Sites like Digg specialize in social news, letting users decide what news stories are the most popular. Sites like NowPublic, on the other hand, help citizens become local and professional journalists, engaging them in the process of creating and publishing the events taking place around them. LiveLeak is a little of both, allowing users to create their own videos and stories and publish them for the world to see, while submitting and voting on videos captured from traditional media sources.
LiveLeak was one of the first sites on the web to have the cameraphone video of Saddam Hussein's execution, and drew fire in the UK when a BBC program took note of the graphic nature of some of LiveLeak's video content. The site encourages its users to report and upload footage from real-life events. That material often includes video from war-torn countries, car accidents, and other graphic scenes. The site doesn't censor the uploaded content, although it does have filters for family-friendly and graphic content.
It might seem like LiveLeak subscribes to the "if it bleeds, it leads," philosophy, but some of its content is generated by traditional media sources, and a lot of it is boring. Wire services like Reuters and the Associated Press generate the headlines, while user-generated content make up the features and the majority of the material in LiveLeak's categories. The site only posts a few headline stories from other news outlets. A lot of the "news stories" at LiveLeak are videos generated by users with webcams rambling about their favorite topic.
LiveLeak's categories revolve around the most popular social issues discussed on the site. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are categories, for example, and there's also a politics category. If those don't interest you, you can check out the entertainment, news, or celebrity categories, or start your own. Only the popular categories are listed on the front page, but any user can create a category on their favorite topic. If you dig deep enough you'll find categories about debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories, world music, women's issues, and even how to sport a mullet. There's also a Citizen Journalism category, where amateur videos that are actually newsworthy and produced with some measure of journalistic quality are posted.
LiveLeak users can upload anything they want, so you have to wade through a lot of Webcam manifestos and horrifying car crashes to get to material that's worth watching. You can browse by category to get around a lot of the nonsense, but it's still difficult. If you're looking for a site that's mostly entertainment and silly videos, LiveLeak can help you kill a few hours at the office. Unfortunately, if you're looking for serious journalism or in-depth reporting or analysis by everyday people who are passionate about the world around them, you're better off somewhere like NowPublic.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
FFFFound: Social Bookmarking for Images
Social bookmarking has been around for a while. Sites like del.icio.us and Furl have made it easy to take your favorite links from around the Web, tag them to keep them organized, and save them for future reference or share with your friends. FFFFound extends the concept to images. If you see an interesting photograph, a particularly beautiful piece of art, or just an entertaining photo somewhere on the Web, FFFFound allows you to link to it, tag it, and save it to retrieve later or share with the rest of the community.
The service also sports an engine that can recommend images for you based on your previous likes, dislikes, and the way those images have been tagged by the people who found them. Once you've found an image that you like, you can upload it to the service, link to it, tag it, and then share it with others. Once your image is visible, other FFFFound users can save it or flag it as inappropriate. FFFFound's recommendation engine generates similar images that you may like and displays them underneath the image that you uploaded, so if you see another image on the site that you like, you can click through to view more images of the same type.
Most of FFFFound's images are art, photography, and graphic design. FFFFound is currently in private beta, so you can't sign up to share your own images quite yet. Luckily, you can browse the uploaded images of the most recent and active members, and most of the images uploaded are viewable by the public. You'll find images from e-cards, photographs from Flickr, and even corporate logos and odd snapshots from around the Web. FFFFound provides an IE extension and a bookmarklet to make it easier to share images without having to copy and paste links.
With all of the buzz about copyright infringement and content ownership, FFFFound invites copyright holders to contact them if users upload copyrighted material that they'd like removed. FFFFound may have to be more aggressive about this policy when the service emerges from private beta. At the moment, the quality of the images at FFFFound is very high, but that probably has something to do with its limited membership.
FFFFound images range from the beautifully artistic to the offbeat and hilarious. The images on the front page change every time you refresh. At one glance, I saw an antique poster for a Broadway play, gorgeous black-and-white vintage photography, and a digital masterpiece that made a towering rock look like a modern apartment building. There's always something new to see.
The service also sports an engine that can recommend images for you based on your previous likes, dislikes, and the way those images have been tagged by the people who found them. Once you've found an image that you like, you can upload it to the service, link to it, tag it, and then share it with others. Once your image is visible, other FFFFound users can save it or flag it as inappropriate. FFFFound's recommendation engine generates similar images that you may like and displays them underneath the image that you uploaded, so if you see another image on the site that you like, you can click through to view more images of the same type.
Most of FFFFound's images are art, photography, and graphic design. FFFFound is currently in private beta, so you can't sign up to share your own images quite yet. Luckily, you can browse the uploaded images of the most recent and active members, and most of the images uploaded are viewable by the public. You'll find images from e-cards, photographs from Flickr, and even corporate logos and odd snapshots from around the Web. FFFFound provides an IE extension and a bookmarklet to make it easier to share images without having to copy and paste links.
With all of the buzz about copyright infringement and content ownership, FFFFound invites copyright holders to contact them if users upload copyrighted material that they'd like removed. FFFFound may have to be more aggressive about this policy when the service emerges from private beta. At the moment, the quality of the images at FFFFound is very high, but that probably has something to do with its limited membership.
FFFFound images range from the beautifully artistic to the offbeat and hilarious. The images on the front page change every time you refresh. At one glance, I saw an antique poster for a Broadway play, gorgeous black-and-white vintage photography, and a digital masterpiece that made a towering rock look like a modern apartment building. There's always something new to see.
Pingie Turns RSS into SMS
There are a number of apps out there designed to push RSS feeds from your favorite blogs and Websites to your mobile phone. The trouble with those services is that if you can't install software on your phone, don't want to pay for mobile Web access, or have a carrier that doesn't allow you to use those services, you're stuck. Pingie can help. The service allows you to subscribe to RSS feeds from your desktop, and then sends you text messages when the feed updates. It's quick, simple, free, and best of all works with most mobile devices.
Google Reader, Bloglines Mobile, and other services all bring news and updates to your mobile phone, but there's a catch: you have to have mobile Web access or you have to be able to install apps on your phone. That's fine if you have a smartphone like a Motorola Q or a Blackberry, but if you have a Motorola RAZR or a Samsung Juke, an app that runs on Windows Mobile or PalmOS doesn't do you any good. Worse yet, if your carrier is someone like Verizon (like many Americans), you may not be allowed to install software on your phone at all if it's not downloaded directly from your carrier.
Pingie gets around that whole issue by sending RSS feed updates to your mobile device via text message. A Verizon subscriber with a device like a Samsung Juke can get text messages, even if they can't install a news reader or don't have a cellular plan with mobile Web access.
Additionally, Pingie will send you a text message every time one of your RSS feeds updates. This is great for people who like being alerted when there's new content on one of your favorite blogs or sites instead of having to go to the site to check it yourself, or wade through pre-downloaded feeds.
[ via DownloadSquad ]
Google Reader, Bloglines Mobile, and other services all bring news and updates to your mobile phone, but there's a catch: you have to have mobile Web access or you have to be able to install apps on your phone. That's fine if you have a smartphone like a Motorola Q or a Blackberry, but if you have a Motorola RAZR or a Samsung Juke, an app that runs on Windows Mobile or PalmOS doesn't do you any good. Worse yet, if your carrier is someone like Verizon (like many Americans), you may not be allowed to install software on your phone at all if it's not downloaded directly from your carrier.
Pingie gets around that whole issue by sending RSS feed updates to your mobile device via text message. A Verizon subscriber with a device like a Samsung Juke can get text messages, even if they can't install a news reader or don't have a cellular plan with mobile Web access.
Additionally, Pingie will send you a text message every time one of your RSS feeds updates. This is great for people who like being alerted when there's new content on one of your favorite blogs or sites instead of having to go to the site to check it yourself, or wade through pre-downloaded feeds.
[ via DownloadSquad ]
BedJump: Making Hotels Fun Again
I love to travel, but staying in a hotel has lost some of its luster since I was a kid. Sure there's room service and if I'm lucky there's a mini-bar, but it's lost a little of its charm. BedJump on the other hand, makes me excited to stay in hotels again. Every couple of days, BedJump updates with hilarious photos of real people jumping on hotel beds, usually with the person in mid-air. Who says jumping on the bed is naughty?
