5 Unofficial Ways To Watch Twitter Vine Videos

Video sharing is not a new phenomenon, with YouTube having been with us since 2005, amazingly. There are also a host of alternatives to YouTube, but the Google-owned service must be considered the daddy of them all. However, there’s a newcomer on the scene, one which is gaining a lot of attention thanks to both its ease of use and severe limit on the length of videos.

I am, of course, talking about Twitter Vine videos, which you may well have heard of already. Vine is a standalone video-sharing app acquired by Twitter in October 2012. It enables smartphone and tablet owners to record and upload videos of no more than six seconds in length. Which really isn’t long, but should be long enough for people to offer a glimpse into their world, albeit a fleeting one.

Twitter Vine videos can be embedded directly into tweets, or shared via a separate webpage. Those using the app can also watch videos picked out by the editors, or follow other users to gain access to all of their content. But there are easier ways of gaining a voyeuristic view on Vine videos, five of which are outlined below.

NB: The stream of Vine videos these websites tap in to is unmoderated, meaning you may occasionally encounter something you’d rather not have seen. Anyone with an aversion to NSFW content may want to look away now. Having said that, while writing this article I didn’t see anything I wouldn’t show my own mother.

VinePeek

Vinepeek offers a constant stream of recent Vine videos which updates in real-time. You won’t see every video uploaded through the service, but you will see a continuous set of clips lasting six seconds or less. Only one video plays at a time, in a nice rounded window which looks to owe much to Instagram.

Alongside the clip itself you get a link to the video on the Web, as well as a link to the tweet sharing the Twitter Vine video. This means you can easily find the person responsible for the video and follow them if you so desire. Kinda like a stalker would.

All Around The Vines

All Around The Vines offers a very similar user experience to VinePeek, with a neverending stream of recent Vine videos being delivered to your eyeballs. Instead of a small, subtle video player, All Around The Vines blows the clips up until they fill the screen. Which works infinitely better for some videos than it does for others.

Once again you get to see who is responsible for each clip, but there are no external links posted to the site. Instead the hashtags are clickable, meaning you can sift through the videos by subject matter. If your chosen tag isn’t featured on the site you should be able to just add it to the end of the URL, but every time I tried this approach the site crashed instead. #fail.

Just Vined

Just Vined is the least usable site on this list thanks to its insistence on playing the 20 most recent Vine videos all at the same time. This is the only one of the five resources that made my laptop fan kick in with a vengeance. Still, for those who like to be bombarded with visual randomness, Just Vined offers a veritable orgy of ultra-short video clips.

If you click on one of the videos a pop-up will load its permanent page on the Web, but beyond that there is no identifiable information revealed about its originator. Just Vined will make you feel as though you’re undergoing the aversion therapy undertaken in A Clockwork Orange, except it will wean you off videos of cats rather than a tendency towards violence.

Vines Map

Vines Map does exactly what you’d expect it to do, adding locations to the videos uploaded through Vine. You’re presented with a simple view of a world map, with pins sticking into various locales. Each represents a Vine video, which you’ll then get to watch one after the other in a nice little pop-up window.

You get to see the username of the person responsible for each clip, as well as the tweet which accompanied it. None are shown as links. The only option you have to influence the way the site operates is to zoom in or out of the map, but that won’t affect the order of playback.

VineRoulette

VineRoulette is the most polished site on this list thanks to a variety of options and the opportunity it gives you to sample a snapshot before choosing to play a particular video. The main viewing window offers these snapshots, and when you hover your cursor over one it will pull out from the crowd and begin playing.

You can either go “Roulette Style,” which means showing a selection of all videos uploaded to Vine, or search by hashtag. The site uses Microsoft Silverlight to display the videos, but the team behind VineRoulette promise that they’re “working on an HTML5 compatible version.”

Conclusions

All of these sites offer a similar service with just a few differences between each one. What they all have in common, naturally, is their ability to expose Vine videos to the world, or at least to a larger audience. For those of us sitting at home this represents voyeurism at is finest, and with the brevity of the Twitter Vine videos on display it resembles infinite channel-hopping between a multitude of different shows. Which is a hugely entertaining pastime.

Have you recorded and uploaded a video using Vine? If so, how did you find the experience? Do these websites, which tap into the Vine feed at will, annoy you? Out of VinePeek, All Around The Vines, Just Vined, Vines Map, and VineRoulette, which of these Twitter video trackers is your favorite? Do you know of another Vine-powered site that hasn’t been mentioned. As always, please feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

The post 5 Unofficial Ways To Watch Twitter Vine Videos appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Write Mathematics Formulas in Blogger

MathJax provides an easy solution for displaying math formulas on web pages (including blogger). You can start writing blog posts with math formulas using latex syntax at blogger (blogspot) int the following two steps.

1. At the dash board of blogger, click Layout->Add Gadget->HTML/JavaScript, and add the following code
   

   <script type="text/x-mathjax-config;executed=true">

   
   

   MathJax.Hub.Config({

   
   

   TeX: { equationNumbers: { autoNumber: "AMS" } }

   
   

   });

   
   

   </script>

   
   

   <script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML">

   
   

   </script>

   
   


2. 
   

   To write blog posts with math formulas, use \(..\) as delimiters for inline math symbols, and $$...$$ or \[...\] as delimiters for display style math equations.

