Windows 8 has managed to do a pretty decent job of putting all of your favorite and most-used applications right in your face with their rendition of the startup screen. Not all of us fancy it though. I personally skip straight the desktop. With all of these commonly-used applications so separated, daily tasks can seem like a hassle. Ubiquitous Player makes an attempt at alleviating that and serving as your Swiss Army Knife of application goodies.

Download Ubiquitous Player

Ubiquitous Player is a completely portable application that runs on any version of Windows from XP onward. It’s 100% free and even works on tablet or touchscreen devices. This application aims to serve every purpose of your daily PC routine. It’s packed with a media player, image viewer, file manager, text editor, browser, bookmark manager, notes keeper, calculator, color picker, screenshot tool, clipboard monitor, and even more.

Ubiquitous Player’s interface is very sleek and attractive. Let’s pick apart some of its many uses.

Music Player

The music player offers pretty much everything the average user needs to enjoy their music collection. You can organize a playlist and view album art (in the top-right corner) within Ubiquitous Player.

You’re able to play an entire folder, play random tracks, set a track to just play once, and skip to the next album in your folder to play it in its entirety. Ubiquitous Player includes all basic media keys to start, stop, skip, go back, and change the volume of its player. Ubiquitous Player’s music player isn’t entirely impressive, yet it’s everything you should need.

Notes

Ubiquitous Player’s take on notes is very bare and straightforward. As you can see in some of the examples above, note-taking is composed of “folders” (which simply act as a header describing a list of notes) and then line-by-line notes beneath them.

Obviously this doesn’t compare to an Evernote or CintaNotes, but it’s very quick, good for jotting down simple things, and even supports searching your notes.

Image Viewer

The image viewer offers some interesting features. Just using your left-click button, you’re able to navigate through to the next image in a folder. With each individual image, you have options to view it at its actual size, cut the image, rotate it, change the backdrop to black or white, or resave the image as either PNG, JPG, BMP, or JPEG. All images show the dimensions, size, and date modified.

When you’re hunting through a cluttered folder, Ubiquitous Player’s image viewer is a great way to look at images quickly and easily.

Text Editor

Ubiquitous Player’s text editor is a very straightforward alternative to Notepad. You’re able to format your text in a few ways, such as changing the font face, size, and color. You’re able to immediately access a special characters map from within the interface. You can also view your text in HTML format using the built-in browser.

The settings allow you to activate a touchscreen mode, change the interface scaling, and even set hotkeys related to screen capturing (all of which I used to take the screenshots in this post).

Conclusion

Ubiquitous Player isn’t the type of application to exceed your expectations. It definitely isn’t going to be a replacement for any of the dedicated applications that exist as alternatives for some of its built-in features, but it does well for bringing so many elements together in a single interface. It’s the kind of application that could work best on low-resource machines (like a netbook).

What do you think of Ubiquitous Player and the features it provides? What can Ubiquitous Player do better? I think it’s a really solid application that deserves some attention, and I hope you give it a try if it interests you. Let me know what you think about Ubiquitous Player in the comments section below!

The post Ubiquitous Player Is An Everything-In-One Portable Suite appeared first on MakeUseOf.

I’ve never been a fan of Microsoft Word or its alternatives. They often feel bulky and packed with more than what I need. However, there are a lot of basic features that an editor like Notepad could easily add support for. How about line numbering? URL detection? It’s extremely likely that Notepad will never show support for these features, but third-party developers have taken it into their own hands. In this post, let’s look at two relatively unknown Notepad alternatives.

Xint

Xint is a rather advanced spin on the Windows Notepad and adds dozens of additional features without sacrificing disk space or memory usage. It still feels incredibly lightweight and simple.

Xint makes nearly all of its features accessible through hotkeys or buttons in the application’s toolbar. Others can be accessed by right-clicking anywhere within your document. Another great perk is that Xint is completely open source, so it can be trusted. Third-party applications are often riddled with toolbar installation paths and other annoyances, but Xint isn’t. As they offer the source code openly, you can feel free to check through the coding and ensure that there’s absolutely no bloat or unwanted snags.

Shown in the above screenshot, you can already see a number of features that Xint supports over Notepad: line numbering, line and column counters, a saved or unsaved status notifier, and more.

Shown above, there are plenty more features that can be viewed and accessed through the many menus. This includes:

• A “most recent documents” list
• Encryption and decryption using Twofish
• View clipboard
• Fast replacement features using the Boyer Moore algorithm
• Instant access to the character map
• Activate in-file URLs in your default browser
• Conversion options to turn spaces or tabs into commas and other delimiters
• HTML stripping
• A-Z sorting

While Xint’s preferences are a bit limited, you’re able to change many aesthetic preferences like text colors, edge colors, tab widths, foreground and background colors, and more.

Also noteworthy is that Xint allows you to assign hotkeys to practically every function that the application offers, including access to the character map, word count, inserting today’s date, and more. It’s good to have such common functions right at your fingertips and free from a reach to your mouse. All of these hotkeys can be accessed and modified under the ? menu above the main toolbar. As there are so many, some may conflict with hotkeys you have assigned to other running applications (such as a media player), so keep that in mind.

Overall, Xint pumps some much-appreciated and useful features into an interface that is practically the same as Notepad’s.

Subpad

Subpad gets an immediate stamp of approval from me as it introduces itself as a portable application. There’s no bloat or toolbars and getting rid of Subpad is as simple as deleting the folder you’ve extracted it to. If you like it, you can always toss it on a flash drive or in a Dropbox folder to keep with you wherever you go.

Glancing from screenshots of Subpad to Xint, they look a lot like the same application. Subpad’s main toolbar is a bit more refined and has some smoother icons. Other than that, they are extremely similar in appearance. Subpad can actually be described as a slimmed-down version of Xint (which is a souped-up version of Notepad). This is one of my favorite text editors ever.

Subpad includes some of the most core functionalities that Xint does, like word count, URL detection, roll-up forms, word wrap, unlimited undo/redo (which is huge), a list of recently-opened documents, and the ability to run external tools (such as FTP).

The application’s preferences show a window that is exactly the same as what Xint offers, being mostly aesthetic changes that will allow you to change colors, texts, and various sizes of window elements and borders.

If you try Xint and it’s a little too much for you, but Notepad still isn’t enough, Subpad is an awesome balance between the two.

Which of these two alternatives to Notepad do you prefer? Do you like the more extensive solution of Xint or the slimmed-down version of Subpad? Are either of them a better alternative to Notepad? If you’d like to check out some similar applications, you can give AkelPad or ResophNotes a quick look. Both have some interesting features that these two (and Notepad) don’t include. Otherwise, let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

The post Notepad Not Doing The Trick? Try Out The Lightweight Alternatives Xint & Subpad appeared first on MakeUseOf.

