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Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For more cool websites and web app reviews subscribe to MakeUseOf Directory.

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jsdo.it – Coders and developers, particularly ones who are not very experienced, can encounter frustrating coding problems that seem to be dead ends. If you are in a similar situation, you should stop fretting and head on over to jsdo.it. jsdo.it is a free to use website aimed at helping web developers with their day-to-day coding problems. Read more: jsdo.it: Write Code, Share It & Get Help From Other Experts.

		PilotHandwriting – If you love beautiful handwritten letters, and are tired of typing emails in those default fonts which look dull and uninspired, then you could try this innovative web based tool called Pilothandwriting. It enables you to type emails in your own handwriting on the computer. Read more: PilotHandWriting: Type In Your Own Handwriting & Email.
		BuddyFox – It can be quite time wasting to keep shifting from your web browser window to your instant messaging client’s window. But because of BuddyFox you can now seamlessly integrate instant messaging with web surfing, without any window switching. Read more: BuddyFox: Firefox Based Instant Messaging.
		MyFav.es – Browser startpage users who like to keep it simple will instantly fall in love with MyFav.es. MyFav.es (derived from “my favorites”) is a minimalist start page website that delivers great functionality in its simple design. If you do not know what a startpage is, it is a collection of web shortcuts shown in a thumbnail view. Read more: MyFav.es: Create Minimalist Start Page With Favorite Website Icons.
		FunnyFacebook – Unless you are living in a faraway cave, you probably have a Facebook account and are busy updating your status all the time. How would you like to update your Facebook status via your dream mobile phone – a BlackBerry perhaps? And no, you don’t need to spend a fortune buying that phone just to boast about it on Facebook. Read more: FunnyFacebook: Customize Facebook Status Update.

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Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For more cool websites and web app reviews subscribe to MakeUseOf Directory.

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FeedsAnywhere – There are many RSS clients that make it easier to read the feeds by merging them. However most of these applications are targeted at computers; when used on smartphones, they often end up with an undesirable layout. For an RSS reader for your mobile phone, give FeedsAnywhere a try. Read more: FeedsAnywhere: Simple web based RSS reader for mobile phone.

		eType – is a great replacement for Typing Tutor programs. Typing Tutors help improve the accuracy and speed of your typing through practice; eType, on the other hand, tries to intuitively figure out which word you want to type and helps you choose from a list of narrowed-down words. Read more: eType: Windows Tool To Auto-Complete Words, Spell Check & Translation.
		Plaud.it – There are a number of online services that provide traffic monitoring statistics for your websites. Site owners usually opt for Google Analytics; however there are other competent alternatives available only waiting to be discovered. One such alternative is Plaud.it. Read more: Plaud.it: Free Website Ranking Statistics Tracker.
		HTTPS Everywhere – HTTPS connections have clear benefits over HTTP ones. With HTTPS you get a higher level of security because data sent and received is encrypted; 3rd party services cannot decrypt this data and learn about your activities. To take advantage of what HTTPS has to offer, you can use HTTPS Everywhere. Read more: HTTPS Everywhere: Use HTTPS Instead Of HTTP When Possible.
		EdocZA – While we have reviewed many PDF document search sites before, EdocZA is different because not only it goes beyond just the PDF format which most document search engines stick to, it also lets users search documents in languages other than English. Read more: EdocZA: Multi-Format Document Search Site.

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These are just half of the websites that we discovered in the last couple of days. If you want us to send you daily round-ups of all cool websites we come across, leave your email here. Or follow us via RSS feed.

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Check out some of the latest MakeUseOf discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For more cool websites and web app reviews subscribe to MakeUseOf Directory.

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MeeGenius – While telling your children popular childrens stories, at times you must have changed the characters’ names to make them more relatable. MeeGenius is a website that makes this simple task even simpler and more fun. It is a free to use website that hosts customizable eBooks for kids. Read more: MeeGenius: Personalized Ebooks For Kids.

