Being a geek or a tech-lover is all about keeping up with interesting new gadgets, the best operating systems and the most trendy and fun games out there. Once in a while, though, you might get the urge to express your love for all things techy in quite a different way.

Tech-related recipes can be quite a challenge. I’m not going to say they’re easy. But won’t it be worth the effort when all your friends think you’re a genius for making awesome superhero cupcakes or Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters for your next party? Here are some ideas for geeky-inspired recipes, some easier, some harder, but all of them mouth watering!

Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

If you’re a fan, or if your friends are fans, or if you all just like trying new drinks, here is an interesting recipe for the intriguing drink from those legendary books – the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.

The recipe includes the original text from the book – the original “recipe” for the Gargle Blaster a la Douglas Adams. There are probably many adaptations of the recipe to the real world, but this is one of the most detailed ones I’ve found.

If you’re a bit more ambitious about Adams, you can try this whale-crushed-petunia-pot cake. The recipe walks you through creating a true-to-form landscape for your whale, and of course the whale itself and this believable crushed petunia pot made of a chocolate cupcake.

Tetris Pixels

Why Tetris Pixels? Well, they’re just similar concepts. And if you like Tetris (or pixels, and who doesn’t like pixels!), be sure to try making these Tetris brownies.

You can serve these as individual brownies and then have all your friends try forming them into lines without smearing frosting everywhere. This could make for an exciting party!

Another option in the same department is making these pixel cookies. This is an image-rich instructable on making pixelized butter cookies. The cool thing about this recipe is that you can use it to make pretty much any shape you want inside the cookies. It’s the method that’s being explained here, and you can use it to let your imagination run wild.

Pancakes

If you love pancakes, you’re going to love Jim’s Pancakes. This guy makes pancakes in any form and size you can imagine, while sharing some of his tips and thoughts on each one. These are not exactly recipes, but if you know how to make a pancake batter, you can sure get some inspiration for these. For example, this is Jim’s iPhone 4S pancake.

You can also check out his Millennium Falcons and AT-AT Walkers. A bit hard to make, maybe, but truly awesome. And who knows, maybe you can find your secret pancake skills thank to these!

Superheroes and Other Heroes

I don’t know about you, but I adore superheroes of all kinds. Well, preferably of the Superman or Batman kind, but others will do too. If you share this same love, your next project can be making superhero gingerbread men.

This recipe doesn’t include trivialities such as how to make the actual gingerbread men, but you can look at the intricate decorations and try to make your own superhero designs. Even copying these same designs could be a great way to make your very own superheroes.

If this seems a bit much, you can try these simpler superhero cupcakes. Instead of featuring the whole superhero, these make do with their signs and symbols, and are therefore much easier to make.

The same blogger who made these also made some simple Star Trek cupcakes you could try, or if you’re really driven, this awesome Godzilla cake (which I would love to make myself).

Angry Birds

A post like this will not be complete without an Angry Birds section. Not because Angry Birds is so important, but there are some Angry Birds recipes out there which are simply too cute to miss. If you’re into cupcakes, try these awesome Angry Birds cupcakes recipe, which includes detailed instructions on making beaks out of slices orange candies and bellies out of sliced marshmallow.

Alternatively, you can try these Angry Birds cake pops, which are possibly harder to make, but are bound to impress your friends and are way more fun to hold and eat. This recipe is not as image-rich, so you’ll have to use your imagination some.

Odds And Ends

If all these specific things are not hitting the spot, and you’re looking for something a bit more general, how about trying these relatively simple computer cupcakes?

These might look complicated to make, but it’s actually simpler than it seems when looking at the actual recipe.

On an entirely different note, you can also decide to go out of your way and make iPhone cupcakes. There are lots of pictures of these around the web, but not a lot of actual recipes. This, too, is not a very detailed recipe, but contains more details than others, including an actual cupcake recipe and some tips on making the sugar decorations.

If you’re looking for more great things to make, check out:

• 10 Brilliant But Creepy Halloween Recipes To Spook Out Your Friends
• 5 DIY Angry Birds-Inspired Crafts For The Upcoming Holidays

Did you make any awesome recipe you’d like to share? Are you planning on making some of these for your next party? Share in the comments!

Image credit: Vanilla Moment

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There’s always a tragic story behind our New Year resolutions and goal setting endeavors. Reams have been written on how to stick to resolutions. So, let me try to add a few pages here with a slightly different take on email in the future services. Emailing yourself in the future could serve as reminders to alert you about sticking to the path.

You can also use these future emails to create tiny time capsules. For e.g. if you have losing weight as a goal, you can post a photo of your current girth and then open it as a future date to see whether you shed the weight or the goal. Of course, there’s no guarantee that the service will stick around in a year’s time, but suddenly being reminded of your goals sometimes helps to jolt that laziness off your bones.

Lettermelater

Lettermelater is a rich tool that allows you to create HTML emails, add attachments (photos), and even send it from within your default email account. The service allows you to set a future date, down to the last minute, when the letter will get delivered. You can also specify CC and BCC recipients; helpful if you are part of a group that’s mentoring each other towards a goal. But the feature I like is Lettermelater gives you the option to set up multiple recurring emails by selecting a range and interval, or selecting the dates individually.

FutureMe

With FutureMe, you don’t have to log-in before sending out an email into the future. You can choose to go anonymous and put your emails into public view. The collection of public FutureMe emails is an interesting read. The mail interface lacks a rich text editor, but you can include pictures (webcam snaps or from the desktop) with your emails. Maybe, you can just ask yourself if you are still alive after December 2012. Keeping yourself alive inspite of the foreboding predictions of the Mayans could be a nice New Year resolution.

Eternity Message

The About Me page says something about the original intention of the site – We had originally written the application to capture our thoughts, experiences, and life lessons so those could be shared with our children.

The service uses a secure protocol and the servers store the future messages – they are not sent out as emails. Recipients receive a notification to view the future message on the site itself. An early warning notification is also sent to the sender 3 days prior to the actual delivery. Eternity Message comes in two versions – a paid one which allows you to send messages 60 years into the future and a free Lite version that allows you to send the email up to 1 year in the future and to a single person. The message has to stay within 1000 characters – that should be enough for a New Year resolution.

Email Future

Schedule a goals-to-achieve email in the future with this text only service and pat yourself in one year’s time when you can tick off a few from your 2012 New Year resolution’s list. You can also send it to four other addresses if you want to gloat about your achievements one year down the line. Of course, there’s a high chance that you could also have four eggs on your face. Email Future allows you to set a private or public (anonymous) permission.

Mail Freezr

Put your future emails in ice-cold storage and bring them back to live on January 1^st, next year. You can freely freeze your emails for any period between 1 – 100 years, so you are probably safe if you put down your resolutions for the year and check them out next year.

2012 will be soon over. The future will come soon enough. List out your goals using these services and when you get the mail from the past in your inbox, you can either gloat or regret that you let another year pass by without ticking off a few from your goals list. Are you using a geeky way to set your New Year resolutions? Or are they already lying in the waste basket?

Image Credit: Shutterstock

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/camera.jpg?323f2c" alt="" />As a title="YouTube Launches YouTube For Schools, Features Safe & Educational Content Only [News]" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/youtube-launches-youtube-schools-features-safe-educational-content-news/">video production student, I still don’t know title="Greenlight Your Indie Flick With These 3 Sites" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/greenlight-indie-flick-3-sites/">what direction I’m going in. I don’t know if I want to make music videos, and I don’t know if I want to make documentaries. I could be doing corporate video, or I could be operating a TV camera at a football game (fortunately, I’ve already gained some experience in each of these).

So when I’m feeling frantic and disoriented in life, I go to the Internet to gain insight on what people are doing with their video careers. But instead of title="Check Out 3 DIY Video Series For Professional Tips On Video-Making" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-diy-video-series-protips-videomaking/">hogging all this information to myself, I thought I’d share it with you. Check out these four online video communities, and try to learn something!

href="http://www.dvxuser.com">DVXUser

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/dvxuser.png?323f2c" alt="" width="580" height="145" />

The DVX User forums seem pretty awesome. I found them via a tip from title="Why Reddit Isn’t As Bad As Some People Would Make You Believe [Opinion]" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/reddit-bad-people-opinion/">Reddit, and I was quite pleased upon my arrival. This site features discussion about everything you can think of video-wise, including cams, software, techniques, festivals, and more. As a matter of fact, the forums helped me decide on a replacement for my recently broken camera, so I’m very grateful to the site.

Another cool thing about DVX User is simply the ability to share your work on the site. The site provides plenty of online fests and sections to put your stuff out there, so take advantage of it! Also, if you want to pump up your skills, check out the forum’s Film School.

href="http://www.reddit.com/r/videography">r/Videography

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/redditvideography.png?323f2c" alt="" width="580" height="145" />

Moving right along, r/Videography is actually the subreddit that I discovered DVXUser in. After posting an inquiry about my potential replacement camera, I received a variety of responses each detailing information on the camera (and maybe one that was absolutely irrelevant). Basically, this is one of the better subreddits on Reddit, and it is a very friendly community.

