Photoshop CS6 Download

If your Android device is missing or stolen, stay calm and take a breather. We’ve got 5 great anti-theft apps that can help you get your smartphone back or at least keep your sensitive data safe from identity theft.

Some of these apps have features that can help you track down your missing phone by triggering it to ring off the hook, send its GPS location to your email or when worse comes to worst, allow you to wipe your data from the missing smartphone remotely. Not enough? Snap a photo of the perpetrator or record their audio with your phone’s microphone. Yes, these apps can do that and more.

But remember that only some of them can be installed after the phone is lost. The rest of them are preventive measures, meaning you should already have them before something bad happens to your device. With that out of the way, let’s go get your phone back.

Recommended Reading: 20 Essential Apps For Your Android Phone

Top 5

Here are 5 of the most popular Android apps to track down a lost or stolen Android device.

Where’s My Droid

[Free] Where’s My Droid is a pure Find my Phone app to help you locate your phone. When your smartphone goes missing, sending a code via text will make the phone ring (even when set in silent mode) while another text code sends you the GPS coordinates of the phone.

Alternatively, you can remotely control your phone by connecting it to the Commander option, a web-based interface. Where’s My Droid also offers a Pro version which lets you take pictures with the camera (you might be able to take a snapshot of the perpetrator), remote lock the phone rendering it impenetrable or remote wipe the app to save your data from misuse.

Plan B

[Free] If you had not install any tracking app before your Android device was stolen or misplaced, Plan B will be a lifesaver. Plan B is an Android app from Lookout Labs which locates your smartphone using cell towers and GPS, then sends the location of your smartphone to your Gmail Inbox.

In some smartphones, Plan B can enable the GPS on the phone then update you with its location every 10 minutes. For phones with no such support, you can text ‘location’ from another phone, and details of the missing phone’s location will be sent to your email. In the absence of a data connection, the software will send its location via SMS instead.

Android Lost Free

[Free] This app is not only perfect for finding your lost phone, it will also torment the thief (something which we’re sure they fully deserve). You can activate (via SMS or the Web) the alarm to ring with a flashing screen, enable and disable the GPS, data and Wi-Fi connection, remote wipe the SD card, and get their latest call list.

Although it’s a free app, the app lets you take pictures from the smartphone camera (front and rear) and make your phone speak using text-to-speech. Once the SIM card is changed, you will be informed via email. This app can be used even after you have lost your smartphone due to its remote install feature and is hidden from the launcher to prevent uninstallation.

SeekDroid Lite

[Free to download; Pro: $2.99/mth] This has all the regulars, remote lock and wipe, SMS activation, ring alert even in silent mode, hide from view mode, and GPS-enabling feature. You can also retrieve the most recent call logs – and it works even without a SIM card plugged in.

The Pro account (monthly subscription) lets you track the movements of the stolen smartphone with a history map so you know where your device is heading. You can also get protection for multiple devices, and receive notification for when it leaves a pre-selected fenced-in area (good for keeping watch on your little ones).

AntiDroidTheft

[Free] Here’s a simple anti-theft device which lets you locate your phone via GPS, track changes made to the SIM card and view the pictures that have been taken by the smartphone all through the Web. Here’s some news coverage on how the app actually helped a user get his stolen phone (and the car it was in) back.

More Anti-theft Apps

Didn’t like any of the above? Here are a few more anti-theft apps, some with the added protection against viruses that you might pick up while surfing the Web.

Cerberus

[Free; Pro: 2.99 euros] Cerberus has all the works, remote alarm trigger, tracking via GPS, remote wipe of the SD card as well as the internal storage, remote lock of the phone, plus alerts of a SIM change. You can also record audio from the microphone. The free version lasts for a week, while the Pro version lets you use it for up to 5 devices under the same account.

Prey Anti-Theft

[Free] To use Prey Anti-Theft you have to get it installed before the phone goes missing. To find your lost phone, you can activate Prey via SMS with the words "GO PREY" in all caps then log into the Control Panel via the Web to mark the device as ‘Missing’. You can then receive notices of where your phone is. The app is hidden and can only be uninstalled with a password.

Find My Phone

[$0.99] Find My Phone is a simple app that lets you track down your phone via GPS. Just text "findme" to start tracking and "ringaloud" to make it start ringing. You can text from a friend’s phone or from free online SMS services.