The people at BedJump are right when they say that there's something luxurious and intoxicating about hotel beds. They're relaxing, they're usually comfortable, but best of all, they're bouncy. BedJump regularly posts photos of real hotel guests staying at hotels around the world, enjoying the bounciness of the bed they paid to sleep in. The site takes submissions from anyone who wants to send them, and posts nearly all the photos they get.
BedJump is actually part of the larger site Hotels By City, which helps vacationers find destinations for their trip depending on the type of vacation they'd like to take, the best hotels for their vacation type or the city they've visiting, and helps users book hotels and vacation packages once they've decided where they want to go. BedJump encourages people to explore the rest of the Hotels By City network of sites to book their vacations, and once they've found a hotel in which to stay, to take their best mid-air snapshots or hotel bed lounging photos and submit them to the site.
Extended features aside, BedJump is a lot of fun. You can sign up for e-mail updates when a new bedjumper's photos are posted. If you're interested specifically in bed jumps on cruise ships, entire photo sets of bed jumps, bed jumping videos, or even a tutorial on how to bed jump, you'll find links to each category on the sidebar. If you're in love with the site, you can even buy a BedJump t-shirt to wear while you're jumping on the bed during your next vacation.
The people at BedJump are right when they say that there's something luxurious and intoxicating about hotel beds. They're relaxing, they're usually comfortable, but best of all, they're bouncy. BedJump regularly posts photos of real hotel guests staying at hotels around the world, enjoying the bounciness of the bed they paid to sleep in. The site takes submissions from anyone who wants to send them, and posts nearly all the photos they get.
BedJump is actually part of the larger site Hotels By City, which helps vacationers find destinations for their trip depending on the type of vacation they'd like to take, the best hotels for their vacation type or the city they've visiting, and helps users book hotels and vacation packages once they've decided where they want to go. BedJump encourages people to explore the rest of the Hotels By City network of sites to book their vacations, and once they've found a hotel in which to stay, to take their best mid-air snapshots or hotel bed lounging photos and submit them to the site.
Extended features aside, BedJump is a lot of fun. You can sign up for e-mail updates when a new bedjumper's photos are posted. If you're interested specifically in bed jumps on cruise ships, entire photo sets of bed jumps, bed jumping videos, or even a tutorial on how to bed jump, you'll find links to each category on the sidebar. If you're in love with the site, you can even buy a BedJump t-shirt to wear while you're jumping on the bed during your next vacation.
Facebook 'Secret Crush' App Installing Malicious Spyware
Facebook: "You have a Secret Crush invitation"
OMG, OMG, OMG! Who could it be?!
Unfortunately, if you find this note on your Facebook page, it's more likely to be an undercover malicious spyware program than a declaration of love from your Facebook crush of the moment. Love is truly dead.
Security firm Fortinet uncovered a widget that disguises itself as a normal Facebook application but actually unleashes the "Zango" adware/spyware virus when installed. Users will receive an e-mail alert that they have a "secret crush" and upon signing into the social networking site will see an alert much like a friend or group request. Clicking on it asks users to install an application on their page, but also demands they invite five friends to join.
Having gone through the trouble to install the app, most people will invite their friends, making the widget a "social worm," researchers said. "Even after that step, no crush of any sort is revealed."
Instead you get a page that requests an additional download--a download that is in fact the Zango virus.
Fortinet said that as of January 4, approximately four-percent of Facebook users have installed the "Secret Crush" application, which also goes by the name "My Admirer."
UPDATE: "Facebook is committed to user safety and security and, to that end, its Terms of Service for developers explicitly state that applications should not use adware and spyware," a Facebook spokesperson said in an e-mail. "Users should employ the same precautions while downloading software from Facebook applications that they use when downloading software on their desktop. We have contacted the developers and have disabled the Secret Crush application for violating Facebook Platform Terms of Service."
UPDATE II: Zango issued a press release last week that denied any involvement in the "Secret Crush" application.
"At no point while adding the Secret Crush application to a Facebook profile did the widget attempt to install Zango software," Zango said. "The Secret Crush widget is neither a Zango application nor is it affiliated with Zango in any way. Zango does not own it, did not manufacture it, and did not bundle software with it."
OMG, OMG, OMG! Who could it be?!
Unfortunately, if you find this note on your Facebook page, it's more likely to be an undercover malicious spyware program than a declaration of love from your Facebook crush of the moment. Love is truly dead.
Security firm Fortinet uncovered a widget that disguises itself as a normal Facebook application but actually unleashes the "Zango" adware/spyware virus when installed. Users will receive an e-mail alert that they have a "secret crush" and upon signing into the social networking site will see an alert much like a friend or group request. Clicking on it asks users to install an application on their page, but also demands they invite five friends to join.
Having gone through the trouble to install the app, most people will invite their friends, making the widget a "social worm," researchers said. "Even after that step, no crush of any sort is revealed."
Instead you get a page that requests an additional download--a download that is in fact the Zango virus.
Fortinet said that as of January 4, approximately four-percent of Facebook users have installed the "Secret Crush" application, which also goes by the name "My Admirer."
UPDATE: "Facebook is committed to user safety and security and, to that end, its Terms of Service for developers explicitly state that applications should not use adware and spyware," a Facebook spokesperson said in an e-mail. "Users should employ the same precautions while downloading software from Facebook applications that they use when downloading software on their desktop. We have contacted the developers and have disabled the Secret Crush application for violating Facebook Platform Terms of Service."
UPDATE II: Zango issued a press release last week that denied any involvement in the "Secret Crush" application.
"At no point while adding the Secret Crush application to a Facebook profile did the widget attempt to install Zango software," Zango said. "The Secret Crush widget is neither a Zango application nor is it affiliated with Zango in any way. Zango does not own it, did not manufacture it, and did not bundle software with it."
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Hands On With Hulu
After waiting most of the day for approval from Hulu PR, I can now post a hands-on evaluation of the beta, which was officially announced at midnight Sunday night. (When registering, the terms of service repeatedly failed to load, meaning that I had no idea if Hulu would make me watch old episodes of The Littlest Groom if I posted content without permission.)
The verdict: Broad? Extremely. Deep? No. If you were hoping for some magical archive of TV episodes, forget it. This is why piracy is winning, people. But give Hulu credit: what it does, it does well.
Fortunately, the site has learned several key lessons from the Web 2.0 design gurus: keep it clean, keep it simple, and organize it well. While you won't find any user-generated video here, both studios have presented their gems, front and center. Take for, example, the once-lost version of Saturday Night Live's "Lazy Sunday: The Chronicles of Narnia":
And that's one of the nifty things. Video can be embedded into blogs. Sure, you'll still end up watching the commercials, but that's the tradeoff. Oh, and design for widescreen.
Only the last aspect needs some more work. If you're looking for a certain show, clicking on the "Browse Titles" link at the top of the page will bring up a list of shows, each adorned by a small banner icon. No preference is given to either NBC shows or Fox properties; each is treated equally.
But Hulu made one mystifying decision: in the page marked "Popular Episodes," the user is subjected to a two-wide column of "favorites," with no indication whose favorites they are. Users? The site's editors? NBC executives, in a back-room deal with Fox? Some indication would be helpful. The same treatment is given to the bottom of the home page.
Playing a show is straightforward: once you click on the episode, a window opens with some interesting options: "Lower lights" turns the surrounding white background a dark gray, making extended viewing easier on the eyes. There's the standard "embed" and "share" options, as well as "details". For some reason, Hulu included both a "share" and "pop out" option, to give you two options to view.
There are ads, although the presentation isn't consistent; when I viewed a Simpsons episode Monday morning, the episode started with a short lead-in, and then 15- and 30-second ads played during the normal commercial breaks. (There are strange dots within the time slider that I believe correspond to commercial breaks.) However, on Monday afternoon, the ads were gone, even during a watching of the same episode.
The video is crisp and smooth, when it loads. For some reason, I received several instances of the following error message, one when trying to view an episode of House, and once when I tried to view The Blues Brothers: "Unfortunately, this video is not currently available in your country or region. We apologize for the inconvenience."
It's not quite clear what this means, since I'm sitting in Arizona right now. Has John McCain really ticked off Hollywood that badly?
The other problem is actually getting the video to load. Again, on Monday morning the experience was seamless: video loaded seamlessly, and everything worked as you would expect. At 3:15 PM PDT, it took about ten seconds to load a video page, perhaps fifteen seconds for it to actually begin, and even then the audio had a tendency to desynchronize -- evidence, it seems, of problems with the server load.
