class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/vizeddit.png?323f2c" alt="reddit in real time" />We’ve covered Reddit quite a few times here on MakeUseOf with articles that 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/">explain how it works and what title="5 Ways To Find The Best Obscure Subreddits On Reddit" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-find-obscure-subreddits-reddit/">you should be reading on it. However, since it’s a constantly updating site, it seems like the only way to stay on top of things is by F5-ing every other second. But really, who would want to do that?

Fortunately, the Reddit-related site href="http://www.erqqvg.com">Erqqvg has created a nifty little real-time visual Reddit updater that goes by the name of href="http://www.erqqvg.com/vizeddit/">Vizeddit. It’s a fresh take on the original site, and although it’s not something that is designed to be used it all the time, it’s a nice find. Is it cool? Absolutely. Is it functional? Actually… yes.

Sleek And Sexy Design

From the get-go, Vizeddit presents the top 25 links of Reddit on its front page. Each link is represented by a multicolored column, so it’s simple and easy enough to distinguish between each piece of content. However, the question that needs to be asked is, “What does it do?” 

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/vizeddit_bars.png?323f2c" alt="reddit in real time" width="590" height="285" />

You’ll notice that for each column, plus-signs and minus-signs will come streaming down, falling on top of the colored bars. If a green plus-sign hits a bar, it rises. If a red minus-sign hits it, then (quite naturally) it shrinks. Easy enough to understand, right? Each plus and minus sign represents the upvotes or downvotes that the link receives, and ultimately, the website serves as a means of understanding what’s hot and what’s not on Reddit. Basically, consider it Reddit 2.0.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/vizeddit_title.png?323f2c" alt="realtime reddit" width="589" height="286" />

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/vizeddit_info.png?323f2c" alt="realtime reddit" width="590" height="285" />

The site utilizes Reddit’s href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/api-good-technology-explained/">API to consistently update these colored bars to go up or down based on the content. Along with this information, randomly selected comments will drop down ( title="3 Free Addictive Puzzle Games To Get Your Brain Working [iPhone]" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-free-addictive-puzzle-games-brain-working-iphone/">Tetris-style) so that you can take a gander at what’s happening in the motherland. Also, after clicking on the bars themselves, you will be given the option to actually go to the links and see the voting ratios.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/vizeddit_comment.png?323f2c" alt="reddit in real time" width="590" height="285" />

Functionality

Trust me, I wouldn’t share Vizreddit with you if it was just a pretty face. The site has a variety of functional uses that you can take advantage of everyday, and although some could possibly need a little imagination, it’s still a way to make use of it. Here are a couple of examples concerning the functionality of Vizreddit.

For instance, since Reddit is a major title="How To Turn WordPress Into A Life Stream Of All Your Online Blogs" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/turn-wordpress-life-stream-blogs/">content aggregator, you can actually use Vizreddit to find out what exactly the hottest topics are currently in the world. Much like title="5 Power Tweeter Tips on How to Use Twitter Like a Pro" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/tips-how-to-twitter-like-a-pro/">Twitter hashtags, this simply can call your attention to what’s fresh. For instance, post #3 on Reddit may be a cute picture of a cat, but post #21 may show off a recent uprising in a foreign country. Although post #3 remains in a higher slot, using Vizreddit, you could actually see the more rapid pace of voting occurring and realize that something may be up with post #21.

Besides that, this is is just a simpler way of viewing Reddit in real time. Instead of looking at the title="9 Of The Strangest Things Found On Craigslist" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/9-strangest-craigslist/">dull text design of the site itself (that I hope never changes), you can dive into a cooler way to read up on things. Honestly, it’s just like viewing the original Reddit. The only catch is that you can’t scroll through all the links – only the top 25 are available.

Conclusion

I believe href="http://www.erqqvg.com/vizeddit/">Vizreddit is an excellent tool to supplement your Reddit experience. That is, of course, if you use Reddit as your primary funnel for information. However, you shouldn’t use it as a standalone site (that’s not what it is), and beyond that, it does have a little bit of a novelty feel. However, it still works.

What other Reddit-related sites do you like to use? How has Vizreddit helped you?

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href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-types-reddit-commenters-drive-nuts/" rel="bookmark"> width="125" height="125" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/icon3-150x150.png?323f2c" class="with-border wp-post-image" alt="icon" title="icon" style="width:125px;height:125px;" /> class="title">3 Types Of Reddit Commenters That Drive Me Nuts

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-find-obscure-subreddits-reddit/" rel="bookmark"> width="125" height="125" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/reddit-150x150.png?323f2c" class="with-border wp-post-image" alt="Reddit" title="Reddit" style="width:125px;height:125px;" /> class="title">5 Ways To Find The Best Obscure Subreddits On Reddit

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/virus_tips_intro.jpg?323f2c" alt="" />The word “virus” and its association with computers was affixed by American computer scientist Frederick Cohen who used it to describe “a program that can ‘infect’ other programs by modifying them to include a possibly evolved copy of itself” way back in 1983. They come in all flavours, from problematic worms that spread like wildfire to backdoor entrances caused by trojan horse imposters.

Over the years there have been some very high-profile href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/instant-alerts-computer-viruses-phishing-emails/">virus alerts, many of which caught mainstream media attention. In this article I will be exploring 5 of the very worst (best?) computer viruses ever to be compiled and unleashed on the web. Bug spray at the ready…

October 2001: Klez

Before 2001 and the Klez virus, all viruses that spread via email were sent from the infected recipient’s email address. Whilst this was still massively problematic as the web was adjusting to words like “trojan” and “worm”, Klez turned the heat up an extra notch.

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Klez was in fact the first virus to be able to spoof email addresses, replacing the address in the “From” field with anyone else it pleased. This made avoiding detection difficult, and once a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-ways-people-infected-email-virus-case-wondering/">user became infected the infection was quickly passed on via email address books.