What I like about the Reddit format rather than the forum format is that you can post any topic, and the most popular ones get voted to the top. With r/Videography, you get a smorgasbord of video-related topics, and it semi-constantly changes. Albeit a slower-updating title="5 Ways To Find The Best Obscure Subreddits On Reddit" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-find-obscure-subreddits-reddit/">subreddit, the community is very active and willing to help or critique your skills.

href="http://www.creativecow.net">Creative Cow

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/creativecow.png?323f2c" alt="" width="580" height="145" />

I’ve lurked on Creative Cow a little bit, but I will be the first to admit that I’m not an avid user of it. However, if I have ever had a video-related question on my mind or inquiry, I’ve ended up on CC before Googling it. Furthermore, based on what I’ve seen, it’s an authoritative website, so you should use it.

Creative Cow is bent on being a community for creativity in general, and it focuses on drawing many individuals and their personal resources together. Along with the basic forums offered, it brings title="How To Make Wrinkled Paper In Photoshop" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/wrinkled-paper-photoshop/">lots of tutorials to the table covering all the major media editors and techniques. This site is fairly well-known, and although I’ve not been a regular visitor, you can rest assured that I will be changing that.

href="http://www.videomaker.com/community/forums/">Videomaker Forums

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/videomaker.png?323f2c" alt="" width="580" height="145" />

Back when I was in high school, I received a lot of support by an older mentor who helped me become more active in videomaking. He even went as far as to give me his copies of Videomaker magazine whenever he was finished looking through them (or even before he looked through them at all), and thus, my interest in video soared.

Seeing how interesting Videomaker magazine is, I ventured into the depths of the Internet and discovered that they actually have forums. With that being said, you can assume that the folks that read the magazine are likely to be pretty involved with their field, and those same folks use the title="9 Online Communities To Enhance Your Minecraft Game Experience" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/9-online-communities-enhance-minecraft-game-experience/">forums. I’d suggest going to Videomaker’s forums and getting involved, because the community (and the site itself) offers a wealth of information that you should know if you want to get into video.

Conclusion

So there you go, my fellow video buffs. These are just a few of the many sites out there that you can use to polish your video knowledge, so have some fun.  Let us know in the comments if you swear by another site.

By the way, I know there has to be a lot more of you out there who get into this videomaking nonsense. Do us all a favor and leave us a comment with some of your favorite websites for tips, tutorials, and communities. Also, what kinds of stuff have you found using the sites mentioned here?

Image Credit: href="http://morguefile.com/archive/display/62277" rel="nofollow">clarita

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bigfoot.png" alt="bigfoot sites" />The Internet is a breeding ground for conspiracy, fantasy, and myths – a goblet of mystery that is filled to the brim with unanswered questions. It’s kind of like the X-Files, but instead of Skully and Mulder, there is href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/reddit">Reddit and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/youtube">YouTube. However, there’s one particular creature that has perplexed me over the years, and that’s href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tech-fun/bigfoot-searches-good-facebook-profile-photo/">Bigfoot.

Now I can’t say for a fact that Bigfoot is real (even though he is), but I will leave you with these sites so you can decide for yourself (just know that the overwhelming evidence can’t be ignored). So grab your low-quality camcorders and your best camouflage, because we’re going on a hunt of the cryptozoologic nature!

href="http://ourbigfoot.com/">Our Bigfoot

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/ourbigfoot.png" alt="bigfoot sites" width="580" height="180" />

We’ll start the links off with something a little more personal. Well, it is only personal because the word “our” is in the title of the site, and I figured that you might like that. Just go with it.

Our Bigfoot is a rather gaudy looking site (just as you would expect) that is full of surprisingly detailed information. Click around, and you’re sure to find something worth reading. Beyond that, the site has plenty of evidence archives, photos, and videos to scour through.

href="http://www.bigfootencounters.com/">Bigfoot Encounters

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bigfootencounters.png" alt="real bigfoot photos" width="580" height="180" />

A lot of these sites will be rather similar, but it’s good to have a lot of different resources at your disposal when you are Bigfoot hunting. You never wrote your title="Study Up On Your University With Koofers [US-Only]" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/study-university-koofers-usonly/">university research papers using only one source, did you? (don’t answer that).

Bigfoot Encounters provides a lot of the same information that Our Bigfoot does, but it also includes Bigfoot-related news, sightings, and even events all on the site. Also, as far as the techie stuff goes, the site includes a nice search function.

href="http://www.bigfootforums.com/">Bigfoot Forums

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bigfootencounters1.png" alt="real bigfoot photos" width="580" height="180" />

My friends, I have good news. If you believe that you’re the only one in the whole wide world that actually believes in Bigfoot, you’re wrong. There are plenty of people on the Bigfoot Forums that are into this stuff, and you can be one of them, too!

Granted, the site may take you on a trip to the world of nineties web design. However, the title="Build A Great Online Community Using The myBB Forum" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/build-great-community-mybb-forum/">forums are a fairly active community that is definitely worth visiting if you feel like discussing the possibility of Bigfoot being in your area. Go ahead – plenty of people use it, and so can you!

href="http://www.bfro.net/">Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bfro.png" alt="real bigfoot photos" width="580" height="180" />

The BFRO is a scientific research organization that is authentically bent on gathering every bit of information about Bigfoot that it possibly can. On their Bigfoot site, there is a sighting submission form if you feel so inclined to share your Bigfoot story, and furthermore, there are quite a few tips to enhance your Bigfoot hunt.

Speaking of hunts, the BFRO actually has quite a few expeditions to search for Bigfoot that are available to non-members throughout the year. If you check the site, you may actually find one in your state or within traveling distance.

href="http://bigfootsightings.org/">Bigfoot Sightings

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bigfootsightings.png" alt="bigfoot videos" width="580" height="180" />

When I first arrived on the Bigfoot Sightings site, I honestly wasn’t that impressed. By all appearances, it’s a title="How To Edit Thousands of WordPress Posts With Just One SQL Command" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/edit-thousands-wordpress-posts-sql-command/">personal blog, and I’m not too crazy about writing about such things for MakeUseOf.

However, there are quite a few valuable links related to Bigfoot sightings on this site, and with that being said, I felt like the site was worthy enough to include on here. Granted, you must take this with a grain of salt considering our subject matter.

href="http://listverse.com/2011/05/23/top-20-bigfoot-sightings/">Listverse’s Top 20 Bigfoot Sightings

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bigfootlistverse.png" alt="bigfoot sites" width="580" height="179" />

Instead of totally copying this article from Listverse (which is the lowest thing I could do), I decided to give credit where credit was due and link you to their top 20 Bigfoot sightings. All of them have title="5 YouTube Vlogs To Put On Your Web Video Watching List" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-youtube-vlogs-put-web-video-watching-list/">video recordings, and each one comes with a detailed description of the event.

src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lOxuRIfFs0w" frameborder="0" width="580" height="423">

Granted, it’s up to you to decide whether or not the sightings are legit. I’ll keep my personal opinions to myself, but I’d love to hear about yours.

Conclusion

Is Bigfoot real? Honestly, I don’t know. There’s a chance of him being real, but there’s also a chance of me falling off of the bed I am sitting on while I write this, smashing my head against the floor, and dying instantly. It’s not likely, but it could happen. Granted, that’s me just being logical for the rest of you.

What interesting finds did you see on these sites? What other Bigfoot sites do you know about?

Image Credit: href="http://morguefile.com/archive/display/700323" rel="nofollow">earl53

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi.jpg" alt="wifi"/>

Data plans tend to be limited, and connection speeds are sometimes not all that impressive. So when you use an Android phone (or any smartphone for that matter), Wi-Fi becomes an essential way to get online.

Today I’ll be showing you two different apps designed to make your Wi-Fi experience better so you can get better speeds and a more stable connection. These are both for Android, but you can actually use what you learn from them with any Wi-Fi device, including your laptop.

Improving Wi-Fi Connectivity At Home

href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi">Wikipedia says: “Many 2.4 GHz 802.11b and href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11#802.11g">802.11g access-points default to the same channel on initial startup, contributing to congestion on certain channels”. So while there are several available Wi-Fi channels, chances are that you and all of your neighbors are actually using the same single channel for your wireless communication. This causes interference and can slow things down.

You can always tell which Wi-Fi channel you are using using your access point’s configuration interface; but how can you tell what channels you neighbors are using? This is important so you know what’s free and where to switch, and this is where our first app comes in: Free href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer">Wifi Analyzer. With over 5 million downloads and over 61,000 reviews averaging 4.5 stars, Wifi Analyzer kicks some major butt, and provides a plethora of information about your wireless situation. Let’s take it for a spin:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi7.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="501"/>

This is the first screen shown when you launch the app, and right away, you can see how most of the networks around here are centered on channel 6. Only one network sits around channels 1-3, and channels 9 and up appear to be completely clear. Let’s swipe to the next screen:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/image92.png" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

Here, you get to select a network and see its signal strength graphically.  This display constantly updates, and can also beep according to the signal level (more beeping means a stronger signal). This is fun because you can walk around with your phone like a metal detector and see where the signal grows stronger or weaker: Does this or that wall actually block your Wi-Fi signal?

