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5 Cool Twitter Search Tricks To Monitor What People Are Saying About You

Posted on 18 September 2011. Tags: about, Cool, Monitor, People, Saying, Search, Tricks, Twitter

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/twitter-reputation-management2.jpg" alt="twitter search tricks" />If you own a website or are just trying to earn money online as a freelancer, it is always good to know what people are saying about you over the Internet. People may be citing you, sharing experiences about your services or recommending you. In any case, you may want to be there to answer any questions, make contacts, and so on.

One of the best tools to listen to online conversations is Twitter and here are a few actionable suggestions.

How Do You Create Twitter Feeds?

First, let’s make sure we know how to monitor Twitter search results using your favorite RSS reader. Each time you search, you create the feed link (you can see it in the right-hand column):

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/twitter-reputation-management-07.jpg" alt="twitter search tricks" width="550" height="242" />

Here are a few useful tips we have previously covered on having fun with RSS feeds, which you are likely to find useful for using the search tricks listed in this article:

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/rss-feeds-work-simple-terms-technology-explained/">How RSS feeds work in simple terms
href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-free-rss-readers-ipad/">Best free RSS readers for the iPad
href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/edit-existing-rss-feeds-yahoo-pipes/">How to mix and edit existing RSS feeds with Yahoo! Pipes
href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/manage-unread-rss-feeds-tips/">Two easy tips to manage your unread RSS feeds better
href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/blogtrottr-gmail-idevices-mail-app-read-rss-feeds-offline/">How to read RSS feeds on your iPad even when you’re offline

And now the actual tips on creating useful RSS feeds to track you and your business mentions on Twitter!

1. Reduce Any Clutter: Filter Out Retweets

While retweeting is great for expanding the reach of the update, retweets are actually one and the same message repeated again and again. Seeing multiple retweeted messages in your personal reputation management feed may result in one important update getting lost in the clutter.

Luckily Twitter search supports the – operator that lets you filter out all the updates containing a specific word from the search results:

["You (brand) name" -rt]

Example

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/twitter-reputation-management-01.jpg" alt="twitter search" width="550" height="311" />

2. Monitor Only Real Opinions: Filter Out Links

Let’s face it: most Twitter updates are aimed to share a link. If you blog a lot, your name (or moniker) is mostly mentioned on Twitter next to the post you have written. But do you want to only monitor “real” conversations?

Here’s a good way: Twitter supports the filter:links operator that searches only for tweets containing links. If we use the above mentioned trick, we’ll make it work vice versa excluding all linked updates from search results.

["You (brand) name" -filter:links]

Example

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/twitter-reputation-management-02.jpg" alt="twitter search" width="550" height="310" />

Similarly, you can also filter all updates referencing your Twitter username (you will be updated about these by Twitter itself via email or by your Twitter client):

[-from:username] – filters out all tweets coming from a user;

[-@username] – filters out all tweets referencing a user.

Example

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/twitter-reputation-management-03.jpg" alt="twitter search" width="550" height="175" />

3. Monitor Negative Mentions

This tip is especially useful for e-commerce site owners and geeky customer support managers. You can focus on negative mentions by including src='http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':(' class='wp-smiley' /> in the results.

["You (brand) name" src='http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif' alt=':(' class='wp-smiley' /> ]

Example

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/twitter-reputation-management-04.jpg" alt="tweets about you" width="550" height="310" />

4. Monitor Questions Mentioning You Or Your Business

Another great tip for service owners: you can create a separate feed to monitor all questions about you or your business name.

["Your (brand) name" ?] – make sure to use a space before the question mark.

Example

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/twitter-reputation-management-05.jpg" alt="twitter search tricks" width="550" height="238" />

5. Include Your Name & Your Moniker(s) In Search Results

Lastly, here’s the easiest tip: you are most likely to be known by several names online: your name, username, site name, etc. You can include all these mentions in search results using OR operator:

["You business name" OR "Your name" OR "Your moniker]

Example

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/twitter-reputation-management-06.jpg" alt="Include all your brand mentions" width="550" height="391" />

Are you tracking your name mentions on Twitter! I hope I have inspired you to! Please let me know your thoughts!

href="http://flickr.com/photos/krossbow/4365875125/" rel="nofollow">cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by href="http://flickr.com/people/krossbow/" rel="nofollow">krossbow

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Three Useful Safari Startup Tricks That You Might Not Be Familiar With

Posted on 28 July 2011. Tags: Familiar, Might, Safari, Startup, three, Tricks, Useful

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/00_safari_logo.jpg?54167" alt="" />The browser is the gate to the virtual world, and with the dawn of the cloud era, when all computing elements will be stored in the net, browsers will play an even more important part in our life.

One of the popular names in the browser world is class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/safari/">Safari. It’s the default browser for Mac, so it’s only logical that Safari is widely used in the Mac community. But even in the Windows realm, where Safari is not the number one choice, it still one of the top alternatives. If you are a Safari user, or have plans to try it, here are three useful Safari startup tricks that you might not be familiar with.

Please note that the following screenshots are taken from Safari for Mac, but they are applicable to the Windows version as well.

Continue The Last Session

It’s obvious that the ability to resume browsing sessions should be built into modern browsers, so it’s unclear why some major browsers still haven’t implemented this feature yet. Safari has a similar feature, and you can access it by going through the “History – Reopen All Windows from Last Session” menu.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/01a_reopen_last_session.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="01a reopen last session" width="580" height="210" />

Unfortunately, you have to do it manually every time you restart Safari. To enable this feature automatically, you’ll need help from class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/safari-extensions/">Safari extensions like class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/safari-search-plugins-showdown-glims-vs-inquisitor-mac-only/">Glims or SafariRestore.

If you accidentally close one of Safari’s open windows, you can quickly reopen it – along with all the tabs – using the “History – Reopen Last Closed Window” menu.

Many Ways To Start

One nice feature of Safari that I haven’t found in other browsers is the ability to really customize the way you want Safari to start. You can find the settings inside the Preferences window (Command + Comma on Mac or Ctrl + Comma on Windows).

One common thing between Safari and other major browsers is the ability to set a webpage as the homepage. To do this, type the URL of the page in the “Home page” field, or open the page that you want inside Safari and click the “Set to Current Page” button.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/02a_Pref_General.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="02a Pref General" width="580" height="300" />

You can set the home page to be opened every time you open a new window by choosing “Home Page” from the drop down list next to “New windows open with“.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/02b_new_windows_with.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="02b new windows with" width="450" height="170" />

Other options you can pick are: Top Sites, Empty Page, Same Page and Bookmarks. But the main course of this option is the ability to open many pages at once. Choose the “Choose tabs folder“, then pick one of the tab folders from the list. Everything inside the folder will be opened whenever you open a new window.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/02c_choose_folder_coll.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="02c choose folder coll" width="483" height="348" />

You have a more or less similar option for new tabs, but you can’t choose a tab folder here.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/02d_new_tabs_open.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="02d new tabs open" width="450" height="120" />

But how can you add and customize tab folders? You can use the “Bookmarks – Add Bookmark Folder” menu to add the folder, and then drag and drop the saved bookmarks into the folder.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/02b2_add_bookmark_folder.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="02b2 add bookmark folder" width="440" height="150" />

Or you could also open all the pages you want to include in the folder and go to “Bookmarks – Add Bookmark for These XX Tabs” menu, where XX is the number of the open tabs.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/02b3_bookmark_4_tabs.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="02b3 bookmark 4 tabs" width="350" height="150" />

Then give a name for the bookmark folder, and choose the location where you want to save this folder.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/02b4_name_place.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="02b4 name place" width="242" height="182" />

Congratulations, you have just created your own tab folder.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/02b5_saved_tabs.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="02b5 saved tabs" width="470" height="260" />

Start At The Top

One of the options you can choose to start a new window or tab is “Top Sites“. This choice lets you quickly pick and open pages, either from Safari’s History or from the list of frequently opened sites.

