Podcastomatic allows the users to convert any blog post into a podcast and listen to it in their browser. There is nothing much you need to do to get it working. All you have to do is provide the URL of the article you want to listen and it will convert them into podcasts. You can also download the podcast as well.

The Easiest Way to Convert A Blog to Podcasts

Visit Podcastomatic homepage and enter the URL of the blog you want to listen to. Click Go when you are done.

It doesn’t matter if you are specifying the homepage of the blog or a single post page as the URL, because Podcastomatic only uses the domain name and grab the posts from the homepage (using RSS feed). This is what you will see after entering the URL. All the posts are organized in episode and you can click on any link to listen to that particular post.

To listen to the podcast, you can either get it to play directly in your browser, or download it to your computer so that you can listen to it later.

During my testing, I tried converting different blogs to podcasts (including Make Tech Easier) and the result always turned out well. However, you don’t expect real human voice for the podcast. In fact, you will have to bear with the monotonous machine voice (and try not to fall asleep).

You can also subscribe to the podcast using iTunes or opens the podcast RSS feed and subscribe to it.

Some Drawbacks

As mentioned earlier, Podcastomatic doesn’t care whether the URL is the homepage of the blog or a single post page. This means that you can’t create podcast for just a single post. Some blogs have 50 items in their RSS feed, so if you want to listen to just one of the 50 posts in the blog, you still have to wait for it to download all the posts and convert them to podcasts.

In addition, the playback service doesn’t come with a seek bar. That means, you are not able to fast forward or rewind the podcast. An alternative is to subscribe the podcast feed in your favorite podcast player, or simply download the podcast to play with your audio player.

Conclusion

If you are a user who wants to convert your favorite blogs to podcasts, or a webmaster who wants to offer a podcast subscription option for your reader, Podcastomatic will work fine for you.. If you don’t mind the monotonous machine voice in the podcast and some of the drawbacks mentioned above, you will definitely want to check out this tool and keep it in your bookmarks. For active podcast listener who prefer “real” podcast (with real human voice), this is not for you.

Visit Podcastomatic

The post Convert Blog to Podcast with Podcastomatic appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Developing a search engine is complicated and requires a demanding amount of resources. Long before Google started hosting vast amounts of data in Gmail and Google Drive, the company needed to invest heavily in infrastructure just to sustain their initial search service. Suffice to say, most people cannot design and maintain their own web search engines, and there is a reason only a few key players dominate the arena. Yet regardless of which search provider you turn to, the process for how search engines work is largely the same.

1. Crawling

First, developers create Internet bots capable of reading hyperlinks and HTML. These web crawlers browse the Internet looking for web sites in order to index them. They are provided with a list of URLs to start with, and the bot scans all of the hyperlinks on each of these pages and adds them to the list of URLs to visit next. Crawlers can only download a certain number of pages within a given time period, which is why search results sometimes suggest websites that have since been deleted or removed. The websites these web crawlers visit are indexed according to the information the bots can gather by reading each site’s HTML.

2. Indexing

Indexing speeds up the process of retrieving relevant webpages. Searching an index is a substantially less intensive and time-consuming task than searching all of the possible websites. Imagine having to send out new web crawlers to discover the answers to every search inquiry. It would be akin to sending explorers out into the wilderness blind rather than using a map.

Indexes must be stored, and considerable time and effort goes into keeping indexes up-to-date, but the trade-off in speed makes the effort worth it.

3. Searching

Searching is the most visible step of the process. When you type a term into Google, Bing, Yahoo, Duck Duck Go, or any number of search engines, they search their respective indexes for the best results. This information is then displayed on search engine results pages (SERPs).

4. Making Money

Since search engines are free, how were some able to grow into such massive companies? Like much of the Internet, search engines make money by selling ad space. Some advertisers pay to have their products or services ranked higher in search results. Some engines, such as Google, run search-related ads alongside their general search results. As search engines became the most popular way of finding information on the internet, they also became the most popular way of advertising online. Potential consumers may not read the same websites, but they do turn to the same search engines.

Final Thoughts

The process is immensely complex, and there is a great demand out there for people who understand the intricacies of how search engines work. This guide just scratches the surface, but there’s a wealth of information out there. Thanks to search engines, finding that information is easier than ever.

The post MTE Explains: How Search Engines Work appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

1. Is Bitcoin a safe currency?

This question is kind of tough to answer, considering the complex algorithms it uses to generate new units of the currency and the significant decentralization of the currency itself. There’s one universal law in digital cryptography which applies to Bitcoin: Nothing is 100 percent safe. But you probably didn’t want to know whether it’s absolutely safe. Rather, you are curious about how safe Bitcoin is.

Its method is tried and true. Bitcoin cannot be hacked on a catastrophic/holistic level. Your wallet’s safety, however, depends on how you take care of it. If you attach weak passwords to your wallet, expect mayhem at some point in the future. Bitcoin itself may be impermeable to attacks because of its decentralized nature, but your wallet falls entirely in your hands.

But just because Bitcoin is cryptically safe doesn’t mean that it can’t be exploited. I came across an article about a Trojan Horse that forces computers to mine Bitcoins for the hacker that infects them. So, it’s not a perfect system, but even those hackers aren’t going to hoard their Bitcoins forever. Eventually, that money will fall into someone else’s hands, and so on, and so forth. The economic cycle continues whether or not the system was exploited. So, there’s no real harm.

As a recap: Yes, Bitcoin can’t be hacked conventionally as a whole. Your wallet is an entirely different story.

2. Is Bitcoin impermeable to government intervention?

The short answer: No.

The long answer: It depends on what you mean by government intervention. If you’re talking about some pieces of paper passed by Congress, it can totally happen. If you’re talking about government action against Bitcoin, it’s… complicated.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the U.S. tax collection agency. They are working on ways to tax the flow of Bitcoins between individuals. How would they manage this? The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) gets notifications when U.S. bank account holders make transactions. They can forward this notification to the IRS at any time. If you make a transaction for Bitcoins, they’ll know that you converted that money. What they have a little difficulty tracking, however, is the Bitcoin-to-Bitcoin exchanges themselves (since they happen on decentralized peer-to-peer networks). Although the Internet is very difficult for governments to regulate, you still should be concerned.

This brings us to another question: Exactly how concerned should you be? Read this. At the exchange level, it’s easy to regulate and seize assets. In the linked article, the author describes how the Department of Homeland Security (another U.S.-based government doohickey)  got a hold of Mt. Gox’s accounts. Here’s the surprising thing: Mt. Gox is a company in Japan. However, a U.S. authority managed to seize accounts. Of course, the situation is more complex than that. Mt. Gox violated U.S. banking law by lying on its application to register Mutum Sigilum LLC and open a bank account for the company. The bank it was opening the account with asked if the business was engaged in monetary services. In short, Mt. Gox answered “no.” While this was deceptive on behalf of the company, it’s clear that government can entangle itself with Bitcoin in significant ways that we have yet to see.

