Update Your Bookmarks

I bought this domain - justgottasharethis.info - several years ago, but I haven't really been using this blog or domain for a while.  I don't know where the time has gone, but the last time I posted was around this time last year, when I renewed the domain.  Really?  A whole year?  If I'm not going to use it, I really don't need it. So, I've decided not to renew this year.

For all one or two of you that might read this blog occasionally:

Please update your bookmarks.  The url will be changing to:

http://justgottashare.alwaysbcmom.com

  

Understanding PageRank

Principles of PageRank (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is not me explaining PageRank.  I still don't really get it.  I'd never even heard of PageRank before I started writing some paid blog posts several years ago.  Then I learned that it was something to be desired, and the more active my blog was and the more other blogs I could get to link to my blog, the higher my PageRank went.

Except that Google doesn't like paid posts and paid links, so they can randomly take away any PageRank a blogger may have earned - which then means none of the advertisers who were willing to pay for posts and links are at all interested in paying for new ones.  In fact, they're all asking to have those same links removed ASAP because Google has also penalized their sites.  Except, of course there's no payment for removing said links, except in rare cases.  Somehow I just have to find the time to remove multiple links, all of them really important.

Anyway, the reason I was thinking of this is that I just renewed this domain.  I was thinking about just dropping it because I don't use it as often as I thought I might, but then I ran this PageRank Checker and found out this page as a PageRank of 2.  Considering I rarely update this blog and don't really do anything with it, that's quite surprising.  On the other hand, my recipe blog bcmom's kitchen has a PageRank of 0.  Zero.  I may not update it as often as I should, but I really do use that blog, and I know there are other blogs linking to it.  And I've never done paid posts there.  So what's up with that?  Yeah, makes no sense to me.

So, I renewed this domain - whether I really need it or not.  At least one of my blogs has a PageRank of some kind, even though it really doesn't seem to matter unless I'm going to sell posts or links - which would then make Google take away any Rank I might have.  Just Because.  Yep, I definitely understand this PageRank thing.  How about you?

Free Online College Courses

I'm pretty sure I've heard this before, but I'd forgotten. Did you know that MIT offers virtually ALL of their course materials online for FREE?

I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I started with this list of courses and started browsing.  There are some very interesting things there.  I'm posting this here primarily for me, so I'll remember this time.  I know there's something I'll enjoy learning.

If you're interested in learning something new, or taking a refresher on something you've already learned, be sure to check it out.

Another source for free online courses - Edex.org .
I'm checking them all out!

Free Legal Music Downloads

Have you discovered Noisetrade yet?  It's a great site for discovering new artists and new music.  There are thousands of albums available from artists who would love to meet you, and love for you to give them a listen.  And all of the content is FREE.

When you find something that sounds interesting - you can listen to the music on the page and get some information about the artist - just enter your email address, country, and postal code, and they'll email you a link to download the music.  That's all you have to do.  Then simply unzip the file you download and enjoy your new music.  If you enjoy it, consider leaving a tip to support the artist and spreading the word through twitter and/or facebook.

 You can even embed some music on your website or blog to share with your friends.


I've downloaded several albums, but I don't really listen to music that much, so I haven't even listened all the way through some of them.  Unfortunately the option to listen to or sample the music before downloading has stopped working in my browser, probably some plug-in that needs updated.  So, I've downloaded some based on the embedded video on the page.  Thankfully that still works, and if I like the sound of the song in the video, I'll download the whole thing just so I can hear the rest.  And then I don't always do it, but  I know there are people who listen to music all the time, so this is a great site for getting some new music - and then being able to support the artists as you choose.  You'll also get emails from them once in a while, so you can keep up with the artists you discover, know when they're releasing new music, performing in your area, etc. 

Also available on Noisetrade - free ebooks.

Related articles

• Noisetrade: download music and support artists at the same time
• NoiseTrade goes literary: Get free eBooks and audiobooks

Coolest Music Ever

One of my facebook friends linked to this today.  It's a group of Siberian percussionists making music using the ice on frozen Lake Baikal.
 

Isn't that amazing?  Who knew ice could be such an awesome musical instrument?

And if this isn't real (see related articles), I still applaud the creativity it took to put this video together.

Related articles

• The coolest music in the world
• Coolest music in the world: Siberian ice drummers use frozen Lake Baikal as percussion instrument
• Is this ice drumming for real?

Easily and Accurately Identify the Tracks in Your Music Library

 --This post brought to you by Music Tag --

Do you have a huge music collection?  How organized is it?  If you're like most of us, you have multiple tracks listed as Unknown Album or Unknown Artist, and the only way to know what the songs are is to play them.  For instance, I ripped one of my son's CDs last week so I could listen to it on my MP3 player.  It was a CD he had burned, combining both a CD and an EP he had by the same artist - because there was room on the CD, so why waste it.  The problem was, when I ripped it, none of the tracks had any info, except track number of that particular CD.  I had to look up the track listings of the CD and the EP and manually edit all of the info.

Well, there's a better way.  Use Music Tag to automatically download missing track info and cover art for your entire music collection.  Unlike other music databases that I've used before, Music Tag can recognize over 35 Million individual songs - not just complete CDs.  How does it work?  Music Tag uses an advanced digital fingerprinting technology to accurately identify the tracks in your music library and proceeds to download all the missing track info, such as Title, Artist, Album and Cover Art.  I'm not sure exactly what that means, but they say that it is extremely accurate and that it has correctly identified the song in every single test performed.

Music Tag is compatible with Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 and requires an active internet connection to download missing track data.  You can download a free trial right now, and if you like it, it's only $19.99 and comes with free updates.

With this handy tool, there are no more excuses for unorganized, unnamed music files.

fun. - On the Road Live Performance Tonight

My son introduced me to fun. a few years ago.  If you haven't listened to them, you really should.  They're great!  Actually, you've probably heard them, even if you didn't realize it.  Their music has been turning up on several commercials lately.

 Anyway, they're performing in San Francisco tonight.  Not in San Francisco?  That's OK - you can watch the concert online!  Yahoo on the Road will be streaming fun. performing live in San Fransisco tonight at 9pm Pacific.

I know what I'm doing tonight.