The History tab will display the page list in a cover flow-like arrangement, and let you scroll to the items from side to side.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/03a_start_coverflw.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="03a start coverflw" width="580" height="300" />

The Top Sites tab arranges the frequently opened sites in a matrix. You can choose the small, medium, or large boxes by clicking on the tab on the lower right corner of the screen.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/03b_start_top_sts.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="03b start top sts" width="580" height="299" />

You can customize the Top Sites view even more by clicking the “Edit” button on the lower left part of the screen. Two buttons will appear on the top left corner of each page, giving you options to remove individual item from the list, or pin it to the matrix so the particular item will always be present.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/03c_edit.jpg?54167" border="0" alt="03c edit" width="580" height="450" />

If you are a Safari user, you’ll find these startup tricks to be useful. They will help you work faster and more efficiently. If you are not a Safari user, maybe these tricks could give you a good reason to try Safari?

Are you a Safari user? Do you have any more Safari startup tricks? If so, please share using the comments below.

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/safari-startup-tricks-familiar/">Three Useful Safari Startup Tricks That You Might Not Be Familiar With is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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4 Useful iPad Tricks You May Still Not Know About

Posted on 15 July 2011. Tags: about, iPad, Know, Still, Tricks, Useful

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-60.jpg?54167" alt="ipad tips and tricks" />The class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/ipad/">iPad is a pretty nifty thing. If you believe the true enthusiasts, there’s nothing you really can’t do with an iPad. We all know that if class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/ios/">iOS apps were an ocean, we would all be long drowned. This is not even considering the fact that some iOS devices are jailbroken.

So we all know there are lots of very class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ten-top-free-apps-ipad/">cool apps out there, and if you’re willing to pay a few dollars for some once in a while, you and your iPad can have the world at your fingertips! (well, almost). But even without downloading anything at all, there are some pretty handy things hidden in the iPad.

Two Ways To Lock Screen Rotation

Yes, you’re not imagining things, this is a 2-for-1 tip! Those of you who’ve had the iPad for a while might remember that the little button on the right side, just above the volume control, used to lock the screen rotation. In iOS 4.x, this is no longer the case, and this button is now a mute button. So how can you lock the screen rotation? There are two ways.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-48.jpg?54167" alt="ipad tips and tricks" />

If you really liked having the hardware button locking your screen, you can turn back time and give it back that function. In Settings, go to General and look for “Use Side Switch to:”. Simply change this to “Lock Rotation“, and you’re done! The mute button will now lock screen rotation.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-47.jpg?54167" alt="tips and tricks for ipad" />

But wait a minute, what about muting? That’s also quite a useful function. You can choose to leave the button as a mute button, and lock screen rotation using a different method. Double click the Home button to access your open applications, and slide your finger from left to right, so as to reveal what’s on the left side of those icons.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-49.jpg?54167" alt="tips and tricks for ipad" />

There you will find some music controls, and, surprise! On the left side there’s a lock rotation button.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-50.jpg?54167" alt="tips and tricks for ipad" />

Note that if you prefer to have a hardware button for locking the rotation, doing this will reveal a mute button, so you can still mute your iPad whenever you wish.

Accessing Street View

Street View on the iPad is so cool, I don’t know how I lived without it before I knew how to find it.

In the Maps application, drop a pin wherever you’d like to have street view. You can do this by either tapping and holding a certain spot on the map (purple pin) or by searching for an address (red pin). Tap the pin and you will see a red and white man icon.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-51.jpg?54167" alt="ipad tricks" />

Tap this icon, and you will be transported to the (awesome) street view. You can still see the map in a small circle on the bottom right, and you can tap it to go back to map view.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-52.jpg?54167" alt="ipad tricks" />

“Find” Within a Page in Safari

This is supposed to be something very simple, but it took me a while to discover I can do this, as it’s a bit hidden.

If you want to find a word or a phrase within a page you’ve already loaded in Safari, use the Google search box on the top right. Type in what you’re searching for, and then, under all the suggestions you get for Google searches, you’ll see “On This Page” and also the number of matches. Under that you’ll see “Find“. Tap that.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-54.jpg?54167" alt="ipad tricks" />

This will take you back to the page, and will highlight the word you were searching for. Use the “Next” button at the bottom of the page to go to the next match. You can see how many matches there are still to go, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to go the the previous match, which is kind of disappointing.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-55.jpg?54167" alt="" />

Adding PDFs to iBooks

class="vt-p" href="http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/ibooks/id364709193?mt=8">iBooks is a free application which lets you read eBooks on your iPad. But you can also use it to view PDFs on your iPad, which will allow you to search, bookmark and generally do with PDFs all the things you can do with eBooks. Getting your PDFs into iBooks is easy.

You can e-mail the PDFs to yourself, and then open this e-mail from your iPad. Tap the attachment, and then tap the arrow (open with) button on the top right. Choose Open in “iBooks” and you will be taken immediately into iBooks, and the PDF will open within its interface.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-56.jpg?54167" alt="" />

Once in iBooks, you can choose to browse your eBook collection or your PDFs.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-57.jpg?54167" alt="" />

Another way to get PDFs into iBooks is to simply add them to the “Books” section in your iTunes library and sync your iPad. The PDFs will appear in iBooks.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/image-46.jpg?54167" alt="ipad tips and tricks" />

Conclusion

The more of these little tricks I know, the more I love my iPad. I’m not sure why some simple things have to be hidden, but it does make the discovery process that much more fulfilling. We’d love to hear about more of these in the comments, if you have some! />
/>Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

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href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-ipad-tricks/">4 Useful iPad Tricks You May Still Not Know About is a post from: href="http://www.makeuseof.com">MakeUseOf

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DOWNLOAD Microsoft Office 2010: Ultimate Tips & Tricks

Posted on 02 May 2011. Tags: 2010, download, Microsoft, Office, Tips, Tricks, Ultimate

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/office300x.png" alt="" />Learn to get the most out of the latest version of Microsoft Office with our latest free guide! Office 2010 includes many improvements over 2007. As with all Office releases, however, these improvements are far from obvious to the average user.

Enter Office 2010: Ultimate Tips and Tricks. This manual, by author Matt Smith, points out all the best new features of Microsoft’s latest office suite, and explains them all in one handy guide. In most programs, it’s not hard to find every single feature, but Office 2010 is so expansive that even veteran users will often find that they aren’t expert in even half of the capabilities the software offers.

Whether you recently purchased Office 2010 and want to get the most out of it, or are considering an upgrade, you don’t want to miss this free guide. There’s much to be learned here, so check it out!

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/2010-3page.png" alt="Microsoft Office 2010: Ultimate Tips & Tricks" width="580" height="270" />

This guide will show you how to:

Get the most out of 2010′s cloud capabilities.
Turn off the annoying file block feature.
Speed up document creation in Word with building blocks.
Present data at a glance with Excel’s new Sparklines.
Edit video from within PowerPoint.
Broadcast a PowerPoint presentation over the web, live.
Adding social functionality to Outlook.
and much more!

style="text-align: center;"> href="http://manuals.makeuseof.com.s3.amazonaws.com/MakeUseOf.com_-_Office_2010_tips_&_tricks.pdf">DOWNLOAD Office 2010: Ultimate Tips and Tricks /> (take a moment and share this guide with friends on Facebook and Twitter /> using the social network sharing buttons below)

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

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6 Handy Sites To Learn New Ubuntu Tweaks & Tricks

Posted on 25 March 2011. Tags: Handy, Learn, Sites, Tricks, TWEAKS, UBUNTU

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/intro9.jpg" alt="ubuntu tweaks">Here at MakeUseOf, we strive to bring you the very best tutorials, reviews and articles to make your daily tech life that little bit easier. We’re not alone (of course!) and occasionally it’s only right to highlight some of our own favourite resources elsewhere on the web.