3. Is Bitcoin a worthy investment?

This is a tough one. On the one hand, you have a currency that’s practically inflation proof. On the other hand, you have a currency whose value rises and falls sharply at some points when compared to the U.S. dollar and Euro.

Some people mistakenly consider a currency that’s less susceptible to inflation as an asset with a stable value. This is completely wrong on many levels. The aggregate demand of the currency is subject to change, which also changes its value. What “inflation-proof” means, in this case, is that Bitcoin is limited only to a certain number of units (there’s a hard limit of 21 million). While the number of Bitcoins in circulation grows, it will never pass 21 million. If you’re looking for a currency that doesn’t lose its internal value, this currency will be worth the investment.

However, if you’re looking for a currency that has a very stable U.S. dollar, EU, Rupee, Ruble, Leu, or Cordoba value, you”ll be very disappointed. Bitcoin has a large number of booms and busts that make it a less-than-ideal get-rich-quick currency. Don’t buy Bitcoins expecting to make a fortune out of them later on. It’s a relatively volatile market for the moment.

Also, competitors to Bitcoin are popping up, making the market more diverse. You have many other currencies to invest in now, such as Litecoin, Namecoin, and PPCoin. Here’s a little secret: Litecoin has the strongest encryption algorithm out of all of them (scrypt).

BONUS: Is there such a thing as a “physical” Bitcoin?

Yes, there is! Casascius makes physical coins that represent a value in Bitcoin. They also sell a gold-plated 100-BTC bar. The offer is very lucrative if you buy from a business that accepts Bitcoin as legal tender, although I don’t think that this will ever really happen.

Here’s how they work: They contain a tamper-free hologram that protects a private key which can be used to decrypt the coin’s “address” on the Internet. By decrypting it, you can redeem your funds at any time online.

The coins really don’t have practical uses except for storing your money within a physical object that you can carry around. The coin would also make a great conversation piece. Of course, the cost of a physical coin is slightly higher than the value it represents (i.e. a 25 BTC coin will actually cost you 26.20 BTC). This covers Casascius’ cost of production and a little bit of a markup for profit.

Conclusion

I hope this answers any potential questions you may have had about Bitcoin. I have attempted to make it as factually accurate as possible. If you’d like to add something to the discussion, leave a comment below and we can talk!

The post 3 Questions About Bitcoin Everyone Should Ask (And Their Answers) appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Open source licensing

Open source licensing has been around for a very long time.  It’s a type of accepted copyright license for software that allows developers to modify and share the source code behind it.  Beyond that, open source software can be freeware, shareware or paid for outright by users depending on the developer’s preference.  It’s also determined by each open source developer whether or not their name must be attached to the source code should it be modified or distributed in a new way.

There are many organizations and groups that oversee open source licensing, which makes it a more viable way to protect the work as a software developer.  Since more people recognize the oversight, it’s easy to protect your source code should someone use it in a way you didn’t authorize.

Open source comes as is with no guarantee it’ll even work or that you’ll have the support behind it to fix an issue that comes up.  Since open source software is being developed, tweaked and distributed with changes by various developers, they may not have the time or energy to fix or change anything that is considered an issue.

Some of the most well-known open source software out there includes Linux, WordPress, Firefox and the Chromium engine.

Proprietary licensing

Proprietary licensing is more of a free form licensing that has no real oversight.  When you download a software title under a proprietary license, the developer makes the rules of what can and can’t be done with it. However, under the law in most countries, there are really no repercussions to govern this because proprietary licensing is not overseen by any laws backing it.  This is why you see many well-known proprietary software titles being modified without official access to its source code.

Since proprietary licensing is not recognized by the law, that means that just about every proprietary title requires you as a user to accept a long set of Terms and Conditions.  Once you accept this legal document, it becomes a binding contract between you and the developer, which means you’re liable for any terms you break.

Proprietary licensing offers support, bug fixes and patches, along with other helpful solutions when needed from the developer.  Since they’re the only ones who can fix issues related to the source code, the developer is most apt to find the fixes and apply them to continue turning a profit.

Some of the most common proprietary-based software out there include Windows and Mac OS X.

Open Source and Proprietary License Compared

Open source licensing and proprietary licensing have two very different goals in mind: The latter has turned into a game of making a profit whereas the former is all about taking a basic idea and turning it into something bigger and better.

Can Open Source and Proprietary License Work Well Together?

Opera has recently taken the step forward as a proprietary-based company deciding to make the leap into a more open source atmosphere.  Opera has made the move from using its rendering engine to utilizing the WebKit engine.  In this case, the brand of Opera is still proprietary, but the engine it uses is open source, meaning developers can tweak the coding behind Opera in ways they never could before.  This can lead to leaps forward for the Opera browser, similar to how the Chromium engine has evolved, without them giving up everything about the Opera brand.

Conclusion

Big name companies can still retain the rights to the brands they own, but by allowing developers and everyday users to tweak the code in places, who knows what could be possible for your favorite software titles and operating systems.  This is how open source and proprietary license can work together to produce better software for everyone.

The post Open Source vs. Proprietary License: What You Need to Know About Software Licenses appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Getting Started

JustBeamIt is a direct P2P file transfer tool that advertises itself as “file transfer made easy.” Pay the JustBeamIt website a visit and see for yourself. The service invites you to drag a file into the window to get started. If you prefer to manually select the single file transfer, click on the parachute to open a file selection dialog.

After you have dragged or selected a file to upload, the item will appear inside JustBeamIt. Since I am a big fan of minimalist footwear, I have selected a barefoot running guide to share with people. All I have to do is press the green “Create link” button to create a link I can share via email, instant messaging, or however I so desire.

The link that JustBeamIt generates is short, making it easy to fit inside a tweet or text message. Note that JustBeamIt is not a file hosting service, so you cannot share a link with more than one person. After it has been accessed once and the file has been successfully downloaded, the link will stop working.

JustBeamIt also provides a handy QR code that you can access from its location tucked away in the middle of the screen. This makes the service a great way to transfer files from your computer to your smartphone without having to dig for cords. There is also an Android app available if QR codes just aren’t your thing. Regardless of how you choose to share your file, don’t waste too much time. Links do time out after a while. Granted, the process is so simple that it isn’t too much hassle to start over.

Receiving a file through JustBeamIt is even easier than sending one. You do not have to be familiar with the service to download files successfully, making it a great tool for sending files to friends or family members who are still easily confused by computers. Just click on the file in the middle of the window to begin the download.

You’re Done!

No seriously, that’s it. JustBeamIt makes single file transfer as simple as posting a status update. We at Make Tech Easier strive to help everyday users accomplish tasks on their computers more easily, and I’ve seen few services simplify computing as successfully as JustBeamIt. Transferring files is now so straightforward that even people who have only a minimal understanding of what a file is can send one successfully. If you remember how much of a chore transferring files used to be, share it with us in the comments below.

