Make Tech Easier

How To Be A Rocking Blogger With These Apps [Mac]

Emmanuel Banks — Sun, 27 May 2012 14:58:30 +0000

For casual blogger, writing a post on your blog is easy. You just have to fire up the browser and start typing on your blog’s text editor. However, if you are a full time blogger, especially in the technology field, you will know that writing posts involve more than just writing. You will need to brainstorm new article topics, take screenshots, edit the images and edit/review the articles. Most important of all, you need to hold yourself off all the attention-catching websites and emails that slow down your writing process. We have scouted and found a couple of applications that help solve those problems and more. Today, let’s take a look at how these five Mac applications can make you become the alpha writer on your website.

1. WriteRoom for Mac

There are many applications out there that allow you to type up some words into a story, many of them are free. What sets WriteRoom apart from the rest is the ability to help you stay focus. Writing a story isn’t necessarily a walk in the park, but WriteRoom makes the workplace less distracting by giving you a blank canvas to write out your work. This doesn’t mean that WriteRoom skimps on the key features. WriteRoom utilizes the underground settings page that allows you to set when your document is automatically saved, change font, page setup, what you want shown, what you want hidden, and more. Keyboard commands, like “Command+S” for saving, also makes the workplace more useful and less cluttered. Just don’t look to it as an application for adding any multimedia. Either way, All of these features are available on the Mac App Store for $24.95.

WriteRoom for Mac

2. Ulysses for Mac

Blogging doesn’t involve only writing, it involves editing and reviewing the finished item as well. However, finding a good editing software can be difficult because many of them don’t have all of the features we may be looking for in editing software. Ulysses is the software that does a great job at helping you through the editing process. Ulysses gives you a distraction free area to write your piece. Once complete, you can use Ulysses to spell correct, word count, and easily search and mass replace incorrect words. Your text can then easily be exported to multiple formats. If you want a break from Microsoft Word, Ulysses will be the ideal $11.99 application for you.

Ulysses for Mac

3. iA Writer

An application that takes the distractions out of writing up articles and posts is important for many bloggers and writers. It allows us to focus more on the work at hand, rather than a new email that may catch our attention. iA Writer is an affordable application that allows you to put the focus back on writing. This is literally done with a mode in the application known as “Focus Mode”. This mode allows all other text to be grayed, and the sentence you are working to complete will stay in the original black. This prevents the distracted eye from straying off to other sentences. Additionally, I have found it to be a great tool in catching spelling and grammar mistakes. This is one of the few features that you can adjust in iA Writer. Other than that, there really isn’t a worry about fonts or text size. Your writing is automatically saved, allowing you to focus more on the writing at hand. iA Writer is available now for $8.99 on the Mac App Store.

iA Writer for Mac

4. Celtx for Mac

Celtx is the application for individuals looking for an affordable, actually free, writing application. Celtx, unlike many free writing applications, doesn’t skimp on the key features of a writing application. Celtx allows you to do every part of the writing process, from organizing your thoughts to finalizing the piece by editing it and publish as a file. The focus is more on screen/script writers, especially with the scenes section, however I have found it to be more than sufficient for bloggers and other writers. The application is split into three sections, the far left section is more for viewing all of your scenes and projects, the far right section focuses more on concepts, the center is left for the project you are currently working on. There is a lot going on, however it is a bit cheaper than the clutter-less iA Writer. Celtx is available for free on the Mac App Store.

Celtx for Mac

5. MindNode for Mac

A great idea starts at the concept, and MindNode allows your concept to flourish like a tree. MindNode is easy to use. You start with the root, your main, broad subject. From there, click the (+) to drag and add a new branch to the tree. This creates a more detailed extension of your beginning broad statement. You can keep adding continued extensions until you reach your concluding idea, your final project. MindNode is very simple in design and use. MindNodes can be shared and imported, perfect for collaborations and easily sharing your topic with editors. Plus, with the full screen version, you are able to focus more on the project you have at hand. While the free MindNode version doesn’t support multimedia, MindNode Pro offers many of these features for only $20 in the Mac App Store. MindNode is available for free on the Mac App Store.

MindNode for Mac

Other Useful Blogging Tools

1. 5 Must-Have Firefox Extensions For Blogging

2. Use MarsEdit To Create And Manage Blog Content [Mac]

3. Qumana: An Easy-to-Use Alternative to Desktop Blogging

Image credit: Road To Fame Clipping Path by BigStockPhoto.com

How To Be A Rocking Blogger With These Apps [Mac] originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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A Relook At Ubuntu Tweak: A Must-Have Tool For Every Ubuntu User!

Damien — Sat, 26 May 2012 23:58:14 +0000

Our last review on Ubuntu Tweak was close to four years back and many updates were included in this wonderful software. With every new Ubuntu release, this Ubuntu Tweak software also updates itself to remove obsolete items and add in more tweaks. At version 0.7.1, this is already the most useful tweak software you ever need for Ubuntu. Let check it out, again.

For those who are not aware, or have not heard of Ubuntu Tweak, it is a third-party software that contains plenty of tweaks for the Ubuntu system. It supports the Unity desktop, Unity 2D as well as Gnome Shell.

Installation

To install Ubuntu Tweak, simply click here, or type in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

Alternatively, you can search for it in the Ubuntu Software Center.

Running Ubuntu Tweak

To start Ubuntu Tweak, simply click the launcher in the Application list. The first window to greet you is the System and Hardware Information.

From here, you can see the amount of cache used in your system and a “Janitor” button that you can click on to quickly clean the cache and recover the space. In addition, it also shows if your system is up-to-date or requires update.

It is pretty basic in this Overview tab, but don’t be fooled by it. More things to come in the next few tabs.

Ubuntu Tweak’s tweaks

On the “Tweaks” tab, you will find plenty of tweak options. From the Fonts, Sound, Theme, Login Settings to the File Manager, you will be overwhelmed by the number of tweak options it has in one single window.

Some of the useful sections include Miscellaneous where you can enable/disable the menu and button icons, printing, Fast User Switching and even change the mouse scrolling to natural scrolling mode (scroll the mouse wheel up to move down the page, and vice versa).

The Login Settings section allows you to configure the login screen and change the login screen background.

If you are using the Unity desktop, the Unity section is the most important tweaks that you should take note of. In here, you can enable/disable the HUD (a new feature in Ubuntu 12.04) and whether to add a “Show Desktop” icon in the launcher. You can also set the launcher icon size, opacity and whether to autohide when inactive.

In the Workspace section, you can add/remove workspace and even add actions to the screen corners.

Ubuntu Tweak’s Admin

The Admin tab contains all the tweaks relating to maintenance and administrative tasks. You can manage the applications (install/remove), backup your Desktop settings, and if you are experienced enough, create your own quicklist with the QuickLists Editor.

Lastly, the Janitor tab is where you can clean up your system to recover precious storage space and make it runs faster and better.

Conclusion

While most of the tweaks in Ubuntu Tweak are already available in Ubuntu, most of them are scattered everywhere and some are even hidden from the public eyes. Ubuntu Tweak has done a great job in linking them together all in one place and in addition, added extra features to make it the best tweak tool out there. If you need to customize the Unity desktop, this is the one and only tweak tool you ever need.

Ubuntu Tweak

A Relook At Ubuntu Tweak: A Must-Have Tool For Every Ubuntu User! originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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How To Take and Edit Screenshots With PicMonkey Chrome Extension

Kim — Sat, 26 May 2012 14:58:53 +0000

Screenshots are great learning visual aids for any reader to understand a particular topic. This is why most tech blogs require at least one or two of these for most of its content. If you’re a regular tech writer, you’ll find that taking and editing screenshots is not as simple as it seems. There are times you’ll have to use a software to edit them.