So why isn’t POP extinct yet? Good question! Unfortunately, some mail providers (most notably ISPs) still aren’t supporting IMAP. You’re stuck with POP. This causes a huge problem, because a lot of today’s application developers don’t care about it, thus don’t bother to support it. A relative recently confronted me with an issue of not being able to receive her POP account email on her phone because only IMAP servers were supported. In this post, I’d like to show you how to work around this issue.

Get a Gmail Account

If you aren’t using Gmail yet, you shouldn’t be. It’s free, the mailbox UI is great, and it offers you more space than basically any other provider you’ll find. Signing up for an email account should take no more than a minute.

If you already have a Gmail account and you’re trying to receive email from a POP mailbox on a device that only supports IMAP, it doesn’t matter. You need to create a new Gmail account to act as a proxy for your POP account. The method is simple: we’re taking your old, outdated POP email account and pushing all of the mail you receive into a shiny and new Gmail account that acts as a mirror of it (but supports IMAP).

Add Your POP Account to Gmail

After you’ve created your Gmail account and logged in, go to the settings and access the Accounts page (shown across the menu at the top). Here, you should see “Check mail from other accounts (using POP3)” option.

The blurred areas show three POP email accounts that I have currently added to my Gmail account. When you’ve added a POP account, you’ll see them listed there. You can do so by clicking “Add a POP3 mail account you own“, which is our next step.

You’ll first be prompted to enter your POP email address and then you’ll be shown the page above. Here, your username, POP server, and incoming label is already populated for you. If any of those need to be changed, be sure to do so. You’ll need to enter accurate information or your email obviously cannot be taken from the POP server and brought here to Gmail, so make sure you do this. If you don’t know the information, you can check my article that gives you the mail server information for three of the biggest email providers, or you can simply Google it.

Let me stress that it is extremely important for you to tick the box beside the “Leave a copy of retrieved message on the server” option. If you don’t, Gmail will effectively be hijacking all of your POP email rather than just mirroring it. This means you won’t be able to access the email from that account from any web service or desktop application, only Gmail.

Add Your POP Address As A Sender Email (Optional)

If you want to take this a step further and want to reply to an email that you’ve downloaded from a POP account to Gmail as the POP email account itself (rather than your Gmail address), you can. On that very same Accounts settings page, you should see the “Send mail as” option.

Keep in mind that not all services that support Gmail will support the functionality to send email from additional addresses, especially those made by third parties. I can’t comment on what devices, applications, or services this is limited to (as there are so many out there), but this will work perfectly from the web interface. To be able to send emails from your POP address through Gmail, click the “Add another email address you own” link on that page.

The process for adding an address to send from requires that you confirm an email sent to that address. If you’ve already completed the step before this one then that email can be confirmed directly through the Gmail inbox you’re currently using (which can also test to prove that the previous step actually worked).

Add Your Gmail Account to Your Device

The last step is to simply forget about your POP email account and use this new Gmail account on your phone, Windows 8 Mail, or any other service, device, or application that you’re using. Many of these will automatically know Gmail’s mail server information, but here it is otherwise:

• Gmail IMAP server address: imap.gmail.com
• Gmail IMAP user name: full Gmail address (you@gmail.com)
• Gmail IMAP password: Gmail password
• Gmail IMAP port: 993
• Gmail IMAP TLS/SSL required: yes

That’s it! It’s a bit of an annoying fix to have to put effort towards, but it’s extremely effective. Hopefully, old-time email providers will eventually catch up to speed and jump on the IMAP bandwagon. Let me know if you require any help in the comments!

The post Use This Gmail Trick To Receive POP Emails On IMAP-Only Devices appeared first on MakeUseOf.

With any competitive game, and especially the most popular game in the world, community sites begin to form and a wealth of knowledge is brought to our attention. The League of Legends community has done a wonderful job of picking the game apart to its most finest details, and it is much appreciated by players who are eagerly trying to improve themselves.

MOBAFire

MOBAFire is definitely the go-to solution when you’re looking for a competitive edge in League of Legends.

This website features such a ridiculous set of information, and outlines everything from champions, abilities, runes, masteries, and more. However, the main attraction here is definitely their guides.

The main page of the website features guides from recent eSports games, and then guides that were officially submitted to MOBAFire that you can quickly eyeball by their rising popularity, by submitter elo ranking, and more.

These guides are more full-featured than any you’ll find on the web. Each guide effectively sections out runes, item builds, ability sequences, masteries, and then offers the rest of the page to the author where they’re able to completely outline any additional information that they deem relevant to the guide (including summoner spells, jungle routes, gameplay videos, and more).

All guides are regulated by the community as you’re able to vote on the quality of each. When sorting guides by champions, the highest-rated guides will be shown first.

MOBAFire does an amazing job of presenting guides and builds to the League of Legends community, and its great reputation is credit to just that.

LoL Pro

LoL Pro is one of the newer League of Legends build sites, but already one of the best. As part of Curse’s network of competitive gaming websites, it’s really not a secret why.

The main page of LoL Pro’s website seems a little bare compared to what you’d see on MOBAFire, but the League of Legends guide are incredibly easy to find under the Guides heading in the top menu. One thing to immediately note about LoL Pro is that a majority of the guides featured on this website are written by professional players, and more specifically members of Curse’s LoL team: Voyboy, Nyjacky, Saint, Cop, and Rhux.

Where many similar websites offer only champion-specific guides, LoL Pro has a great section that offers guides for general gameplay. This includes last hitting, how to play each role, pushing and freezing your lane, and more. Many will tell you that these guides are infinitely more important than simply learning the mechanics and specifics of any single champion.

However, the champion and build League of Legends guide always seem to be the most popular.

LoL Pro guides are broken down into sections, including abilities, runes, masteries, summoner spells, and items. While they are easy to navigate and read through, I feel as if MOBAFire offers better organizational tools for guide authors to work with. Even so, it’s really hard to find difficulty in reading through and understanding any guide I’ve come across on LoL Pro.

LoL Pro features an assortment of really quality guides, and it’s always good to know you’re reading information from a player who plays this game at a professional level.

SoloMid.NET

Like Curse has done with LoL Pro, Team SoloMid has their very own League of Legends website where their professional team shares their in-game knowledge with the community.

TSM players like Reginald, Xpecial, and Dyrus regularly contribute content to SoloMid’s website. SoloMid’s guides are a bit more strict and monitored than some alternatives’, as they screen guides for approval and even have a section for featured guides.

