (but steadily) giving way to online news; on your computer and on your tablet. Just take a look at Steve Campbell’s iPad crossword app review titled 5 Amazing News Apps For The iPad. Even old and archived news papers are finding their way online. As with newspapers and magazines, crosswords are going digital. Now, this isn’t a bad thing. Come to think of it, there are few better ways to enjoy crosswords. You might miss your coffee-stained, pencil-marked newspaper friends at first, but the iPad is a crossword wonder. Leave your eraser at home and carry a year’s worth of puzzle books wherever you go. And if you have to wait for a spell, you have your puzzles to hand, whether you’re queuing or commuting. Below, you’ll find a round-up of some of the best crossword apps for the iPad. Daily Quick Crossword Puzzles (Free)This app is ideal for beginners to crossword puzzles or non-native English speakers. As you might suspect from its name (not all crosswords can be adequately described as ‘quick’) and its colourful interface, Daily Quick Crossword Puzzles is a light crossword app, offering small and relatively easy crossword puzzles. The app can be downloaded for free, and although additional crossword packs can be acquired through in-app purchases, the daily crossword is free as well. Besides today’s crossword, you can freely play around with the past nine days worth of crosswords. However, once you’ve completed a crossword, you won’t be able to access it again. NYTimes Crosswords (Free)The New York Times crosswords are notoriously hard, but also among the most popular paper crosswords. The NYTimes Crosswords app is aimed at crossword veterans. After downloading the app for free, you can access today’s New York Times crossword. For more puzzle pleasure, or if you want o bridge a few days with a single crossword, you’ll have to unlock premium content via in-app purchases. Puzzle packs of all difficulties can be purchased for around $2, with each pack providing a good 30 crosswords. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the New York Times crossroads, giving you access to the daily puzzles, as well as the archive containing over 4000 puzzles! A subscription will set you back a yearly $16.99, a biyearly $9.99 or a monthly $2.99. Don’t forget if you’re stuck, Saikat Basu’s list of 7 Quick Tools To Solve Crossword Puzzles Online may provide a helping hand. Crosswords ($9.99)Crosswords is arguably the best crossword app out there, but it’s also one of the most expensive. Acquiring the app will set you back an initial $9.99. This gives you access to an impressive amount of free daily crossword puzzles, including (but not limited to) those of Crossword Nation, NY Times Classic, Newsday, People, Premier Crosswords, Washington Post, Independent Concise and The Herald Cryptic. If that isn’t enough, you can tune-in to several premium crossword providers, including American Values, Crooked Crosswords, New York Times and the Telegraph (Cryptic and Quick) by entering your premium subscription information in the app’s preferences. The interface is a joy to use and although app-specific keyboards have a tendency to work only haphazardly, the Crosswords’ keyboard has a high-quality feel to it. With the Skip, Rebus (a 10-letter notepad) and Flip buttons mixed among the other keys, navigating the clues feels effortless. If you can afford to spend the $9.99 on a crossword app, Crossroads is the app to buy. CRUX Crosswords ($4.99)At $4.99, CRUX Crosswords costs half as much as the Crosswords app discussed above. That may still be twice as much as some other crossword apps, but CRUX Crosswords gives you great value for your money. It’s the premier alternative to the Crosswords app for crossword enthusiasts. Like Crosswords, CRUX gets its puzzles from a wide variety of crossword sources. These include the NY Times Classic, People Magazine, Thinks.com, The Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, and Independent. Enter your premium subscription credentials in CRUX’s settings to gain access to crosswords from The American Values Club, Crooked Crosswords, New York Times and The Telegraph. CRUX manages to provide an intuitive paper-like interface without losing any of the beautiful simplicity you’d expect from a quality puzzling app. Interesting features that give CRUX an additional edge over its competitors are its support for user profiles (great for a shared tablet in a puzzle loving home) and the different crossword views that make navigating clues a breeze. For instance, you can highlight related clues, as shown in the right-side screenshot. Montessori Crosswords ($2.99) (For Kids)This probably isn’t the crosswords app you’ll end up with, but Montessori Crosswords is a great app to introduce very small children to crossword-like word games, and even learn them how to spell. Each word is depicted by an icon. Press the word to hear its prononciation, and press the letters at the bottom of the screen to hear phonics. Spelling is built up from simple words like sun and cat to harder words like thread. Over 300 hundred of these word-audio combinations are available through the app. Don’t worry, I’m not disgracing this list with a simple spelling app; the puzzles are also available in crossword form, with two or three words interwoven on the iPad’s screen. This won’t be the app you’ll use to pass your time, but it’s a great choice to pass on your puzzling legacy to the next generation. And when the kids grow more proficient, you can create your own crosswords to add to their curriculum. Do you still make your crosswords with pencil and paper, or have you started going digital as well? Let us know your app choices — for crosswords and other types of puzzles — in the comments section below this article! The post 5 Daily iPad Crossword Apps To Do While You Wait [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 Chrome Extensions To Superpower Twitter Posted: 13 May 2013 01:01 PM PDT