The post Use JustBeamIt for Easy Single File Transfer appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Facebook now allows users to select three to five people as Trusted Contacts who can help the user get access to his/her Facebook account through a set of security codes. All they have to do is visit a secure link after logging in to their account and they will be asked if it’s really you who is trying to access the account.

After confirmation, the contact will be shown a security code to be shared with you. Simply enter the codes from all the contacts you added to your Trusted Contacts list and add them into the recovery page option.

How to Enable Trusted Contacts on Facebook

To enable the Trusted Contacts feature, click on the privacy icon and select “See More Settings”.

From the sidebar, click on Security Settings and you will be able to find an option to enable Trusted Contacts from there.

Click on “Choose Trusted Contacts”, and it will ask you add at least three people to the list. The reason why you are required to select three contacts is because there are chances of one of them getting their accounts compromised. Make sure you add those people to the list who can be contacted via phone, and more importantly, that you trust them with this kind of information. After adding all the names, click Confirm.

You will be asked to enter your password as confirmation.

The people you will add to the Trusted Contacts list will be sent an email as well as a notification on Facebook that you have added them as a trusted contact. There is no option for the recipient to accept or reject this.

Later, if you decide to change the list of people you added to the Trusted Contacts, you can do so from the same security settings mentioned above.

It should be noted that this feature is not yet available for every Facebook user and is still new. Hopefully, you will be able one of the users to receive the Trusted Contacts recovery option in case your account becomes compromised.

Is it Really Useful?

There are a lot of arguments both for and against this feature. Most importantly, how can you be one-hundred percent sure that the person you added to your Trusted Contacts list will not try to access your account? This may not be the most convenient method to recover your account. But personally, I think if you have Two-Factor Authentication on your Facebook account, it will be safe. In the end it’s up to you to decide whether it can be helpful to you or not.

What are your thoughts about this new feature? Feel free to share your views using the comments section below.

The post How to Enable Trusted Contacts Feature on Facebook appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

What Are “DoS” And “DDoS?”

DoS and DDoS are both attacks that are carried out on a particular computer or server. Both of these attacks have one thing in common: They flood the destination server with connection requests and/or data. The goal of both attacks is to overwhelm the server with so much data that it will simply stop accepting new connections. Other users will not be able to use the services provided by that network endpoint. In other words, if someone succeeds in attacking a website through a DoS or DDoS attack, you won’t be able to connect to it.

The difference between the two terms lies simply in the number of computers attacking.

DoS, or “Denial of Service,” attacks are carried out by one single computer.

DDoS, or “Distributed Denial of Service,” attacks are carried out by multiple computers (either voluntarily or involuntarily).

Both attacks can be dangerous, but DDoS is the most dangerous of all.

Methods of Execution

While a DoS attack may involves one single computer just running a DoS “tool,” a DDoS attack is often much more sophisticated. DDoS attacks are usually carried out from within botnets. A botnet is a group of computers that have been rounded up against their will, usually because of a virus or something else. They all connect to a central “command center.” This command center can be something as simple as a private password-protected chatroom. After the computers have all connected to the terminal, the hacker can simply command all of the connected computers to flood the target machine. A typical botnet looks like this:

Sometimes, this involves thousands of computers, all pouring the full brunt of their bandwidth into one server. This poses an extreme risk.

How Does DDoS Affect You?

There are two ways to be a victim of a DDoS attack: Your computer can either be infected with the botnet virus, or you can be the target of a DDoS attack. Both of them can pull you offline for a very extended period of time! I’ve had a DDoS attack flood my servers with over 8 Gbits/second of data for an entire week. This really interrupts many things, and the infected computers didn’t even know that they were attacking me.

How To Protect Yourself From DDoS

Although a corporate network is more likely to be on the receiving end of one of these bad boys, it’s good to be protected at all times. I’m going to tell you a harsh truth: There’s little you can do to prevent a DDoS attack from ripping your bandwidth to shreds. A firewall will only do so much. One decent way to defend yourself against DDoS is to buy a decent switch or router with network-level packet filtering technology.

But even that method is kind of ineffective. If you really want to protect yourself, you’d better hope you have a dynamic IP. This will allow you to change your IP address any time you disconnect from the Internet and connect to it again. You can do this by unplugging your router and plugging it back in again. If you have a static IP, there’s nothing you can really do except wait out the attack or call your Internet service provider (ISP) and ask them to change your IP. This strategy will allow you to finally have some breathing room.

That’s not all you should do, though. Changing your IP is just one step of many (and probably the last step you should follow in the entire strategic process). You should close any program you use on the Internet (Outlook, instant messaging, syncing utilities, etc.) and then just open your browser to look through the web. Do this for a few days. Afterwards, you can pop your head out of the water to see if all is safe. Doing this puts you below the radar. Using an application like AdvTor in tandem with your Internet utilities can really confuse a hacker trying to attack you with a DDoS. It hides your IP and allows you to resume all operations safely while you wait out the attack.

In fact, one of the best ways to prevent a DDoS from ever affecting you is to use a proxy or the previously-mentioned application at all times. When you hide your IP, you give yourself more power.

What If You’re Infected With A DDoS Virus?

First of all, software firewalls are very effective at stopping a virus from penetrating your network. The only times they’re ineffective is when you accidentally add a virus to the firewall’s application exception database. Check what programs are listed as exceptions. If any of them seem suspicious, do a quick search on the web to determine whether it’s something you should be worried about.

In general, keeping a healthy and strong antivirus application on your computer helps you stop these kinds of things from happening. There are exceptions (such as newly-created “0-day” viruses). In this case, you should go back to your firewall. Configure it to disable your Internet connection for absolutely everything except applications that you allow. Better yet, clear the exception list entirely. When a program asks to use the Internet, a notification will appear asking you to approve its use.

If you don’t feel confident that you’ll catch the virus this way, use a network monitoring application like netmon from Microsoft.

The image above shows how netmon looks after I’ve started a new capture for a few seconds. It shows me exactly what programs are using my Internet connection on the left-hand panel. This transparency can help you tell whether there’s a program using your Internet connection without your consent.

Conclusion

While you may not be a likely target of a DDoS attack, you’re better off if you’re armed with the knowledge necessary to combat one. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below, and you’ll get an answer to you quickly!

The post MTE Explains: What Is DDoS and How Can You Protect Yourself appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

YouTube’s Traditional Model

While many YouTube watchers have been annoyed by the steady increase of ads on the website, they are a necessary evil. Traditionally, these advertisements provide the money YouTube makes. While Google makes money when advertisers pay to put banner ads across the site, YouTube partners make money only from the ads that appear within videos.

The vast majority of people who produce content for YouTube never see a dime. The simple truth is that it takes millions of views to make even thinking about becoming a partner worthwhile. Official numbers haven’t been produced, but YouTube partners are known to make a fraction of a penny per view.