The sad thing is that Hulu will only archive the last five episodes of a current show, and a single season of a show that's off the air -- typically the first season, but not always. On the other hand, it's an excellent way to keep up with shows that don't quite make your DVR for reasons of scheduling or capacity.
Hulu suffers from two beta problems right now: an apparent lack of server capacity, and a deep stable of content. I have every confidence that Hulu will solve the first, and will refuse to solve the latter. Which, when you think about it, is just plain dumb. Yes, advertising is annoying, but it pays my bills. I'm willing to put up with it. But if the model works for the five most recent episodes of a given show, it should work for all of them. Let's hope this changes.
The verdict: Broad? Extremely. Deep? No. If you were hoping for some magical archive of TV episodes, forget it. This is why piracy is winning, people. But give Hulu credit: what it does, it does well.
Fortunately, the site has learned several key lessons from the Web 2.0 design gurus: keep it clean, keep it simple, and organize it well. While you won't find any user-generated video here, both studios have presented their gems, front and center. Take for, example, the once-lost version of Saturday Night Live's "Lazy Sunday: The Chronicles of Narnia":
And that's one of the nifty things. Video can be embedded into blogs. Sure, you'll still end up watching the commercials, but that's the tradeoff. Oh, and design for widescreen.
Only the last aspect needs some more work. If you're looking for a certain show, clicking on the "Browse Titles" link at the top of the page will bring up a list of shows, each adorned by a small banner icon. No preference is given to either NBC shows or Fox properties; each is treated equally.
But Hulu made one mystifying decision: in the page marked "Popular Episodes," the user is subjected to a two-wide column of "favorites," with no indication whose favorites they are. Users? The site's editors? NBC executives, in a back-room deal with Fox? Some indication would be helpful. The same treatment is given to the bottom of the home page.
Playing a show is straightforward: once you click on the episode, a window opens with some interesting options: "Lower lights" turns the surrounding white background a dark gray, making extended viewing easier on the eyes. There's the standard "embed" and "share" options, as well as "details". For some reason, Hulu included both a "share" and "pop out" option, to give you two options to view.
There are ads, although the presentation isn't consistent; when I viewed a Simpsons episode Monday morning, the episode started with a short lead-in, and then 15- and 30-second ads played during the normal commercial breaks. (There are strange dots within the time slider that I believe correspond to commercial breaks.) However, on Monday afternoon, the ads were gone, even during a watching of the same episode.
The video is crisp and smooth, when it loads. For some reason, I received several instances of the following error message, one when trying to view an episode of House, and once when I tried to view The Blues Brothers: "Unfortunately, this video is not currently available in your country or region. We apologize for the inconvenience."
It's not quite clear what this means, since I'm sitting in Arizona right now. Has John McCain really ticked off Hollywood that badly?
The other problem is actually getting the video to load. Again, on Monday morning the experience was seamless: video loaded seamlessly, and everything worked as you would expect. At 3:15 PM PDT, it took about ten seconds to load a video page, perhaps fifteen seconds for it to actually begin, and even then the audio had a tendency to desynchronize -- evidence, it seems, of problems with the server load.
The sad thing is that Hulu will only archive the last five episodes of a current show, and a single season of a show that's off the air -- typically the first season, but not always. On the other hand, it's an excellent way to keep up with shows that don't quite make your DVR for reasons of scheduling or capacity.
Hulu suffers from two beta problems right now: an apparent lack of server capacity, and a deep stable of content. I have every confidence that Hulu will solve the first, and will refuse to solve the latter. Which, when you think about it, is just plain dumb. Yes, advertising is annoying, but it pays my bills. I'm willing to put up with it. But if the model works for the five most recent episodes of a given show, it should work for all of them. Let's hope this changes.
Hulu Beta Invites
You may remember AppScout's Hands On Hulu post, about the new online video service offering full-length episodes of some of your favorite TV shows. Well, recently I got my hands on over 2,000 invitations to the private beta version of Hulu, so now you can try it out yourself. To redeem your invite, check out this Hulu preview at PCmag.com.
5Min: Tutorial Videos in a Flash
We all want to learn new things and expand our horizons; in fact, one of my New Year's resolutions is to learn to cook some new dishes for friends and family. Thankfully, learning new things doesn't necessarily mean that I have to take a class or spend hours upon hours reading or studying. With 5Min, I can learn how to make a vegetarian shepherd's pie or a beef Wellington in just a few minutes.
5Min is a video site that specializes in how-to and instructional videos made by people with knowledge of their subjects. The best part is that all of the videos are short-form; none of them are longer than five minutes long.
Five minutes is all it takes to learn how to cross-stitch, to fold a t-shirt, or even to seat dinner guests. The videos at 5Min help you learn at least a little about a specific topic, and while you may not be able to learn everything there is to know about everything in five-minute snippets, you can certainly get started. The point of the videos at 5Min aren't to make you an expert, but to help you learn enough to get involved with a topic, teach you a quick tip or trick, or give you enough information that you can fill in the blanks on your own.
5Min videos are all created by the user community. The site staff and administrators provide the framework for the service and might contribute a video or two on their own time, but the bulk of the content is provided by 5Min.com users. Each user gets a "studio" where they can upload their videos in their areas of expertise. The service was founded on the principle that everyone's an expert in something, so everyone is invited to participate and share their knowledge with the rest of the community.
The topics at 5Min range from the arts, business, fashion, food, games, parenting to even sports and technology. You can find videos on how to check your HOSTS file for spyware on one page, and on another page you can learn about how scientists use DNA fingerprinting to catch criminals.
If you're not looking for a brain buster, you can head over to the Home category to get 10 Feng Shui tips for your home, or the "fashion" section to learn how to properly tie a do-rag. If the topic of the video is just too broad to cover in five minutes, you might find a series of videos on the same topic, each taking you through a specific step.
The beauty of 5Min isn't just that the videos are all short (the average video is about 3-4 minutes, and sticks very closely to a specific topic), but that the site reaches out to everyday people to share their knowledge with the world. You'll find videos on topics you didn't know you wanted to learn about, and after only five minutes, you'll find your life that much richer.
5Min is a video site that specializes in how-to and instructional videos made by people with knowledge of their subjects. The best part is that all of the videos are short-form; none of them are longer than five minutes long.
Five minutes is all it takes to learn how to cross-stitch, to fold a t-shirt, or even to seat dinner guests. The videos at 5Min help you learn at least a little about a specific topic, and while you may not be able to learn everything there is to know about everything in five-minute snippets, you can certainly get started. The point of the videos at 5Min aren't to make you an expert, but to help you learn enough to get involved with a topic, teach you a quick tip or trick, or give you enough information that you can fill in the blanks on your own.
5Min videos are all created by the user community. The site staff and administrators provide the framework for the service and might contribute a video or two on their own time, but the bulk of the content is provided by 5Min.com users. Each user gets a "studio" where they can upload their videos in their areas of expertise. The service was founded on the principle that everyone's an expert in something, so everyone is invited to participate and share their knowledge with the rest of the community.
The topics at 5Min range from the arts, business, fashion, food, games, parenting to even sports and technology. You can find videos on how to check your HOSTS file for spyware on one page, and on another page you can learn about how scientists use DNA fingerprinting to catch criminals.
If you're not looking for a brain buster, you can head over to the Home category to get 10 Feng Shui tips for your home, or the "fashion" section to learn how to properly tie a do-rag. If the topic of the video is just too broad to cover in five minutes, you might find a series of videos on the same topic, each taking you through a specific step.
The beauty of 5Min isn't just that the videos are all short (the average video is about 3-4 minutes, and sticks very closely to a specific topic), but that the site reaches out to everyday people to share their knowledge with the world. You'll find videos on topics you didn't know you wanted to learn about, and after only five minutes, you'll find your life that much richer.
Acorn: Power Image Editing without Photoshop
For many Mac users, buying a Mac and working with images in any application other than Adobe Photoshop is blasphemy. I can't count how many purchases for Macs I've seen that have the Mac on the first line and a license for Adobe Creative Suite on the second line. But if you want to do some basic image editing and photo manipulation, Photoshop might be overkill. Acorn on the other hand, is perfect. It's lightweight and affordable, and it incorporates most of the features a lot of people use in more powerful tools like Photoshop. It's no replacement for Photoshop, but it's simple, easy to use, and worth a look.