The last feature I want to show you is what I call “the bottom line”. This is the screen where Wi-Fi Analyzer recommends which channel you should switch to:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi5.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

As you can see, my home network sits on the absolute worst part of the spectrum possible. Wifi Analyzer says I should switch to channels 11, 12, or 13, and I tend to agree. Doing this will result in less interference, and thus in a better connection for everyone (even my neighbors will have less interference with their Wi-Fi connections!).

Okay, that’s great for when you are at home and you get to control the access point’s channel. But what should you do to get a better connection when you’re outside, at a coffee shop or an airport?

Improving Wi-Fi Connectivity While On The Go

When you’re in a public location, the biggest problem with the Wi-Fi connection is usually poor signal strength. In other words, the access point is simply too far away. This can be very frustrating, because you usually don’t have any way to know where to go for better connectivity. Which way is closer to the access point? If you start walking around, you may lose the connection or end up making it even worse.

Well, this is where href="https://market.android.com/details?id=girsas.wifiradar">Wi-Fi Radar comes in. This handy little app also enjoys some stellar reviews (over 1,100 reviews averaging 4 stars), and its claim to fame is its ability to show you where access points are physically. So you get a radar-like display with your phone in the middle, surrounded by access points. It comes with simple instructions:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi9.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

So when using it, you will find yourself slowly rotating with your device. People may look at you oddly, but you can just tell yourself they are suffering crappy connections and you’re smarter.  Once the scan starts, it looks like this:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi11.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

This is the trickiest part in using the app. In the screenshot above, I have separated both bars so you can see them clearly. The brighter bark (around the 6% mark) moves on its own; the darker one (around the 20% mark) moves when you rotate the device slowly. Your goal is to keep them together. This means you need to very slowly rotate the device, a little bit at a time, while the progress bar moves. You are going to look pretty stupid while you’re busy doing this, but that is the price to pay for good connectivity.

This process takes a good two minutes, or even more. Once you’re done, you get a display that looks like this:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi13.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

When you move around with your device, the display updates and things shift around. Even after all of this work, the display may not be correct; it is best if you have some point of reference, because then you can rotate the whole display as needed, using the “Result Offset” option.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi15.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

This isn’t because the app is bad (it’s actually quite good), but because it is trying to do something that is remarkably difficult. If you’re patient and determined, you may find yourself enjoying the best Wi-Fi signal your airport can offer.

Other Wi-Fi Essentials

I am always on the lookout for awesome Android apps; did I miss an important Wi-Fi related application? Let me know in the comments, and I might review it!

Image Credit: rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=66078067">ShutterStock

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi.jpg" alt="wifi"/>

Data plans tend to be limited, and connection speeds are sometimes not all that impressive. So when you use an Android phone (or any smartphone for that matter), Wi-Fi becomes an essential way to get online.

Today I’ll be showing you two different apps designed to make your Wi-Fi experience better so you can get better speeds and a more stable connection. These are both for Android, but you can actually use what you learn from them with any Wi-Fi device, including your laptop.

Improving Wi-Fi Connectivity At Home

href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi">Wikipedia says: “Many 2.4 GHz 802.11b and href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11#802.11g">802.11g access-points default to the same channel on initial startup, contributing to congestion on certain channels”. So while there are several available Wi-Fi channels, chances are that you and all of your neighbors are actually using the same single channel for your wireless communication. This causes interference and can slow things down.

You can always tell which Wi-Fi channel you are using using your access point’s configuration interface; but how can you tell what channels you neighbors are using? This is important so you know what’s free and where to switch, and this is where our first app comes in: Free href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.farproc.wifi.analyzer">Wifi Analyzer. With over 5 million downloads and over 61,000 reviews averaging 4.5 stars, Wifi Analyzer kicks some major butt, and provides a plethora of information about your wireless situation. Let’s take it for a spin:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi7.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="501"/>

This is the first screen shown when you launch the app, and right away, you can see how most of the networks around here are centered on channel 6. Only one network sits around channels 1-3, and channels 9 and up appear to be completely clear. Let’s swipe to the next screen:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/image92.png" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

Here, you get to select a network and see its signal strength graphically.  This display constantly updates, and can also beep according to the signal level (more beeping means a stronger signal). This is fun because you can walk around with your phone like a metal detector and see where the signal grows stronger or weaker: Does this or that wall actually block your Wi-Fi signal?

The last feature I want to show you is what I call “the bottom line”. This is the screen where Wi-Fi Analyzer recommends which channel you should switch to:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi5.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

As you can see, my home network sits on the absolute worst part of the spectrum possible. Wifi Analyzer says I should switch to channels 11, 12, or 13, and I tend to agree. Doing this will result in less interference, and thus in a better connection for everyone (even my neighbors will have less interference with their Wi-Fi connections!).

Okay, that’s great for when you are at home and you get to control the access point’s channel. But what should you do to get a better connection when you’re outside, at a coffee shop or an airport?

Improving Wi-Fi Connectivity While On The Go

When you’re in a public location, the biggest problem with the Wi-Fi connection is usually poor signal strength. In other words, the access point is simply too far away. This can be very frustrating, because you usually don’t have any way to know where to go for better connectivity. Which way is closer to the access point? If you start walking around, you may lose the connection or end up making it even worse.

Well, this is where href="https://market.android.com/details?id=girsas.wifiradar">Wi-Fi Radar comes in. This handy little app also enjoys some stellar reviews (over 1,100 reviews averaging 4 stars), and its claim to fame is its ability to show you where access points are physically. So you get a radar-like display with your phone in the middle, surrounded by access points. It comes with simple instructions:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi9.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

So when using it, you will find yourself slowly rotating with your device. People may look at you oddly, but you can just tell yourself they are suffering crappy connections and you’re smarter.  Once the scan starts, it looks like this:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi11.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

This is the trickiest part in using the app. In the screenshot above, I have separated both bars so you can see them clearly. The brighter bark (around the 6% mark) moves on its own; the darker one (around the 20% mark) moves when you rotate the device slowly. Your goal is to keep them together. This means you need to very slowly rotate the device, a little bit at a time, while the progress bar moves. You are going to look pretty stupid while you’re busy doing this, but that is the price to pay for good connectivity.

This process takes a good two minutes, or even more. Once you’re done, you get a display that looks like this:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi13.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

When you move around with your device, the display updates and things shift around. Even after all of this work, the display may not be correct; it is best if you have some point of reference, because then you can rotate the whole display as needed, using the “Result Offset” option.

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wifi15.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="500"/>

This isn’t because the app is bad (it’s actually quite good), but because it is trying to do something that is remarkably difficult. If you’re patient and determined, you may find yourself enjoying the best Wi-Fi signal your airport can offer.

Other Wi-Fi Essentials

I am always on the lookout for awesome Android apps; did I miss an important Wi-Fi related application? Let me know in the comments, and I might review it!

Image Credit: rel="nofollow" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=66078067">ShutterStock

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/intro_milhouse.jpg" alt="" />Single serving websites are those pointless, often one-page sites that mostly exist for laughs with very little real-world value. If you’ve ever visited YTMND (You’re The Man Now Dog) then you’ve already experienced this flavour of Internet humour, and people are more than willing to spend their own money on proper href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-domain-name-search-websites">domain names in the pursuit of comedy.

As with href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/overview-internet-memes-quickly-create/">many Internet jokes, the following URLs are probably not going to be useful. On the other hand you might manage to impress/intrigue/annoy your friends with your favourites. However, due to the nature of Internet humour, the following may contain strong language and/or stupid jokes (but that’s why you’re still reading, right?).

Without further ado – the Internet dumb-list!

href="http://welcometointernet.org/">welcometointernet.org

One of the best href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/12-awesome-homepages-readers-shared">potential homepages out there. For people who still use homepages, naturally.

href="http://wasteaguid.info/">wasteaguid.info

A globally unique identifier, or GUID for short, is a 32-character hexadecimal string used in software. The clue’s in the name, but every GUID has to be unique – so go ahead and waste a GUID today!