Lookout Security & Antivirus

[Free; Premium: $2.99/month] You can find your lost phone on Google Maps, sound a loud alarm (even from silent mode) and lock your phone remotely with this app. In the event that your phone has run out of battery, it will notify you of its last known location. Also has an automated backup and restore function which can be accessed from the website.

McAfee Antivirus & Security

[Free to download; $30 a year to keep] Here’s the award-winning software that will keep your smartphone safe from the inside out. It comes as a 7-day free trial but to keep it on your phone, it’s a $30/year subscription. For that sum, you get the regular anti-theft protection, antivirus protection, plus data backup and restore functions.

Kaspersky Mobile Security

[$4.95] This one has plenty of anti-theft protection, with remote block, remote wipe and device-tracking capabilities via GPS, Wi-Fi and Google Maps even if your SIM card has been replaced. Unwanted or unknown calls and text messages can also be blocked, and it lets you hide certain information from friends and family who borrow your phone for use.

Norton Mobile Security Lite

[Free; Pro $29.99] This software can give you total protection for all your devices. Lost devices can be located on a map, and the Pro version gives you a scream alarm to help you find your missing device. A nifty trick it has is that the phone is automatically locked once the SIM card is removed. It also backs up your data whch can be easily restored.

AVG AntiVirus

[Free] Besides protecting your devices from virus attacks, it also can locate your lost or stolen phone via Google Maps and lock your device to protect your privacy via a text message. If your phone or tablet is stolen or missing, you can also set a lock screen message to help the locator find you and make your device ring even when it’s on silent mode.

Avast! Mobile Security

[Free] The anti-theft feature for this antivirus is actually a hidden component which can be remotely controlled via SMS commands sent from another phone or through the Web. You can log into Web controls to perform mobile tracking and/or give your phone commands.

via hongkiat.com http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/track-lost-stolen-android-devices/

Blue squares, modern design. A simple patterned background for web and desktop apps user interfaces.

Resolution: 5000x3750px
Medium size preview (1280x960px): Blue squares design
File format: JPG
Color theme: blue
Author: PSD Graphics
Might be useful (similar graphic): Abstract cubes background

Download hi-res JPG file:
File Size: 2.39MB

via PSDGraphics http://www.psdgraphics.com/backgrounds/blue-squares-background/

Downloaded 1 Times

A fantastic interface for a miniature keyboard, which could be used either in an on-screen interface / mockup, or a mobile application. Each key has various states — click, “on”, and default. It’s sleek, simple, and completely beautiful. Thanks to Riki for contributing such a brilliant freebie! Enjoy!

via download PSD – Download Free PSD http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DownloadPSD/~3/qmsJ_9dY3rY/

Of all the things that the Internet can offer us, none deserve more recognition than the truckload of movie trivia and information that you can find behind the scenes. Wikipedia can only do so much for you but if you really want the good stuff, then you have to turn to these movie trivia websites.

Some are dedicated to scripts and voice actors, others give you the inside scoop and behind the scenes information. If you are interested in knowing the fate of your favorite sitcoms, procedural dramas and animated series, we have that too in this list. These aren’t gossip sites to find the low-down on celebrity actors and actresses but if something is happening to the character they play, the casting choices or the development of the film or show they are in, you’re at the right place.

Here are 10 sites to find all the movie trivia you have ever wanted to know about your favorite movies, in no particular order.

Recommended Reading: Evolution Of Horror Movie Poster Designs: 1922 – 2009

1. NotStarring.com

For: Finding out which star turned down which role for whatever reason.

Ever wondered about the casting choices made in certain movies? At Notstarring.com, you can find out which actor or actress turned out an offered role in a successful movie (ouch!) and perhaps pondered about what would have happened if the role went to someone else.

For instance, among the actors who turned down the role of James Bond in Casino Royale (played by Daniel Craig) were Colin Farrell, Orlando Bloom, Hugh Jackman, Clive Owen and Sam Worthington.

2. Movie Mistakes

For: Finding mistakes, bloopers and inside stories of what survived the editor’s cut.