		Dazzboard – With so many devices to capture media like pictures, videos and music, the issue that arises inevitably is how to keep them in sync. While there are various data sync solutions available, Dazzboard looks unique and promising. It aims to provide a simple, drag and drop browser based media synchronization solution. Read more: Dazzboard: Sync Your Files Across Multiple Devices.
		ARKive – is creating the ultimate multimedia guide to the world’s endangered species. The site is doing this with the help of the world’s best filmmakers, photographers, conservationists and scientists. Wildlife films and photos are a great way to start people caring for endangered species. Read more: ARKive: Provides Information About Endangered Animals On Earth.
		TwitHawk – There is no doubt about the fact that Twitter has proven to be a successful marketing medium for many companies. If you have millions of dollars to spend then you can hire social media marketing experts to take care of everything, but what if you want to market a small or mid-size business on Twitter? TwitHawk is a great service that lets you do exactly that. Read more: TwitHawk: Real-Time Keyword & Location Based Marketing On Twitter.
		Listen Music – Music lovers are often on the lookout for new bands and music. They might want to find new music according to their mood, the artists they like, or through information they already have. All these things can be done efficiently on Listen Music. It is a website that lets you discover and listen to free music online without downloading. Read more: Listen Music: Listen To Free Music Online Without Downloading.

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All blog platforms, such as Blogger and WordPress, come with their own built-in interfaces for writing new posts. These interfaces work fairly well, but they are ultimately web based interfaces and they can sometimes feel sluggish as a result. These built-in interfaces also can be an issue for people who have multiple blogs. Being forced to log into each individual site in order to make a new post can be very annoying.

The solution to these problems is the use of a blogging client that exists on your computer and acts as a normal program.

A blogging client acts like a word processor, and because it is located on your computer’s hard drive, you can write posts even when offline. Blog clients also make it possible to update multiple blogs through a common interface.

There are many of these programs available, and one of them is Zoundry Raven. Raven is an open-source client, and it supports all of the popular blog formats like WordPress or Blogger and is a good alternative to popular Windows Live Writer.

Getting Started

Before you can start writing blog posts with Raven you need to set it up for use with your blog. In order to do this you need to click on File in the upper left, then hover over new, and finally click on Blog Account. This will start the new blog wizard.

I’m going to assume that you have a blog. If you don’t, Raven can help you there – clicking on “I don’t have a blog yet” will link you to Blogger.com so you can set one up. Otherwise, you need to enter the URL of your blog and then click Next. Raven will check the URL to make sure that a compatible blog format is being used on that website.

You’ll next be asked to set up your blog’s account information and enter an account name. You will need to know your username and password for the blog you want to post to and enter it here. Raven will also display the type of blog it detected. If that information does not look correct, click on the drop-down menu besides Site Type and find the right one. Now click Next.

Raven will check to make sure the account information and password you entered is valid, and once complete it will give you a final confirmation screen. If the account information was wrong, check it for accuracy and re-submit. Otherwise, click Finish.

Raven will at this point download all of the image and post data from the blog. Now it is time to start writing.

Writing & Managing Posts

Once you have all of your blog data imported you will see that your blog account is listed in the account manager on the left side of the program. The account manager lets you browse all tags, images, links and posts that make up your blog. Adding a new post will, of course, add a post to this list.

To start a new post you can click on the big Write button at the top of the program. This will open a new window that doesn’t look much different from the window that appears when you write a new email in an email client.

The name of the blog you are writing for will appear in this window (you can actually add more blogs as well, to update multiple blogs at the same time). Below that you will be able to enter the title of the post and also enter in any tags that you want to use.

By default, the Design view will be open. This is a plain-text view of what you are writing. It is converted automatically to XHTML format that the blog you are writing for can use. You can have a look at the XHTML format by pressing the XHTML tab at the bottom of the window. Raven also lets you add images, links, tables, and XHTML tags. As with the text, all media and tags will be converted into a format compatible with the blog platform you use.

The Preview tab actually lets you take a look at how the post will look when it is posted to the blog. To enable this functionality, however, you must designate a template. This can be achieved clicking on Tools in the main Raven window and then clicking on Blog Template Manager. You only need to enter the URL of the blog you want to make a template for – Raven handles the rest.

To publish the blog post you only need to click on the big Publish button at the top of the window. Raven automatically uploads the blog post to your blog, and the post will momentarily appear on your blog’s page. Easy as pie! Actually easier – I haven’t a clue how to make pie.

Media Storage

Raven supports the ability to drag-and-drop files into your posts, including not only images but also non-image files, such as PDF files. These files can then be accessed through links in your blog post.  This is a very nice feature that makes sharing information in your blog posts easier, but in order to use it you’ll first need to set up Media Storage.

Media Storage is where the files will actually be kept. Most blogs have some form of media storage by default, but you may want to use an alternative in some cases. For instance, let’s say you want to post images to your blog AND share them on a image sharing service.

To set up your media storage you need to click the Add Storage button in the main Raven window. This will prompt you to select the type of storage you want and give the storage a name. Raven supports custom FTP storage, Flickr, Image Shack, LiveJournal Scrapbook, Picasa Web Album and Ripway FTP.