Let’s say you obtain 200,000 views on a video. It’s a respectable number, but a penny-per-page view would amount to $2,000. At a mere fraction of a penny, partners would be grateful to bring in an eighth of that amount. Again, the official rates are not published, but there is anecdotal evidence out there.

Video advertisement can be bought by ad agencies at a certain rate per thousand views. Some of this makes it to the YouTube partner, but we do not know how much. Some ad buyers pick specific videos they want their ads to appear in. They also pay varying amounts for different types of content, and they may choose to pull their ads out of videos containing content considered too inappropriate or risky.

YouTube provides an ad performance report to each partner that displays data based on CPMs (cost per 1,000 views), gross revenue, impressions, and playbacks for each ad format that runs on their content. This allows partners to monitor how well they’re performing and how much they can expect to make.

Third Parties

YouTube producers can supplement the income they bring in from Google with money made from outside sources. Some companies will pay YouTube partners to sponsor their product. For example, a producer known for her makeup reviews may get offered a certain amount of money to review specific makeup products on her channel. Some YouTube sensations are paid to come on TV shows or offered large sums of money to appear in commercials.

Paid Channels

YouTube’s new model allows channels to produce pay-per-view content. To watch the videos, visitors must first subscribe to the channel. YouTube partners can set their fees as low as 99 cents per month. Each comes with a 14-day free trial and can offer discounted yearly rates. Some may still come with ads, but if a paid channel charging $1.99 a month has 125,000 subscribers, we can start making better guesses regarding how much that particular partner might be making.

In Summary

When looking at the way YouTube partners make money, it’s much like making money from blogging; it’s a very murky process. It varies based on each person’s success, their marketing skills, their outreach, and their ability to negotiate. Even then, much of it is luck. The popular “David After Dentist” video brought its creator over $100,000 after acquiring over 100 million views, but there’s no predicting when or if similar home videos will go viral.

Making a living off of producing content for the internet is still a relatively new and rapidly changing frontier. YouTube’s new model could join Netflix, Hulu, and similar video streaming services in shaking up the traditional way commercial media is created and delivered to consumers. But this will only happen if YouTube partners continue to flock to the service and visitors show an interest in subscribing to content. How much money partners make on YouTube depends mostly on whether viewers will continue to see watching YouTube and streaming media online as preferable to watching cable or satellite. Only time will tell.

The post MTE Explains: How YouTube Partners Make Money appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

If you are looking for some tools to help you generate invoices online for free and without having to sign up for an account, check out the following websites:

1. MinuteBill

In the past, I have used a lot of invoicing tools, both free and paid. Most of them require the users to sign up for an account and spend some time to setup their accounts, company logo, client information etc.

Minutebill is a free tool that allows you to generate invoices online without having to sign up for any account. To get started, all you have to do is visit MinuteBill homepage and it will load up a template of an invoice. You can add all the details such as the client name, your company name, date, invoice number, item and product details, product pricing and contact details.

After adding all the required details, click on Create PDF, and it will open the invoice in a PDF format which you can save on your computer and send to your clients. You can even save the details so that you don’t have to enter the same info again and again. The tool saves all the settings in your browser cache and loads them every time you open MinuteBill. One thing to note here is that it adds a link to their  website in the footer of each invoice.

You can change some basic settings such as PDF file name, date format and currency as well. Just click on Settings from the taskbar and change the required settings. Currently, the service supports all the basic currencies including USD and those from UK, Australia, Canada, Turkey, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

2. Invoicd

Invoicd is another handy utility that allows users to create invoices on the go. Just like MinuteBill, you don’t have to go through any registration process. After opening Invoicd homepage, you will be presented with a template of an invoice. The service is a simple interface and allows users to upload their company logo along with other details such as client information, date, invoice number, etc.

Unlike MinuteBill, Invoicd allows users to email the invoices without downloading them to their computer. If you want to save a copy of the invoice on your computer, just click on “Generate PDF” and it will automatically download the file to your computer.

The service doesn’t support as many common currencies as MinuteBill. Currently it only supports USD, UK Pound, Indian Rupees, Euro and Japanese Yen.

Conclusion

Both of these services are great, and I hope they keep on introducing new features as they become popular. One of the annoying thing that comes with both of these services is the site URL appended at the footer of the invoice. It sure makes your invoice looks unprofessional and there doesn’t seem to have an option to remove it. Apart from that, both of these services are simple and easy to use, allowing you to generate invoices online. Personally, I like MinuteBill more as the layout it offers is minimal and very simple.

How do you create invoices? Feel free to share your thoughts using the comments section below.

Image credit: Free invoicing for everyone

The post 2 Websites To Generate Invoices Online for Free appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

With such sensitive information on the line, the stakes are obviously high. Sadly, as dangerous as they are, phishing attacks are common – very common. The 2012 RSA online fraud report indicates that there is an average of 33,000 phishing attacks each month; and these are just the ones reported. Because phishing attacks are so dangerous and prevalent, it is definitely important to protect yourself from them. This guide shows you how phishing attacks work and how to protect yourselves from them.

How Phishing Attacks Work

The main objective of phishing scammers is to steal information. To do this, hackers determine what information they need and how to retrieve it. They usually do this by sending you counterfeit or fake emails that seem to be from a legitimate company like Facebook, Bank of America, and LinkedIn. In a majority of cases, they tell you that you need to update your personal information for security purposes. Here is how one phishing email might look like:

Exceptionally aggressive spammers may even tell you that your account will be permanently deleted if you don’t update your information. Such scare tactics may indeed move you to give out your personal information. This is why many people are victims of identity theft. Here is an example of a phishing attack process:

1. You receive an email that seem to be from a legitimate company.
2. You are told that you need to update personal information for security purposes.
3. Concerned about safety, you click on the link that points to the counterfeit website.
4. You land on a website that looks exactly like the real one.
5. You enter your personal information and attempt to login.
6. The hacker now has your information – you’ve just been phished. You are at the mercy of the “phisherman” or hacker. They can hijack your account, go on a spending spree, or selling your account information in the online black market.

As you can see, it only takes about a minute or less to get hacked. Fortunately, you can protect yourself. Follow these tips below.

How to Protect Yourself – 4 Simple Steps

1. Search for your name in the email. Most phishing attacks target a large group of people. As a result, the hackers don’t really care about individualized information – they just want to hack as many accounts as possible. Thus, before cautious when you see something like “Dear Valued Customer.”

2. Don’t click the link. Instead of clicking the link, hover the cursor over it. You will then a pop-up notification of the link address. If the link reveals that the website is not from the actual company, don’t click it.

3. Take a close look at the URL. If you clicked on a link, you can still determine if the site is a fake. Take a look at the Web address field on top of your screen. In most cases, secured login pages like social networks and online banks start with “https” in the address field. If you don’t see it, do not sign in.