If you’re the kind of person who prefers to leave things in the browser, certain Chrome Twitter extensions can help you get all sorts of fun and useful Twitter features without having to resort to out-of-the-browser clients. Whether you’re looking to save time when sharing webpages, save brain cells when reading your stream, or retweet the good old way from Twitter’s native interface, there are ways to do so without leaving your browser. Try the Chrome Twitter extensions below to find out! PowerInboxPowerInbox is a browser extension available for Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE, which takes your regular Twitter emails and makes them much more useful by turning them interactive. In fact, PowerInbox does its trick with many additional services besides Twitter, including Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Spotify, Pinterest, and others. Focusing on Twitter, PowerInbox makes it so you can actually make use of those pesky email updates you keep getting from Twitter, such as “you have a new follower” or “Bla and BlaBla have tweets for you”. After installing the add-on and signing into your Twitter account, emails from Twitter will start looking something like this: As you can see, instead of getting a simple alert you can’t do much with, PowerInbox makes it so you can follow users from within the email, send tweets, and in other emails also view your stream, reply, retweet, and favorite tweets. PowerInbox has an on/off button on top of every supported email, so if you don’t feel like viewing interactive content, you can simply turn it off and turn it back on when you’re ready for more. Tareem ExtenderTareem Extender takes your good old Twitter interface, and powers it up with some new and useful features. While I couldn’t get every single feature listed to work, the extension still adds a considerable amount of them. Starting with features that actually work, Tareem Extender adds an old retweet button to every tweet, as well as a DM button and a quick translate button to translate tweets from English into dozens of languages. You can also set the extension to highlight your mentions in the stream, and to show desktop notifications for your Twitter mentions. So what didn’t work? Tareem Extender claims to include a built-in link shortener, which I couldn’t get to work, as well as a “speak to tweet” feature which was no where to be found. Considering Twitter’s ever changing API and interface, I’m assuming some features just stopped working over time, but where it counts, Tareem Extender provides the means to use Twitter’s native interface to much better results. Tweet This PageMost blogs and websites include a tweet button of some kind, but these are located in a different spot on every page, and might even look different from website to website. In addition, most of these buttons are just extensions of the twitter.com webpage, and as such don’t let you use your personal link shortener. Tweet This Page can change that. Tweet This Page is a simple Chrome Twitter extension that makes it super easy to tweet a link to any page you’re on. Want to share a link on Twitter? Click the new Twitter button on the right side of Chrome’s address bar to create the tweet. You can set Tweet This Page to use your personal bit.ly account and to automatically use selected text as the tweet body, making it possible to click and tweet in seconds. Silver BirdSilver Bird is a fully-fledged Twitter client built into a Chrome extension. Behind a colorful bird icon hides a simple interface that nonetheless includes pretty much anything you could wish for in a Twitter client. And what’s more, it’s all completely customizable. From the icon’s color at any given moment, to the interface’s font and color, to the compose area’s position, Silver Bird is like a mold you can shape as your own. With its built-in pop-up notifications, built-in link shortener, its ability to add images to tweets and its handy suspend option for when you really need to concentrate, you may never need to venture into twitter.com again. Read a full review of Silver Bird. Larry Filter for TwitterTwitter too noisy? Larry Filter can make it a quieter place with the help of some well-placed filters. This handy extension lets you set keywords and hashtags you’re not interested in, and either hide them completely, or increase opacity on tweets that include them. While this is not the only way to filter tweets, I love Larry Filter for its simplicity, and for its ability to only half hide the culprit tweets. This way, I can make sure I’m not missing anything important, and still have a quieter Twitter feed. It’s like having my cake and eating it too! For more ways to filter tweets and make Twitter a generally quieter place, check out these ways to filter annoyances on Twitter, and some additional ways to help you swim and not drown in your Twitter stream. More?As always, we’d also love to hear some of your recommendations. Are there any Chrome twitter extension you find invaluable? What makes your Twitter life easier? Share your favorites in the comments. The post 5 Chrome Extensions To Superpower Twitter appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Evernote: A Must-Have App for the iPhone and iPad [iOS] Posted: 13 May 2013 12:00 PM PDT
