2008

August 12, 2008
3 min read

Free Streaming Music Online From Jango

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I know that I have a new internet addiction every day but I have to rave about this one. Since I've had to wait till I came home to check it out and have only played with it for about an hour there is not much to review but I am already loving Jango. The first "Wow" moment came while I was editing the usual social profile information prevalent in every Web 2.0 application out there. As I updated my profile, chose different options, and basically clicked through the site the music never stopped. I know that's nothing jaw dropping but it was so slick I just relized it. In fact I don't think I would have taken the time to write this up had I not figured it out.

Jango offers your ususal profile options and the ability to network with your fellow online socialites. But what I love is the music is front and center with this site. I built a playlist of my favorite artists and started playing tracks right away. I really liked this over Last.fm where it seemed like I had to play music offline before it figured out what I like. Also, since this computer is the house hub for music, a lot of the music is not mine. So now Last.fm thinks I love hard core gansta rap and every girly country song out there. Trust me when I say Gretchen Wilson is not my favorite performer. But you wouldn't know it from Last.fm. With Jango I build the playlist's I want and the artists they recommended pretty much were the mainstream bands I love. I'm not much of an indie listener (that is slowly changing, however) so I don't know if your tastes are outside of the norm, but modern rock was well represented.

I think Jango needs to maybe offer an offline player and continue to expand the music selection. Even lacking these features this might just be my favorite online music player. Just added there cool jukebox to my Blogger blog!

UPDATE: Further research has shown that this has been out since late last year so I may be late to the party but I found Jango through this TechCrunch article and the unlimited beta updates are available there:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/01/beta-invites-for-social-music-site-jango/

Brian
http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com

July 29, 2008
3 min read

Hulu

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I have been telling family and friends about this service for a while now but apparently they are not in the loop. Or maybe it is because I really do have no life. Whatever the case I have been performing an unofficial and financially imposed experiment where I don't watch TV. I know that's been done and probably for the same reason (like most starving college kids we can't pay the bill for another week) but I am going to see if I can survive off of online content only because that bill always gets paid...that and food. I am, for the same reason, doing my online content on the cheap, or in the case of Hulu.com, free! Now this experiment will probably last until I get to the upcoming payday, but I may not go back to watching TV.

Granted this is not for everyone. There is a small but growing catalog of films including documentaries, action flicks, drama, comedies, and more available on Hulu. The TV content on Hulu, if recent, is usually a day or several behind live broadcasts on the actual tube. For me that is no big deal. The only show I try to catch every week is Burn Notice and it comes on Hulu the day after airing so I have no qualms. For me the best part of Hulu is catching up on TV. After getting out of the Navy I realized that there was a pop culture hole in my life the corresponded to the four years I spent sailing the seven seas as I cruised around Hulu discovering all kinds of thing's I've missed like Hero's season two (I am going to go back and buy season one when I get paid!) and Firefly, which I saw the movie but never watched the series and The Dresden Files which I never saw before but loved!

Speaking of Firefly, Hulu made a big splash in the whole digital streaming content marketing sceam scean (say that five times fast) with Joss Whedon who created Firefly, Buffy, and Angel, recently released Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog to the masses via Hulu only. There is a version available to purchase online on iTunes and you can still stream it on Hulu but the show which was originally launched as three acts was broadcast online only. There was no TV or movie or strait to DVD option here. The low budget, under an hour musical romantic comedy has generated some huge buzz and is extremely entertaining...especially if you want to see NPH sing! That's right, Neil Patrick Harris (a.k.a Doogie Howser, M.D., the blog father who is available to watch on Hulu) stars as Dr. Horrible. It's a pretty great gig and Whedon's strategy is great. Random people like me bable on endlessly about how this is the wave of the future.

And I really think this is where we are headed. Verizon is pushing out more and more fiber optic cable to more people and AT&T is doing something similar. These connections will actually increase a connection almost ten fold and still have room for live TV streaming simultaneously. Pretty impressive. So jump on the wave and watch something for free...or at least add based. It's a pretty small price to pay to sit through a couple 30 second adds to watch Pitch Black or Battlestar Galactica for free!

Brian
http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com

July 22, 2008
4 min read

Latest Discoveries Around the Interwebs

I was using <a href="http://www.hellotxt.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HelloTXT</a> to update my status.  I don't want to bash HelloTXT, but now I see why there was a whole lot more buzz around <a href="http://www.ping.fm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ping.fm</a> on the all glorious interwebs.   HelloTXT offers you the ability to update multiple "micro-blogging" and social sites around the web such as Twitter, Plurk, Pownce, FriendFeed, Identi.ca, Facebook, Myspace, and more.  Ping.fm does the same thing.  HelloTXT allows you to update your status from a Jabber/Google Talk client, email, and SMS (unless  you are with Verizon...) and supposedly integrates with Facebook as an app.  I haven't witnessed a working Facebook app, then again, Facebook keeps changing their mind on how apps are supposed to work so who knows.<p /><div style="text-align:center;">