With Chrome’s PicMonkey extension, taking screenshots just got easier. You can take a shot of your screen and edit it on the go, without having to install or open any photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop. Here’s how to use PicMonkey:

1. Download the extension from the Chrome Web Store.

2. Once installed, you’ll see a monkey face icon on the top right corner of the browser, just beside the address bar. Click on it and it will show a thumbnail of the screenshot. Other images from the page are also shown and you can edit these as well.

3. To edit the captured image, click on the thumbnail. This opens a new tab in your browser and leads you to the PicMonkey editing board. You can now start editing the image using the tools on the left side.

Basic controls such as rotate, crop and resize are the default features when loading the editing site. There are also tools available for adding effects, text and other objects to the image. Just click on the object from the menu and it places it on the screenshot. Below are the different edit options:

4. Upon applying objects on your screenshot, a dialog box will pop up on the right side of the screen to show you added control options for that particular object. In this case, I applied a shape overlay (red arrow) to my Twitter feed screenshot.

You can drag, resize and rotate an object by clicking and holding down on its corners. You can also right click on it to see other options. In this case, I had an option to delete, flip or send the image back or forward.

For more precision, there is a zoom button on the bottom right corner of the screen. Click on this to zoom in and out of the image.

5. When you’re done editing, just click on the Save button on the bottom left side of the screen. You should get a pop up box giving you more options before saving your work. Here you can give your screenshot a name and choose the file type: JPG or PNG. There is also an option to resize the image by changing the percentage. Another nifty feature is the last information on the bottom showing you the file size.

Click Save Photo and it should let you choose a location where you want to save the file.

PicMonkey is a useful tool for basic editing but its features are expansive enough to do more advanced enhancements. Because of its wide range of effects, it can also be great for editing photos from a web page. Whether for work or leisure, this extension definitely delivers more than expected, and a great alternative to other photo editing applications.

How To Take and Edit Screenshots With PicMonkey Chrome Extension originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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Windows 8 to Shove Aero Away

Miguel Leiva-Gomez — Fri, 25 May 2012 23:58:46 +0000

For all the fans of Aero, a user interface improvement that has been introduced in Windows Vista and optimized in Windows 7, it’s a sad, sad day. Microsoft believes that Aero has taken its toll, and it’s time for a newer, cleaner interface which will be introduced in Windows 8, a new version of its operating system that will come out this fall. As far as we know, Microsoft will be releasing a new, more efficient interface in the final build of Windows 8. We assume that there will be some touch-ups done to the interface, making it slightly more efficient than what we’ve seen in the consumer preview.

What Will Microsoft Change in Windows 8′s Interface?

Windows 8′s user interface will still include a very smooth layout, but won’t include as much eye candy as Windows 7 did. The drop shadow that’s been around since XP will disappear, and so will the semi-transparent title bar as seen in the Aero interface. Only the taskbar will remain sort of transparent. To preserve program compatibility, window content remain with a light chrome background. Microsoft claims that this background will help keep attention away from the surrounding UI and focus everything on the content of all windows. It was their aim with Aero in the first place.

The new Windows 8 interface will still be smooth and eye candy-ish, but windows will no longer have rounded corners. Instead, the new operating system will have squared corners on all of its dialogs and windows.

According to Microsoft, you won’t get much of a shock when using the new interface. If it’s anything like the consumer preview showed, then we can attest to this. The interface isn’t much different, except for the fact that you won’t be barraged with visual effects. The harmony between the pleasant visual style of Windows 8′s desktop environment and the efficiency of its cleanliness is sufficient to make the transition smoother than one would otherwise expect when being told that Microsoft dumped Aero.

The interesting thing about this is that the consumer preview still calls the UI “Aero.” However, this is subject to change as future builds might do away with the nomenclature.

Why is Windows 8′s UI Different?

Today is a world in which people are moving away from desktop computers and are starting to use more low-power devices like netbooks, tablets, and smartphones. Because of this new age, Microsoft has chosen to do away with some of the demanding parts of interfaces seen in previous versions of its operating system. One of the reasons Windows 8 is changing has to do with the overwhelming amount of visual effects that would otherwise have slowed down these devices. ARM tablets don’t exactly have very powerful processors designed to run Windows 7′s heavy interface. Still, there’s another reason why the interface has changed…

Windows 8′s Metro interface needed something to accompany it. In order for Metro not to come off as too much of a shock, Windows 8′s desktop environment makes a slight tendency towards showing windows as squares, which resemble the tiles you see inside of the “Start” screen. Other elements of the desktop interface are said to include ways to “unify” the desktop and Metro experience as much as possible, even if the desktop can’t really become so touch friendly.

Ideas? Comments?

We’d love to hear what you have to say about the new desktop interface, especially discussions about how the desktop could be improved. Does this look better than Aero? Is anyone excited about this? Let’s hear it!

Windows 8 to Shove Aero Away originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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Ask MTE: Sync Android With Computer, Backup SMS, Change SMS Ringtone And Many More… (Android Week 9)

Trevor Dobrygoski — Fri, 25 May 2012 21:30:34 +0000

There have been quite a few connectivity questions coming through lately. It seems like there are a lot of you looking for ways to directly connect your Android to your computer to sync like you would if you were using an iPhone or iPod. Androids are not quite the same in this aspect. Because Google is cloud-based, there isn’t a direct way to sync to sync everything directly to your computer. There will be an application or two needed to sync with the application you are using.

The Q&A

Note: Some of the questions will be rephrased and will not appear exactly as they were written in MTE’s inbox, for the sake of simplifying the question and giving as much space as possible to the answer. If you believe your answer was not adequately answered, go ahead and leave a comment at the bottom. We’ll get to you ASAP.

Q: How can I get my computer to recognize my tablet?

A: There really isn’t a good way to have your tablet recognized. The problem has to do more with the lack of software available for one to read the other. Some tablets have the software built in to let you access the internal memory or the microSD card. HTC devices also have HTC Sync built in so you can sync calendar and contacts with Outlook.

In most cases, people are looking to simply backup or sync information to their desktop. There are a host of applications to backup applications depending on if your device is rooted or not. If you are looking to sync information, the application needed will greatly depend on what you are syncing. Something like files on your SD card can be synced using DropSync and Dropbox. Mark/Space makes software to sync make devices with commonly used desktop applications too.

Q: I have an EVO 3D and using standard SMS app. I have a couple of huge conversation threads and would like to save them to my computer before I lose them. How can I back them up to my computer?

A: The application that has worked flawlessly for me is SMS Backup+. It syncs with your Gmail account. You can save call logs, SMS and MMS messages. You can also have it backup only the information for specific contacts. There are many other applications out there that offer similar services. MyPhoneExplorer will also save your SMS and MMS messages to your computer.

Q: I can’t seem to find how to change my notification ringtone for incoming text messages. I am using GO SMS. The notification tone doesn’t change if i try changing it in the GO SMS settings.

A: There could be a duplication with the GO SMS and your stock SMS app. Most of the add-on apps like GO SMS need you to turn off the notification for your stock SMS app otherwise strange stuff happens. You can turn off the vibrate and the tone in the options for most stock SMS apps. You may want to double check the GO SMS settings in the advanced tab too.

Q: How do I sync my Android with Outlook?

A: MyPhoneExplorer is probably the most flexible application for your Android. MyPhoneExplorer lets you sync with other similar applications to Outlook like Mozilla’s Thunderbird. You can sync way more than your mail and calendar too. MyPhoneExplorer will sync your SMS messages and call logs too.

Why Wasn’t My Question Answered?

If you asked a question and it wasn’t answered here, it could be one of three reasons:

Relevance: Your question needs to be totally relevant to the Android operating system.
Detail: Try to include as much detail as you can, such as the Android device and version of the Android OS you’re using.
Other Reasons: For some unfortunate reason, we couldn’t include your question in this edition. We’ll try our best effort to include the question in the next edition.

What’s your Android question?