Distributed in many different flavours including a worm and trojan horse, some versions rendered infected computers useless without reinstalling Windows. Klez exploited a vulnerability in Internet Explorer’s Trident rendering agent (also used in Outlook and Outlook Explress) to wreak its havoc.

January 2003: SQL Slammer/Sapphire

SQL Slammer, also known as Sapphire, targeted Microsoft’s SQL Server and Desktop Engine database software, initiating href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dos-attack-twitter-technology-explained/">Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on various targets. Within minutes of infecting the first server, Slammer began doubling its number of infected machines every few seconds.

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The effects of this virus impacted on real-world situations. The Bank of America suffered ATM outages, the city of Seattle was unable to take 911 calls for a period and customers travelling via Continental Airlines experienced ticketing and check-in issues. The virus is estimated to have caused around $1 billion of damages in total.

January 2004: MyDoom

MyDoom began appearing in inboxes around the world in January 2004 and soon became the fastest spreading worm ever to hit the web. Email messages containing the worm were often masked as delivery failures, prompting many to open and investigate the message. Once the attached file had been executed the worm would send itself to email addresses found in the local address book and also put a copy in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/kazaa/">KaZaA’s shared folder.

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Much like Klez, MyDoom could spoof email but also came with the ability to look-up email addresses via web searches. Due to this, another knock-on effect of the virus was severe load being placed on services like Yahoo and Google, slowing down web search.

The worm carried two payloads – one was a backdoor entrance allowing an intruder to control the infected computer and another was a DDoS attack on the SCO group. Many have questioned where the virus came from, with many reports suggesting Russia. MyDoom contained the text “andy; I’m just doing my job, nothing personal, sorry,” which led many to believe that the virus was constructed for a fee, though this is not conclusive.

2004: Sasser & Netsky

Easily one of the most famous outbreaks ever to make the news, Sasser and Netsky are famous not only for their astonishing effectiveness but also the fact that they have been traced back to a then-17-year-old German teenager called Sven Jaschan. Sasser and Netsky are separate viruses, and it was similarities in the code which initially linked them both to the same individual.

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The Sasser worm did not spread via email but instead by scanning for vulnerable IP addresses and depositing its payload that way. Sasser exploited a buffer overrun in Windows XP’s Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSSASS) which had been patched prior to the release of the worm. This prompted some to believe that Microsoft’s fix was reverse-engineered and this led to the construction of the virus.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/netsky_removal_tool.jpg?323f2c" alt="" width="420" height="328" />

Netsky spread via email like more conventional viruses, and came in many different flavours with differing results. The author of both was given up by a friend once Microsoft issued a $250,000 bounty for information about the outbreak. He was tried as a minor and received a 21-month suspended sentence (and a flurry of job offers from security firms, of course).

January 2007: Storm Worm (Peacomm/Nuwar)

Originally distributed in email messages containing the subject “230 dead as storm batters Europe”, the Storm Worm (as it became known) is a nasty Trojan horse that would further infect a user’s machine with malware once active. Whilst “Storm Worm” is the name that has stuck, the virus has been seen masquerading behind other news-inspired subject lines.

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Emails infected with the worm contained an executable attachment. Once run, further malware may be installed, and the infected computer will become part of a botnet – a network of remotely-controllable PCs. By September 2007 it was believed that anywhere from 1-10 million computers were infected and part of the Storm botnet, but due to the way the computers communicate, gauging the size is impossible without access to the control server.

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Whilst the Storm Worm is not hard to detect or remove now, at the time, it was particularly resilient due to the way each infection evolved. At its peak the virus was spreading at an incredible rate, with one Postini analyst noting the company had detected over 200,000 emails containing links to the virus over a period of just days.

Conclusion

Whilst security seems to be the web’s number one buzzword these days, you can still never be too careful. By far the most important steps you can take to avoid future infection are href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/minimalist-approach-security-tools-computer-windows/">performing all system updates on time and of course href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ten-best-antivirus-programs/">using a virus scanner.

It’s been ages since I’ve had a virus, how about you? Sorry if I missed your “favourite” virus – fill us in on the details in the comments, below.

Image credit: href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-62499904/stock-photo-big-green-virus.html?src=f107c23b741385e1b6b8dde65372cbd2-2-76" rel="nofollow">Shutterstock

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/gaming.jpg?323f2c" alt="video game antagonists" /> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-favorite-video-game-protagonists-time-muo-gaming/">Last week on MUO Gaming, I talked about my favorite video game protagonists. After all, everyone loves the guy. Still, there is something to be said for a great villain in a game. They give the good guy a reason to be good. A well done villain can make you hate them so much that it gives you a reason to want to keep playing the game. Sometime you don’t hate the villain, but their character is so well portrayed that you want to find out what happens to them just as much as the protagonist.

Some games have an antagonist that is so good that it actually overshadows the protagonist. Some are so powerful they rival the villains in any movie out there today. A good villain is so important in a game. Games can be hard, and as gamers, sometimes we need a little motivation to push us through and make us want to beat the game. A strong antagonist can do just that. These are, in my opinion, the three best bad guys from any video (if you have not played these games, there will most likely be spoilers ahead).

The Joker From Arkham Asylum

The Joker is crazy. I think at this point that is well-known, and I can say that without spoiling anything. Joker has been played by all kinds of people including Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson. In this game, Mark Hamill, who you may know as Luke Skywalker and the voice of The Joker in Batman the animated series absolutely kills this role.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Joker1-e1323966062999.jpg?323f2c" alt="video game antagonists" width="580" height="325" />

While playing through Arkham Asylum there is a real sense of insanity that The Joker emits. Throughout the whole game, you get the feeling that this man is absolutely sick. The scenes with The Joker and Harley Quinn are truly something to behold.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/joker2-e1323966091629.jpg?323f2c" alt="best video game antagonists" width="580" height="348" />

Honestly, it is hard to say that Joker is not one of the best villains ever, regardless of medium. I will go on record here and say that the portrayal of The Joker in this game is the second best Joker in history, right behind Heath Ledger’s in The Dark Knight. If you have not played Arkham Asylum, than you need to. Seriously, go play it right this minute.