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/instantdanceparty_com.png" alt="" width="445" height="297" />

href="http://instantdanceparty.com/">instantdanceparty.com

In the mood for an instant dance party? Then go ahead and click the record player, it spins and everything.

href="http://www.biggulpshuh.com/">biggulpshuh.com

A long-standing homage to href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiAAFjbvOsM">this movie scene and arguably one of the funniest lines in Jim Carrey’s career.

href="http://whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner.com/">whatthefuckshouldimakefordinner.com

A particularly clever and foul-mouthed marketing campaign for a book clearly aimed at people who like swearing and cooking.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/penisland.png" alt="" width="563" height="428" />

href="http://www.penisland.net/">penisland.net

One of the oldest jokes on the Internet, this domain is still worth a mention just in case anyone missed it.

href="http://pandasforless.com/">pandasforless.com

I’m in no way an advocate of the panda trade, caged pandas or terrible webdesign – but you know, it’s just a troll. Pandas, for less!

href="http://www.internetcashcowgold.com/">internetcashcowgold.com

This one has its origins over at the SomethingAwful forums, and is appropriately stupid.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/download_more_ram.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="337" />

href="http://downloadmoreram.com/index.html">downloadmoreram.com

Free downloads for all who visit! Laugh at your friends as they eagerly download some tasty free RAM.

href="http://milhouse.info/">milhouse.info

A simple domain serving up different images and animated GIFs of everyone’s favourite blue-haired miscreant Milhouse.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/japanese_seizure_robots2.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="463" />

href="http://www.seizurerobots.com/">seizurerobots.com

Just like that Simpsons episode, this website might actually cause seizures due to the flashing in the background and dearth of GIFs on endless loop. Funny, but you have been warned.

href="http://comingupmilhouse.com/">comingupmilhouse.com

Yet more Milhouse-themed internet tomfoolery.

href="http://cocainemountain.com/">cocainemountain.com

I have no idea.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/uniqlock.jpg" alt="" width="574" height="325" />

href="http://www.uniqlo.jp/uniqlock/">uniqlo.jp/uniqlock

This one functions as a clock, except it also has random bits of film and quirky backing music for absolutely no reason at all.

href="http://batmanbatmanbatman.com/">batmanbatmanbatman.com

Three Bat-men, for your pleasure.

href="http://isittuesday.co.uk/">isittuesday.co.uk

Do you have trouble deciding whether it’s Tuesday or not? Lay your curiosity to rest with this handy website.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/betamaxmas.png" alt="" width="558" height="568" />

href="http://betamaxmas.com/">betamaxmas.com

Sit back, chill out and spend a little time  href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/classic-commercials-important-entertaining-insight-advertising-television-stuff-watch/">watching old Pepsi adverts and other retro goodness all with the vintage buzz of analogue television. Try adjusting the antenna if you’ve got a particularly bad reception!

href="http://sometimesredsometimesblue.com/">sometimesredsometimesblue.com

Sometimes it’s red, sometimes it’s blue. Why not experience both?

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/magicschoolbus.png" alt="" width="494" height="344" />

href="http://magicschoolbus.info/">magicschoolbus.info

Entirely random, complete with orb-like floating cats.

href="http://www.intotime.com/">intotime.com

Enjoy staring at blank pages with smooth transitioning multicolour backgrounds? You’ve just found your new favourite website.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cats_for_gold.png" alt="" width="546" height="293" />

class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold;"> href="http://www.catsforgold.com/">catsforgold.com

Trade in that unwanted gold for cats or, as the website says, “turn your glitter to litter”.

href="http://xn--ok-ksxc.tgies.net/">xn--ok-ksxc.tgies.net

The perfect website for when everything is going just fine.

href="http://eatabagofdicks.com/">eatabagofdicks.com

Did someone on the Internet annoy you? Behold href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/edit-enhance-screenshots-ms-paint">the might of MS Paint as you deliver the smackdown with this sharp comeback.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/internet_high_five.png" alt="" width="579" height="425" />

href="http://itsjustcool.info/">itsjustcool.info

Feeling down champ? In need of an Internet high-five?

href="http://hereswhatyouare.com/">hereswhatyouare.com

Confused about what you are? Let this full-screen animation clear things up. This one changes every now and again.

href="http://youfellasleepwatchingadvd.com/">youfellasleepwatchingadvd.com

Everyone’s done it – you fall asleep watching a DVD and wake up in a daze to an endlessly looping DVD menu screen. Relive the frustration and confusion whenever you like with this valuable resource.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/telhack_com.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="276" />

href="http://www.telehack.com/">telehack.com

If you’ve never experienced the thrill of  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telnet">Telnet before then here’s your chance. This has to be one of the best links on this list, partly due to the fact that you can talk to  href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA">ELIZA.

Conclusion

This is in no way a “complete” list. There are lots of these websites around, and you’re bound to have heard of a few that are not listed here. Add your own contributions in the comments.

Any sites you particularly liked on this list? Have you bought any domains for this purpose? Share it in the box below!

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/stormtrooper.png" alt="sci fi wiki" />In my spare time, I read a lot of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/host-full-feature-wiki-site-tiki-wiki/">wikis (I really need a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-tools-to-track-how-you-spend-time-online/">more interesting life). Typically, what happens is that I’ll hear of a subject, find a wiki that covers that subject, and then I’ll end up reading the entire collection of articles for a long time.

Granted, I’m sure that at least some of you do it too, so I thought I’d share some sci-fi wikis with you. You may have heard of a few of these, but if you haven’t, they are worth checking out.

href="http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page">Wookieepedia

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/wookieepedia.png" alt="sci fi wiki" width="580" height="155" />

With all the intricate details (and changes that George Lucas makes) to the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-ways-prepare-star-wars-mmo-gaming/">Star Wars universe, it can be a little hard to keep up with who was the Padawan of who and which planet was home to which Jedi. Fortunately, with Wookieepedia – a rather well-known wiki – you can get all the nitty-gritty details that exist from here to Tatooine.

Unlike the aim of most rebel blasters, Wookieepedia seems to hit spot-on with every bit of information about Lucas’ space opera. As a note, Wookieepedia doesn’t cover just the movies – it goes into the Expanded Universe too.

href="http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Portal:Main">Memory Alpha

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/memoryalpha.png" alt="science fiction wiki" width="580" height="155" />

Trekkies, I was going to write something clever utilizing the phrase, “Beam me up, Scotty,” but then I realized the phrase isn’t actually canon. Speaking of canon, Memory Alpha is a comprehensive wiki of all things true to the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-full-length-star-trek-episodes-on-youtube/">Star Trek story arc.

With at least 33,494 articles held in the servers of Memory Alpha, you could spend forever reading up on the history and details of Star Trek. It also might be good to mention that the wiki includes data (pun intended) from all the TV shows, the films, and yes, the animated series.

href="http://firefly.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page">The Firefly & Serenity Database

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/firefly.png" alt="science fiction wiki" width="580" height="155" />

Albeit not being an actual Firefly fan, I understand the importance of this show’s wiki being found on the list. Before you cry out accusations of blasphemy, I just haven’t got around to watching it. However, Justin says it’s the greatest science fiction series ever made, and you can actually href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-great-tv-shows-completely-watch-online/">watch it (among other shows) on Hulu. Granted, I need to as well when I get the time to sit and watch it!

Packed with information concerning the Firefly series, the Serenity film, and even the fairly recent Firefly Darkhorse comics, you’ll have a quite a bit of information packaged for you in the Firefly and Serenity Database. This wiki has about 789 articles, so you’ve got a lot of reading to do.

href="http://www.bladerunner.wikia.com">Off-World: The Blade Runner Wiki

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/bladerunner.png" alt="science fiction wiki" width="580" height="155" />

As a fan of Blade Runner, I was pleased when I discovered that there is an actual Blade Runner Wiki. Unfortunately, it’s really small  – 81 articles exist for the entire thing. However, it’s worth reading, and maybe you can help add onto it.

What I liked about this Sci-Fi wiki (and granted, mostly every wiki has it) is the information about the actual production of the film. With most wikis, you get a lot of information all about the characters, settings, and technology. However, this one goes into a lot of the behind-the-scenes aspects.

href="http://www.tardis.wikia.com">The Tardis Index File

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/tardis.png" alt="sci fi site" width="580" height="155" />

For all you href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-5-cool-fan-films-online-track-upcoming-fan-productions/">Dr. Who fans, the Tardis Index File compiles (mostly) all the knowledge you need of the show’s universe. However, it doesn’t just stick with Dr. Who. It actually dives into its spin-off series – Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and K-9.

Founded in November 2004, the wiki has gathered about 26,570 articles generated entirely by the users. It’s definitely worth checking out, but with that many articles, you may find yourself constantly reading articles in a manner similar to TV Tropes.

href="http://x-files.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page">The X-Files Wiki

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/xfiles.png" alt="sci fi wiki" width="580" height="155" />

I really miss the X-Files and all of its supernatural/extraterrestrial/terrifying wonder. It was a genuinely cool show, and although the movies are also cool, I’d love to see it back on the air. With that being said, about the closest I’ve been able to get to the show as of late is the X-Files Wiki.

This wiki packages all the characters and stories from the X-Files (such as the Smoking Man and of course, the Lone Gunmen). Furthermore, it is a source reference for the show tie-in shows Millenium and… well… The Lone Gunmen.

Conclusion

What are the purpose of wikis? Well, they are technically used for reference and research. However, with these, it just seems like they are purely fun to read.