If you have questions you think might fit well with MTE’s next edition of “Ask an Android Expert,” send us an email at android-help [at] maketecheasier.com. Leave comments only to discuss the questions presented here. If you want to ask a question, use the aforementioned email address.

Ask MTE: Sync Android With Computer, Backup SMS, Change SMS Ringtone And Many More… (Android Week 9) originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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How To Use Pinterest Analytics For Your Business

Jessica Prouty — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:58:09 +0000

You can use all the Pinterest tools available to make your boards stand out from the crowd but if you just set your content out there and forget about it, how will you know what’s working or if anyone is even viewing and repining your content? Measuring the success of your efforts is essential to the successful use of Pinterest for businesses and that’s where Pinterest Analytics come in. With the analytic tools featured here, you can gather as much or as little information as you need. Whether it’s for business use or personal use, you’ll be sure to know every detail about your Pinterest activity.

1. PinReach

To get started with PinReach, sign up on the registry page. There are three ways to sign in; Use your Twitter or Facebook account or if you prefer, use your email address. If you use a social site to connect, you’ll need to allow the app to access your account.

Simply enter the Pinterest username you want retrieve stats for. Don’t worry if you don’t know your username, the image will show you where to find it when you’re logged into Pinterest. Press “Create” to generate the analytics.

You’ll now be directed to a neat dashboard of your Pinterest analytics. The first section will be your “Pinterest Score History” which shows how many viewers were on your account and viewed your boards. I have been a long time Pinterest user so I’ve become an intermittent Pinterest user and as a result, you can see my view count is pretty low.

The next section shows your “Repin” counts and if you hover over the colored dot, it will display what the pin was and how many repins it has.

Similar to that is the “Popular Boards” section. It displays the most popular board repins and counts. If you hover over the column, you’ll see the board name and the repin total. The board shown here with over 4K repins is a Pinterest community board. This is a great example of the potential reach and growth that’s possible with having a community board.

In the “Boards” tab, you’ll see a summary view of all the major stats for the individual boards from most popular on down.

The “Pins” tab gives a beautiful display of the most popular pins with a color image and a repin count in the lower corner.

In the Influential followers tab, you’ll see who repins your content most along with how many times they repined it. Use this section as a good place to start recognizing or thanking people who spread your content.

2. Pinerly

Pinerly is a new analytics tool that is currently by invite only. To get an invite, you enter your email address to be put on the waiting list. The more people you share the Pinerly link with, the sooner you’ll get your invite. Once you receive access to Pinerly, follow the directions in the email to register your Pinterest account and gain access to the Pinerly dashboard.

Pinerly works differently than some of the other analytic tools; You need to create a Campaign to begin tracking your analytics. You do this the same way you create any pin by uploading an image either from a website or from a file.

Enter the URL and description then click “Pinerly It” to enable the click-through tracking. This isn’t creating an advertisement, it looks just like any other pin with the added ability to easily track click-throughs, repins, and likes.

The “Pinalytics” tab will show you real time information and compare your campaigns against each other. The comparison is helpful to see if a campaign has little or no clicks. If so, you can make adjustments to the images, description, time, and board it was posted to until you achieve your goal for that campaign.

The “Suggested” pins tab is excellent for finding new and creative pins direct from the dashboard. There are 7 categories to choose from with new pins added to each regularly. Pinning new content from various sources will help your Pinfluence scores increase and keep your visitors engaged.

The “Follow” tab features a place to follow interesting pinners from 19 different categories! You’re sure to make some great connections and find some great new content to share on your boards! P.S. I told you Pinterest isn’t just for women!

Future features of this platform are set to include scheduling your pins so you can post at peak hours automatically, not just when you have time. Pinerly is a great source for analytics and so much more!

You now have some great tools and ideas for using them to your business advantage, so head over to the links and see which analytics tool will best fit your style and start measuring your Pinterest success. Do you use Pinerly or Pinreach? Tell us about your experience!

How To Use Pinterest Analytics For Your Business originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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Complete Guide to Newsstands For iOS

Emmanuel Banks — Thu, 24 May 2012 23:58:51 +0000

I never was an individual who enjoyed subscriptions. The main reason behind this is because when I did carry a subscription to a popular magazine, half of the issues I received weren’t of great interest to me. However, due to the fact I paid a whole year’s subscription in advance, I at least skimmed through. I always wondered what would be a great alternative to having physical, paper subscriptions that ended up half the time in the recycling bin. I found this alternative with Newsstands for iOS. This is the native Apple application that takes magazine and newspaper subscriptions into the digital realm. How does it stack up? Let’s take a look and find out.

Interface

There really isn’t an interface for Newsstands. The “application” is simply a shelf that displays all of the subscriptions that you are subscribed to. Once the application is selected, the shelf appears. Next to the “Newsstand” label, there is a selection for “Store”. This is the section that allows you to download subscriptions.

How Does It Work?

So, how exactly do you download a subscription. It’s very easy. Once you select “Store”, you will then be presented with Apple’s modest but quality subscription selection. From Bloomberg Businessweek to The Daily, the pickings include some very popular names. When you choose a subscription you are interested in, you will be presented with a page that is quite identical to that of when you purchase an application. You can gather more information, view a couple screenshots, and more. When you finally made the decision to download, all you have to do is click the “Free” button.

Don’t be fooled by the “FREE” button though. The app might be free, but the subscription isn’t. The subscription’s page gives you a read out on costs in the “Top In-App Purchases” section. Depending on the subscription, you can renew billing per day, month, or yearly.

Subscriptions Available on Newsstand

At this moment, Newsstands for iOS doesn’t have a lot of choices in terms of subscriptions. Users looking for a cumulative news application will enjoy subscriptions from The Daily or NY Times. If technology is your piece of cake, you have choices from Mac Life to .net, and even How It Works publishing on Newsstand. The more athletic and health conscious will enjoy the subscription to Clean Eating, Health & Fitness, and much more.

In-Subscription Features

Once you have downloaded your subscription, you can set to have them come in automatically. If you do so, Newsstand will give you a notification when a new issue is available. This is recommended and a great way to make use of your subscription. The features and interface is different per subscription dealer. For example, The Daily focuses more on the news, for a lack of a better word, that day. Whereas Mac Life, a more monthly and special issue publication, allows you to check out the news per magazine with some from even November 2011 available at a cost. When you select an issue to view with Mac Life, it slides and navigates just like an eBook. If you want to navigate from, say page 7 to page 77, this is made easier with the “drawer” icon, allowing you to get a better view of each page. See an issue that you like? The “printer” icon allows you to make use of AirPrint.

How To Get Rid of Newsstand

There’s just a big possibility that subscriptions just aren’t for you with an iPhone. The small screen may make it an un-enjoyable experience, or maybe you just can’t afford to support a subscription. Whatever the reason, you can’t remove the Newsstand app just like any other app, but you can hid it from your iPhone. To do this, it’s easier said than done. You must create a folder by dragging one application over another. As the new folder is created, you must quickly drag the Newsstand application in. It’s difficult and takes more than one time to do. If you are too lazy to do this, simply make a special page just for the hidden icon (or just embrace the icon).

Complete Guide to Newsstands For iOS originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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SlowPal: Browse Your PayPal Transaction History Without Waiting

Soumen Halder — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:30:43 +0000

PayPal seems to offer a brilliant service as long as you are ready to put up with its outlandish rules. You can use it to pay and receive online payment, and you can view the history to check your transaction record. However, long time users will notice that viewing the Paypal history is often a slow, laggy and a sub-optimal experience. SlowPal is one solution for this.

SlowPal offers a smart interface to handle and browse your PayPal history. Sign up for a free account and link your PayPal account. Once you are done, you will have to wait for sometime until you get a confirmation mail from the service that your account history (PayPal) is successfully imported. Once the account is set up, log in again to access the PayPal transaction in a seamless manner.