GlaDOS from Portal

GlaDOS is without question one of the best villains in video games. She may only be an artificial intelligence, but that does not stop her from being positively awesome as an antagonist. In Portal, GlaDOS is the only thing with which you interact. There are no supporting characters, so she literally has to carry the entire narrative of the game herself. That is no small feat, and she handles it masterfully.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/glados1-e1323966245312.jpg?323f2c" alt="best video game antagonists" width="580" height="361" />

She starts the game as your friendly AI companion, but as the game progresses, you start to realize that something a little more malicious is taking place here. It starts to seem that your cheery companion might be up to something, and obviously, this is a correct assumption.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Glados2-e1323966292104.jpg?323f2c" alt="best video game antagonists" width="580" height="464" />

The song at the end of the Portal is one of the best songs ever recorded in video games. Honestly, if you played through Portal, there is no way you could ever forget just how amazing GlaDOS is.

Saren from Mass Effect

This might seem like an odd choice, with characters like Bowser, Revolver Ocelot and Gannon out there, but Saren feels downright evil. The very first encounter with Saren in Mass Effect has him shooting his old friend in the back of the head, awakening an ancient Prothean power, trying to blow up an entire colony of people and flying off in one of the most evil-looking spaceships I have ever seen. If that is not the early makings of a bad person, then I do not know what is.

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As the game progresses, we come to find that the ship Saren is using is not actually a ship at all. It is actually a Reaper, an alien being with the power to destroy the universe. Saren takes a twist at this point. The Reaper has actually taken control of Saren’s mind. This gives gamers the impression that Saren might not be that bad a person. This is what makes him such a solid character. His actions in the game are positively reprehensible. However, if he isn’t in control of his actions, can we really blame him?

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/saren1-e1323966373706.jpeg?323f2c" alt="video game antagonists" width="580" height="326" />

Saren brings Mass Effect to a higher level. His evilness is something to behold, and when we find out that he is not in control of himself, it elevates the plot of Mass Effect higher than it already was. He is a great villain, and one of the reasons Mass Effect is such a highly regarded franchise.

Conclusion

I realize these villains are all in newer games. Simply, if you compare apples to apples, it’s really impossible for villains in older games to have the same depth as one in a new game. I’m not looking at what is best for their time. I’m looking for which villains had the greatest effect on me.

As you can see from these villains, they are bad, and I want to hate them, but it is hard to. The characters are so well acted and written that it is impossible to hate them, no matter how many terrible things they do.

Without bad guys, there would be no reason to have good guys. Without good guys, there would be no reason to have video games. Therefore, I nominate today Villain Appreciation Day. Your job is to let us know in the comments what video game villains you love to hate.

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href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-favorite-video-game-protagonists-time-muo-gaming/" rel="bookmark"> width="125" height="125" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/gaming-150x150.jpg?323f2c" class="with-border wp-post-image" alt="static gaming" title="static gaming" style="width:125px;height:125px;" /> class="title">My 3 Favorite Video Game Protagonists Of All Time [MUO Gaming]

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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/intellivocab_Intro.png" alt="" />Are you looking into taking the SAT, GRE or GMAT in the near future or know someone who is? For a limited time only (technically till December 3rd), there’s a highly-rated iPhone app that aims to improve your SAT/GRE/GMAT vocabulary the smart way. The href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/intellivocab-for-gre-gmat/id458974327?mt=8">IntelliVocab for GRE and GMAT Deluxe Edition app from Faqden Labs was created by MIT students who let Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Web Semantics research guide their work. This means the app personalizes your subsequent quiz questions based on what answers you correctly answered (and didn’t answer, too).

There are a few other features that make IntelliVocab different from a regular vocabulary flashcard app.

What’s On The App?

When you first launch the href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/intellivocab-for-gre-gmat/id458974327?mt=8">IntelliVocab Delux Edition app, you can set a date for your exam.

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The app will automatically refer to this date later when it makes graphs of your progress in the Progress Report tab. Right now though, let’s not worry about Progress Reports. After you set the date, you can start practicing by testing your knowledge of 4,800+ vocabulary words.

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You basically just need to choose an answer, and IntelliVocab will personalize subsequent words depending on whether or not your answer was correct, which you’ll know immediately after choosing it as it will be colored green if it was correct or red if it wasn’t.

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If you’re done practicing some words, you can choose to end the practice session and look at the practice session details.

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Overtime, you can take the timed test when you’ve practiced enough.

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If you finish, you can take a look at the test details to get some immediate feedback.

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You can also check out the progress report by tapping on Report on the bottom app dock.

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This will tell you the latest test score, the number of words you have mastered and how much time you spent studying in your last session, among others. Taking the timed test more than once will further update your progress  table, showing you how many entries you’ve mastered.

IntelliVocab Is More Than Regular Flashcards

Some of the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-perfect-flashcard-apps-android-phones-teachers/">basic flashcard apps simply do not have much to offer aside from shuffling and presenting you with extra, irrelevant choices in addition to the correct one, IntelliVocab uses the latest machine learning algorithms and web semantics techniques to discard words that you may not need. So the more you practice, the more accurate IntelliVocab will be in selecting your next words. You can read more about the algorithms that IntelliVocab uses at the href="http://www.faqden.com/product.html">company’s product page.

If you or someone you know is seeking a good vocabulary preparation app that contains more than 4,000 words, then href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/intellivocab-for-gre-gmat/id458974327?mt=8">download the app from iTunes before it goes back to being $4.99 on December 3rd.

If you’re reading this article after December 3rd, be sure to check out the free, href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/intellivocab-for-gre-and-gmat/id413511366?mt=8">lite versions of IntelliVocab for GRE and GMAT, which have a total of 290+ words, compared to the Deluxe’s version with 4,800+. You may also be interested in href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/intellivocab-for-sat/id436685357?mt=8">Faqden’s IntelliVocab List for SAT words, which is also free.