4. Search for grammatical errors. While hackers are good stealing and divulging information, their syntactical and spelling skills are often subpar. Therefore, if the email is unprofessional and marred with grammatical errors, don’t click the link.

5. Use anti-phishing software. These applications usually come with an Internet security suite. They detect phishing and websites and prevent you from divulging information.

Are You Just too Smart to Be Phished?

Some people may reason that they are too computer savvy or just too smart to be phished. Don’t deceive yourself! Many big corporations have been phishing attacks. You have no doubt seen and heard of successful hack attacks launched at social networking and even government sites.

One type of phishing attack that is particularly dangerous is spear phishing. Unlike most phishing attacks, spear phishing focuses on a specific person, company, group, or corporation. This means that the hacker can launch more precise attacks. For example, they can use your actual name instead of “Dear valued customer.” Accept the fact that phishing is a serious threat and strive to follow the advice mentioned above to safeguard your information.

References:
Brian Pennington: Phishing Report

Phishing by BigStockPhoto

The post MTE Explains: How Email Phishing Works and Why Clicking That Unknown Link Can Be A Dangerous Act. appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

The following are some tips and tools that can help you generate and remember strong passwords online.

Tips To Protect Your Online Privacy

The Internet is not a safe place anymore. Online services like Gmail and other websites offers extra layers of protection to its users to protect their accounts. One of the most important things I recommend to every reader is to enable Two-Factor authentication for all the accounts they operate. Google, Dropbox, Outlook, WordPress, Facebook all come with support for two-factor authentication.

In case the service you are using does not offer Two Factor Authentication, you should make sure that the password you are using is totally random, long and has a combination of letters and special characters.

Also make sure to never use any name or your location or other identifying words or phrases as your password because these are the most easy to guess. Even if you plan on using your relative’s name or your favourite place, make sure you include numbers or punctuation marks in it.

Tools to Help Your Create Strong Passwords

Lastpass

Lastpass is one of the best password management applications available right now. I am using it personally for my accounts with two-factor and grid authentication. Lastpass not only allows you to save and manage your passwords, it also allows you to generate hard-to-crack, strong passwords as well.

Sign up for an account on Lastpass and install the extension for your browser. After logging in to your account, just click on the Lastpass icon in your browser and click on Generate New Password. The password it generates is a mixture of random letters, numbers, etc., which can be automatically used in the password field. Later you can save that password in your Lastpass account so that you don’t have to remember it.

Password Bird

Password Bird is another handy online utility that allows users to create strong passwords. To get started, just enter the required fields with your favorite date, special word and special name, and it will automatically generate a strong password for you.

You can save it anywhere you want or save it using your browser’s password manager. If you don’t like the generated password, just click on the Make New Password button and it will generate a new password based on the same selection.

Password Savvy

Password Savvy is yet another handy online utility that can help users generate really strong passwords. Compared to PasswordBird, this service is better and generates stronger passwords. To generate passwords, point your browser to the Password Savvy homepage, enter the words you want to use in your passwords, change their order and it will automatically generate a strong password that you can remember and copy to your clipboard.

PassPlex

Unlike Password Savvy and PasswordBird, PassPlex is a very handy online tool to generate strong passwords. Rather than choosing your favorites names and words of interest, it asks you to select the length of the word and its complexity. Based on these two, it will generate a password. Always make sure that the password is long if you want to create a strong password.

Strong Password Generator

With Strong Password Generator, users can generate hard-to-crack passwords in a few simple clicks. Unlike the other tools mentioned above, all you have to do is select the number of letters you want to use in your password, and it will generate a strong password. You can even choose to include punctuation marks in your passwords.

After selecting the number of letters, just click on Generate New Password, and it will create it in seconds. The website even has tips to generate strong passwords, and as I said earlier in the post, make sure you never use your date of birth or similar info as your password.

Conclusion

While we cannot say that we can create a password that is impossible to crack, we should take all the extra precautions to make sure that it is difficult to crack. If you have any other suggestions for creating hard-to-crack, strong passwords online, let us know in the comments below.

Image credit: login password by BigStockPhoto

The post How to Generate Hard-to-Crack, Strong Passwords Online appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Getting started

In order to get the most out of My Facebook Theme, you actually have to install two extensions: My Facebook Theme and Facebook Theme Creator.

They are both by the same developer and work well with one another to give you the most pre-made themes, along with the ones you create yourself.

Once both are installed, you can open the extensions to either utilize a pre-made theme or create your own. There are a wide variety of pre-made themes to choose from. In other wordss, you have many options for adding a theme to Facebook.

You can open My Facebook Theme from Facebook with the handy little link added to your top toolbar.

Creating your own themes

My Facebook Theme’s biggest asset is being able to create your own theme. While this is a very simple theme maker, it can make a big impact depending on what you want to do and the time you have to be creative.

The first part of the Editor deals with the Background.

You can choose the color of the background or use an image. If you use an image, you can choose whether it scrolls or stretches across your Facebook page or how to tile it for the best fit possible. Then, you can choose the image position if you choose to center it or off-set it.

The second part of the Editor lets you change how the primary Facebook toolbar looks.

You can change its background color and link color.

The final part of the Editor lets you change the links, text and header colors of your Facebook feed and profile.

Depending on the type of changes you make and the background you use, you are given a lot of leeway in the color choices you make to get just the right match.

These changes, along with the pre-made themes you may end up using, will be utilized across all profiles and pages on Facebook.

Using pre-made themes

My Facebook Theme also utilizes pre-made themes. These come in a variety of categories from cartoons to nature to holidays and more.

They are easily implemented by clicking “Install” on any theme.

If you want to uninstall a theme, go back to My Facebook Theme and click “Uninstall.” You are then free to install another pre-made theme or create your own.

You can also take a pre-made theme and make it more your own by customizing it with the “Build Your Own” option once you have installed it.

Sharing your themes

After you create your own theme, you can save it to My Facebook Theme by linking the two via Facebook.

You can then switch in and out of themes as you see fit but still keep the creations you have worked hard on.

You can also share the theme with others through social networks and if they use the extensions, they, too, can use it to theme their Facebook.

My Facebook Theme used to be available for Firefox but is no longer supported for the browser.

Conclusion

My Facebook Theme is a great way to customize your Facebook experience, especially if you are bored of the everyday look of the social network. You can add a theme to Facebook by using pre-made themes, tinkering with them or creating your own which gives you creative control over what Facebook looks like.

Image credit: Facebook wallpaper

The post Add a Theme to Facebook Using My Facebook Theme appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Google Drive

Google’s office suite is a well-known free alternative to Microsoft Office, and it offers excellent file compatibility with that office suite. As for OpenDocument support, the experience is hit and miss. You can upload ODT files to Google Drive, but you won’t be able to edit them unless you first convert them into Google’s document format. While Google Drive does not support editing unconverted DOCX files either, it allows you view such files as a PDF. If you attempt to view an ODT file inside Google Drive, you will be presented with a “No Preview” message.