The spiffy interface is itself a relief to the eye as compared to the dull Paypal interface. In addition, the tool also offers a nice interactive way to browse through your PayPal transactions. The reports are categorized in a considerable manner so that you can sort your transaction in all possible ways you might need to. There are 5 types of filters you can choose from to look out for transactions you wish to find:

Type of transaction: Here you get to choose from various types of transaction you have carried out through your PayPal account. Options are bills, currency conversion, payment, recurring payment etc.
Status of Payment: The payment status is an useful feature to check on pending transactions.
Currency: Intelligent way to track currency conversion rates to your country currency used by Paypal for different transactions.
Time period: A monthly or quarterly report can be generated with this time span feature.
Additional filter: You can type in a keyword or a payee name to accurately search any transaction.

All the transactions are neatly tabulated with key attributes which include timestamp, type, email, name, transaction ID, currency, status, amount, fee and net payment. Clicking on the transaction ID opens up a popup with details of the element. You can also sort the transaction based on all the aforementioned attributes by clicking any of them. There is also an option to download your PayPal account history in CSV format which is useful for having better insights on your business by creating better charts with the data.

When it’s money or data, security is a major concern. And being online means you will do everything to protect your online money transactions. So you might be a little concerned if SlowPal is reliable or not. The tool is completely built on PayPal API and all your data on PayPal is imported using SSL. You can rest assured your data will be in safe hands. Nevertheless you can always revoke the permission from Paypal (My Account -> Profile -> My Account Settings -> More account settings -> Service providers -> Click remove beside the service you wish to stop authorizing). SlowPal is for companies or individuals with a lot of transactions to monitor. However, I would recommend general PayPal user to use the in-built account history manager as long as you don’t desperately in need of a faster way to browse through your transaction history.

SlowPal: Browse Your PayPal Transaction History Without Waiting originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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GeoGebra, For Dynamic Geometry On Linux

Adrien — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:58:50 +0000

Once in a while, I like to go back with nostalgia and take a look at the software that I was using as a kid. And recently, one of them surprised me by its development: GeoGebra, the dynamic geometry tool written in Java. What surprised me in reality is not that the program suddenly became better (it was always very good), but more the discovery of how complete it is. There are multiple ways to use GeoGebra. You can stick to the middle school level and just use it to draw figures. Or you can instead go straight out of high school and combine it with scripts and fancy functions.

Installation

Since Ubuntu 10.10, GeoGebra is in the official repositories. Therefore, you can install it via your favorite command line:

if you are using Gnome,

sudo apt-get install geogebra geogebra-gnome

or for KDE,

sudo apt-get install geogebra-kde

If you are under an older version of Ubuntu, or not using Ubuntu, I invite you to search for an additional repository, or take a look at the official download page for Linux.

First Steps

As I said earlier, GeoGebra is very complete at multiple levels. What I will try to do now is give you a little introduction to all of these levels. The first one is the most obvious use of the program: to draw geometric figures as if you were using the traditional compass and ruler. It becomes possible to draw a square with mathematical rigor, based on a circle, parallel and perpendicular lines only.

The objects that you can use are easy to access; you can select the option that you want from well-organized groups. For example, creating a perpendicular line is in the same category as the parallel ones. On the other hand, you can choose between a line and a segment from the same button.

A second level is the possibility to graph functions. It can become very handy to be able to trace a curve from a formula, and make a point move along it. For that, you can simply enter an equation like “y=2x” in the bottom text field, and the line will appear.

It then becomes possible to add a point on that curve as a linked object: even if you change the formula, the point will follow and stay on the curve. And opposite, you can modify the point’s properties via a dialog window.

You will also find a simple spreadsheet system within the program, with some basic functionality that a program of that type can offer. You can use formula, sort, and add data together. There is even a probability computation option.

Finally, GeoGebra integrates a certain level of scripting and user interaction. You can add an object like a cursor on the sheet. Moving it will affect a variable that you can name and use in other formulas. I made a basic example of that, I linked the cursor to a line defined by the equation y=2x+b. Moving the cursor along will change the value of b and therefore define the y-intercept of the line.

You can of course do some more interesting things with such system, and it is even possible for the experts to use some JavaScript or HTML5 to interact with GeoGebra.

Conclusion

If you want to go further in learning about the advanced functions of GeoGebra, you can go and take a look at the wiki. However, I think that the program is so well designed that you can solve most of your problems by inspection all by yourself. It is quite rare to find a program that is so complete on different level of usage and yet remains simple and well organized. As an alternative, I can also propose you software like Kig, Dr Geo, Geonext, CaRMetal.

What do you think about GeoGebra? Do you use it? Do you prefer and alternative? Or do you have a script that you would like to share? Please, let us know in the comments.

GeoGebra, For Dynamic Geometry On Linux originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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Free Giveaway: Blu-ray Decrypter

Damien — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:11:35 +0000

From now until May 25th, you can enjoy the premium copy of WinX Blu-ray Decrypter for free, with full unlock license key.

WinX Blu-ray Decrypter is developed by Digiarty and provides a great solution to decrypt and copy your Blu-ray disc for personal backup.

Like all Digiarty’s software, the Blu-ray Decryter is easy to use. Simply run the application, load your Blu-ray disc, select the destination and click Run. Note that for this software to work, you need to have a Blu-ray ROM to read the Blu-ray disc.

Some features of the Blu-ray Decrypter include:

Decrypt and clone Blu-ray to hard drive with original video audio quality.
Support Title Mode copy with selected title and Full Disc backup with entire movie content.
Decrypt Blu-ray Disc to Blu-ray folder or M2TS video. Transform 3D Blu-ray to 2D video.
Make Blu-ray copy within 25 minutes or so. Remove all known Blu-ray copy protections.

Here’s what you need to do to obtain the free copy:

1. Go to http://www.winxdvd.com/giveaway/ and click the “Get License” button.

2. From the popup window, there is a link for you to download the software and the license key.

3. Install the application and enter the license key on the first run.

That’s it.

Note:
1. This giveaway ends on 25th May 2012

2. The software need to be activated (with the license key) before 27th May 2012.

Download and enjoy!

Free Giveaway: Blu-ray Decrypter originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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How to Integrate Skype With Ubuntu Unity

Damien — Wed, 23 May 2012 23:58:07 +0000

If you are both a Skype and Ubuntu user, you will know that Skype does not really integrate well into the system. While Skype comes with a Linux desktop client that you can install on Ubuntu, it doesn’t integrate itself into the system theme, nor does it makes use of the system notification panel. If you like a unified look and feel for Skype on Ubuntu (unity), here is the way to do it.

Skype-wrapper is a plugin that integrates Skype with Unity. It adds the Skype icon to the messaging menu and quicklist items to the launcher. It also uses the Unity notification style to notify you of incoming calls/messages.

Installation

Open a terminal and type:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:skype-wrapper/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install skype-wrapper

The above commands assume that you have already installed Skype in your system.

Running Skype-wrapper

Once you installed Skype and Skype-wrapper, you will find that there are two instances of Skype in your computer. You need to identify which is which and run only Skype-wrapper, and not Skype.

1. Open Nautilus File Manager and navigate to “usr/share/applications”. Scroll down the application list till you see two Skype icons.

2. To identify which one is which, right click on the Skype icon and select Properties. The one that shows the “skype-wrapper” in the Command field is the one that you want. Drag this icon to the Unity Launcher.

3. Click on the icon to launch Skype. A popup will appear to prompt you to grant access to the skype-wrapper app. Check “Remember this selection” and click “Yes”.

Once it is authorized, you should see the Skype entry in the messaging menu and any incoming notification will follow the Unity style.

Right clicking the Skype icon on the launcher also show the quicklist items. You can View Incoming Message and Add Contacts.