What sets Ping.fm ahead is that it allows you to do all of this (except SMS as far as I can tel but is easily overcomed by texting the email address they provide you with) as well as set up groups based on your mico-blogging, status updates, and blogging preferences. If you are reading this post then it was sent via Ping.fm (UPDATE: and cleaned up later in Blogger). The best part is it will post this to not only my Blogger account where I do most of my posting, but my Myspace blog will also update. I have a group set up for my status updates so those quick "I'm eating pizza" updates are sent only to those services I choose and the more deep but brief messages to to the micro-blogging services I prefer. On top of these features you can update from more IM clients (Gtalk, Yahoo, Messenger, and AIM) and they have a iGoogle gadget and Facebook application. I didn't have the time to play with the Facebook app but it look functioning which is better the HelloTXT and I will give it a longer try and send a dent with my thoughts. Facebook's new interface is rolling out today and Facebook isn't responding to my clicks. There is also the option to send in not only text but pictures which is hosted on Ping.fm.

It looks like a great start and it's still on beta so I expect a whole lot more features to trickle out. This is going to be my new one stop shop for all my quick updates and maybe even take over for my blog posts. I would love to have more options when posting to blogs. So far it looks like it's standard text and a title only but one can hope a more full featured blog editor will roll out soon.

UPDATE: I think I will wait until a better Blog editor is out as I am not only have to clean up my horrible grammer but also add links, pictures, and any other rich media by editing the post outside of Ping.fm.

My other discovery today that has been clogging my Gmail account has been ProBlogger's Darren Rowse experiment that has really put a boost on my social interactions out there. I want to shout out to all those who have subscribed to my various social spots and look forward to the discussions! Thanks for the adds. If I didn't add back don't be offended, I either got a bad vibe and already hate you or haven't got around to it and if you haven't, follow the link and check it out.

One last thing I would like to post is a question for the comments as I want to know if my comments are working and that question is this: Is anyone using Hulu.com? I love it and have become obsessed and I know there are many more out there and I wanted to know what your thoughts and opinions were about it. Have you used it? If not, why? If so, what are your impressions?

Brian
http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com
http://ping.fm/lZTxw

July 17, 2008
1 min read

How To Add Star Ratings to your Blogger Blog -- Blogger Buster

Thanks to the amazing blog, Blogger Buster by Amanda, I now have star ratings under every post.  I had to manually copy and paste the code into my Blogger template.<p />Go ahead, rate away and be sure to check out Blogger Buster!<p /><br /><a href="http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2008/07/how-to-add-star-ratings-to-your-blogger.html?showComment=1216306980000#c7235848832736247017" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How To Add Star Ratings to your Blogger Blog -- Blogger Buster</a><p /><br />--<p />Brian<br /><a href="http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com/">http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img class="posterous_download_image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2675399127377711436-6731739497325913706?l=bmbufalo.blogspot.com" height="1" alt="" width="1" /></div>

July 17, 2008
2 min read

The best Mac vs. Windows vs. Linux analogy EVER!

Ever tried to explain one operating system to another?  Well now you have the best analogy ever:<p /><blockquote style="font-style:italic;">From <a href="http://www.vistanews.com/?id=32">VistaNews - Vista vs. Leopard vs. Linux</a>: "Using a Mac is like living in a downtown penthouse. You have everything done for you and it all looks very slick, but you pay a high price. You have a doorman to pamper you and somebody else takes care of the maintenance, but you can't make a lot of changes to the property.<p />Using Windows is like living in the suburbs. You get more square footage for your dollar but you have to mow your own lawn and when something goes wrong, you have to fix it yourself or pay someone extra to do it. You can make changes to your property but you might have to deal with deed restrictions or city ordinances or homeowner association rules.<p />Using Linux is like living out in the country. Compared to the other options, property is dirt cheap and you can do whatever you want to it without having to follow codes and get inspections. But you'll probably have to do a lot more of the work yourself and you need a lot of building expertise or else you may get yourself into big trouble and find your house falling down all around you because you didn't do it correctly."</blockquote><br />Now get out there and pick your property!<p /><br />--<p />Brian<br /><a href="http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com/">http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img class="posterous_download_image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2675399127377711436-84689204221477136?l=bmbufalo.blogspot.com" height="1" alt="" width="1" /></div>