Once you’ve set up your media storage you’ll need to make sure that it is enabled. Go to Tools and then click on Account Manager. Click on the account you want to use media storage for and then click on the Media Storage icon. The name of the storage you just set up will be available as an option with a checkbox. If the checkbox isn’t selected, go ahead and select it and then click Apply. You may need to click the override checkbox at the top of the window in order to do this.

Conclusion

Raven is the best blog client I’ve come across so far. It is easy to use and very powerful. It is open source, so hopefully it will continue to grow as developers work on it further and refine its features.

The most popular competition to Zoundry Raven is Windows Live Writer. They share many of the same features, such as ability to preview posts in your blog’s format and the automatic conversion of your post into a format that is compatible with the blog platform you use. But, as an alternative to windows live writer, The Media Storage Wizard is a feature that Raven has but Windows Live Writer does not and, as said, is particularly useful when you want to share files both on your blog and through a sharing or social media website.

Which desktop blogging client do you recommend?

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When it comes to sharing photos online, Flickr monopolises the playing field, and with good reason. With any popular website comes many third party apps aiming to make your experience all that much better.

There are all sorts of applications created especially for uploading, displaying and sharing your photographs, as well as a whole raft of ways to sift through the countless photos uploaded every day.

Below is a list of a few of the easiest cross-platform applications that you can use with your Flickr account allowing you to upload, display and share your photos.

Upload Your photos

The official FlickrUploadr is the best option available for uploading images to Flickr, without having to use the website. It gives you all the options available on Flickr, from adding titles, a description and tags, as well as adding photos to sets, and choosing privacy settings.

After authorizing your account, click the ‘Add photos‘ button, and you will be able to navigate to your photos, and select as many as you want at one time. Alternatively, you can use the drag and drop method to select your photos. Adding information to each photo is done by clicking on the image, and entering all the information you want to accompany your photo.

Flickr Uploadr is compatible with Mac and Windows.

Change The Way Your Flickr Photos Are Displayed

You can generate a link from On Black that will display your image without any clutter around it, and best of all, with a black background. Generating the link is easy – get the URL of the photo you want to display, and enter it on the On Black page.

You can also authorize your Flickr account to work directly with On Black, allowing you to browse through thumbnails of your latest photos.

After you have selected your photo, preview your picture, copy the HTML text found above the photo, and paste it into your Flickr description. This will create a link to the page, giving your viewers a quick and easy way to view your photos as you want them to.

You can also add the On Black bookmarklet to your browser, for another easy and fast way to generate links. If you’re looking for a more elaborate option on how to display your Flickr photos, you might want to consider creating a portfolio using Pullfolio.

Share Your Flickr Photos

If you want display the latest photos from your Flickr account on your WordPress blog, an easy-to-use plugin is FlickrRSS. Add the plugin from the WordPress Plugin Directory. Choose how many photos you want displayed on your site, and enter your Flickr user ID.

If you would rather not display all of your latest Flickr photos, you can choose to display photos only from a specific set, group, community or even your favourites.

You can also choose to store the images on your server to lighten the load on Flickr. Be sure to add the FlickrRSS widget to your sidebar displaying your latest photos.

If you’re not a WordPress user, you can always create a slideshow to embed on any website using FlickrSlidr.

Flickr has taken all the hard work out of sending notifications to major social media sites. If you want your friends on Facebook to be notified each time you upload new photos, go into your Account settings, and click on Sharing & Extending. From there you will be able to connect your Facebook account to your Flickr account.

If you want your Twitter followers to be notified, SnapTweet is a good option. SnapTweet allows you to share only the photos you choose to send to your Twitter stream, which comes in handy especially if you upload a lot of photographs to Flickr.

Any photo that is tagged with the predetermined word that you have chosen will be updated on Twitter.

SnapTweet offers an alternative way to update your Twitter stream on a case by case basis by sending a DM to the SnapTweet account with the word ‘latest’ in it – and your stream will be updated with the link and title of your latest photo.

Other Useful Flickr Apps

There is no limit to the third party applications built around Flickr and no limit to what you can do with them. If you want a comprehensive Flickr experience without visiting the website, give Flickroom a try. Or you might be looking for a way to automate set management on Flickr. If you want to backup your Flickr photos check out Downloadr, FlickrDown and a few others. If you want to search Flickr there are many different ways to do so, including searching by camera model, and many others. And Flickr even has a whole bunch of games built around it.

What are your favourite Flickr apps? Let us know in the comments.

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