If you’re also keen on using your computer to study flashcards, you may want to check out how to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/make-flashcards-google-docs-spreadsheets-web-iosandroid/">make some simple flashcards in Google Docs. There are also many websites that can help you href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/learning-results-brainscapes-online-flashcards/">create flashcard sets either for you as a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/learn-a-new-language-with-ankis-flash-card-system/">foreign language learner, or href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-3-sites-to-make-flashcards-for-your-kids/">for a child to learn. If you’re not particularly learning anything, but wish to keep your brain active and not forget things so easily, you should check out href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/headmagnet-online-flash-card-stops-memory-decay/">Headmagnet.

Know of some good ways to study lots of vocabulary words at a time? Share your tips and experiences in the comments below.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/logo.jpg" alt="ea online games" />Whilst I’m perfectly happy to pay a subscription to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-free-downloadable-xbox-360-games-dlc-grab/">Xbox Live and buy full-priced titles, it’s difficult to resist a decent freebie. EA, amongst others, have cottoned on to this and provided a whole range of high quality titles for free.

One thing I’ll say about free-to-play href="http://www.makeuseof.com/service/games/">games is that they are just that – free to play, and often require payment for additional features, courses, maps, equipment and so on. Still, at least you get a decent free option and can pay for the rest as you see fit. There are a couple of fairly well-known franchises amongst this lot, and the range of titles will hopefully suit everyone.

href="http://tigerwoodsonline.ea.com/">Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online

EA stopped making golf games for the PC a few years ago, until recently that is, with the release of the new title Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12. According to href="http://truepcgaming.com/2011/09/10/tiger-woods-pga-tour-12-the-masters-pc-review/">one review, this “new” game shares a lot in common with the free-to-play version already provided by EA – and it won’t cost you $40 either.

Using href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/unity-great-3d-games-on-multiple-platforms-and-browsers/">the popular Unity 3D engine which works on both Windows and Mac PCs, Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online dishes out $10,000 and some basic equipment for you to whack a ball around a field. The game is graphically very pleasing for something that runs in your browser, and all recorded stats and scores make up a fantastic database of online content to boot.

width="580" height="356" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0WlVsrMjMZs?version=3&hl=en_US&hd=1" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> width="580" height="356" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0WlVsrMjMZs?version=3&hl=en_US&hd=1" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" />

There aren’t quite as many courses as the latest release, and the graphics aren’t quite as polished – but it’s not far off, and you can play it right now for free!

href="http://world.needforspeed.com/">Need For Speed World

Available solely for Windows, Need For Speed World is EA’s free online attempt at a racing title. The game uses a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/mmo/">massively multiplayer model, whereby players drive around a city, looking for races and events.

It too has its own currency system, called Speedboost, which is used to rent and purchase licensed cars, power-ups and extras for use in the game. You don’t get an awful lot to start off with, though you’ll at least be able to see how the game handles and make an informed decision.

width="580" height="356" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G8RvwurUB00?version=3&hl=en_US&hd=1" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> width="580" height="356" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G8RvwurUB00?version=3&hl=en_US&hd=1" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" />

This EA online game does not run in your browser, so isn’t quite as easy to pick up as some of the other titles here but should perform well and look pretty good. The website still appears to be fairly regularly updated too, suggesting that the game’s community is very much alive.

href="http://battlefield.play4free.com/">Battlefield Play4Free

If you ever played Battlefield 2 then you’ll instantly find Battlefield Play4Free familiar. Play4Free is essentially a reboot of Battlefield 2, except it runs in your browser and looks slightly better. It’s no Bad Company 2, and the trademark Battlefield destructible objects are missing but the key Battlefield feel is there.

width="580" height="356" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CgU39ftkuE0?version=3&hl=en_US&hd=1" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> width="580" height="356" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CgU39ftkuE0?version=3&hl=en_US&hd=1" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" />

Vehicles can (naturally) be taken onto the battlefield and these include planes, tanks and personnel carriers. As you play XP is earned which can be spent on perks and upgrades for your soldier. Each soldier on your account (your first is free) is locked to the role you choose (e.g. medic, engineer) and in order to play other classes you’ll need to purchase another soldier slot.

Still, there’s plenty to unlock and enjoy here without spending anything. If you play and encounter the “blurry graphics” bug, try switching to the medium detail setting.

href="http://www.battlefieldheroes.com/">Battlefield Heroes

I know what you’re thinking – two Battlefield titles in succession? Ah, but this one’s a bit different! Taking on the cartoon-style we’ve seen in the likes of Team Fortess 2, Battlefield Heroes also provides a third-person camera angle to shake the formula up a bit.

Whilst a little flat, especially compared to other BF titles, the graphics are pretty good and the quirky player and vehicle models look great. Typical capture-the-flag gameplay is present with a revised Conquest mode that awards each team only 50 respawns.

width="580" height="356" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UsmPA52u7EM?version=3&hl=en_US&hd=1" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> width="580" height="356" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UsmPA52u7EM?version=3&hl=en_US&hd=1" allowFullScreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" />

The result is a frantic and slightly different Battlefield title that should please younger and older audiences alike.

The Rest

There are a couple of other decent and popular EA titles worth checking out if you like free stuff, and they are:

href="http://www.lordofultima.com/">Lord of Ultima

Don’t let the old-school graphics put you off, Lord of Ultima is a free empire building massively multiplayer game that is free to play. Choose from 30 buildings and 18 unit types in this strategic browser game.

href="http://www.battleforge.com/">BattleForge

We’ve covered BattleForge before, so all I’m going to say is it’s a free to play RTS card game. Sound good? href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/battleforge-electronic-arts-rts-cardgame-is-now-free/">Check out our article!

href="http://www.ea.com/dragon-age-legends">Dragon Age Legends

A free RPG using the Dragon Age license that uses Facebook. There are opportunities to unlock items in the full version of Dragon Age 2 by playing too.

href="http://www.ea.com/world-series-superstars">World Series Superstars / href="http://www.ea.com/madden-superstars">Madden Superstars

Both the NFL and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/play-baseball-like-a-pro-with-mlb-dugout-heroes/">MLB World Series get the Facebook treatment here in these online management games. World Series Superstars puts you in the manager’s seat, collecting players and deciding on tactics whereas Madden Superstars gives you the opportunity to build your own franchise from scratch.