   
   

Amazon Announces New Virtual Coin For Its Kindle Fire App Store [Updates]

Amazon has announced a brand new currency, one which will only be valid in Amazon’s Kindle Fire App Store. The new currency will launch in the US in May, and upon its launch, will be handed out for free to the Kindle Fire crowd. According to Amazon, it will be giving away tens of millions dollars worth of free Amazon Coins on launch, with each coin worth 1 cent. These coins can be used to buy apps or in-app purchases on the Kindle Fire.

How will this affect you, you’re wondering? If you’re an app developer, this is good news. For you, Amazon Coins are worth exactly the same as real money, and the free Coins will definitely make it easier for users to spend money on your app. All you have to do as a developer is have your app or update ready and submitted by April 25, so it’s ready for Amazon Coins when it launches in May.

For users, it’s somewhat harder to see the advantages. While Amazon Coins will help create a bigger app selection and more loyalty for Amazon’s App Store, users will still have to pay the same for apps they want to purchase, after their initial gift Coins are all gone. On the other hand, tying your account to a limited supply of Amazon Coins instead of a credit card can help make sure your kids don’t go on shopping sprees, spending only what you’ve allowed them to spend on apps.

As a user, all you’ll have to do is convert real money to Amazon Coins, and you’re good to go. As is customary with Amazon, Coins will only be available for US customers, at least to start with. If the experiment goes well, we might see it expand to other countries.

What do you think of Amazon’s virtual currency? Will you use it?

Source: Amazon Mobile App Distribution Blog

The post Amazon Announces New Virtual Coin For Its Kindle Fire App Store [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

How To Get Banned From Social Networks

The Web has opened up lines of communication that were previously closed for the vast majority of the world. Anyone with an Internet connection can now head online and talk to someone on the other side of the world using any one of a range of different services. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are the obvious options.

There is unfortunately a tendency to abuse these new lines of communication, by expressing opinions that would be best kept unsaid, attacking people that may or may not deserve it, spreading salacious gossip, or posting inappropriate content. What is often and easily forgotten is that it’s entirely possible to get banned from social networks, with some rules applying across the board, and others that individual sites have put in place.

What follows is a short and simple guide on how to get banned from social networks. Not that you should try (or even want to), of course, in which case you can treat this as a short and simple guide on what to avoid doing if you want to safeguard your position on your social networking site of choice.

Facebook

Facebook is the most popular social network on the Web, at least popular in terms of the number of users, but not necessarily in terms of likability. From the feedback we’ve received about Zuckerberg’s creation it seems many people belong to the site begrudgingly. Those who no longer want to be a part of Facebook can get themselves banned quite easily.

Create a Profile Or Page Without Permission

If you’re not Kanye West then don’t create a profile pretending to be him. If you do then you may get chucked off the site before you can don those stupid glasses of his as some kind of disguise.

Post Copyrighted Content To Excess

You may have downloaded various pieces of content illicitly, but put them on Facebook and the resulting action is likely to be severe. Especially if you do it continuously.

Post Pornography, Nudity Or Graphic Content

You can look at pornography all you want, assuming you’re happy with the possible consequences of doing so, but if you then post it to Facebook you’ll find yourself banned.

Threaten, Bully Or Harass Other Users

There are bullies everywhere, even online. If you’re one of them, and you decide to target someone for whatever reason, then Facebook may just turn the tables and bully you off the site.

Run a Pyramid Scheme

Multi-level marketing is a nasty business, with only those at the top gaining any benefits. Until they’re thrown in jail. This isn’t merely frowned upon by Facebook, but illegal in real-life as well.

Twitter

Twitter has even more to contend with than Facebook in terms of managing its users and their interactions with each other. Anyone can follow anyone else without an invitation, which means Twitter has stringent rules in place to prevent chaos ensuing. This means, once again, that it’s a breeze to get yourself banned from the service.

Pretend To Be Someone You’re Not

It’s Kanye again. Oh no, it isn’t.

Create Multiple, Overlapping Accounts

You are allowed to create multiple accounts on Twitter, but not if you’re doing so for nefarious purposes. Especially if they’re all being used for the same kinds of activity.

Buy & Sell Usernames

Twitter took some time to grow into the behemoth it is today, which meant all the best usernames were snapped up by geeky early-adopters. If you’re one of them you cannot now decide to make a profit by selling that username on, no matter how tempting it may be to do so.

Buy & Sell Users

It may also be tempting to buy followers using one of those companies offering ways of doing so. Don’t. They’re breaking the rules, and you would be too.

Spam Your Followers

We’re all so used to spam emails that most of us don’t even give them a second glance these days. Especially as spam filters are so good at stopping them getting through in the first place. Sadly spammers have turned elsewhere, including Twitter.

Google+

Google+ is reportedly growing at a rate of knots, mainly thanks to Google’s integration of its social network into many of its other services. Most don’t then seem to follow through by playing an active role on the site, but those who do have a strict set of rules to abide by if they want to avoid being banned.

Create a Page That Isn’t Yours To Create

Kanye! With the glasses! Nope, it’s some random person pretending to be him.

Run a Contest Directly On Your Page

By all means link to a contest you’re running on an external site, but you’re not allowed to run the contest exclusively on Google+.

Try & Use SEO Techniques

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a legitimate practice when it’s done well and for the right reasons. And shameful when it’s done badly and/or for the wrong reasons. It’s heartily frowned upon on Google+.