Tasks like editing and managing screenshots for blogs and technical documentation, basic photo editing, and image editing may not always require all the features and power of Adobe Photoshop or similar high-end image editing applications. Acorn combines a sleek and simple interface with power editing tools that will make most graphic designers happy that they saved some money by not choosing Photoshop.
Acorn has a number of features that Photoshop users will love, but also has a few unique tricks that come in handy. You can take screenshots using Acorn and immediately edit them, manage the opacity or blending of multiple image layers, and do auto image resizing just by changing the size of the image on your screen. You can create text styles and work with gradients all from within Acorn's simple interface. The app also allows you to write additional plug-ins if you're code-savvy and missing a feature that you'd like to see in the app.
Perhaps one of Acorn's greatest features is that it's completely powered by your graphics processor. That means no more relying on the CPU and no more slowing the rest of your system down while you do complicated image editing. Acorn is a universal binary and works on both PowerPC Macs and Intel Macs, but a Mac with a newer video card will really take advantage of Acorn's power. Acorn is only $39.99, and you can download it and give it a try before deciding to buy.
Tasks like editing and managing screenshots for blogs and technical documentation, basic photo editing, and image editing may not always require all the features and power of Adobe Photoshop or similar high-end image editing applications. Acorn combines a sleek and simple interface with power editing tools that will make most graphic designers happy that they saved some money by not choosing Photoshop.
Acorn has a number of features that Photoshop users will love, but also has a few unique tricks that come in handy. You can take screenshots using Acorn and immediately edit them, manage the opacity or blending of multiple image layers, and do auto image resizing just by changing the size of the image on your screen. You can create text styles and work with gradients all from within Acorn's simple interface. The app also allows you to write additional plug-ins if you're code-savvy and missing a feature that you'd like to see in the app.
Perhaps one of Acorn's greatest features is that it's completely powered by your graphics processor. That means no more relying on the CPU and no more slowing the rest of your system down while you do complicated image editing. Acorn is a universal binary and works on both PowerPC Macs and Intel Macs, but a Mac with a newer video card will really take advantage of Acorn's power. Acorn is only $39.99, and you can download it and give it a try before deciding to buy.
BurgerTime Delight: Build Behemoth Burgers on Your Mobile Phone
I didn't make it to CES this year, but there are plenty of e-mail blasts on product announcements from the show that it feels as if I'm actually there! One such e-mail came from Namco Networks, publisher and developer of mobile games. Yesterday, the company announced its newest mobile title, BurgerTime Delight, in partnership with Japanese developer G-mode. The game is a 25-year-old arcade classic (released in 1982 as BurgerTime by Data East), enhanced and updated into this mobile version with new level backgrounds, new characters, and mini-games. In BurgerTime Delight, you play Chef Peter Pepper, "whose goal is to build behemoth burgers by knocking each burger ingredient onto plates at the bottom of the screen." I love the idea already! On each level, Peter is challenged by being chased by his food nemeses Mr. Hotdog, Mr. Egg, and Mr. Pickle. Thankfully, you can "squash your enemies with falling ingredients, stun them with pepper from a collected peppershaker, or burn them with hot sauce."Namco Networks also announced that BurgerTime Delight includes two new food baddies, Mr. Garlic, described as a "clove of garlic who drops lingering morsels of his cloves behind him" and Mr. Carrot, who can "drill himself down a level to chase Peter." Other enhancements are a word collection mini-game.
BurgerTime Delight is available now on national carriers including Sprint and Verizon.
BurgerTime Delight is available now on national carriers including Sprint and Verizon.
Xinorbis: Get a Handle on Your Hard Drive
IYou can buy and install a 250GB hard drive on Monday, and by Friday it feels like you're already out of space. There's no shortage of applications to help you manage your drives and show you where all your space is going, but Xinorbis is one of the best that I've seen. Xinorbis can analyze a drive or set of folder and tell you what types of files are inside and how much space you're losing to what kinds of files, all from inside an attractive interface that puts other similar apps to shame.
Xinorbis can analyze entire hard drives, network shares and mapped network drives, and individual directories. If you're curious as to what's taking up all your hard drive space, you can use the app to scan your entire system; but if you're concerned just with exactly how much of your downloads folder is, for example music versus movies, Xinorbis can tell you. The app includes shell support and allows you to launch straight from a directory that you'd like to scan. Once Xinorbis completes a scan, it generates a report that you can save for future reference and comparison later.
Xinorbis has a few features that make it noticeably more effective than other drive analyzers. Not only will the app scan your drive and tell you how much storage is being used by what files and folders, Xinorbis can break down that allocation by file type. For example, Xinorbis can tell you that the bulk of your hard drive is being eaten by music or movies, as opposed to documents and programs. You can also sort by file type if you wish, and see how much of your available space is occupied by MP3s versus AACs.
The interface is intelligently designed and reveals a great deal of information in one view. For example, one display can show you the ratio of file types on the drive, a run-down of file sizes on the drives, and a graph of subdirectories and their contents. Similar applications can show you similar information, but not in the same view.
Fans of faster apps, such as WinDirStat and SequoiaView, will miss the ability to delete files straight from the application and won't be pleased with how long Xinorbis takes to analyze your drive or directories, but they'll be pleased with the multiple views and wealth of reporting capabilities. Xinorbis is free, and supports Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, and Vista.
[ via DownloadSquad ]
Xinorbis can analyze entire hard drives, network shares and mapped network drives, and individual directories. If you're curious as to what's taking up all your hard drive space, you can use the app to scan your entire system; but if you're concerned just with exactly how much of your downloads folder is, for example music versus movies, Xinorbis can tell you. The app includes shell support and allows you to launch straight from a directory that you'd like to scan. Once Xinorbis completes a scan, it generates a report that you can save for future reference and comparison later.
Xinorbis has a few features that make it noticeably more effective than other drive analyzers. Not only will the app scan your drive and tell you how much storage is being used by what files and folders, Xinorbis can break down that allocation by file type. For example, Xinorbis can tell you that the bulk of your hard drive is being eaten by music or movies, as opposed to documents and programs. You can also sort by file type if you wish, and see how much of your available space is occupied by MP3s versus AACs.
The interface is intelligently designed and reveals a great deal of information in one view. For example, one display can show you the ratio of file types on the drive, a run-down of file sizes on the drives, and a graph of subdirectories and their contents. Similar applications can show you similar information, but not in the same view.
Fans of faster apps, such as WinDirStat and SequoiaView, will miss the ability to delete files straight from the application and won't be pleased with how long Xinorbis takes to analyze your drive or directories, but they'll be pleased with the multiple views and wealth of reporting capabilities. Xinorbis is free, and supports Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, and Vista.
[ via DownloadSquad ]
Sony BMG Goes Digital, Misses the Point
The company that brought you the Great Rootkit Fiasco of 2005 has finally come around and decided to not only ditch DRM entirely, but to allow you to download music from artists on the Sony BMG label in MP3 format. Sony BMG recently unveiled its new MusicPass site, which promises fans unprotected MP3 downloads playable on any device. The problem? You have to go to a brick-and-mortar store to buy a card with a code you can redeem for your digital downloads.
It would seem to be good news that Sony BMG has decided to abandon DRM in favor of unprotected MP3s. One would hope that Sony got the message that its customers were tired of being treated like criminals and decided to change its ways. Unfortunately it seems Sony didn't get the entire message, or the company's suffering from a case of selective hearing. Sure, Sony's dropped DRM, but instead of understanding that people are interested in downloading tracks individually and buying music online, it has reproduced the old model of forcing people to go to stores to buy their music.
Now, if you want digital music from your favorite Sony BMG artists, you have to go to a physical store, buy a plastic card with the code for the album you're interested in, take it home, enter the code at MusicPass, and then you get to download the song. It's like buying a CD at your local department store, just with more effort required to actually get the music and less payoff: You get a plastic card and some MP3s for all your effort. At least a CD is a physical copy with liner notes and album art, and you can rip the CD to get the digital version.
Unfortunately, the entire project is proof that Sony still doesn't get it. It's catching on slowly but surely, which is good, but it managed to get the part that says people want electronic copies of their music while missing the part that says people want it to be convenient and worth their time. Sony is willing to concede that people want control over what they do with the music when they own it, but they're determined to have complete control over how people purchase and obtain their music.