Though the design and layout of the guides on SoloMid are a bit more plain than others, it actually manages to get the information across really well. Guide pages don’t seem as messy and cluttered and guides actually all fit on a single page, so you’re able to easily review information without navigating back and forth. Every League of Legends guide includes runes, masteries, abilities, items, and more.

SoloMid owns an entire network of League-related sites, others having to do with League of Legends counterpicks (which are very important in competitive play). TSM has been around forever and is definitely the favorite LoL eSports team in North America, so advice given by these guys is definitely something to be taken seriously.

Which of these three websites do you find most effective? Are there any alternatives out there that are worth giving a look? Let me know in the comments below!

The post 3 Great Sites To Find League Of Legends Builds & Guides appeared first on MakeUseOf.

With others titles like Super Smash Bros., GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, and the amazing games in the Mario Party and Legend of Zelda series, it’s no secret why this console is so beloved amongst gamers my age. The Nintendo 64 is definitely one of the best gaming consoles of all time, and it’s great news that you can experience it again on the PC using an emulator like Project64.

Project64

Despite having been around forever, the Project64 Nintendo 64 emulator gets updated quite regularly. The latest version, 2.1, works on all 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows. You can download the binaries here, which is linked directly from the main page of the website. The installer is just a little over four megabytes in size.

Project64 does include some bloat in the installer that you’ll need to opt out of. To make sure that all MakeUseOf readers do this correctly, I’ll help walk you through it.

To opt out of the Delta Toolbar, make sure you select the Advanced option and untick all of the checkboxes before proceeding to the next screen.

The Iminient Minibar is also something you definitely don’t want. Simply untick this checkbox and you can proceed with the rest of the installation as normal.

I definitely look down on installers that include optional toolbars and other garbage of that nature, but if you’re careful through the Project64 installation then it’s easily avoidable. Developers pack their installers with these in an effort to make money. Always remember that Project64 is completely free software, and you shouldn’t particularly hate them for it.

Configuring Project64

After successfully installing Project64, you should be prompted to select your preferred language. Afterwards, you’ll be taken to the main interface for Project64. Before we get into loading and playing ROMs, let’s check out some settings and features.

The Graphics Configuration is just as it sounds. On this screen, you can set your windowed resolution, full screen resolution, and syncing and filtering options.

The Configure Input window allows you to change your key settings. You can play Project64 using either a keyboard or USB controller. Project64 supports the Nintendo 64 joystick and even the Memory Pak. I find it incredibly difficult to play most Nintendo 64 games without using a USB controller, so I’d really recommend it. The joystick is extremely difficult to mimic through keyboard keys, and it’s just very uncomfortable to do so.

Getting ROMs

As I’ve suggested in other articles regarding video game emulation, CoolROM is flat-out the best place online to get Nintendo 64 ROMs (or ROMs for any other console). Use it! Don’t rely on shady alternatives.

Remember, you are only legally allowed to download ROMs if you own a license for them and you will not distribute or attempt to profit from the ROMs. Use discretion and read the disclaimers!

Download the games you want from CoolROM and put them all in the same folder, anywhere you want.

Loading ROMs

The next thing you’re going to want to do, after getting your ROMs, is select the directory that holds all of them. You can do that under the Options menu.

Here’s what the main interface of your Project64 may look like afterwards:

Playing a ROM is then as simple as double-clicking it in the list. Be advised that not all ROMs you download are going to work perfectly, and under the Notes columns you can see any reported issues that your ROM may have.

Shown above, you can see that I’ve loaded arguably one of the worst games ever known to the Nintendo 64 – Superman!

Saving your game state on Project64 is as easy as selecting to do so from the System menu, where you can also restore your saved states.

Project64 just does Nintendo 64 emulation correctly. There are Nintendo 64 emulator alternatives, but none as simple, smooth, and responsive as what Project64 offers. I’ve been using it for years and can’t find a single issue to complain about, and I hope my fellow Nintendo64 fans are able to find the same experience with it.

What’s your favorite Nintendo 64 game? What do you think of this emulator? Let me know in the comments and we’ll talk about it!

The post Project64 – The Best Way To Emulate Nintendo 64 Games appeared first on MakeUseOf.

After using a handful of these kinds of software, I’ve come to realize that a lot of them really fall short. Sticky notes are a pretty big deal to me and have almost completely replaced my need for an application like Evernote. That’s only because I’ve recently come across one of the most feature-packed solutions to desktop sticky notes – 7 Sticky Notes.

7 Sticky Notes

7 Sticky Notes currently sits as my favorite sticky notes manager, and there are a lot of reasons why for us to go over.The current version, 1.9, is only a 5.86 MB download and is compatible with 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows 2000, XP, Server, 7, and 8.

This application does what every software should do today, and that’s offer you to install the application completely portably. You can install it straight to your desktop, a Dropbox folder, or a removable drive. It’ll work perfectly all the same.

Should you choose to install the application portably, there are a few additional steps you may have to take.

Depending on your User Account Control settings, you may receive the above error when first attempting to run the application. If you do, run the application again with administrative privileges, and 7 Sticky Notes should be able to automatically register the DLLs for you.

You may also be told that 7 Sticky Notes is unable to find your database file after your first run. Should this happen, just select the option to create a new database as is shown in the screenshot above.

After a successful run, your first note will be automatically created, conveniently giving you a quick tutorial on how to best use the application.

I advise that you read over this note, as it answers the most basic questions that many new users would have, and it also introduces some of the most important shortcuts for controlling 7 Sticky Notes.

When you’re familiar with the basics, right-click the note. You’ll now see a list of options, and from here you can simply delete the note. Don’t worry about possibly needing it again at a later date, because deleted notes are stored in the in-application Recycle Bin rather than permanently deleted.

As you can see, there’s a lot of functionality that is offered per note. You can roll up or resize a note, set it to remain on top of all other windows, lock the note, duplicate it, export it, change the theme, and more. Keep this in mind.

Right-clicking the tray icon offers your next set of options, where you can then pull up the Notes Manager, which really acts as a log and agenda for all of the notes you’ve ever made or had deleted. If you check the Recycle Bin here, you can immediately catch previously-deleted posts.

Clicking on a section’s heading will activate the “plus” sign, thus allowing you to create your own notes from this screen. I personally choose to make all of my notes from the Notes Manager screen because the agenda-style approach is just better overall. Remember that notes can be created by hotkey or just right-clicking the tray icon and selecting that action.

The notes themselves are very stylish and completely configurable. You can choose font styles, transparency levels, themes, create drop shadows, add image attachments, set your notes to snap to a grid, add clickable URLs and hyperlinks, and more. Not only do they look very nice, but these features make them more useful than any other alternative application that I’ve tried out.

Advanced settings and configurations of 7 Sticky Notes are very deep.