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ubuntu-1010-maverick-meerkat-linux/">Ubuntu has grown in popularity immensely over the last few years ““ and for good reason. The operating system is accessible (both in a software and hardware sense), compatible with a lot of software and won’t cost you a penny.

If you’re looking to expand your Ubuntu knowledge, have a burning question about some missing feature or are a newcomer to the world of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/service/linux/">Linux then these 5 sites are a great source of information.

id="more-67946">

href="http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/">OMG! Ubuntu!

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/omgubuntu.jpg" alt="ubuntu tweaks" width="580" height="394" />

My personal favourite source for Ubuntu-related news and developments, interspersed with timely href="http://www.makeuseof.com/service/how-to">how-to posts and tutorials. Due to the beautifully designed site layout, you’ll be forgiven for spending a while stumbling from article to article, and learning plenty in the process.

As well as instructional pieces, there’s plenty of news about upcoming software, updates and unreleased versions to gawp at, as well as editorial pieces, interviews and software reviews.

OMG! Ubuntu! is updated with a good cluster of posts each day, and should be your one-stop website for unofficial Ubuntu news, tips and speculation.

href="http://www.ubuntugeek.com/">Ubuntu Geek

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/ubuntugeek.jpg" alt="ubuntu tips and tricks" width="580" height="427" />

A repository (mind the pun) of tutorials and instructionals, purely aimed at the Ubuntu Linux distribution makes this a cracking resource for users old and new. Whilst the site itself could use a bit of a redesign, the information is what really matters ““ and handy information it is too!

Tutorials are split up into 9 different categories, ranging from href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-backup-tools/">backup and networking techniques to security and package management information. The site is especially useful for newbies as there are a number of tutorials aimed at the very basics.

href="http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=100">UbuntuForums.org ““ Tutorials & Tips

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/forums.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="414" />

When journalism and official documentation fails “ubuntu tips and tricks” why not href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-forum-search-engines-to-search-40-000-message-boards/">ask the community? The official Ubuntu forums play host to a message board dedicated entirely to tips and tutorials. Being a message board, it’s updated far more often than any news or tutorial site.

Outdated tutorials for older versions of Ubuntu are kept separate from how-to posts which are applicable for the current version. The best thing about the forum format is the ability to address the poster directly and ask questions if you don’t understand or get stuck.

Registration is of course free, though you won’t need to register if you simply want to browse.

href="http://ubuntuguide.net/">UbuntuGuide.net

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Much like Ubuntu Geek, UbuntuGuide.net is a fairly exhaustive collection of tutorials on anything and everything Ubuntu-related. From installing Ubuntu onto a Macbook Air to the many uses for the Windows “Super” key in Ubuntu, it’s a resource for users old and new.

There’s a whole section dedicated to Compiz, the current Ubuntu compositing & window manager. If you’re looking to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-tools-tips-sexier-ubuntu-interface/">beautify your desktop or resolve sluggish video issues then the Compiz category is a good place to start.

There are regular updates, with a new tutorial published pretty much every day.

href="http://www.unixmen.com/">UNIX Men

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UNIX Men, whilst not specifically dedicated to Ubuntu, is a general Linux news and tutorial resource with plenty to offer. The website caters for a whole variety of users and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-lightweight-linux-distributions-give-pc-lease-life/">distributions, but hovering your mouse over the Linux Tutorials button will reveal a section dedicated just to Ubuntu.

There is also decent coverage of the world of Linux software and gaming, though beware there’s a chance you’ll need to compile some downloads from source.

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Have you got a burning question? You’ve looked all over the web and are wondering if there’s anybody out there who can help? Our very own Answers section was designed with your predicament in mind.

Simply click Ask A Question, fill in the details and both the MakeUseOf team and community will attempt to answer your dilemma. You can always return the favour by helping someone else out!

Conclusion

There are plenty of resources here to answer a variety of questions related to the Ubuntu operating system. Once the upcoming Ubuntu 11.04 lands there is bound to be another surge of documentation and tutorials, as everyone gets up to speed with the changes. With the aid of these few sites, you should be covered for a good few releases yet!

Do you use Ubuntu? Any favourite Ubuntu tweaks, tips and tricks? Trying to find out how to do something? Let us know in the comments below.

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The Top 10 YouTube Videos With Easy To Learn Card Tricks

Posted on 14 September 2010. Tags: Card, Easy, Learn, Tricks, Videos, YouTube

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/2010/09/Cards.jpg" alt="easy to learn card tricks" width="175" height="234" />YouTube is the grand melting pot of all that you can think up and put on video; from cats chasing lasers to 4,000 people having a balloon fight. But apart from the weird, wacky, and the wonderful, YouTube is also a weighty place for some free DIY video lessons.

We will let YouTube be our Hogwarts School and teach ourselves some easy to learn card tricks. Card tricks are not only fun and cool, but they are a social skill too.

No you don’t have to become Mandrake the Magician, and you don’t have to pull out a rabbit. You just need a deck of cards, gather a bunch of friends around the table, and with a sleight of the hand impress the hell out of them.

id="more-53278"> /> The thing with card tricks is that the befuddling effect in the eyes of the beholder is greater than the trick itself. So let’s try for that look with these ten simple and easy to learn card tricks on YouTube.

Fastest Card Trick

This one is an amazing but simple color changing card trick. And you can learn it in a ‘snap’. With deft fingers, you should be able to learn it in around ten minutes or so.

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="460" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LOjzdF_HCGY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LOjzdF_HCGY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="460" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LOjzdF_HCGY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

Choose A Card From The Deck

The first video was to show you how an easy trick can be impressive. This one here is for the rank beginners and one of the most common card tricks. What’s more, a kid is doing the demo.

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="460" 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/UBHtXaoEhFM?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="460" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UBHtXaoEhFM?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

Predict The Card

A very simple trick that appears damn complicated, but as the instructions reveal, it’s all about counting your cards right.

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="460" 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/-PTvtt6Rw_Q?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="460" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-PTvtt6Rw_Q?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

The Rising Card

A card trick which relies on a bit of misdirection to achieve the magic effect. But you have to be slick in the first move when you lift the top two cards. This card trick is an class="vt-p" href="http://www.expertvillage.com">Expertvillage how-to, and you can catch this entire class="vt-p" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKSACXyN9Jw&p=F17A04EDEC9645DC&playnext=1">series (by Brandon Nowasky) which takes you from the basic techniques to the more advanced ones.

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="460" 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/jQ9iGGE-9zo?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="460" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jQ9iGGE-9zo?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

Coin Through A Card

If you aren’t too good with sleight of hand tricks or fanning cards with one hand, this one is for you. Drop a coin through an impossibly small hole. I won’t spoil the secret, check out the video.

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="460" 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/ax6V_Zk4Huc?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="460" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ax6V_Zk4Huc?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

The Card Lift

This simple card trick again illustrates that when a trick is explained, it seems so humdrum. Try guessing the secret as to how the card rises out from the box before it is actually revealed.

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="460" 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/n9y2loMCD48?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="460" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/n9y2loMCD48?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

The 18 Cards

This is a very simple beginner’s card trick that calls for a lengthy performance, but is a neat spectator trick all the same.

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="460" 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/LOuRV-ZFDxU?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="460" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LOuRV-ZFDxU?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

Flip Flop Color Change

This card trick can be demonstrated in a few seconds, but you have to put a lot more in practicing for it. The impact is slick ‘n smooth.