Go Out Of Your Way To Promote Hatred Towards Minority Groups

Bullying an individual is one thing, bullying, or inciting the bullying of, a group just because they’re different in some way is quite another. Both are bad, either could get you banned.

Aggressively Add Random People To Your Circles

Google+ is all about the Circles which you use to organize your contacts. Adding numerous strangers to Circles in a short space of time will see your account potentially flagged for abuse.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn isn’t your typical social networking site, surviving while so many others have passed away by catering to professionals building online résumés and a network of like-minded individuals. If anything this means the scope for abusing the system is even larger, and there are a variety of different ways to get yourself banned.

Connect With Strangers Without Good Reason

LinkedIn is all about networking in a legitimate way with others in the same field of business as yourself. It isn’t about gaining as many contacts as you can, and you’ll be punished for trying to do that.

Post Copyrighted Content To Excess

If you don’t own it then don’t share it. Without explicit permission from the real owner.

Insert Links In Inappropriate Places

This is a form of spamming, referring to placing a link to an external site within a field not designed to hold such information.

Introduce a Worm, Virus, Or Phishing Technique To The Site

If you’re the source of malware on LinkedIn then you can expect to be expelled from the site with short shrift.

Gain Connections Inorganically

You’re meant to build connections in an organic manner, and if you choose to bypass that time-consuming process by employing nefarious techniques you’ll pay the price by being kicked off the site.

Pinterest

Pinterest grew from nothing to become one of the largest social networks seemingly overnight. We like it so much we created a guide to Pinterest. By focusing on content rather than the people it was able to differentiate itself from the competition, and yet it still suffers from the same issues as its rivals. Most of the ways to get yourself banned are centered around the type of content you choose to post to the site.

Create An Account That Isn’t Yours To Create

Kanye? Pinning images to boards? Well, I never.

Get Caught Posting Copyrighted Content

It’s not yours and it’s clearly protected under copyright laws. But you do have to get caught first.

Automate & Scrape

It’s not exactly hard work to pin content onto Pinterest. Even so, some people like to bypass the manual process and automate it instead. Even though it’s against the rules. As is scraping content or personal information.

Spam Your Fellow Pinners

Spam can crop up anywhere. Even on Pinterest. It’s not big, it’s not clever, and it may get you banned for life.

Encourage Others To Engage In Illicit Activity

We’re obviously not encouraging you to do any of the above (on Pinterest or any of the other sites), just merely pointing out what kind of things will get you banned or at least strongly censured.

Conclusions

What should be immediately obvious from reading the above is how many of the same rules apply across the board. If you want to keep your place on social networks then don’t spam others, don’t post copyrighted content without permission, and don’t pretend you’re someone you’re not. These are effectively universal rules that need to be adhered to at all times. Unless you want to test the system and challenge “the man.” And likely get banned as a result.

Have you ever been banned from one of the social networks included above? If so, was it intentional on your part? And what was your alleged crime? Feel free to recount your story in the comments section below, or alternatively use the opportunity to otherwise have your say on social networks and how they govern the users they attract.

Image Credits: Steve Snodgrass

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How To Use Facebook’s Conversion Tracking Tool [Weekly Facebook Tips]

If you run any sort of business and occasionally use Facebook’s advertising campaigns, you already know that there are many ways to track the popularity of the advert and keep track of how well it’s doing. Large businesses have had access to many sophisticated tracking tools for a while now. But now, Facebook have released a couple of new tools to smaller businesses and individuals which are worth taking a closer look at.

The new conversion tracking tools will track pixels in order to record consumer actions on adverts. Actions recorded will include things such as registrations for competitions. Another new tool is the ability to optimise your advert to be targeted to the people who click or view adverts the most. With these new tools available to you, you’re sure to get more value for money when advertising on Facebook.

What Is Conversion Tracking?

Facebook’s conversion tracking allows you to keep track of your Return On Investment (ROI) from Facebook adverts by compiling a report of what people do after viewing the ads. The tracking pixels can be added to websites outside of Facebook, where the conversions happen.

Sign Up For Conversion Tracking

Head to the Adverts section of Facebook, by using the link from your home page. Then choose “Conversion Tracking” from the left menu and click on “Create Conversion Pixel“. When you’ve read and accepted the terms and conditions you can proceed with creating your own conversion pixels.

Creating Conversion Pixels

Each conversion pixel can be used to track many different actions (checkouts, registrations, leads, key page view, adds to cart, or other website conversions). You should choose which of these are important for you to record, then create a conversion pixel for each category.

You will receive a JavaScript code snippet, which needs to go in the header of a unique page where the conversions may be tracked. For instance, if you’re tracking checkout numbers, you would put the code on the page shoppers see after their purchase is confirmed. You should only track one category of conversions per page, otherwise the results will be misleading.

Start Tracking Conversions

You can track conversions of Facebook adverts by using an existing advert or by creating a new advert. Depending on which way you edit or create your advert, in the “Creative” section or “Campaign, Pricing, and Schedule” section you will see an option to “Track conversions on my website for this ad” which will allow you to choose which tracking pixels to use for this advert.

Using Optimised CPM

Whenever you create or edit an advert, you will see the option to use optimised CPM in the pricing section. You will be able to make a choice for each advert depending on your budget and goals.