Skype-wrapper also comes with a Settings option that allows you to configure its behavior. From the dash, search for skype-wrapper and you should see the “Skype-Wrapper Settings” app. In the Settings, you can configure the events to show notification and whether the file transfer progress should appear in the launcher.

Removing Skype icon from the systray

After the unity integration, there is one thing left that you need to get rid of. If you can’t stand the green Skype icon that didn’t go well with the Unity theme, you can remove it by uninstalling the “sni-qt” package. Note that a few other application, such as Dropbox, depend on the “sni-qt” package to display icon in the systray, and removing this package will affect these apps as well. Here’s what you need to do:

sudo apt-get remove sni-qt

The next time you launch Skype-wrapper, the green Skype icon won’t be around anymore.

Uninstalling Skype-wrapper

To completely remove Skype-wrapper from your computer, first open up your Skype option and go to “Public API” (the last option in the left sidebar). Select “Skype4Py” and click Remove.

Next, uninstall skype-wrapper from your computer:

sudo apt-get autoremove skype-wrapper

That’s it.

How to Integrate Skype With Ubuntu Unity originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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Ask MTE: Missing Windows Media Center, Thumbnails Missing In Explorer, Remove Games Icon And Many More (Week 16)

Miguel Leiva-Gomez — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:30:10 +0000

As with any product, certain aspects of Windows don’t come free of bugs, and third-party software can sometimes be a hassle. Here at Make Tech Easier, we recognize the need to answer questions for people who are experiencing problems or simply are curious about some of the things that Windows does. Our inbox is always filling up with questions from our readers, and we’ve been answering them for more than three months. Welcome to the 16th week of Ask a Windows Expert! If you would like to ask your own question, click the “Ask Our Experts Now!” button on the right side of any page of this website. Let’s get down to the questions submitted so far!

Q: How do I change the home page that Google Chrome opens up when I summon a new tab?

A: If you’re not infected by malware, this is rather easy. Click the wrench icon on the top right hand corner when in Google Chrome. Click “Settings” and select what you want on the “On startup” section, like so:

Close the tab and start a new one. You should see what you’ve chosen. If you aren’t getting what you want, you are probably infected by malware that keeps on hijacks your browser to show another page on every new tab. For this, you’ll have to get an anti-virus solution and scan your computer, eliminating any threats you find.

Q: My installation of Windows 7 is missing Windows Media Center. How can I correct this?

A: You probably have installed Windows 7 N or Windows 7 KN. Both of these are versions of Windows 7 that don’t include Windows Media Center or Internet Explorer, allowing you to choose what to install. If you would like to have this product on your computer, you’ll have to download it from Microsoft. Follow this link to get the Microsoft Media Feature Pack for Windows 7.

Oh, and one more thing: If you’re confused about which one of the two packages to install, get the “x64″ version if you have a 64-bit version of Windows and the “x86″ version for 32-bit. To find out what bit rate you installed Windows at, press “Win+Pause/Break” on your keyboard. Under “System,” you’ll see the bit rate next to “System type.” It will either tell you “64-bit operating system” or “32-bit operating system,” like so:

Q: My thumbnails are not showing in Explorer. The only way to see an image preview is to actually open the image. How do I enable the thumbnails?

A: If you’re not seeing your thumbnails, you’ll have to go into folder options to rectify the issue. To do this, click the “Organize” button on the top left corner of Windows Explorer and click “Folder and search options.” Click the “View” tab and make sure the checkbox next to “Always show icons, never thumbnails” is cleared, like so:

Once you do that, refresh the folder. Its icons should show up. If they don’t, try restarting your computer. If you continue to have problems, come back in the comments section and we’ll help you out.

Q: Invoices and Estimates Pro is not compatible with Windows 7. What can I use to send PDF invoices like I did with this program?

A: Based on our research, it seems like your program is made to work only with 32-bit versions of Windows 7. It also seems like many people are complaining about how it works even with the 32-bit version. A good number of people use FreshBooks for sending invoices, and you probably would benefit from their platform, as it automatically reminds recipients of payments due. Try it out. There are many online solutions for this that don’t require you to run a certain operating system. You can use Invoice Machine or FreeAgent, as well. Truthfully, these solutions are always better than offline programs which go obsolete after a while. Tell us if you want to find an offline application in the comments section and we’ll recommend a few.

Q: How can I remove icons of games that don’t exist anymore from the “Games” menu?

A: When you enter the Games menu in Windows 7, it sometimes will show you shortcuts to games that aren’t present in your system anymore. While this is an annoying phenomenon, Windows allows you to hide these dead shortcuts by right-clicking the game in question and clicking “Hide this game.” If you don’t find this option or have any further problems related to this question, please leave a comment below.

Q: I get the following warning when trying to create a partition on one of my drives where there is unallocated space: The operation you selected will convert the selected basic disk(s) to dynamic disk(s). How do I stop this error?

A: The most likely problem you’re facing is Windows’ 4-partition limit. This includes the “System Reserved” partition. So, this gives you three possible partitions to create. If you already have three, you’ll likely get an error to the tune of converting a basic disk to a dynamic disk. Do not attempt to circumvent the limit, as you might end up damaging your system or hard disk. Instead, simply extend the current partitions you have to cover the unallocated space.

Unfortunately, Microsoft was not very clear about this four-partition limit because the operating system fails to warn you about it when you try creating a fifth. The error it gives instead kind of throws off a lot of people. So, keep in mind: More than four partitions isn’t possible on a Windows 7 system.

Got any questions or ideas?

Here’s your moment to shine! The majority of questions we get in our inbox show up in here, and we’re ready to crunch more of them. If you want to submit a question, kindly follow the advice in the introduction of this article and click “Ask Our Experts Now!” on the right side of any page of this site. Please leave a comment if you have any problems following any steps explained in answers shown here. We’re listening to you and ready to answer anything! Have a nice day!

Ask MTE: Missing Windows Media Center, Thumbnails Missing In Explorer, Remove Games Icon And Many More (Week 16) originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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Tinychat For Web Allows You to Chat, Listen to Music And Draw Simultaneously

Laura Tucker — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:58:43 +0000

While everyone knows about Skyping and Facebook Chat, TinyChat is much lesser known. Just like the other forms of chatting, TinyChat is available across multiple platforms. It’s available both on the web as well as on mobile devices. However, unlike the others, you can do more than chat. You can also listen to music or watch YouTube videos together, and even draw together.

My son and a friend were chatting via their computers. They both had Tinychat going on their computers, and were chatting, watching, listening, and drawing away. I had to find out about this. They graciously let me in on their chat, and it was like a whole world of possibilities that opened up. It would be great for business as well as personal use.

Because I’m an Apple and iOS person through and through, it means the first thing I did was look for an app. I found an app available for both my iPhone and iPad. Opening that, I was presented with a choice of browsing existing chats, starting my own chat, or joining a chat. To join the chat with my son and his friend, I could either type in the room name or accept an invite from Facebook or other similar social networks. The problem with trying to connect through the Facebook notification was that it sent me through the Internet instead of through the app. Safari can’t handle the TinyChat website because it’s most likely Flash. Because I was trying to go through the iOS app, I had to manually type in the name of the room.

It turns out because it’s a flash-enabled website, that much of the functions on TinyChat that make it so great to use weren’t available on the website. The only function that was available here was just the video chat. There was no texting, drawing, YouTube, or sound files I could view or listen to here. While I could have switched to a flash-enabled browser (I like Photon) and enjoyed all the functions, I decided to switch to my Mac to make it easier for review purposes.

I rejoined the chat this time from the web on my Mac. This time I had all the functions available to me, as I would have using a flash-enabled iOS browser. Opening it on the web, I could see the same three videos before of everyone talking, but I could also “see” if they were typing in text. It also notifies you when someone joins or leaves the room, just like other chat rooms.