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="460" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> value="always" /> name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nfHVZmsqmqg?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="460" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nfHVZmsqmqg?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowfullscreen="true">

Mind Control Card Trick

A pair of scissors is mandatory. This card trick is a bit on the chancy side because it relies on psychology. But follow the tips and you may just walk away with the applause.

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="460" 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/a3xeFxuv-Fw?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="460" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/a3xeFxuv-Fw?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

Fan Your Cards & Make Some Disappear

This one is a cool card trick from Expertvillage again that shows how you can ‘fan’ your cards to make them vanish from plain view. It is a dead simple card trick, but do it when you can fan a deck with one hand. It just looks more polished.

classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="580" height="460" 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/2Tx6yA0fpjI?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" /> name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="460" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2Tx6yA0fpjI?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

Even though these tricks may appear simple, you still need to practice. Magic is about simple logic, confidence, and performance. Let the first one remain hidden while putting on a show with the other two. And as a wannabe card magician, follow the age old ‘magicians never tell’ credo. Even though you learnt it all on YouTube.

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5 Tricks To Optimize & Customize Your iPhone’s Text & Emails

Posted on 08 September 2010. Tags: customize, Emails, iPhone’s, Optimize, Text, Tricks

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/2010/08/00-Writing-fun.jpg" border="0" alt="iphone email setup" width="250" height="270" />Do you compose text and email on your mobile phone? If you are an iPhone user, it would be a waste of features if you didn’t. The problem is though that text and mail on the iPhone has left us little room for customization.

Not to mention that writing on a small screen using your thumbs on the touch keyboard is not exactly the same as ten fingers typing on a full screen keyboard.

During the first days of using my iPhone, I went on a quest to find ways to make my texting and emailing life look and work the way I wanted to.

Here are several iPhone email setup tricks that I found.

id="more-52699">

Undo & Redo Typing

I guess every iPhone user knows that double tapping a word in a text will select it and give you access to standard editing functions like Cut, Copy, and Paste. This action will also give you the option to replace the word with alternative words.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/01a-Cut-Copy-Paste1.jpg" border="0" alt="iphone email setup" width="580" height="300" />

But what if you’ve made mistakes or you have had second thoughts? Can you do other important editing functions like Undo and Redo? I just found out that you can do that easily by shaking your device. So the next time you want to change the last words that you typed or cancel the deletion of words, just shake your iPhone and tap Undo/Redo Typing.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/01b-Undo-Redo.jpg" border="0" alt="iphone email" width="480" height="320" />

Adding Auto Replace Text

Apple brought innovation to the mobile world by introducing the iPhone touch keyboard. It comes with all of the cool features and is designed to make typing on the small screen as easy and comfortable as possible.

One of the features is automatic text replacement. It will suggest and replace any mistyped word with the best correction it can find in the dictionary. Unfortunately, sometimes this feature also replaces correct words like people’s names or ambiguous alternatives like “its” and “it’s“. You can cancel the text replacement process by tapping the pop up suggestion, but this will slow down the typing flow.

Luckily, you can add words to a custom dictionary. To do that, go to: “Settings – General – Keyboard – Edit User Dictionary“.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/02-User-Dictionary.jpg" border="0" alt="iphone email" width="580" height="279" />

The only caveat is, you need to activate at least one other international keyboard layout like Japanese or Chinese before you can enable this feature.

Using Glyphboard To Add Symbols

Tapping and holding on one keyboard character will reveal other alternatives of that character (even though not all characters have this feature). This is how you can insert uncommon characters to your text such as ė, ñ, § or ¢.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/03a-Alternative-Characters.jpg" border="0" alt="iphone email" width="320" height="300" />

But digging through the characters to find the one that you are looking for could be time consuming. Moreover, the choices are limited to typographical characters. To insert symbols, you need the help of a web app called class="vt-p" href="http://mrgan.com/gb/">Glyphboard. Web apps are server based applications that can be run from users’ own devices via web browsers. Since Safari on iPhone can save webpages to the home screen, we can use this feature to “install” many web apps to iPhone.

To save Glyphboard as an app, open its web address from your iPhone’s Safari and tap the “Plus (+)” button from the toolbar below. The web app will be installed and you can access it like you would access any other apps.

Using Glyphboard to add symbols to your texts and emails is as easy as opening the app, tapping and holding on any available symbols, followed by copying and pasting.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/03-Glyphboard.jpg" border="0" alt="iphone text messaging troubleshooting" width="580" height="278" />

If you want to use multiple symbols, you can temporarily copy and paste the symbols one by one to the “scratchboard” before selecting all and copying them to another place.

Enabling Emojis

If you want to go further, you can install one (or more) emoticon enabler apps such as class="vt-p" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id383090865?mt=8">Emoji Free, class="vt-p" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/emoji-free/id332509635?mt=8">Emoji Free! and other similar apps. You can find them easily using the search function within the iTunes App Store. What these apps do is add new keyboard layout(s) with emoticons as the characters instead of letters.

That’s why enabling this app requires you to restart your iPhone after installation and add the Emoji keyboard layout(s) via “Settings – General – Keyboard – International Keyboards – Add New Keyboard“.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/04a-Add-Emoji.jpg" border="0" alt="iphone text messaging troubleshooting" width="580" height="278" />

And every time you want to insert one of these emoticons, just switch the keyboard layout by tapping the “Globe” key on your keyboard.

Other ideas about using Glyphboard and Emojis are utilizing their symbol collections for folder names and Mail signatures. But please note that these emojis don’t work outside iDevices. So if you send an email full of emojis to your friends who don’t use an iDevice, he/she will only see empty boxes. However, Glyphboard symbols can be opened anywhere.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/04-Folder-Name-With-Emoji.jpg" border="0" alt="iphone text messaging troubleshooting" width="320" height="460" />

Adding A Cool HTML Signature

Speaking of mail signatures, when you send mail from iPhone, it will automatically add the signature “Sent from my iPhone” by default.

You can change the signature by going to “Settings – Mail, Contacts, Calendars -Signature“. Use clever lines and add some Glyphboard symbols if you want to.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/05-iPhone-Signature.jpg" border="0" alt="05 iPhone Signature.jpg" width="580" height="278" />

But you can also use an HTML signature in your mail. The easiest way to do that is to use a web service called class="vt-p" href="http://www.coolgeex.com/iPhoneSign/">iPhone Signature. This service requires you to fill in your data (and upload an image) to their website and they will provide you with an activation link. You could also request the link to be sent by email.

Open and save the link as an app in your iPhone.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/05b-iPhone-HTML-Signature-Creator.jpg" border="0" alt="05b iPhone HTML Signature Creator.jpg" width="580" height="400" />

The app will open a new “Compose email” window with your customized HTML signature. We’ve discussed this web service briefly before. Be sure to check class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/iphone-signature-creator-iphone-html-email-signature/">the article out.

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I’m sure that there are other iPhone text customizations out there and this article just barely scratches the surface. So if you know other tricks, why not share them using the comments below? />
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10 Top iTunes Troubleshooting Tips & Tricks

Posted on 31 August 2010. Tags: iTunes, Tips, Tricks, Troubleshooting

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/2010/08/Laptop-and-iPod-By-Ange.jpg" alt="itunes troubleshooting" />iTunes is one of those programs many of us love to hate. When it’s working well it’s okay, but when things go wrong it can get spectacularly bad. And quickly. Ever run into an iTunes issue that left you hunting all over the internet and Apple forums for a fix? I doubt there’s any iTunes users who haven’t spent time doing exactly this.