There will be 37 albums available from a handful of artists via MusicPass when the program starts. The MusicPass cards will be $12.99 (almost the cost of the artist's CD, which will likely sit on the shelf next to the MusicPass card at the store), and will be available at Best Buy, Target, and a few other stores on January 15th. Look on the bright side--at least with MusicPass, the digital downloads won't come with a rootkit.
[ via USA Today ]
It would seem to be good news that Sony BMG has decided to abandon DRM in favor of unprotected MP3s. One would hope that Sony got the message that its customers were tired of being treated like criminals and decided to change its ways. Unfortunately it seems Sony didn't get the entire message, or the company's suffering from a case of selective hearing. Sure, Sony's dropped DRM, but instead of understanding that people are interested in downloading tracks individually and buying music online, it has reproduced the old model of forcing people to go to stores to buy their music.
Now, if you want digital music from your favorite Sony BMG artists, you have to go to a physical store, buy a plastic card with the code for the album you're interested in, take it home, enter the code at MusicPass, and then you get to download the song. It's like buying a CD at your local department store, just with more effort required to actually get the music and less payoff: You get a plastic card and some MP3s for all your effort. At least a CD is a physical copy with liner notes and album art, and you can rip the CD to get the digital version.
Unfortunately, the entire project is proof that Sony still doesn't get it. It's catching on slowly but surely, which is good, but it managed to get the part that says people want electronic copies of their music while missing the part that says people want it to be convenient and worth their time. Sony is willing to concede that people want control over what they do with the music when they own it, but they're determined to have complete control over how people purchase and obtain their music.
There will be 37 albums available from a handful of artists via MusicPass when the program starts. The MusicPass cards will be $12.99 (almost the cost of the artist's CD, which will likely sit on the shelf next to the MusicPass card at the store), and will be available at Best Buy, Target, and a few other stores on January 15th. Look on the bright side--at least with MusicPass, the digital downloads won't come with a rootkit.
[ via USA Today ]
Martin: FCC To Investigate Comcast Data Discrimination
Kevin Martin is raining on Comcast's CES parade.
On the same day Comcast CEO Brian Roberts gave the first ever CES keynote by a cable chief (with the Flight of the Conchords in tow, no less), the FCC chairman said at a separate CES panel that the commission would be investigating whether Comcast was involved in data discrimination.
"Sure, we're going to investigate and make sure that no consumer is going to be blocked," Martin was quoted as saying.
In October, AP conducted a test that it said proved Comcast was blocking access to peer-to-peer networks; an experiment that was later replicated and confirmed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Comcast accused AP and EFF of using too narrow a focus with its tests. The cable provider admitted to "delaying" certain P2P traffic, but denied that it was blocking access to any content.
Two months ago, the SavetheInternet.com coalition and several academics filed a complaint with the FCC calling on the commission to stop Comcast from violating customer rights.
A source within the FCC confirmed that the quote from Martin was accurate, but said that the FCC did not make any official announcement today about its plans regarding the Comcast complaint.
"We believe our practices are in accordance with the FCC's policy statement on the Internet," David L. Cohen, executive vice presiden for Comcast, said in a statement. "Comcast plans to work with the Commission in its desire to bring more transparency for consumers regarding broadband network management."
The interest groups who filed the complaint were predictably pleased.
"We hope the Chairman's statements, made two months after we filed our complaint, will lead to immediate and accelerated action at the FCC on the critical issue of whether Comcast, AT
On the same day Comcast CEO Brian Roberts gave the first ever CES keynote by a cable chief (with the Flight of the Conchords in tow, no less), the FCC chairman said at a separate CES panel that the commission would be investigating whether Comcast was involved in data discrimination.
"Sure, we're going to investigate and make sure that no consumer is going to be blocked," Martin was quoted as saying.
In October, AP conducted a test that it said proved Comcast was blocking access to peer-to-peer networks; an experiment that was later replicated and confirmed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Comcast accused AP and EFF of using too narrow a focus with its tests. The cable provider admitted to "delaying" certain P2P traffic, but denied that it was blocking access to any content.
Two months ago, the SavetheInternet.com coalition and several academics filed a complaint with the FCC calling on the commission to stop Comcast from violating customer rights.
A source within the FCC confirmed that the quote from Martin was accurate, but said that the FCC did not make any official announcement today about its plans regarding the Comcast complaint.
"We believe our practices are in accordance with the FCC's policy statement on the Internet," David L. Cohen, executive vice presiden for Comcast, said in a statement. "Comcast plans to work with the Commission in its desire to bring more transparency for consumers regarding broadband network management."
The interest groups who filed the complaint were predictably pleased.
"We hope the Chairman's statements, made two months after we filed our complaint, will lead to immediate and accelerated action at the FCC on the critical issue of whether Comcast, AT
Hands-On with Picaboo: Creating Photo Books
If you're a shutterbug, you probably have discs and folders full of photos to sort through. And many of them won't ever see the light of day once you've uploaded them to your computer. But photo services like the ones we profiled in our top 10 list of Apps to Preserve Memories make it easy to organize and preserve your pictures in book form.
I recently had the chance to test out Picaboo's photo service, and I knew right away that a photo book would be the perfect holiday gift for my dad. To call him a photography enthusiast is a serious understatement. In the course of our five-day trip to Paris, he rarely emerged from behind the viewfinder of his sizable HP camera. Needless to say, the photo album was the hit of my family's Christmas. My dad still shows it off to family friends! Though there were a few hiccups building the book with Picaboo's software, I was really happy with the final product. More on the creation process after the jump.
Similar to competitor MyPublisher.com, the actual building process occurs on your local system after you download the free software from Picaboo's website. Here's where I hit the first glitch: I own a MacBook, and Picaboo only works on Windows systems. I regrouped and brought the photos to the office on a flash drive, so that I could use a Windows machine. Unfortunately, the installation process still didn't run smoothly, and I kept getting vague error messages. I tried going to Picaboo's troubleshooting page, but it wasn't particularly helpful or straightforward. Finally, after turning off all other programs and restarting my computer, I was able to fully install the software, which ran smoothly after that.
Once I launched Picaboo and selected the "Create Book!" function, I was immediately prompted to pick a theme. I was pretty impressed with the options. The basic choices are all surprisingly tasteful and allow for a lot of flexibility. The program comes with 19 basic themes and more are available on Picaboo's Web site.
The next step is to choose the photos. The program loads thumbnails, so it's pretty easy to pick the exact pictures you want. In Picaboo, you can do some photo editing (including resizing, adjusting brightness/contrast, and removing red eye), but if you want anything more advanced, you'll need to tweak the photos before you upload. The upload itself doesn't take long (even on my clunker of a computer) and the little dancing Picaboo logo is enough entertainment to pass the time.
I wanted ultimate control of the layout, but I decided to try the Auto Create function just for kicks. I was actually impressed with the result it came up with. The program took Paris photos, along with shots of the beach by our house in San Diego and the ski slopes in central California, and combined them in a visually compelling way that I was actually tempted to use. If you don't want to lay out the book yourself, I'd definitely recommend this option.
It's a good thing Picaboo offers so may page layout options, because you really can't alter them in any way once you've made your selection. Building the page is simple enough. A pane underneath the main window displays thumbnails of all the uploaded photos; I just dragged and dropped each in the preset layout I selected from Picaboo's list. If you want to do any photo editing within the program, this is the time to do it. The photos are automatically placed with a drop shadow (which can be turned off) and white border, but you can select from any number of border or corner options, or no border at all. There are quite a few choices for captions, including a broad selection of fonts and styles and the opportunity to create custom colors if you don't like the program's basic palette. Unfortunately, Picaboo doesn't warn you accurately if your captions are running a little long or going off the printable page: There are dotted lines that show you where your caption is supposed to end. I wanted mine as low on the page as possible, so I hit return until it was resting just above the line. But in printing, it cut off all the tails on my letters (like the bottoms of p's, g's, and j's). So the dotted line wasn't quite accurate.
I opted to design my own cover, instead of the default linen and leather cutout covers the program offers. I was very happy with the results; my book had a lovely glossy, laminated cover. Ordering was simple too. One of Picaboo's greatest strengths is the breadth of book selections it offers, starting at $9.99 for the basics and going up to $49.99. Regardless of the price (which is largely determined by the cover option you select) each book can hold up to 20 pages for the base fee and 140 additional pages for a little more per page. Even if you don't opt to buy a printed version, the photo book exists on your account and can be shared with other Picaboo members.
