I have absolutely no musical training or background. Give me an instrument, and I’m hopeless. But give me a simple sequencer, and I can make some music. Sequencers are brilliant because they abstract away much of the “hard stuff”: You don’t have to keep a beat, because the sequencer does it for you. You don’t have to try and pick notes that go well together, because they all go well together. If you’re a real musician, you may lament losing all of these nuances and fine-grained elements that combine to make a high-quality composition (in which case, you may want to try one of these music creation tools). But if you’re just looking to have some fun, a good sequencer is all you need. And Rolling Tones for Android is a great one. No, it’s not Holo, and I wouldn’t say it’s a gorgeous app, but it’s well-made, simple to use, and yes — free. It’ll have you making music before you know it.

First Steps

The Rolling Tones Google Play page says the app is based on ToneMatrix, a simple Flash-based music sequencer that we’ve looked at in 2009. Yes, they’re both sequencers, but while ToneMatrix lets you compose single segments, Rolling Tones lets you record entire songs and offers a much more complete experience. I would say GrooveMixer is actually a bit more similar to ToneMatrix than Rolling Tones.

When you first launch Rolling Tones, you’ll see a blank screen with lots of space for your music:

Tap anywhere on the screen, and you’ll make a note. The sequence keeps playing over and over (at 120 beats per minute, by default), so you will soon hear your note. Tap anywhere else on the screen, and you’ve made another note. A beat is formed. Pretty soon, your screen may look like this:

This is a complex sequence that’s actually a part of the demo song that ships with Rolling Tones. The different colors denote different instruments: You can see the eight available instruments lined up along the bottom of the screen.

The matrix itself is easy and intuitive to read: The vertical axis denotes pitch, while the horizontal one marks a note’s position in the sequence. This sounds clunky when explained, but as soon as you start messing around with it, you’ll get it.

From Sequence To Song

One thing I often find frustrating about simple sequencers is that they’re built like toys: You can make a basic sequence, but you can’t make a song. Any sequence you made will just repeat over and over until you change it, but there is often no way to save a sequence and move to the next one, assembling a song. Tone Matrix does let you do this. Let’s look at the relevant bit of the screen a bit closer up:

Ins and Add let you add a new segment to your song; Del lets you remove it. The << and >> buttons let you scroll through your song, and in between you can see the sequence of segments that go to make up the current song (just a five-segment portion of it — the full song can be much longer).

In the next row, the Song button lets you switch between working on the whole song or playing the current segment. Z lets you zoom in on the sequencer matrix for “precision work” — something I’ve found unnecessary on my own device, but may come in handy if you have a smaller screen. The |< and >| buttons let you change the sequence number for the current spot in the song. The Copy and Paste buttons let you quickly take a segment’s contents and paste it into a new segment, while Clear wipes the current segment clean.

This sounds like a lot to take in, but in practice, it’s quite simple. My own workflow goes something like this: I first start messing with a single segment, working up a simple beat I like. I then hit Add three or four times to duplicate the sequence. Then it’s time to change it up, so I hit Copy, hit >| to create a new sequence number in that spot in the song, and hit Paste. I then make one or two changes in the sequence (not too much though, because it still has to sound like it belongs in the same song). I then duplicate that several times, then make another tweak, and so on. Pretty soon, I have a basic melody. It may not be a hit, but it sounds like a song, and it’s fun to make.

Documentation

Rolling Tones is easy to pick up, but it also comes with a simple help page:

This is not obvious, and it does help when you’re trying to figure out what each button does. The included sample song helps, too.

Final Thoughts

Rolling Tones doesn’t win in the looks department, but it definitely has the right functionality, coupled with an intuitive interface and an attractive price tag.

Do you know of a better sequencer for Android that’s still simple enough for non-musicians to use? Let me know in the comments! And if you make anything fun with Rolling Tones, feel free to share a SoundCloud link or two, as well.

The post Create Fun Melodies On The Go With Free Rolling Tones for Android appeared first on MakeUseOf.

With all of that being said, Dota 2 and League of Legends are hard games to learn. The skill required to master each of the heroes is great, and it’s not the kind of game you are just going to pick up and play without getting your butt handed to you on many occasions. As I mentioned previously, watching Dota 2 streamers is a great way to learn, but if you want to go even further, there are tons of websites designed to help new players progress in the game.

In addition to learning, there are many Dota 2 websites out there designed to help keep up with the competitive scene. The rise of the MOBA has had a direct impact on the popularity of so called esports, and Dota 2 has a lively competitive scene that can be hard to keep up with. Some of the sites on this list will let you know who are the teams to watch out for, and when the next great tournament is taking place.

PurgeGamers.com

I’ve talked about Purges stream before, but his Dota 2 website is also a fantastic resource for Dota 2 information. I am especially fond of his giant article called “Welcome to Dota, You Suck.” This epic article covers almost every aspect of the game and is something I suggest all new players take the time to read. It’s not a short article by any stretch, but the knowledge contained within makes it well worth the time to sit down and plow through.

In addition to his articles, Purge also pulls some select games from his streams and posts them to the site. He even does commentary over replays of games, which offers more detailed learning, because he is focused more on teaching and less on playing. The News section even covers the competitive scene, so this site really has it all.

Dota2.com

The official Dota 2 website is a shockingly good resource. It comes equipped with a “Heropedia” designed to introduce games to the massive list of heroes, and the Steam Guides, which are also available in the game itself. These guides, written by players, offer an incredible amount of depth and knowledge for specific heroes and general gameplay tactics.

The official site does not go too deep into the competitive scene, but it covers the big tournaments like The International. Any Dota 2 fan should spend a good deal of time on this site.

PlayDota.com

This is, without question, one of the most content-packed Dota 2 websites around. It is considered an official site, and as such, all the information contained within it is accurate. In terms of news, it’s not the most active website, but it does cover much of what is happening in the biggest professional tournaments.

The bread and butter of PlayDota is the forum. It is a massive community of players covering everything from the competitive scene to tips for new players. It even continues to deal with the original Warcraft 3 Dota mod, so old school players can still get their fix there. Besides the forums, there is tons of articles and other key information to help you expand your knowledge of everything Dota. For the hardcore player, it’s easy to lose many hours hanging out on PlayDota.

Reddit.com/r/Dota2

The Dota2 Reddit is always growing, and with it, the amount of content posted expands. As you would expect from Reddit, plenty of photos are posted, but there is also a great deal of strategy discussion and players talking about the competitive scene. If you want a place to come discuss Dota 2 with other serious players, this Reddit is a great option.

Dota Insight

Dota Insight has a website, but there is not much on there other than a few hero guides. The reason this makes the list is because of their fantastic Dota 2 podcast. It’s very active, with new episodes airing weekly. Each episode covers fun games the hosts played in the last week, tips for heros, the latest patches, and the biggest happenings from the professional Dota 2 scene. If you want to consume your Dota information in audio form, this is the Dota 2 website for you.

Your Turn

What Dota 2 websites do you visit? Hit the comments section below and let us know!

The post 5 Websites For All The Latest Happenings In Dota 2 [MUO Gaming] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

While there are several ways to find stuff on Facebook, they are all but comprehensive or reliable. This situation also forces you to spend even more time on Facebook, increasing the likelihood that you will get distracted. One way to increase your chances of finding something and thus waste less time, is to enable Facebook email notifications. As I explore the benefits of email notifications, I will also show you other ways to search Facebook.

Why Would I Need Facebook Email Notifications?

Facebook Email Notifications are useful for two main reasons. First, you can read updates without visiting Facebook. Second, you are creating a searchable archive of those posts.

Facebook is an incredible time sink. It’s tough not to scroll down your News Feed or view the notifications that have accumulated since your last visit. The best thing you can do to escape this drift is to visit Facebook less. Email notifications allow you to do that and at least partially fight your FOMO (fear of missing out) because you will receive notifications of important posts and events.

At some point in the past Facebook retired its old Wall and Timeline search option. Recently, Graph Search was introduced, but it doesn’t really search posts on your Timeline or News Feed. So when you want to find a post or a comment in which you were mentioned, you have to manually search Facebook, for example by expanding the relevant time frame in your News Feed and using your browser’s search feature. If you have Facebook email notifications enabled, however, you can simply use your email client’s search tool. With Gmail’s filter and search features, this is super convenient.