So, today we’re going to look at some of the best iTunes troubleshooting tips and tricks to fix the most amount of problems quickly. Let’s go through the quickest ways to get your iTunes setup behaving normally again.

id="more-51650"> /> Whether you’re using XP, Vista, Windows 7 or a Mac, these same tips will help you to troubleshoot iTunes (OK, Mac users do get let off a little sooner than PC users). Items might be in slightly different places, or be called slightly different things, but the gist is essentially the same.

Here’s the best iTunes troubleshooting ideas in the most effective, least painful order. See the class="vt-p" href="http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/">Apple iTunes support pages for more specific instructions for your particular device.

Back Up First!

Before you start messing around with iTunes, do a quick backup of your entire library folder (especially the .xml and .itl files). In newer versions of iTunes (9.2), there’s a backup option you can use by going to File > Library > “Back up to Disc”. That will also backup any music you’ve downloaded from the iTunes store.

1. Is It Your iPod Or iPhone?

Sadly, a lot of iTunes problems occur when you’re trying to use iTunes with an iPod or iPhone. Some of the best troubleshooting methods for these troubles involve resetting or rebooting your iPod/iPhone device or updating the firmware for the device – all of which is different for each device, so see the Apple support pages. If you’re lucky, it can be fixed by upgrading iTunes.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/iTunes-Cover-Flow.png" alt="itunes troubleshooting" />

2. Is It The iTunes Or Quicktime Install?

It’s possible your installations are faulty or need updating:

Re-install class="vt-p" href="http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/">iTunes and Quicktime. This will both fix any faults and ensure you have the latest version.
Possibly delete Quicktime (Quicktime sometimes affects video and audio playback).

3. Is It Your Anti-Virus Software Or Internet?

Try these steps (check iTunes again after each step to see if it now works):

Disconnect computer from internet.
Check for viruses. Remove if required.
Update/remove virus protection software and virus definitions.
Disable internet filtering software.

4. Is It Your iTunes Library Or Account?

Things to try:

Create a new library (by holding down Shift when opening iTunes or by moving the old library before you open iTunes).
If the new library works, you might need to import your old library or re-create the old one. Slowly re-add files to see if it’s a problem with an individual file.
Create a new user account and run iTunes there (see if it’s broken just for your account).

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Library.png" alt="itunes problems" />

5. Video/Audio Troubles Only? Enable The Highest Setting

Throughout iTunes troubleshooting documentation for video and audio troubles has one recurring theme: enable the highest setting.

Go into your sound or video settings and set things to maximum hardware acceleration, maximum screen resolution, enable 3D video etc. Rule of thumb, “turn it up”.

6. Check Your Plug-Ins

Remove all your class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/13-addons-itunes-users-should-know-about/">third-party iTunes plugins.

7. It Might Be DirectX

If you’re using Windows (especially class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1386">XP, 2000 class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1718">Vista or Windows 7) and you have video issues, try updating DirectX or disable DirectX in Quicktime (change it to Safe Mode GDI instead).

8. Check Your iTunes Configuration

Close iTunes. Move the file you’re testing to a safe place. Restart iTunes. Replace the file if that didn’t help.

Temporarily remove the iTunes preferences files (try each file individually by moving it elsewhere and starting iTunes).
Remove the iTunes configuration files (delete the “SC Info.sidb” file).

The preference files for class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1717">Windows Vista and 7 live here:

C:\Users\username\App\Data\Local\Apple Computer\iTunes /> C:\Users\username\App\Data\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes

In class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1421">Windows XP and 2000 the iTunes preference files are here:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes /> C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes

In class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1776">Windows XP and 2000 the iTunes configuration files are here:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\SC Info

Delete the “SC Info.sidb” file and restart iTunes.

9. Check Conflicting Processes

Go through the list of current processes, disabling things sequentially to see if you can pinpoint the problem.

Here’s Apple’s guide for class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2292">using MSCONFIG to check for processes conflicting with iTunes in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

10. Update PC drivers

Look at sound cards and video cards in particular and see if there’s an available update.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/iTunes.png" alt="itunes troubleshooting" />

There’s a number of things that may go wrong with iTunes, and the exact details of the steps you need to take will always be device-specific, but these are the general troubleshooting ideas which will get you results fast.

If none of the itunes troubleshooting tips listed here worked and you’re a little over iTunes now, you could try class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-over-itunes-mozillas-songbird-is-here/">Songbird and many ways to sync your class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-ways-sync-ipod-computer-itunes/">iPod and class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-ways-to-sync-music-to-your-iphone-without-itunes/">iPhone without iTunes.

Good luck! />
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10 Top iTunes Troubleshooting Tips & Tricks

Posted on 31 August 2010. Tags: iTunes, Tips, Tricks, Troubleshooting

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/2010/08/Laptop-and-iPod-By-Ange.jpg" alt="itunes troubleshooting" />iTunes is one of those programs many of us love to hate. When it’s working well it’s okay, but when things go wrong it can get spectacularly bad. And quickly. Ever run into an iTunes issue that left you hunting all over the internet and Apple forums for a fix? I doubt there’s any iTunes users who haven’t spent time doing exactly this.

So, today we’re going to look at some of the best iTunes troubleshooting tips and tricks to fix the most amount of problems quickly. Let’s go through the quickest ways to get your iTunes setup behaving normally again.

id="more-51650"> /> Whether you’re using XP, Vista, Windows 7 or a Mac, these same tips will help you to troubleshoot iTunes (OK, Mac users do get let off a little sooner than PC users). Items might be in slightly different places, or be called slightly different things, but the gist is essentially the same.

Here’s the best iTunes troubleshooting ideas in the most effective, least painful order. See the class="vt-p" href="http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/">Apple iTunes support pages for more specific instructions for your particular device.

Back Up First!

Before you start messing around with iTunes, do a quick backup of your entire library folder (especially the .xml and .itl files). In newer versions of iTunes (9.2), there’s a backup option you can use by going to File > Library > “Back up to Disc”. That will also backup any music you’ve downloaded from the iTunes store.

1. Is It Your iPod Or iPhone?

Sadly, a lot of iTunes problems occur when you’re trying to use iTunes with an iPod or iPhone. Some of the best troubleshooting methods for these troubles involve resetting or rebooting your iPod/iPhone device or updating the firmware for the device – all of which is different for each device, so see the Apple support pages. If you’re lucky, it can be fixed by upgrading iTunes.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/iTunes-Cover-Flow.png" alt="itunes troubleshooting" />

2. Is It The iTunes Or Quicktime Install?

It’s possible your installations are faulty or need updating:

Re-install class="vt-p" href="http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/">iTunes and Quicktime. This will both fix any faults and ensure you have the latest version.
Possibly delete Quicktime (Quicktime sometimes affects video and audio playback).

3. Is It Your Anti-Virus Software Or Internet?

Try these steps (check iTunes again after each step to see if it now works):

Disconnect computer from internet.
Check for viruses. Remove if required.
Update/remove virus protection software and virus definitions.
Disable internet filtering software.

4. Is It Your iTunes Library Or Account?

Things to try:

Create a new library (by holding down Shift when opening iTunes or by moving the old library before you open iTunes).
If the new library works, you might need to import your old library or re-create the old one. Slowly re-add files to see if it’s a problem with an individual file.
Create a new user account and run iTunes there (see if it’s broken just for your account).

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Library.png" alt="itunes problems" />

5. Video/Audio Troubles Only? Enable The Highest Setting

Throughout iTunes troubleshooting documentation for video and audio troubles has one recurring theme: enable the highest setting.

Go into your sound or video settings and set things to maximum hardware acceleration, maximum screen resolution, enable 3D video etc. Rule of thumb, “turn it up”.

6. Check Your Plug-Ins

Remove all your class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/13-addons-itunes-users-should-know-about/">third-party iTunes plugins.

