mrneoluddite/internet

Indulge your inner DJ.

Follow the tweets of the Yahoo! SearchMonkey team

From the page: "The Recording Studio in Your Laptop
By Chris Lindsey
Mon, October 20, 2008

In the beginning, recording studios were overwhelmingly complex institutions; multiple rooms of instruments, wires, tapes, mixers, and knobs. Only a few years ago, it was exciting to imagine producing entire albums on a personal computer. But now, even though the PC is still at the center of modern techno-life, it's beginning to seem a little washed-up.

What's next, then? As with music sharing, storage, and promotion, the answer is putting the whole thing online.

When I discovered that I could use sites like Jumpcut and Zoho to create, edit, save, and store documents, spreadsheets, and videos entirely within my favorite browser, I had a vision of a braver, newer world in which I wasn't weighted down by my dusty, clunky, and always-obsolete laptop -- all my applications and files would be stored remotely; accessible via a simple web portal. In my vision, I saw myself talking to a monitor on the wall, saying (in my best Jean-Luc Picard voice) things like, "Computer, create a playlist of every MP3 I've ever downloaded and stored on a myriad of different data storage devices," or "Computer, show me my home recording studio workstation interface, even though I'm at my friend's house."

When I awoke from my vision, I considered the Virtual Rhythmicon: an online version of Léon Theremin's strange and ungainly 1931 electronic instrument. Nick Didkovsky was able to use the Java Synthesis (JSyn) API to reduce the wood and iron of Theramin's Rhythmicon to a Java app, playable through any browser. In another window, I can pump up the Rhythmicon with some beats, bass, and slick effects through Hobnox's Audiotool, and voila!, I've given birth to a slick experimental electronic dance track that's pretty cool -- and pretty free.

You can find these and other gems from the past and present in Online Instruments and Audio Recording Tools -- another category in the Yahoo! Directory made just for you."

From the page: "Google Mail Goggles helps prevent booze-related email blunders

October 9th, 2008

Even send an email after you've slammed back a few beers and then (usually the next day) wished you'd not sent it? If so, Google's Mail Goggles is for you.

To get access to Google Mail Goggles you first need a GMail account. Then you need to activate the service (from within GMail click on Settings and from the Accounts tab click on Google Account Settings. From there find Labs (you may need to click on More ... at the bottom of the page). From Labs you can activate Goggles.



The idea behind Goggles is that you have to answer math questions within a fixed period of time to send an email. You you get the questions wrong, you are free to try again until you get them right. The idea is to add some breathing space between composing an email and sending it.

By default, Mail Goggles is only active late night over the weekend as that is the time you're most likely to need protecting from yourself. This is however customizable to suit your Paris Hilton lifestyle."

From the page: "If the predictions that soon Google Chrome will be bigger than FireFox turn true, SEOs should seriously think about making websites as Chrome-friendly as they can."

From the page: "A Movable Music Collection
By Chris Lindsey
Wed, August 27, 2008

Over the last few years, I've reduced my net weight by a trunkload by moving my CD collection onto my computer. But this creates a new problem: What if I want to bring a CD to a friend's house, or to work? The solution lies in a relatively new Internet business model: the online music storage locker. These browser-based businesses allow music lovers to upload and/or access their entire collections from any Internet access point on Earth.

Online music storage lockers come in a few varieties. Some, like Streampad, Simplify Media, and Orb Networks, let you remotely access the music stored on your home computer. These services create a private or sharable network between your home computer, your hand-held device, and/or any other computer with an Internet connection. It's almost like running a tube from your home computer to another computer (hmmm... maybe Senator Ted Stevens was right, after all). Dot.Tunes and nuTSie work in a similar manner, allowing you to access and share your iTunes collection from anywhere.

Others within this milieu -- like Anywhere.fm, MP3tunes, and MediaMaster -- allow you to upload all of your MP3s and ripped CDs to their servers (for a reasonable fee) so that you can stream or download your audio files on any Internet-enabled device. MeTracks provides this service for free, but storage space is limited to one gigabyte. And once you have your music uploaded to your favorite storage locker, Mixwit will help you create a web-based mixtape for that extra special someone.

If you're ready to give your music collection wings and liberate those audio files from the hard drive prison they've been languishing in, visit our Online Music Storage Lockers category in the Yahoo! Directory."

From the page: "
This Week in the Yahoo! Directory
By Jerry Welch
Tue, August 12, 2008

Well, it's been almost two weeks since we updated you about life at Directory Central. I've become an active user of Twitter as a way to find folks who have Directory-related problems, and try to help them. One of my tweet conversations led to the creation of a PR Blog category. That same day the Yeti from The Mummy 3 made a brief visit to the office. I'm sure it was just coincidence.

It wasn't coincidence, however, that we beefed up our K2 category. After the tragic news, we jumped on it and added several sites run by climbers. Of course, nature never leaves us alone for long, because is was only a matter of days before we needed to create a category for Tropical Storm Edouard.

There was also the usual activity in TV, movies, and music. But what caught me by surprise in the world of pop culture was when one of our editors pulled out her furry feet and Hobbit ears and started adding sites like mad to the J.R.R. Tolkien area. We maintain the highest literary standards, you know.

One last item: a couple of our editors, Chris and Lydia, started SearchMonkeying around and put together a couple of fantastic presentations on how to create your own SearchMonkey application. Speaking of which, be sure to add the Directory app -- it puts a little Directory back into Search."

From the page: "This Week in the Directory
By Dave Sikula
Wed, July 30, 2008

Welcome back to our occasional feature on what's happening in the exciting world of the Yahoo! Directory. Even though it's been a while since we've updated you, don't think our work has stopped: There's always new stuff to be added.

For example, in less than two weeks, we'll mark the start of the Beijing Olympics. Folks from all over the world are preparing for their visits, so we've expanded our categories on Beijing hotels, tourism, and restaurants, to provide even the fussiest traveler with information on where to go and what to see. Of course, there are other aspects to the Games that we all find fascinating, and so we've boosted our information on such performance-enhancing drugs as Atenolol, GHB, and Rohypnol. And we're not sure if this relates to the sometimes-questionable air in the capital, but we've added sites about treatment of persistent coughs, pneumonia, and sore throats (not to mention the traveler's traditional bane: diarrhea).

But it's not all athletics and pollution here. When you wanted good information on Hurricanes Bertha and Dolly, we went out and found it (and will continue to do so throughout the storm season). And when the good people at the Television Academy announced the Emmy Award nominations, and we added information about all the nominated shows and actors.

There's always room in the Directory for stuff that's oddball or off-center, so say hello to Live Action Role Playing Games and (our personal favorite) Chess Boxing, a competition that combines the brain-straining aspect of chess with the brain-addling power of the Sweet Science. If that sounds as interesting to you as it did to us, give it a click.

That's all for now, but please join us next time, as we continue to delve into the more than one million sites that make up the Yahoo! Directory."