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The world is going to be shaken again as on the yesterday, Apple released the developer preview of its next major update for the Mac Operating System, named as “Mountain Lion” (download its theme wallpaper!). Apple did really live up the Mountain Lion’s quote, “Inspired by iPad, Re-imagined for Mac”, by integrating most bundled iPad-specific apps to the Mac, and Messages is among the top 10 features of the latest update.

Judging by its name, the application should function like the iMessages in the iDevices like iPhone and iPad, but it is more than you thought. The new app, which could be treated as the predecessor of the iChat, has seamlessly combined both awesome features of iChat and iMessages to provide you a better messaging experience on the Mac.

Today, right after the release of the Messages Beta, we feel so motivated to walk you through every essential feature that the Messages offered for you, along with some extra tips and tricks on using and manipulating the features. While you could download and experience the Messages Beta directly, have a fun time on understanding and exploring its features through this article!

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You may need to wait until summer before Apple’s latest Mac OSX Mountain Lion is released, but here’s some good news, you can wear its wallpaper right away.

Still maintaining that galaxy theme, Apple’s latest operating system, the Mountain Lion comes with a blue-ish version of the galaxy as its default wallpaper. We think it’s really nice and here’s the high-res wallpaper in various different sizes.

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The Internet has expanded so quickly in just a couple of decades. This growth has also accompanied a tremendous uptick in technological advancement allowing Internet speeds to increase while server costs have dramatically fallen. I’m sure by now most of you have heard about hosting your files “within the cloud”. More advanced hosting companies have begun to offer cloud hosting solutions. But what does this really mean?

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I’d like to spend some time looking further into the details of cloud hosting. How do you end up with a server cluster managing as a complete web host environment? How much do these generally cost? And is the cloud really where the future is taking us?

Many of these questions can be answered with just a bit of information. Let’s first break down this idea of the “cloud” into more friendly terms.

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Since the introduction of CSS3, there are really a lot of hot debates revolve around its possibilities and usability. However, there are also a lot of interesting experiments hand-crafted to explore its potential. Though the experiments by any mean do not prove the CSS3′s usability, they really showed the true possibilities of CSS3, to a degree that major developers believe the CSS3 is the future.

Is that true? Judge it with your eyes. In this showcase we are gonna show nothing but just 38 inspiring CSS3-based animation demos that purely discover the true potential of the CSS3. Besides the pure experiments, you will also see some practical examples of how CSS3 can be applied into web design to make it sweeter and sexier.

Enough said, let us explore the fantastic world of CSS3!

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You are strongly recommended to view these demos using the latest version of Safari or Developer version of Google Chrome. Most demos support the latest version of Firefox and Google Chrome, though.

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Your web browser of choice is truly the gateway into accessing the global Internet. The web has been growing exponentially, and we have seen tremendous changes to browsing software as well. Mozilla has been keeping up well considering the recent release of Firefox 10 which has seen mostly positive review.

But as we all know, your web browser tends to slow down over time with repeated use. Firefox is not immune to this, but there are some tweaks you can use to optimize the browsing experience. The key values we’re looking for include startup speed, reduced load times, and accessible web pages. Check out some of my tips in the guide below if you’re looking to enhance the Firefox experience!

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Approaching someone new is often quite a scary thing to do. No matter if you’re about to do it at a party, on a bus, or online – via email. We always want to make a lasting first impression, and not sound like we’re desperate or aggressive.

These are all the things we’re going to cover in this part and the following parts of the series.

Quick note:
This post is a part of a series titled – Networking Guide for Bloggers. Be sure to check back next week for more! If you’ve missed the previous post(s), here are the links:

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Red is the new black this week and all thanks to a certain widely celebrated, yet still not worthy of a day’s off festivity, that is, Valentine’s Day. So what did you have planned for your better half in the apocalyptic year’s Day of Love? A candlelit dinner for two, jewellery engraved with her name, and/or bouquets of organic symbols of love? No matter the plans, always remember that it is the thought that counts; but never do nothing.

In the midst of celebrations, here’s a collaborative effort between Hongkiat.com and the folks at VisionMates to spice up your desktop for the festivities.

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Social media applications such as Twitter can be effectively utilized as a tool for freelancers like yourself to promote your services. In a time when the world is connected through the internet, failing to employ such a simple strategy to connect with your potential and existing clients is a waste of opportunity. Remember that you are promoting to the rest of the world each time you post something in Twitter.

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The content then, is what matters. You can update your existing clients on your latest projects and network with freelancers like yourself. In your Twitter, you may link your followers to your professional blog where they can further explore your work and even better, re-tweet it to their own network. All these can bring you more business in the long run as these people go on to recommend you to potential clients.