Though I didn't test it, Picaboo also offers a soundtrack option, where you can upload songs from your computer or download tunes from eMusic.
Despite my complaints with the process, with a little time and tinkering I was able to get the result I wanted. I wish that Picaboo was compatible with Macs and that the installation had run smoothly, but once it was up and running I had few complaints. My dad's book looks fantastic on the coffee table, and that's what really counts.by Nicole Price Fasig
I recently had the chance to test out Picaboo's photo service, and I knew right away that a photo book would be the perfect holiday gift for my dad. To call him a photography enthusiast is a serious understatement. In the course of our five-day trip to Paris, he rarely emerged from behind the viewfinder of his sizable HP camera. Needless to say, the photo album was the hit of my family's Christmas. My dad still shows it off to family friends! Though there were a few hiccups building the book with Picaboo's software, I was really happy with the final product. More on the creation process after the jump.
Similar to competitor MyPublisher.com, the actual building process occurs on your local system after you download the free software from Picaboo's website. Here's where I hit the first glitch: I own a MacBook, and Picaboo only works on Windows systems. I regrouped and brought the photos to the office on a flash drive, so that I could use a Windows machine. Unfortunately, the installation process still didn't run smoothly, and I kept getting vague error messages. I tried going to Picaboo's troubleshooting page, but it wasn't particularly helpful or straightforward. Finally, after turning off all other programs and restarting my computer, I was able to fully install the software, which ran smoothly after that.
Once I launched Picaboo and selected the "Create Book!" function, I was immediately prompted to pick a theme. I was pretty impressed with the options. The basic choices are all surprisingly tasteful and allow for a lot of flexibility. The program comes with 19 basic themes and more are available on Picaboo's Web site.
The next step is to choose the photos. The program loads thumbnails, so it's pretty easy to pick the exact pictures you want. In Picaboo, you can do some photo editing (including resizing, adjusting brightness/contrast, and removing red eye), but if you want anything more advanced, you'll need to tweak the photos before you upload. The upload itself doesn't take long (even on my clunker of a computer) and the little dancing Picaboo logo is enough entertainment to pass the time.
I wanted ultimate control of the layout, but I decided to try the Auto Create function just for kicks. I was actually impressed with the result it came up with. The program took Paris photos, along with shots of the beach by our house in San Diego and the ski slopes in central California, and combined them in a visually compelling way that I was actually tempted to use. If you don't want to lay out the book yourself, I'd definitely recommend this option.
It's a good thing Picaboo offers so may page layout options, because you really can't alter them in any way once you've made your selection. Building the page is simple enough. A pane underneath the main window displays thumbnails of all the uploaded photos; I just dragged and dropped each in the preset layout I selected from Picaboo's list. If you want to do any photo editing within the program, this is the time to do it. The photos are automatically placed with a drop shadow (which can be turned off) and white border, but you can select from any number of border or corner options, or no border at all. There are quite a few choices for captions, including a broad selection of fonts and styles and the opportunity to create custom colors if you don't like the program's basic palette. Unfortunately, Picaboo doesn't warn you accurately if your captions are running a little long or going off the printable page: There are dotted lines that show you where your caption is supposed to end. I wanted mine as low on the page as possible, so I hit return until it was resting just above the line. But in printing, it cut off all the tails on my letters (like the bottoms of p's, g's, and j's). So the dotted line wasn't quite accurate.
I opted to design my own cover, instead of the default linen and leather cutout covers the program offers. I was very happy with the results; my book had a lovely glossy, laminated cover. Ordering was simple too. One of Picaboo's greatest strengths is the breadth of book selections it offers, starting at $9.99 for the basics and going up to $49.99. Regardless of the price (which is largely determined by the cover option you select) each book can hold up to 20 pages for the base fee and 140 additional pages for a little more per page. Even if you don't opt to buy a printed version, the photo book exists on your account and can be shared with other Picaboo members.
Though I didn't test it, Picaboo also offers a soundtrack option, where you can upload songs from your computer or download tunes from eMusic.
Despite my complaints with the process, with a little time and tinkering I was able to get the result I wanted. I wish that Picaboo was compatible with Macs and that the installation had run smoothly, but once it was up and running I had few complaints. My dad's book looks fantastic on the coffee table, and that's what really counts.by Nicole Price Fasig
PointUI Spices Up Windows Mobile
Windows Mobile isn't exactly the prettiest operating system on the block. Sure it gets the job done, but is it too much to ask for a little form with my function? PointUI, a free skinning application for Windows Mobile, wants to help me out. PointUI brings an attractive and elegant interface to Windows Mobile's clunky program list and home screen, and makes your Windows Mobile device a bit more of a pleasure to use.
I simply can't stand the look of Windows Mobile's default UI. I carry a Motorola Q around for work, and while the interface is simple and functional, it's just not pretty. The home screen tries to squash together my upcoming calendar appointments, number of unread e-mail messages, and other information on the same screen--and unfortunately makes all of it unreadable. PointUI replaces all of that with a few simple icons and a sparse home screen that shows me where to go to get the information I want instead of trying to put it all in the same view.
PointUI isn't for everyone. It doesn't work with some smartphones and PDAs. And because the app was designed for touch-screen devices, it didn't take too well to my Motorola Q, which has a directional pad instead of a touch-screen. You should definitely check the forums before downloading it to your Windows Mobile device and expecting it to work smoothly. The app is in beta, so there are still kinks to work out, but if your threshold for bleeding-edge apps is high and you dislike the Windows Mobile interface as much as I do, PointUI is worth a try.
PointUI skins just about every aspect of Windows Mobile. You'll have to see the traditional Windows Mobile interface some of the time, but the most often-used screens, such as the home screen and the settings screens, have been redesigned to be much more attractive and to scroll smoothly between views. Additionally, if you do have a touch-screen device, PointUI turns up the touch sensitivity so you don't have to use a stylus to click on items. Instead, finger-swipes (a la the iPhone) will work just fine.
The designers behind PointUI claim that their focus is simplicity, elegance, and ease of use. I saw those characteristics show through when I tried PointUI, and I'll wait patiently for it to support my Q; my friend with an AT
I simply can't stand the look of Windows Mobile's default UI. I carry a Motorola Q around for work, and while the interface is simple and functional, it's just not pretty. The home screen tries to squash together my upcoming calendar appointments, number of unread e-mail messages, and other information on the same screen--and unfortunately makes all of it unreadable. PointUI replaces all of that with a few simple icons and a sparse home screen that shows me where to go to get the information I want instead of trying to put it all in the same view.
PointUI isn't for everyone. It doesn't work with some smartphones and PDAs. And because the app was designed for touch-screen devices, it didn't take too well to my Motorola Q, which has a directional pad instead of a touch-screen. You should definitely check the forums before downloading it to your Windows Mobile device and expecting it to work smoothly. The app is in beta, so there are still kinks to work out, but if your threshold for bleeding-edge apps is high and you dislike the Windows Mobile interface as much as I do, PointUI is worth a try.
PointUI skins just about every aspect of Windows Mobile. You'll have to see the traditional Windows Mobile interface some of the time, but the most often-used screens, such as the home screen and the settings screens, have been redesigned to be much more attractive and to scroll smoothly between views. Additionally, if you do have a touch-screen device, PointUI turns up the touch sensitivity so you don't have to use a stylus to click on items. Instead, finger-swipes (a la the iPhone) will work just fine.
The designers behind PointUI claim that their focus is simplicity, elegance, and ease of use. I saw those characteristics show through when I tried PointUI, and I'll wait patiently for it to support my Q; my friend with an AT
Monday, September 21, 2009
MySpace Friend Adder Is Just Depressing
I love social networking. I think there's a lot of promise in tools that allow people to connect with one another across large distances, connect with colleagues and professionals, or even organize like-minded people for a common cause. But for all of the promise social networking sites and services offer, there are still people who use them for nothing more than marketing a brand or making themselves feel popular. That's where MySpace Friend Adder comes in. If your MySpace profile is a little lonely and you want to make more friends, just give the service your information; in return, it promises thousands of new MySpace friends.
There are two major target audiences for a service like the MySpace Friend Adder: marketing professionals who have a brand or product to promote and who have decided that MySpace is the perfect medium, and lonely MySpace users whose paltry handful of friends isn't enough to satisfy their desire to be one of the "cool kids." In both cases, it's somewhat sad and an awful reflection on what MySpace has become, now that everyone's attention has turned to Facebook instead.