Conclusion

Hopefully there’s an EA online game that tickles your fancy, I’m personally quite fond of the old-school feel of Battlefield Play4Free myself! If you love free games, don’t forget to check out our other articles. We’ve covered href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-actionpacked-shooter-games-windows/">shooters, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-popular-free-turnbased-strategy-games/">turn-based strategy games, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-free-mmo-games-online/">MMOs and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/online-games/">lots more.

Any favourites in this list? Anything else you’re playing at the moment? Let us know in the comments below.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/hamster-icon.png" alt="" />Not sure where your time goes? Keep track of it. Hamster is a Linux application that helps you do just that. Computers help us get work done, but they can also be distracting. That’s why it’s important to keep track of when you’re actually working; href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/time-management/">time management saves you time. Beyond distractions, however, it’s a good idea to figure out which daily tasks are eating up your time. This can help you schedule, or help you bill accurately if you’re a freelancer.

Hamster is a piece of Linux software built from the ground up to make time tracking easy. Get into the habit of using it and you’ll get a very accurate view of which tasks are taking the most time. This can go a long way toward making you efficient.

Tracking Your Time With Hamster

Whenever you begin a task, quickly open Hamster and let the software know what you’re doing:

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Add a name for the task, then add some tags. How you use the tags is up to you, but they can really help you figure out where your time is going later on. If you want to know how much time you spend on research compared to the time you spend actually writing, for example, tag tasks for your research and writing accordingly. This way you’ll know what you’re spending your time doing.

Tags are also a great way for freelancers to track their billable hours. Just tag tasks with a specific job or client and you’ll be tracking your hours for the job.

When you’ve completed a task, or switched to another one, let Hamster know. Time tracking only works if you track your time!

You can review the information at any time, by clicking summary:

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As you can see, Hamster lets you know what you’ve been doing with your time. You can make changes, useful if you ever accidently leave Hamster tracking after you’ve completed a project. You can also review how much time your various “tags” are taking up in a given week or other period of time.

Do you want to show other people where your time is going? Hamster allows you to export tasks to HTML files you can share easily with others, including clients.

You can set Hamster to stop tracking you when your computer is off or sleeping:

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If a lot of your work is away from the computer you’re going to want to turn this off. Other settings worth checking out include reminders and syncing with tasks list from Evolution and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/gnome-linux-users-organized/">Getting Things Gnome, which keeps Linux user organized.

Using Workspaces To Track Time

If you’re anything like me, you use the various workspaces Linux offers for different things. One for email and web browsing; another for writing; another for social networks; the last for testing software.

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You can set Hamster to automatically track how much time you’re spending on your various desktops. Assuming you use your desktops as consistently as I do, you can use this feature to track how much time you spend doing certain things automatically. This is a great way to track your time if you don’t want to manually enter information for each task.

How To Install Hamster

Installing Hamster is easy on most Linux distributions; just look for “hamster” in your package manager. Ubuntu users can simply href="apt:hamster-applet">click here to install Hamster.

If you can’t find Hamster in your repositories you may need to compile the code yourself. href="http://projecthamster.wordpress.com/building-and-running/">Find more about that here, but don’t expect it to be simple.

Install The Hamster Indicator Applet

Users of Gnome 2 can add a Hamster applet to a Gnome panel. Users of Ubuntu 11.04 and later don’t have this option, but don’t worry: there is a handy indicator applet for Hamster:

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Find out href="http://www.webupd8.org/2011/07/install-hamster-indicator-time-tracking.html">how to install the Hamster indicator for Unity at Webupd8; their tutorial includes installation instructions and various tweaks for the applet.

Conclusion

Hamster is a great time tracking device. As someone who jumps between multiple operating systems a lot I wish it was cross platform, but for those who use Linux all the time there isn’t a better way to track time than Hamster.

I’ve been wrong before. Do you know a better tool for the job than Hamster? Fill us in. Also feel free to let us know how Hamster helps you; we’d love to hear.

Image Credit : rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Phodopus_sungorus_-_Hamsterkraftwerk.jpg">Doenertier82

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/gaming-featured.jpg?54167" alt="free pirated games"/>While we would never endorse piracy, it’s fair to say that the best games get downloaded more than others. In fact, games that are well pirated generally mirror their performance in the retail world – so in the absence of reliable sales figures, we look towards the download counts.

It’s with great pleasure that I hereby introduce you to the top 10 most pirated games of all time.

1. href="http://www.callofduty.com/age-gate?referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.callofduty.com%2Fblackops%3Fpath%3Dblackops">Call Of Duty: Black Ops – 4.27 million downloads, Nov 2010

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The most recent addition to the incredibly successful Call of Duty series, which began way-back in 2003, originally based on the Quake III arena engine. Arguably the best multiplayer FPS available today – it’s the most played game I’ve personally owned for sure. Black Ops is the standard by which other FPS games are judged, and frankly there are so few that come even close. Why is it so good, then? The multiplayer has been tweaked and developed so much over the years that a 10 minute game is likely to release more adrenaline into your body than most people will experience in a year *. With an incredible degree of customisation, fantastic array of weapons and constant reward mechanisms, it’s a formula that’s likely to keep this game on top – at least until October 22nd, when the next instalment of Battlefield is released!

* Officially made up factoid.