Alternatively, you could download your Facebook expanded archive and search it. However, it can take several hours before your archive is ready for download. It also gets outdated the next day, and it doesn’t contain group posts.

Presently, it’s possible to search within groups. However, it’s unpredictable which features Facebook will remove or otherwise alter. So if you rely on the group search option, it’s better to be on the safe side and also collect group posts via Facebook email notifications.

How Can I Enable Facebook Email Notifications?

Facebook offers a range of ways to receive Notifications in the respective section under Account Settings. Besides email notifications, you can enable visual and audio notifications on Facebook, push notifications, and text messages.

For email notifications you have two options:

• All notifications, except the ones you unsubscribe from
• Only notifications about your account, security and privacy

You can unsubscribe from:

• Pokes
• Friend confirmations
• Friend suggestions
• Friends added based on your suggestions

Once you have enabled email notifications and made a choice what to unsubscribe from, note that you can further customize email notifications under the What You Get Notified About header.

Particularly interesting are notifications that concern activities of close friends and groups you are a member of. Note that you cannot opt out of activities that involve you, for example when someone comments on a post of yours.

Won’t These Notifications Clog Up My Inbox?

No, because you know that they are coming and you will take care of them in advance. What you need to do is set up an email filter. Your email client should allow you to automatically mark the notifications as read, make them bypass your inbox, and sort them to a separate label or folder. We have previously outlined how to set up email filters in Gmail, Yahoo, and Thunderbird.

Conclusion

Facebook email notifications can be set up in a way that doesn’t bother you, and generally can be very useful. They can serve as a partial archive, become a valuable resource when searching for information, and by allowing you to avoid Facebook they might even save you time.

If you are still not finding what you are looking for, you can try external services like SocialSearching. From my own experience I must report that they are slow and unreliable, but maybe you are more lucky.

Do you know of a better way to find things on Facebook? Please share!

The post Facebook Search Sucks – Use Facebook Email Notifications As A Workaround [Weekly Facebook Tips] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The game, developed by a small studio called Squad, has been developed with the Minecraft approach. It is totally playable, and a lot of fun, but there are many planned features still in development. Fortunately, the game’s developers have allowed impatient gamers to go crazy with mods, and have even created a website called the Kerbal SpacePort that give modders a place to share their creations.

The only problem is the site’s huge selection; there are hundreds of Kerbal space program mods to choose from. So, to save you time, I’ve picked out ten of the best.

B9 Aerospace Pack

Besides rockets, Kerbal Space Program also includes space planes. These are much more complex and harder to design, but allow for the creation of spaceships that can sail to the stars but also re-enter the atmosphere and navigate on their own power.

What’s great about the B9 pack, and makes it among the best component packs available, is its attention to detail. The parts use quality textures and are based on concept designs shown by NASA, DARPA, and militaries across the globe. And while most useful for planes and shuttles, the parts can be used in rockets, too – so don’t count this mod you just because you haven’t started building space planes yet.

Impossible Innovations

Originally developed as a “cheat pack”, Impossible Innovations has turned into a fully-fledged component mod for people who want to take their space program a step beyond what’s possible with today’s technology.

That means a wide variety of wonderful components like fusion engines, high-capacity batteries, advanced command pods, super-charged solar panels and more. These allow for ships that are larger, faster and more durable that anything normally possible.

KW Rocketry

Designing your first rocket can feel overwhelming. After some successful missions, however, you may discover an itch for even more components. That’s what KW Rocketry provides.

In this pack you’ll find more nose-cones, decouplers, fuel tanks, fairings, a new engine numerous new engines, more solid fuel boosters, and more. These extras vastly expand the rockets you can build and allow for designs that aren’t possible with stock components. Yet they’re also relatively simple, making this mod digestible for new players.

MechJeb

Piloting can be one of the game’s more frustrating challenges. At times it is difficult, and if you’re no good at it, even the best rockets will crash and burn.

MechJeb is the solution. Once the mod is installed you’ll have access to MechJeb components which, when placed on a spacecraft, provide a wide range of auto-pilot features. This mod can handle almost everything; docking, takeoff, landing, orbital flight, and more. It can mess up from time to time but, in 90% of situations, it works perfectly.

SpaceJunk Cargo Bay

There’s one part that is conspicuously missing from Kerbal Space Program – a cargo bay. Since it isn’t present, rockets have to put satellites into orbit by just attaching to them to the top. Which tends to work fairly well, but isn’t ideal or realistic.

SpaceJunk fixes the problem with a cargo bay. Simple! The bay comes in several different sizes and allow for the deployment of small satellites.

RemoteTech

Currently the game includes the parts to make satellites, but they don’t do much. RemoteTech gives them a purpose by introducing new remote control options and a communications system.

With this mod it’s possible to remotely operate unmanned craft, but only if they’re within communications range of mission control. That range is rather short, and blocked by the terrain of Kerbin (your home planet), so you’ll need to send up relay satellites.

Eventually you’ll create a network that spans the solar system, making this mod perfect for anyone who wants to try their hand at inter-planetary communication.

Telemachus

Kerbal Space Program is as much a toy as it is a game, which means for many players the goal is far less important than the journey. And so we have Telemachus, a mod that lets you use web browsers to create a virtual mission control.

Does this make the game easier? Not really. But it does better simulate hands-off command of spacecraft from a control center rather than the cockpit itself. The mod even includes nifty telemetry data, perfect for graph-lovers and data-mongers.

Quantum Struts

One of the limitations which can become annoying in Kerbal Space Program is the inability to add components after construction. That’s annoying because space stations are almost always multiple-part structures built by docking different pieces.

Quantum struts provide a fix by adding “energy” struts that can connect different docked spacecraft, which make space stations less likely to suffer from wobble. And that in turn allows for the construction of much larger stations.

Conclusion

All of these Kerbal space program mods are free to download through the Kerbal SpacePort website, which also provides install instructions. Generally, the folders found in a mod’s zip file can be drag-and-dropped into the game’s installation folder, and that’s that. Mods compatibility doesn’t seem to be an issue (I’ve not run into it, at least).

As for the game itself, you can buy it off Steam for $22.99 or directly from Squad for $23 even.

The post 8 Awesome Kerbal Space Program Mods appeared first on MakeUseOf.

If you’re already subscribed to services like Netflix or Hulu Plus, now may be the time to make the switch. You will still need a computer or system that can access all of that content for you — more commonly, it’s called a media streamer or a home theatre PC. While you can build your own HTPC, it might be easier to just buy something like the Roku 3. We purchased a unit to review and give away to a lucky reader, so let’s see whether it lives up to the hype!

About the Roku 3

The Roku 3 is, logically, the successor to the Roku and Roku 2. It is an online media delivery system, which means that it’s a dedicated media center box which you connect to your television as well as the Internet via some form of Internet connection such as Wi-Fi or ethernet. It specializes in retrieving content from multiple online sources, such as Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, and much more.

The unit has increasingly become smaller, but also more powerful as it delivers on consumer demands for high-definition video streaming. The product line has also shrunk down from multiple different models to just one, but this one model should be enough to satisfy the needs of all consumers.

Some competitors to the Roku 3 include the Apple TV at $99, which offers much of the same functionality such as on-demand movies and TV shows, but is more integrated into the Apple ecosystem; and requires one computer to be the dedicated iTunes server in order to watch local video files. Next, the Boxee Box at around $180, offers more or less the same features, but isn’t quite as complete. Boxee is also known to erratically drop support on existing customers and phase out products really quickly. Judging from what’s happening in Boxee’s support forum, the Boxee Box could have very well reached the end of its life.

Packaging

The Roku 3 comes in a relatively small box, but this is also because the Roku 3 isn’t very big. After taking off the top, you’ll see a “Let’s get started” guide, where underneath lies the Roku 3 unit as well as the remote.

If you pull out the cardboard, you’ll find a power supply for the unit as well as batteries for the remote and earphones on the left and right sides of the cardboard. At the very bottom of the box is a product information pamphlet.