In the last several months, the iOS versions of Evernote have undergone a significant overhaul of their user interfaces, closely mirroring the design and features of the counterpart web and Mac applications. We have added the iOS versions of Evernote to our Best of iPad Apps, and Best of iPhone Apps pages where they sit alongside our other picks for the platform. Evernote is a free universal app that works on the iPhone and iPad. Basic FeaturesThe Homepage for both versions of the iOS Evernote apps includes section tabs for viewing Notebooks, Notes, Tags, and Places (a view of your notes by the location they were created.) There are also three Quick Notes buttons for creating text notes, shooting and adding photos directly into a note, and another camera features for scanning documents. Tapping the Notes tab presents all your notes, sorted either by most recently updated, date created, or alphabetically by title. The iPad version of Evernote also includes a row at the top of the home page of your most recent notes that you can tap and access quickly. Previews of notes can be browsed in the List or Card view. Because of the new card view, I typically try to add an image or graphic to my individually typed notes, which makes them more visual and easier to browse. In the browsing view of the Notes section, you can search notes, or tap the plus “+” button in the top-right to add a new note. NotebooksThe Notebooks tab on the Homepage presents all your personal notebooks, notebook stacks (a collection of two more notebooks) and shared notebooks. In this browser view, you can also create new notebooks. The Edit button at the top-right of this notebook section enables you to edit existing titles of notebooks, as well as share a public link to a selected notebook, or share the notebook with specific people. Sharing notebooks with specific individuals, however, requires a premium Evernote account. A URL link to a notebook means that the content of your shared notebook can be viewed in a web browser by anyone with the link. See my article for more details about sharing notebooks in Evernote and Springpad. Unfortunately, the Notebooks browser is a little bland, lacking the visual context found in the Notes section. Tags and PlacesI tend to use Evernote mainly for current projects I’m working on, but if you find yourself frequently searching notes for current and past notes and other content, tagging notes might be of help to you. Also, if you frequently create notes in various locations you travel, the Places feature may also be useful for quickly finding notes. NotesIt goes without saying that notes can be created and edited in the iOS version of Evernote. The software keyboard of the iOS apps includes a collection of formatting tools (including bold, italics, check boxes and bulleted lists) as well as handy undo and redo buttons. You can also add images to notes from your device’s photo library, or shoot photos using the app’s built-in camera. Individual notes can be shared to the usual places— Twitter, Message, Mail, or Print. You can click on the little “i” icon at the top-right of a note to assign tags to a note, move it to another notebook, and view information about the date it was created and updated, as well as the geographic location of where it was added. StorageUsing Evernote with a free account allows you to sync all of your notes between your computer and mobile devices, using the Evernote cloud service. Note that notes are not downloaded and installed on your iOS devices. You must have a Wi-Fi or cellular connection to the Internet to view them on those devices. Premium account users do get the option to download all of their Evernote content to their iOS devices for offline viewing. Unfortunately, you can’t selectively target individual notes for offline viewing, as you can with files in the mobile version of Dropbox. The Bottom LineThe benefits of using Evernote and its cloud service is that your notes get synced between your Mac, PC, and iOS devices. The service and apps are also supported by a growing collection of third-party applications and web browser plug-ins that enable you to more conveniently add notes and other content to your Evernote account. If you’re looking for a way to store lots of stuff on your iOS devices, Evernote is a good option among the many iOS notebooks apps. For a full overview of Evernote, download Mark’s Missing Manual for How to Use Evernote and do more with the service. Download: Evernote iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad (Free) Let us know what you like about the iOS versions of Evernote. What features would you like to see added or removed? The post Evernote: A Must-Have App for the iPhone and iPad [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lights, Camera, Action! Learn From 7 Digital Filmmaking Schools On YouTube Posted: 13 May 2013 11:01 AM PDT