Shown here, you can see some of the general settings. These include automated sizing, URL detection, enabling or disabling confirmation dialogs, and all-important keyboard shortcuts that you can tinker with.

7 Sticky Notes’ backup and synchronization options are definitely to be appreciated. The application comes with automated ways to periodically backup your notes database and keep your notes synchronized. For me, this is incredibly important.

Additional features within the options include adding and modifying themes, setting up alarms for your notes, protecting your notes and the Notes Manager by password, and more. Again, 7 Sticky Notes doesn’t look to just slap notes to your desktop and call it a day. This is an extremely complete solution that, if used correctly, can be a replacement for any note-taking software.

What do you think of 7 Sticky Notes? Is there another alternative software out there that you think handles such notes in a better way? Let me know in the comments!

The post 7 Sticky Notes – The Most Full-Featured Sticky Notes Program [Windows] appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Since 1995, GameFAQs is the place that gamers have gone for knowledge regarding video games. For a gaming information website that has been around for nearly 20 years, it has experienced very few changes and continues to remain true to its roots. Every gamer knows about GameFAQs, but not every gamer knows how relevant and useful the website remains still today.

GameFAQs hasn’t gone anywhere, and it continues to serve gamers of all types as a shrine of information.

GameFAQs

GameFAQs receives updates as frequently as daily, constantly adding new content to an archive that must have gigabytes behind it already.

What kind of content? The community at GameFAQs is filled with contributors. This includes general FAQs and walkthroughs and then more in-depth documents, such as details on how to complete games at 100%, completion challenges, guides that outline the finer details of the games, bestiaries and equipment indexes for RPGs, maps of levels in PNG format, saved states, game scripts, cheat codes and more.

The amount of information that GameFAQs offers the user is sometimes even overwhelming. Popular and older games, such as Chrono Trigger, have been picked apart and detailed for you to see and benefit from.

While offering advice and tips to gamers is the core functionality of this gaming information website, in recent years GameFAQs has done an excellent job of incorporating more community elements and interactive features that breathe some fresh air into such a classic website.

Every single game indexed on GameFAQs (and I challenge you to find a game that isn’t) has a community feel wrapped around it. This includes reviews and ratings from users, a complete description, release data, and credits, a full-featured message board dedicated solely to the game, screenshots, and even more.

Really worth focusing in on is the fact that GameFAQs offers a forum community for individual games. This is the sort of engagement that can actually allow enjoy playing a game that was released 15 years ago. With individual message boards, you’re able to interact with a community of people who are interested in that specific title. While some message boards are obviously more active than others, it’s an opportunity that no other website manages to do quite like GameFAQs.

There are also message boards for more broad topics, like consoles in general, classic gaming, shooters, suggestions for the site, browser games, and more. If you choose to register an account, you’re even able to tag certain game boards as your favorites, which can then be easily monitored and accessed under the Boards header in the top menu.

As mentioned before, the GameFAQs community is all about contributing and growing the website as a home of gaming information. The Features section highlights some of the incentive you get in being a good community member.

Shown above, you can see that GameFAQs actually sets bounties and contests out on their users so that sought after information is always within community reach. Users can write FAQs for gift certificates, compete in annual and weekly contests that revolve around gaming, view the top 100 most popular pages of the website, and revisit noteworthy events that have happened on this very day in the past.

Another very appreciated feature is the My Games section, where you can keep an online catalog of all of the games that you own. From here you can rate them, write reviews, access message boards, and otherwise enjoy your collection.

Don’t count out GameFAQs as a powerhouse of gaming information. While others have come along with new and fresher designs, GameFAQ has what we all want: the information. If you can’t beat a game, GameFAQs will help you. If you want to talk about a game, GameFAQs has a community for it. It doesn’t matter if it’s PC or console, 1980 or 2012, this is the website for it.

Do you still use GameFAQs? Do you think there’s a better alternative out there? How has it aged? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

The post GameFAQs Is Still Around & Still The Best Site For Gaming Information appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The cloud is a big deal on the mobile platform, but I don’t want you to forget about the PC. Since first writing for MUO, I’ve been the one to almost exclusively cover applications for the Windows platform, and I’m pleased to see Windows 8 make a push toward getting up into the cloud. However, there is a lot left that can be done and I’m here to cover two applications that push a very key element of both the PC and mobile platforms up to cloud level – the clipboard.

ArchiveClipboard (Backup)

ArchiveClipboard is definitely my favorite solution to keeping a backup of your clipboard. The application works perfectly with your desktop, laptop, and netbooks running Windows, Mac, or Linux. Every modern version of these operating systems is fully supported by ArchiveClipboard, and the only dependency is Java.

ArchiveClipboard boasts a no-nonsense interface that is very attractive, lightweight, and easy to use. On the main UI, you will see two panes – your system clipboard and the archive clipboard. Your system clipboard includes the text, image, or file currently copied. Your archive clipboard shows all previous clipboard entries.

This is the application in its entirety. It’s just that simple. The Settings menu will allow you to toggle monitoring for text, images, and files. You can also set ArchiveClipboard to run in your system tray and notify you when events occur (such as your system clipboard being updated). ArchiveClipboard has localization support for Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese.

ArchiveClipboard has yet to support the functionality of allowing users to synchronize clipboard data between their devices, but the project’s development is coming along extremely quickly and it is in the works. A mobile version for the iOS and Android platforms is also on the way, so look out for that.

ArchiveClipboard is everything you want for keeping a record of your clipboard and nothing more.

CloudClip (Synchronization)

CloudClip comes across as a bit of a dumbed-down version of ArchiveClipboard. Am I saying it’s a bad piece of software? Not at all. It just caters to very specific needs on a more limited number of platforms. The plus? It synchronizes with the cloud and allows you to share your clipboard between computers, and it is completely portable (meaning that the application in itself can be synchronized within a Dropbox folder).

First, worth noting is that you need to register an account on their website, which is only to know who to associate your cloud account data with. They won’t spam you with emails and actually don’t even require for you to confirm your email address after registration. CloudClip does not have support to synchronize images and other files, which is explained on their site so that “speeds remain fast.” It’d be a great feature, but the clipboard is primarily used for storing text anyway.

Upon registering, you’re immediately able to download the application on either your Windows or Mac computer. Like ArchiveClipboard, CloudClip has yet to support mobile devices but they are pushing towards it in the future. After downloading the application, click into the Account tab, enter your username and password, and log in.

Back in the Clips tab, you can feel free to give it a test run. Copy any block of text and within a second or two it should appear in the top row of this application.

All clips are time stamped and numbered in order, from newest to oldest. You can copy a previous entry or timestamp just by double-clicking on that area in the row. It will not be re-added to the tab so that you get no duplicate entries. You can also delete a row by right-clicking on it and selecting the option.

