MakeUseOf

Dave Parrack-Deputy Editor for Creative, Entertainment, Gaming, and Social | Oversees Coverage of News and Current Events

Dave Parrack

Deputy Editor for Creative, Entertainment, Gaming, and Social | Oversees Coverage of News and Current Events

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About Dave Parrack

Dave Parrack is a Deputy Editor at MUO and also oversees the site's coverage of current events. He has been writing about technology since 2007, and with MakeUseOf since 2011.

He has previously written for various sites, including Blorge, WebTVWire, and New Atlas.

Dave uses ChromeOS and Android, but isn't a Google fanboy. He thinks AI will change the world sooner than people think, for good or for bad. He has a particular interest in new and emerging technology.

Readers like you help support MUO. When you make a purchase using links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More.
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5 Simple Steps To Making a Perfect Mixtape

Anyone reading these words will likely belong to one of two groups of people: those who love music mixtapes, and those who haven't a clue what one is. This article is aimed at both groups, and, consequently, at everybody. It offers a set of simple steps that need to be followed in order to create the perfect mixtape. Mixtape veterans will likely already know the formula, but will hopefully gain inspiration from this piece to start curating once more.

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Mac
An Apple (Ad) A Day: Top Ten Commercials You’re Likely To Remember

Apple is a company that you either love or hate; there's very little middle ground. This is because you either buy into the company and its culture or reject it outright. Seeing as I don't own a single Apple product I guess I belong to the latter group. However, even I, as a supposed hater, have been exposed to Apple's marketing machine over the last three decades. And while the ads haven't persuaded me to buy anything from the company, some have left a lasting impression.

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10 Awesome Webcomics Drawn Just for Geeks

Webcomics are arguably more popular now than they ever have been before. This is mainly due to a marked increase in the quality of content, with some webcomics being both magnificently written and magnificently drawn. So much so that they rival any of the more established and mainstream comic strips that make it into newspapers and magazines. Who needs print when digital provides all the comic nourishment you'll ever need?

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The 5 Best Wii U Games to Buy for Christmas [MUO Gaming]

The Wii U, the latest home games console from Nintendo, is sure to be on the Christmas lists of many this year. Children who want the latest and greatest gadgets will want one to replace their aging Wii, while geeky adults who want to jump to the next-gen and cannot wait for Sony and Microsoft to cater to their desires will also seek one out. The Wii U was released just in time for the holiday season.

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10 of the Best Animated Christmas Lights Displays for the Holidays

It has arrived. There is no doubting it now. We are in the holiday season, with Thanksgiving and Black Friday signaling its starting point. It's less than a month until Christmas, when cards, gifts, and overeating are the order of the day. Along with the occasional family argument. And before the big day arrives there are trees, and perhaps even houses, to decorate.

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5 Ways In Which Xbox Live Has Changed Gaming – For Better Or Worse [Opinion]

It's difficult to remember a time when games consoles didn't connect to the Internet. I'm now so used to online features being an integral part of the gaming experience, that it's easy to forget that this wasn't the case just a decade ago. A decade is how long Xbox Live has been with us, with Microsoft launching the service in 2002. At that stage in time PC gamers had been playing online for many years, and the Xbox wasn't even the first console to feature Internet connectivity.

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The Useless Web - StumbleUpon For The Strange Side Of The Internet

There are thought to be around 7.6 billion pages on the Web at the time of writing. Even I, someone who spends most of their life online in some capacity or other, would never be able to visit every single page. Having so many pages on the Web means a little curation goes a long way. Which is part of the reason MakeUseOf itself exists; to find the best sites on the Web so you don't have to do so. The thing is, a fair proportion of that total aren't going to be especially useful.

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Too Good to Be True: 5 Things to Look For When Buying a Cheap Tablet

I'm a big fan of tablets, that new wave of mobile devices that sits comfortably between smartphones and laptops. They're not for everybody. In fact, some people consider them a waste of time and money, preferring instead to split their time between the two other devices mentioned previously. I prefer to think of tablets as luxury items: no one really needs one but many people desire owning one. The thing is, not all tablets are created equal.

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Do You Sit, Stand, or Lounge When Using Your Computer? [You Told Us]

More and more people are using computers - both for work and for pleasure - for long periods at a time. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's a practice that promotes a sedentary lifestyle. This certainly is a bad thing, as there are countless maladies connected to inactivity and obesity. This emerging understanding and knowledge of how some of us are doing harm to our bodies.