One very unique feature of TinyChat is the Whiteboard. This is a board that anyone in the chat can draw on, even simultaneously. You can jot down notes for a job you’re discussing or just have a lot of fun on it with your friends. It has all the standard drawing tools on it – lines, text, pencil, eraser, etc. It opened up in a separate window, so instead of flipping back and forth, I moved the window out to a separate pane so that I could see it and my video chat at the same time.

Ever watch a YouTube that you just can’t wait to show your friends? Now instead of emailing or sharing it on Facebook or Twitter, you can watch it together on TinyChat. Search for a video from directly within Tinychat, and when it opens up, it does so so that everyone on the chat can see it. Laugh together! Songs can be opened up the same way to also be enjoyed together. Additional options are going full screen and taking a snapshot of the people in the chat.

There are just so many possibilities available with TinyChat. I can see using this during chats, especially with a larger group of people. It just isn’t the most iOS friendly because of the Flash video use, but it can still be used, with the right browser, or with limited function in the app.

Tinychat

Tinychat For Web Allows You to Chat, Listen to Music And Draw Simultaneously originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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How To Schedule Backup And Synchronization Tasks In Windows

Sanix — Tue, 22 May 2012 23:58:41 +0000

Regular data backups are an important part of our digital lives because the computer electronics cannot be trusted and can get damaged at any time. There are a huge number of data backup solutions available for Windows, including Microsoft’s own SyncToy. Each backup and sync program has some unique features that others don’t have. This is why different users choose different backup software to backup and synchronize their data.

WinDataReflector is a free backup and synchronization solution which lets the users create backup and sync jobs and execute them with a click when needed. You can also schedule automatic backup and synchronization tasks. WinDataReflector also supports two way synchronization which means that the source and destination will always be kept identical. All the changes to source will be propagated to the destination and vise versa.

Although WinDataReflector is very easy to use, one needs to keep a close eye on each step of the backup and synchronization because some steps can be confusing. I will try to guide you in a step by step way on how to use WinDataReflector. The steps below are for backing up a folder and then enabling automatic scheduling. The synchronization, two way sync and restore operations are pretty similar and will be very easy once you go through the following steps.

When you start WinDataReflector for the first time, you will notice that it uses tabbed windows in order to create each backup and sync job. There are four main buttons in the toolbar.

Synchronization – create a new synchronization job
Backup – create a new backup job
Schedule – Create and manage schedules of all created backup and sync jobs
Options – program preferences whether you want to start WinDataReflector with Windows Startup and show it in system tray.

Since we are interested in backing up a folder, we need to click on the Backup button. This will open up a new window where we have to input the name of the backup (only to be used in WinDataReflector) and the type of the backup (normal or compressed to a ZIP file). The type of the backup doesn’t seem to be functional but we can configure this later in backup settings. So just leave this to Normal and press the OK button.

You will see a new tab in the main WinDataReflector window. Notice that the title of the tab did not change to the task name.

Now we have two fields labeled L and R. L field will contain the path of the source folder which we want to backup and R field will contain the destination folder where the backup has to be saved. You can select multiple folders in either fields. This means that you will be able to create multiple backups in multiple destinations. Just make sure that you click on the Add button after browsing and selecting the source or destination folder.

After filling in the L and R fields, click on the pencil icon next to the R field which will open up settings for the backup job.

In the settings window, you can configure different settings specific to the backup task. Here you can check the checkbox “Compress to ZIP file” which will create a single destination file in ZIP format. You can also copy the NTFS permissions along with the files to be backed up.

If you click on the Time menu from the left hand pane, you will be able to configure whether you want to run this backup task manually or automate the process by scheduling the backup. Please note that WinDataReflector needs to be running in order for this automation process to work correctly. You will need to start WinDataReflector with Windows Startup under options.

Clicking on the Process button will make the backup task ready to be executed. After clicking on the Process button, you will need to click on the Backup button in order to actually run the backup job.

The synchronization and restore jobs are created very similar to the backup job with some changes in the settings window.

You can create as many backup and synchronization jobs as you like and then schedule them as per your needs. I have been using WinDataReflector and the only problem I have had was the frequent crashes of the software. Otherwise, it does a good job of seamless automation of backup and sync job and make our lives easier.

What are your thoughts about WinDataReflector? Which backup and sync software do you use for backing up your data?

How To Schedule Backup And Synchronization Tasks In Windows originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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4 Awesome Pinterest Tools To Expand Your Web Influence

Jessica Prouty — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:58:21 +0000

I’ve been a long time user of Pinterest (almost since it’s inception) and absolutely love it. I first started out using it for my personal hobbies and recently started a board for articles I write along with other technology related pins. Now, I realize not everyone has embraced Pinterest like I have. You might use Pinterest, but not know how to engage others in your Pinterest activities with a community board. Today we are going to explore my top picks for Pinterest Tools that will help you to use this platform for more than just browsing pins.

1. WooBox

Woobox is one of those really cool tools that does it all. The main feature of Woobox is to show your Pinterest boards and pins as a tab on your Facebook page. Creating Facebook Tabs is easy but this tool makes it one-click-easy to draw your Facebook fans over to your Pinterest page. Just click on the “Install Pinterest” tab in Woobox and allow the app access to your Facebook account.

Next, you will associate your account by entering your Pinterest Username. The Page Mode can be set to display “All Pinboards” or “Pins From A Selected Pin Board”. In the “FanGate” section, you can enable one of the features to require visitor’s to Like your page before they can view your Pinterest tab.

Once it’s set up, you’ll see it displayed as any other tab under your cover photo with the Pinterest logo.

To see the viewers perspective, click on the tab to open your boards. The first view will show all of your boards just like they are displayed in your Pinterest account. Each of those boards can be clicked and viewed independently so the boards and individual pins can be repined.

You can further analyze your Pinterest interactions by click on the “Stats” button.

It will display the current tally of Views, Visits and Likes. Once your app has been active to collect information, you can choose to Export The Stats From The Last 90 Days as a spreadsheet.

2. Pinzy

Pinzy isn’t a marketing tool but it can help you see what the competition is posting. It’s a handy Chrome extension that allows you to view the thumbnail images on Pinterest in full size just by hovering over them! No need to click through just to see the enlarged photo.

To use it, just hover over any pin and you’ll see the image enlarged. I love this tool because I don’t have to click through to see if it’s something of interest. I don’t use Chrome often so hopefully Pinterest will roll this feature out as part of their website soon!

3. PinAlerts

PinAlerts is a great tool if you use Pinterest for business. Within seconds of setting up your account, you’ll receive an email of the pins that were added from your site that day and be notified when anyone pins something from your website thereafter. Register and verify your email then enter the domain you want to receive alerts from. Select the interval you want to receive alerts and press “Create A PinAlert”.

You can add multiple domains to receive alerts on and manage all of them from within that dashboard. Use the alerts to thank the people who are repining your content and ask them to follow your other boards.

4. PinPuff

PinPuff calculates your “Pinfluence” measuring your popularity on Pinterest and the value of your pins. Simply register by entering your email address and Pinterest username and PinPuff does the rest! This could be very useful if you’re using an eCommerce site or planning to do some advertising as the first section gives you the “Pin Worth” and the “Cost Per Click” your content would generate.

The next few sections show the scores for your “Reach”, “Activity”, and “Virality Scores” along with some encouragement or suggestions to improve the scores.

A summary of all your board stats can be found at the bottom and your total Pinfluence Score along with your top boards in the right sidebar.

There are so many neat tools being developed everyday as Pinterest gains momentum and catches on around the world. Try these tools out and let us know what you think. We’d also love to know what tools you use and love! Leave a comment!

4 Awesome Pinterest Tools To Expand Your Web Influence originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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Microsoft Pledges to Eliminate Pre-Packaged Bloatware With ‘Signature’

Miguel Leiva-Gomez — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:58:30 +0000

If you have bought a new computer from a store, you’d know how it is to turn on the computer only to find out that it is crammed with many extra and useless software. This is one of the most frustrating complaints that people have had against computer manufacturers, and one of the reasons I have chosen to build my own computers since over a decade ago.