Like ArchiveClipboard, CloudClip’s synchronization is very simple and straightforward.

Don’t let your clipboard data slip away from you. I can’t put a number to the amount of times I’ve had something copied that I’ve wanted to retrieve for use again at a later time.

Which of these two applications is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!

The post 2 Ways To Backup & Synchronize Your Windows Clipboard appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Virtual machines are more useful than just for fun and games, and they’ve helped me a huge deal in work-related areas of my life. Using a virtual machine offers a great sandbox if you’re ever dealing with sketchy software that may be riddled with things that you’re way too nervous to allow on your main disk. While some trojans and malware are sophisticated enough to pass through virtual disks, it’s still a common practice.

In a very well-written post from Justin just last year, it was thoroughly explained how you can get a VirtualBox up and running in practically a matter of minutes (depending on your download speed). In this post, I’d like to show you three great websites where you can find a heap of free virtual disk images.

VirtualBoxes on SourceForge

VirtualBoxes takes on an extremely convenient and familiar approach to offering a very high number of free VDIs to you and I.

You’ve surely navigated and downloaded from SourceForge before, and VirtualBoxes follows the exact same format.

VirtualBoxes boasts 49 VDIs that you can download, all 100% free. They are as follows:

• OpenSUSE
• CentOS
• Linux Mint
• Syllable
• Ubuntu Studio
• Zenwalk
• Lubuntu
• Debian GNU_Linux
• Ubuntu Linux
• UbuntuServer
• Special
• Xubuntu Linux
• Fedora
• MINIX
• FreeDOS
• Kubuntu Linux
• AROS
• SLITaz
• Archlinux
• Haiku
• Plan9
• ReactOS
• Puppy Linux
• Android
• Debian-kfreebsd
• Milax
• Vector Linux
• Sidux
• temp
• PCLinuxOS
• Tiny Core Linux
• OpenSolaris
• moonOS
• Gentoo
• Nexenta GNU_OpenSolaris
• Moblin 2 Beta
• Dreamlinux
• Mandriva Linux
• FreeBSD
• Damn Small
• TinyMe
• gOS
• gNewSense
• Deli Linux
• Fluxbuntu
• Slackware

VirtualBoxes.org

The Images section of VirtualBoxes.org actually amounts to nothing more than a new face wrapped around our previous entry’s downloads. So why list both? Because you have a choice! VirtualBoxes.org takes the VirtualBoxes SourceForge page and sets it off with a more user-friendly interface. If browsing the SourceForge page comes across as uncomfortable to you, VirtualBoxes.org makes an attempt at sorting the VDIs more effectively and even includes screenshots.

Downloads on this version of the website offer slightly more information in regards to each Virtual Disk Image. You are told the file size, active user accounts (if any), and any notes that people deem worth sharing.

Being practically the same website, VirtualBoxes.org also includes links to 49 active VDIs.

VirtualBoxImages.com

VirtualBoxImages.com is probably the most well-known collection of VDIs online.

Navigating through the downloads is incredibly easy. Just click the header for a VDI that you’re interested in and you’ll be taken to a page that offers a torrent link above a list of patch notes and some information regarding the VDI that you’ve chosen. You’ll also get a nice screenshot, a date for the most recent activation, and the release date of the VDI.

The available VDIs on this website are well into the hundreds, and here are a few examples of what you can expect to be offered:

• Ubuntu 13.04 amd64 LAMP Server
• Ubuntu 13.04 amd64
• Ubuntu GNOME 13.04 amd64
• LinuxMint 201303 Debian Cinnamon 32bit
• LinuxMint 201303 ‘Debian’ amd64 Cinnamon
• Ubuntu 13.04 i386
• openSUSE 12.3 Gnome x86_64
• Ubuntu 12.04.2 amd64
• FuelPHP Framework Server w-Desktop
• CentOS 5.9 x86_64 Gnome
• LinuxMint 14 KDE Desktop 32bit
• Ubuntu 12.10 i386 Desktop VirtualBox
• Ubuntu 12.10 amd64 LAMP/Tomcat Server
• OS4 Opendesk 13 32bit
• Hanthana 17 i386
• Snowlinux e17 Crystal
• Slackware 14 32bit KDE
• Fedora 18 x86_84
• Sabayon Linux 10 amd64 Gnome

These three (or two, depending on how you look at it) offer the best selection of clean and completely free virtual disk images that you should be able to find online. Remember, be cautious when you’re hunting down a website to download any VDIs or ISOs frpm because many of the lesser-known websites harbor malware-infected versions that are out to do nothing more than give you an incredibly hard time.

Is there a reputable Virtual Disk Image vendor that I don’t have on the list? Please share any more that you know of in the comments section below!

The post 3 Websites To Download Virtual Disk Images For VirtualBox appeared first on MakeUseOf.

It may just be the nostalgia inside of me taking over, but gaming was best in the ’90s. The Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation are the three best consoles of all-time (in my opinion) and this is the age when they were ripe and at their peak. I’m a huge sucker for RPGs and the SNES really cracked that genre open. In this post, I want to introduce you to five of my favorite SNES RPGs online and show you how you can play them online.

Chrono Trigger

This is the SNES RPG. I think this game really defines the genre perfectly, and it’s a game that hasn’t been tainted with countless remakes and sequels. Sure, there was Chrono Cross (and it was very underwhelming), but it was enough to look past. Chrono Trigger will forever be a top three RPG.

Chrono Trigger was an innovator in many senses. Where other RPGs offer battles based purely on random encounters, many of the enemies in this game are visible on the map. Chrono Trigger also uses the Active Time Battle system, which was popularized by the Final Fantasy series.

Chrono Trigger includes seven playable characters and one of the most fun and unique plots you’ll be able to find in an RPG. What other RPG of that time revolved around time travel? In Chrono Trigger, you’ll travel through time on the Epoch and experience RPG gameplay that you never have before.

Final Fantasy III

Known by most Final Fantasy fans as Final Fantasy VI (the official Japanese title), this is what I consider to be the breakthrough game in Square’s coveted RPG series.

Oh, how I miss the days when Square Enix was just Squaresoft. Final Fantasy III is sometimes refered to as the last “real” Final Fantasy game in the series, before the series took the turn to 3D graphics, futuristic themes, and other huge changes to gameplay.

Like the games in the series before it, Final Fantasy III includes an overworld, town and dungeon maps, random encounters and boss battles, and your menu screens for items, equipment, and more. Those of you who are familiar with summons in other games in the series will really be pleased with the Espers system in Final Fantasy III. Final Fantasy III was also the first in the series to introduce powerful attack substitutions, such as what Limit Breaks are to Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy III’s storyline is as beautiful as the 2D graphics. This game has a huge cast of characters, and it’s my opinion that they include some of the best in the series: Celes, Sabin, Shadow, Relm, Umaru, Gau, Gogo, and more. Not much introduction is required to a Final Fantasy game. III, VII, and IX are the elite games in the series, and if you haven’t played this one then you absolutely must.