Movie productions involve film crews who have their own jobs and tasks and sometimes they mess up. Sometimes, these Movie Mistakes end up in the final cut. If you are interested in things like this, you’d be glad to know that you are not alone.

The site is community-sourced and features some of the glaring, the hardly noticeable and the downright facepalm moments ever found in cinematic movies. Have a look at the best of the best here.

3. IsMyShowCancelled.com?

For: Finding out if your favorite show has survived another year.

Ever watched a series and notice that they wrapped up real quick, not really giving you any answers to your burning questions, Lost-style? The whole situation reeks of ‘cancellation’, and that’s when this site would be able to help you make sense of it all.

You can also find out when the last episode is airing in a concluded series, if the series have been resurrected, as well as the ratings of your favorite show as pitted against another (a clear hint of the direction of the show).

4. Behind the Voice Actor

For: Finding out who voiced your favorite animated characters.

What does Bart Simpson, Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner have in common? They are voiced by women! Voice actors are a talented bunch we usually take for granted. Their versatility with their voice speaks volumes when it comes to breathing life into our favorite animated characters.

Apart from their name at the end of the show, we can hardly make the connection between the character and the voice behind it, because we aren’t supposed to. It’s the reason why talents like Frank Welker and Hank Azaria can get away with voicing hundreds of characters without you noticing that they were voiced by the same actor.

5. Awards Circuit

For: Keeping you in the loop when it comes to Awards Season.

Are you a sucker for the golden statuettes that mark excellence in all aspects of film and entertainment? Then, you’d love Awards Circuit, a site which keeps track of possible nominations in all the categories even before and after Awards Season.

The site covers five of the biggest award events in the industry: the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the Emmys, Critic’s Choice and Screen Actor’s Guild Awards, and is made up to reflect the golden glamor often associated with these award shows.

6. Trailer Addict

For: Watching trailers, teasers and TV clips and featurettes.

The cinematography of movies have exploded way beyond our wildest imaginations, and trailers help capture some of that magic in a small bite-sized package that movie lovers consume while waiting for their movies to hit the silver screen. Nowadays, you can even do that on your laptop.

Trailers give you the gist of a movie, and sometimes it gifts you the best parts, which makes it hard to disappoint you even if the full movie does. Best of all, you also can find red band trailers, those that show too much to make it on mainstream media.

7. Movie Insider

For: Keeping up with upcoming, pre-released movies and TV shows.

Can’t wait for the news to come to you? Movie Insider is a great place for tracking news about upcoming movies at any stage of production. Also available are trailers, behind-the-scenes production photos and even an interactive map that shows you active filming sites.

Similar site: Over at ComingSoon.Net you find the latest news, reviews and previews of upcoming movies and TV shows. Also here are the latest images from a set that is filming, exclusive interviews with the film crew and box office numbers.

8. The Movie Spoiler

For: Getting the ending even without watching the movie.

Not satisfied with Wikipedia’s version of a movie plot or did you miss an important detail in the show you caught and just want to clear up all your doubts? Head over to The Movie Spoiler to get your fill of any more than 1000 mainstream movie titles.

Similar Site: A similar but greatly dressed down site, MoviePooper! does the same and you can even send in your request for someone else to fill in the blanks of the movie for you.

9. Soundtrack-Movie.com

Love the score you heard during one of the more touching scenes in the movie? You can check out the name, composer, songwriter and any other score-related matters and even listen to music clips for free.

10. Simply Scripts

If for some reason you want to find the full movie script for a movie or TV show, Simply Scripts is the place to go to. Not all of them are the final edited version. Some of them are raw or second versions but they are available for free.

Similar Site: The scripts housed at Daily Script are available in plain text format or PDF but the database of scripts available there stop coming in past the year 2010. Still it contains a lot of links to other similar script-housing sites.

Have Fun With Movies

Like the list above? Then here a couple more sites that you will probably enjoy just as much (if not more!).

How It Should Have Ended. You’ll find comics and movie reviews here, but fans usually come for the ‘other ending’ made by this site which gives you an alternate ending that is sometimes more satisfying than the original.

The Editing Room. Another site that pokes fun in the plotholes of popular movies, turning the script shorter, funnier and sometimes making more sense than the real storyline itself.

Want More?

