Posts tagged coolapp
Startup Schwag
Nov 20th
Ok, so I bit. I signed up with StartUpSchwag.com. Here are this month’s sites that sent goodies:
A shirt from Reddit.com. Other sites included in the grab bag: BuzzPal.com, ClutterMe.com, Disqus.com, Fuser.com,
PropertyMaps.com, WeDigTv.com
Wi-Fi Phone for Skype from Belkin
Dec 22nd
Mobile phone roaming costs getting to you when you travel?
Here’s a Skype phone from Belkin that lets you make free unlimited phone calls over Wi-Fi networks using your Skype account. Purchase the Skype phone at Amazon.com.
The list price is $179.99 but this unit is currently on sale for $159.99.
Comments from customers:
- “My ROI is about 6 months so its not so bad.”
- “…it’s cool and I’ve bragged about it to a few people, which hopefully enhances my reputation as cool phone guy.”
- “…if you are always on the go, and a wi-fi network is available to where you are going, than this phone is for you!”
- “I am in love with this Phone!!”
Related: Netgear Wi-Fi Skype phone.
VideoBlog software for OS X
Oct 28th
One morning in late 2003 I walked in to the newsroom at Fredericksburg.com and said, “We need to use this iSight. Do something fun.”
Brian Baer and Alex Russell recorded and posted “The Baer Facts” videoblog within hours. They continued on somewhat regularly and invited in guests to comment on sports, features and weather reports. Volunteers from the FUG community, (“FredTalk Users Group“) were regulars on the show.
“The Baer Facts” was recorded on most mornings through early 2005. Someone decided that it was too much work and killed the idea. Today, the only remaining evidence I can find are a few videos which include a few classic outtakes.
We hacked together freeware for the recording and taped scripts to the side of the monitor. Just this week I was reminded of that show when I was pointed to a video recording program that would have been perfect.
If you are contemplating a simple videoblog, check out VideoCue 2 from Vara Software. There are two versions and prices. One comes with a full-screen teleprompter.
I’m downloading a copy now. I’ll let you know how it goes. Next week I’m going to walk into my office and say, “We need to use this software for something”.
How do you manage 7000 songs?
Oct 28th
My iTunes library has over 7000 songs. Sometimes, simply due to the quantity of music and the lack of effort I’ve put into organizing it, creating a set of music to simply enjoy is a real chore.
The other day, I found a little site called MyStrands.com that has a very neat feature if you sign in and download their application. The “Playlist Builder” takes a song suggestion from you, then it looks at the network of users who are members of their service and compares your library to each of those user’s libraries and sends back a suggested playlist. It hooks up to iTunes. If you don’t mind sharing your library with the site then you’ll love it. One day, I’ll figure out what they are trying to do with the social networking part, but for now, the play list feature is enough for me.