About the unit

As I said, the Roku 3 unit is very small. It measures at just 3.5 inches x 3.5 inches by 1 inch, and weighs in at only 5 ounces. The case is made from a hard plastic which should protect it from bumps and scratches. The glossy surface is also nice, especially with the “3” created by a non-glossy border, but it definitely shows off the fingerprints that it collects.

The Roku 3 comes with decent connectivity as it includes a USB port, an HDMI port, and an ethernet port. The USB port allows you to connect additional storage to play content from. Supported formats include MP4, MKV, MP3, AAC, JPG, and PNG; and plays 720p and 1080p HD video. As the Roku 3 only has an HDMI port, it is only compatible with TVs or monitors with an HDMI input. The Roku 3 also doesn’t have a separate audio port, so remember that both audio and video will be transmitted via the HDMI cable.

The Roku 3 has internal storage for saving your added channels and games, although Roku doesn’t state how much internal storage the device has. However, underneath the HDMI port is a microSD card reader which can provide additional storage space for more channels when the internal storage runs out. While the Roku 3 offers a 10/100 ethernet port, it is also dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi compatible with support for WEP, WPA, and WPA2 encryption.

The power plug is rather small, as the Roku 3 is advertised to use only 3.5 watts while streaming HD video. This number is rather impressive, considering that the Roku 3 packs a processor that is “5 times faster” than that found in the previous generation. That’s some serious muscle power to stream HD video as smoothly as possible.

The Remote

The included remote is interesting to say the least. The first thing you’ll notice is that neither the remote nor the Roku 3 have an IR receiver — instead, they communicate with each other using Wi-Fi Direct. This simply means that the two devices create an ad-hoc wireless network with which they can communicate. Previous generations used either an IR receiver or Bluetooth. The remote also comes with rather minimal buttons, which makes the Roku 3 quite simple (but sometimes tedious) to use. Surprisingly enough though, the remote also comes with motion control which is used for some games that are available on the Roku 3.

One of the biggest advantages to the Wi-Fi Direct method of communication is that the remote is able to receive a lot more data from the main unit. Why in the world would the remote be receiving data from the Roku 3? If you look on the left side of the remote, you’ll see that you can plug in any headphones so that you’re able to move around and enjoy your content without having to disturb others. While the idea of plugging headphones into a remote may be strange at first, I am absolutely enthusiastic about this idea simply because the remote is extremely mobile. You can enjoy your videos quite wherever you’re not alone are in the room.

Setting Up

With hardware out of the way, let’s take a look at the actual experience with the Roku 3. When you plug it in for the first time, you’ll have to go through a setup process in which you choose your language, wireless network if you don’t have an ethernet cable plugged in, and a linking process where you have to link the Roku 3 with your Roku account. If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to make one in order to use your Roku 3. While I don’t have an issue with making an account, I do not like that it forces you to enter your payment information, even if you don’t plan on making any Roku purchases. However, the account creation process will also ask you whether you want to enter a PIN for making a purchase, so you’re still protected from accidentally spending money. With a Roku account, you can also add private channels, manage your subscriptions, check your purchase history, and deactivate your account.

Channels

Once you have everything set up, you can add different “channels”, which are your different content providers. There are channels for every big name in content, from Hulu Plus and Netflix to Pandora, Disney, Fox News Channel. However, the library of channels is huge and includes so much more than just those. You can also find interesting channels such as Dailymotion, cnet, NASA, TED Talks, and even MIT OpenCourseware.

Although most channels are freely available, some require a paid subscription to really use them; and then there are some which require you to pay in order to add the channel to your Roku 3. There are also private channels which you can add via your account online using a code. A good place to start looking for private channels would be StreamFree.TV. There aren’t any credible channel repositories — just the available private channels.

Experience

The general experience across all apps is pleasing. The user interfaces are easy to navigate, and best of all they are pretty predictable after you’ve looked at one or two channels. For example, if you want to watch a TV show or movie on Netflix, it’s really easy provided you already have your Internet connection set up. Just navigate to the Netflix channel and hit OK. Then, after it loads a little more, you can scroll around for your TV show or movie, and then hit OK again. Then just hit Play on the screen, and it should load.

Pandora works similarly, where you navigate to the Pandora channel, choose the station you’d like to listen to, and you’re already done. As everything is channel-based, you won’t find a web browser or file explorer that you can use. The Roku 3 is also supposed to be able to connect to other PCs on the network and stream from them, but I haven’t been able to get it to work because of the network scenario where I live.

Games

Interestingly enough, you can also play a handful of games on the Roku 3 after adding them to your device. One of the most popular games is Angry Birds Space, and I’d have to say that it’s pretty fun to play on. The graphics are very good, and playing with the remote is pretty cool. You can point with the remote to move the on-screen pointer around, and in the case of Angry Birds you can also pull back by moving the remote to the left. I’m not sure how it recognizes the motion, but it works reasonably well. You don’t even have to point it at the Roku unit — it works even when pointing the remote in the complete opposite direction. I still prefer using a smartphone or tablet when playing Angry Birds, however.

Downsides

Besides plenty of available channels and games, there isn’t a whole lot more to the Roku 3. It’s fantastic at what it’s meant to do — streaming online content. However, there are a few downsides to the Roku 3. First, if you haven’t noticed yet, there is no official YouTube channel despite the number of channels that are available for the device. As a college student, I do enjoy any content that is available for free, and YouTube is my go-to source for that. As the Roku 3 doesn’t offer YouTube, that’s a huge turn off in my eyes. After doing a bit of research, I’ve discovered that this is Google’s fault for trying to make a YouTube app exclusive to Google and Apple TV devices, and not Roku’s. I just hope that YouTube comes to the device in the near future, no matter whose fault it really is.

Next, I dislike the fact that I have to make an account for the Roku 3, but I see the reasons why I would want to do so. However, I definitely didn’t like that I was forced to enter in my payment information — maybe I’m asking a bit too much in that area. Finally, I think that the power cable is too short at just 5 feet, as I wasn’t able to place the Roku 3 exactly where I would have preferred it to be.

Conclusion

Overall, this is a fantastic streaming solution that makes the switch to online TV content a whole lot easier. Despite some of my gripes, the device has barely any downsides, although I’m still highly disappointed about the lack of an official YouTube channel. As most of my viewed content comes from YouTube, it makes the Roku 3 a lot less useful for me.

Also, if you’re invested in the Apple ecosystem, you may have a better time getting an Apple TV instead. While it doesn’t have quite as many channels as the Roku 3, it does connect to most major content providers (including YouTube) as well as your iCloud purchases and content.

How do I win a Roku 3?

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 31st. The winner will be selected at random and informed via email.

The post Roku 3 Review and Giveaway appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Add Your Website Here!

Converseen – Converting a massive amount of pictures takes a lot of time if done manually. It usually requires you to know keyboard shortcuts, browsing through the file explorer, and fiddling with the image tool to get the pictures right. But during the process, it tends to slow you down especially if you are working with thousands of files. Read more: Converseen: Batch Rename & Resize of Images [Windows]

		Dropify – Do you have an interesting paper on modern trends that you want to share with your friends? Or perhaps there is a cool song that you want everybody to check out? One way to go about this is to upload the file to an online file host, but here to offer you a new and fun way to share any type of file on Facebook is a web service called Dropify. Read more: Dropify: Upload & Share Files With Friends On Your Social Network
		Slingpic – Allow visitors to your website to quickly share your pictures on social networks. Slingpic is a WordPress plugin that adds a share button to every picture on your site – but don’t worry, it only shows up when the user’s mouse hovers over the picture (so there’s no extra clutter). Users can click a social media icon to share the image on any number of social networks. Read more: Slingpic: Adds Share Buttons To Your WordPress Pictures
		Clipular – is a Chrome extension designed for taking and saving screenshots of in-browser images and websites. These screenshots can be saved for archival use and also shared with friends or colleagues. The app is also perfect for researching purposes. Instead of bookmarking articles and cluttering Chrome’s folders (or bookmark bar), you can simply save only important information on a single page. Read more: Clipular: Save & Share Searchable Screenshots On The Web
		Fhotoroom – Many once saw webdesign as a challenge to create the most ambitious, busy and technically impressive websites they could. These days the trend has been reversed, and simplicity is king over complexity. But much of the time you’ll need knowledge of HTML, CSS and a little bit of JavaScript. Enthuse.me takes the pain out of creating such a website. Read more: Fhotoroom: A Comprehensive Photography App For Windows Phones

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 20th 2013] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Windows 8 has managed to do a pretty decent job of putting all of your favorite and most-used applications right in your face with their rendition of the startup screen. Not all of us fancy it though. I personally skip straight the desktop. With all of these commonly-used applications so separated, daily tasks can seem like a hassle. Ubiquitous Player makes an attempt at alleviating that and serving as your Swiss Army Knife of application goodies.