If you do convert an ODT file into Google’s format, you can edit it inside Google Drive just fine. Unfortunately, your document will probably lose its formatting. You can fix the document and redownload it as an ODT file again later if need be. If you are working with simple documents, this shouldn’t be too much of an inconvenience.

OpenDocument Reader

If you just need the option to quickly view an ODT file within your browser, the OpenDocument Reader extension for Google Chrome is here to help. After you’ve granted the extension access to your account, you can view ODT files using the extension directly from your Google Drive.

The file will open as a preview inside Google Drive. The formatting still won’t be perfect, but it’s better than nothing in a pinch. Just don’t expect images embedded inside your document to load.

Doctape

Doctape is a free service that allows you to upload and view a wide range of formats. It doesn’t have support for editing documents, but it does allow you to download documents back in their original format, as a PDF, or to open the file in Google Drive. Formatting still isn’t perfect, but it does a better job than both Google Drive and OpenDocument Reader. The images in my test document actually loaded, even though they weren’t quite positioned correctly.

Zoho Docs

Zoho Docs is a full office suite similar to Google Drive. It’s free, but it also requires you create an account. Once this is done, you can upload ODT files to Zoho Docs just as you would to Google Drive. Unlike Google Drive, Zoho Docs allows you to edit ODT files regardless of if you choose to convert them to the Zoho Docs format. It’s quick, it’s easy, and the results are better than Google Drive’s. My images didn’t load at all, so it’s still not a perfect solution.

Conclusion

Switching between various programs and services to edit documents is inherently risky regardless of your preferred document format. The fact of the matter is that the ODT format is not as well supported as Microsoft’s, but support has improved substantially over the years. OpenDocument users now face inadequate formatting when they used to face only error messages.

It’s best to stick to one program or service to edit a document and export to PDF when you need to share the document with others or reliably read it elsewhere. Nevertheless, there are options available for opening an ODT file in a pinch. If you know of any other alternatives, pleases let us hear about them in the comments below.

The post How To Read ODT Documents Inside Your Browser appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Launched in 1995, a website known as Craigslist appeared to be an ideal solution to this problem. Craigslist combined the convenience of the Internet with the assurance of upfront face-to-face transactions. Craigslist allows users to buy and sell goods. Users can then set appointments with others to buy or sell a product. While Craigslist’s model does seem ideal, it itself is rife with problems – serious problems! In this guide, you will learn how to use Craigslist safely and effectively.

Keep Transactions Local and Upfront

This is one of the most important principles when using Craigslist – whether you are a buyer or seller. If you do this, you will positively avoid most scams fraudsters can hurl at you. Fraudsters on Craigslist are clever; they use sly tactics to rob your money. The key methods they use to do this are money transfer services – in the form of paychecks, MoneyGram, PayPal, or Western Union.

Key Point: Transactions that involve long-distance and money transfer services are almost always scams.

When you are buying a product, fraudsters claim that they will send you the product if you send your money to them through transfers. If you are selling products, the fake buyers often claim that they will send you the money after you ship the item to them.

The fraudsters try their utmost to sound as convincing as possible. If you are buying a product, they’ll significantly reduce the price of the item, because they need to “sell it right away.” Some of them make bogus claims that these products are from a foreclosed home or a divorced conjugal partner. If you are selling a product, they’ll often tell you that they “desperately” need the product. They will even claim to pay for shipping and offer a higher price than what you originally asked for.

In both of those cases, the fraudsters will ask you to give them your PayPal, MoneyGram, or Western Union information to complete the transaction. Don’t ever do this! They will never send you the money if you sold something to them, and they will never send you the item if you purchased something from them.

What if the Person is not a Fraudster? How Would You Know?

Albeit unlikely, it is possible that it is a normal and well-intentioned person that is making a transaction with you. How would you know? One way to know is by interrogating the person – yes – aggressively questioning him. If he claims that he is very far away and needs money transfer, sternly tell him that you already know about this scam. In most cases, scammers will shy away if they see this. If a person from a distant location is buying  something from you, ask a question like this: “if you want this so bad, why don’t you buy it from eBay or Amazon?” Next, show them a link to the product. If they don’t reply, they were positively a scammer. If they were real buyers, they would thank you for referring them there.

How to Avoid Getting Attacked and Killed

No product and no amount of money is more precious than your life! Sadly, many people have been murdered due to fraudsters and heinous individuals on Craigslist. Fortunately, you can prevent this as well. You can do this by insisting on transacting on public locations and by threatening to get or actually getting the police involved.

If you are concerned about your security, insist on meeting at a public location like a store, supermarket, or restaurant. Don’t ever make an appointment at your home or the person’s home. If you meet with the person at your home, they now know where you live. If you lie and meet with the person at a place that you claim to live, you are putting the people residing at this address in jeopardy. That is why it is best to meet at a public location.

However, even meeting at a public location is not completely safe. The person can meet you behind the store and attack you or cleverly wait until no one is watching to launch an attack. If you are still concerned about your safety, tell the person that you have informed the police of this transaction. If that person is an aggressor, he will back way as soon as he hears that the police is involved. Whether you think it is best to trick the person in thinking that police is involved or actually contacting the police is up to you.

Is Craigslist a Waste of Your Time?

No, Craigslist is not a waste of your time. You can find good deals and have success promoting your business and selling products there. You just have to be determined to follow the recommended guidelines.

 Reference:
1. JP Morgan: 2012 Online Fraud Report

Image credit: Don Hankins, West Midlands Police, Internet Scam by BigStockPhoto.

The post The Complete Guide to Avoid Scams on Craigslist appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

1. FeedCat

FeedCat does not have the prettiest interface, and a trip to the website reveals a site layout that easily looks a decade old. But if you are transitioning from Feedburner, you are already accustomed to such an interface. What the service lacks in appearance, it makes up for in sheer functionality.

FeedCat allows you to publish RSS and Atom feeds for free. It also touts a feed button that tracks visitors to your website and provides readers with a diverse range of options for saving or sharing your site. Be warned, the share options also look like a blast from the past. Facebook is available, but Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and Pinterest are nowhere in sight.

2. If This Then That

If This Then That is decidedly more modern. Hop over to the website and check out the homepage. You will learn nothing from the first page alone, but each page oozes a clean design.

It’s not an alternative to Feedburner in the traditional sense. Think of it this way – IFTTT allows for easy interactions between various online services. If “I update Facebook” then ”post to WordPress“, Simple RSS feed management is available. So if you want a feed to be updated whenever you post to your website or any of your social networks, IFTTT may be the service for you.

3. RevResponse

RevResponse is willing to pay you to transition from Feedburner. The service offers $100 for every 1,000 subscribers you acquire. Will it pay the bills? No. But if you’re a rock star, then it could be a nice perk.

