06 April 2014

Have You Ever Used BitCoin? [MakeUseOf Poll]



physical-bitcoins

Last week we asked for your help. We wanted to know what type of articles you’d like to see more of here on MakeUseOf. We gave you 16 options to choose from, and over 4,000 of you gave your voice to help us find out more about what our readers want. So first of all, thank you! Since there were many topics to choose from, we’ll only go over the ones that came on top. Keep scrolling to see the full results! In 5th place, you voted for Security & privacy tips (8% of the votes), In 4th place, we...


Read the full article: Have You Ever Used BitCoin? [MakeUseOf Poll]



A YouTube Experiment Resizes the Player Dynamically



There's a new YouTube experiment that changes the video player's size, depending on the browser window's size. When resizing Chrome's window, YouTube switches from 360p to 480p and to 720p, while the player gets bigger.



Here's the same video in a larger player (480p) and an almost fullscreen player (720p) on a 1080p display:









YouTube's "stats for nerds" show the size of the player ("dimensions") and the video resolution:






The nice thing is that the player resizes automatically and you don't have to click a button. It's the power of responsive design. The YouTube player still has a "large player" button, but it only moves the right sidebar and centers the player.



How to try the new interface? If you use Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari or Internet Explorer 8+:



1. open youtube.com in a new tab



2. load your browser's developer console:



* Chrome or Opera 15+ - press Ctrl+Shift+J for Windows/Linux/ChromeOS or Command-Option-J for Mac



* Firefox - press Ctrl+Shift+K for Windows/Linux or Command-Option-K for Mac



* Internet Explorer 8+ - press F12 and select the "Console" tab



* Safari 6+ - if you haven't enabled the Develop menu, open Preferences from the Safari menu, go to the Advanced tab and check "Show Develop menu in menu bar". Close Preferences and then press Command-Option-C to show the console.



* Opera 12 - press Ctrl+Shift+I for Windows/Linux or Command-Option-I for Mac, then click "Console".



3. paste the following code which changes a YouTube cookie:



document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=E_OLzg3yeLw; path=/; domain=.youtube.com";window.location.reload();



4. press Enter and close the console.



To go back to the regular interface, use the same instructions, but replace the code from step 3 with this one:



document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=; path=/; domain=.youtube.com";window.location.reload();



{ Thanks, Maurice Wahba. }

How To Write A Great Lede When Writing For The Web



web-writing-lede

Writing for the Web is a skill that’s easy to learn but difficult to master. One of the hardest elements is concocting a great lede; ledes being the one chance you have of persuading readers to commit to an article in full. Which is exactly what you’re doing in your head right about now. What Is A Lede? A lede, also known as a lead or intro, is that collection of words you see above you. It’s an introduction, an opener, an invitation to read further. Ledes exist in all forms of media, and burying the lede is generally considered...


Read the full article: How To Write A Great Lede When Writing For The Web



05 April 2014

Spotify Rolls Out New Darker Theme And New Features



spotify-new-look

Spotify, one of the most popular methods of consuming music on the go and in front of a computer, has launched a huge refresh that changes the look of all of its applications while also adding some new functionality and features that should make everything easier to use. The first thing you will notice is that the app has been given a new look, with dark colors throughout. Everything from the colors to the icons and text has been given a major overhaul, and it’s definitely slick looking. The redesign allows the content of the app to look like it’s...


Read the full article: Spotify Rolls Out New Darker Theme And New Features



8 Geeky Ways To Customize Windows To Your Needs



customize-windows

Whether you’re a tech guru or you feel as if you’re hardly getting by on your computer, customizing Windows is for everyone. That’s right – even if you don’t feel as though you’re the “tech savvy” type, you should customize Windows. In fact, there’s a pretty good chance it’ll help you navigate your computer better. And thanks to the Internet, you don’t have to figure these customizations out yourself – we’ve covered a significant portion of them right here on MakeUseOf. Manage & Enhance The Context (Right Click) Menu If you thought your context menu could never be edited, you’ve...


Read the full article: 8 Geeky Ways To Customize Windows To Your Needs



How to Force the Browser to Remember the Username and Password



When you enter your username and password to log into a website, Google Chrome will prompt you to remember the password. If you accept, Chrome saves the password internally and the next time you open that site, it will auto-fill the username and password fields for you.


The password-saving feature is available in all modern browsers but some websites, maybe for security reasons, disable this option for their login forms. For instance, the PayPal website doesn’t allow the browser to remember your password and thus you are forced to enter the password every time you open PayPal. Some banks websites do that as well.


TL;DR — Use the Remember Password extension for Chrome and it will force the browser to remember passwords even if the site has disabled the option.


You can force the browser to remember your password

You can force the browser to remember your password



How Websites Disable Password Saving


Websites can easily disable the auto-fill option for login forms by setting autocomplete=off for the password field. For instance, if the login form is written as below, the browser will never prompt the user to save the password field because form autocompletion is turned off.