And here are other sites that just eat, live and breathe movies. If you can’t find what you are looking for in the sites above, give these great sites a shot.

• Sidereel
• Screen Rant – TV and Movie News Without the Sugar Coating
• Total Film – Modern Guide to Movies
• Slashfilm (/film) – Blogging the Reel World
• Den Of Geek
• Television Without Pity – Spare the Snark, Spoil the Network
• Movie-moron

via hongkiat.com http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/movie-trivia-websites/

Friends, today’s design free file is something very interesting and creative. As you can see it’s a photo-realistic metal logo mockup in Photoshop PSD format. Using this freebie, you can quickly create your own perspective logo concepts in 3D embossed steel and present them to your clients!

The PSD files comes with smart object layers. This will help you easily replace your own logo graphics, text or slogan based on your logo. Here’s a quick list of instructions as to how you can create your own logo mockups.

How to use mockup to display your Logo

1. Download and open the PSD file (logo-mockup.psd) in Photoshop.
2. Double-click on the smart object layers — ADD LOGO ICON, ADD LOGO TEXT, ADD SLOGAN HERE — and replace / add your logo graphic and text in the respective layer documents.
3. After you are done, just save the docs files.
4. The mockup replaces with your logo design. Quick and awesome right!

Actual View Screenshot

Author: Rafi
File Resolution: 1500×1000 pixels
File Format: PSD
Keywords: Logo Mockup, PSD files
Size: 9.79MB (zip)
License: Royalty-free, Free for personal and commercial use

Download Elegant Metallic Logo Mockup (PSD)

via GraphicsFuel.com http://www.graphicsfuel.com/2013/01/elegant-metallic-logo-mockup-psd/

Evernote is a great tool for easy synchronization of notes across multiple devices and various platforms. It’s used extensively to save, edit and share notes among different devices and with multiple users. It works great for group collaborations and is great to jot down ideas on-the-go.

At first, Evernote may look like a disorganized and tough-to-run app, but if you know what you are dealing with and learn how to use it proficiently to organize your ideas and tasks, it could be your very best personal assistant.

In this article, we are going to share with you 10 tips to help you get started on Evernote, beginning with…

Recommended Reading: Evernote 5 For Mac And IOS: 10 New Features You Should Know

Saving with Evernote

Save Ideas with ‘Tags’

You’ll be working with ideas whether you’re a student, writer, designer or a software engineer. With Evernote, you can easily save and manage your ideas, and never risk losing another great idea again.

Start a note and title the idea. Enter ‘Idea’ as one tag and one other specific tag to describe what your idea is all about. Add a description to explain your idea for future reference, and you’re set.

Shortcut key:

• New Note: Ctrl + N (for Windows) and ⌘ + N (for Mac OS X)
• New Tag: Ctrl + Shift + T (for Windows) and ⌃ + ⌘ + N (for Mac OS X)

Save your Idea as an Audio Note

What if you get an idea and don’t have time to type it all out. That’s not a problem; you can save your idea as an audio file. Just start a new Audio note, click Record and start speaking through your microphone. Save your note once you are done.

Your note will be shown in the Note List with a Speaker button, which identifies it as an audio note.

Shortcut key: Ctrl + Shift + U (for Windows)

Save Handwritten work as an Ink Note

Don’t like to write or leave audionotes? You can leave it as a handwritten note as well. If you’re in the graphic industry, you’d surely prefer this alternative. Have a quick idea that you need to doodle out fast?

Start an Ink Note, use the pencil or pen tool to draw what you need to remember then save it. You can even save your signature with it.

Shortcut key: Ctrl + Shift + I (for Windows)

Save text and Screenshots

With Evernote, you can save text directly from any app without opening Evernote and doing the usual copy-paste action. Select the text from say, a PDF document or text file, copy the selection, and your text is automatically saved as a new note in Evernote. Later on, you can edit the saved note to give it a title and some tags so that you can store it in an organized fashion.

Evernote also has a handy shortcut to help you save screenshots of running apps or a view of your desktop. Hit the Win + PrtScrn keys to get an option to select part of the screen to be saved as screenshot. Highlight the area you want saved and upon release of the cursor your screenshot will be saved as a note in Evernote.

