Photoshop Tutorial: How to apply lipstick the easy way

Do you appear to be pale in your photos? Want to add some color on it? Be it orange, pink, red, your lips can look naturally beautiful if you follow these simple steps. I'm going to use Taylor Swift's no make-up photo.
This tutorial is intended for the Photoshop dummies, so I'm sure you can make it whatever version of Photoshop you may be using.

Step 1. You need to create a new layer which will be used for the lip color and the adjustments to be applied on it. The create new layer button is found on the bottom right corner of the window, as shown in the photo below. Now you have Layer 1 above the background layer.

Step 2. From the color palette, choose the color you would like to apply on your lips. I choose Pure Magenta Red. Click on your chosen color and choose a soft brush and brush it on your lips. Don't worry about the sides, we'll deal with that later. Make sure Layer 1 is selected when doing this! After doing so, your lips would like this in the photo.

3. Now we need to make it look natural. We'll have to change the blend mode to Soft Light and the opacity to anything as you wish. Mine is at 81%. If you want to get rid of excess colors at the sides of the lips, use the eraser tool still having the soft brush selected and erase the parts you want to get rid of.

Free Text Messaging In The Philippines

We, Pinoys, constantly look for ways to save money especially in text messsaging, which has already become an essential part in our daily lives. If you text a lot, an unlimited text/call service subscription would be good for you. Otherwise, just save your regular load and if you're just at home with an internet connection, you can conveniently send free SMS online. There are many sites that offer free text messaging to the Philippines which are very useful for emergency purposes or if you just want to save money. If you're an OFW, this is a great way to save from high international SMS fees. Below is a list of sites that offer free text messaging service.

1. Magtxt.com - Let's you send an unlimited number of messages to any network within the Philippines. No registration needed.
2. Chikka - You need to register using your phone number or your e-mail as your username. You can either install the Chikka instant messenger or simply use its web messenger. A reply from the recipient is needed before you can send more than 3 SMS which would cost him 2.50php/text.
3. Gmail- Requires a free Gmail account. You are given 50 free credits by Google. Recipient needs to reply to your text to increase your credits. It would cost him 1php/text.
4. themailmonster- Worldwide free SMS. No registration needed.

Cartoonize Yourself

Don't have any Photoshop knowledge? Want to make a cartoon you in just a few clicks? I made a list of sites where you can cartoonize yourself with no photo editing knowledge at all.

1. http://www.cartoonize.net/
Simple photo editor that lets you choose from among 3 cartoon effects.

2. http://www.befunky.com/ (Needs the latest version of Flash Player installed)
Befunky has many Photoshop-like features thus making it more flexible than the rest. Built with numerous cool photo effects and other goodies.

3. http://cartoon.pho.to/
It doesn't just cartoonize you, but also allows you to make an animated you via face morphing. This cool feature enables you to change your expressions and emotions.

Earning Money From Using URL Shorteners

URL shorteners nowadays have become a necessity in social networking and internet marketing. Not only do they shrink your URLs to save space but also they help you keep track of the number of link visits and where the visits come from. And most importantly, you can make money out of it whenever someone visits your link. How this works? Usually you are made to choose between a framed banner and interstitial ad. The difference between the two is that a framed banner pays less but is less intrusive too while an interstitial ad is the opposite. It shows an ad to the visitor before getting redirected to the real web address. If you have an interesting content then your visitors could possibly tolerate this one. So far I've earned $100 from my favorite URL shortener which is Adfly. I don't have US traffic so my earnings are low. Here's one of my proofs of payment and below it is a list of URL shorteners that pay.

List of URL shorteners that pay:
1. Adfly- Earn as much as $4 per 1000 link visits. Easy to reach minimum payout of $5. Based on my experience, Adfly has always been prompt with their payments. Payments are sent via Alertpay and Paypal.
2. Adfoc.us- Earn up to $6.50 per 1000 visits to your short URLs. Minimum payout is $10. Payments are sent via Alertpay and Paypal. I have never used this but it's worth a shot.
3. Linkbucks- Low minimum payout of $5. I have never used this as well but I know they pay. Payments are sent via Alertpay and Paypal.