<form>
<input type="text" name="username">
<input type="password" name="password" autocomplete="off">
</form>

Force the Browser to Remember Password


Now that you know how websites turn off the option to remember passwords, getting around this problem is simple.


You can set the autocomplete attribute of the password fields on a web page to on (if they are off) and you’ll be able to save passwords. Here’s a piece of JavaScript that will automatically turn on autocomplete for all password fields on a web page.



var fields = document.querySelectorAll('input[type="password"]');
for (var i = 0; i < fields.length; i++) {
fields[i].autocomplete="on";
}

No, you don’t have to worry about the code as there’s a simple extension for Chrome – Remember Password – that does it automatically for you.


Install the Remember Password extension and then open a site like PayPal that does not allow you to save passwords. Login with your username & password and the browser will now prompt you to remember the password.


Also see: The Best Google Chrome Extensions




This story, How to Force the Browser to Remember the Username and Password, was originally published at Digital Inspiration on 04/04/2014 under Google Chrome, Password, Software

04 April 2014

Amazon Announces And Starts Selling Fire TV Set Top Box



amazon-fire-tv

One of the worst kept secrets among tech circles was Amazon’s plan to enter into the set top box game with its very own Android-based device. Well, the once book seller now eCommerce giant has made it all official with the recent announcement of its new device called the Fire TV. Of course, while the fact it was coming was a surprise to no one, Amazon did have some tricks up its sleeve for its big reveal. One of the first surprises for Amazon’s box is just how powerful it is. It boasts a quad core processor, 2GB of RAM,...


Read the full article: Amazon Announces And Starts Selling Fire TV Set Top Box



How To Make Skype Calls Via Your Browser



skype-in-browser

Learn how to make a Skype call from Outlook.com in just a few simple steps. Because some moments are just right for Skype. Set up a couple of simple things and you could soon be bringing all your friends into Outlook with one click. If you are always in your browser, and hate opening up apps you’ve probably realised that Skype is one of those things you generally forget to open. Well, that just changed. You can get Skype in your browser. Here’s how. Install The New Skype Plugin Microsoft recently released the Skype Web Plugin for browsers, meaning that...


Read the full article: How To Make Skype Calls Via Your Browser



Google Keep OCR



Google Keep has recently added a few new features. You can now upload images and Google automatically performs OCR and indexes the text, so you can quickly find images by searching for a few words from the images. This is not the smart visual search feature from Google Drive and Google+ Photos, but it's still useful. You can also transcribe the text, so that you can actually extract the text from the image. Another options lets you "make a copy" of a note.









If you click the 3-dot menu icon from a note that includes a list, you can change list settings. New list items can be added at the top or at the bottom and checked items can be moved to the bottom. By default, the changes also apply to new lists, but you can uncheck this setting.






Here's what happens after enabling "move to the bottom" for checked items:






When you delete a note, it's now moved to the Trash and it will be permanently removed after 7 days. Go to the Trash to empty it or restore some of the notes you've accidentally deleted.






The Android app was also updated with support for multiple accounts, a yellow action bar that changes color with notes and the same new features from the desktop interface.





How To Install Windows 8.1 Update 1



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With Windows 8.1 Update 1, Microsoft is trying to address the mistakes that it had committed while developing Windows 8. Even though, Microsoft hasn’t re-introduced the Start menu with Windows 8.1 Update and will bring back the same with in a future update later this year, the newly released major Update for Windows 8.1 enhances […]

Net Neutrality, Cuban Twitter, Brendan Eich, Open Source .Net [Tech News Digest]



europe-connections

Today in Tech News Digest, net neutrality in Europe, Cuban Twitter plot revealed, Brendan Eich resigns, open source .Net, new Kinect for Windows, Lingua.ly on Android, and the advanced Bitcoin simulator. Europe Votes For Net Neutrality The European Parliament has voted to protect the idea of net neutrality, with a major telecoms reform package clearing its first hurdle. The reforms clearly define what net neutrality is and ensure telcos treat all services equally. For those unsure of the issue at hand, we previously explained the concept thusly: “Net neutrality is, at its core, a very simple concept. It describes an...


Read the full article: Net Neutrality, Cuban Twitter, Brendan Eich, Open Source .Net [Tech News Digest]



Customize Google's App Launcher



Last week, I mentioned that you can customize Google's app launcher, but the feature didn't work well: changes weren't saved. Now it works well and you can reorder the apps using drag and drop. You can also add new shortcuts: go to Google Keep, Google Sites, Play Music, Webmaster Central, Google Voice, Google Patents, Google Groups, click the app launcher icon and then click "Add a shortcut".









There's no way to remove shortcuts, but you can always drag them to the second page, so they're out of the way.

No More SMS in Gmail Chat



A few days ago, Google removed the experimental SMS feature from Gmail Labs, which was launched back in 2008. "As of April 1, 2014, sending SMS messages to phone contacts through Chat in Gmail will be discontinued for all supported mobile operators. All existing users can opt in to Hangouts and select to receive messages in SMS settings," informs Google.