The service is simple: Just give the MySpace Friend Adder your "friend code," a number in your MySpace profile, and the service presents you with a screen of friends you can automatically add to your MySpace profile. It's likely that all of those accounts are set to automatically accept friend requests, and it's likely that all of those users have also used the Friend Adder in the past. Either that or the service just mercilessly hammers random MySpace users with friend requests.
The service gives out "friend points" for using it and for adding friends who in turn add you back. What those points are good for is anyone's guess, but some people are apparently dependent enough on the service to bolster their friends lists that they've collected upwards of 150 points. (It's worth noting that the users with the most points are all marketing services.) You can shell out $3 to be a VIP for a day, and up to $60 to be a VIP for two months, whatever that might mean.
The MySpace Friend Adder proves that MySpace is either going down the tubes or that social networking of the MySpace genre is a sham. I'd like to believe that it's more the former than the latter, but I'm sure that you could argue both based on the existence of "friend adding services" as a genre.
There are two major target audiences for a service like the MySpace Friend Adder: marketing professionals who have a brand or product to promote and who have decided that MySpace is the perfect medium, and lonely MySpace users whose paltry handful of friends isn't enough to satisfy their desire to be one of the "cool kids." In both cases, it's somewhat sad and an awful reflection on what MySpace has become, now that everyone's attention has turned to Facebook instead.
The service is simple: Just give the MySpace Friend Adder your "friend code," a number in your MySpace profile, and the service presents you with a screen of friends you can automatically add to your MySpace profile. It's likely that all of those accounts are set to automatically accept friend requests, and it's likely that all of those users have also used the Friend Adder in the past. Either that or the service just mercilessly hammers random MySpace users with friend requests.
The service gives out "friend points" for using it and for adding friends who in turn add you back. What those points are good for is anyone's guess, but some people are apparently dependent enough on the service to bolster their friends lists that they've collected upwards of 150 points. (It's worth noting that the users with the most points are all marketing services.) You can shell out $3 to be a VIP for a day, and up to $60 to be a VIP for two months, whatever that might mean.
The MySpace Friend Adder proves that MySpace is either going down the tubes or that social networking of the MySpace genre is a sham. I'd like to believe that it's more the former than the latter, but I'm sure that you could argue both based on the existence of "friend adding services" as a genre.
Friday, September 18, 2009
The Latest Frontrunner?
Hillary Clinton and John McCain, at the top of the New Hampshire heap, are savoring their new labels as frontrunners. But apparently they have to share with another frontrunner, at least according to an eWEEK article by Steven Vaughan-Nichols. Is Network Solutions reveling in the label? Maybe not so much.
You see, in Internet lingo, "front running" means locking up a domain name as soon as somebody does a Whois search. A cynic might point out that if a person happens to search for a domain on Joe's registration site, and Joe immediately grabs the name, then anyone wanting to buy the domain will have to go to
You see, in Internet lingo, "front running" means locking up a domain name as soon as somebody does a Whois search. A cynic might point out that if a person happens to search for a domain on Joe's registration site, and Joe immediately grabs the name, then anyone wanting to buy the domain will have to go to
QiPit Turns Cameraphone Images to PDFs
I've often found myself in meetings where my colleagues and I fill a whiteboard with ideas but forget to write any of them down. When the meeting is over, we all run back to our desks, grab pens and paper, and come back to the conference room to try and make sense of our whiteboard notes.
With QiPit, we can fill up a whiteboard without worrying that we won't be able to leave the meeting with copies of everything we wrote. QiPit allows you to use your cameraphone to snap an image of a document, a whiteboard or chalkboard, or even handwritten notes and convert it to a PDF that you can e-mail, fax, or publish straight from your phone.
Whether you're sitting in a long corporate meeting, and you've filled up the whiteboard with ideas and bullet points, or you're sitting in a class where your professor likes to erase the board before you can write everything down, QPit can help. You can take pictures of just about anything with your camera phone, then send the image to QiPit, which will convert the image into a PDF document and send it back to you.
Qipit works equally well with chalkboards, written notes, whiteboards, and printed documents. The limiting factor is the quality of your camera phone. The service works with most major camera phones and offers a model selector that tells you what you can do with each type of phone. The service's basic features work best with whiteboards, handwritten notes, and printed documents, but the better the camera on your phone, the higher-quality images and PDFs it can produce for you. QiPit does some image clean-up for you--brightening up dark images to bring out the text, for example.
Once you have the converted PDF, you can store it on your phone or on the Web, e-mail it to yourself or your colleagues, fax it to a friend from your cell phone, and publish it to the Web. Alternatively, you can save PDFs in your QiPit account, tag them, and organize them. The service was designed to be used with camera phones, but you can use a digital camera as well and e-mail the photo to your QiPit account.
QiPit members use the service for ideas scribbled on napkins, class notes on chalkboards, and handwritten notes from meetings and study sessions. If you're the type of person who's always jotting down notes on random slips of paper, QiPit could be useful for you to get all of those ideas in one place. Best of all, the service is free.
With QiPit, we can fill up a whiteboard without worrying that we won't be able to leave the meeting with copies of everything we wrote. QiPit allows you to use your cameraphone to snap an image of a document, a whiteboard or chalkboard, or even handwritten notes and convert it to a PDF that you can e-mail, fax, or publish straight from your phone.
Whether you're sitting in a long corporate meeting, and you've filled up the whiteboard with ideas and bullet points, or you're sitting in a class where your professor likes to erase the board before you can write everything down, QPit can help. You can take pictures of just about anything with your camera phone, then send the image to QiPit, which will convert the image into a PDF document and send it back to you.
Qipit works equally well with chalkboards, written notes, whiteboards, and printed documents. The limiting factor is the quality of your camera phone. The service works with most major camera phones and offers a model selector that tells you what you can do with each type of phone. The service's basic features work best with whiteboards, handwritten notes, and printed documents, but the better the camera on your phone, the higher-quality images and PDFs it can produce for you. QiPit does some image clean-up for you--brightening up dark images to bring out the text, for example.
Once you have the converted PDF, you can store it on your phone or on the Web, e-mail it to yourself or your colleagues, fax it to a friend from your cell phone, and publish it to the Web. Alternatively, you can save PDFs in your QiPit account, tag them, and organize them. The service was designed to be used with camera phones, but you can use a digital camera as well and e-mail the photo to your QiPit account.
QiPit members use the service for ideas scribbled on napkins, class notes on chalkboards, and handwritten notes from meetings and study sessions. If you're the type of person who's always jotting down notes on random slips of paper, QiPit could be useful for you to get all of those ideas in one place. Best of all, the service is free.
FeedDemon and NetNewsWire Now Free Downloads
Fans of desktop RSS readers, rejoice! Newsgator, the company behind NetNewsWire for Mac and FeedDemon for Windows, has updated and released all its desktop and mobile RSS readers for free. NetNewsWire and FeedDemon are highly regarded and generally considered the best RSS aggregators that money can buy--and now, you don't have to pay anything for them.
All NewsGator's personal products are free now, including FeedDemon for Windows, NetNewsWire for Mac, NewsGator Go! for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices, NewsGator Inbox for Outlook, and NewsGator Online (its Web-based offering). NetNewsWire and FeedDemon were also updated to new versions, which NewsGator claims include improvements in stability and functionality.
The biggest selling points for NetNewsWire and FeedDemon have been their ability to work with the speed, simplicity, and customization options of a desktop client, but still remain connected to NewsGator's servers so you could access your preferences and feeds remotely. This way, you have the ability to choose when you refresh your feeds, manage your feeds on one computer and have the settings filter down to all the other clients you use, and still log in to NewsGator Online to read your feeds. FeedDemon, for example, is so robust that it earned an Editor's Choice award when FeedDemon 2.0 was released.
NewsGator has promised to continue updating and developing its desktop and individual products, even though they're now free. The company will instead turn its focus to its enterprise offerings, including its Enterprise Server platform, its widget framework and social networking software for Microsoft Sharepoint. The company is aiming to bring the success its had in the end-user market to the corporate arena.
[ via MarketWire ]
All NewsGator's personal products are free now, including FeedDemon for Windows, NetNewsWire for Mac, NewsGator Go! for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile devices, NewsGator Inbox for Outlook, and NewsGator Online (its Web-based offering). NetNewsWire and FeedDemon were also updated to new versions, which NewsGator claims include improvements in stability and functionality.