What kind of cool stuff did you find on these wikis? Do you know of any other awesome sci-fi wikis that we should check out?

Image Credit: href="http://morguefile.com/archive/display/219910" rel="nofollow">dmscs

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2011-11-18-18h58_11.jpg" alt="ios weather apps" /> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/weather">Weather is one of those things that defy technology. No matter how hi-tech we get, we can’t control the weather. If it wants to rain, it will, and all we can do is find sophisticated ways to forecast it, and convenient ways to stay updated.

Weather apps for href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/ios">iOS are abundant, and there are numerous ways to stay updated on the go with your iPhone. But when the iPad joined the game, weather forecasts became more than that – they became beautiful. Weather doesn’t  have to be boring, and if you can get good and accurate information along with the entire ambiance of it, it makes the whole thing much less frustrating and way more fun.

Note that all the apps were checked on the iPad, but most are available for the iPhone as well. Here is a list of 4 excellent weather apps to make you want to check tomorrow’s forecast.

Weather HD Free

href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weather-hd-free/id412489722?mt=8">Weather HD is powered by Weather Underground, and provides a soothing yet useful way to stay on top of the weather. The free version only lets you add 2 locations, so if you need more than that on a regular basis, try the paid version or one of the other apps.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/weather-hd-2.jpg" alt="ios weather apps" width="577" height="333" border="0" />

The general mode is a full-screen weather video, describing the current weather. This is actually not a bad thing to have as a screensaver next to you when it’s raining out. On the bottom, you’ll find a weekly forecast, which you can switch to an hourly forecast.

You can also view details such as local time, temp, humidity, precipitation, wind chill and so on. You can choose in the settings which elements will appear and get rid of those you don’t care for.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/weather-hd-13.jpg" alt="best ios weather apps" width="315" height="258" border="0" />

Weather HD Free is ad supported. To make them disappear, as well as get more than two locations and additional videos, you can try the href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weather-hd/id364193735?mt=8">paid version. It’s only $0.99.

Weatherwise [Free]

href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weatherwise/id420954273?mt=8">Weatherwise gives a touch of good humor to the weather, which is something we could all use. The current weather is represented by a tranquil Bonsai tree around which the current conditions can be seen. For example, if it’s windy, you’ll see the night lamp that’s hanging from the tree moving in the wind.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/weatherwise-1.jpg" alt="best ios weather apps" width="398" height="599" border="0" />

You can add up to 5 locations, or have the app use your current location to get weather details. On the main screen, you can see an icon-only weekly forecast and the current temp. You can tap the weekly forecast to change the Bonsai tree into that day’s forecast. Tap the hourly details to access hour-by-hour temperatures, wind speeds, humidity, visibility and more.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/weatherwise-2.jpg" alt="best ios weather apps" width="578" height="390" border="0" />

While looking at the Bonsai tree, you can slide your fingers to move between locations, and view all your Bonsai trees. If you want some different themes, you can purchase some for $0.99 each through the app, but I find the Bonsai to be quite enough.

WeatherBug [Free]

If you’re looking for something a bit more serious, href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weatherbug-for-ipad/id363235774?mt=8">WeatherBug could be it. WeatherBug is a comprehensive map-oriented app, which lets you choose between different map layers (such as radars, temperature, pressure and so on), along with detailed weekly forecast, videos from weather cams (US only) and elaborate current conditions.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/weatherbug-1.jpg" alt="ios weather" width="579" height="529" border="0" />

You can add several locations and then switch between them using the dropdown menu at the top. If you tap the weekly forecast, you can read exactly what you should expect on every day and night of the following week.

WeatherBug’s true merit is the map. Adding set locations is something you can do with any app, but with WeatherBug you can browse the map, and when you see a place you fancy, simply tap it to drop a pin and get a full weather forecast for that location. You can then choose to remove pin, add the location to your saved locations or simply move on in your quest.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/weatherbug-2.jpg" alt="ios weather" width="284" height="227" border="0" />

WeatherBug is ad supported. Get rid of the ads by upgrading to href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weatherbug-elite/id310647896?mt=8">WeatherBug Elite for $0.99. Also available for href="http://itunes.apple.com/il/app/weatherbug/id281940292?mt=8">non-iPad devices.

Magical Weather [$1.99]

At $1.99, href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/magical-weather/id396179545?mt=8">Magical Weather is the priciest one of the bunch, but this beautiful and informative app is worth every cent. With a simple yet fetching interface, Magical Weather provides local weather for up to 9 locations, which it presents on a beautiful grid, complete with temperature, weather icon and an image that shows you the weather and the time of day.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/magical-weather-1.jpg" alt="ios weather" width="525" height="445" border="0" />

Tapping one of these squares, you’ll access the full weather forecast for the day, hour by hour, as well as the rest of the week’s. The whole thing sits on a gracefully animated background, which also represents the current weather and time of day.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/meagical-weather-2.jpg" alt="meagical-weather-2" width="472" height="403" border="0" />

Not sure what all these numbers mean? Magical Weather has you covered. Tap the small question mark on the bottom left corner, and in slides a full key for each element of the forecast.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/magical-weather-33.jpg" alt="ios weather apps" width="425" height="293" border="0" />

Magical Weather is simple, provides only useful information, and has one of the prettiest interfaces I’ve ever seen.

Final Thoughts

All of these iOS weather apps will give your weather watching a whole new meaning. With any one of these, checking the forecast is not a chore anymore; I mean, who doesn’t want to check their cute Bonsai tree every few hours?

Fore more ways to stay updated on the weather, check out:

• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-feeds-rss-weather-updates/">The 7 Best Feeds For RSS Weather Updates
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-web-services-track-earthquakes-storms/">4 Web Services To Keep Track Of Earthquakes & Storms Around Us
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/weather-widgets-windows-7/">The Four Best Weather Widgets For Windows 7

Do you know of other awesome weather apps for the iPad? Share them in the comments.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/goldeneye.jpg" alt="gaming music" />Maybe you’ve heard of nerdcore, but the realm of video game music spans beyond that. Video games often capture us with their soundtracks, and every now and then an awesome band, singer, or rapper comes along and twists those nostalgic tunes into a new track.

Being a gamer and a fan of music is brought together upon listening and a whole new form of enjoyment can be experienced. Ever felt like you’ve lived through replaying one of your favorite games just by listening to an album? With this post, let’s hope to achieve that. I’ve got some smooth hip-hop, a little bit of metal, mashup, and arrangements for you to enjoy!

href="http://megaranmusic.com/album/black-materia-final-fantasy-vii">Random (Mega Ran) & Lost Perception – Black Materia: Final Fantasy VII

/> No one is going to argue that Final Fantasy VII is one of the most influential and breathtaking games that the RPG genre has ever birthed. Squaresoft hit this one right on the head, and more than 10 years after it was dropped we’re still discussing the possibility for a proper sequel. Ran and his partner, href="http://lostperception.com/">Lost Perception, blend together some awesome beats with the FF7 OST.

Ran’s music isn’t your average rap. His lyrical content is meaningful, and the wordplay and lyricism of the Black Materia album theme perfectly. You can learn a whole lot about FF7 before even playing it by just listening in to the content of this beautiful album. If you’ve never played FF7 before and you give this album a listen, you’ll be thoroughly impressed with the way that a hip-hop artist can proudly and effectively blend amazing lyricism with video game culture.

If you have played FF7, you’ll be blown away. If you’re a fan of FF4, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/final-fantasy-iv-free-remix-music-album/">check out this album.

href="http://artificialfear.bandcamp.com/album/loz-metal">Artificial Fear – LoZ: Metal

src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BSFGGGe8HgA" frameborder="0" width="570" height="320"> /> Fans of Zelda have been going absolutely nuts over this album for more than a year now. Artificial Fear does an outstanding job of playing back tunes from the Legend of Zelda series–mainly Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask – with a hardcore metal twist.

The album is crammed with 24 tracks for you to enjoy and bang your head to.

href="http://goldnfly.com/">Alex Kresovich – Gold N’ Fly 007

src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ll9Vp4R3bGA" frameborder="0" width="570" height="320"> /> When GoldenEye 007 hit the N64, FPS fanboys had a fit (and in a good way). Alex Kresovich takes the sounds from GoldenEye and mashes them together with some very lyrical rap songs. This album is the bomb.

Some of the featured artists include Tech N9ne (in the video above), 50 Cent, 2Pac, T.I., Rick Ross, Nas, and Jay-Z. If you’re a hip-hop fan, snag this!

href="http://music.jhsounds.com/album/hedgehog-hysteria">JH Sounds – Hedgehog Hysteria

src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uAXOf_YjnQo" frameborder="0" width="570" height="320"> /> If you had a SEGA Genesis, you had Sonic the Hedgehog. If not, I’d argue that something was wrong in your childhood. JH Sounds’ arrangements of the Sonic soundtracks are stunning and beautiful. What’s even more is that this album is 100% free.

