Cool Websites and Tools [September 1st]
Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For more cool websites and web app reviews subscribe to MakeUseOf Directory.
| YouTube Music – Are you a YouTube fan who constantly checks out the video hosting site for new music? If yes, then YouTube just did you a favor: they revamped their music page to add some great features. It started with YouTube’s “Shows” and “Movies” page and now YouTube has transformed its “Music” page as well. Read more: YouTube Music: Easily Discover New Music Videos On YouTube |
CONGRATS: zozi New Zealand Trip Giveaway Winner Selected
Yes, we know. The giveaway has been over for quite a while now. We tried hard to push through the red tape and good news — we’ve finally selected a winner to go on this fabulous trip.
Congratulations, Dan Splawn from Boncarbo, CO. (up in the mountains).
For his plus one, Dan will be taking his beautiful wife to New Zealand. Well Dan, we hope that you and your wife will have a great time tasting fantastic wine, eating fabulous food and enjoying the view. Remember to take lots of photos to show off to other MakeUseOf readers!

Getting Things Done With Nirvana Private Beta [500 Invites!]
Getting things done, or GTD, is a popular category of web application software. We have covered many GTD programs in the past and they each have their own little pros and cons. I am going to introduce you to another one called Nirvana (@nirvanahq on Twitter) and go over some of the things that make this particular product unique and useful.
Before we start, I should mention that Nirvana is currently in private beta. However, Christiane over at Nirvana has kindly offered us beta invites for 500 lucky readers!
Create A Professional DJ Party Mix With OTS Turntables
Whether you’re trying to create a mix of audio tracks to burn to CD as a gift for someone, or you want to put together a cool stream of awesome songs with professional DJ fading, scratches and other effects, it isn’t always easy to find high quality DJ mixing software for free.
Jeffry described how you can put together a party iTunes playlist with DJ Song Lists, and Angelina reviewed a couple of cool free apps that you can use to mix up tunes. All of these apps are great, but they don’t provide that DJ look and feel – wouldn’t it be cool to download a virtual DJ studio you can run on your laptop that gives you a couple of turntables and lets you perform realtime effects on the music as it plays?
Hot Tech Deals [Sep 1st]
If you’re in the market for a new computer, laptop, mobile phone, games and other accessories; don’t waste your time searching online. We’ve taken the liberty of locating the best tech deals and unifying them into a single post for your convenience.
For more fresh hot deals, visit our Hot Tech Deals page, which is constantly updated.
Keep reading to find out today’s Hot Tech Deals.
20 Strange & Interesting Facts About Microsoft, Google & Apple
If you have to pick three companies that take up most of your mindspace, I am sure you would plonk for The Big Three – Apple, Microsoft, and Google.
No three companies can be more different, but they affect our lives in the same way.
Microsoft, the oldest of the three, has the iron grip on desktop computing. Apple, next born, is about personal style thanks to iconic products like the Mac and the iPod. Google, the youngest, but arguably the most vivacious of the lot, has a finger in any pie that has to do with the internet (and beyond).
But how well do we know these three that are with us 24×7?
6 Little Known Ways To Enable & Add More Word Processing Power [Mac]
It’s no doubt that modern technologies have shifted our method of exchanging information away from the oral tradition and closer to the written tradition. It seems that the lives of today’s internet generation revolves around text; starting from the SMS’s, Tweets, status updates, emails, blogs, to office works and term papers. These text creating businesses require us to have some sort of word processing ability in our devices.
Even though the term “word processor” is almost identical to Microsoft Word, it is not the one and only tool. If you use Mac, there are many alternatives to a word processor that you can use. You can even improve your word processing life without having to modify the word processor application itself by enabling and adding more power to it.
The Top Learning Resources To Be A Better Freelance Writer
While computers and other forms of technology have replaced many manual labor jobs, that’s not the case in the field of writing. The daily proliferation of websites demands good and consistent content produced by freelance writers, designers, technicians and other web content providers.
If you‘re interested in pursuing work in freelance writing, there are a number of resourceful websites that provide real world tips and strategies. These are not job sites per sé; they are places to go to learn about the what it takes to develop and maintain a career as a freelance writer.
KeePassX: Secure Password Management For Linux & OS X
Web apps are fantastic. They’re cross platform, accessible anywhere and fast.
There’s one problem, however: passwords. If you use a lot of different web apps you need to manage many different usernames and passwords.
This is the exact reason Dave recommended using KeePass to secure your online accounts. This simple program creates an encrypted database where you can store your passwords, but KeePass downloads offered are Windows-only.
Enter KeePassX, a version of KeePass – secure password management for Linux and Mac OS X.
6 Best Blogs To Follow If You Are A Web Designer
If you are a web designer, chances are there is always something interesting to be found. Whether you are looking for some creative inspiration, trying to stay up on the current trends, or are seeking the latest buttons, textures, or graphics, you can find them. If you simply want to sharpen your skills – or learn new ones – you can do that as well.
Fortunately, there is no lack of resources in this regard. Actually, you could probably make the case that there is too much information in this space, causing you to miss the best tips, tricks, and how-to’s at times.
In this article, I am going to cover some of the blogs on the Web for web designers. Whether you are into web design and development or not, there is a little something useful for everyone on this list.