Learn More About Facebook Advertising

For more great tips about advertising on Facebook, take a browse through the Facebook Business page, learn how to place an advert on Facebook and make your Facebook page more interesting. Also, take a look at some great alternatives to advertising which you may not have thought of.

Privacy Concerns With Facebook Tracking

If you are an individual trying to avoid Facebook collecting information about you with these new tracking measures, read these articles on how to stop Facebook from tracking you online and how to block most social networks from tracking you.

Are you tracking your conversions for Facebook adverts? How has it helped you?

The post How To Use Facebook’s Conversion Tracking Tool [Weekly Facebook Tips] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Acer Iconia tablet is UMPC-killer

Acer's $1,000 Iconia tablet runs Windows 8, weighs only 2 pounds, and packs in 4GB of RAM, a 128GB SSD and a 1.7Ghz Core i5 CPU. Christopher Null put it through its paces:

The bigger challenge, though, is the lack of a mouse. Yes, tablets are designed to be touched directly in lieu of an external pointer, but as noted above, this is tough given the W700′s resolution. At arm’s length, when it’s placed in the cradle, tapping the right button is nearly impossible. The bottom line: Budget for an external mouse and make it a Bluetooth one as well, unless you want to give up your only USB port.

Watch out, Samsung XE700T1A-A02US! Your reign may be over.

Windows Live Essentials For Windows 8 – What You Need To Know

Microsoft is in the process of phasing out Windows Essentials, formerly known as Windows Live Essentials. Microsoft has included Modern-style replacements for many of the Essentials applications in Windows 8 – email, calendaring, contacts, messaging, photo management, and cloud file storage are all built in. However, some Windows Live Essentials applications have no Modern equivalent, and you may want to the desktop versions of some applications.

Microsoft has come full-circle – after including many of the Windows Live Essentials apps in Windows Vista, they were removed in Windows 7 and available as a separate installer so that Windows 7 could be a more lightweight, minimal operating system. They’re now being integrated back into Windows 8 by default.

New Windows 8 Apps

Microsoft wants the pre-installed Windows 8 apps to take the place of the older, desktop-based Windows Live applications. You’ll find the following replacements pre-installed on Windows 8:

• Mail: Microsoft’s Mail application connects to Outlook.com, Hotmail, Gmail, Exchange, and IMAP accounts. It takes the place of Windows Live Mail.


• Calendar: Windows Live Mail included integrated calendar support, but calendaring is now available in a separate application. It can sync with the calendars linked to your Microsoft account, Google Calendar, and other calendar services.


• People: Windows Live Mail’s address book is now the People application. In addition to being an address book, it can connect to services like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to bring together your contacts in one place.


• Messaging: The messaging application works with Microsoft’s Messenger and Facebook. It takes the place of Windows Live Messenger.


• Photos: The Photos application takes the place of the Windows Live Photo Gallery. It can view photos on your PC or SkyDrive, import photos from a camera, and access online photo services like Flickr or Facebook.


• SkyDrive: SkyDrive takes the place of Windows Live Mesh as Microsoft’s new online file storage service. Windows 8 includes a Modern app for viewing and managing your SkyDrive files.

• Family Safety: The Family Safety application has been replaced by integrated parental controls in Windows 8, which are also called Family Safety. Access Family Safety from the control panel to set time limits, restrict access to websites, and get reports on your kids’ computer usage.

You may also want to install Microsoft’s Skype application for Windows 8 from the Windows Store. Skype will soon replace Windows Live Messenger entirely.

However, if you want to edit movies, write blog posts, or sync files on the desktop, you’ll still need some of the classic Windows Live Essentials applications.

Windows Essentials For The Desktop

The Windows Essentials installer package is still available for Windows 8. It will download and install the familiar Windows Essentials desktop applications on your computer, although many applications – such as the Bing Bar, Outlook Connector, Messenger Companion, Windows Live Mesh (replaced by SkyDrive), and Family Safety (Windows 8 has integrated parental controls) have been removed.

Microsoft is de-emphasizing these applications, although several have no Modern equivalent yet. You may want to install:

• SkyDrive (desktop): Windows 8 only comes with a Modern-style SkyDrive app that allows you to view your SkyDrive and upload files in the new, Modern UI. If you use SkyDrive and want to sync files to your computer and access them in a folder – just like Dropbox – you’ll need the SkyDrive desktop application. It’s available through the Windows Essentials installer, although you can also download the SkyDrive desktop app separately.


• Windows Movie Maker: Microsoft’s easy-to-use movie editing application still has no Modern equivalent. The desktop application works fine on Windows 8 and is available from here, along with a photo gallery application that works on the desktop.


• Windows Live Writer: Windows Live Writer is a much-loved blogging application. It still has no equivalent in the new Windows 8 interface. If you want Windows Live Writer, you’ll need to install it from here.

You probably don’t want to install:

• Windows Live Mail: Don’t expect Microsoft to focus much attention on this program going forward – Microsoft would rather you use the Mail application in the Modern interface, the full Microsoft Outlook on the desktop, or their Outlook.com web interface. If you still like Windows Live Mail, you can install it and continue to use it anyway.


• Windows Live Messenger: There’s not much point in installing Messenger – Microsoft’s Messenger service will be shut down on March 15, 2013, after which this program will no longer be available. Existing accounts will be migrated to Skype, so you’ll want to install the Skype desktop app if you’d rather not use the Modern app.