The biggest selling points for NetNewsWire and FeedDemon have been their ability to work with the speed, simplicity, and customization options of a desktop client, but still remain connected to NewsGator's servers so you could access your preferences and feeds remotely. This way, you have the ability to choose when you refresh your feeds, manage your feeds on one computer and have the settings filter down to all the other clients you use, and still log in to NewsGator Online to read your feeds. FeedDemon, for example, is so robust that it earned an Editor's Choice award when FeedDemon 2.0 was released.
NewsGator has promised to continue updating and developing its desktop and individual products, even though they're now free. The company will instead turn its focus to its enterprise offerings, including its Enterprise Server platform, its widget framework and social networking software for Microsoft Sharepoint. The company is aiming to bring the success its had in the end-user market to the corporate arena.
[ via MarketWire ]
As Lucasfilm Goes, So Goes HD?
First Warner Brothers announced it was going Blu, then the producers of blue movies started making similar sounds about a move to Blu-ray. Microsoft has even made some noise about the Blu-ing of xBox after the fall of HD DVD.
All this is all well and good for Sony's format (and welcome news for anyone who got a PS3 this holiday season), but it's nothing compared to the legions of geeks who're waiting--nay, clamoring--for the Star Wars saga to go HD. If that series of SF masterpieces (okay, call them blockbusters) went Blu, it would be a mammoth body-blow to the HD DVD format. Lucasfilm is officially "agnostic" at this point, but what do the series hardcore fans want? You know, the ones who dress up in wookie suits for the cons.
It's anyone's guess what will actually happen, but there is an interesting poll on the starwars.com site today, and the results are encouraging for Blu-ray owners. At the time I wrote this, Blu-ray was winning by a margin of nearly seven to one--68% for Blu-ray, versus an anemic 10% for HD DVD. As anyone who's following the Primaries knows, polls are probably only one step from damned lies and statistics. Still, the number of undecideds--those who haven't picked a format yet--is a bit smaller than independents in the recent contest in the Live Free or Die State, at 22%.
Granted, the correlation between gamers and Star Wars fanatics is probably quite high, so we're probably talking about a lot of people who use their game console as their main player, and for full HD that means PS3s (some, but not all, xBox 360s can handle 1080p signals, and that requires an aftermarket add on). It's hard to say how much of a predictor this is for the other high-def movie enthusiasts out there. Still, the Star Wars franchise has racked up phenomenal sales in every format in which it's been released.
It's early days for this poll, which runs until the twenty-second of this month, but things are looking Blu in the nerd camp. How will you vote?
Post by Sean Carroll
All this is all well and good for Sony's format (and welcome news for anyone who got a PS3 this holiday season), but it's nothing compared to the legions of geeks who're waiting--nay, clamoring--for the Star Wars saga to go HD. If that series of SF masterpieces (okay, call them blockbusters) went Blu, it would be a mammoth body-blow to the HD DVD format. Lucasfilm is officially "agnostic" at this point, but what do the series hardcore fans want? You know, the ones who dress up in wookie suits for the cons.
It's anyone's guess what will actually happen, but there is an interesting poll on the starwars.com site today, and the results are encouraging for Blu-ray owners. At the time I wrote this, Blu-ray was winning by a margin of nearly seven to one--68% for Blu-ray, versus an anemic 10% for HD DVD. As anyone who's following the Primaries knows, polls are probably only one step from damned lies and statistics. Still, the number of undecideds--those who haven't picked a format yet--is a bit smaller than independents in the recent contest in the Live Free or Die State, at 22%.
Granted, the correlation between gamers and Star Wars fanatics is probably quite high, so we're probably talking about a lot of people who use their game console as their main player, and for full HD that means PS3s (some, but not all, xBox 360s can handle 1080p signals, and that requires an aftermarket add on). It's hard to say how much of a predictor this is for the other high-def movie enthusiasts out there. Still, the Star Wars franchise has racked up phenomenal sales in every format in which it's been released.
It's early days for this poll, which runs until the twenty-second of this month, but things are looking Blu in the nerd camp. How will you vote?
Post by Sean Carroll
Last.FM Goes Windows Mobile
It may not be the long-promised Slacker player, but music lovers with a Windows Mobile phone will surely be pleased to hear about the introduction of a version of Internet radio service Last.fm for their favorite mobile OS.
Last.fm Mobile "scrobbles" music from Windows Media Player (basing playlists upon your existing music library) and offers "experimental radio functionality," according to Download Squad. The app works with Windows Media Player 5 or 6 and .NET Compact Framework 2.0.
Last.fm Mobile "scrobbles" music from Windows Media Player (basing playlists upon your existing music library) and offers "experimental radio functionality," according to Download Squad. The app works with Windows Media Player 5 or 6 and .NET Compact Framework 2.0.
RIAA Goes After Usenet Newsgroups for Copyright Infringement
Perhaps empowered by a recent $222,000 ruling in its favor, the Recording Industry of America (RIAA) is now going after Usenet.com, one of the companies hosting the distributed Usenet newsgroups, for "consciously and blatantly" facilitating the illegal downloading of copyrighted material.
The recording industry filed suit Friday in a New York district court and is looking to recover Usenet profits, $150,000 per infringement and attorneys fees.
The RIAA asserts in its filing that Usenet.com is "almost identical" to Napster and other illegal P2P file sharing services. Usenet.com, however, goes further to provide "enhancements that make the service more attractive" for those looking to share files illegally, according to the suit.
Usenet.com allows users to share data on its system like a message board. The service provides a variety of service plans, from $18.95 per month for unlimited access to $4.95 per month for 2GB of space.
The RIAA alleges that these fees encourage Usenet to support infringement. Usenet.com's "profits increase with the amount of infringement it fosters [because] binary files are significantly larger than text files," according to the suit. "The more copyrighted sound recordings users download, the more money [Usenet.com] makes."
The RIAA points to notices on the Usenet Web site that appear to encourage illegal downloads like: "Shh ... Quiet! We believe it's no one's business but your own what you do on the Internet or in Usenet. We don't track user activity."
Such statement could be problematic in court in the RIAA wants to invoke the Grokster ruling, in which the Supreme Court ruled against filing sharing services because it found that "each company showed itself to be aiming to satisfy a known source of demand for copyright infringement"
A copyright policy on the Usenet Web site prohibits the trading of illegal material, but the RIAA claims that Usenet nonetheless "expressly promises its users that it will not take action against them for downloading infringing material."
Usenet.com did immediately respond to requests for comment.
A quick perusal of songs being illegally downloaded by Usenet.com users, meanwhile, include selections from Ace of Base, Air Supply, Kenny G and Milli Vanilli, so perhaps this case should be an attack on musical tastes rather than Internet practices.
The recording industry filed suit Friday in a New York district court and is looking to recover Usenet profits, $150,000 per infringement and attorneys fees.
The RIAA asserts in its filing that Usenet.com is "almost identical" to Napster and other illegal P2P file sharing services. Usenet.com, however, goes further to provide "enhancements that make the service more attractive" for those looking to share files illegally, according to the suit.
Usenet.com allows users to share data on its system like a message board. The service provides a variety of service plans, from $18.95 per month for unlimited access to $4.95 per month for 2GB of space.
The RIAA alleges that these fees encourage Usenet to support infringement. Usenet.com's "profits increase with the amount of infringement it fosters [because] binary files are significantly larger than text files," according to the suit. "The more copyrighted sound recordings users download, the more money [Usenet.com] makes."
The RIAA points to notices on the Usenet Web site that appear to encourage illegal downloads like: "Shh ... Quiet! We believe it's no one's business but your own what you do on the Internet or in Usenet. We don't track user activity."
Such statement could be problematic in court in the RIAA wants to invoke the Grokster ruling, in which the Supreme Court ruled against filing sharing services because it found that "each company showed itself to be aiming to satisfy a known source of demand for copyright infringement"
A copyright policy on the Usenet Web site prohibits the trading of illegal material, but the RIAA claims that Usenet nonetheless "expressly promises its users that it will not take action against them for downloading infringing material."
Usenet.com did immediately respond to requests for comment.
A quick perusal of songs being illegally downloaded by Usenet.com users, meanwhile, include selections from Ace of Base, Air Supply, Kenny G and Milli Vanilli, so perhaps this case should be an attack on musical tastes rather than Internet practices.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)