Free File Hosting Services

Looking for free file hosting service where you can store your files online and have it accessible by you wherever you are? As a student, I did that. It was very helpful for me to be able to access my files online without the hassle of bringing my laptop with me wherever I go. Below is a list of free file hosts that allows you to store your files online without a cost.

1. Mediafire- Stores unlimited number of files with a maximum of 200mb size per file. No bandwidth limits. No waiting time for downloads. It has a function that enables Gallery View, making it good for storing photos.

2. Rapidshare- Known to be the oldest and most reliable among them all. They got rid of the waiting time. Maximum upload of 200mb per file. Files get deleted if they haven't been downloaded for a period of 30 days.

3. FileFactory- Supports just about any file format and allows you to upload up to 2GB per file with an unlimited number of downloads. They also have a reward system in which the members get paid for every file downloaded.

4. Uploading- As a free user, you are allowed to a upload files up to 2GB each. They are stored for 4 months.

5. Wupload- Its file sharing functionality has been disabled. Therefore, only you, as the uploader, gets access to the files you uploaded. Upload limit is up to 2gb per file.

6. FileDen- Enables you to direct download. (No more download pages.) 5GB monthly bandwidth/transfer and a total of 1GB personal storage space.

7. Hotfile- One-click file hosting that allows you to upload up to 400mb per file. They allow you to earn from each downloaded file and have a referral system where you can earn 20% of your referrals' earnings for life.

8. Fileserve
9. FileSonic

DOCX to DOC Converter

So maybe you are using the newer version of Microsoft Word and you saved your file in a DOCX format and when you try to open it in a different computer with an early version of MS Word, your file can't be read. What to do? Easy. Convert your DOCX file to DOC file by using a free file converter found here. No installation necessary and it's completely free to use. This web application tool can also be used for other different file format conversions such as image files, pdf files and audio files.

Free Blogging Platforms

 A blog is an excellent way to freely express your thoughts and ideas and get yourself to be heard. Whether it's for personal or business purpose, you can take advantage of the free blog hosting services these blogging platforms have to offer. Now all you have to spend for is your custom domain which is only optional.

1. Blogger (blogspot.com)
This blogging platform owned by Google has been around for a long time. It's totally free and very easy to use. Ideal for bloggers with a little or no HTML knowledge at all. If ever you decide to tweak your blogger blog in the future, tutorials all over the web to help you out with it.

2. Wordpress
This blogging platform is more flexible and is SEO friendly. If you're blogging for money, a Wordpress.com blog wouldn't be advisable since it doesn't allow you to place ads unless you host it yourself.

3. Weebly
This is completely free and has an easy drag and drop interface. Perfect for newbie bloggers.

4. Posterous
It has excellent privacy features that you can have full control over who can view your blog's contents. Acquired by Twitter and  is another good blogging platform but is quite limited in features compared to Blogger and Wordpress. Ideal for personal blogs as advertising is not allowed.

5. LiveJournal
A blogging platform with a touch of social networking. It allows you to interact with other users and lets you build a network.

6. Tumblr
A micro-blogging platform with many interesting features and has hundreds of themes to choose from.

Reveal TinyURL, Goo.gl and Bit.ly links

We are all aware how the use of URL shorteners such as TinyURL and Bitly are abused. When someone sends us a shortened link, we hesitate to open it thinking that we could possibly get infected by a virus or malware for that one click. So perhaps some of you may have thought of searching for a way to reveal the real link before actually visiting it. Good thing there's a website that allows you to do that in just a single click. It's called URL Unshortener.

Text Twist Solver

Do you play Text Twist? Ever got stuck in a certain level for days but still didn't feel like giving up? Go to Text Twist Solver. It is exactly what you need to get you past the hard levels! But I wouldn't recommend you to use this all the time as it will definitely spoil the fun. Get your brain to work harder. Games become more challenging that way! :)