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Start a Virtual Band Using JAM With Chrome

Being in a band while growing up is one of those rites of passage many people go through. Unfortunately it's only a select few bands which break out of their local vicinity to experience nationwide, or even worldwide, fame and fortune. However, even those who only ever get a couple of gigs playing to their family and friends still get to live out their dreams, even if it's only on a very temporary basis.

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Matching Movies To Your Mood: Do These Tools Work?

There is something magical about movies. In the space of two hours a whole story is told from beginning to end. With a middle that hopefully leaves you feeling something, anything, for the characters and the situation they found themselves in. Not all movies are created equal, of course, and there are as many bad ones as there are good. Which is where the Web comes in to its own.

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6 Dreamcast Games That Stand The Test Of Time [MUO Gaming]

In many ways the Dreamcast is the forgotten console in video games history. It didn't sell well, it didn't stick around long, and it never quite lived up to its early promise. However, those who owned one at the time it was on the market invariably loved it, and hold it in high regard even today. I owned a Dreamcast at the time, and still own one now. The Dreamcast was the last home games console from Sega.

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Celebrate Movember & The Magnificence Of Mustaches With These Web Resources

It's Movember. No, that isn't a typo, it's meant to be an "m" rather than an "n" as November has once again been accosted by men sporting magnificent mustaches in order to raise awareness of male health issues. It's a serious subject brought out into the open by a month-long effort to grow facial hair. And do any of us really need as excuse to grow a mustache anyway?

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DIY
How To Build A Cheap Standing Desk From Ikea, And What It's Like To Use

There's a current craze emerging for standing desks, literally desks that you stand at while working. Having spent the last five years as a self-employed freelance writer who spends most of his days sat at a desk, I've experienced back problems as well as instances of the seemingly unavoidable repetitive strain injury. Perhaps a standing desk is the solution to my problems.

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Annoy Everybody With Infinite Gangnam Style

I'm thankful that not everybody in the world likes the same things. It's a fortunate fact of life that each of us as individuals has different interests and hobbies, and also gravitates towards certain genres, whether it be in movies, television shows, games, or music. However, there are certain things that possess an indefinable quality that means they transcend the vagaries of personal taste. Gangnam Style by PSY is one example.

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Play James Bond Text Adventure To See If You Could Work For MI6

If you're of a certain age you'll be aware of text adventures. These simple games were both fun and frustrating in equal measure, requiring the player to use stock commands to guide the character through the situations encountered, and telling a story in the process. The fun was derived from these games being a kind of interactive fiction, while the frustration emerged when simple commands were misunderstood or ignored.

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8 Essential Tech Influencers To Follow On Twitter

Twitter continues to go from strength to strength, with more people using it to communicate with the world with every passing month. Sure, there are many people who enthusiastically join Twitter after being cajoled into doing so by their friends, only to then disappear not having tweeted, followed anyone, or been followed themselves. But then there are the countless people on Twitter who add something to the conversation.

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Good Griefing: The Funniest Gaming Trolls On YouTube

We have covered trolls extensively here on MakeUseOf, with a three-part toolkit designed to help you deal with these online ne'er-do-wells the best starting place. However, trolls don't limit their presence merely to forums, comments sections, and social networks; a particular breed can be found playing video games online. This breed are known as griefers, and they get their kicks from setting out to intentionally wind other players up.

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Instant Inspiration: Watch Steve Jobs' Greatest Ever Speeches

Not everybody is a fan of Apple. Nor was everybody a fan of Steve Jobs, one of the two Steves who founded the company, and the one who turned it from an also-ran into the cash-gobbling behemoth that it is today. However, even those who dislike Apple and who disliked Jobs felt his passing, and also miss his style of delivery whenever he made a speech. The speeches below are arguably the greatest ever made by Steve Jobs.

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10 Internet Entreprenuers Who Are Active On Quora

Quora is a simple premise beautifully realized. It's an online knowledge depository where people can ask or answer questions. And it's populated by a mix of ordinary, everyday folk like you and me, as well as some famous faces eager to share their wisdom with others. Internet entrepreneurs are no exception. It's safe to say that Internet entrepreneurs are easy to come by.

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