Microsoft Responds to The Annoying Experience

Well, Microsoft just came up with a new concept, known as “Microsoft Signature,” which is a service that gives you “out of the box” personal computers with absolutely no extra software installed. The company now offers both a line of Microsoft Signature certified computers and a service to certify computers that you have already purchased. It seems like the company is serious about pushing forth a policy of cleanliness and respect for the people who purchase computers. Imagine a world where you buy a computer with Windows installed and you’re greeted with an interface that’s free of any garbage.

What Does Microsoft Signature Do?

Besides eliminating the initial bloatware/junkware, Microsoft claims that it optimizes PCs that it sells to you. Details are not so clear on how the company does this, but they do admit that they install some of their own hardware that runs optimally on the operating system they created. The software includes Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Live Essentials, Zune Software, and Internet Explorer with Bing as the default search engine.

In addition, Microsoft also offers a service for certifying your computer with Microsoft Signature. The Signature certification will mean that Microsoft actually had someone look at your computer, take apart its software, uninstall the unnecessary stuff you don’t need, and tweaked it to improve its performance.

How Does Microsoft Tweak The Computer?

I can only assume and speculate because, as previously mentioned, Microsoft didn’t provide many details about the situation and what they do to your computer to make it run better. The demo video shows you some insight:

According to this video, I could only assume that Microsoft makes tweaks on its software and operating system from within your computer to ensure that it’s up to spec, allowing you to have a better experience running Windows on your computer. Perhaps settings like visual effects and other things that affect performance would be changed according to how much physical memory, video memory, and CPU power you have. Coupled with the elimination of elements that would otherwise occupy your computer’s resources, this is a solution that will make your computer squeaky clean.

How Much Does Microsoft Signature Cost?

If you’re buying a computer from the Microsoft Store with Signature certification, the price will vary according to the computer’s own specifications. Microsoft doesn’t make the computers. The company simply tweaks and packages them. The computers come from their respective manufacturers, meaning that the price could be as low as a couple of hundred dollars or as high as a couple grand, just like with any other computer purchase.

If you already have a computer that you want to certify with Microsoft, their services for tweaking your computer cost $99. This might be a drawback, especially considering that many IT pros and enthusiasts can tweak their computers well enough without having to pay this fee. However, the company does have to cover the expense of labor in modifying your computer. They are not responsible for what was there in the first place, and this is their way of offering a hand. By the way, this is how a computer’s packaging looks like with MS Signature:

Should I Get Microsoft Signature?

If you’re the kind of person who has difficulty understanding online tutorials and cannot easily reach the settings necessary to tweak your computer, or you want Microsoft to have a hand at optimizing your computer’s speed, you should get this service. Otherwise, there’s no real viable reason to use a service that offers something you can just do yourself.

However, if you have multiple computers, this might actually save you some time. If you have a very fast hand at tweaking a computer, though, you’d lose more money than what you’d make up for in time you’d spend to perform the task. This is better suited for people who are new to computers and want to squeeze every bit of juice out of them. This isn’t the case with IT professionals who know their way around the registry.

The conclusion is that there are some people who could use Microsoft Signature and others who really don’t need it. Just do as you see fit.

If you want to learn how to tweak your Windows computer and enhance your experience with things Microsoft probably won’t add to your computer, we do provide tons of tutorials, tweaks, tips and tricks for Windows, for free.

Thoughts?

I’d really be intrigued to hear people’s thoughts on Signature, particularly opinions of other IT professionals and experts who work with Windows on a daily basis. Let’s start a dialogue! Leave a comment below and we can discuss Microsoft Signature.

Microsoft Pledges to Eliminate Pre-Packaged Bloatware With ‘Signature’ originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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Geary: A Simple Email Client For Linux That Supports Threaded Conversation

Damien — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:30:59 +0000

There are plenty of email desktop clients for Linux. Some are being integrated into the distro (such as Thunderbird, Evolution, Kmail) and used as the default email client while others require you to install manually. Geary belongs to the latter.

Geary is a simple and lightweight email client that supports email threading (some call it conversation mode). It is still in the early development stage, but it does show plenty of potential to become a great email client.

Being a simple and lightweight app, Geary has trimmed most, if not all, of the fat found in many other email clients. It is pretty simple in interface and features, and yes, it is also lacking some important functions like integrating with address book and connect to multiple email accounts.

Installation

Here’s the command to install Geary in ubuntu-based distro:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yorba/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install geary

Running Geary

The first time you run Geary, it will prompt you to setup your email account. There are three options in the “Service” dropdown: Gmail, Yahoo and Other. If you have enabled IMAP in Gmail and Yahoo, all you need to do is to enter your username and password and it will do the rest. For the “Others” option, you will have to configure the IMAP settings manually.

Once your account is authenticated, you should see your mails appearing in the main window.

The interface is pretty minimal. There are three columns that show the folders, email list and actual email content respectively.

At the top is a row of toolbar that allows you to reply, forward, compose and archive your emails and that are about all you have for Geary.

The best thing about Geary is the threaded conversation that makes the interface more compact and each email message easier to follow. The thread count is displayed in the email list and the conversation is threaded, just like the way Gmail does.

There are also several other Gmail-like style, like the labels, starred, archive etc.

When it comes to composing email, it is pretty basic and lacking at the same time. You can compose in rich-text format, but you won’t be able to attach any file to the email. It doesn’t integrate with your contacts as well, so you have to manually type in the email address of the recipients. I wonder how many people actually remember all the email address of their friends.

Removal of email account

As of this post, there is no easy way for you to remove the email account you have setup in Geary. The only way I can come up with is to go to the “~/.local/share/geary/” folder and remove the folder with your email address. This will effectively remove the email account in Geary.

Conclusion

The advantage of Geary lies in its simplicity. Being a lightweight application with Gmail-like interface (labels, starred, threaded conversation) makes it easy and pleasant to use, but the lacking of several features such as contacts support and file attachment etc have severely crippled the app. Noting that this is still a product in its early development stage, hopefully these important and necessary features will be integrated into the app. By then, it could become the default Gmail desktop app, much like the way Sparrow does for Mac.

Geary: A Simple Email Client For Linux That Supports Threaded Conversation originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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Bodega – A Great Alternative to Mac App Store

Laura Tucker — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:58:08 +0000

This goes under the category of “Things You Didn’t Even Know You Wanted.” It never even occurred to me that there might be alternatives out there to the Mac Store. It was just fulfilling a need. Up until a few years ago, we didn’t even have a Mac Store, and just having one seemed to be great all on its own. But to now have an alternative is just an unexpected bonus.

Bodega is a Mac app store that gives just a different experience than what you’re used to with the standard Mac Store. It offers much the same apps, and even works with the apps you have already downloaded from the Mac Store. It also includes a few extra options that I didn’t even know I wanted in the Mac Store until I found them on Bodega.

First and foremost, the app isn’t available in the Mac Store, for obvious reasons, so you’ll nee to download it direct from the website. Opening up the Bodega app, you’re greeted by the bright yellow awning, not to mention the rest of the very colorful interface, a stark difference to the Mac Store. The focus here is obviously on making the app look like a “store” and giving you that total experience. Similar to the Mac Store, it features the New Releases on the main page, along with “Shopkeeper’s Picks,” Top Free Apps, and Top Paid Apps.

A worthwhile addition to the front page of this store is the news area. It features the most prominent tech news at the current time, along with a section of apps in the news. This is great if you’re looking to download the apps that are hot and that everyone else is talking about. If you’re just browsing for a new app and don’t have anything particular in mind, it’s a great place to start.

