Month: June 2008

Imagine if you could harness all the new music released on networking sites such as MySpace and Bebo under one program. Well that’s the idea behind an innovative new project called Qbox and its Qplayer.

Qplayer brings together all the major social networking sites where bands and fans post music to – especially sites such as MySpace on which it seems every band, big or small, now has a page. It trawls the sites for music and then allows you to search, play and interact with other listeners via the Qplayer interface. It’s especially useful for indie fans hoping to discover the next big thing or find music related to their favourite bands. That said, when I first surfed into the site to download Qplayer, the first band on show was Coldplay so it caters for more mainstream tastes too.

Potentially, it’s a very exciting project. The developers estimate that 75% of MySpace visitors use MySpace to find music and according to one survey, 52% of respondents stream music from social networks such as MySpace, Bebo, and Hi5. Currently, it claims to have access to over 21 million songs and the repository is certainly impressive – there are few searches which return without results. The player itself however is very heavy graphically producing album art and pictures of the band you are listening to which makes it rather heavy on RAM and not exactly lightweight.

However, if you can’t be bothered visiting the various networks to discover new music, it’s a great way to get an overview of the latest bands and fan postings being made to them. You can have an instant look at the music that’s currently being shared by going to the Qbox site here.

One of the things I especially like about Firefox is the way search tools are implemented to make them more accessible to the user. Press Ctrl+F, for example, and you’ll be able to search the web page you’re currently visiting from the bottom tab. Or you can press Ctrl+K to activate the built-in Google search field on the top right corner – a search field that can be easily customized with other search engines. Another trick is one that Cyril taught us a while ago: using keywords to quickly search any website from the browser’s address bar.

Now with the all-new Firefox 3 you can also use these keywords to manage the built-in search engines. You only have to click on the little arrow to the right of the G icon in the search field, and select “Manage search engines”.

Then select the search engine you want to assign a keyword to and click on the “Edit keyword” button. That will open a new window where you can enter the keyword that will be linked to that specific search engine. Continue reading “Use keywords for any search engine in Firefox”

MP3 is by far the most widely used audio format for most PC users. Whether it’s CDs that you’ve ripped to your hard drive or podcasts that you’ve downloaded, chances are that the files are in MP3 format. The problem is, sometimes you may stream audio from the radio or listen to audio via YouTube that’s not in MP3 format.

Since it’s useful to have all of your audio in the same format for cataloging (not to mention space saving) purposes, it’s a good idea to have a tool that can convert and format files to MP3. One of the fastest and easiest I’ve used is Easy MP3 Recorder. Now, it’s not a particularly flexible tool in terms of formats because it can only grab and record MP3 and WAV files. However, for 99% of the purposes you’ll need it for, your audio files will be in this format anyway so it’s no big deal. It’s an excellent option for those that want to record online radio, CD’s and music played on major audio players such as Windows Media Player, Winamp and iTunes. The first thing you’ll notice is that it’s a very stripped down interface which requires no real instructions. Simply browse to the feed for the file that you want to capture and Easy MP3 Recorder captures and converts the audio on the fly. This means that there’s no annoying conversion pauses or external application needed to convert audio in WAV format to MP3.

There’s not much more on offer however except an ID3 tag editor (so you can label your tracks) and a basic audio editor to edit recorded files. The only other options you can change are the bitrate that the file is recorded from and a timer which puts a limit on the amount of time you want a particular recording to be recorded for. However, for anyone that wants to record any sound or audio coming through their speakers, it doesn’t get much easier than this.

If you’ve got a lot of big files such as video clips that you want to access anywhere you’ve got three options. You either transfer it to an external device and carry it around with you which is cumbersome. You can upload it to a server but that will cost you. Or, you can upload it to a free storage site such as Humyo who are offering 30GB of space absolutely free.

There’s one catch though – 25GB of the 30GB must be music and video files although for most people, this is exactly what they’ll need it for anyway so it’s no major drawback. You’ll first need to download the Desktop Client which allows you to use Humyo like any other virtual hard drive attached to your computer. Humyo then automatically reads meta tags so it neatly organises your files into video, music and even photos. Note that the Desktop Client only works on the Windows platform at the moment.

Now I know what you are thinking. “Hang on, this sounds a bit dodgy – why would they want me to just upload my media and audio files. So they can send round the MPAA/RIAA to sue my ass?” Well, there’s no guarantee that Humyo is not just a front for some kind of copyright sting but it’s unlikely. One theory is that they’ve used this policy to stop businesses hogging it rather than home users. However, the most likely reason is that Humyo wants to create a video, music and photo file sharing community because one of the other catches is that your uploaded photos are “branded” with a small Humyo logo on them. Similarly, audio and video is only shareable by playing it in Humyo’s own audiovisual player.

