Just Gotta Share

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Live Audio Broadcasting with Mixlr

I'd heard of the sites that allow live video broadcasting, but hadn't really found any that specialized in audio. That's why when a friend on facebook shared a link to this the other day, I had to check it out. We've been doing live audio cybercasting of our church services and Bible studies for years, using Real Audio's Producer and Server software. That can get expensive and complicated, and you need access to your own server or someone with a server running the software. And then all your listeners have to have RealPlayer - not that RealPlayer is bad and everyone shouldn't have it, but...

Anyway, this site is called Mixlr, and it offers high quality audio broadcasting, FREE for anyone. Sign up, download their free broadcasting app, and you're ready to go. I just tried a test broadcast, and it was super simple. I didn't even plug a microphone into the computer - just used the built-in microphone. For better quality, you'd want to plug in a microphone or even a complete sound system. While you're broadcasting, you can share with your twitter followers or facebook friends, to invite them to listen in.

Live broadcasts can be hosted on the mixlr site, where there's a chatroom for listeners to interact and comment, or you can embed the mixlr player on your website or blog, and people can listen there. Broadcasts can be started immediately or scheduled ahead of time. At the end of the live broadcast, mixlr saves it to your 'showreel' for later listening. If you upgrade to a premium account, you can download your broadcast files, but with a free account, you have to listen to them on mixlr.

Mixlr looks like a very useful site/service. Check it out if you've been looking for a simple way to broadcast live high quality audio.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Spotify Now Available in US

Spotify is now in America. Sign up for an invite here. No, skip that! Hop down to the part after the video to find out how you can get a free account now, without the wait.

Spotify looks like a great site for music lovers, promising any music, anywhere, anytime, for free. I just signed up, and I'm looking forward to trying it. Check out this video to learn more:

Don’t want to wait for an invitation? Jump the queue by signing up for Spotify Premium or Unlimited, starting at just $4.99/month.

Or join Klout and get an invitation for a free account right away. Thanks to digitaltrends.com for that tip! Now I'm off to download my Spotify client and get started enjoying my favourite music!!

Update: I'm loving Spotify so far!! LOVE!! Also, if you (at least 5 of my friends) use my join Klout link, they'll upgrade my account to Spotify Premium and they'll upgrade yours, too!!!!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Patriotic Flash Mob

Loved this!

5pm on July 1st, 2011 in Orleans, Cape Cod, MA, shoppers stocking up for the 4th of July got a surprise shot of patriotism to start their weekend! This flash mob was organized by the Spirit of America band to wish everyone a happy 4th of July!

Does it make you wish you could play an instrument, or is that just me?

Monday, July 4, 2011

I Keep "Buying" Free Kindle Books

Cover of "Kindle Wireless Reading Device,...

image via AmazonNow that I've got my Android tablet with the free Kindle for Android app, I've been loading it up with free Kindle books. There are plenty of them available.

I found a couple sites that are really helpful for finding lots of them:

Every day they list several free and bargain Kindle books, and I find myself grabbing a lot of them. It's kind of addicting! Now, if I can just find time to read them all...

Friday, July 1, 2011

Stop Forwarding that Crap

A friend of mine posted this on facebook, and it is so good. I just had to share.

Music video by "Weird Al" Yankovic performing Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me:

If you have any more questions, please see How to Forward E-mail Appropriately. Your friends will thank you.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Amazon Appstore for Android

I downloaded the Amazon Appstore to my Android tablet, because they give away a free app every day - apps that otherwise you'd have to pay for. There are quite a few apps that are incompatible with my tablet or just don't work properly on it, but I've downloaded some I like quite a bit, too. I downloaded a Sudoku game that I'm really enjoying. I never played it before, but it's nice on the tablet. There are different levels and instructions on how to play, which I needed. I'm still on the really easy ones, but I'm enjoying it.

Yesterday, I visited the Amazon Appstore for Android on my computer, instead of with the tablet, and discovered that I can get the apps right from my browser. So I can grab them while they're free, even if I don't have the tablet with me, and then download and install them later. I'm also thinking that maybe I'll be able to get apps that look promising, even if they're not compatible with my tablet, and then maybe be able to use them later, maybe when I upgrade my phone.

Then again, maybe not. By then, they'll probably be obsolete.

If you're not already using the Amazon Appstore, be sure to check it out. The free app of the day may be just the one you've been waiting for. And if not, there's always tomorrow!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Unlimited Storage on Photobucket

Image via CrunchBaseI used to use Photobucket for a lot of my blogging images. It really was a great place to store all my images and be able to use them. Then one day I logged in and found that I had exceeded my storage space. Photobucket had never actually let me know how much storage I had in the first place or how much of that I was using, so it was a surprise - a very unpleasant surprise. I tried deleting some images I didn't need any more, but that didn't seem to free up any space. It still said I had exceeded my limit.

So, I just stopped using it and hadn't logged in for a while. Until today, when I got a very pleasant surprise - Photobucket now offers unlimited storage. For free. Now I can upload, store, use, share, edit, and who knows what else with all my photos and images. This makes me happy. I can start using it again for all my image needs.