2. href="http://modernwarfare2.infinityward.com/agegate.php">Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – 4.1 million downloads, Nov 2009

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To be honest, there isn’t all that much to differentiate this and Black Ops, other than it was produced by a different studio and was slightly less developed in the levelling-up / rewards tweaks. Gameplay was very similar, and multiplayer was fantastic, but the sequel to this fork of the franchise has ended in lengthy legal disputes resulting in Modern Warfare 3 being jointly developed by two studios that are completely new to the franchise. Will it result in slow painful death of the series? Doubtful, but only time will tell.

3. href="http://www.battlefieldbadcompany2.com/agegate">Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – 3.96 million downloads, Mar 2010

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Another FPS, Battlefield tends to take a wider look at gameplay, rather than focussing on upfront and personal combat. To that effect, Battlefields strong point has always been the inclusion of vehicles, and game objectives are based on area capture and hold rather than straight out kills. Instead of customising various aspects of your soldier, you pick a base class – such as medic – and build up from there. Emphasis is given to having a varied team and being able to work together utilising the different skills. Battlefield 3, due out October this year promises not only the most incredible graphics seen in an FPS yet, but also a breathtaking damage system that will buildings crumble around as they are shot to pieces Definitely worth checking out if you think the straight-up finger-twitching combat of Call of Duty will be a little too much for you.

4. href="http://www.mafia2game.com/">Mafia 2 – 3.55 million downloads, Aug 2010

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Mafia seems to have completely passed me by, so I’ve had to refer to external sources for this one I’m afraid. With obvious narrative content, the gameplay centres around a simple mix of shooting, driving, and close combat – though it isn’t particular outstanding in any of them. Facing a variety of critical reviews, the worst being from Eurgamer thant give it a 4/10. 2KGames refuses to release the actual sales figures though, so your guess is as good as mine as to how commercially successful this game really was.

5. href="http://masseffect.bioware.com/">Mass Effect 2 – 3.24 million downloads, Jan 2010

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A unique game in so many ways, the Mass Effect titles are science-fiction open-world RPGs, with a smattering of FPS thrown in for funsies. A completely new IP, the original game was flawed but presented a strong storyline, the likes of which no other game in this list can parallel. Mass Effect 2 fixed those shortcomings and showed fans what a fantastic game it really could be when given the chance to shine. Not for everyone perhaps, but a star quality game that will be remembered in gaming history.

6. href="http://www.thesims3.com/">Sims 3 – 3.2 million downloads, June 2009

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Though appealing to a somewhat different audience than the rest of the games here, The Sims has undoubtedly been one of the most influential games of the decade. It’s hard to describe it even as a game really – it’s more like an elaborate virtual dolls house. The latest iteration takes your Sim out of the confines of the family home, and let’s them travel to various locations around the city. The sheer level of freedom allows the game to appeal to a wide variety of people – wether they be attracted to making a dream home version of themselves, or perhaps living out an alter-ego fantasy.

7. href="http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/">Starcraft 2 – 3.12 downloads, Jul 2010

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The most eagerly anticipated sequel, ever – Starcraft is a pure top-down strategy game with a truly epic following of fanboys – though personally I was always a Command and Conquer kind of guy. Starcraft 2 ignored any evolutions the strategy genre has seen, and chose to take the whole experience to a level of epic retro, with fantastically better graphics and gameplay that’s just as addictive as is always was.

8. href="http://www.prototypegame.com/">Prototype – 2.35 million downloads – Jun 2009

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Finally, an original IP in the top 10! An open world game GTA-style with an intriguing storyline and varied missions. For many, the strength of this game lay in the fact you could drive a tank around and throw cars – others liked the unique gameplay opportunities offered by being able to take the shape of other characters in the game. If you merged with a soldier, for example, you could declare someone an enemy combatant and have them taken down, or even call in a limited number of aircraft. Certainly one I’ve added to my LoveFilm rental list.

9. href="http://shift.needforspeed.com/home.action">Need for Speed: Shift – 2.1 million downloads, Sep 2009

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/nfs-shift.jpg?54167" alt="" width="580" height="326" />

Taking the series back to it’s racing roots, NFS:Shift represents a midway point between racing realism from the likes of Grand Turismo and joyriding arcade nonsense of BurnOut. Is it the best racing game out there? I doubt it, but that didn’t stop millions of people downloading it to see what all the fuss was about.

10. href="http://www.streetfighter.com/us/sfxtk/">Street Fighter IV – 1.85 million downloads, July 2009

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/street-fighter-4.jpg?54167" alt="free pirated games" width="580" height="326" />

An arcade classic, Street Fighter IV brought vastly improved graphics and not a lot else in my experience. Cue the hate-mails – I’m sure the underlying button mashing techniques were tweaked, but it felt the same to me.

Personally, I was sad to see not a single Grand Theft Auto game make it into the top 10, despite GTA4 breaking the Guinness World Records for “highest grossing video game in 24 hours” in May 2008. Are there any games you think were a glaring omission here? Don’t forget to check out all our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/service/games/">other regular gaming articles too.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/0-dislikev-intro.jpg" alt="disliked youtube video" />There are a lot of great videos on YouTube. You can find class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-standup-comedy-videos-youtube/">comedy videos, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-interactive-youtube-games/">interactive games, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-hd-video-podcasts-geeks/">high definition podcasts, and even those that teach you things like class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-cool-science-experiments-check-youtube/">science and class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-youtube-videos-easy-learn-card-tricks/">card tricks. You can find YouTube videos by everything from what class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/educational-youtube-channels/">channel they fall in to what class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/geobestofyoutube-popular-youtube-videos-countries/">country they’re in, and we can’t forget about those class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-amateur-viral-videos-youtube/">viral videos that pop up every now and then. There are even websites like class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/save-loads-time-view-youtube-videos-devour/">Devour and class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/12vid-days-top-videos/">12Vid that are dedicated to picking out the very best YouTube videos. Let’s see, did I forget anything?

Oh yeah, disliked videos! Everyone always talks about the most liked, or most popular, videos on YouTube, but which ones have received the most dislikes?

