Oh Beck…you no longer need two turn tables and a microphone, you just need a computer with an internet connection. Perhaps some understanding of beats might also play an important role in your use of TurnTube. DJ’s beware, TurnTube, powered by YouTube, is a video music mixing masterpiece that allows users to mix their favorite videos like a pro. Using YouTube’s extensive library of music videos, you can create your own music by simply pairing them up and setting the mood.
With a simple cross-fade and mix of some of your favorite music, not only are you providing your audience with great tunes, but paired with music videos is always a nice visual touch. I’ve tried playing with the web app and honestly, I’m not a good DJ. But, if you’ve got the talent give it a try. You can search for your favorite songs, and load them up in two play lists. You then set up your videos to cue at a certain point that will allow for a seamless integration. Start your music, and then adjust as necessary.
If you’re wondering what the final product will look like, below are samples of videos that have been mixed, and some of them are really really good. This won’t get you a moonlighting gig, but it’s a lot of fun to play with.
Ever gotten to the point where you’ve been pushed around, beaten down, kept from your goals, so much so that you just decided that enough was enough. If you have, then you know exactly where Grooveshark stands. It’s a known fact that app approval for the iTunes store is based on a mystical set of rules that like a chameleon can change in an instant depending on the weather, the planetary alignment, hell even what the person had for breakfast, and because of this randomness, many app designers have experienced a lot of frustration. Rejections come with vague reasons, forcing some designers to reconfigure and then resubmit hoping for a better outcome.
Grooveshark has submitted and has finally decided to toss in the towel and head for the darker side of things…the jailbroken iPhones. It’s a growing “black market” of sorts and Grooveshark is sure to find a thriving audience there.
According to TechCrunch, when the app was first tried back in 2009, not only did it work well, but it was also stated as possibly never making it through the app store qualifications, and they were right. The app will now find a home on Cydia, giving jailbroken users a chance to use the application. If you’re not attached to the Apple regime, there’s always Android, Blackberry, and Palm that you can find the app for, and it works just fine.
…okay, let’s be honest, where Powerpoint presentation ever interesting. I’ve always feared Powerpoint presentations because so few people do it right, much less do it well. Some think the entire presentation needs to be on every slide, others think clip art is what will make the power point interesting, and some even use the audio option to include badly recorded audio into their presentations. It’s frustrating and you’ll be paying more attention to the back of your eyelids instead of the actual presentation.
Zentation looks to breathe some life into your presentations by incorporating video, slides, information, and clickable content all into one amazing presentation. Zentation offers a free, pro, and white label model that allows you to make your presentations interesting with video of you talking, expressions, hand gestures and all, while you time your presentation on the side for people to see. Now it’s like doing a live presentation only that it’s recorded and built out for others to view at their leisure.
The application integrates forms of social media like blogging, sharing, and commenting that creates a deeper experience not just for the viewer but even those they think should watch the presentation. The higher up you go the more time you’re given for your presentation and the less you have to rely on outside video storage sites like YouTube.
All in all, you get to build the same presentations you want, only with Zentation you get to add some flavor to it with the inclusion of video. Does it makes things more interesting? I’d like to think so, but nothing, and I mean nothing can make a boring presenter interesting, so be sure you’ve got what it takes to do the presentation right, and then perhaps think of putting this web app into your personal arsenal.
The Kobo ebook reader is just one of many mobile ebook readers on the market. What makes this ebook stand out from the many out there is the cross platform capability. We are familiar with ebook apps on our iPhone/iTouch, or maybe even our mobile phones, but the Kobo allows you read your selections from the mobile device, a smart phone, desktop, or laptop.
The ebook reader is globally known and backed by the likes of Indigo Books & Music, Borders, REDgroup Retail, Cheung Kong Holdings, and other leaders in technology and retail. They firmly state that they believe anyone should have access to their content and be able to read anywhere, anytime, no matter what. Their support of open standards goes directly against some of the bigger competitors who firmly believe in close systems. According to Kobo’s site, closed systems stifle innovation and growth, thus their support of allowing their product to go across multiple platforms.
They are currently boasting approximately 2 million books and over 200,000 PDF’s to browse through. With top hits from the New York Time’s best seller list to the most popular ebooks, readers should find something of interest and enjoy the fact that the open system allows for them to move from device to device without fearing any sort of lock down.
I find it interesting that they state that even if they have not heard of a device or if it’s not out yet, they can find a way to be on there. A true testament to the fact that the Kobo ebook reader is really part of an open system.
Concept products are always the best. It’s a chance for designers and creators to come up with innovative ideas that defy the status quo and generate ideas in others on how to make things better, more functional, at the very least more useful. Whether it’s concept cars, concept homes, concept industrial designs, it’s all fun to look at.
Sony has drummed up buzz with their concept art for the Sony Compact Alpha DSLR. It has the compact design of the Cybershot, with the ability to attach various lenses, much like the higher end, professional DSLR cameras. The design is small enough to fit in your bag, or pocket for quick everyday shots, but powerful enough to capture special events or persons when you need something professional. While not as diverse as the more professional models, this model could definitely be focused on the prosumer market, interested enough in wanting to take great pics, but not enough to spend upwards to $5,000 for a camera.
The camera would come with interchangeable lenses, AVCHD video capturing capability for some nice HD video footage, and powered by an Exmor APS HD CMOS sensor. No price tag on this concept, or even if this product will see the light of day. There’s a good chance it will be more expensive than a typical Cybershot, but less than a professional grade camera. Either way I like what it offers and would love to see this concept get off the ground.