July 16, 2008
2 min read

Brian's Latest - Now Mobile by Mofuse

I thought it might be too good to be true but I tried it out and it is not just good, but great!  <a href="http://www.mofuse.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mofuse</a> dropped the fee for the Pro version of their hosting site and is offering mobile website hosting for everyone for free!  Not only that but all you have to do is punch in your web address or RSS feed address and presto, you get your own website for your iPhone or other mobile web capable device. <a href="http://bmbufalo.mofuse.mobi/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brian's Latest Mobile</a> is my mobile site which I am still in the process of fixing up.  Mofuse imports your feeds and, in the case of using a blog, displays the top feeds as your content.  You can also customize the content, add HTML, change the design and colors, upload logos, and more!<p />Mofuse offers the ability to use your own custom domain name so, for example, visiting http://m.braincase.biz might take you to the mobile version of the BrainCase website (it doesn't...<span style="font-style:italic;">yet</span>) as well as tracking and monitoring, and the ability to monetize your sites mobile web experience.<p />I am going to keep messing with it for my personal blog and see about rolling it out for the company site if it is promising.  Until then, check it out...I think this is going to be huge!<p />Heads up from <a href="http://mashable.com/2008/07/14/create-mobile-web-site/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mashable</a>.<p />--<p />Brian<br /><a href="http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com/">http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img class="posterous_download_image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2675399127377711436-6952810334768560846?l=bmbufalo.blogspot.com" height="1" alt="" width="1" /></div>

July 16, 2008
1 min read

Flickchart - Hot or Not of Movies

I haven't had the opportunity to use it but this looks like a very interesting concept.  Flickchart lets you very simply rate your favorite and not-so-favorite movies by letting you choose between which two movies is the best.  It then develops a list of your top favorite movies and lets you discuss your favorites with friends.<p />Now if they would give me an invite to the beta I could give them a better glowing review...hint...hint...<p />Flickchart<br /><a href="http://www.flickchart.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.flickchart.com</a><p />Coffee &amp; Celluloid<br /><a href="http://coffeeandcelluloid.com/2008/07/14/flickchart-finding-the-best-movies/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://coffeeandcelluloid.com/2008/07/14/flickchart-finding-the-best-movies/#</a><p />--<p />Brian<br /><a href="http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com/">http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img class="posterous_download_image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/2675399127377711436-6010467161183888654?l=bmbufalo.blogspot.com" height="1" alt="" width="1" /></div>

July 16, 2008
4 min read

Flickchart makes me angry...at myself

My begging worked!<p /><p />My beta invite was quickly accepted after some (slightly) subtle pleading on FriendFeed.  After that <a href="http://www.flickchart.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Flickchart </a>effectively took over my day after I set up my account!  I went about pouring through the site and found one thing was the common denominator.  This site made me angry.  I was angry that I had to choose if Return of the Jedi was better than The Green Mile.  How could you ask me such a thing (Return of the Jedi won)?  Plus the taunting above each movie poster?  Too much to bear.  I must love the punishment, though, as I couldn't stop rating films.<p /><p />Flickchart displays two films for you to choose between.  You can click on either movie poster to choose one or select "Haven't seen it" to be presented another film from their large database of flicks.  If you don't quite remember the film you can click "Watch Trailer" and see a clip if there is a trailer available.  Each time you rate something the chosen flick shows up on the right hand side with a link to buy it on Amazon (just in case you don't already have the Indian Jones trilogy) and the left hand side shows your current Top Twenty All Time Films.  Any films you select "Haven't seen it" also shows up on the right hand side, again with a link to Amazon for your capitalistic pleasure.  If you need to take a break from rating movies, you can start discussing some of the mash-ups in the 'Discuss' section.  There is where you can debate out once and for all who would kicks more ass: Captain Kirk or Luke Skywalker (Luke...duh, he has the Force!).<p /><p /><p /><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'>

There is the customary basic profile editing features and tucked away in the settings section is the ability for you to have "Seen a movie" or basically put it back into the queue for it to be rated by you.

I did have a couple times when I rated a movie and I would get a...Fail Whale but a much better one about a 1908 Russian Space Impact and I only got it twice. The only other basic surfing complaint is it can be slow sometimes. I was on a T3 and the load times between movie selections was taking an above average amount of time. May have been a momentary problem as at home on DSL it was much snappier. It could have been the ad-blocker as well...not sure. Feature additions that might be nice (I've already asked for some of these and will get around to asking for the rest latter) is a "Neither" button that would allow you to not like either movie displayed. This is just a convenience thing, but I can dream. The ability to post a HTML snippet on my MySpace page (in the films section) or on my blog would be great to let my friends know what I like and I could check out what they are into as well. This could help out the "viralness" the the site as well; see also Facebook app and FriendFeed integration.

I don't know what these guys have planned to make money off of this project but my guess (or recommendation) might be that they talk to MovieTickets.com or Fandango and let you but upcoming movie tickets for the new releases. I could also see them doing merchandise and other things to promote films or even tie in with Hulu or Joost to actually watch full length films or clips of your favorites. Netflix integration is on the way according to ReadWriteWeb. I think this site has a whole lot of potential and am excited to see what the future brings for them.

Oh...and if I don't post back here for a while you know I'm over there rating movies!

Flickchart

http://www.flickchart.com

ReadWriteWeb's Take

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/flickchart_your_list_of_best_m.php

Found originally via Coffee and Celluloid

http://coffeeandcelluloid.com/2008/07/14/flickchart-finding-the-best-movies/#

Brian

http://bmbufalo.blogspot.com