Give this one a quick listen and I bet you’ll be taken back to the days of holding the right directional button on that bulky, black controller.

href="http://megarankmurdock.bandcamp.com/album/forever-famicom">Random (Mega Ran) & K-Murdock – Forever Famicon

src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/j7zVhnYMIws" frameborder="0" width="570" height="320"> /> We started with Random and we’re ending with Random. The nerdcore legend collaborates with beatsmith K-Murdock to make one of the most nostalgic and memorable gamer classics out there.

With his trademark storybook lyricism, Ran and Murdock give us goodies from games like Earthbound, Little Nemo, Kirby’s Dreamland, Metroid, and Street Fighter.

Got an album on your mind that I didn’t manage to list? Let us know about it in the comments and we’ll all share some tunes for the gamers to play to. If you’re obsessed with video game OSTs, we’ve previously shared href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-sites-download-free-video-game-music/">five awesome sites where you can find those.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/information.jpg" alt="information overload" />We are finding out that too much of information is also clutter. We have talked about href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/managing-digital-information-overload-technology-cure-opinion/">how technology can swing it both ways for us. For instance, a previous look at href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-sites-deal-information-overload/">7 Sites That Can Help You Deal With Information Overload gave us a bunch of tools to take on the information flow and swim with it. If you come to think of it, nearly every software, web app, or smart mobile app is built to somehow not sink under the tsunami of digital information.

But the question remains – are we doing a good job of managing information to make our days more productive? That query alone makes me benchmark new apps and see how they can be dykes rather than flood gates.

Let’s look at five more web services to tackle information overload with some interesting filters.

href="http://slipstre.am/">Slipstream

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/information01.jpg" alt="information overload" width="580" height="429" />

Slipstream is a 2 MB sized browser extension for Chrome and Safari (sorry, no Firefox) that helps to manage your Twitter timeline. Its operation is very simple – after you authorize it on your Twitter account, Slipstream lets you hide tweets you don’t care about with a single click.

You can automate the process by using hashtags to filter out specific tweets. Complete muting of certain tweets is also possible for specific users, topics, and timelines. You can create different keyword based filters and let Slipstream scrub your cluttered Twitter timeline. It’s very easy to setup and use via a simple ‘Hide’ click that opens a little box with the filter options.

href="http://ensembli.com/">Ensembli

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/information03.jpg" alt="information overload and internet" width="580" height="323" />

Tackle information overload with personalized news. Tell Ensembli about the kind of stories you are interested in and it scouts out web mentions for you across the board. You can fine tune it after signing in, but Ensembli works just as well without the free registration. Just use the little box on the homepage to let it know your topic of interest.

With a registration, you can setup Ensembli to send you daily or weekly email alerts when it comes across a story on your interests. You can also keep your account stocked with the stories you want to keep and share.

href="http://summify.com/">Summify

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/information05.jpg" alt="information overload and internet" width="580" height="315" />

Summify tackles information overload by applying some to the most shared and discussed items that you are interested in. It then ranks them by importance. You can add your Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader accounts to bring your social feeds under Summify. Summify then rakes over your feeds, removes duplicate news items to reduce clutter, and shows streaming updates from your social networks with just the best stories.

You can set the web app with an update frequency, time interval between summaries, and number of stories to be sent in each summary, and also set up email notifications. Summify condenses your information and you can view it with the help of an iPhone app, get it on email, or take it straight on the web.

href="http://www.everyblock.com/">EveryBlock (U.S. only)

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/information02.jpg" alt="information overload and internet" width="580" height="390" />

The web is so universal that it makes us miss what’s happening in our neighborhood. EveryBlock is an interesting app because it brings back the idea of ‘local’. With EveryBlock you can follow neighborhood news (here are the href="http://dc.everyblock.com/news/">types) and connect with your neighbors in 16 U.S. cities. How does it help you to focus on important information? By bringing news that’s relevant at the level of neighborhood or city block. Anything that’s beyond that is kept out.

Updated news and tools to post messages and connect with those immediately close to you in your own city are the key features. You can narrow it down by ZIP code. It’s something to look forward to as more cities get added.

href="http://www.spezify.com/">Spezify

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/information04.jpg" alt="information overload" width="580" height="288" />

If you have to go on a search, take a visual search engine with you. Personally speaking, visualization of information helps me to digest information much faster. Spezify is fast and it taps into multiple information sources like Yahoo, Twitter, Reuters, Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube, MSN, Amazon etc.).

You can filter the visual results by images, text, videos, music, and Twitter mentions. A list of related keywords also helps to try out a few more variations. If this has got you interested in visual search, try out href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-awesome-visual-search-engines-to-transform-your-search/">4 Awesome Visual Search Engines to Transform Your Search.

If too much of information is still buffeting you and you just want to do more with less, look into:

• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-tips-deal-email-overload-gmail-show/">3 Tips To Deal With Email Overload In Gmail [Show & Tell]
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-ways-twitter-information-overload/">3 Little Known Ways To Use Twitter Without Information Overload
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-simple-text-summarizers-tackle-information-overload/">4 Simple Text Summarizers To Tackle Information Overload

Let us know of any favored app you use to manage information effectively. The simpler the better, if you too are swamped with too much of digital information.

Image Credit: href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=67359433" rel="nofollow">Shutterstock

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/image162.png" alt="" /> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/facebook/">Facebook keeps changing and changing. Every month or so, users enjoy (or deal with) a new change in Facebook’s interface. While some people are really excited about the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/facebook-timeline-starts-rolling-user-profiles-today-news/">recent Timeline profiles, others are still ticked off at things like the news ticker and the chat sidebar.

Another thing Facebook keep changing is the way we view images. While Photo Theater keeps improving and is no longer a major source of agitation to Facebook users, and while thumbnails keep growing, some people are still looking for an easy and quick way to view images in full size.

If one or more of these things are bothering you, I’ve rounded up some href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/google-chrome/">Chrome extensions that are sure to make you a happier Facebook user.

Facebook Classic

href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ffdodpcdalagnkbkojidmmcehlnhniad?hl=en-US">Facebook Classic is a Chrome add-on for people who dislike the new ticker, but want to be able to easily toggle it on again. It also gets rid of the new top stories and arranges the newsfeed in chronological order again.

After you install the add-on and refresh Facebook, the news ticker will disappear completely, leaving only the bottom half of the sidebar with the chat. You’ll also see the “Latest Stories” header instead of the “New Top Story” and “Recent Stories“. The change is not only to the titles – the small triangle to the left of each newsfeed item will also disappear. This triangle is usually used to mark a story as a “top story”.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-10-11-12h37_32.png" alt="2011-10-11 12h37_32" width="580" height="429" border="0" />

If you want to turn on the ticker, find the “Show Ticker” link on the right side. This will toggle the news ticker on. You can toggle it back off whenever you want using the “Hide Ticker” link.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-10-11-12h41_10.png" alt="2011-10-11 12h41_10" width="346" height="193" border="0" />

Facebook–

href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fecghihpjcmbdaicliecdpofhhianacj?hl=en&hc=search&hcp=main">Facebook– is another Chrome add-on which deals with similar issues. Once you download Facebook–, the news ticker will be gone. Use this add-on if you really don’t want to see the news ticker, because there’s no easy way to toggle it on and off.

As opposed to Facebook Classic, it also doesn’t leave you with half a sidebar for the chat, but expands the chat so it takes up the entire sidebar, the way it used to be before the news ticker joined the party.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-10-11-13h04_51.png" alt="2011-10-11 13h04_51" width="504" height="441" border="0" />

Another thing Facebook– does is restore the title bar to the way it used to be. You get your Settings button back, and you lose your name and thumbnail in the title bar. Nice if you miss Facebook’s older look.

Sidebar Disabler

href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bfipfkeoidmndggnnpobeenlamiclald?hl=en&hc=search&hcp=main">Sidebar Disabler is a Chrome, href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fb-chat-sidebar-disabler/">Firefox and href="https://addons.opera.com/en/addons/extensions/details/facebook-chat-sidebar-disabler/1.9.6/?display=en">Opera add-on which leaves your news ticker alone in its non-sidebar position, and turns the sidebar into the good old Facebook chat.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-10-11-13h30_30.png" alt="2011-10-11 13h30_30" width="393" height="563" border="0" />

If the news ticker is not your problem, but you’re just sick of the sidebar as a concept, you’ll be able to forget about it with this add-on. The old chat returns in full glory, along with the old options and friend lists. You also get to see only your online friends again, which is one of the most sorely missed features in the new chat sidebar.

FB Photo Zoom

Moving on to quite a different subject, href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/elioihkkcdgakfbahdoddophfngopipi?hl=en&hc=search&hcp=ext">FB Photo Zoom has nothing to do with news tickers and sidebars, but has a lot to do with the way you view images. Some people still don’t like Facebook’s Photo Theater, and others (like me), are just too lazy to click the thumbnail every time they want to view a full-size image.