All that aside, if you want to transfer your current subscribers without forcing them to resubscribe, RevResponse makes this possible. The service offers RSS-to-email options, scheduling, various templates, and generates reports about your performance.

4. Feedity

Feedity is a paid service, but it offers a free trial plan that comes with ads and permits up to five feeds, a 24-hour update interval, and ten items per feeds. If these restrictions don’t scare you away, you may find that Feedity offers a more modern appearance than Feedburner and provides straightforward tools for building your own RSS feeds. Feedity is also useful for creating RSS feeds from other people’s websites, allowing you to track whatever content you wish regardless of whether an RSS feed already exists for it.

5. Nourish

Nourish allows you to convert any RSS feed into an automated newsletter that your readers can subscribe to. If you don’t send over 1,000 emails per month or have the need for custom templates, then it’s completely free to use. Wanting more will cost you. You can use Nourish in conjunction with another service that manages your RSS feed or you can just create an RSS feed from scratch and trust Nourish to keep subscribers notified.

6. FeedBlitz

FeedBlitz is packed with features. Want to integrate with Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and LinkedIn all from a single service? It’s all there. FeedBlitz also lets you port your feed from Feedburner without losing subscribers and provides you with metrics so you can monitor your performance. The catch? Unlike the other services on this list, it’s only free for 30 days.

Conclusion

Feedburner remains a popular service because it is feature-rich and free to use. None of these alternatives to Feedburner are a perfect match or can match it feature-for-feature, but if you dabble around, you might find that a combination of free alternatives can meet your needs just fine. If you know of any more free options, please share them with us in the comments below.

The post Six Great Alternatives to Feedburner appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

If so, it only makes sense that Google allows us to share photos from Google Drive to Google+ account in just a few clicks. Since the option is hidden by default, you may not be aware that this is even possible.

If you aren’t’ aware of this option, here’s the easiest way to share photos from Google Drive to Google+.

1. Go to the Google+ homepage and sign into your account if you need to.

2. Next to the “Share what’s new…” box, click on the camera icon.

3. At first glance, you will only see three options: add photos, create an album, and from instant upload. Move your mouse over the tiny arrow at the bottom of the list to bring up two more options: Take a Photo and from Google Drive.

4. Click on “From Google Drive” to upload photos from your Google Drive account.

5. Choose a photo or photos that you want to share from your Google Drive account. If you have a lot of photos, you can use the search bar to quickly find what you’re looking for. You can also switch from thumbnail view to list view.

6. Select your photos and you’ll be able to edit them, tag them, add more images, or remove them. As per usual, you can also add a text message and choose which circles to share with.

I haven’t been a huge Google Drive fan in the past, but with all of the great integrations (i.e. Gmail and Google+), I use the cloud storage service regularly, especially with the ability to share photos from Google Drive to Google+

The post How to Share Photos from Google Drive to Google+ appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Openera is a Web service that constantly monitors your Gmail or Google Apps email account and automatically backs up your documents and images to your favorite cloud storage. Openera has a free account, the “Free Lifetime trial” and also has Pro, Teams, and Enterprise accounts. Even though the free account is limited to just one email address, one cloud storage service, and a few other things, it’s still worth using and is sure to come in handy to auto-file gmail documents and images.

Openera is an invaluable tool that I’ve been using for the past four to five months. Once you set it up, it just works; you’ll totally forget that you’re even using it. Here’s how it works.

Setup

1. Click on “Sign Up” on the Openera home page, and you’ll be taken through the signup process.

• Connect your email account; enter the email account that you want to use and click “Authorize.” You’ll be taken through the Google email authorization process.
• Connect a cloud service; you can choose Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, or SkyDrive. You’ll be taken through the authorization process for the service that you’ve chosen.
• Create a password for your account.

2. Openera will start going through the important files in your Inbox. In a few hours (or longer depending on your Inbox), you’ll receive an email from them letting you know what was found.

3. Openera will start you out with a few default filing rules. As you can see in the screenshot above, it can file contracts, invoices, receipts, documents, images, presentations, spreadsheets, and more. Note: The supported file types may vary by cloud storage service.

If you’re happy with the rules given, click on “my account” where it says: “No thanks, just take me to my account.” Otherwise, click on the green “View My Rules” button to change your rules or add more.

4. Once you go to your account, you won’t see any activity listed. You will need to give Openera some time. I remember when I signed up some months back, it seemed to take around twenty-four hours for my files to show up. Since you’ll get an email from Openera, there’s no need to leave the page open, or to keep going back to check.

Final Thoughts

Openera is a true lifesaver. No longer do you have to worry about accidentally deleting an important document or image. Just go to your cloud storage and you’ll find your files safe and sound. You can choose to receive a digest daily or weekly to let you know which new files were backed up from your email to your cloud storage.

With a free account, Openera limited the number of files saved daily to just 7; if you upgrade you’ll get an unlimited daily file quota. Also, you’ll only be able to save 200 of your most recent files. If you’re someone that does not receive a lot of documents or images in your email, then you won’t have any problems with the free account.

Is there another service you have found that will allow you to auto-file gmail documents and images to the Cloud? Let us know about it in the comments below.

The post How to Automatically Backup Your Gmail Attachments to the Cloud Storage appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Sure, you can still use the bookmarklet or an extension to pin from here, but doing this will bring up all the images on the page, and you’ll have to find the one you want. Using Bing’s new Pin It button will save you time since it’s right below the image.

Here’s how it works:

1. Perform a search on Bing Images. This can be done several ways, such as from your browser’s address bar or search bar, depending on the browser you’re using and your default search engine. You can also go to the Bing homepage or directly to Bing Images to do a search.

2. If you’re on the Bing Web results page, click on “Images” at the top so that you can see the images related to your query. Otherwise, if you’re already on the Images page, you should see your results below the search bar.

3. Click on any image to see a larger view of it and to also display the “Pin it” button. You should see the button right underneath the image – toward the right side.

4. Clicking on Pin It will pop up a Pinterest “Create a Pin” window just as it does anywhere else. You can choose a board, add/edit the description, and Pin It.

Sharing images from Bing to Pinterest is quicker and easier thanks to Bing’s new Pin It button. What ways do you use to share Bing images on Pinterest? Let us know below in the comments.

Photo Credit: Bunches and Bits {Karina} via Compfight cc

The post Use Bing’s New Pin It Button to Pin Images to Pinterest appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

Wappwolf is an awesome tool that works much like IFTTT. It automates your cloud services – specifically Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box. It lets you drag-and-drop files into your cloud folders, then automatically converts them to other formats. It can even sync items to your favorite Web services like Evernote, Facebook, and SlideShare.

There are many possibilities with Wappwolf such as:

• Converting documents to PDF
• Converting PDF files to TXT
• Converting audio files
• Uploading videos and photos to Facebook timelines and fan pages
• Rotating images and adding effects
• Converting images to black & white and grayscale
• Uploading files to Evernote, Sugarsync, SkyDrive, and Basecamp

Earlier last year, we did a brief review on Wappwolf, then known as Dropbox Automator. Since then, Wappwolf has evolved and added even more cloud services to its roster (as mentioned above). It’s such a useful service that I’d like to show you just how to use it with Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box.