That was then. Now, I presume it is easier to train yourself for a career in the movie arts. You could take the indie route and make documentaries for a start. The next Steven Spielberg is probably doing it right now. If you are as enthusiastic, what’s holding you back? You just have to tap into YouTube and join a digital filmmaking school for the price of a “free admission”. Film RiotJoshua covered this very well regarded DIY filmmaking YouTube channel in the article I have linked to earlier. So, it’s worth visiting again. Ryan Connolly takes you through many how-to’s and behinds the scene stuff like how to create cheap special effects. Don’t know how to create realistic blood splatters…I am sure you will find it here. There are weekly challenges, reviews, and giveaways amidst all the works. But the channel also covers the basics of filmmaking, from scripting to the end credits. You can actually learn a lot by following the making of ‘Tell‘, short psychological horror film made by Ryan Connolly. The film was released last year and garnered positive reviews. IndyMogulIndy Mogul is often regarded as THE channel for movie buffs who want to use YouTube as a launching platform, or want to make an Indie movie for that matter. 1000+ videos should be equivalent to a college level course. The channel has won quite a few Webby Awards. There’s the Backyard FX which again teaches you about making cheap effects. Fundamentals are covered in detail and quiet entertainingly. I got stuck watching the video for storyboarding for people who can’t draw (like me!). There’s also a live Q&A every Friday. Indy Mogul deserves a bookmark right at the top. Corridor DigitalCorridor Digital has two separate channels. The first one as named, is all about creative shorts made by the team behind the channel. The shorts usually star Sam Gorski and Niko Peuringer, the two guys behind the channel. They are special effects artists who have successfully transitioned into YouTube personalities. The shorts are mostly action which doesn’t hold back the SFX. Humor is a common denominator. The second channel called samandniko is all about the techniques and special visual tricks that goes into making the shorts. With a combined subscriber base of 2 million plus, it should be on your self-learning curriculum. Freddiew’sFreddie Wong is an American musician and YouTube personality who gives us a double-decker package similar to Corridor Digital. In fact, they all live and work together. The first channel as linked is all about the shorts he has created, while the second YouTube channel breaks them down and explores the techniques that went into their making. The shorts are action-filled and replete with special effects. He also runs a web series called Video Game High School on his channel. Brandon Laatsch is the other creative artist behind the channel. NextWaveDVFree film school with tips and training for video producers and filmmakers. You will probably come to this YouTube channel (and its associated website) after reaching a more advanced level. Get to watch and read gear reviews, camera techniques, and post-production wizardry. Quite a lot of the content is focused around cameras, so this could be a channel for aspiring cinematographers. NYVSI came to this filmmaking channel from one of the sponsored posts one sees placed on top of YouTube pages. The New York Video School is a paid subscription course with professional instructors. It is delivered online and video tutorials that cover all aspects of filmmaking are part of it. The 82 video tutorials are free for your consumption however. Videos like Common Editing Issues for Beginners and Lighting Tutorial Basics for Film and Video are great as learning hints for someone starting out. Steve Johnson FXSteve Johnson’s SFX channel on YouTube is not an instructional channel in that sense. But the 30 videos are very interesting because they take you behind the scenes and show how some of the more popular visual effects in Hollywood films were done (or how they could have been done better). Steve Johnson is a make-up artist and an Emmy awardee with films like Spiderman 2, Predator, Ghostbusters, and The Abyss on his resume. The channel hasn’t been updated in a while but is still an entertaining watch. The web is an open school. No wonder the indie film movement has got a fillip. We do our bit too with occasional articles on filmmaking. Has the filmmaking bug got to you? What do you feel about these filmmaking YouTube channels? Where have you taken your do-it-yourself zeal to learn everything about the art to? Tell us in the comments. Image Credit: Two hands with a clack via Shutterstock The post Lights, Camera, Action! Learn From 7 Digital Filmmaking Schools On YouTube appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yes, You Can Code On The Go: 4 Of The Best HTML Editors for Android Posted: 13 May 2013 10:00 AM PDT
WebMaster’s HTML Editor Lite
Despite its name, the app supports HTML, PHP, CSS, and JavaScript files, which should be enough file support for most web developers. It’s snappy and lightweight, so it definitely deserves a look if you’re on the search for a code editor. Android Web Editor Lite
However, there are a few downsides to this app. For example, it doesn’t support SSH/SFTP servers, nor does it offer multiple FTP server support. The app also doesn’t look quite as clean as WebMaster’s HTML Editor Lite, which I tend to place a fair bit of consideration on. 920 Text Editor