Shortcut key:

• Clip selected text: Win + A (for Windows)
• Paste clipboard content as new note: Ctrl + Alt + V (for Windows)
• Win + PrintScreen (for Windows)

Managing Notes and Notebooks

Synchronized Notebook

When creating a new Notebook, choose Synchronized Notebook and your notebook and the notes kept within will be synchronized with all your devices that are connected with Evernote.

Save your presentations, documents using notes in this notebook and you’ll never miss your important files when you need them no matter which device you are on. Free users can only attach images and pdf but premium users can attach any file.

Shortcut key: Ctrl + Shift + N (for Windows) and ⌘ + ⇧ + N (for Mac OS X)

Local Notebook

If you have personal notes that you don’t want shared, you can use a Local Notebook to store information. Create a new Notebook and choose Local Notebook from the options given.

Your notes will not be uploaded to Evernote’s servers nor get synchronized to any other device. Thus, your personal notes will be available on a single device.

Shared Notebook

If you work in groups and need to share data among your team members, you can share a notebook with them using the Evernote Sharing options. Free users can only read shared notebooks but premium users can modify it too. Sharing works differently on different platforms.

Evernote blog has a guide that you can check out to learn how to make it work on your platform.

Organize your notes

In Evernote, you have ‘notebooks’ and ‘notes’, which are different things. You can organize your notes in Notebooks, which can then be organized in stacks.

To make your notes work for you, put all your notes together in a notebook, for example, design plans, client feedback, first drafts, final drafts can all be placed together in a notebook which carries the title of the project.

If you can organize all your materials and make it quickly accessible by way of close association, you don’t have to waste your time going through stacks and stacks of materials to get the information you need.

Security

Encrypt your data to maximize security

Evernote doesn’t take security matters lightly, so much so that the app provides an encryption feature to secure its users’ data. You can encrypt part or the whole text of your note using a password and no one will be able to read that text without the password.

Encrypted text is not shown directly in the note and in its place, you will see a passphrase button. When you right-click the passphrase button, you get two options namely ‘Show Encrypted Text’ and ‘Decrypt Text Permanently…’. Using any of the two options and the right password, you can get access to the encrypted text.

Do take note that Evernote only features encryption – RC2 encryption algorithm which is not supposed very secure these days – for text and not much else.

Shortcut key: Encrypt selected text: Ctrl + Shift + X (for Windows) and ⇧ + ⌘ + X (for Mac OS X)

Productivity

Evernote templates

If you spend a little time to look up Evernote templates for specific needs this will also be able to help increase productivity. These templates can be created very easily. You can create a note that contains all the required fields for your information, then save and export it as an .enex (Evernote exported) file.

Here is a good guide to create and use Evernote templates – neseco.com, as well as a few links to some Evernote templates:

1. Bible Study Passage Analysis
2. Evernote templates by Thought Asylum
3. Expensify with Evernote (it’s not a template but can be used to manage your expenses easily)
4. Evernote templates by Christopher Mayo

Conclusion

Hopefully these tips will help encourage you to give Evernote a chance to help manage your assignments for school, projects for freelance and achieve deadlines for your next report. Are you using Evernote now? Do you have any tricks to put Evernote to better use? Share your tips with us in the comments section.

via hongkiat.com http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/tips-using-evernote/

Microsoft office suite is indispensable software of the 21^st century. Without some basic knowledge about the various programs present in this suite, it will be impossible for individuals to carry out fundamental tasks associated with their daily life. From the tender age children in schools are trained about the main functions of the software’s present in this suite so that they can apply it whenever there is a need to do so.

PowerPoint is one of the most important software of Microsoft office suite which is primarily used for giving presentations. PowerPoint presentations are used by teachers while conducting a class, by professionals and entrepreneurs for presenting the future projects, aims or any other important details in a meeting, by students to explain their project before the class which is a part of their curriculum. Thus age group using PowerPoint are varied and the purposes are also different. Creating an interesting and resourceful PowerPoint presentation is not an easy task. It should contain all the vital details and must appear appealing as well. The presenter needs to use an ideal font and as well as a compatible template in their presentation. They can make use of the default templates present in PowerPoint or the download some professional looking one from the internet.