If you're in the US or Canada, you can send SMS from Google Voice. You can also switch to Hangouts and "continue receiving SMS messages as follow-me (i.e. if you're offline and receive a Hangout message, you'll get an SMS message)."



Google says that "by streamlining our services, we're able to focus on creating the best possible products for our users," but I suspect that Google wants to discontinue Gmail Chat and switch all the users to Hangouts.



Unfortunately, the SMS feature from Hangouts is more limited and supports less countries. When click this link, I get this message: "We're sorry, the feature you are looking for is currently only available in a limited number of countries."



There are plenty of other ways to send SMS online. You can use the SMS feature from Yahoo Mail or Yahoo Messsenger, use MightyText, which has a nice web app, browser extensions, an Android app and also integrates with Gmail.



{ Thanks, Beta Aly and Michael Hardt. }

Caption Contest: You May Now Text The Bride



caption-contest-text-bride

Wait, you’re just checking in now? Caption this cartoon, will ya? Enter your captions in the comment section and you’ll be in the running to win a free MakeUseOf t-shirt! Every comment counts as one entry, and there may be more than one winner! Paul Harris won the Water Cooling contest with his caption: “I said use water to cool it, not cool it in water.” Congratulations, Paul! We’re still accepting submissions for Glassastrophe, so head over there and think of a great caption. The winner will be announced tomorrow.


Read the full article: Caption Contest: You May Now Text The Bride



4 Simple YouTube Music Players For A Swim In The Stream Of Free Music



youtube-streaming-music

YouTube is for watching videos, right? No arguments there. But YouTube is also an unlimited source of restriction-free music anyone in the world can listen to. While it’s easy enough to find and listen to it on YouTube itself, there are other, easier ways. These services will turn YouTube into your own personal streaming service. Streamus (Chrome) Streamus is probably the easiest way to play YouTube songs in your browser. Streamus is a Chrome extensions that lets you find songs and tracks from YouTube and start listening to them without ever visiting the YouTube website. Or any website, for that...


Read the full article: 4 Simple YouTube Music Players For A Swim In The Stream Of Free Music



Dogecoin: How A Meme Became the 3rd Largest Digital Coin



dogecoin

What happens when a joke turns into a currency with a market cap over $30 million? You get Dogecoin. If you browse sites like Reddit and 9GAG, you’ve most certainly run into the doge meme and its iconic Shiba Inu, but you may not know that that same Shiba Inu is now the mascot of a digital coin. Wow, such money. What Is Dogecoin? Dogecoin is a derivative of Litecoin, which is a cryptocurrency inspired by Bitcoin. Don’t let the term cryptocurrency frighten you, though; just think of it as digital currency and you’ll be fine. While the technology behind...


Read the full article: Dogecoin: How A Meme Became the 3rd Largest Digital Coin



03 April 2014

How To Download Windows 8.1 Update 1 Right Now



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At BUILD 2014, Microsoft officially unveiled Windows 8.1 Update and announced that the Update will be rolled out to Windows 8.1 users on April 8th. As you might know, Windows 8.1 Update has been made available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers and users with one of these subscriptions can download and install the update right […]

Download Windows 8.1 Update Now [For MSDN and TechNet Subscribers]



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At BUILD 2014, Microsoft officially revealed Windows 8.1 Update features and has released the Update to MSDN and TechNet. That is, MSDN and TechNet subscribers can now officially download the first major update to Windows 8.1. Microsoft has also announced that it would bring back the Start menu to Windows 8.1 in a future update […]

Amazon Fire TV, Windows Phone Cortana, Indiegogo GoBe, Binge Watching PSA [Tech News Digest]



amazon-fire-tv-official

Today in Tech News Digest, the Amazon Fire TV, Windows Phone 8.1 with Cortana, Windows 8.1 Update 1 for mouse and keyboards, GoBe on Indiegogo, Rdio, Vudu, and Crackle on Chromecast, and a PSA about the dangers of binge watching. Amazon Launches Fire TV Set-Top Box Amazon has unveiled Fire TV, a powerful set-top box for streaming content and playing games. The Amazon Fire TV is available immediately and priced at US$99. The remote control is included, with a custom controller for playing games priced at $39.99. The Amazon Fire TV is an Android-powered set-top box with a quad-core CPU,...


Read the full article: Amazon Fire TV, Windows Phone Cortana, Indiegogo GoBe, Binge Watching PSA [Tech News Digest]



What Is The Best Online April Fools’ Day Prank Ever? [We Ask You]



we-ask-you-logo

Another April Fools’ Day has been and gone, which is a huge relief for anyone who works online. Determining the real news from the fake news can be tough, especially with so many companies and websites entering into the spirit of the occasion. It’s time, with your help, to sort the wheat from the chaff. Foolish Foolhardy Fools We want to know, What Is The Best Online April Fools’ Day Prank Ever? Please do limit your comments to online April Fools’ Day pranks because, as interesting as your real-world April Fools’ Day pranks may be, they’re not quite what we’re...


Read the full article: What Is The Best Online April Fools’ Day Prank Ever? [We Ask You]