7. It Might Be DirectX

If you’re using Windows (especially class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1386">XP, 2000 class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1718">Vista or Windows 7) and you have video issues, try updating DirectX or disable DirectX in Quicktime (change it to Safe Mode GDI instead).

8. Check Your iTunes Configuration

Close iTunes. Move the file you’re testing to a safe place. Restart iTunes. Replace the file if that didn’t help.

Temporarily remove the iTunes preferences files (try each file individually by moving it elsewhere and starting iTunes).
Remove the iTunes configuration files (delete the “SC Info.sidb” file).

The preference files for class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1717">Windows Vista and 7 live here:

C:\Users\username\App\Data\Local\Apple Computer\iTunes /> C:\Users\username\App\Data\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes

In class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1421">Windows XP and 2000 the iTunes preference files are here:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes /> C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes

In class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1776">Windows XP and 2000 the iTunes configuration files are here:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes\SC Info

Delete the “SC Info.sidb” file and restart iTunes.

9. Check Conflicting Processes

Go through the list of current processes, disabling things sequentially to see if you can pinpoint the problem.

Here’s Apple’s guide for class="vt-p" href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2292">using MSCONFIG to check for processes conflicting with iTunes in Windows Vista and Windows 7.

10. Update PC drivers

Look at sound cards and video cards in particular and see if there’s an available update.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/iTunes.png" alt="itunes troubleshooting" />

There’s a number of things that may go wrong with iTunes, and the exact details of the steps you need to take will always be device-specific, but these are the general troubleshooting ideas which will get you results fast.

If none of the itunes troubleshooting tips listed here worked and you’re a little over iTunes now, you could try class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/move-over-itunes-mozillas-songbird-is-here/">Songbird and many ways to sync your class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-ways-sync-ipod-computer-itunes/">iPod and class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-ways-to-sync-music-to-your-iphone-without-itunes/">iPhone without iTunes.

Good luck! />
/>Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof">MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already! />
/>

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Three Touch Up Tricks For Photoshop To Improve Your Photos

Posted on 13 August 2010. Tags: Improve, Photos, Photoshop, three, Touch, Tricks

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/2010/08/ps-touchup.jpg" alt="enhancing photos with photoshop" />The problem with exceedingly better cameras is that, besides every beautiful detail, they also manage to catch every blemish. The time when you could get away with sunburn, or even something as small as a mole is long past. Those details will be engraved in virtual stone as well.

Nowadays, everyone realizes that movie stars don’t look all that perfect in real life and that Madonna doesn’t look like a twenty year old, but rather thrice that number. It’s the fault, or blessing, of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/photoshop">Photoshop, a premier photo editing application.

id="more-50655"> /> In this article, I’d like to teach you three rather simple tricks on enhancing photos with Photoshop to fix nearly every blemish. More so, this article is intended for junior editors, like myself. This means that :

You don’t need extensive experience with Photoshop.
You don’t need a steady hand (i.e. no airbrush techniques).

In other words, everyone can take this tutorial and expect to follow it through to the end. If you watch where you step, you will get great results from very little effort and experience.

1. Remove Moles & Other Blemishes

In Photoshop CS5, there’s an amazing new feature, called content-aware. Instead of sampling from one particular area, content-aware will try to reconstruct spots with little image-parts grabbed from all over the canvas. You can use it to fix a skyline, delete a tree, or to remove blemishes.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/content-aware.jpg" alt="enhancing photos with photoshop" width="580" height="313" />

Simply select the Spot Healing Brush tool from the left sidebar, and make sure content-aware is turned on. You might also want to change the brush size in the top left corner, until it just covers the blemish. One short click, et voila. At times, content-aware may mess up, though. In those scenarios, either try again or use one of the manual techniques discussed below.

In earlier versions of Photoshop, we have not yet been blessed with content-aware. On the other hand, we do have the spot healing brush tool. Select it from the left sidebar (see above screenshot), check your brush size, and make sure you have selected ‘proximity match’. Again, one click and you’re done.

Instead of reconstructing the spot, Photoshop will sample it with one that approaches it in color (and hopefully misses the mole). If your result seems faded, change the mode from Normal to Replace and try again.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/sampling.jpg" alt="edit photos photoshop" width="529" height="259" />

Alternatively, you can select the Healing Brush Tool from the left sidebar. You can find it by long-pressing the spot healing brush tool. Instead of sampling a random (proximate) match, hold the alt-button on your keyboard and click to select the place from where you want to sample. Then click the blemish. If your result seems faded, change the mode from Normal to Replace and try again.

You can do more than remove moles with this technique, though. Leftovers from suncream, dirty mouths and wrinkles all qualify, although you shouldn’t always bother. ‘Natural’ still has a certain charm, and you want to avoid the Madonna-syndrome.

2. Fix Overshadowed Parts

Sometimes, especially in heavy sun, your image is overshadowed in places. This shadow can even obscure important details, like a smile or the twinkle of an eye. Here’s how to (largely) remove it.

Go to Image -> Adjustments -> Levels. These levels, in a much too concise explanation, mark the distribution of shades and highlights across your image. In other words; using it, you can master the shades.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/levels.jpg" alt="edit photos photoshop" width="413" height="371" />

The far left slider will control the limits of the darkest shades, the far right one that of the brightest highlights. We will need the middle one, which determines to which side (light or dark) your image inclines. To remove our shadows, we want to limit the darker areas and give light some place to roam, so we will pull the middle slider a little (or a lot, depending on your image) to the left.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/contrast.jpg" alt="edit photos photoshop" width="348" height="156" />

Playing with levels can create an overly dark or – in our case – slightly faded image, though. If that’s the case, go to Image -> Adjustments -> Brightness/Contrast. And pull the Contrast slider a bit to the right. This will make you blacks blacker and your overall image less faded.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/removeshadows.jpg" alt="fix photos with photoshop" width="363" height="256" />

Here’s an overview of how we fought off those shadows. From original, to adjusted levels, to adjusted contrast.

3. Fix Discoloring

Whether because of a sunburn, a bad skin-type, or bad lighting, somehow your skin will manage to screw up a perfect picture. In my case it was a sunburn that gave me overly red ears. Here’s how to fix that.

Select the Color Replacement Tool by long-pressing Brush Tool and set its mode to Saturation – the intensity of a color. This brush will change the saturation of your picture to that of the selected color, but leave all the rest intact.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/saturationear1.jpg" alt="fix photos with photoshop" width="580" height="316" />

For our purpose, we want a less saturated color. You can see the kind of color I picked in the screenshot above, but please do play around with it for a bit. In essence, we want the ear to stop being red.

You’ll notice, however, that my ear now looks like it was made of clay. That’s because a less-saturated red skin is not the same as a normal skin. There’s still a difference in color behind the saturation.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/colorear2.jpg" alt="fix photos with photoshop" width="580" height="386" />

Still with the Color Replacement Tool selected, set the mode to color. We want to give our clay ear a more natural color. To do so, hold alt and select the predominant color on your face. Imagine it to be the color of your ear if there were no shadow at all. Now paint over your clay ear to make it come to life.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/burn.jpg" alt="" width="546" height="420" />

Our ear may still look a little fake. This is less of a problem with most other body parts, because an ear has a lot of diverse shadowing going on. While fixing our saturation and color, we also messed with the natural shadows. You can use the burn tool, as can be seen in the screenshot above, to introduce some new shadows. Don’t try to be an artist. Simply swipe it over the ear, and adjust the exposure if necessary. The burn tool will add shadow, but will mostly leave the rest of your colors alone.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/compearing.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="299" />

Above is the process of our ear-recoloration. From original, to ’saturated and colored’, to ‘one swipe with the burn tool’.