Free Templates

1. Color Slides PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

2. Holiday Decoration PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

3. Easter Eggs PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

4. Team PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

5. Target PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

6. Hot Air Balloon PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

7. Smoking THE END PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

8. Spring Field PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

9. City PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

10. Underwater Scene Background

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

11. Cool PowerPoint Templates

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

12. Love PowerPoint Background

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

13. Spring PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

14. Violet Butterfly PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

15. Green Energy PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

16. Frames for Photos PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

17. Microsoft Office PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

18. Color lights PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

19. Color School Pencil PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

20. Color Schemes PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

21. Ladybug PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

22. Nice Girl Free Power Point Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

23. Butterfly PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

24. Heart PowerPoint Backgrounds

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

Premium Templates

25. Minimalist PowerPoint Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

26. Simple Pro

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

27. Professional Power Point Presentation

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

28. Business Standards

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

29. Socialika Infographic Social Media PowerPoint

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

30. Contemporary Power Point Template

DEMO & DOWNLOAD

We have listed here some alluring PowerPoint templates that the users can download from the internet and use it in their next project. All the templates listed here are of superior quality so the individuals can rely on it. Enjoy!!

via Web Design Blog, Web Designer Resources http://www.2expertsdesign.com/resources/30-awesome-microsoft-powerpoint-templates-for-presentations?source=rss

Downloaded 1 Times

Download User Login Free PSD File. Hope you like it

via download PSD – Download Free PSD http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DownloadPSD/~3/MDSHFZlCU00/

I guess most web designers out there have heard about DesignCrowd.com, a crowdsourcing website that promotes and makes it easy for people to hold design contests. If you know how things work on this website and if you appreciate these contests, then you will be more than pleased to hear about the Oomph $10,000 app contest.

But, let’s take one step after another and let’s start with the beginning. In case you don’t know much about Oomph, here is what you should know. It is a tablet app publishing platform, whose applications are used by millions of people in the world. Besides that, this platform is considered to be the best in the world, according to the iMonitor rating agency. As a result everyone should consider the opportunity of entering this contest, because besides the great prize one could also gain the appreciation of the best tablet app publishing platform.

Anyway, Oomph has more in store for you, than the application contest. The team behind this company has recently announced the launch of a self-service Marketplace for customizable tablet application templates. In order to make things clear for all of you, one should definitely state that the Marketplace is meant to help designers get to customers and earn some money. Therefore, the purpose of this service is to help designers sell their template designs on Oomph and at the same time to assist customers in finding the template that they can modify so that it will match their business.

Because they wanted more and more designers to find out about the new self-service, Oomph turned to Design Crowd.com, trusting that they will generate templates and awareness for Marketplace. And this is how, the $10,000 contest “was born”.

Well, to be more precise, this contest is not about only one competition but four, which are worth $2,500 each. The first one is about Event Apps, which means that the designers should focus on something related to music festivals, tradeshows, conferences or other events. The second contest targets Brochure Apps, such as travel brochures, university prospectus and the list may continue. The third competition is about Retail Catalogue Apps, for instance paint, clothing, and so on; while the last one invites the designers to think about Magazine Apps, such as: employee magazine, sports magazine or fashion magazine.

Contestants will find all the details concerning the competitions clearly stated in the task description area, so there shouldn’t be any problem in understanding the task. Besides that, the people in charge with the contest are constantly trying to make the competition easier, by offering updates, feedbacks or tricks and tips on what the application templates should look like.

So, if you love to design and if you believe that you could create something like this, then you should hurry up and you should send your submission, by the end of January, when the contest closes. So put your mind into it; let your imagination work and hopefully when they will announce the prize winners in February, your name will be on the list.

What are you waiting, join and win Oomph Contest

via Web Design Blog, Web Designer Resources http://www.2expertsdesign.com/graphics/your-chance-to-win-10000-app-design-contest?source=rss

Living on the digital edge where typing is almost an everyday necessity, learning the ways of proper keyboard usage are crucial. Not only are you able to be more productive and get things done quicker with a keyboard, typing faster can enable you to keep up with your brain; that little voice in your head that has great ideas might only last for a few seconds before it’s forgotten.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

In this article, we’ll give you 5 tips to get you started typing faster and proper. Some of the tips are quite obvious ones, but we’ll provide you with a few apps to help you practice and learn faster.

