Web designers probably have a kitty of Lorem Ipsum tools saved close by that’s useful for their web development work. Lorem Ipsum generators come in various forms; some of them allow customizing the dummy text generation with variable font widths, font faces, and other design elements. But there’s just so much you can take of the mock content. After a while your own brain goes to sleep in a dummy mode.

So, if you feel like chucking away the pseudo-Latin mumbo-jumbo and replacing it with some other nonsense text, here are a few options for you to consider.

Fillerati

Fillerati is perhaps the coolest and most stylish of the alternative Lorem Ipsum filler texts. Coded with HTML5, it’s also educational to a degree because it pulls text from classical works of literature (Helman Melville, Jack London, Jules Verne’s and Lewis Carroll to name a few). Google Translation APIs are used to convert the English text into multiple languages. You can apply markup tags and use a smooth slider to change the number of paragraphs on display. You can click the center circle to copy the filler text to the clipboard.

Fillerama

Star Wars can have a bit of fun on the side with this filler text generator. Filler text is freely borrowed from TV shows like Dexter, Futurama, The Simpsons, and Star Wars among others. You can set the number of paragraphs, put in a few lists, and format with headers. You can copy the HTML on the left pane and use it to design your web site or blog (see Directory mention).

Adhesion Text

Type in your characters, set a few rules, and the dummy text generator spouts out sentences taking your characters and the language you selected from a dropdown. You can insert characters in English, French, German, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, and Dutch. You can also use Latin, Cyrillic, Greek and even Arabic characters (see Directory mention).

Gangsta Lorem Ipsum

This filler text generator takes a bit of a wild route by generating text in rap style. You might like it if you are a fan of rapper Snoop Dog. You won’t be able to make any sense of it, which pretty much makes it as good as Latin for most of us (see Directory mention).

Fuck Lorem Ipsum

This alternative to Lorem Ipsum has been definitely created by its haters, if you go by the name and the tag line. This is another of those little apps which takes its filler text from TV comedy, dramas, kids show, and other scripts. You can markup the text with paragraph, break, and hypertext tags (see Directory mention).

Bacon Ipsum

Generate ‘meaty’ Lorem Ipsum text that has more than a handful of meat (bacon) related words. This filler text generator is definitely not for the vegetarians.

Blind Text Generator

Here you have a dummy text generator with a variety of filler options, from normal English to Kafka. Advanced options include customizable font styles, letter spacing, text decorations, and alignment options. You can wrap the code around all your HTML designing needs.

Malevole

Set the number of paragraphs and click on generate. This handy and simple dummy text generator helps you do away with traditional Lorem Ipsum text and instead use text from classical English literature.

Multilingual Lorem Ipsum Generator

I wanted to try out Esperanto as a filler text, and I found it here which gives you quite a few multilingual ways of trying out your placeholder text. You can of course go for the traditional Lorem Ipsum text or choose from other languages (including Japanese and Chinese).

Duck Island

An alternate Lorem Ipsum generator that gives you filler text inspired from The Matrix? You can try it out here. Then, you have a few more options ranging from classical Latin to Techno Babble. The screenshot shows the output after your select The Matrix option.

Searching for alternatives to Lorem Ipsum generators might seem like much ado about nothing. But as a web designer or anyone who uses filler text day-in and day-out, the sight of the same stuff could start to get on your nerves and eyes. That’s where these interesting and varied options come in.

Which of these stand a chance of being your favorite? Or do you use a text generator that’s not on this list? Let us know.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons

So, what does it take to find the right screen name? Not much really. Simply leave all the thinking to a generator and you’re golden.

Here’s four useful ones to help you come up with some cool screen names.

SpinXO

SpinXO is probably one of the best name generators out there. If you’re looking for a screen name with a little bit of your own personal touch to it, this is the place to go.

First, some information about yourself is needed for the generator to come up with some good suggestions. Start out by typing in your name or nickname into the first text entry box. It’ll then ask you what you are like, so put in some of your characteristics. Next, type in your hobbies and things you like, followed by any words or numbers that are important to you.

Filling out all of the fields isn’t required. It just depends on how personal you want the screen names it generates to be. Once you have set all the details, simply hit the “Spin!” button and the list of 90 or so screen names it generated will be displayed below.