Download Ubiquitous Player

Ubiquitous Player is a completely portable application that runs on any version of Windows from XP onward. It’s 100% free and even works on tablet or touchscreen devices. This application aims to serve every purpose of your daily PC routine. It’s packed with a media player, image viewer, file manager, text editor, browser, bookmark manager, notes keeper, calculator, color picker, screenshot tool, clipboard monitor, and even more.

Ubiquitous Player’s interface is very sleek and attractive. Let’s pick apart some of its many uses.

Music Player

The music player offers pretty much everything the average user needs to enjoy their music collection. You can organize a playlist and view album art (in the top-right corner) within Ubiquitous Player.

You’re able to play an entire folder, play random tracks, set a track to just play once, and skip to the next album in your folder to play it in its entirety. Ubiquitous Player includes all basic media keys to start, stop, skip, go back, and change the volume of its player. Ubiquitous Player’s music player isn’t entirely impressive, yet it’s everything you should need.

Notes

Ubiquitous Player’s take on notes is very bare and straightforward. As you can see in some of the examples above, note-taking is composed of “folders” (which simply act as a header describing a list of notes) and then line-by-line notes beneath them.

Obviously this doesn’t compare to an Evernote or CintaNotes, but it’s very quick, good for jotting down simple things, and even supports searching your notes.

Image Viewer

The image viewer offers some interesting features. Just using your left-click button, you’re able to navigate through to the next image in a folder. With each individual image, you have options to view it at its actual size, cut the image, rotate it, change the backdrop to black or white, or resave the image as either PNG, JPG, BMP, or JPEG. All images show the dimensions, size, and date modified.

When you’re hunting through a cluttered folder, Ubiquitous Player’s image viewer is a great way to look at images quickly and easily.

Text Editor

Ubiquitous Player’s text editor is a very straightforward alternative to Notepad. You’re able to format your text in a few ways, such as changing the font face, size, and color. You’re able to immediately access a special characters map from within the interface. You can also view your text in HTML format using the built-in browser.

The settings allow you to activate a touchscreen mode, change the interface scaling, and even set hotkeys related to screen capturing (all of which I used to take the screenshots in this post).

Conclusion

Ubiquitous Player isn’t the type of application to exceed your expectations. It definitely isn’t going to be a replacement for any of the dedicated applications that exist as alternatives for some of its built-in features, but it does well for bringing so many elements together in a single interface. It’s the kind of application that could work best on low-resource machines (like a netbook).

What do you think of Ubiquitous Player and the features it provides? What can Ubiquitous Player do better? I think it’s a really solid application that deserves some attention, and I hope you give it a try if it interests you. Let me know what you think about Ubiquitous Player in the comments section below!

The post Ubiquitous Player Is An Everything-In-One Portable Suite appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Now, the Windows System Control Center itself isn’t really that amazing, it’s just an interface that gives you access to two different suites of tools, and categorizes those tools according to their functions. But when you realize what two suites we’re talking about, you start to realize just what a dynamite combination this is. Think of this as the IT world’s version of “You got chocolate in my peanut butter.” That’s right, when they come together they are worth more than the sum of the parts. We’re talking about SysInternals and NirSoft.

Installing WSCC

Once you have WSCC downloaded, simply unzip the package. Inside, you’ll find an executable file called wscc.exe with an icon that looks like a lifesaver. A very apt icon indeed. To install wscc.exe on your USB thumb drive, simply copy the file and paste it onto your thumb drive. That’s it. Takes about 2 seconds. If you go ahead and do it now before you run into any Windows’ issues, you’ll be glad you did!

Running WSCC

On the first run, WSCC will prompt you to download all the latest versions of all the utilities. You may as well do that to be up-to-date. Because most of these utilities are very lightweight, well under 500KB for most of them, the process is quite quick.

Unfortunately, if you have good antivirus software, the process can take a bit longer. Some of the NirSoft utilities will get flagged and quarantined because they do gain access to intimate parts of the operating system. These are false positives, rest assured.

Setting WSCC Options

There are four tabs with options in WSCC: General, Software, Network, and Console. I’ve chosen some different options for my setup, and I’ve highlighted those in yellow below. By default, these options are not checked. It’s up to you if you want to select them or not, I can’t say that they make a great difference, it’s just a matter of preference.

General: I’ve chosen to have Windows System Control Center Minimize to Tray, when not in use. I just prefer it to be there rather than in the task bar. I’ve also chosen to Show Hidden Items, just because I don’t like hidden things. I like to know ALL of my options.

Software: I’ve chosen to utilize Windows Services as well. Again, just because I like to know all of my options.

Network: Under Update Manager, I’ve also chosen to Include new software when checking for updates. Again, it’s about having options. The Use the 64-bit version if possible option seems like another nice-to-have since most 64-bit machines will also run the 32-bit versions.

Console: I see no sense in changing things here, it’s just window dressing.

What Can You Do?

More like, what CAN’T you do?! The utilities are organized in a directory fashion based upon their functionality. The major categories of tools are:

• File and Disk – For anything related to file recovery, file access, disk usage, disk or file defrag, etc.
• Network – Anything related to network functions such as Active Directory viewing, remotely opened file viewer, whois, network adapter tools, etc.
• Process -  Covers the gamut of viewing open DLLs, what programs are set to autorun at startup, file process dependencies, etc.
• Security -  Registry keys, password utilities, scan for root-kits, etc.
• System Information – Active logons, system clock, process monitor, system info, etc.
• Console – Includes a command line console, available by clicking on the New Console button in the bottom-left corner. Perfect for running command line utilities from your USB drive.

SysInternals

Mark Russinovich was an independent general computer god who got tired of not having the tools he needed to solve his Windows problems. So like any god, he created them. Like any other god, he also created a trick that was funny to some and very distressing to others, the iconic BSOD Screen Saver. Somehow it was the trick that got him the attention he richly deserved for his work on the Windows tools. At least, that’s how I came to know of him.

When people started realizing how powerful and simple to use Mark’s tools were, word spread to the progenitors of Windows and there was a deal struck. Now SysInternals Suite is an official, and free set of tools for computer techs to use. There are 70 tools in the SysInternals suite, of which I only make regular use of about 3. To date, I have not used all the tools, but it is a comfort to know that they are there.

Let me show you how powerful a tool this can be for someone to have. Let’s say you’re at a friend’s house and they just can’t get their computer to boot very quickly. You’ve got your USB flash drive with you. Plug it in, start up WSSC, go to SysInternals, click on Process, then click on Autoruns…well, watch the video.

Of course, there are several other very powerful and useful tools in SysInternals. Really, we’ve written so many articles on the different components of SysInternal Suite, that I can’t even point you to one article. Please, do the search on SysInternals on our site, you’ll find so much. Now let’s take a little look at NirSoft as well.

NirSoft

NirSoft is another Windows god in the same sense as Mark Russinovich. It is the brainchild of Nir Sofer, a software developer with an excellent knack for cryptography and reverse engineering. In his spare time, he develops these applications that he would find useful, posts them on his website and we all get to benefit. That’s a sort of altruism that I don’t completely understand, but am very grateful for.

Much like Mark Russinovich’s tools, NirSoft’s tools are already portable in the sense that they don’t have to write to the Windows registry in order to be able to use them. Which makes perfect sense. If you’re having Windows issues, you need to be able to fix them from outside of Windows.

