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Turn Your Mobile Phone Into a Survival Kit
Picture this. You're on vacation up in the mountains. You were hiking along, and decided to explore an interesting side trail. Before you know it, the trail disappears into a mess of weeds and trees, and as you turn around in every direction, you realize that you have no idea where the trail is. Then it dawns on you. You're lost. Being lost is no fun. I speak from experience. So, let me tell you what helps.
What Is THAT? 9 Of The Weirdest Things You Can See On Google Street View
I have to say that I have been on some really cool adventures in Google Street View. I've strolled down cobblestone streets in Italy, cruised along the mountainous shoreline of northern California, and creeped along the quiet streets of abandoned towns. Every now and then, I will experience a very surreal moment when I spot an extremely odd or unusual object or situation that got captured by the Google Street View team.
Get Your Nitro On With Asphalt 7 Heat [Android]
Let me just tell you straight away that when it comes to video games, I absolutely love racing games above nearly any other. War games may be the one exception, but racing games are at least at the very top of my list, and it's mostly because I'd love to drive like that in real life, but if I get a couple more speeding tickets, I'm likely to lose my license. So, I must live vicariously through video games.
So What Is a Database, Anyway? [MakeUseOf Explains]
For a programmer or a technology enthusiast, the concept of a database is something that can really be taken for granted. However, for many people the concept of a database itself is a bit foreign. SQL calls, queries, tables, records, keys - all of those terms and more make up the field of database design and database management, and there's not a whole lot that's simple about it.
Using Microsoft Word? Here's How To Become a Time-Saving Ninja
Over the years, Microsoft Word has become one of the best word processors in the world. I'm sure there are people out there that disagree - particularly Linux or Mac folks who would really rather not give Microsoft so much credit. But, lets face it, Microsoft has established a very large foothold in this area, and they've evolved Microsoft Word over the years to the point where it is extremely efficient and easy to use.
6 Tech-Savvy Charities To Give Back This Holiday Season
Regardless of religion or belief, the one common theme that runs throughout all of the end-of-the-year celebrations throughout the world is the idea of slowing down a little bit and showing the fellow humans who we share this planet with, that the world still contains people who care.
What Is a Web Server? [MakeUseOf Explains]
If there is one thing that causes the most confusion for people that are new to the web design game, it's the concept of a web server. When most people think of a "server", they think of a physical machine like a big computer system sitting in some chilled computer room somewhere, or at the very least some computer system sitting in the basement of some hackers house. The truth is that a server in this sense is technically software.
3 Reasons Why You Never Forget Your First Computer
I think for geeks, that first computer is a little bit like a first love. You remember it longingly, even though it isn't anything that would make you at all happy today. It has nothing that you need at this point in your life, but you still remember all of those feelings. Those emotions that felt so strong and so powerful back then. Yes, for geeks, our first computer is just like that.
Five Fascinating Uses for Google Maps & Earth
I think there can be little doubt that writers here at MakeUseOf really love Google Maps and Google Earth. We've written about them extensively, such as John's Google Maps mashups article or Ann's article on historical mashups using Google Maps. There are a lot of really cool things that programmers can do with Google mapping tools. This was the case over five years ago, and it's still the case today.
Keep Log & Temp Files Under Control With This Windows Script
I've spent a lot of time helping out friends and family with their computer issues, and I have to say that above all other problems, the one issue that I see come up again and again are temp files and log files eating up shrinking disk space and eventually bogging down the system. The temporary Internet files folder is a common culprit, but that's one that has an easily solution.
How To Easily Track Your Incoming Links With PrettyLinks
Having a popular blog or website can be fantastic, and one of the most popular ways that many people opt to inject a bit of adrenaline into their traffic numbers is by either purchasing advertising space on other websites or ad networks, or otherwise getting either an ad or a banner published on other websites throughout the Internet.
Run Your Own Bustling Apartment Building With Tiny Tower [Android & iOS]
One game that I stumbled upon and almost passed by is a vintage-looking game called Tiny Tower. Picture the sort of animation that you probably would have seen on a Nintendo-era game, but with a sort of fast-paced and mind-challenging organizational challenge of any number of Facebook games of today. It is clearly a time management game. It's like Diner Dash meets Sim Tower, and it is highly addictive.
3D Design for Daily Life: How to Plan a Home DIY Project With Sketchup
Doing a home improvement project on your own isn't always a simple matter. Sometimes it seems simple enough when you get started, but before you know it, you realize that if you had just taken proper measurements and planned out your renovation in a little more detail ahead of time, it would have saved a whole lot of headache. Since I happen to have a DIY project that I'm planning out this year, I needed a program that would help me plan out the entire project.
Interesting World Simulations For Predicting The Future & Understanding Society
Lots of people are very concerned about issues that affect their local communities, and maybe even their country, but are you the kind of person that's actually also very concerned about the entire world itself? It is very clear to people how certain things like the economy, industry, pollution and population directly affects elements of the local community.
Track & Predict The Path Of Satellites Live Using Gpredict [Windows]
I have to admit that I'm a sucker for cool, high-tech displays that constantly update with interesting data in real-time. It's one reason that I wrote about real-time display widgets and tried to use those to create a whole page filled with cool looking do-hickeys with data and graphics scrolling across. My obsession with visual data also transformed into the article on visualizations.
How to Make Sure Windows System Restore Works When You Need It
System restore is not an automatic feature in Windows. Here's how to make sure your Windows system restore utility is working as intended.
Take Handwritten Notes Online or Offline With SuperNote for Android
I tested out a number of device-based note-taking apps, and eventually settled on the one that I consider the best of the best, called SuperNote. Don't bother checking Google Play for the app - it was originally rolled out with the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime as part of the Android 3.2.1 Honeycomb update. Other devices running the latest Honeycomb have the exclusive SuperNote app. It is very cool, and in many ways it actually blows even Evernote out of the water.
Comparing Evernote to OneNote on an Android Phone
It's no secret that folks at MUO really like note-taking apps. Evernote in particular has become a favorite for a lot of people. It's constantly mentioned around the net as one of the best note-taking apps both for the desktop platforms as well as the various mobile platforms out there. You can get it for Windows, Mac and for iOS, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Phone. But is it the be all and end all note taking app? Is it really best for everything?
How To Video Chat Between An Android Phone And A PC
Chatting with mobile phones is nothing new. Folks have been using instant messaging on their mobile phones almost as long as there have been mobile phones. When it comes to video chatting, you're looking at a whole different set of choices. I've run through about 5 different apps that promise to deliver video chatting well, but narrowed it down to two that actually do.
In Danger? No Phone Signal? Using Morse Code with Your Smartphone [Android]
Getting lost in the forest is a scary feeling. Yes, I speak from experience. When I was about twelve years old, my dad and I got turned around in the forest behind our house, just after twilight set in. We ended up about 150 yards from the ATV we'd driven into the woods with, as well as the trail that would lead us home. We made it home that night, but ever since then I never forgot the feeling of realizing that I was lost.