Feel free to now pick a screen name that you like or edit the information to generate a new list of cool screen names to choose from.

Generator Land

Generator Land takes a dead-simple approach to its screen name generator. All it takes is just a push of a button and with that, you can grab a unique name for yourself.

Just hit “Get a Screen Name” and a random name will be instantly displayed above. Don’t like it? Click on the button again for another one. It’s as simple as that.

Name Generator

Name Generator gives you a little bit of freedom to express yourself with the names it comes up with. The website gives you the option of prepending and appending your name, allowing the generator to list random adjectives before, after, or in between. It’s all up to you as to how you would like to arrange the words.

Once you’re ready, start by hitting the “Generate Screen Names” button for it to display the various names it forms. As you sort through all the names, keep in mind that they’re all nicely saved below as a list. You can then simply click on the ones you like best to separate them into the “Favourite Names” column.

Online Name Generator

Finally, Online Name Generator has all kinds of generators to choose from. From fantasy ones that include elf and guild names to superheros and nicknames, the number of potential screen names you can find here is virtually endless.

Each generator is capable of making millions of unique names each. Just hit the “Generate” button to start sorting through all of them until you find a keeper.

If you swing the Mac way of life, check out Jackson’s take on name generators — Create Cool Fantasy Nicknames with Ryder ““ A Macho Name Generator [Mac].

How are these generators working out for you? Do you know of any other sites to find cool screen names? Let us know in the comments.

Image Credit: Rob Blatt

People will catch on, however (well, hopefully). You could try searching for similar parody sources in our Top 10 Websites for Fake News & Satire, but it eventually becomes a prank that can only be pulled on easy targets like your grandparents or technologically unsavvy parents.

How about a way to create your own fake news prank headlines? With the ability to add a little personal touch by customizing names and stories, you can make your article more believable or outrageous with fake news story generators. Here’s the three best ones.

WasArrested

WasArrested is one of the best websites to create your own fake news prank story. It’s very simple and quick to do. Start off by typing in the victim’s name, city, and gender.

Then comes the fun part of choosing which story you want. You can select anything from “Has Sex With Sheep” to “Drinks From The Toilet.” If you don’t see a story you like, you can write one up yourself and even upload an image to go along with the article.

The website will create a link for your fake news prank and you can start sending the URL to anyone you please.

There it is. According to what looks like CNN’s site, I was arrested for indecent exposure! Looks pretty legitimate to me.

FakeAWish

FakeAWish is sort of the celebrity version of WasArrested. First, simply type in the first and last name of any star of your choice. I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings (I know, I know), so I took it upon myself to use my own name again.

As for the stories you can pick, most of them don’t look too good for your celebrity target, ranging from missing, hospitalized, or just dead. What have I gotten myself into this time?

The end result is an article on what looks like a classic Yahoo! News page with the story you selected. In this case, some news agency called Global Associated News is reporting that I’m presumed dead in a private plane crash. Can’t they get anything right?

Fodey

If you’re looking to create a fake newspaper clipping, head over to Fodey. Just think up of a completely made-up story and have it look like it was published on some newspaper’s front page.

It’s really easy to do. Type in name of the newspaper, the date, and start entering in whatever news article you can come up with.

Once you’ve generated the newspaper clipping, you can preview it and download the image.

There you have it. It’s 2036, MakeUseOf is now a newspaper, and Google is taking over the world. Huh.

Looking for more fun? MUO’s Directory of Apps has got details on DeadFake, a fake email service, and HoaxCall, an online prank call maker.

Go ahead and try out the fake news story generators for yourself. Are any of them crowd pleasers? Let us know in the comments.

It’s inspired by Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (MST3K) and Space Mutiny, apparently. I haven’t watched either of them so I’m clueless if the names resemble the characters from these shows. If you are an avid follower of MST3K, do try Ryder out and let us know the verdict in the comments.

This app is simple. There’s only one button which you click in order to generate a new name. But don’t let the lack of features dismay you — it’s bloody hilarious. It’s written all over the title, Ryder generates macho names. Not fancy Superhero names or Celebrity names. Macho, carnivorous, bullet-grinding names. These names (or nicknames) will deliver spine-shivering terror to your opponents, yet it’s questionably light-hearted that will make them laugh initially then cower in fear after the meaning truly sets in.