Where NirSoft goes that SysInternals doesn’t go, is into things like Password Recovery and Web Browser information. Recently we’ve been talking about technology after you’ve passed on, on MakeUseOf.com. Morbid as it is, it is a reality for all of us. So perhaps your friend has passed on and his widow needs to access somethings on the Internet, but he didn’t leave any information. Or, maybe he told you to delete stuff, so his widow wouldn’t see it! Either way, NirSoft has a strong suite of Password Recovery tools. With the tools available, you can get his passwords from Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Firefox. You can also get them from his Outlook or even online mail service. You can recover a stored WEP key for your wireless configuration as well. Pretty powerful, possibly even scary.

The password recovery tools only touch the tip of the dozens of NirSoft utilities available through the WSCC interface. How handy to have these tools in your pocket! If your looking for more on NirSoft utilities, check out Tina Sieber’s article on another USB-based NirSoft utility launcher.

The Take Away

If you are a budding computer tech, you need this tool on your emergency USB flash drive. It’s that simple. Yes, there are other tools that you need, but this is certainly an excellent start to your portable toolbox. The price is right – free – and the size is right too – 3 MB, so why wouldn’t you? If you like the software, please donate to the folks that helped make it possible.

I hope you enjoyed our journey through this handy tool. Have you ever used it before? If so, I’d like to hear how and what the outcome was. Do you know of other excellent portable tools like this that we should know about? Plug them in the comments and we’ll have a look at them. We are IT, and we’re here to help.

The post Get a Head Start On Your USB Toolkit With Windows System Control Center appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Fortunately, there are several iPhone foreign language apps that will help you translate simple phrases while you are exploring the globe. All of them are useful, but bear in mind that they are designed to help you communicate, not to help you learn the language.

Here are five apps that will help you on your journeys.

Google Translate (Free)

Full Offline Usage: No
Translates Simple Phrases: Yes
Audio Translation: Yes
Voice Activation: Yes
Number of Languages: 64

Google Translate is great for those of you who need simple phrases while you are traveling out and about. Simple selections like “Where’s the bathroom?”, “Where can I get a cheap meal?”, and “Where’s the best place to hide a body without the authorities finding out?” are probably all you would want to say.

While the app does not allow for full offline usage, it does let you to save translations so you can use them later. Furthermore, the app will show translations on the screen.

Check out our full iOS review of Google Translate.

Jibbigo ($4.99)

Full Offline Usage: Yes
Translates Simple Phrases: Yes
Audio Translation: Yes
Voice Activation: Yes
Number of Languages: 20+

Jibbigo is a translation app that was fully designed for travelers. While it does not offer as many languages as Google Translate, it works completely offline. This way you don’t have to worry about not having Internet access or paying for roaming charges while you are in the middle of a foreign land.

Jibbigo allows users to speak their chosen phrase into the app, and it will automatically translate it using audio and on-screen text. The app is also “bi-directional”, so you can theoretically have full conversations with anyone you run across.

Phrasebook (Free, $2.99 per extra language)

Full Offline Usage: No
Translates Simple Phrases: Yes
Audio Translation: Yes
Voice Activation: No
Number of Languages: 30+

Maybe you aren’t so interested in typing out phrases in one language and having them translated into another. Fortunately for you, there’s Phrasebook. The app stores a series of illustrated, audio, and text translations to help you get through your travels wherever you are.

With over 2,200 phrases per language to choose from, Phrasebook is like your personal translator! While the app itself is free, Japanese and English are the only languages that come with it. $2.99 isn’t too much of an investment when you are overseas for any additional languages you may require.

Here’s our directory review of Phrasebook for iOS.

Universal Translator ($2.99)

Full Offline Usage: No
Translates Simple Phrases: Yes
Audio Translation: Yes
Voice Activation: Yes
Number of Languages: 39

Universal Translator is a bit of an odd bird when it comes to the world of on-the-go translation. It’s weird simply because it’s designed around chatting, and in fact, it uses Google Talk. By signing in with your Google Account, Universal Translator will allow you to chat with someone and have a fluid conversation as it automatically translates both incoming and outgoing messages. Is it practical? Well, if you’re in a sit-down situation, it might be, but it’s probably not a good idea if you are roaming about.

SayHi Translate ($0.99)

Full Offline Usage: No
Translates Simple Phrases: Yes
Audio Translation: Yes
Voice Activation: Yes
Number of Languages: 39

SayHi Translate is fun little app that is functionally identical to almost all of the other apps that we’ve suggested. It uses vocal translation, and while its translation voice is a bit robotic, most users report that the translations are typically accurate. However, what really draws users in to SayHi Translate is its beautiful user interface. It’s exciting, bright, and quite pleasing to look at!

Conclusion

All of these iPhone foreign language app are great for faking your way through the native tongue while abroad. However, as far as offline translators go, I would definitely recommend Jibbigo. Google Translate comes at a close second since it’s free, but there’s the whole issue of needing a connection.

Also, make sure you aren’t getting sucked into roaming fees with the ones that require an Internet connection (use Wi-Fi wherever you can), and do your best to stay safe while in the middle of strange lands. Remember that not everyone can be Indiana Jones.

What other translation apps do you like to use? Are the apps here suitable for travelling? Have you used any of these apps before?

Image Credit: jbachman01

The post 5 iPhone Apps That Will Help You Communicate In A Foreign Language [iOS] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

I’ll be honest: I’m really not one to do a lot of photo editing. I rarely do anything related to photos, whether it’s taking them, touching them up, or even looking at them. But even for someone like me, Photo Commander 11 was a breeze to operate. For those of you who actually like photo editing, this program will serve you well.

Photo Commander 11 is available for USD $49.99 on Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8. But for you, we’ve got a great offer that you just won’t be able to pass up: we’re giving away 10 copies of Photo Commander 11 worth a total of $500 for free! Keep reading to see how you can take advantage of this awesome offer.

Photo Commander 11 Review

When you first start up the program, you’ll be met with a quick setup wizard. This wizard allows you to choose file associations, languages, interface layouts, and a few other simple settings that’ll help you get started. It’s not the most helpful introduction, but it’s something.

Photo Commander 11 opens up to a clean workstation layout with pleasant aesthetics. I chose the photo editing layout as opposed to the photo manager layout (I don’t have many photos to manage) or the film strip layout (didn’t really appeal to me). I admit that I felt overwhelmed at first, but it all started to make sense after a few minutes of exploration.

The main aspect you really need to become familiar with is the top bar – not the usual menu options that you’d see in any other program, but the special blue navigation bar that holds all of the actions and options that you can play around with. It’s similar to Microsoft’s ribbon interface except not so wieldy.

• Quick Fix: This section of the bar is where you’ll find a bunch of one-click photo fixers like cropping, contrast & brightness, color correction, red eye removal, tilt shifting, visual effects, and more.
• Objects: This section of the bar lets you edit the photo by drawing some boxes and circles if you please, or maybe some speech bubbles or image stamps if that’s what you prefer. It’s not as feature-rich as Photoshop by any means.
• Create: Despite the name, this section of the bar is less about creating photos and more about organizing them. There are buttons to create slideshows, albums, collages, panoramas, and other containers along those lines.
• Organize: Again, despite the name, this section is less about organization and more about utility. Rename a bunch of photos at once. Find duplicate images on your hard drive. Burn images to a CD or DVD. Rotate and optimize JPG files. Lots of miscellaneous actions that don’t fit under the other sections.

Visual effects are one of the most elementary operations you can perform on a photo, but they’re just so awesome and Photo Commander makes them so easy. It really is a one-click action and you can stack multiple effects on a single photo in case you really want to touch up an otherwise subpar picture.

When you want to create a photo container – like an album, a slideshow, a collage, etc. – Photo Commander again makes it easy thanks to the various wizards that come as part of the program. No matter what you want to do, all you have to do is fill out a few fields and check (or uncheck) a few checkboxes, and voila! You’re done.