Note that you can use this same technique to increase the saturation (and sparkle) of eyes, whiten your teeth, and change the color of your shirt. The possibilities are effectively endless.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/comparison.jpg" alt="enhancing photos with photoshop" width="580" height="357" />

A final comparison in the screenshot above. To the left is the original, with standard color-improvement from iPhoto; the one on the right is touched up manually, with less than a couple minutes of work. With more time and effort, this picture can be further improved, i.e. by toning down some of the reds in the face and increasing the saturation of the background.

What do you think about enhancing photos with Photoshop? Soon to be common practice? Let us know your thoughts and other tips in the comments section below! />
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How to Choose Your Suitable MP3 Players – Handpicked Tips and Tricks

Posted on 10 August 2010. Tags: Choose, Handpicked, Players, Suitable, Tips, Tricks

Effectively killing time on our way to work, home and trip becomes easier than ever because of the rapid development of music-on-the-go devices. Although advanced media players like MP4 appear, MP3 players still occupy an important position in our lives. Besides constantly-updated functions, MP3s become more and more affordable no matter from electronics suppliers or providers of wholesale MP3 players/retail, comparing to the past.

For example, 2GB Spy Pen MP3 Player with FM Radio Voice Recorder MIC is sold at US$19.69. Actfind, which is the largest wholesale electronics dropshipper from China, offers Enigma Mini 2GB Digital Mp3 Player – Loundspeaker – FM/E-book at US$14.88.

Buying MP3 is very common, just like we buy radios before. However, not everyone could purchase a suitable MP3. Choose such kind of gadgets need tips and tricks.

The best way to know a MP3 is to read its instruction or specification. That information covers nearly all the aspects of a player, from charging ways to the product warranty. Getting such information is very hard in the past. But today is different. Internet is versatile – it has almost all the information we need. Simply input the product name in Google search engine, and we could get the details, unless the product you are looking for is outdated.

If you want to someone to teach you how to purchase step by step, steer to buying guidance on the internet. Such kind of information not only gives general knowledge about MP3 such us their types and supporting formats, but also tells you how to find cheap models, avoid being cheated, download music, etc.

For those who intend to locate good bargain and the best prices, remember to compare prices in different shops. Electronics online shops are flooded these days, especially shops which wholesale small volume electronics like MP3 and wholesale cell phones. If you have time, you could try to watch your wanted models in the shopping mall, brand shops, small stores or other electronics offline shops. The product prices are marked clearly in those online or offline stores. Moreover, during special time such as festivals or shop birthday, those places would offer different promotional activities.

Always gather as much information as you could before you make your final decision. Preparation breeds good result. Never get your purchase done hastily. Suitable MP3 for you not only needs your money, but also needs your mind.

Posted in UtilitiesComments (0)

Some Tips & Tricks While Using Google Earth Street View

Posted on 20 July 2010. Tags: Earth, Google, Some, Street, Tips, Tricks, using, View

Google Earth is a great tool to enhance our knowledge of Earth’s geography and, with Google Earth Street View enabled, it is possible for anyone to have a virtual tour of the destinations they love or plan to visit.

Street View can be enabled in Google Earth by checking the layer of the same name under the Layers section. Once the Street View layer is turned on, geographical locations which have been photographed by the Google Street View vehicles show up in the map marked by little camera icons.

Even though USA and some other nations have been exhaustively covered, Street View is not available for all countries owing to various reasons including privacy and national security. But wherever Street View panoramas are available, you can apply the following tips to get the best out of Google Earth.

Navigation

google earth street search

Left click on the camera icon of a location to bring up the Placemark with details like physical address of that location. You can launch Street View by clicking on the link in the placemark or by double clicking on the camera icon.

google earth street view

Some locations have multiple layers of Google Earth Street View embedded with each layer marking a significant landmark in or around the location. To find locations with layers, just hover the mouse over the location and if you see the Compass symbol, there is more to that place. For example, in the case of Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln’s Presidential Library is also linked to the Street View icon and clicking on it takes us directly to the venue.

Accessing The Panorama

All the Street View images offer a 360 degree panoramic view of the location. Panoramas cannot be more awesome but it will be quite annoying to see a particular section of the image immediately. Like a puppy chasing its tail, we will have to move left or right to find the spot we are looking for. To avoid this in Google Earth, hover your mouse over the arrows on the top right corner of the Street View.

google earth street search

A rectangular thumbnail view of the Street View is displayed and you can just click on it to view the exact location you want to see without having to go round and round the panorama.

Finding The Distance

google earth street search

By using the Ruler tool, we can find the distance between two Street View locations. Once you select the ruler option, just connect the line between two Street View Icons to view the distance between the two.

Adding Other Layers

google earth street view

From the Layers section, we can add overlays to complement the street view. For example, adding the 3D buildings and weather layers adds 3D models of buildings & weather information to the location. These layers can be viewed by adjusting the transparency slider which sits just above the Layers section.

Final Thoughts

Street View has been implemented in both Google Maps and Google Earth. However, the Google Earth Street View implementation offers a better 3D experience when viewing the surroundings. Users can also add their own placemarks and create paths between places for future reference & travel.

One gripe of mine is that the images are not of very high quality and often are fuzzy & look smudged. Considering the fact that Google Earth is a desktop application, high definition images can be handled without hogging system resources unlike a web browser. Hopefully Google will add images of higher resolutions in the near future.

Google Earth can be a fun application too. Check out how you can use Google Earth to play games, feel the speed of a flight simulator or investigate conspiracy theories.

Do you know of a better Google Earth tip? Please share it with us in the comments below.

Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to share our articles with others! It’s really important to us.

Some Tips & Tricks While Using Google Earth Street View

Posted on 20 July 2010. Tags: Earth, Google, Some, Street, Tips, Tricks, using, View

Google Earth is a great tool to enhance our knowledge of Earth’s geography and, with Google Earth Street View enabled, it is possible for anyone to have a virtual tour of the destinations they love or plan to visit.

Street View can be enabled in Google Earth by checking the layer of the same name under the Layers section. Once the Street View layer is turned on, geographical locations which have been photographed by the Google Street View vehicles show up in the map marked by little camera icons.

Even though USA and some other nations have been exhaustively covered, Street View is not available for all countries owing to various reasons including privacy and national security. But wherever Street View panoramas are available, you can apply the following tips to get the best out of Google Earth.

Navigation

google earth street search

Left click on the camera icon of a location to bring up the Placemark with details like physical address of that location. You can launch Street View by clicking on the link in the placemark or by double clicking on the camera icon.

google earth street view

Some locations have multiple layers of Google Earth Street View embedded with each layer marking a significant landmark in or around the location. To find locations with layers, just hover the mouse over the location and if you see the Compass symbol, there is more to that place. For example, in the case of Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln’s Presidential Library is also linked to the Street View icon and clicking on it takes us directly to the venue.

Accessing The Panorama

All the Street View images offer a 360 degree panoramic view of the location. Panoramas cannot be more awesome but it will be quite annoying to see a particular section of the image immediately. Like a puppy chasing its tail, we will have to move left or right to find the spot we are looking for. To avoid this in Google Earth, hover your mouse over the arrows on the top right corner of the Street View.

google earth street search

A rectangular thumbnail view of the Street View is displayed and you can just click on it to view the exact location you want to see without having to go round and round the panorama.

Finding The Distance

google earth street search

By using the Ruler tool, we can find the distance between two Street View locations. Once you select the ruler option, just connect the line between two Street View Icons to view the distance between the two.

Adding Other Layers

google earth street view

From the Layers section, we can add overlays to complement the street view. For example, adding the 3D buildings and weather layers adds 3D models of buildings & weather information to the location. These layers can be viewed by adjusting the transparency slider which sits just above the Layers section.

Final Thoughts

Street View has been implemented in both Google Maps and Google Earth. However, the Google Earth Street View implementation offers a better 3D experience when viewing the surroundings. Users can also add their own placemarks and create paths between places for future reference & travel.