Here’s how to get Wappwolf working for you:

Dropbox

1. Click on the red “Try now!” button on the home page; this will take you to the Dropbox website where you’ll need to sign in.

2. On the next page, you’ll need to grant Wappwolf permission to connect to your Dropbox account.

3. Choose a folder; this is basically the trigger part of your automation. Every time you put a file in this folder, something else will happen.

4. If you want to create a new folder in your Dropbox account, you can do that as well by clicking on “new folder” at the bottom of your folder list.

5. Click “Next” at the bottom of the page.

6. On the next page you can choose an action that will be performed after you put a file in the folder you selected on the previous page.

There are many options here under the following categories: documents, pictures, audio, video, any file, send info, advanced. I won’t go through the long list; they’re all pretty self-explanatory.

One of the more interesting things here is the ability to upload/sync items to various services like Google Drive, Slideshare, Facebook, Google+, FTP-Server, Box, SkyDrive, Sugarsync, Evernote, and Basecamp.

7. Once you choose an action, it may be an action you need to customize. For instance, you may have to connect your account to the service or choose a preferred format (for conversions).

You may also notice that some actions are premium actions, meaning you’ll need to upgrade your account to use them. Unfortunately, many of the best actions are premium only, but the cost for a premium account is very affordable at just $5/month.

8. You can add more actions to an automation if you’d like and remove actions if you change your mind. Removals are done at the top of the page where your actions are listed. After you choose your first action, some of the selectable actions my disappear – depending on which one you choose. This just means that the two actions can’t be performed on the same item.

9. When you’re done, click on “finished” at the top of the page. You’ll see your automation listed, and you can stop it, delete it, or create a new automation.

Google Drive and Box

While the example shown above is on Dropbox, you can be assured that the same steps can be used on Google Drive and Box as well. You’ll need to choose a folder (or create a new one) and then choose your desired action(s). When you’re done, click on “finished” at the top.

Final Thoughts

Once you get past the clunky interface, Wappwolf is a really great service that can perform many different automated tasks for you. If you’re constantly using different cloud services, Wappwolf is a real lifesaver. Just choose a folder, choose some actions, and you’re all done!

The post How to Automate Your Cloud Services with Wappwolf appeared first on Make Tech Easier.

phpFreeChat is also highly customizable. Below is a chat room I designed for using in office environments where chatting is forbidden.

Installation

Check that your web server meets the following requirements:

• PHP >= 5.3.0
• Apache server with mod_rewrite and .htaccess enabled
• Write access for the installation directory

Now visit the Sourceforge project page. Ignore the notice that says, “As of 2006-02-04, this project is no longer under active development.” As of this writing, the beta (2.* branch) was last updated in November of 2012.

For this tutorial, we’re going to use the 1.5 branch, not the beta. The beta is still lacking some important features, such as private messaging and multi-channel management. To get version 1.5, navigate to the “Files” tab boxed in red below:

Click on “branch 1.x (stable)” and download one of the archives from the “1.5″ directory. Upload and extract the *.tar.gz or *.zip archive to a directory of your choice on your web server.

In your browser, go to the URL of the directory you uploaded your files to. You will be greeted by the default chat room on your website:

Configuration

You’ll probably want to personalize your chat room at least a little bit. To see some examples of how you can suit it to your own needs, go to “your-phpfreechat-installation.com/demo“. Each demo provides source code for various use cases.

The main file to edit is index.php. Note: Every time you upload a new version of index.php, you must go into the chat room on your website and (as admin) enter the command “/rehash” to effect the changes.

At the top of index.php, you’ll see this code:

require_once dirname(__FILE__)."/src/phpfreechat.class.php";
$params = array();
$params["title"] = "Quick chat";
$params["nick"] = "guest".rand(1,1000);  // set up the intitial nickname
$params['firstisadmin'] = true;
//$params["isadmin"] = true; // makes everybody admin: do not use it on production servers ;)
$params["serverid"] = md5(__FILE__); // calculate a unique id for this chat
$params["debug"] = false;
$chat = new phpFreeChat( $params );

Here you can change the name of your chat room and the initial nickname that guests are given. If you want to force users to enter their own nicknames, remove the $params["nick"] line.

I recommend that you set $params['firstisadmin'] to false to prevent random visitors from automatically gaining administrator privileges.

By default, the admin username is “admin,” and there is no password to use this account. Add a line like this to create a password-protected administrator account:

$params["admins"] = array('BigBoss' => 'p@ssw0rd');

PhpFreeChat will store all chat history and display it in the chat room for every user to see unless you change the number of stored messages. For example, to change this number to ten, add the line:

$params["max_msg"] = 10;

To see more options, check out the full list of possible parameters.

Styling Your Chat Room

PhpFreeChat comes with eight themes, most of which are the same as the default theme but with different emoji sets:

• Blune
• Cerutti
• Default
• Green
• Msn
• Phoenity
• Phpbb2
• Zilveer

Here is a comparison of a few of them:

Cerutti:

Phoenity:

PhpBB2:

Msn:

Themes are stored in the “themes” subdirectory of your installation. If you want to use a theme other than the default, add the theme name to your index.php file:

$params["theme"] = 'msn';

To use your own theme, just upload it to the themes folder and change the above line to point to your theme.

All of the styling in phpFreeChat is done with CSS. If you just want to change a few things, you can get away with editing the files in “your-phpfreechat-installation.com/themes/default“. Alternatively, you can use another theme as a template by copying and renaming its folder.

Commands

Getting the most out of your chat room requires learning a few simple commands. To use any of these, just enter the command into the chat as if it were a regular message. If you’re an IRC user, you’ll feel right at home.

• “/help“: View the list of commands (it will show up below the chat window).
• “/nick newnickname“: Change your nickname.
• “/identify p@ssw0rd“: To log in as admin, change your nickname to the administrator’s username and then identify yourself with the password.
• “/op username“: As admin, give another user administrative privileges.
• “/join room“: Join or create a room.
• “/whois username“: Get a user’s IP address.
• “/kick JerkFace [ because JerkFace is a jerkface ]“: Kick a user and give a reason.
• “/invite username [ roomname ]“: Invite a user to join a room
• “/privmsg username“: Send a private message

See the reference page for more chat commands.

Conclusion

Now you know how easy it can be to create a chat room on your website. If you’re a web developer, you can grab the source code and integrate phpFreeChat into your other web applications.

What other chat software would you recommend for our readers? Comment below and let us know what you think.

Image credit: Haris Baig (with modifications by Ruji Chapnik), Social media by BigStockPhoto

The post Run a Chat Room on Your Website with phpFreeChat appeared first on Make Tech Easier.