This allows a web developer to get a lot of serious work done. However, it does lack any sort of FTP support, nor does it offer web developer-friendly shortcuts such as tag insertion as the text editor aims to support more than just web languages. DroidEdit
The pro version also features SFTP/FTP support, built-in Dropbox support, custom themes, and the ability to run the app in root mode. Overall, I think it’s a great general code editor, but it may not be an ideal solution for those who want web-specific text editors. ConclusionAll four of these text editors are great choices to get going for web development on an Android device. However, despite the fact that they don’t focus entirely on web coding, 920 Text Editor and DroidEdit are the best ones of the list because they are very functional and offer a clean user interface. In any case, these apps offer some pretty nice features to make web development easier, which may allow you to drop your current computer for a lighter, more modern tablet. What web development features do you look for in a text editor? Which HTML editor for Android is your favorite, whether it’s included here or not? Let us know in the comments! For more great Android tips, check out our Android guide! Also, if you’d like to set up an FTP server to connect to, why not try CoreFTP? The post Yes, You Can Code On The Go: 4 Of The Best HTML Editors for Android appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sticky Password Pro 6.0: Keep Your Passwords Safe and Organized [Giveaway] Posted: 13 May 2013 09:30 AM PDT
Sticky Password Pro 6.0 is an application that acts as a master database for all of your username/password combinations. It keeps all of them locked behind a master password, so you only need to memorize one super-strong password in order to secure a vast array of account credentials. Sticky Password Pro 6.0 is available for USD $29.99 on Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8 as well as iOS 4 and higher. There is a free version with limited features — you'll only be able to create 1 profile and it will only store up to 15 username/password combinations. But here's the good news: this time, we're giving away 25 copies of Sticky Password Pro 6.0 worth a total of $750 for FREE! If you want a chance at winning a copy, all you have to do is read through this review and respond according to the instructions at the bottom of the post. Review of Sticky Password Pro 6.0When you first load up Sticky Password Pro after installation, it'll ask you for a master password. This master password is crucial because it's the one and only way for you to access all of your stored username/password details. The best piece of advice for the master password is to make it long, use letters and numbers and special characters, and make it unique. If you suspect that you have a keylogger on your system or you're just paranoid that someone may be able to track your keypresses, Sticky Password offers you a virtual keyboard where you can click the keys of your password for additional safety. Not only does Sticky Password keep track of all of your different username/password combinations, it comes with a browser plugin that will automatically enter your username/password credentials on sites that you have saved. This is such a convenient feature that this feature itself might be worth the purchase. Depending on how many times you find yourself filling in login details each day, you could end up saving a lot of time. In addition, since Sticky Password can automatically enter these details for you, you'll be less likely to use the "Remember Me" option on account-based websites, offering an additional layer of security. This is what the main Sticky Password dashboard looks like. It's quite modern and well-designed – not too cluttered, not too minimal, not ugly or overly flashy. Everything is organized in a smart and intuitive way. We've gone over the main features of Sticky Password in previous reviews, but for those of you who are just learning about Sticky Password for the first time, here's a brief overview of what this great application can do:
The latest version of Sticky Password implemented a few cool features that you may find useful:
Again, we're giving away 25 free copies of Sticky Password Pro 6.0 to all of our beloved MakeUseOf fans and readers. Please be reminded that Sticky Password Pro 6.0 is only available for Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8 as well as iOS 4 and higher. How do I win a copy of Sticky Password Pro 6.0?We have a new giveaway procedure in place, which will hopefully make participating much easier. You may enter using your Facebook credentials (which will require you to sign into Facebook) or by submitting your name and email address. You’ll receive one entry simply by doing so. After that, you’ll also be offered various methods to earn additional entries. They range from sharing a link to this giveaway on social networks; to commenting or visiting a specific page. The more you participate, the higher your chances of winning! This giveaway begins now and ends Friday, May 17th. The winners will be selected at random and informed via email. Submit your apps and software to be reviewed. Contact Jackson Chung for further details. The post Sticky Password Pro 6.0: Keep Your Passwords Safe and Organized [Giveaway] appeared first on MakeUseOf.  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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