One gripe of mine is that the images are not of very high quality and often are fuzzy & look smudged. Considering the fact that Google Earth is a desktop application, high definition images can be handled without hogging system resources unlike a web browser. Hopefully Google will add images of higher resolutions in the near future.

Google Earth can be a fun application too. Check out how you can use Google Earth to play games, feel the speed of a flight simulator or investigate conspiracy theories.

Do you know of a better Google Earth tip? Please share it with us in the comments below.

Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to share our articles with others! It’s really important to us.

Some Tips & Tricks While Using Google Earth Street View

Posted on 20 July 2010. Tags: Earth, Google, Some, Street, Tips, Tricks, using, View

Google Earth is a great tool to enhance our knowledge of Earth’s geography and, with Google Earth Street View enabled, it is possible for anyone to have a virtual tour of the destinations they love or plan to visit.

Street View can be enabled in Google Earth by checking the layer of the same name under the Layers section. Once the Street View layer is turned on, geographical locations which have been photographed by the Google Street View vehicles show up in the map marked by little camera icons.

Even though USA and some other nations have been exhaustively covered, Street View is not available for all countries owing to various reasons including privacy and national security. But wherever Street View panoramas are available, you can apply the following tips to get the best out of Google Earth.

Navigation

google earth street search

Left click on the camera icon of a location to bring up the Placemark with details like physical address of that location. You can launch Street View by clicking on the link in the placemark or by double clicking on the camera icon.

google earth street view

Some locations have multiple layers of Google Earth Street View embedded with each layer marking a significant landmark in or around the location. To find locations with layers, just hover the mouse over the location and if you see the Compass symbol, there is more to that place. For example, in the case of Springfield, Illinois, Abraham Lincoln’s Presidential Library is also linked to the Street View icon and clicking on it takes us directly to the venue.

Accessing The Panorama

All the Street View images offer a 360 degree panoramic view of the location. Panoramas cannot be more awesome but it will be quite annoying to see a particular section of the image immediately. Like a puppy chasing its tail, we will have to move left or right to find the spot we are looking for. To avoid this in Google Earth, hover your mouse over the arrows on the top right corner of the Street View.

google earth street search

A rectangular thumbnail view of the Street View is displayed and you can just click on it to view the exact location you want to see without having to go round and round the panorama.

Finding The Distance

google earth street search

By using the Ruler tool, we can find the distance between two Street View locations. Once you select the ruler option, just connect the line between two Street View Icons to view the distance between the two.

Adding Other Layers

google earth street view

From the Layers section, we can add overlays to complement the street view. For example, adding the 3D buildings and weather layers adds 3D models of buildings & weather information to the location. These layers can be viewed by adjusting the transparency slider which sits just above the Layers section.

Final Thoughts

Street View has been implemented in both Google Maps and Google Earth. However, the Google Earth Street View implementation offers a better 3D experience when viewing the surroundings. Users can also add their own placemarks and create paths between places for future reference & travel.

One gripe of mine is that the images are not of very high quality and often are fuzzy & look smudged. Considering the fact that Google Earth is a desktop application, high definition images can be handled without hogging system resources unlike a web browser. Hopefully Google will add images of higher resolutions in the near future.

Google Earth can be a fun application too. Check out how you can use Google Earth to play games, feel the speed of a flight simulator or investigate conspiracy theories.

Do you know of a better Google Earth tip? Please share it with us in the comments below.

Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to share our articles with others! It’s really important to us.

HD CMD+Notepad Tricks And Hacks

Posted on 15 July 2010. Tags: CMD+Notepad, Hacks, Tricks

Verry Important plz subscribe to my other channel www.youtube.com 23/12/2009=3000+ Views 10/01/2010 TIME 13:13AM 4000+ VIEWS!! 25/1/2010 5:13 PM 5000+ VIEWS thanks! 8/2/2010 6000+ thanks 20/2/2010 7000+VIEWS WTF Thanks! CMD TRICKS ON WINDOWS XP FIRST: To change a user’s password at the command prompt, log on as an administrator and type: net user user_name * /domain When you are prompted to type a password for the user, type the new password, not the existing password. After you type the new password, the system prompts you to retype the password to confirm. The password is now changed. Alternatively, you can type the following command: net user user_name new_password When you do so, the password changes without prompting you again. This command also enables you to change passwords in a batch file. Non-administrators receive a “System error 5 has occurred. Access is denied” error message when they attempt to change the password. SECOND: Once you are in the CMD.exe you need to type in the first line. Type “ping” and a space then type in the website address or an IP address and hit the enter key on your keyboard If you entered the website address and/or IP address you will get this message: Ping statsitics for 68.163.75.10 Packets: sent = 4, received = 0, lost = 4 100% loss the ip is 68.163.75.10 to find friends ip do this: type in cmd NETSTAT_-N THE YOU WILL GET LOT’S OF IP’S ALWAYS CHOSE THE 3′RD ON FORGIEN ADDRESS TO CHANGE CMD TEXT COLOR DO THIS: TYPE IN CMD COLOR G …

Posted in WindowsComments (25)

Command Prompt Tricks & Hacks

Posted on 13 July 2010. Tags: Command, Hacks, prompt, Tricks

In this video you will learn many useful tips and tricks using the Windows XP. Also a FireFox trick. HIGH QUALITY @ www.megaupload.com PS. For the changing user password? Why not use Control panel? Well you wanna change someone elses than use this. Also YOU WILL NOT SEE WHAT YOU TYPE FOR YOUR PASS! But make sure you know what you typed for security reasons! UPDATE 1: This is my first video to have gone over 30000 views. Thanks guys and girls! UPDATE 2 – OCT.25.07: Awesome 45000+ views and counting! Thanks for watching! UPDATE 3 – JAN.08.08: THANKS FOR MAKING THIS MY FIRST VIDEO WITH OVER 100K VIEWS! UPDATE 4 – APR.25.09: Whoa. The view soar? Yay. UPDATE 5 – FEB.23.10: 1 MILLION VIEWS!! – UrbanTwitch

Posted in WindowsComments (25)

Tag Archive | "Tricks"

How Do You Create Twitter Feeds?

1. Reduce Any Clutter: Filter Out Retweets

Example

2. Monitor Only Real Opinions: Filter Out Links

Example

Example

3. Monitor Negative Mentions

Example

4. Monitor Questions Mentioning You Or Your Business

Example

5. Include Your Name & Your Moniker(s) In Search Results

Example

Continue The Last Session

Many Ways To Start

Start At The Top

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Conclusion

Fastest Card Trick

Choose A Card From The Deck

Predict The Card

The Rising Card

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The 18 Cards

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Back Up First!

1. Is It Your iPod Or iPhone?

2. Is It The iTunes Or Quicktime Install?

3. Is It Your Anti-Virus Software Or Internet?

4. Is It Your iTunes Library Or Account?

5. Video/Audio Troubles Only? Enable The Highest Setting

6. Check Your Plug-Ins

7. It Might Be DirectX

8. Check Your iTunes Configuration

9. Check Conflicting Processes

10. Update PC drivers

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Back Up First!

1. Is It Your iPod Or iPhone?

2. Is It The iTunes Or Quicktime Install?

3. Is It Your Anti-Virus Software Or Internet?

4. Is It Your iTunes Library Or Account?

5. Video/Audio Troubles Only? Enable The Highest Setting

6. Check Your Plug-Ins

7. It Might Be DirectX

8. Check Your iTunes Configuration

9. Check Conflicting Processes

10. Update PC drivers

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2. Fix Overshadowed Parts

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Navigation

Accessing The Panorama

Finding The Distance

Adding Other Layers

Final Thoughts