Secret of Mana

Secret of Mana is a game that I never actually played on the SNES console originally. I had heard so much about the game after the SNES was practically dead and gone that I was inspired to boot up ZSNES and give it a spin. How many RPGs do you know that are actually two-player compatible? Two-player netplay is what got me hooked on Secret of Mana.

Like Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana offered a lot of new elements to the RPG genre. In Secret of Mana, you’re able to switch between on-map control of one of three main players (the hero, the girl, and the sprite). The two not being controlled in this overhead view will simply follow and act accordingly via artificial intelligence.

Without question, the main pull to this game is the combat system. Combat takes place in real-time. You’re able to fight using a sword, spear, bow, axe, boomerang, glove, whip, or javelin. Using this weapon will cause your attack gauge to reach 0% and then quickly recharge. Weapons are most powerful when charged fully.

If you’re tired of turn-based battle systems and crave something that revolves more around mechanical skill, you need to give this game a try. The graphics and setting are awesome, and the combat system is just the icing on the cake.

EarthBound

Continuing on with this recurring theme, EarthBound is an extremely unique RPG adventure that may hit some like an acquired taste.

Many elements of the game are extremely traditional. You have characters venturing through a two-dimensional world of villages, cities, and dungeons. You fight through encounters, gain experience, and level up.

EarthBound gets pretty unconventional though. Weapons include baseball bats, yo-yos, and more. EarthBound includes special PSI attacks that require PP (psychic points), an element no other RPG seems to have jumped at. Another very interesting element is that when your player takes damage, your HP bar gradually rolls down rather than chunking all at once. This actually allows you to heal that player or finish the battle before a blow is able to kill you.

EarthBound’s storyline is crazy and futuristic. It takes place in the 1990s, and begins with Ness (the main character) waking to realize that a meteorite has hit near his home. From here, you encounter aliens, child prodigies, psychics, and a martial arts master named “Poo” (of all things).

EarthBound is a very special RPG and is worth playing.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

This is the first RPG in the Mario series of games. Does much more need to be said?

To explain it as simply as possible, Super Mario RPG is a game with the story and action of a game in the Mario series, and the gameplay of a Final Fantasy.

Would it be a Mario game if the plot didn’t revolve around saving Princess Toadstool? To do so, you’re able to use a party of up to three characters in a turn-based system where you can attack, perform a special move, play defensively, or use an item.

Super Mario RPG is another of the few games that allow you to essentially avoid battles by showing enemies visibly on the field. Though it is an RPG, Super Mario RPG plays a lot like a traditional Mario game: an isometric platformer. Yes, there are still tons of floating question blocks for you to punch at.

If you love the Super Mario Bros. series then that is reason enough to give Super Mario RPG a try.

As linked in the headings, these games are all playable on SNESbox.com, and it’s the best place to play any SNES or NES game online through a Flash platform. There are a ton of amazing SNES RPGs online on the Super Nintendo console. Want to talk about any I missed in the comments? Feel free to drop me a line!

The post 5 Great SNES RPGs Online & How To Play appeared first on MakeUseOf.

Nearly two months ago, I brought a post to MUO that introduced readers to five resources that can help you improve your Path of Exile gameplay and better understand this game. It’s an extremely deep and complex ARPG, and to be a solid player you will definitely need to read up. One of the most dynamic aspects of Path of Exile is the passive skill tree. In conjunction with the items system and skill gems, it makes for some very unique builds.

In this article, I’d like to show you three websites that will help you build your Path of Exile character along the way.

Exile Pro

Curse is one of the most recognized names in competitive gaming. They’ve sponsored multiple eSports teams and they constantly push out fresh and interesting content on their network of websites. Exile Pro is one of the newest additions to their family.

In the aforementioned article where I list a few websites that offer great help on getting started and improving with Path of Exile, I mentioned a guy named Kripparrian as one of the most worthy resources. Kripparrian practically runs Exile Pro himself, and that makes the website a pretty big deal. This guy is an incredibly intelligent individual and an innovator of so many builds on the game. I couldn’t think of a better person to control the content of a Path of Exile website.

Browsing through builds is quite simple. Click one of the playable classes (shown in the screenshot above) and you’ll be immediately taken to the relevant set of builds.

Build pages are laid out very cleanly and the tabbed interface allows you to quickly and easily see the most important parts while avoiding fluff.

Each build page offers an introduction, layout of your passive skill tree, relevant gems, endgame items, and general tactics on how to play with the build.

Path of Exile Builds

No creative name needed with this one. Path of Exile Builds is one of the very first websites to introduce build sets to a community following.

Reaching the builds section of the website is as easy as, again, clicking on the thumbnail of whichever class you’re interested in on the front page. Optionally, you can click the Builds header on the menu bar, which will also allow you to search builds or show a random build.

While the build page layout doesn’t strike me as efficient as Exile Pro’s, it is still easy to navigate and does a fair job. Builds consist of a single page and passive skill trees are outbound links to completed trees on the official website’s tree planner. The Gear section of the build is the most lackluster, where it’s purely text describing what items you should be on the lookout for.

If Exile Pro doesn’t have something you’re looking for, Path of Exile Builds is the best secondary option.

/r/PathOfExileBuilds

As usual, Reddit proves to be a great resource when it comes to gaming banter and advice.

Reddit’s format isn’t exactly ideal for laying out an in-depth guide on how to build your Path of Exile character, but this sub-reddit still manages to be one of the most reliable places to go for just that.

The difference between /r/PathOfExileBuilds and the alternatives in this post is that you’ll rarely see a user outline a build upfront. The majority of posts here revolve around the community members asking for advice first, and then receiving tips and information on how to build around their preference. This sub-reddit includes a lot of very high-level and experienced players who seem more than happy to help a newbie out. If you have an interesting build idea and you’d like to see how players would critique it, this is one of the best places to go.

In a game like Path of Exile, sometimes the best way to become a better player is to be a bit of a copycat. Luckily for you and I, there seem to be players who are willing to hand over the details on some of their favorite builds so that others can reap the benefits. Path of Exile is still a young game, still in beta actually, so there aren’t many of these websites (and the ones that do exist are fairly dry as of yet).

What do you think of Path of Exile and the depth there is to building new Path of Exile characters?

