Now that 2009 is over, we thought it would be a good idea to take a look back over the last 12 months and see which of MakeUseOf posts were the most popular with our readers.
Read on for the Top 10.
(1) 15 Free Guides That Really Teach You Useful Stuff – (by) Simon |
|
 |
Over the past months, we’ve written quite a few PDF manuals for you, on all kinds of subjects, including BitTorrent, iTunes, iPhone, Twitter, Mac, Linux, Photoshop and many other topics.
After releasing 15 manuals and nearly half a million downloads we thought it was about time to look back and review what has been published so far. |
(2) 10 Solid Tips to Safeguard Your Facebook Privacy – (by) Mahendra |
|
 |
More than 1 billion photos are uploaded every month on Facebook, over 70% of whom use applications like games and quizzes. Unfortunately, most users don’t know the implications of entering personal information, making friends, and playing games on Facebook.
This guide will show what you can (and cannot) do to safeguard your Facebook privacy. |
(3) 10 Ways To Speed Up Torrent Downloads – (by) Saikat |
|
 |
Torrent users would attest to the fact that half of our time is spent looking for “˜healthy’ torrents and the other half trying to download at the maximum speed.
If you are the one who thinks that your torrent download speeds could do with a boost then keep reading. |
(4) 10 Youtube URL Tricks You Should Know About – (by) Varun |
|
 |
Youtube ““ You know that site with videos and all. Yeah! It turns out that its quite popular and you happen to visit and use it quite often. Instead of just searching and playing here are some top Youtube URL tricks that you should know about. |
(5) 10 Websites To Make You A Photoshop Ninja – (by) David |
|
 |
Photoshop is hard. There’s all kinds of menus, commands, and shortcuts that you’ve got to figure out. Once you learn how it works, it’s an unbelievably useful and powerful tool.
Using the Web, you can learn how to do just about anything in Photoshop, and either become great at it or just get really good at faking it. Here are ten sites to get you Photoshopping like a champion: |
(6) The Ultimate Guide To Speeding Up Firefox 3.5 – (by) Mahendra |
|
 |
I like Firefox but it’s not as fast as it used to be. This is a comprehensive, safe guide to optimizing Firefox 3.5 for speedy browsing. For each suggestion, your mileage may vary. Before you proceed, create a new profile.
Quit Firefox, run “firefox.exe ““profilemanager”, and create a new profile to experiment on. Use the new profile as your default only if your performance improves. |
(7) Roundup: 15 Must-Have Free Software Programs – (by) Aibek |
|
 |
Over the last three years, the writers here at MakeUseOf have profiled thousands of software apps on the website. With all these thousands being presented to you, it’s hard to decide which apps to use and which ones to discard. To make it easier for you, we have managed to compile a list of the top 15 absolute must-have tools for everyday tasks. |
(8) 8 Tips To Effectively Boost Your Wireless Router Signal – (by) Leon |
|
 |
Is your Linksys wireless router refuses to give you signal? Since you decided to place it in a corner to gather dust, using it only for its relay capabilities, it has decided to constantly bring up the feared “Limited Network Connection” bubble.
Regardless of what the issue, there are some proven ways to try to remedy the situation of a weak Wifi signal. |
(9) 10+ Best Firefox Security and Privacy Addons – (by) Varun |
|
 |
Security and privacy are some of the major concerns these days while choosing a web browser to use. So much so that all the major players in the “browser wars” are providing or developing a private browsing mode.
Firefox with the myraid of add-ons that it has to offer is never far from action. Here are some of the top Firefox security and privacy addons that you should install for safer browsing. |
(10) 20 Ways To Increase Laptop’s Battery Life – (by) Saikat |
|
 |
Mobile computing has got better with lighter components, better chips and faster processors. But the Achilles heel of a laptop has remained its battery. So here are we are going to look at ways to increase laptop battery life. |
Runner-ups:
- Top 8 Sites to Identify The Owner Of A Phone Number – (by) Tina
- 5 Ways To Clone & Copy Your Hard Drive – (by) Tina
Which MakeUseOf post did you enjoy the most in 2009? One of these or a totally different one? Let us know in the comments.
Hide 3 Comments