10. Evolution of Dance – By Judson Laipply

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dMH0bHeiRNg?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dMH0bHeiRNg?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="430">

We’ve all seen this video. It’s the one of the guy doing a few seconds of every kind of popular dance imaginable. This one’s been viewed almost 170 million times. How many views are you accountable for?

9. “Chocolate Rain” Original Song by Tay Zonday

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EwTZ2xpQwpA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EwTZ2xpQwpA?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="430">

Chocolate Rain is another hugely recognizable video/internet meme. You can’t argue with the guy’s voice in this one, although some clearly “dislike” it.

8. Charlie bit my finger – again !

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_OBlgSz8sSM?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_OBlgSz8sSM?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="430">

This video, which has been seen over 300 million times, shows a couple of young kids, one of which’s name is Charlie. You’d think they’re too cute to dislike, but some people apparently didn’t think so.

7. Justin Bieber – Never Let You Go

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3ExWsVFJlFo?fs=1&hl=en_US"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3ExWsVFJlFo?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="430">

From here on out, get ready to see a lot of Justin Bieber. The Biebs is notorious for being both largely admired and largely ‘disliked’ at the same time, and his videos are no exception. Are you a fan?

6. Justin Bieber – One Less Lonely Girl

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LXUSaVw3Mvk?fs=1&hl=en_US"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LXUSaVw3Mvk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="430">

This video, which features another song by Justin Bieber, has been seen nearly 120 million times. Over half of the people who voted clicked the dislike button on this one.

5. Lady Gaga – Bad Romance

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qrO4YZeyl0I?fs=1&hl=en_US"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qrO4YZeyl0I?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="430">

It looks like Lady Gaga snuck into the list. The vast majority of people who rated this video actually liked it, but when you receive 365 million views–and dress like you’re not from this planet–you’ll attract the occasional dislike.

4. Justin Bieber – Somebody To Love Remix ft. Usher

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SOI4OF7iIr4?fs=1&hl=en_US"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SOI4OF7iIr4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="430">

And we’re back to Justin Bieber. Did you miss him? Surely he can’t take all the heat from this one, since this video also features Usher.

3. Justin Bieber – Never Say Never ft. Jaden Smith

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_Z5-P9v3F8w?fs=1&hl=en_US"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_Z5-P9v3F8w?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="430">

We’ve got one more Justin Bieber video to go and then we can wrap up this list!

2. Justin Bieber – Baby ft. Ludacris

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kffacxfA7G4?fs=1&hl=en_US"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kffacxfA7G4?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="430">

And here it is, the former champion. This music video featuring Justin Bieber and Ludacris has been seen over 509 million times as of this writing. It’s arguably the video (and song) that made Justin Bieber a household name, and it has received over double the amount of dislike votes as it has like votes. A true number 2 in my book.

1. Rebecca Black – Friday (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CD2LRROpph0?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CD2LRROpph0?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="580" height="430">

To those who are familiar with this video, you shouldn’t be surprised to see it on this list. In a landslide of dislike votes, Rebecca Black takes the title as owner of the most disliked YouTube vid. I don’t know about you, but I’m interested to see where her career is headed after this one. We will see!

Conclusion

And there you have it, the most disliked videos on YouTube. Justin Bieber makes up the majority of this list, but his title as the most disliked video was only recently overtaken at the number one spot by Rebecca Black. I know what you’re thinking, these aren’t the most terrible videos you’ve ever seen. In fact, a lot of them are actually extremely popular, even though they are the most disliked.

Actually the majority of videos listed here have more likes than dislikes, and them being on this list can be attributed to being seen so often that they happened to accumulate a lot of dislikes as well. You learn something new every day, don’t you?

Are you surprised with this list? Let us know what you think in the comments! />
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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/shutterstock_69143623.jpg" alt="facebook job hunting">Can there ever be too many good ways to look for new jobs? I don’t think so – and I think most job seekers would agree that if it leads to work it’s worth a try. In the Door has created a new, innovative way of searching for work by using your Facebook contacts as leads for jobs that are already advertised.

href="http://www.inthedoor.com/">In The Door revolves around the adage that “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. It’s true – what you know merely gets your resumé on the pile along with that of every other talented jobseeker, whereas the people you know can tell the person doing the hiring that you’re the one for the job. In The Door seeks to make it easy to match who you know with the jobs out there.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/In-The-Door-Logo.png" alt="facebook job hunting">

Using In The Door

The process is simple. You sign up to In The Door with your Facebook login and a list of contacts is automatically generated for you. The contact list features any of your contacts who have entered employer or location information – it’s not limited to people who have already signed up with In The Door. This makes it easy to get started, since you don’t have to wait for a critical mass of friends signing up to In The Door. You may wish some more of them would add relevant information and make it shareable to applications, but if you have enough friends on Facebook it won’t matter that not all of them share this information.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Previous-positions.png" alt="facebook job hunting tips">

Finding Jobs

Using the site, you will realise that you can browse by location, search for specific keywords or location, or browse the companies represented by your friends. This gives you a wide variety of ways to find work using In The Door. When you find a job you’re interested in, you can always view your contact at the company, allowing you to arrange an introduction.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Event-Manager-Job.png" alt="facebook job hunting tips">

Browse Companies

Currently, In The Door is still quite new and most of the jobs are USA only. But this will expand quickly and doesn’t completely stop non-USA users from making use of the site. Browsing the companies your friends work for still has advantages, since you could use that information to chat to the friends you know who work (or previously worked) at the company of your choice. It’s easy to see at a glance where your friends work using In The Door. It’s certainly much easier than browsing your friends’ Facebook profiles individually or searching all the companies that sound appropriate.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Jobs.png" alt="">

Once you find a company you like, the jobs available there are clear to see.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Price-Waterhouse.png" alt="facebook job hunt">

Search by Keywords

Searching by keyword means you can narrow down the exact role you’re interested in, or you can search by role as well as location. Handy if you’re not willing to move!