Download the app from the developer’s website. Ryder requires OS X 10.5 and higher to run. Unzip it and enjoy. I’m currently on Snow Leopard and the app works just fine.

Like I mentioned before, the app only has one button. Click on ‘Who?’ and it will generate a new name. It also provides you with a ‘Speech’ checkbox. Enable that, click on the ‘Who?’ button again and it uses Mac’s speech utility to read the name out loud. I’ve just had it read “Bolt Hardpeck” to me and it undoubtably felt like I was introduced to a macho firefighter. Alright, this is starting to emasculate me so I’ll move on.

I don’t really know how many names are stored in the generator but while using it, I did see some duplicates although they’re not really obvious. I’ll list down some of the names it generated:

• Flint Thornbody
• Zap McBlowfist
• Reef Sideiron
• Rif Slamchest
• Slab McBulkhead

Hilarious yet macho, don’t you think? The first names are really masculine and undeniably butch. The last names have a tinge of humor, mellowing the whole “I’m gonna rip your head off” effect.

Speaking of name generators, Simon wrote about something similar in his article, The 4 Funniest Online Name Generators which includes Superhero names, Pirate names, Vampire and Music Star names. Be sure to check those out as well. We’ve also covered NameMasher, an online name generator that takes two different words and mashes them to create a name like Bennifer (Ben + Jennifer).

Ryder is an open-source application. If you are a developer, you can actually download the source code, take it apart and tell us exactly how many names are in there. For the rest of us, this is all that matters: Ryder is free. Remember, it requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and higher to run. Download it here.

Do you think Ryder really generates macho names or do you have a better alternative? Tell us in the comments.

Some people quickly get a nickname in college, others have to make do. If you’re looking for a cool funny nickname, the internet is a great place to be.

Plenty of name generators out there will give you all you ever dreamt of. But why stop there? Why don’t you get yourself a pirate, dwarf, or Jedi name?

Listed below are four of the funniest online name generators. Want more? – do a Google search for inspiration. If you can think of a naming concept, someone will have made a generator!

The Pirate Name Generator

Earlier this month we celebrated Talk like a Pirate day. If you forgot, just like me, here’s a way to make it up! You might not have a parrot yet, or a wooden leg (don’t worry, not all of ‘em real pirates did) – but here’s a way to earn yourself a real pirate’s name!

Enter your name and sex, and press go to generate one. If you’re unhappy with the name you got, try different combinations of your name, surname and/or nicknames.

From now on, I will be called Cap’n Bernard Bloodbucket. Arr.

Superhero Name Generator

Never had the stomach to conquer the seven seas? How about something a tad more modern?

Most of us grew up with the comic books of DC, Dark Horse and Marvel. All of us dreamed of being superheroes one time or another. Your powers have gone missing, but at least you’ve still got your Superhero Name! After all, the status is enough to scare away most baddies.

Instead of using your own name, you can tweak your feature name using a few of the available options. Choose gender, publisher’s naming scheme, title, adjective, noun and suffix. Not happy with your name? Don’t worry, just hit the button again!

Vampire Name Generator

Vampires merge past and future. As a superior race, they’ll long outlive humanity – but until then, they’ll keep leaching a few more centuries. Although big fangs and long draping capes stand a little out these days, there’s still some more place for bloodsuckers at the corporate top of most ISP’s!

The generator picks names from a number of huge directories of first and last names. You can generate a modern name (and optionally specify gender), or remain retro. Generate 1 up to 25 names, and have your pick!

Music Star Name Generator

Ok, I’ll be honest – the former three name generators might’ve been a bit unrealistic. Vampires and superheroes probably don’t exist, and pirates only do in Somalia.

This one name generator might be a little more within your reach. Have you ever dreamt of a career in music?

Getting a star name isn’t easy, but this site likes to help out. Enter your name and generate a Pop-, Rock-, Rap- or Country Star name. If you aren’t happy with it, you’ll have to try different combinations with your first, last and nicknames, because the site won’t give you another one.

Happy with your new names? Why don’t you post them in the comments section below? Other online name generator suggestions are always welcome as well – I know there are plenty more out there!