Another great feature, and different from the Mac Store, is the short summaries of each app that are visible in the app listings. As they sit on their shelves, if you click once on the app, it gives you a short summary of what the app is all about. In the Mac Store you have to open every app listing to see what it entails, but with Bodega, you are shown the price, a short summary, and options to download it right away, if you wish.

If you double tap on the apps, you’re taken to even more information. Provided here is a more in-depth explanation of the app, as well as detailed version history. Sometimes apps in the Mac Store tend to give you too much information in their quest to sell themselves to you. It can be hard to find the information you really need. This solves that by only telling you what you need to know. As with the Mac Store, reviews by other users are included. Bodega also includes any published press about the app.

Despite the fact that the apps I have on my Mac were either from a website or from the Mac, they show up here in Bodega in an easy-to-access Applications list. If the apps have updates available, that information is not only available, but they can be updated directly through this list. Mac Store doesn’t have any listing of the sort.

I saw the sub-heading “Wishlist” in the left-hand margin of Bodega. That sounded great, but I couldn’t figure out how to add apps to my Wishlist. It turns out I was trying to make it much harder than it needed to be. While I thought there might be a button in each app listing to add it to Facebook, that wasn’t the case. I perused the menu bar and everything else, and finally I realized it was much more simple than that. I simply had to drag the desired apps into the Wishlist.

Because Bodega doesn’t include Apple apps, it can’t completely replace the Mac Store. However, it’s still a great way to look for new apps, as well as managing your apps to see which ones need to be updated. The next obvious step is for them to release a similar app for iOS.

What do you think? Can Bodega be a great alternative to Mac’s App Store?

Bodega – A Great Alternative to Mac App Store originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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5 Must-Have Firefox Extensions For Blogging

Kim — Sun, 20 May 2012 23:58:09 +0000

If you have been blogging for a long time, you would know the time and effort that goes into creating quality posts consistently. Blogging takes at least an hour of your time and all of your bright ideas. There are instances, however, that tasks related to blogging can slow you down and take up too much of your time. If you’re a Firefox user, you’re in luck. Below are five useful extensions to help cut your blogging time in half.

ScribeFire Next 4.0

ScribeFire is an extension that lets you post a blog from within the Firefox browser. Upon installation, you’ll notice a notepad icon on the bottom right corner of the window. Click on this icon and the bottom half of the browser opens ScribeFire. Add your blog credentials by clicking on Add a New Blog, and you can start blogging from the built-in text editor.

Download ScribeFire 4.0

After The Deadline 1.51

After the Deadline is a handy spelling and grammar checking tool similar to that of Microsoft Word. To activate the proofreading feature, press F4 and it highlights possible errors and provides suggestions. Language and customized grammar styles can be tweaked in the Options menu of the extension.

Download After the Deadline

Zemanta 1.0

Zemanta is an extension for suggesting photos, links and other related articles based on the blog post you’re working on. Once activated, you’ll notice a sidebar on your dashboard’s screen. This shows you a selection of photos and related articles for your post. You can click on a photo and it automatically appears where the cursor is on your blog post window. You can also add your own blog links and images (from Flickr) by clicking on the My Sources tab.

Download Zemanta 1.0

SEO Blogger 1.0.8

If you’re serious about your blog’s SEO status, then this extension is a must-have. SEO Blogger is a search tool within Firefox that lets you look for the right keywords you can use to optimize your post. Just click on the W icon on the bottom right corner of the browser to pull up the extension’s interface.

Download SEO Blogger

The Ultimate Free Stock Photo Search Addon

Searching for quality, royalty-free images for a blog post can be tedious. With the numerous resources in the Internet, one simply can get overwhelmed. With this extension, you don’t have to look at multiple stock photography sites. This add-on aggregates up to 200 sources of free stock photos for your convenience. Click on the add-on’s icon on the top right corner and choose the sites you want to search. You then need to type a keyword on the search bar and click on Search/Browse Checked Sites. Be warned, though, that each photo website will open a new tab within your active Firefox browser to show the search results.

Download Ultimate Free Stock Photo Search Addon

Conclusion

Blogging should not be a stressful experience for anyone – in fact, some people blog to take a break and relax. These extensions are sure to make you blog more efficiently with less difficulties. With features mentioned above, using these extensions can help you focus more on writing great blog posts.

5 Must-Have Firefox Extensions For Blogging originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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4 Photography Apps For Busy Photographers [Mac]

Emmanuel Banks — Sat, 19 May 2012 23:58:10 +0000

After a busy photo-shoot, the next thing to do is to organize your photos into their respective albums. Depending on your photo-editing skill, you might also want to do some touching up to the photos before you save them to the archive. If you are a Mac user, here are some photography apps, ranging from basic usage to professional grade, that you can use to make your photos look better.

1. iPhoto for Mac

iPhoto is the photo management application that we all know and love. iPhoto comes with all Macs, or $14.99 if you purchase it from the Mac App Store. iPhoto for Mac is more than enough of a photo management and editing application for the average user. You can organize your photos by date, location, individuals, and more. iPhoto for Mac also allows you to do color correction with the “Enhance” tool, add filters like Sepia and Black and White, as well as your run of the mill cropping tools.

For professional photographers, iPhoto for Mac is more useful as a photo management app rather than a photo editing app. Personally, I use it for personal photos and when I need a nice database of all of my imported photos.

iPhoto for Mac ($14.99)

2. Aperture For Mac

If you enjoy the feel of iPhoto, but need to take advantage of more professional features to get any use out of it, then Aperture is for you. You can still organize your photos into folders, providing a great home for them once imported. You can also edit the photos, like found on iPhoto. On top of that, Aperture allows you to make use of brushes for making light touchups and even more for making heavy changes. If you are unfamiliar with the setup at first, Aperture comes with professional preset effects so you can learn while you use it. If you feel like going on the wild side, you can even create some yourself. Once the photos are complete, you can find them available on your iPhone and other iOS devices and Macs through Photostream. With RAW importing support, advanced search tools, and the ability to adjust white balance and more, Aperture is the step up for Apple photographers just growing out of iPhoto, but not experienced enough for Photoshop just yet.

Aperture For Mac ($79.99)

3. Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements

Now we are at the point where you can navigate through iPhoto with your eyes closed and can probably help someone else out with their Aperture for Mac needs. If this is you, then it’s time to upgrade your applications to Adobe Photoshop and/or Photoshop Elements. Let’s look a bit into both of them. First, we have the household name photography software – Adobe Photoshop. Adobe Photoshop is the ultimate photography application that allows you to add 3D effects, process your photo, and even share within Photoshop with a support of a ton of file types. The features that Photoshop has are endless. It is (almost) the industry standard for professional photo-editing and the latest version (CS6) makes it even better.

Along with Photoshop, there is also the Photoshop Elements which is more appealing to the average consumer. If you feel the need to compare, Photoshop is like to Apple Aperture as iPhoto is to Photoshop Elements. They are the elements, the basics, of what Photoshop is. Photoshop Elements allows you to make subtle changes to your photos, share the photos on various social networking websites, and more. Photoshop Elements, unlike iPhoto, will cost all users money because it doesn’t come shipped on any desktop.

Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements

4. DoubleTake

Panorama photos allow you to get the full landscape of the subject you want to shoot to fit all in one photo. These images are perfect because they don’t require any special file types, meaning there can be JPEG, PNG, or even GIF landscape photos, the only difference is that the aspect ratio is usually the length being double the width. DoubleTake allows you to make panorama photos easier to not exactly take, but to match together into one photo. DoubleTake can even be useful outside of photography. If you have a large document you want to make easier to read, DoubleTake makes this possible. If you want to make a book easier to create, DoubleTake makes this a possibility.

DoubleTake ($24.95)

This is definitely not a conclusive list of the photo apps for Mac. Let us know which photo apps is your favorite, in the comments.

Image credit: By raruschel

4 Photography Apps For Busy Photographers [Mac] originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)
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