MakeUseOf

Matt Smith

Page 17

About Matt Smith

Matthew Smith is a freelance writer living in Portland Oregon. He also writes and edits for Digital Trends.

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How To Find The Perfect Apartment Online In The United States

Unfortunately, a new apartment has always been an arduous process. It’s hard to judge management based off a few minutes of interaction, and the fancy demo unit you’re shown could be the only one in the complex kept up to date. Online resources can help you skip most of the pain – if you use them.

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Using Your Xbox 360 As A Media Center - Is It Worthwhile? [Opinion]

About two years ago I decided to "cut the cord" on my television service. Or to be more precise, I decided to switch cords - moving my entertainment needs from my cable to my Internet service. I already had accounts with online movie and television services like Netflix and Hulu, but I also needed a way to access these services on my television. My Xbox 360 has ended up becoming a major part of my media center.

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Using Peacekeeper To Benchmark Performance & Battery Life On Any Device

I own a Windows desktop PC, a MacBook and an Android smartphone. Because of the differences between these devices, investigating their performance relative to each other is difficult. It’s not impossible, however, thanks to Peacekeeper. This browser benchmark from Futuremark runs on a plethora of devices via the browser and now includes both performance and battery tests.

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Accessing Blocked Websites At Work - Is It Worth Getting Fired Over? [Opinion]

In a perfect world, we’d all have exciting jobs where we get to set our own hours, work at our own pace, and participate in engaging tasks that challenge our minds and bodies. Back in reality, many people are left with an eight-hour office slog that swings between grueling boredom and tedious repetition. So it’s understandable that many people would turn to the Internet for some work-day entertainment.

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4 Reasons I Hate Facebook’s New Timeline View

Imagine what happened when I saw Facebook’s new Timeline feature. I’m still freaking out.

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The YouTube Guide: From Watching to Production

Want to get the most out of YouTube? This Youtube guide is for you. This guide goes over everything you need to know about YouTube, whether you're an enthusiast or a budding director.

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Mac
4 Free Apps To Download YouTube Videos [Mac]

If you want to download YouTube videos to your PC, the options are seemingly endless. There are a huge number of options available that are simple and effective, including not only standalone software but also browser extensions. Mac owners have fewer options to pick from – but that doesn’t mean we’re out of luck.

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The 3 Best Alternatives To The Picnik Photo Editing Tools

We recently reported that Picnik will be closing on April 19th. The demise of the popular online photo-editing service has been met with scorn from fans, who are unhappy with Google’s decision to kill one of the web’s best free tools in the name of consolidation. There’s no need to panic, however. There are some solid alternatives available that are just as free.

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The 5 Best and Most Interesting Ultrabooks From CES

CES 2012 focused on the ultrabook. Nearly every major consumer electronics company had one to show – including companies that don’t have much presence in the laptop market, such as LG. Not every ultrabook was worthy of praise, but there were a few that stood out from the crowd. Some were notable for their build quality – others, for their unique design.

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Are QR Codes Just A Fad? [Opinion]

I remember the first time I encountered a QR code. I didn’t have a smartphone yet, so my reaction was "Hey, what’s this weird block of pixels?" It was only when I purchased my first Android phone that I began to take real note of them. I scanned a few during the first month I had the phone. And then I more or less quit.

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The 6 Best Websites To Trade In Your Used Video Games

Video games are an experience, and once that experience is over, you may not have much use for the game anymore. Sure, maybe one day you’ll pick it up and start playing it all over again, but let’s face it. You probably won’t. Trading in your games can be a good idea, and there are a number of stores that offer this service. They might low-ball you, however.

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Target To Host Miniature Apple Stores At 25 Locations [News]

As Apple’s popularity grows, the company has been continuing to expand its retail presence across the globe. Usually this is accomplished by opening new stand-alone Apple stores. But while the company may take a walled-garden approach to their products, they’re sometimes a bit more open about running the business. May 6th will see the opening of the first Apple mini-store inside a Target.

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8 Cool New and Revised Features in Android 4.0 Ice-Cream Sandwich

It’s a new year, and we have a new version of Android. Known popularly by the code name Ice Cream Sandwich, Android 4.0 is an important update to Google’s mobile operating system. It will be available for both tablets and smartphones, and seeks to unify an Android experience that has become more and more fragmented.

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How Image Search Engines Work [MakeUseOf Explains]

These days you don’t have to limit your search to just websites. Many other forms of content are easy to find, including images. No matter what you’re looking for, an image is (for better or worse) just one image search away. You may wonder, however, how image search works. How are images sorted and classified, making it possible to find tens or hundreds of relevant results?

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3 Ways Game Studios Still Reinforce Negative Body Images For Women [Opinion]

It’s 2012. It’s been four decades since video games first began to emerge as a form of entertainment for consumption. In those decades, game complexity has improved, massive online worlds have been constructed, and 3D graphics have been honed into a fine tool, capable of as much realism as desired. Yet there are still a few particular issues that games struggle to overcome.

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The Best Prepaid Cell Phones on the US Market

Mobile phone contracts suck. Everyone knows it, but we accept them because often we don’t seem to have much choice. The selection of pre-paid phones is poor and off-contract phones are expensive. But perhaps you simply aren’t willing to accept a contract, however, or simply don’t use much mobile data or many cell minutes.

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