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Got a media center? Ever get tired of fumbling around with a full sized keyboard and mouse while trying to watch Hulu or Netflix? Not only can some controls dispense with the nasty tangle of cables, but they also transform the HTPC experience. The seven controls presented in this article provide an alternative means of interacting with your home theater PC, but are by no means the only solutions. They are, however, totally awesome and you need to read about them. Right now.
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You're looking for a small computer to power a laser turret that can shoot multi-coloured balloons - it's a common situation we all find ourselves in at one point or another - and you've heard good things about both Arduino and Raspberry Pi. But you can't decide - which the best mini-computer for your project? Which is going to prevail as the most useful once you've disassembled the turret thanks to that incident with the neighbour's cat?
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How many times have you been approached by a friend or family member who says that they really have very little use for a big, powerful computer, since all they do with it is check email and maybe read a couple of websites every day? The fact is, there area whole lot of people that fall into this category. Computers just aren't a big part of their lives, it's as simple as that. What they really need is an ultra-simple computer.
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Malware remains a potential threat for many PC owners. Here at MakeUseOf, we’ve been helping to combat that threat by offering several anti-malware apps free of charge through our Rewards Program. One of those apps has a sequel. IObit Malware Fighter 2 is a major overhaul of the company’s anti-malware app. It adds a variety of features that update the software for modern times, including cloud security and full Windows 8 support. Let’s see how IObit’s new app stacks up.
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On Thursday, Evernote released a much requested Reminders feature for its popular notebook application. In a blog post, the company says that the new feature includes in-app and email alarms, quick notes based on to-do lists, and the ability to pin notes to the top of your note list — all rolled into one. The new update will be available on Evernote's Web, Mac and iOS versions — for both free and Evernote Business users.
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Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. Most of the listed websites are FREE or come with a decent free account option. If you want to have similar cool websites round-ups delivered to your email daily email subscribe here....
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Fellow reader Dado asked us, "How can I run multiple operating systems from a single USB?" This becomes practical if the different operating systems are Live CDs, i.e. designed to access a PC from outside of the computer's own operating system. This can be handy if the native operating system is corrupted through misuse, poor maintenance, or worse, malware. There are several tools that can help you create your multiboot USB stick. We tested three of them: XBoot, MultiBootUSB, and YUMI.
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A slight trip, a clutch at thin air and a sickening "pop". Bits of glass fall to the ground as you drop to your knees. A single bolt of lightning illuminates the sky and the rain that begins to fall masks your tears and shattered pride. You've broken your screen, you idiot. It's a simple accident, and one that many others make on a daily basis. It also has the potential to be quite an expensive accident, particularly if you're the owner of an iPhone 5. Read on to find out what you can do.
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Gmail has been around for almost a decade now and millions of users around the world still use it today. Yet, despite being backed by Google, Gmail is still a service that’s rather skimpy on the features. Fortunately, if you still want to use Gmail in your browser, there are a number of great plugins that will transform your Gmail experience right away. If you use a third-party client like Thunderbird or Postbox, you may want to reconsider.
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The science (or art) of hiding messages is called steganography , and in the digital age, can be used to hide secret messages in innocent-looking images. Looking at the picture, you have no idea there’s a secret message hiding inside, but with the correct tools or passwords, the secret message can be revealed. As with everything, the digital and Internet age made creating these secret messages easier than ever.
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I've made it a point to highlight League of Legends pretty narrowly in many of my recent posts related to gaming. The game is absolutely huge and it's only going to continue growing larger. In just days, Riot will be hosting an LCS All-Star event that is expected to receive stream viewers up into the millions. The new season's competitive structure allows any individual player or team to have a realistic shot at competing with the very best.
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Phones have gone through an incredible evolution over the past few years. Besides serving as mobile phone and a tiny window into the world wide web, the modern smartphone accommodates a multitude of tools. The things you can do with a smartphone are limited only by the imagination. Admittedly, fantasies typically aren't realistic, but there are a lot of devices you can really replace with your Android smartphone.
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Since its initial release in 2010, Windows Phone has generally had a reputation as the "other". Neither iOS nor Android but something else entirely, its curious and fast user interface has led to it experiencing a slow adoption rate as consumers struggled to work out whether it is a smartphone for leisure or productivity, gaming or business. The truth is, like a desktop PC, it is all of these things and much more.
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Google Checkout is the next Google service to be discontinued, and will be closing shop on November 20th. The payment gateway will cease operations in favor of Google Wallet. Google Checkout is a PayPal alternative for Web merchants, and also the favored transaction medium for Google Play developers. Google expects the transition to be smooth as it announced its focus on Google Wallet as the new medium of commerce.
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Indexing, trash bins, folder positions – OS X keeps track of all these things, on every drive connected to your Mac, by creating files. These files are fine on a Mac – OS X uses them regularly, and hides them from the user. Plug a drive mainly used with Windows into a Mac, however, and in Windows you'll see a variety of useless files cluttering things up. Do you want to stop the madness? You can.
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