The post Building A New Character On Path Of Exile? Check These 3 Sites appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The paste-and-share model is a relatively new and popular one. The most popular of this breed of website is definitely Pastebin. It’s been around for more than 10 years, but it became increasingly relevant in the past three. As it always goes, it has spawned plenty of competitors and imitators. But are there better alternatives to Pastebin?

Tinypaste

Tinypaste is incredibly easy to use. Directly on the main page of the website, you’ll find the field to submit a new paste.

One feature that Tinypaste has over many other alternatives is paste formatting. You can bold, italicize, underline, and do more with your pasted text. On Tinypaste, all posts are hidden from search engines (essentially making them all private). You can even protect your pastes with a password.

Syntax highlighting can be toggled on or off and seems to support HTML and PHP. Paste pages allow you to download the paste, view it in fullscreen, and toggle line numbering on or off. You can even modify the current paste version to submit a new version.

You can see an example paste on Tinypaste here.

Hastebin

Hastebin is probably the most visually-appealing alternative that I’ve seen. As the name plays off of, it’s an alternative to Pastebin that boasts one of the quickest paste-and-submit interfaces available.

The buttons in the right-hand corner, from leftmost, allow you to save your paste, create a new paste, duplicate and edit your paste, view raw text, and share your paste on Twitter (all of which have keyboard shortcuts assigned to them).

Upon saving your paste, the URL in your address bar will immediately be changed to reflect what URL you can share to give this paste to others. Syntax highlighting will also be immediately applied. Here is an example of the formatted version of a paste with hastebin.

Chop

Chop offers a very smooth interface with an emphasis some emphasis on collaboration.

Like our last example, Chop is very nice on the eyes. With Chop, you can paste your code and select from a handful of syntax highlightings, such as HTML, CSS, Java, SQL, XML, and more. You can even enter the URL of any website and Chop will automatically parse and input the source code for you. They make this one step easier.

The hallmark feature of this service is the ability to add line-by-line comments to anything in your paste. You can submit a paste, send it to friends, and any of them will be able to select their name and add a comment to any line. This is great if you’re new to coding and looking for feedback from a friend or mentor.

You can see an example paste on Chop here. I’ve dropped a comment.

Snipt

Snipt gives you what you expect out of a quality pasting service, and then a little extra.

On Snipt, you have the option to set a paste title, include or exclude line numbers, set your paste as private, and choose from one of the largest list of syntaxes that I’ve seen. Just eyeballing the list, I’d say it offers over 80 different languages for highlighting purposes.

What Snipt does that many others don’t is offer you to change the theme of your paste with styles like Traditional, Dark, Chocolate, Terminal, Slate, and more. They even have a theme browser so you can see all of the styles on a single page.

Paste pages allow you to increase or decrease the text size, edit, or delete your paste. You can also view plaintext, download, copy, or embed your paste in a single click. Check here to see an example paste on Snipt.

It’s all a matter of preference. At the core, all of these alternatives to Pastebin (and Pastebin itself) achieve the exact same effect. It’s on you to determine which features are the most enjoyable and which works best on your eyes.

Let us know your favorite in the comments section below!

The post 4 Alternatives That May Be Better Than Pastebin appeared first on MakeUseOf.

However, Google has pushed out some pretty interesting and obscure projects on the side. Google PowerMeter, for example, was a way to keep tabs on how much energy you’re using in your home from a web interface. Never heard of it? You’re probably part of the great majority. I know there are some that you do remember and have been missing, though. Let’s revisit a few.

Google Answers

Though it was never as well-known as some of the alternatives, Google Answers was an online knowledgebase. The difference between Google Answers and its competitors was that it required users to actually post paid bounties for very detailed and researched answers. In the age of the wiki, you don’t need this. The Internet has everything. Though Google Answers hasn’t disappeared into a cloud of dust, it is no longer accepting questions.

So what has come along to replace Google Answers?

Yahoo! Answers

This is probably the first thing that comes to mind. It’s a free service that provides similar functionality. The answers submitted here are community-submitted, based on votes, and are sometimes very unreliable.

Quora

Quora is probably the best resource on the Internet for this purpose. It came around in 2010 and has grown huge since then. On Quora, users can collaborate to answer questions by editing the questions themselves and even suggesting edits to users’ answers. It’s a very open format and the Quora community is filled with helpful people.

ChaCha

ChaCha is a mobile solution. It’s been called a “human-guided search engine” that allows users to text in a question and receive a response as quickly as paid specialists are able to research and deliver them. The service is free to use.

Google Desktop

As the name makes pretty clear, Google Desktop was essentially Google for your desktop. Using this application, you’d be able to add widgets to your Windows, Mac, or Linux desktop that would allow you to search through all files, emails, web history, and more. While there are a handful of options that could replace the functionality of Google Desktop, two stand out.

If you’re a Windows user, Windows Search is a piece of Microsoft’s operating system that seems to be constantly changed and improved with each advancing version. Google Desktop was most popular in the XP days, but today all of the features it once provided are practically included in Windows right out of the box by using the search field in the Start menu.

There’s also Everything. Like Google Desktop, the name says it all about this search tool. Google Desktop was an attempt at allowing you to search your computer for anything and everything, and this free application allows you to do such tenfold more effectively. Everything is the elite software in this field and we’ve put out several articles that highlight its features. It’s simply the best way to search your Windows system.

iGoogle

iGoogle isn’t being put to rest until November 1, 2013, but it’s the Google service that I’ve put the most hours into. For many years, my browser’s starting page has been iGoogle. It gives me everything I want all on a single page, and I’ll really miss it. iGoogle obviously puts a huge emphasis on elements of Google like their search, RSS reader, and more. The alternatives available are actually much more extensive and flexible.

Netvibes is easily the consensus winner when you’re looking for a virtual dashboard to match, and even better than what iGoogle offered. Though paid accounts are available, I used a free Netvibes account for some time and was overwhelmed by the options available. If you used iGoogle and enjoyed it, you do not need to pay for this service. It offers everything and more.

Last year, Tim put out a great article that introduced six alternatives to iGoogle. Netvibes was on his list. Give that article a look if Netvibes doesn’t offer what you’re after, but I’m very confident in the service. Make sure you check it out.

What other fallen Google services have you had an interest in? We’ve all heard about Google Reader’s upcoming retirement, and we’ve also got a great article to show some viable alternatives. Let us know which products and services you miss and we’ll get some discussion about the next best things in the comments section below!

The post Reader Isn’t The Only One – Alternatives For 3 Dead Google Services appeared first on MakeUseOf.

The great thing about online gaming is that there are no restrictions. If you learn the game and you own a computer, you have just as good of a shot as anyone at becoming a professional. You don’t need to know the right people. You don’t need some sort of scholarship or anything like that. You play, improve, get noticed, and essentially make a job out of entertaining others while playing this game.