Want more information about Windows 8? Download Getting Started: Your Guide To Windows 8.

Do you still use Windows Live Essentials on Windows 8, or have you found better Windows 8-style app replacements to them? Leave a comment and let us know!

The post Windows Live Essentials For Windows 8 – What You Need To Know appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Knowledge is Free: Learn Something For Nothing With Coursera [Stuff to Watch]

A few weeks ago Stuff to Watch took a decidedly academic turn with the inclusion of YouTube’s rather fantastic Education section. This portion of the site brings together higher, middle and junior level learning materials which are offered as lectures, lessons and even whole courses for the casual learner.

Today we’ll be going all-out on the learning front with a few of the best video courses available on the web, courtesy of highly respectable educational institutions and Coursera. The service offers real courses that bring the online learning experience to life in a way that trumps just about every other service out there.

Coursera provides an opportunity to lean for free, wherever you like, in a productive learning environment.

How It Works

Unlike many online courses, which are simply a collection of videos that you can watch at your leisure, Coursera courses share more similarities with real university courses. Each course lasts for a pre-defined period of time usually measured in weeks, with most being “module” sized and spanning a month or two at most. In order to join, the courses require enrollment by a certain date.

This is because Coursera brings together the vast number of people interested in the same field as you, so everyone learns at the same time. It is also because much of the time you will be marking each other’s work. It is important to note that not every course will take the video route, but the overwhelming majority do – offering lectures and other video content to help you learn as if you were sitting in class.

In addition to this you’ll also get perks like a certificate and accreditation from Coursera itself once you’ve completed the course. This is not to be confused with a certificate for a full degree or similar qualification, but it’s definitely ammo for your CV, and possibly even a precursor to further study. Rarely do the courses offer academic credit for the chosen institution, but many will bolster your application if you decide to undertake further study in the field.

After registering for Coursera you can browse for courses and enrol using the Sign Up button by the required date. If the course is not taking place at the moment, you can often sign up for the next session which is usually a few months down the line – so don’t despair!

Example Courses

Here are a few example courses all produced by respectable institutions. You can find the full list here.

Astrobiology and the search for Extraterrestrial Life

A proper, academic course all about the possibility of other beings, from a scientific angle, run by the University of Edinburgh. The course lasts for 5 with a workload of 3-4 hours of work per week and is currently being run by the institution’s Professor of Astrobiology, Charles Cocknell.

The course tackles interesting questions like what is the definition of life and how did life on earth originate on earth to help shine some light on the bigger conundrums involving intelligent life and searching the stars. This is one very interesting course, even to those who don’t intend to pursue a career in astrobiology or astronomy.

Introduction to Music Production

Ever wanted to make your own music? You’ve undoubtedly heard all about how much easier it is these days to lay down your own tracks at home but maybe lack the expertise to get started. Modern computers, software and a little creativity provide the building blocks for a career in music, and this course is designed to cater to that curiosity.

At 6 weeks like with a workload of 6-8 hours per week, the course will guide you through many of the basic tools and techniques you’ll need to get up to speed with a digital audio workstation (DAW), MIDI instruments and mixing your final project. It’s not going to make you a superstar, but this Berklee College of Music course might just push you towards finding your rhythm, so to speak.

English Composition I: Achieving Expertise

This language course from Duke University is valid as both a self-help course for budding writers, as well as providing the foundations you might need to get into higher-education writing courses. The program focuses on composing expert English, critical reading and how to effectively argue a point all in the quest of an intrinsic understanding of the writing process.

English Composition I is split into four sections and spans a total of 12 weeks with a number of assignments to practice your prose. The skills learned are transferrable to a number of different writing styles, giving the course broad appeal.

Women and the Civil Rights Movement

Another course that’s as interesting as it is useful (to those thinking about studying history, anyway), this detailed look at the U.S. civil rights movement pays close attention to the plight of women and their part in the struggle. The course is provided by the University of Marland’s resident expert Dr. Elsa Barkley Brown and spans a 12 week period.

With 8-10 hours of work per week and a number of assignments, this is definitely one of the more time-consuming but ultimately rewarding courses offered. Studying a time-frame from the 1890s to the 1990s in a year would be difficult, so the relatively short-by-comparisson 12-week timeframe means you’ll have to be eager and ready to go at quite a pace once you begin.

TechniCity

If you’re eagerly awaiting the next Sim City game then you’ll undoubtedly find this program fascinating, but then the course would also apply to many other academic fields as well. With 11-15 hours of work per week the course examines the way our cities are changing thanks to technology – and how they can be further improved in the future.

Taking place over a time-frame of 4 weeks, this is one program that teches a lot in a little time. Sustainability, urban planning and even architecture students might all find this interesting – as well as anyone who works or lives in a city, of course.

Conclusion

There are now more than 200 courses at the time of writing, with 33 universities currently on-board. Coursera can help demonstrate your love of a subject, pique your interest in a field you’re unsure of or simply expand your mind with some quality free learning. If you’ve enrolled or have completed any courses we’d love to hear about them, so stick a note in the comments below.