Here are five possible ways to make good use of Twitter for your freelance business:

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So by this point most of us are familiar with the steampunk aesthetic. But how many people out there know about dieselpunk? Dieselpunk style is similar to steampunk, but there are distinct differences. While steampunk focuses on Victorian-age sci-fi, dieselpunk is based on the style and technology of the early 20th century, from World War I through World War II. The “punk” suffix on the word indicates its counter-cultural influence in regard to its opposition to historically-accurate and contemporary aesthetics. It’s similar in many ways to the noir styles of the time, though isn’t necessarily as dark.

The term “dieselpunk” was coined in 2001 by game designer Lewis Pollak to describe the style of his role-playing game Children of the Sun, but it has since grown to encompass the style of a number of mediums, including art, music, movies, fiction, and more. There are two basic styles of dieselpunk, one based on the roaring twenties with a mostly positive view of technology and culture, and the other based on World War II with a much darker style and often based on widespread warfare.

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Look at the graphics below, awesome Photoshop works right? Nah, they’re created by CSS3. Yes, they’re completely “drawn” by CSS3! When we have seen enough CSS3 animations we thought those are all CSS3 can do as a potential Flash killer, but we’re wrong. Developers perhaps don’t satisfy with the fun of animation, so again, they push the boundaries of CSS3 to challenge the graphic editor’s realm.

With this post comes 35 carefully crafted CSS3 graphics which even include something you wouldn’t relate with CSS3 like Apple iPhone, cartoon character Doraemon, and more surprises! Heck, some of them even come with detailed tutorial that teach you how to achieve it! So don’t miss the great chance to learn to create graphic using CSS3 and little bit of HTML, let’s get naughty with CSS3!

You are strongly recommended to view these demos using the latest version of Safari or Developer version of Google Chrome. Most demos support the latest version of Firefox and Google Chrome, though.

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Facebook now has over 800 million active users around the world. If it were a country, it would be the third largest in the world (right behind China and India), and more than twice the size of the United States.

So it’s pretty much vital for anyone trying to promote a product, service, event, or cause to create a Facebook page. While other social networks (Google+ among them) are making gains, Facebook is still the largest and most popular out there, and that’s unlikely to change in the immediate future (and besides, Google+ doesn’t even allow brand pages yet).

One of the biggest mistakes brands make when creating Facebook pages is to just use the default tabs and default content. They post nothing but self-promotional updates and have no realy ways of interacting with their fans. Basically, their pages are boring.

The answer to this common problem is to make use of all the custom content applications and tabs available for Facebook pages. You can add custom welcome tabs, video tabs, feed your blog or other RSS feed into your news feed, import your tweets, and a lot more. Finding the apps to do all this, though, is a bit trickier.

In this guide, we’ll show you some of the best apps for Facebook pages and how to best use them. While it would be impossible to cover every app available (there are thousands that can be used on pages), this post will get you started.

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I’m sure you can relate to this and agree that selecting the right people to reach out to is the most important step on your way to success (whatever success is, since we’re talking networking).

If you do this right, clearly, you’ll be able to build strong relationships with great people. If you take a more random or less thought-through approach then your mileage may vary, so to speak.

Clearly, contacting everyone whose email address you can get your hands on is not the best idea. You don’t need to be in touch with the whole world. A small group of people who you really want to meet and get to know is more than enough.

Quick note:
This post is a part of a series titled – Networking Guide for Bloggers. Be sure to check back next week for more! If you’ve missed the previous post(s), here are the links:

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Black and white are too of the most emotive visuals in nature. Polar opposites, the two seem to stand for opposing metaphors, as well. Black is usually seen as dark, a symbol of authority and power, and, occasionally, as a symbol of evil. White is a sign of purity and brightness and of a natural innocence that combats its opponent.

(Image source: Fotolia)

The real benefit of these two shades is to meld together in a contrasting design. Using such a stark dichotomy, you immediately establish a dynamic in the design that is impossible for the viewer to ignore. It is clean, can be either simple or complex, and has endless opportunities that other color schemes just don’t manage to generate. It all just balances itself out.

Many graphic designers today see that the best way to stick out in today’s full color world is not to join them but to set themselves apart by refusing to follow the norm. Duality has become the name of the game, giving us every reason to try it ourselves to see the effect.

Let’s take a look at how black-and-white designs are being used in various graphics, with great success.

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The demand for creativity from employees is rising in this age of rapid technological advancement. This is evident when we see multinational companies like Google setting up something known as a the 20 percent program or policy where Google developers get to spend 20 percent of their working hours (a day at work) on side projects. It was an attempt to give employees the time and space to think innovatively. Indeed, the policy works well, with some of the best products of Google (e.g. Google News) originating from the program.

(Image source: Fotolia)

Some of you may think that creativity is an inborn trait rather than something that can be learned and developed. This may be so, but without a conducive environment for creativity to be expressed, how can we expect to see ideas arising from creative employees? This is precisely what this article is about, to show you ways which you can adopt in the workplace to encourage employees to seek innovation in their work.

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