Photo Commander 11 lets you take command of your photos without requiring you to have any prior photo manipulation experience. Here are some more great features that you’ll find here:

• Automatic photo backups as you work and easy restore.
• MiniMap live preview of the photo you’re editing.
• Fullscreen editing mode to cut away all other distractions.
• Comparison mode where you can compare before and after image modifications.
• Image conversion between multiple supported formats.
• Share your photos through email, Facebook, Picasa, or even YouTube.

Again, we’re giving away 11 free copies to all of our loyal and beloved MakeUseOf fans and readers. As a reminder, Photo Commander 11 only runs on Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8.

How can I win a copy of Photo Commander 11?

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 24th. The winners will be selected at random and informed via email.

The post Touch Up Your Photos With A Single Click Using Photo Commander 11 [Giveaway] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The process can require a great deal of patience and confidence as the potential for disaster exists. Only the stouthearted should even make an attempt. For those of you looking for quicker solutions to reduce battery drain, check out Tim’s excellent article on mainstream methods of cooling your computer down.

This article introduces undervolting to the uninitiated, focusing on explanation, methods of implementation, the available compatible hardware and what software exists. For a more detailed guide on how-to undervolt, check out this instructional guide.

Undervolting Explained

After an intense session of Call of Duty or Modern Warfare 3, you may notice your computer or graphics processor getting unusually hot. That’s because a simple relationship exists between the the speed at which a device runs and its temperature. When you use your computer to perform CPU intensive tasks, it will run at a higher frequency, and thus produce greater heat, than it would at idle.

There’s a formula that electrical engineers use to explain this relationship. Unfortunately, I wasn’t smart enough to be an engineer so my understanding is weak, but here goes: P = V^2/R, where power is equal to voltage squared, divided by resistance.

As you can see from the equation, lowering voltage has a tremendous effect on power. But the question remains: How could it be possible for us to lower voltage while maintaining performance? Keep in mind three factors:

• Not all CPUs are the same: Because of the ridiculously complex manufacturing required in fabricating a processor, no two CPUs are exactly the same. Rather than responding identically to voltages, CPUs exhibit a range of tolerances. Consequently, the companies that make processors established a baseline voltage that most CPUs can use without issue. Unfortunately, this voltage is oftentimes higher than required and produces a great deal of waste heat as a byproduct. Because of this, the majority of CPUs can actually use a lower voltage a various frequencies.
• A CPU’s speed progression isn’t linear: A computer’s speed varies from its top-rated clock cycle, typically measured in gigahertz, to its lowest possible speed. The progression between its fastest and slowest speed does not move in a linear fashion, but in a stepped pattern. I’ve seen differing terminologies for these “steps” on differing CPU architectures. For the PC (x86), I’ve seen it referred to as P-states. ARM does not appear to have a similar naming convention.
• You can decrease a CPU’s voltage: CPUs exhibit a range of voltages tolerances across frequencies. For example, using special software you might lower the voltage (sometimes referred to as a “VID“) at different frequencies.  If too low, it will cause crashes and blue screens, so caution is advised.

Three Steps To Undervolt a Device

• Backup Your Information: In case something goes catastrophically wrong you may get permanently boot-looped. Therefore it’s crucial to have your information backed up.
• Gradual Voltage Changes: Whenever you lower your voltages, there’s always the possibility that it will cause a reboot. Some handheld devices enter what’s known as the “sleep of death“, which means the phone requires a hard reset. If you saved your voltages this can result in an unbootable condition, since it loads up unstable voltages. Remember to gradually move the voltages down (and never above the default value!) and then rigorously stress test at each step. However, it’s important to note that the multipliers associated with faster processor speeds undervolt more efficiently than those at lower speeds, since the highest speeds produce the most amount of heat. On mobile devices, undervolting makes the biggest difference in both energy consumption and heat production.
• Stress Testing: After moving your voltages down one multiplier, you will want to stress test rigorously. Stress testing software for both Android and PC exists, which make this process much easier. It simply runs your CPU at the fastest possible speed, or at a range of frequencies. Simply set your undervolt value and then fire up your stress testing software.

For Desktops & Laptops

Some desktops and laptops can alter their voltages through their BIOS. Different motherboard manufacturers, unfortunately, use differing terminologies: Some use the term “voltage offset“, which reduces voltages uniformly across all steps. Other boards only reduce voltages at the highest CPU frequencies – you should Google your motherboard’s make plus the search term “undervolt” or “voltage offset“.

For example, my undervolt settings from my EFI (it’s basically a BIOS):

Intel CPUs: Unfortunately, Intel chipsets, Sandy Bridge and later models, do not benefit in any substantial way from lowering voltage. While my own experiences show some impact on temperature, the experts believe otherwise. The most common method of undervolting older Intel CPUs is ThrottleStop for the Windows OS.

Throttlestop lowers voltages across a range of CPU frequencies – simply check the “Set Multiplier” box then reduce the “VID” number to drop voltages.

AMD CPUs : particularly its Brazos, Llano and Trinity lines, can undervolt with great effect. One of the best examples is the undervolting software available for the Brazos series of CPU/APU. The software used to manipulate voltage values is known as BrazosTweaker. There’s also FusionTweaker. Users report up to 30% reductions in temperatures and solid increases in battery life.

For AMD chipsets, other voltage manipulation methods exist, such as PSCheck and AMD Overdrive. However, although PSCheck is the best program, it’s also the hardest to get hold of. I ended up biting the bullet and installed a zip from a complete stranger’s Dropbox—that’s always a terrible idea and you should never do that, unless you’re me. In which case you make regularly poor decisions and installing strange files from sketchy sources is the least of your worries.

Stress-Testing: To stress-test your device, simply lower your voltage by a single step and then fire up the stress testing software. In my experience anywhere from 5-10 minutes of testing is sufficient. If the computer crashes or freezes, move the voltage back up at least one step before moving onto the next multiplier (sometimes referred to as a P-State, pictured below). Continue repeating the process at each stepping point, lowering the voltage until instability occurs. Notice that as frequencies increases, so too does voltage.

The best software for stress-testing is Prime95. Prime95 runs complex mathematical formulas on your computer, which causes the the CPU to run super hot. If you’ve set the voltage too low, your computer will crash and you’ll know the absolute lowest limit of your processor’s voltage tolerance. Approximately 5-10 minutes of stress testing should weed out incorrect voltages.

From the Prime95 “Run a Torture Test“, make sure to select “Small FFTs“.

We’ve discussed undervolting on MakeUseOf before for laptops. Also, read about Tina’s breakdown of some mainstream solutions for getting your heat under control.

Tablets, Smartphones & Android Powered Devices

Before attempting to undervolt your device, you must have root access (link goes to SuperOneClick) and you should have installed a custom ROM supporting undervolting. While, technically, you only need a custom kernel that supports UV, most custom ROMs include a custom kernel.

Most cell phones with a custom kernel and the right software can undervolt – however, doing so requires special firmware, or software that exists at a level higher than the operating system. Firmware is stored on solid state memory in an area normally inaccessible to the end-user. However, if you have the right firmware, some software can modulate the voltage fed to the CPU.

My favorite software for undervolting is IncrediControl. Just run the app and select the “SVS” tab from the top menu bar. From there, you must use extreme caution. Proceed to lower voltages one step at a time. I recommend only lowering the voltages on the two or three highest frequencies; as indicated by the power equation, reducing voltages at higher frequencies has a greater impact on overall heat production.

Stress-Testing: For stress-testing, to my knowledge there’s only one app worth using: StabilityTest. Simply choose either “Classic Stability Test” or “Scaling Stability Test“. If you only intend on undervolting your highest CPU frequency, the classic test should suffice. However, if you plan on undervolting a range of values, go for the scaling test.

Conclusion

Cooling down your devices and getting better battery life takes only three steps: First, backup your device. Second, make gradual voltage adjustments. Third, stress test each time you make a voltage adjustment. For Android devices, this requires that you have root access and have installed a custom ROM. For computers, you must have a newer AMD chipset, such as Llano, Brazos or Trinity. On Intel system, you must have Core2Duo or thereabouts.

Remember to never raise your voltages above the default value. Raising your voltages will likely destroy your computer.