Who better to lead you on that sort of route than the people you know and respect already? In this article, I want to point out four of the best competitive League of Legends streamers that can help you improve your game.

Voyboy

Voyboy is a professional League of Legends player who currently plays with Curse Gaming. He plays the top lane and loves teaching others little tips and tricks. You can find his League of Legends stream on Twitch.

When you watch Voyboy play, he is constantly narrating his decisions and play style. During champion selection, he’ll take his time and analyze who to play and explain why. He’ll always outline his approach to the upcoming game and explain his runes and masteries to viewers.

It’s a consensus community opinion that Dyrus and Voyboy are the two best top lane players in North America. The difference between Dyrus’ stream and Voyboy’s stream is that Voyboy puts a huge emphasis in making sure that his viewers learn something new. Dyrus streams to entertain and Voyboy streams to teach. If you’re looking to become a great top lane player (especially with Akali or Zed), you want to watch Voyboy.

Scarra

Without a doubt, Scarra is one of the most likable players in the competitive League of Legends community. He’s always happy, willing to share information, and enthusiastic about playing. He plays for Team Dignitas in the mid lane and has a huge pool of champions that he is comfortable with. His streaming schedule is very random, but it’s always a treat when you can catch him online on Twitch.

What makes Scarra a very good streamer to learn from is the fact that he is almost always talking. Every single decision he makes is explained in detail. Though he is known best for playing his Katarina and Gragas, Scarra regularly pulls out a surprise or two during his solo queue marathons. I’ve seen him play a very effective Blitzcrank in the mid lane, and just watching and hearing him play that game makes me feel confident enough to give it a shot sometime.

Scarra is a very positive player and loves seeing his teammates play well. If you watch Scarra play, you will learn!

Doublelift

Doublelift has been streaming less frequently, especially during the Championship Series and after own3D finally turned all of their streamers over to Twitch, but it’s a big deal when he’s online and playing.

It’s no secret how Doublelift is regarded by the community. You either love him or you hate him. He is very arrogant and is one of the game’s best trash-talkers, but you have to respect his gameplay. In my opinion, he is the best AD carry in North America. That’s reason enough to pay attention to his stream.

When streaming, Doublelift doesn’t go out of his way to teach anything about the game to his viewers. He is the type of player that you watch and pick tips up from as the stream goes along. He is often streaming as a duo with his support, Aphromoo, and you can learn a lot from the communication between those two. I credit Doublelift with teaching me the importannce of using attack move, rather than just right-clicking. If you want to be a better Vayne or Caitlyn, you better watch this guy when he’s online.

Xpecial

Xpecial plays the support role like it’s an artform, and he’s a very special player. Team SoloMid is probably the most popular League of Legends team in the US. Xpecial is their quietest player. He may also be their smartest.

Right now is a great time to be watching Xpecial’s League of Legends stream. Recently, Chaox was removed from the team and that means Xpecial has a brand new AD to support. Watching his stream means you’re going to be able to see how that AD-support relationship begins and you’re going to be able to pick up some great advice.

I learned to play Janna, Sona, and a few other supports that I had no interest in by watching Xpecial. He calls out a lot of very important things to his lane partner while streaming, and he’s the perfect player to watch if you have a passion for the support role.

These four players stream as often as possible so that their fans can learn and be entertained with their gameplay. If you want to improve, the best way may be to steal a few pointers from the best players in the game. These four are names that are definitely at the top of that list.

Do you want to suggest an appropriate jungler to watch while streaming, or have any comments about these four players? Let us hear them in the comments section below!

The post 4 League Of Legends Streams To Make You A Better Player appeared first on MakeUseOf.

If you’re a gamer, especially one who plays a healthy number of RPGs or fantasy games, you know how time-consuming it can be to pick a perfect, fitting name. Games that allow you to generate a random name within the application itself are great. That’s a rare find. However, there are plenty of great websites that can help you come up with your names for online communities and games. In this post, I’d like to show a few of those to you.

Behind the Name

Behind the Name offers a random name generator that focuses exclusively on generating “real” names: first, middle, and surnames.

You’re able to choose from just generating a first name, or a first name and up to three middle names. Surnames can be generated as well. Behind the Name has a database for both masculine and feminine names. One of the coolest features is that you’re able to select multiple different categories and the generator will come up with names based on those styles.

Here are a few examples of generated name possibilities:

• Rajesh Euphemios Cameron
• Hercules Timon Breana Kaufman
• Jokum Kazimir Antema
• Momoka Paula Soler
• Erlingr Ansehelm Theokleia Milena

One major disadvantage of this name generator is the fact that you can only generate a single name at a time. Other than that, it’s a great service.

Seventh Sanctum

Seventh Sanctum brings together a whole slew of different name generators in a single place.

As you can see above, there are quite a few. That includes fantasy names, vampire names, western names, wrestler names, pirate ship names, and more. Some of them get very obscure and specific.

Unlike the last website in our list, Seventh Sanctum’s generators do allow you to generate names in bulk. You can create up to 25 at a time.

Seventh Sanctum offers a one-stop solution to generating all kinds of names that you’ve probably never even thought of before. This might be the best place to go for this purpose.

NameGenerator.biz

NameGenerator.biz is a website we’ve talked about before in another article, but it has since gone through some major changes that have really improved the website.

NameGenerator.biz offers generators such as the following:

• YouTube names
• Twitter names
• Last names
• Medieval names
• Japanese names
• Kingdom names
• Clan names

The way NameGenerator.biz handles generation is pretty unique compared to alternative websites.

On this page, the Generate Clan Names button will generate a single name and add is to the Clan Names Generated List. From there, you can click a name within this list to automatically add it to the Favorite Names list. It’s a really cool functionality.

GeneratorLand.com

GeneratorLand.com is actually a full-featured website that will allow you to create your own name generator, but there are already many premade generators and that’s what I find this website to be used best for.

Right on the main page, you can select between generators made by GeneratorLand.com or ones made by their members. Each of these generators have their own unique theme to set them apart from each other. Here is one of GeneratorLand.com’s dog name generators:

You’ll find many generators on this website, between in-house creators and their members. These include video game names, business names, beer names, mobster names, super hero names, and a whole lot more. This is one of the deepest sites on the list and the range of categories is quite vast. Again though, this is another website that does not seem to allow you to mass create names. You can only get them one-by-one.

Where your creativity may lack, these websites help pick one up. There are a lot of solutions to coming up with a fitting and acceptable name, you just need to know your options. These are the four best in my opinion. Know any more? Let me know about them in the comments, and share what you think about those mentioned in this article while you’re at it!

The post 4 Websites To Generate Names For Online Communities, Games & More appeared first on MakeUseOf.