With FB Photo Zoom, hovering over a thumbnail with your mouse cursor will automatically open a preview of the full size image. This preview even moves along as you move your mouse, but disappears immediately if your cursor leaves the thumbnail.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-10-11-13h21_58.png" alt="2011-10-11 13h21_58" width="580" height="408" border="0" />

FB Photo Zoom also comes with some configurable settings. You can use it to disable Photo Theater if you still hate it. You can create a keyboard shortcut to toggle the zooming effect on and off, and another shortcut to force-enable it even when it’s off. You can even control the delays of the fade in and fade out of images.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/2011-10-11-13h28_13.png" alt="2011-10-11 13h28_13" width="562" height="391" border="0" />

This also works with the tiny “Friends on Chat” thumbnails, which are so small they’re often unrecognizable. Quite an upgrade to your casual Facebook image viewing experience.

Bottom Line

The more changes Facebook makes, the more add-ons like these we’re going to find. I think it’s awesome that so many different ones exist – this way we can each create a user experience that suits us best, and make the most of Facebook without the things that annoy us.

If none of these add-ons hit the spot for you, you can find some more of them in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/remove-facebook-news-ticker-fixed-header-chrome/">this post by Steve. If there are even better Facebook add-ons, or if you think people should stop complaining and enjoy the changes, do tell us about it in the comments!

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/rid-annoying-facebook-features-4-addons-chrome/">Get Rid Of Some Annoying Facebook Features With These 4 Add-Ons [Chrome] is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Android-300.jpg" alt="" />Learn everything you need to learn about Android, for free! “These Are The Droids You’re Looking For: An Android Guide” by Matt Smith, is the latest free manual from MakeUseOf.com. Outlining the ins and outs of Android, this guide covers everything from basic usage to rooting your phone, and is a must-have if you use Google’s smartphone OS.

Android is among the most influential operating systems crafted this century. Along with iOS, it has paved the way for mobile devices that offer an unprecedented level of functionality. Currently Android is the most common mobile operating system — and there’s no sign that its popularity will wane anytime soon.

Already own an Android device? This guide will help you become acquainted with it, and teach you tricks that can make it even better than it already is. Thinking of buying an Android device? This guide can help you with your decision, by showing you what Android can do.

style="text-align: center;"> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-these-are-the-droids-youre-looking-for-an-android-guide">DOWNLOAD These Are The Droids You’re Looking For: An Android Guide

style="text-align: center;">The guide is free but password-protected. Gain access to the password by:

style="text-align: center;">1- subscribing to our newsletter (you may do this on the download page itself, link above). Existing subscribers will receive the guide via email in the next couple of hours.

style="text-align: center;">OR

style="text-align: center;">2 – Simply href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof?sk=app_112097515539177">join our Facebook page. Quick and easy.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/android-3page.png" alt="" width="580" height="270" />

This amazing manual will teach you:

• Android’s history, from 2003 to now.
• Find out what Android version you’re running.
• Customizing the Android launcher.
• Enjoying music and videos on your phone.
• Exploring the Android Marketplace.
• How and why you should root your phone.
• Securing your Android phone.

style="text-align: center;"> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-these-are-the-droids-youre-looking-for-an-android-guide">DOWNLOAD These Are The Droids You’re Looking For: An Android Guide

style="text-align: center;">The guide is free but password-protected. Gain access to the password by:

style="text-align: center;">1- subscribing to our newsletter (you may do this on the download page itself, link above). Existing subscribers will receive the guide via email in the next couple of hours.

style="text-align: center;">OR

style="text-align: center;">2 – Simply href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof?sk=app_112097515539177">join our Facebook page. Quick and easy.

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Android-300.jpg" alt="" />Learn everything you need to learn about Android, for free! “These Are The Droids You’re Looking For: An Android Guide” by Matt Smith, is the latest free manual from MakeUseOf.com. Outlining the ins and outs of Android, this guide covers everything from basic usage to rooting your phone, and is a must-have if you use Google’s smartphone OS.

Android is among the most influential operating systems crafted this century. Along with iOS, it has paved the way for mobile devices that offer an unprecedented level of functionality. Currently Android is the most common mobile operating system — and there’s no sign that its popularity will wane anytime soon.

Already own an Android device? This guide will help you become acquainted with it, and teach you tricks that can make it even better than it already is. Thinking of buying an Android device? This guide can help you with your decision, by showing you what Android can do.

style="text-align: center;"> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-these-are-the-droids-youre-looking-for-an-android-guide">DOWNLOAD These Are The Droids You’re Looking For: An Android Guide

style="text-align: center;">The guide is free but password-protected. Gain access to the password by:

style="text-align: center;">1- subscribing to our newsletter (you may do this on the download page itself, link above). Existing subscribers will receive the guide via email in the next couple of hours.

style="text-align: center;">OR

style="text-align: center;">2 – Simply href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof?sk=app_112097515539177">join our Facebook page. Quick and easy.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/android-3page.png" alt="" width="580" height="270" />

This amazing manual will teach you:

• Android’s history, from 2003 to now.
• Find out what Android version you’re running.
• Customizing the Android launcher.
• Enjoying music and videos on your phone.
• Exploring the Android Marketplace.
• How and why you should root your phone.
• Securing your Android phone.

style="text-align: center;"> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-these-are-the-droids-youre-looking-for-an-android-guide">DOWNLOAD These Are The Droids You’re Looking For: An Android Guide

style="text-align: center;">The guide is free but password-protected. Gain access to the password by:

style="text-align: center;">1- subscribing to our newsletter (you may do this on the download page itself, link above). Existing subscribers will receive the guide via email in the next couple of hours.

style="text-align: center;">OR

style="text-align: center;">2 – Simply href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof?sk=app_112097515539177">join our Facebook page. Quick and easy.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/intro4.jpg" alt="handheld console emulator" />In the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-emulators-play-oldschool-16-32-bit-consoles-pc-19871993/">late 80′s, video gaming was gaining in popularity with the release of highly successful consoles from companies like Nintendo, Atari and Sega. Once technology had improved (and shrunk considerably) portable games consoles were possible, adding another theatre of war for hardware manufacturers to do battle on. It wasn’t a fad either, handheld gaming is a booming business even today.

Pretty much everyone now owns a device that can play, making anyone a potential customer. Knock the clock back 25 years and you’d have to go out, buy a chunky unit, some overpriced cartridges and hopefully have change left for a pocket full of AA batteries.

Let’s relive the past without the dodgy D-pads, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-ways-boost-cell-phone-battery-life-iphone-android-smartphones/">horrendous battery life and having to blow the dust off each cart before playing a game. To emulation!

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/sonic-no-no.jpg" alt="handheld console emulator" width="129" height="129" />

Don’t Ask Me For ROMs

No really, I can’t tell you where to get them. If you own original cartridges then you’re entitled to a backup copy, and you can go ahead and reclaim your collection. If you’re looking for ROMs then you’ll probably have no problems using Google, BitTorrent and if possible, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/three-ways-to-find-open-registration-on-private-torrent-sites-2/">private trackers.

Game Boy (1989) – href="http://vba.ngemu.com/">VisualBoyAdvance

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/gameboy.jpg" alt="handheld emulator" width="250" height="400" />

It was time to replace the Game and Watch – Nintendo’s first (rather DS-like) handheld venture, and the Game Boy was born. Nintendo aimed to keep production costs low and battery life acceptable, and despite initial criticisms the handheld eventually shot to success thanks to one game in particular.

Nintendo saw a game called href="http://www.tetris.com">Tetris exhibited at a 1988 game show and immediately saw the potential. The company bought up the rights to the game and released it as the Game Boy’s killer title. It was a hit-and-a-half.

I’ve just finished href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/visual-boy-advance-game-boy-advance-emulator-multiple-platforms-windows-mac-linux/">an article all about Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance emulator VisualBoyAdvance. It runs on all major operating systems (and a few other, more obscure platforms to boot) and provides great emulation.

Atari Lynx (1989) – href="http://handy.sourceforge.net/">Handy

style="text-align: center;">  class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/lynx.jpg" alt="handheld emulator" width="580" height="284" />

Initially called “Handy Game” (bet you’re glad they ditched that title) the Atari Lynx was the world’s first colour handheld games console. The unit was released around the time Nintendo were debuting their monochrome Game Boy and featured superior hardware, as well as an “upside down lefty” method of play.

Unfortunately the Lynx flopped. That colour screen was thirsty, as was the beefy hardware, which meant that the console chewed through batteries in no time. It was also expensive, and this further spurred on the success of the cheaper (and less unwieldy) Game Boy.

Handy is (allegedly) the best Lynx emulator – it runs on Windows but hasn’t had an update for a while so compatability mode on newer systems might resolve any issues.

Sega Game Gear (1990) – href="http://www.eidolons-inn.net/tiki-index.php?page=Kega">KEGA Fusion

style="text-align: center;">  class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/gamegear.jpg" alt="handheld emulator" width="580" height="376" />

One of the few consoles to give the Game Boy a run for its money, Sega’s Game Gear appeared in 1990 in Japan, with a worldwide release in 1991. It too featured a colour screen and devoured batteries like they were going out of fashion – lasting on average around 3-4 hours.