Does anyone else love undervolting? Let us know in the comments.

Image Credits: Lightning via MorgueFile.com; Motherboard via MorgueFile.com

The post How Undervolting Decreases Heat & Increases Battery Life appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The sheer amount of content on Tumblr makes it a joy to browse (as well as easy to lose hours of your day in the blink of an eye), though sometimes you really do have to filter through a lot of repetitive content to get to the good stuff. For that reason, we’ve put together lists of recommended Tumblr blogs that we think you should be following. We’ve already introduced you to 8 Tumblr blogs every writer and book lover should follow, 7 news and political blogs you should follow, 10 humorous Tumblr blogs, 6 Tumblr blogs for history buffs, and this week we’re taking a stab at all things Game of Thrones on Tumblr.

GOT Mashups

There are several hilarious Game of Thrones (GOT) mashups that we’ve come across. For reasons that we can’t understand, but won’t question, some creative individuals out there have asked themselves the questions – what would happen if Game of Thrones met 30 Rock? Or what if Game of Thrones met Arrested Development. Best of all, what would happen if Game of Thrones met Justin Bieber? The answers are three hilarious mashup Tumblr blogs that bring everything that we love about the HBO TV show, together with mainstream pop, awkward comedy and more.

GOT in the Real World

While the Tumblr blogs above ask the question what would happen if Game of Thrones met other imaginary characters and celebs, the following Tumblr blogs ask a slightly different question – what would happen if GOT collided with the real world of fashion? The result is some pretty entertaining blogs, one of which is entirely dedicated to Daenerys Targaryen’s fashion choices in the modern world. What Would Khaleesi Wear is a genius blog which finds modern-day outfits that look like something you’d see on Daenerys. There’s even a store on the blog where you can buy GOT-inspired paraphernalia, jewelry, t-shirts and more.

A Game of Clothes is another fashion-inspired blog, but doesn’t focus on any one character in particular. It does, however, focus on women’s fashion. Shots from runways, jewelry and more – all of which look like they would fit right at home on the Game of Throne’s set can be seen on the blog.

GOT Memes & GIFs

A show as popular as Game of Thrones is bound to produce an endless amount of memes, and nowhere is that more obvious than on Tumblr. There is no shortage of Tumblr blogs chock-full with Game of Thrones memes and GIFs – thought-provoking, amusing, artistic – there’s something in there for everyone.

F*ck Yeah Game of Thrones is a good place to start since they’re keeping an eye on all the other GOT tumblr blogs and reblog that content so if there’s something good out there in Tumblr-land – they’ll probably find it. FYGOT tends to focus more on the artistic GIFs and content that stays true to the show itself.

If you’re looking for something a little more amusing, that doesn’t take itself too seriously, Thrones Meme and Game of Laughs merge all that is good about Game of Thrones with all that is good about Internet humor  and you know the final result is hilarity that could keep you busy for hours.

GOT Fan Art

Love it or hate it, fan art has found its home on the Internet, and Game of Thrones has certainly been no exception. Two Tumblr blogs that feature some of the most striking fan art we’ve seen are  Gallery of Thrones and F*ck Yeah Game of Thrones Art. A Gallery of Thrones accepts submissions from Tumblr users but does specify the kind of art that is accepted - 2D and digital drawings, paintings, illustrations; crafts, sculpture, anything handmade or one of a kind. If you’ve got some ideas for GIFs, then you’re better of sending them the way of the blogs listed above.

Special Mentions

Any list of recommended Tumblr blogs for GOT fans would not be complete without two more recommendations. My Mom Watches Game of Thrones is a great GIF-filled blog, but one that brings with it the added delight of watching the show through a mother’s eyes. Comments on particular scenes and story-lines accompany the GIFs. And of course, with it being the Internet, there was bound to be at least one blog that had something to do with cats. You’d think it might be a little bit difficult to find a way to merge the Internet’s fascination with cats together with Game of Thrones, but Game of Kittehs is a hilarious success.

What must-follow Game of Thrones Tumblr blogs would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments.

The post Game Of Thrones Meets Tumblr: 12 Must-Follow Blogs appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Luckily, Windows 8 isn’t yet a locked-down mobile operating system, no matter how hard Microsoft is trying to make it into one. While many features are missing from Windows 8, you can still get them back. Most important features can be restored with high-quality alternatives, but replacements for other features — like the Windows 7 Aero theme and Windows Classic theme — are nowhere near as polished as Microsoft has removed the necessary theming code.

Start Menu, Unified Search & Boot to Desktop

Windows 8 removed the Start button and traditional Start menu, opting instead for the Start screen, which functions as a sort of full-screen Start menu. You also can’t boot directly to the desktop in Windows 8, nor can you use unified search to search programs, settings, and files at once, like you could in Windows 7.

All of these features can be returned to Windows 8 by installing a third-party Start menu like the popular Start8, free Start Menu 8, or traditional ClassicShell. There will be a delay before you see the desktop every time you log in — Microsoft added a delay to hinder people who try to boot to the desktop as they want you to see the Start screen every time you log in.

DVD Playback

Windows 8 can no longer play DVDs out-of-the-box. While you can re-purchase DVD support from Microsoft by purchasing the Windows 8 Pro Pack and then the Media Center Pack, this will cost you over $100 in total. Luckily, you don’t have to do that. Just install the free VLC media player to play DVDs on Windows 8.

Note that, if you purchase a new computer that comes with a DVD drive, the computer likely comes with included, licensed DVD playback software that you can use to play DVDs without downloading anything else.

Windows Media Center

Windows Media Center is no longer part of Windows 8. If you love Windows Media Center and want to keep using it, you’ll have to upgrade to the Professional version of Windows 8 and purchase the Media Center Pack. You can do all this from within Windows 8, but it will cost you over $100 in total. You could also try using a different media center application like XBMC instead.

Solitaire, Minesweeper & Other games

Windows 8 removes Solitaire, Minesweeper, and the other games included with Windows that procrastinating office workers everywhere depend on. You can install Modern versions of Minesweeper and Solitaire from the Windows Store. If you really love the desktop versions, you can install the desktop versions of Solitaire and Minesweeper on Windows 8 — although this will take some work.

Windows Desktop Gadgets

Desktop gadgets were removed from Windows 8. Microsoft says they’re insecure — a desktop gadget is a program and can modify your system like any other program. This is true, but means that desktop gadgets are just as insecure as any other desktop program. If you love desktop gadgets, you don’t have to go without. You can easily install desktop gadget support in Windows 8.

Parental Controls

The parental control feature found in previous versions of Windows is now gone. It’s now replaced by Microsoft Family Safety, which is integrated with Microsoft accounts, gives you a web-based administration console, emails you reports about your children’s internet use if you like, and adds many other new features.

Windows Aero Glass

The transparent, glass-like Windows 7 theme is also gone. You can get some transparency with a tool like Aero8Tuner, but don’t bother. This doesn’t work very well and, even if it did, Microsoft removed the blur effect so it’s not as slick-looking as it is in Windows 7. Microsoft went out of their way to strip the Windows Aero theme engine out of Windows 8.

Windows Classic Theme

The Windows Classic theme has been removed. You can approximate it by using a user-created Windows Classic theme, but it’s nowhere near the same. This theme is essentially a tweaked version of the High Contrast theme, as many elements of the default theme can’t be tweaked.

You can also install a variety of other interesting third-party themes for Windows 8 if you don’t like the included theme. This requires overriding the protection against installing third-party themes on Windows 8, just as it did on Windows 7, Vista, and XP.

Do you depend on another feature that’s missing in Windows 8? How did you get it back? Leave a comment and let us know!

The post 8 Features Missing in Windows 8 and How To Get Them Back appeared first on MakeUseOf.

This list will cover remixes for Chrono Trigger, one of my favorite RPG games of all time, but one thing to keep in mind is that you can enjoy this music without ever having played the game. Maybe you’ve never even heard of it. That’s fine. Music is music, right? And even though these songs are based on video game tracks, that doesn’t mean they sound like video game music. Trust me on that.