The post Knowledge is Free: Learn Something For Nothing With Coursera [Stuff to Watch] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

A Google Play Malware Can Infect Your PC Through Your Mobile Device [Updates]

We all know about the threat of malware. We know our PC can get infected, we know our mobile device can get infected. Sometimes, it’s even possible for our PC to infect our mobile device, but did you know your mobile device can be used to infect your PC? A new threat discovered by Kaspersky Lab researchers disguises itself as a system cleaner for Android, and when it gets the chance, infects your PC and takes over your microphone.

The app in question is called “Superclean”, and also has an identical twin by the name of “DroidCleaner”. Both apps have been removed from Google Play by now, but they serve as a reminder to beware of unknown apps. Once downloaded, the app lists all running processes on the device and restarts them – apparently doing its job – but it also downloads three malicious files (autorun.inf, folder.ico, svchosts.exe) in the background, one of which is in fact Backdoor.MSIL.Ssucl.a.

Once connected to a PC running an older version of Windows, the autorun component is launched, and the malware is executed. The trojan takes control of your PC’s microphone, enables it, and uses it to record you and upload the results to the malware’s developers.

According to Kaspersky, the malware is aimed at users with lower-end Android devices who are looking for speed-up solutions, and those running older versions of Windows where the AutoRun still works. In addition to installing a trojan on your PC, the app also includes the following capabilities:

• Sending SMS messages


• Enabling Wi-Fi


• Gathering information about the device


• Opening arbitrary links in a browser


• Uploading the SD card’s entire contents


• Uploading an arbitrary file (or folder) to the master’s server


• Uploading all SMS messages


• Deleting all SMS messages


• Uploading all the contacts/photos/coordinates from the device to the master

The lesson? Protect your mobile device, and try to stick to apps with many downloads and reviews. If you’re looking for legit ways to enhance Droid’s abilties, check out this guide on speeding up Android, or this one on freeing up Android storage space.

What do you think of this new infection? Will it make you more wary when installing apps?

Source: SecureList

Image credit: virus image via Shutterstock, USB image via Shutterstock

The post A Google Play Malware Can Infect Your PC Through Your Mobile Device [Updates] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

How To Delete Kaspersky Temporary Files

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More than once I have mentioned here that Kaspersky Internet Security is the security software that I trust the most when it comes to PC security. Kaspersky Internet Security includes all features present in Kaspersky Antivirus plus two-way firewall, anti-spam and more. Recently, one of my PC’s hard drive was running out of free space. [...]

Top 5 Best Free Cloud Service Providers

These five cloud services make you smarter in file sharing by allowing backup your important files. Now a days cloud services are very popular in Internet with more features like sharing, security.

In the present situation no one rely on one method to backup important data and search for different methods to backup and store them securely in Internet.

This will be useful when the hard disk fail and access your files throughout world where the Internet available. This scenario changes the traditional backup methods and turn into new methods.

• Check out more about the Basics of Cloud Computing Technology.

Top 5 Cloud Service Providers which you can try for Free:

1. SkyDrive:

A Microsoft product with 7GB storage allows you to create documents, excel spreadsheets, presentations and upload them into SkyDrive. SkyDrive’s user interface is very simple and attractive with new windows metro look. It contains 3 folders named documents, pictures and public. You can create more folders by click on create button.

You can manage your storage by clicking on manage storage and see available storage in your SkyDrive. If you have any SkyDrive redeem code for upgrading, enter it by click on “Redeem your code’.

Features

• Gives 7GB file storage without completing any offers.


• Create documents in Internet and share them with your friends.


• Allows sharing files directly in Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn etc.


• Share files with a link and set permissions to that link and one more i.e. it gives shorten facility for that link.


• It supports open office document formats also.


• Embed documents directly into a webpage or blog

Note:

To access SkyDrive you need to create Microsoft Outlook Account which you can get for free.

2. Google Drive:

Another wonderful service from the Google with 5 GB file storage. Google drive is formerly known as Google docs and it was changed into cloud storage and allows you to create documents, presentations, forms and many more applications with the integration of Google chrome app store.

• Also Read:Complete Guide to get started with Google Drive.

In Google drive you can upload files and folders in same way. If you use non chrome browsers check this article to “enable folder upload”.

Features

• Get 5GB file storage instantly.


• Create new documents, spreadsheets or use pre-defined templates.


• Upload your files easily while you are on email or some other Google services.


• Convert uploaded files to Google docs format.


• Install number of apps from Google chrome app store.


• Gives list of keyboard shortcuts for easy accessing.

3. Drop box:

Drop box is one of the most useful online file storage services and it is very popular in other purposes also. Primarily it gives 2 GB file storage and you can increase storage by referring service to your friends and do some tasks like installing drop box, follow it on twitter, like it on Facebook etc.

Features

• Access drop box documents offline.


• Share files with your friends by inviting them.


• Get most of free space by referring friends


• Supports number of add-ons.


• Works well in maximum operating systems(include Android,iPhone,windows mobile).

4.Box:

Another online service that enables you to store and access your files anywhere. It gives 5 GB file storage for every user and it is only for non-commercial and personal use. You can upload files to box by dragging files to open space. Add your friends to your network by click on add collaborators.

Features

• Create documents, presentations, web documents.


• Add applications to box account and integrate popular services.


• Syncing your devices with box account and sync folders by click on it.

5. SugarSync:

Last but not least SugarSync is also one of the popular cloud service works well on 3 different platforms Desktop, Web and Mobile. So you can sync your files and folders anywhere.