That said, it’s still a great backup solution if you have no other way of saving or taking video, photo and music files with you on the move.

It’s funny how only a few years ago, most DJs still carried around their turntables and lugged their big heavy bags of vinyls everywhere they went. Cut to now, and most of them have all switched to powerful laptops and creative mixing software. The versatility and intuitiveness of technology have taken over from the rugged, physical contact with records. I lament the loss of this time in some ways, as I’ve always enjoyed the imperfections and grainy sound of vinyls, and the pure enjoyment of spending hours in a record store, taking records out of their sleeves to listen to them on the turntable.

Although the sound quality of MP3s still leaves a lot to be desired, I still believe that the digital switch is great for music professionals. More powerful tools means more creativity and therefore more new tracks. Extracting, editing and adding bits of sounds is easier than ever, and you can find libraries full of effects to endlessly modify your tracks. Add to that the fact that you can now carry thousands of songs with you anywhere, and not to say how easy it is to share tracks and collaborate with other artists online, and it’s tough to find areas to complain. In this traditional summer festival season, I’ve picked out a few mixing tools for you to choose from, if you’ve decided to ditch your turntables and records and go digital once and for all:

• Ableton – A smart and flexible interface, loads of effects and a great help guide make this a top choice to create everything in music production, from recording to playback.
• UltraMixer – A no fuss, hands on mixer that lets you handle your tracks and makes sure all your transitions are smooth.
• Djay – Great use of the Mac Multi Touch technology for scratching and perfect integration with your iTunes library makes this an excellent choice for party mixes.
• Disco DJ – Behind a sleek, pure white interface this mixer features all the tools you’ll need to organize your music collection and have that all important mix flow.
• Traktor DJ Studio – Four playback decks, advanced effects and the ability to create your very own mixing setup. Also gives access to the Beatport online music store.
• Reason – Dreamed of owning a recording studio? This all in one package brings to you everything from a sampler to synthesizer, a sequencer, drum machine and plenty of effects.
• Ardour – Record, edit and mix audio. Ardour is a good choice for mixing video soundtracks.

PC users, check out Nick’s post on the best software for aspiring VJs.

If you ever find yourself reading your friends’ blogs, sending a couple of tweets here and there, updating your Facebook profile and checking your personal email during working hours, don’t feel guilty about it: we’ve all done that some time. But bear in mind that your boss may not be as understanding as your friends at OnSoftware, so you’d better take some precautions when browsing non work-related websites in the office.

First of all, you should use a more discreet interface to visit your favorite websites: something like Microsoft Word Web Browser will do the trick. This special web browser resembles the appearance of Microsoft’s popular word processor, rendering websites as documents and thus making it look like you’re working hard. If you prefer to stick to good old Firefox, at least have Magic Boss Key always ready, so that you can quickly hide all active windows on your screen the moment anyone enters your cubicle.

Another way to spend some time in sweet procrastination without being bothered by your boss is using Fake Progress Bar. This tool lets you create completely customizable progress bars with your own title, description and lapse time. Simply write something like “Updating. Please wait” and you’ll have the perfect excuse to browse useless sites while waiting for the update to complete.

In case you download sensitive material from the web, you need to save it in a safe place. With Folder Locker you can easily assign a password to any folder and protect its contents from prying eyes. And don’t forget to clean your traces after each browsing session with Free Window Sweeper, so that they can’t track the websites you’ve visited.

BitDefender is one of the most popular PC security packages out there and now you can try it for yourself for a full 90 days. BitDefender are giving away a free 90 day trial of their flagship product so you can really get a taste of what it has to offer. BitDefender Internet Security 2008 is being given away with free updates and support for up to 3 PC’s at the same time

The security package covers a wide range of security threats including viruses, hackers, spyware, spam and phishing emails, as well as protecting children from adult websites. Now, I know there are tons of security solutions out there but alongside Avast!, BitDefender is one of my favourite security apps which is why anyone who hasn’t taken advantage of this offer yet should at least check it out. And it’s not just me who endorses it. BitDefender for Linux recently won an award for it’s Virus Bulletin comparisons on Ubuntu Linux Server Edition Platform. Now when an operating system as bulletproof as Ubuntu gives it the thumbs up, you know you’re onto something good.

Note that BitDefender have one of the most comprehensive (and free) database of virus removal tools which you can access directly here. Also, check out BitDefender’s useful 10 Commandments for Your Computer Sanity here.