“Subterranean Opus” [Creeping Through the Sewers]

I wasn’t sure whether to sort this list in best-first or best-last order, but I’m so excited to write about this song that I think I need to start with the best. “Subterranean Opus” is a track that caught me completely off guard. I have a playlist of many OCRemix songs that I listen to on a somewhat regular basis, but before today I’d never heard of this song. Boy, I was really missing out.

“Subterranean Opus” was composed by Zircon, who just happens to be one of my favorite electronic composers. I had no idea that he started his career remixing video game songs but, looking back, it makes sense. You have to listen to this song and get at least to the 1:25 mark. That’s when things start to bump and sway with a beautiful mixture of hybrid orchestra touched with a Spanish flavor.

This song sits at the top of my list – not only for Chrono Trigger but all OCRemixes in general – for the high quality sound and the skillful rearrangement that injects many different musical styles while maintaining the heart of the original.

“Wind Scene Concert Paraphrase” [Yearnings of the Wind]

Here’s another song that elevates an original track up into the heavens by revitalizing it with the soul of a new genre. Based on “Yearnings of the Wind,” which you might also know as “600 A.D. Wind Scene”, “Wind Scene Concert Paraphrase” is one of those tracks that brims full of emotion, passion, and energy – even though the song itself is quite soft and mellow. It just feels alive.

It just goes to show that you don’t need an orchestra of instruments to create beautiful renditions. “Wind Scene Concert Paraphrase” is just one man on one piano creating sophisticated music using nothing more than creativity, hard work, and love. He was able to infuse the original wind song with a jazzy feel that warms the heart and relaxes the muscles.

“Dream of Zeal” [Corridor of Time]

Every good video game – just like every good movie – has that one tune that always pops into your head when you think of it. Most of the time, it’s the theme song. If I were to mention Harry Potter, I think we all know which song you’d be thinking about. Similarly, when it comes to Chrono Trigger, “Corridor of Time” (which you may know as the “Theme of Zeal”) beats out all other tracks as the iconic theme.

There are dozens of “Corridor of Time” remixes available on OCRemix and many of them deserve high praise. But in the interest of not flooding this article with more than one remix of the same track, I chose “Dream of Zeal” to represent.

It captures the essence of the original while adding a new layer of life on top. The sound samples may not be the best, but you have to consider that this remix was released nearly four years ago. Even still, it’s held up to time well and remains as one of my favorite Zeal remixes.

“Far Away Memories” [Outskirts of Time]

This remix of “Outskirts of Time” has such a homey, comforting quality about it. The choice of samples and the actual rhythm-melody combination evoke some real imagery – as if I’m strolling through a sunset countryside on a long, empty road. “Far Away Memories” is aptly named and I applaud the composer for creating such a fresh take on the original track.

“Behind the Sealed Door” [Sealed Door]

When you name a song “Behind the Sealed Door,” you inherently charge the composition with an aura of mystery. Smartly, the composer allows this mysterious feeling to pervade this remix and I think he did a great job in maintaining the original track’s soul while taking it in a whole new direction (compare it to the original “Sealed Door” and you’ll see what I mean).

There’s a dark and haunting quality to this song that I love and it’s balanced with a strong rhythm that keeps it from delving too deeply into somber territory. The piano is both light and gloomy – an interesting paradox – which provides further balance. Around the 1:30 mark, there’s a transition that incorporates a notably bright Final Fantasy melody, but it eases back into the eerie around 3:17.

Conclusion

Music is inherently subjective so there’s no doubt that some of you will read this and disagree with me. That’s fine with me. If I had the time and space, I’d expand this list to ten, fifteen, or even more songs because there are just so many Chrono Trigger remixes on the OCRemix site and they’re all lovely.

If there’s a Chrono Trigger remix that you think belongs in the top five, please share them in the comments! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The post Looking For New Music? Here Are 5 Of The Best Chrono Trigger OCRemixes appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Today’s Stuff to Watch features nothing but the most interesting visualisations I could find. As a species we’re suckers for statistics and numbers, but it’s amazing how little we can deduce from raw data without visual intervention.

From the size of the universe to birth and death rates, visualisations help us understand everything.

US Births & Deaths in Realtime

Fancy something to make you feel a little more mortal? Here’s a slightly unnerving realtime simulation of births and deaths in the US split by county. It’s important to remember that this is only a simulation, and so the frequency and locations of deaths and births are calculated from birth and death rates as well as random data.

This simulation is the work of Brad Lyon, who just wanted to “get a feel for the qualitative rhythm of births and deaths in the U.S”. You can mouse over each county to get more information or click it to perform a Google search of that location. This would make a great screensaver to remind your colleagues of the fragile nature of life and the (frequent) miracle of birth.

Perpetual Ocean

When it comes to cool-looking scientific things, NASA are on the whole are pretty good. In addition to a huge range of downloadable space apps and weeks worth of Stuff to Watch content, their Goddard Space Flight Centre are pretty good at visualising data, as seen in this Perpetual Ocean visualisation in 2011.

The short video presents a three-minute long look at the planet’s tidal patterns, in a stylised and rather beautiful manner. In addition to the YouTube embed above you can download the video in a variety of formats as well as some select huge screen grabs here.

US Wind Patterns

On a similar note to the NASA video above, two artists have created a stylised visual representation of wind patterns across the USA. Working under the joint name of Hint.FM, Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg created the tool to pull in fresh data every hour and display it on an interactive map.

You can view the realtime results or simply watch the video above, but the creators stress this is not an accurate scientific tool for flying planes, sailing boats or putting out fires. It’s quite pretty, though.

Every Documented Incoming Meteorite

Visualizing.org is a site that specialises in showcasing visualisations, unsurprisingly. In addition to infographics full of graphs and charts, video visualisations offer a highly accessible window into science, such as this visualisation of Earth meteorite strikes.

Since 2500BC 34,513 meteorites have been recorded as hitting Earth, though only 1,042 were witnessed. This video provides a clear overview of that history.

Stephen Hawking’s Lectures, Visualised

How do you visualise the words and thought patterns of an individual on a chart, graph or via a map? When it came to the work of Stephen Hawking, all Jared Ficklin could see was stars and so he turned the great physicist’s voice recordings into a visual representation of the night sky.

A little outlandish, a little interpretive but incredibly fitting; Jared provides a nice dry explanation at the start of the video, so click play and enjoy.

100,000 Stars

A great use of WebGL if ever I saw one, 100,000 stars is Google’s attempt at visualising the universe through the wonders of in-browser 3D rendering. If ever you needed a reminder of how tiny and insignificant we all are, this is it.

No really, keep zooming. And zooming. Eventually you will find our Earth, a tiny speck in a sea of nothing. These are the 100,000 nearest stars to our tiny patch of space; for reference there are 200-400 billion in the Milky Way alone.

Hans Rosling’s Visualisations

Hans is a professor of global health at the Korolinska Institute in Sweden, and he’s got a certain way with words.

Watch Hans Rosling as he takes us through the history of the developing world, and the progress made since 1963. Hans shows us how child mortality rates fall dramatically, global education standards improve and just how recent some of these developments really are.

The above video is actually a TED talk from 2010, and involves Hans using Ikea props to visualise global population growth and trends. There’s a certain charm about the mannerisms, wit and method behind this video, making it a personal favorite TED talk of mine.

Finally there’s the above video, titled “200 Countries, 200 Years in 4 Minutes” which uses 120,000 data points to map the health of 200 nations in two centuries. This video was in fact an outtake from a BBC show called The Joy of Stats, which you might enjoy if this sort of thing appeals to you.

Mapping Fame: Bruce Springsteen

Before the Internet and “going viral”, the only way to measure fame involved sales and event attendance. The more records and artist sold and the more people who came to the shows, the more popular the artist was perceived to be.

Here we have 40 years worth of Bruce Springsteen performances on a map of the USA along with album launches and performance attendances. It’s an interesting look at the performer’s career using the only data available, and it’s much nicer than finishing on a visualisation about how we’re all doomed.

If you have any favorite visualisations either in video or infographic form be sure to share them in the comments below!

The post Visualisations: Helping You Put Meaningless Data Into Perspective [Stuff to Watch] appeared first on MakeUseOf.