After creation of account you need to install SugarSync for further proceedings. Finally your SugarSync account is alive in your computer, now you can access your important data from anywhere and get data back even your system crashes.

Features

• You can back up any folder of your computer, system folders too.


• Make uploads and synchronising through email also.


• Share files and folders securely with your friends.


• Give a chance to integrate third party application for getting better performance.


• Create albums with your photos and save albums in 3 different manners.

1. Private album


2. Public album


3. Shared album

• Publish photos or albums directly to Facebook with one touch support.

Conclusion:

If you want to store your important data in Internet especially cloud services then go for better and popular services because unpopular services are shutting down any time without giving any indication to you. So store your files in trusted services only.

If you know any other best free cloud storage service providers let us know in your comments.

Raman Bathina

About the Guest Author:

Raman Bathina blogs about Technology and Web Services.Apart from blogging he is currently pursuing M.C.A as a part of his academics.Why not check his blog Techresorts.org.

How to Add Couch Mode to WordPress?

You might’ve come across several blogs where advertisements dominate the content. This makes the user feel irritated and obviously he moves on to another website. What if he was given an option to read the web pages in a clutter-free environment? Yes, I recently came across several of such blogs wherein they’ve provided an additional option to read the posts without any advertisements and unwanted widgets. If you wanted to implement it on your blog, do follow the below steps.

How to Implement Couch Mode Feature on WordPress Blogs?

1. 
   
   Go to your WordPress dashboard and create a new page with the name “Reader Friendly” (something similar). You can leave the body empty and click “Publish”.
   
   


2. 
   
   Next, using FileZilla or any FTP software, open your .htaccess file and add the following code at the top.
   
   

   
   

   RewriteRule ^read/([0-9]+)/?$ /read/?u=$1 [QSA,L]

   
   

   
   


3. 
   
   Now, copy-paste the text in the page-read.php.txt file into a notepad file and save it as “page-read.php” (select save as type: “all files’’)
   
   


4. 
   
   Next, copy this file into your WordPress theme folder (currently active theme).
   
   


5. 
   
   From your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance > Editor and open your single.php file.
   
   


6. 
   
   Paste the following line of code wherever you required to appear in your post. I prefer adding this below your post title and click “Save”.
   
   

   
   

   <a href=”/read/<?php the_ID(); ?>/”>Read story without the clutter</a>

   
   

   
   

That’s it! From now on, your users will have the choice to read lengthy posts in the couch mode. This increases the user interaction very much.

Couch Mode Full Credits: @labnol

What Do You Think Of Facebook’s New Graph Search? [MakeUseOf Poll]

Last week we asked you what’s your favorite way to share photos. Granted, the best way depends on who you want to share with, but many of us still use one way most often despite that. The fight was a very close one, with the votes spreading across several options in almost equal measure, but at the end one method pulled ahead to take first place. Which one was it?

Out of 307 votes in total, the breakdown was as follows: 2% voted for printing as the best photo-sharing method, 4% voted for Instagram, 10% voted for Flickr, 11% prefer email for photo sharing, 19% like Facebook best, 22.5% voted for Picasa/Google+, and in first place by a mere 6 votes, 24% voted for a cloud service such as Dropbox/Box/SkyDrive etc. 7.5% voted for Other.

Full results and this week’s poll after the jump.

It’s interesting to see how uncommon printing has become. Also noteworthy is the surprisingly small number of users who voted for Instagram.

Don’t forget to check out last week’s best comment by Claire Curtis who won 150 points for her contribution!

This week’s poll question is: What Do You Think Of Facebook’s New Graph Search?

Want to make some extra MakeUseOf reward points? The most useful comment on the poll will be awarded 150 points!

Introduced two weeks ago, Facebook’s new Graph Search has by now reached many user profiles. If you’ve seen a notification about it and enabled it, you’ve noticed that the entire top bar of your Facebook homepage has changed, and now includes the option to search for things like “people who like running and are from my hometown” or “my friends who like John Irving”. The search yields very different results from a regular Google search, but naturally comes hand in hand with privacy issues. Have you tried Graph Search yet? What do you think about it?

Tell us in the comments what you like or don’t like about it, how you plan on using it, or reasons you have for not enabling it. If you’re worried about privacy, be sure to check out Angela’s tips on preparing your account for Graph Search.

The post What Do You Think Of Facebook’s New Graph Search? [MakeUseOf Poll] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

What Do You Think Of Facebook’s New Graph Search? [MakeUseOf Poll]

Last week we asked you what’s your favorite way to share photos. Granted, the best way depends on who you want to share with, but many of us still use one way most often despite that. The fight was a very close one, with the votes spreading across several options in almost equal measure, but at the end one method pulled ahead to take first place. Which one was it?

Out of 307 votes in total, the breakdown was as follows: 2% voted for printing as the best photo-sharing method, 4% voted for Instagram, 10% voted for Flickr, 11% prefer email for photo sharing, 19% like Facebook best, 22.5% voted for Picasa/Google+, and in first place by a mere 6 votes, 24% voted for a cloud service such as Dropbox/Box/SkyDrive etc. 7.5% voted for Other.

Full results and this week’s poll after the jump.

It’s interesting to see how uncommon printing has become. Also noteworthy is the surprisingly small number of users who voted for Instagram.

Don’t forget to check out last week’s best comment by Claire Curtis who won 150 points for her contribution!