Recommended Reading: 50 Windows 8 Keyboard Shortcuts You Should Know

1. Get Rid Of Bad Habits

Getting rid of your bad typing habits is probably the hardest thing to do. You’ve probably been using the same typing method since you started using a keyboard, right down to where you place your palms. If you’re an FPS (First Person Shooter) gamer you’re probably used to placing your left hand on the WASD keys, and may have stronger fingers on your left hand than your right (speaking from experience here).

(Image Source: Fotolia)

Others may type only with two fingers, hovering over ten (or more) keys each, always having to keep their eyes on the keyboard to get the right keys. Although you might be typing fast with only half of the needed fingers, you have to put down your foot (or your hands) and break that habit immediately.

2. Use All 10 Fingers

The next step is to relearn the correct finger placement on the keyboard. If you take a closer look at your keyboard, you’ll notice raised bumps on each of the F key and J key. This is to help you find the correct finger placement without having to look at the keyboard.

Ideally, your index fingers should rest on the F and J keys and the other fingers will fall into place naturally.

In the picture below, you’ll notice color-coded areas showing the keys covered by each finger. You’ll notice that the middle fingers and ring fingers are used for only a few keys on the keyboard, while your index fingers cover the middle section of the keyboard. Navigational, punctuation and function keys are controlled mostly by the little finger.

(Image Source: Keybr)

If this confuses you, head over to websites like the TypingClub or Typing Web where they take you through each step to familiarize yourself with the keyboard. Some of their exercises only involve 2 fingers and as you go through their program, you’ll slowly master the way of faster and proper keyboard typing.

3. Learn To Touch Type

Next up: Touch typing. It’s when you type without having to look at the keyboard. In fact, for seasoned typists, looking at the keyboard actually slows them down.

To get there takes practice, and we’re not talking about hours here. It could be weeks before you condition your fingers to take control of the keys ‘they’ are responsible for. Even if it slows you down, do not revert to how you used to type.

Now, try typing sentences without looking at the keyboard, and try to remember the position of each letter. If you have to sneak a peek at the keyboard, you can, but give the same word or sentence another run, this time without looking at the keyboard. It takes a while but if you are determined, it gets easier every day.

Eventually, you will know where each key is and from then on, it’s just a matter of picking up in terms of speed.

4. Navigate With Basic Keyboard Shortcuts

It’s no surprise why Windows and Mac OS have many keyboard shortcuts. Since both your hands are already on the keyboard, why spend time using a mouse to navigate? You don’t have to remember every shortcut, just the more common ones.

Common shortcuts below are mostly used in word processing programs:

You can also use shortcut keys while browsing the web. Here are some shortcuts you could use to navigate in web browsers.

Finally, here are some common keyboard shortcuts for more general (Windows) navigation.

Using these shortcut keys will require the little finger a lot as many of the modifier keys like Ctrl, Alt and Shift are closest to your little finger.

5. Practice With Apps

Practicing typing on a keyboard need not be stressful (although it may feel like it at times). You can practice with a lot of typing games. Here are a few websites where you can learn how to conquer the keyboard and have fun at the same time.

TypeRacer

TypeRacer is a simple and fun game where each player is represented by a car. You’ll be given a passage of text from a book or lyrics to a song, you then type it out to move your car in a ‘race’ with other players. Whoever finishes typing the passage first wins.

Typing Maniac

Typing Maniac is a Facebook game that will get you addicted as you can compete with friends to see who can earn the most points. As words appear on your screen, type them out to make them go away before too many land on the ground and cause you to lose the game! Earn points and get a better score if you achieve each level without missing or misspelling a word.

Keybr.com

Keybr generates readable random words where some words are spelt incorrectly to help you remember common letter combinations better rather than typing random letters. It’ll give you statistics to tell you which area of the keyboard you are weaker in. It also offers words in different languages as well as different keyboard layouts.

Touch Typing Study

The exercises in this site get you comfortable with the finger placement by repeatedly asking you to type those letters with the correct finger. It is also offered in different languages.

Learn Typing

Learn typing is a basic looking website that has a ton of explanation good for beginners learning to touch type. Once you’ve gone through the basics, there are also more advanced exercises which you can do.

via hongkiat.com http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/faster-keyboard-typing/