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Writer-Search.png" alt="facebook job hunt">

Location Search

The location search page works on the assumption that you’re most likely to want to live in cities with your friends – that and that most of the jobs available via your friends will be in those cities. The cities best represented by your friends will be easy to spot, then you can quickly click a link to see the jobs available in that city.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/San-Francisco.png" alt="facebook job hunt">

Competition: Other Places to Find Work

href="http://www.inthedoor.com/">In The Door has plenty of competition in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/signal-learn-linkedin/">LinkedIn, the Facebook marketplace and a number of similar href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/8-sites-for-beating-the-job-hunting-blues/">jobseeking sites with much the same idea, such as href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/jibe-connects-facebook-linkedin-job-search/">Jibe. But with href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/job-search/">job searching being such an important process, there can never be enough options, really. Unlike Jibe, In The Door is able to be used instantly and permanently without any need to sign up your friends.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/In-The-Door-Get-Started.png" alt="facebook job hunting" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-72865" />

How did you find your last job? Through advertising or friends? Do you think In The Door would be useful to you next time you need to search for work? Let us know in the comments!

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/arwt-icon.png" alt="" />Sports scores, highlight reels and a TV schedule tailored to your location and TV provider. Whatever sport or league you’re a fan of, “Are You Watching This!?” can fill you in with the latest about it. There are no shortage of places to go to find the latest class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/sports">sports scores and highlights. Most leagues have this and more on their website, and there are a plethora of blogs and websites dedicated to sports.

“Are You Watching This?!” is different than all of them. Equipped with a computer that knows when a game is getting good, this service can tell you which games are worth watching. It can even send you a text message when you absolutely need to turn on a game your TV carrier is broadcasting. Combine this with scores, highlights and a social aspect that connects you with other fans, and you’ve got a pretty impressive hub for all things sports.

id="more-67813">

Getting Started

Head over to class="vt-p" href="http://areyouwatchingthis.com/">Are You Watching This to get started. The homepage will show you selections from every major sport, focusing mostly on those popular in North America. Browse this if you like all sports, or click a particular league in the top menu bar to focus on just that sport. Being raised in Canada, I always click on NHL:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/aywt-nhlmain.png" alt="" width="580" height="246" />

As you can see, the dashboard for a given sport includes today’s games with live scores, arranged according to how exciting they are. You’ll also see live comments from other fans, as well as access to other panels. Of particular interest is the TV schedule. Let this service know where you live, and your TV carrier, and you’ll see when the games are on in your time zone and what station they can be found on:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/arwt-listings.png" alt="" width="580" height="176" />

It also tells you the number of the channel you’re looking for; this is very useful for cable and satellite customers. If you want to see all games, regardless of whether you can watch them on TV, click “Schedule“. You’ll get an unfiltered look at the day’s games (and then perhaps class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-sports-broadcast-country/">find a way to watch sports not broadcast in your country).

There’s a social aspect to this app as well. You can predict who will win games, comment on a given game and vote if you think a certain game is going to be exciting.

Want alerts when a game turns out to be epic? Sign up for an account and you can set all of that up:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/aryt-alerts.png" alt="" width="580" height="295" />

You can set the app to only show you sports you care about, so don’t worry about being flooded with useless information.

class="vt-p" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ihnicgbfaikpklojpccmikdmjngflehc">Chrome App

Like this, but looking for a less cluttered interface? If you’re a Chrome user you’re in luck; there’s an app for this in the class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/google-chrome-8-introducing-chrome-web-store/">Chrome Web Store:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/aywt-chrome.png" alt="" width="580" height="204" />

It’s not just a bookmark; it’s a completely different interface. Put the content you’re interested in into panels, and you’ll have a one-click overview of your favorite sports. You’ll even have fast access to highlight reels! Some features aren’t quite finished, but this is one of the better Chrome Apps I’ve seen yet. It even works offline, though obviously without the real-time scores.

Conclusion

There aren’t a heck of a lot of quality sports apps, presumably because sports and geekery don’t always gel. Being a huge geek and a hockey fan, however, I found this app to be fantastic.

What about you? Do you like “Are You Watching This!?”, or do you know of something better?  If so, please share in the comments below. Just don’t shatter my dream of the Leafs making the playoffs; I’ve been hurt too many times and don’t want to talk about it. />
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class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/0-jottiq-intro.png" alt="multiple antivirus scanner" width="248" height="203" />How much “stuff” do you really download on the Internet? Whether you’re downloading movies ( href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/download-movies-illegally-makeuseof-polls/">we know you do!), href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-websites-check-music-releases/">new music, software, or participating in some other activity that may or may not violate the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/technology-explained-digital-media-copyright-act/">Digital Media Copyright Act, you are potentially exposing your computer to corrupt files, malware, and viruses. Even if you only use your computer once a month and you only visit a single website you still face this risk.

There are a lot of different ways to scan the files you download to see if they are clean, but none quite like JottiQ.  JottiQ takes advantage of Jotti’s href="http://virusscan.jotti.org/en">online malware scanner, which uses multiple popular antivirus programs to scan your files, without having to download or install any of them.

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What Is JottiQ?

As I stated above, href="http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=p2p3vctnmg0uata8a0d4kp60m5&topic=24663">JottiQ is a tool that makes it more convenient to use Jotti’s malware scan, which is an online service optimized for one-by-one scanning of files you do not trust. If you’re wary of a file you downloaded because you have a strange feeling about the site it came from or you’re just curious, JottiQ is a good way to relieve that stress.

So is JottiQ a virus scanner? No, not really.

JottiQ is merely the go-between that relays the files you wish to have scanned to the online Jotti’s malware scan service. JottiQ should be considered to be an investigative tool and as such will not offer any options to delete or otherwise affect the files you scan.

JottiQ will scan the heck out of your files though, utilizing popular anti-virus apps like Avast, AVG, AntiVir, and over a dozen other programs. If your recently downloaded files are infected with something, you’ll know about it.