Sega intended to make a follow-on touch screen version of the Game Gear (which was based on the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-retro-emulators-play-early-80s-home-consoles-pc-19811986/">Master System console) but production costs put the company off. The Game Gear can be emulated rather well with KEGA Fusion, an emulator that runs on all 3 major operating systems.

Game Boy Color (1998) – href="http://vba.ngemu.com/">VisualBoyAdvance

style="text-align: center;">  class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/gameboycolor.jpg" alt="handheld emulator system" width="245" height="400" />

Adding backwards compatibility for the first time in a handheld, the Game Boy Color was the next iteration of the Game Boy franchise. Further information about the console and emulator can be found in the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/visual-boy-advance-game-boy-advance-emulator-multiple-platforms-windows-mac-linux/">VisualBoyAdvance article.

Neo Geo Pocket Color (1999) – href="http://neopop.emuxhaven.net/">NeoPop

style="text-align: center;">  class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/neogeopocketcolor.jpg" alt="handheld emulator system" width="580" height="383" />

The Neo Geo Pocket Color was a 16-bit handheld that disappeared from US and European markets due to an SNK buyout in 2000. Until then the portable was looking promising in the US market, even managing to give the Game Boy Color a decent fight.

NeoPop is tipped as the best Neo Geo Pocket Color emulator. It runs on Windows but also has a version for BeOS.

WonderSwan Color (1999) – href="http://calice.emu-france.com/oswan/">Oswan: href="http://www.emulator-zone.com/doc.php/wonderswan/oswan.html">Windows/ href="http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/12497/oswan">Mac

style="text-align: center;">  class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/wonderswan.jpg" alt="handheld emulator system" width="580" height="365" />

The WonderSwan Color was the follow-up to Bandai’s original WonderSwan console and only ever saw release in Japan. During its life it managed to steal 8% of the market share from Nintendo’s Game Boy, thanks in part to a deal that saw the original NES/Famicom Final Fantasy ported over.

Oswan appears to be the only WonderSwan Color emulator still out there, and runs on both Windows and Mac.

Game Boy Advance (2001) – href="http://vba.ngemu.com/">Visual Boy Advance

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/gba.jpg" alt="handheld console emulator" width="580" height="348" />

Adding two more buttons, improved graphics, improved sound and improved battery life to the Game Boy name, the GBA (despite not being quite as successful as the original) managed to shift more than 80 million units during its lifetime.

Nintendo franchises like Pokémon and Mario as well as some guests (including Sonic) made the console an overwhelming success. Far more information check out the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/visual-boy-advance-game-boy-advance-emulator-multiple-platforms-windows-mac-linux/">Visual Boy Advance article, which covers the GBA.

Conclusion

So who’s still with us? Nintendo, sure – but the rest? Sega dropped out of the hardware market after poor sales of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-great-emulators-play-modern-home-consoles-pc-19942001/">the Dreamcast, and many of the others simply publish, develop or churn out software these days.

Still, Sony have joined the ranks with the upcoming Vita and the 3DS can’t be far away from a revision by now. If you’ve enjoyed reading about these old portables or have found an emulator you’ve been looking for leave us a comment below!

Any favourite handhelds? Any favourite games? Nobody forgets their first handheld, right? Discuss below!

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/image104.png" alt="" />One of my favorite features in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/windows-7/">Windows 7 is Aero Glass. There’s something really appealing about the whole Aero look, and I love changing the look and feel of my system by changing Aero colors.

But Windows 7 only offers 14 pre-set Aero colors, and if I need a change I have to go to my display options and do it manually. So Aero colors are a lovely thing, but let’s admit it, they’re a bit limited. So I’ve rounded up some cool tools that will enliven your Aero colors experience, be it custom colors, colors that match wallpapers, or even the weather.

href="http://hb860.deviantart.com/art/AeroTuner-183456299">AeroTuner

AeroTuner is a portable app that helps you do one thing: customize Aero color. If you’re tired of those same old default options (and let’s face it, only 3-4 of them are really usable), use AeroTuner to create your very own Aero color.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-20h02_46.png" alt="2011-09-20 20h02_46" width="451" height="451" border="0" />

With this little application you can choose your main color and glow color, and then start playing with color balance, blur balance and Aero stripes. You can pretty much create any look you want, and within seconds, your system will have a unique look no one else can match!

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-20h03_46.png" alt="2011-09-20 20h03_46" width="449" height="436" border="0" />

If you change your mind, simply click restore and your previous colors will return. You can also find your previous colors in the Personalize area when you right-click the desktop area.

href="http://aura.codeplex.com/">Aura

Windows 8 is going to have a new feature that will change Aero Glass color according to wallpaper. But what if you don’t want to wait? Try Aura.

This small and portable tool can change Aero color according to either wallpaper color or active window icon color. If you’re using IE 9 (which I’m not), it should also change color according to active tabs.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-20h23_43.png" alt="2011-09-20 20h23_43" width="522" height="479" border="0" />

What Aura essentially does is turn the task bar transparent, so it reflects the wallpaper, and the windows themselves get a color that matches the wallpaper or the active window. I’m not sure how the algorithm works, but it seems to be giving out greys a fair number of the times. Nevertheless, the general feeling is rather pleasant.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-20h46_59.png" alt="2011-09-20 20h46_59" width="525" height="323" border="0" />

href="http://www.carthagosoft.net/AeroBlend.php">AeroBlend

AeroBlend is very similar to Aura, but in my opinion seems to work a little better. This might be due to the algorithm that it uses to calculate the colors. It is also an actual installation, and not a portable app.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-20h40_27.png" alt="2011-09-20 20h40_27" width="370" height="202" border="0" />

As in Aura, you can choose whether it should change colors according to wallpaper, icon or content (not only IE9!), and you can control the color intensity right there from the settings window. You can also choose to check the mysterious option “Fade colos”.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-20h36_44.png" alt="2011-09-20 20h36_44" width="550" height="450" border="0" />

I’m assuming “Fade colos” is fade colors, and some testing seem to show that this is in fact the case. When you uncheck it, the change in color is immediate. The difference, however, is almost unnoticeable.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-20h38_50.png" alt="2011-09-20 20h38_50" width="486" height="290" border="0" />

As you can see, AeroBlend creates a pretty good match to wallpaper color, and the entire work environment becomes much more lively. Fun!

href="http://spikex.net/2010/04/aeroweather-weather-based-aero-color/">AeroWeather

One of the coolest tools I’ve found on my quest to boost my Aero color is AeroWeather. This nifty little tool changes Aero color according to either temperature or weather conditions.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-21h06_50.png" alt="2011-09-20 21h06_50" width="341" height="431" border="0" />

To start, you’ll need to set up your location (zip code works in US only) and choose whether the colors should change according to temperature or conditions. If you choose temperature, you can decide the range according to which you’d like the color to change. When the temperature is close to the lower end, your desktop will look bluish-purplish:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-21h05_34.png" alt="2011-09-20 21h05_34" width="431" height="309" border="0" />

When it’s close to the higher end, it will turn reddish:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-21h05_06.png" alt="2011-09-20 21h05_06" width="463" height="310" border="0" />

There are all sorts of other colors in the middle.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-21h06_06.png" alt="2011-09-20 21h06_06" width="459" height="312" border="0" />

AeroWeather can also dim your Aero color at night, which is a really cool feature. If you can’t see a real change, try increasing color intensity in Windows’ Personalize –> Window color.

href="http://winaero.com/comment.php?comment.news.13">AeroRainbow

AeroRainbow is another fun application – this time, an Aero color randomizer. This little app comes from the same developers as AeroTuner, but does something a bit different. The main feature is a constantly changing Aero color, either randomly or according to a list you can build yourself.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-21h22_30.png" alt="2011-09-20 21h22_30" width="579" height="402" border="0" />

You can decide how often the change occurs, but the slowest setting is one change per minute, which is still a bit fast for my tastes. You can also use AeroRainbow to change your colors according to wallpaper, active window or active window icon, and choose whether this will be according to dominate color or average color.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/2011-09-20-21h24_41.png" alt="2011-09-20 21h24_41" width="450" height="471" border="0" />

If you create a nice color list, you can have a truly fetching desktop that never gets boring!

Bottom Line

Aero color tweakers, if you use them right, can help you create a system that is both fun and aesthetic. Just trying these tools out made me a happier person. Go ahead, indulge yourself and start playing with colors. It’s the easiest way to change your work environment so your eyes never get bored.

Do you know of some more interesting color customization tools for Aero? Let us know in the comments!

Image credit: href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=colors&search_group=&orient=&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&commercial_ok=&color=&show_color_wheel=1#id=63322462&src=a0b49696413198094731f8db8705a1d9-2-68" rel="nofollow">Shutterstock

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