This week’s poll question is: What Do You Think Of Facebook’s New Graph Search?

Want to make some extra MakeUseOf reward points? The most useful comment on the poll will be awarded 150 points!

Introduced two weeks ago, Facebook’s new Graph Search has by now reached many user profiles. If you’ve seen a notification about it and enabled it, you’ve noticed that the entire top bar of your Facebook homepage has changed, and now includes the option to search for things like “people who like running and are from my hometown” or “my friends who like John Irving”. The search yields very different results from a regular Google search, but naturally comes hand in hand with privacy issues. Have you tried Graph Search yet? What do you think about it?

Tell us in the comments what you like or don’t like about it, how you plan on using it, or reasons you have for not enabling it. If you’re worried about privacy, be sure to check out Angela’s tips on preparing your account for Graph Search.

The post What Do You Think Of Facebook’s New Graph Search? [MakeUseOf Poll] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

5 Steps to Getting the Best Rank in Search Engines

1. Step One: First you have to choose right keyword for web SEO Optimization.

The first thing is you must choose your keywords carefully. This is the first and most important step of SEO. You have chosen keywords that are wrong or ineffective keywords mean it’s an invalid optimization.

You should find popular keywords or niches related to the content of your website, and then know search popularity and competition results of every keyword. Keywords with more popularity and less competition will be your targeted keyword phrases.

Best place to search your keyword: https://adwords.google.com

2. Step Two: Optimize your website ranking factors.

Once you have finished your keyword analysis and selected specific keywords, you should optimize your web site to get better search engine position.

The most important ranking factors are including website title tags, description tags, Meta keyword tags, heading text; link URL, link text, image alt tags, and comment and web page body content text.

You should optimize all these factors are doing carefully. The top 10 ranking website content and ranking factors will give your more help to refer.



3. Step Three: Submit your website URL to top search engines directories.
After your completion of website optimization then you have to submit your website to Submit all your web sites to Google, Yahoo, MSN, DMOZ and the other major engines.

4 .Step Four: Link Exchange Factor.

Link popularity or Link building is the total number of websites that link to your web site. It is an important method of improving your site's relevancy and place as many engines are using this information as ranking criteria. Both the quantity and quality of link popularity is important to every website. The best "relevant" links from web pages related to your keyword or topic is getting boost to your website.

5. Step Five: Monitoring and reOptimizing your website.
After completion of fourth step, often checking your website search engine position of your targeted keywords, if you are not satisfied with optimization ranking results, you should do more SEO to reach higher search engines ranking position.

Using Wine to Play Games On Linux? Here’s Why You Should Switch To Steam Right Now

In the last couple of months, Steam has been getting a lot of attention. Not necessarily because of the games that it’s been carrying, but because of its expanding support of different operating systems. If you haven’t heard already, Steam has made official plans to support Linux, and has already made substantial progress with their beta Linux client. It really won’t be too long before the Steam client is stable, so all that would be left to do is port games over to Linux.

Now that such a major service is available for our favorite penguin, here’s a couple of reasons why you should at least consider making the switch.

Performance

I’ll start with the obvious with a surprising twist – performance via Steam is a lot better. Of course, when compared to games played via Wine, it’s going to be faster because the games are played natively rather than through a compatibility layer. Performance is one of the most important aspects of gaming, so people shouldn’t take this significance lightly.

Also, did I mention that games played via Steam on Linux ran faster than those run on Windows? The exact same hardware produced better results on Linux for identical games. I’m sure no one expected that because I know I didn’t.

Compatibility

Whenever you buy a game, you can’t be guaranteed that the game will even run with Wine. There is a database for Wine where the compatibility applications and games are listed, but that’ll only save you some money by telling you that it probably won’t work out as you might hope. With Steam, however, all games available for Linux are guaranteed to work, no questions asked.

With this argument, the only temporary downside is that the amount of available games for Linux is relatively small. I expect this number to grow dramatically over time.

Steam Benefits

Of course, by switching to Steam you gain all of its great benefits. This includes occasionally cheaper prices (especially during sales), a completely online experience so that no physical media is ever necessary, updates to both the client and games whenever they’re released, and more.

For example, if you reinstall the operating system on a machine, you can simply open up Steam and it’ll automatically download and install all of your old games, letting you sit back and relax. On Windows and Mac OS X, people have been very pleased with how Steam operates, so it is a reputable place to buy your games.

Let Your Voice Be Heard

Finally, by switching over to Steam, you’re making a statement. I’d be surprised if Steam’s effort towards Linux doesn’t interest your gaming soul, and as a community we need to show support for projects that we appreciate. Switching to Steam will not only make Steam’s ventures into Linux worthwhile, but it also shows others that Linux is a competent gaming platform – people historically just haven’t put in enough time to get to some breakthroughs.

If we can show to others that Linux people love to play games, and that they could make a profit by supporting Linux, they may be more willing to do so. And we all like more games, right?

Conclusion

I absolutely understand if you’re a bit skeptical about switching over to Steam when the chance is high that your games haven’t been added yet. However, just give it some time and check regularly. Eventually a few of your games, as well as some new ones you might enjoy, should be part of those which run just fine on Linux.

What do you think about Steam’s work in Linux? Have you thought about switching? Let us know in the comments!

The post Using Wine to Play Games On Linux? Here’s Why You Should Switch To Steam Right Now appeared first on MakeUseOf.