I’m a huge Gmail fan. Yes I’ve heard everyone talk about how much power Google has, and how dangerous it is to put things in the cloud, and the numerous complaints about privacy issues, but I’m a fan, plain and simple. I get what I need to get done, it’s all streamlined and integrates well with one another. I could probably fine ten apps that each one do one thing in the Google system, but why depend on so many? Keep it simple is what I say.
Recently I’ve been alerted of a way to make my Gmail productivity even more effective, and that’s with the use of Gtriage. While many of us are inundated with email after email, sometimes finding that hundreds have come into our inbox at any given time away from the computer, who wants to go through all of that?Gtriage does the work of training your inbox instantly, and over time it learns to grow with you and identify which emails are vital and which can be touched later. I won’t say it’s perfect, the key word is train, so while you have parameters to set in the beginning, it will grow with you based on how you feed it information.
Emails that it determines to be important will be labeled “IMPORTANT” and put into a singular folder that is accessible on the desktop or on your mobile. Because the application runs in the background, there’s no apps to install, no third party plugins, no anything, so desktop or mobile, everything just works. It’s a good way to never miss important messages, and if you’ve got the patience to allow it to learn your habits, can be very powerful. I’ve only been using this for a few days, but I’ll probably circle back in 30-60 days to see if it’s really learned who I am and what emails are important to me.
Zombies almost always present a clear and present danger. Whether they are the slow moving type or the “running faster than you” type, zombies will definitely throw a wrench into your day. All joking aside, there’s lot of sites where you can devise zombie readiness plans, escape routes, and even some sites where you can buy equipment/weapons to prepare for the zombie apocalypse. The question then becomes…are you ready?
The Zombie Combat Manual outlines the best tactics and strategies to fight the denizens of the underworld. As the undead attack, the book will give you hand to hand combat tips, how to use your surroundings as a weapon, and how best to defend yourself when you run out of bullets. Sounds handy? More than you know.
For just $10, the head of the Zombie Combat Club, Roger Ma penned the book for all of us to follow. The combat club is a key site that outlines zombie readiness, but instead of pouring through the site, the book will gather vital information into chapters that are easy to follow and digest (no pun intended…or was it?).
Take a look at the book or the site, it’ll outline what type of shape you need to be in as well as the anatomy of the zombie in order to make every hit have maximum effect.
One of the biggest games on Facebook is Zynga’s Farmville. A game so highly interacted with, it’s now touting over 81 millions fans. Zynga minces no words when it states that it’s now bigger than Twitter, which it is, and is sure that people know that. The game is just one of many Zynga properties, but considering the number o players on Facebook, it’s the biggest.
What is Farmville? Well if you’d like to have a virtual garden, perhaps raise a virtual chicken, or just be a virtual farmer all together, then this game is for you. It’s a game of passion for some and annoyance for others. Those not playing have repeatedly complained and gone so far as block Farmville updates from their Facebook streams. It’s a love and hate relationship, with very little room for gray areas.
Recently at the DICE Summit, Farmville was announced as the winner during the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in Las Vegas. The game was up against some other heavy hitters like Bejeweled Blitz, Restaurant City, and Farm Town. Rising above them all, it was awarded the Social Networking Game of the Year, on top of an already successful venture capitalist funding round.
I’m not a fan of Farmville, I don’t play games on Facebook, but perhaps some of you do. What’s your take on the game?
Didn’t get the chance join the Boyscouts? Perhaps you didn’t have time to be part of the Girlscouts. Acquiring those merit badges was a matter of
honor. Having them placed on your person meant something. Whether you helped an old woman across the street, got a cat out of the tree, or sold the most boxes of cookies, the merit badges were a matter or pride.
For those of us geeked out enough to challenge one another in Foursquare, we can relive the need for merit badges. Foursquare is the location based application that geotags your location and announces it to others both on the mobile app and on your social networks. The more you use it, the more points you collect, the more virtual badges you can earn. It sounds simple, maybe even nerdy, but it’s a reality and many of us are using it. It’s become so popular that marketers are finding way to tap into the use of geo-tagging services like Foursquare and make them mean something to the businesses they represent.
Well now instead of relying on virtual badges, you can earn real world Foursquare badges and get your geek on when you put them on your clothing. Nerdmeritbadges.com has been given the nod to sell the embroidered pieces to the public so that they can stake their claim on the number of badges they’ve earned. Again, it’s a matter of honor and pride.
According to MacRumors, the iPad could very well go on pre-order as early as next week. Excited Apple fan boys/girls are surely getting ready to plunk down their hard earned money on a device that people just haven’t figured out if they really need or not. Nevertheless, the pre-order frenzy will surely create buzz and further articles on customer’s experience.
The iPad, which was recently announced by Apple, is supposed to fill the void between our laptop/desktop and our mobile device. Not sure if you really need one? No worries you’re not alone. But rest assured that thousands upon thousands of people will still order the device only to later realize if they really needed it or not.
According to the article the US wi-fi model is the first up, but according to Jobs presentation, the shipping date was still 60 days away. Could the pre-orders be taken this early? Sure they can, and fans will just have to wait to be the first on the block with their new device. What many looking out for is the release of previously unmentioned additions. It’s not unheard of for Apple to add something at the last minute, so fans are looking forward to that opportunity. Right now it’s not a guarantee to even happen, but Apple fans can dream.
